President's Page
by Donna Pomerantz
A peaceful end to a Memorial Day holiday weekend has continued to keep me
in reflection mode. I'm thinking about our Spring Conference and
Convention along with all that led to and will follow it.
First, a quick reminder in the hopes that many of you, your families and
friends will join me in signing up for the Mutt Strut on September 10.
Call the CCB Office or find the information about it on our web page to
learn how to register yourself or sponsor your friends or how to
participate in other ways. We are looking to have a great time before and
on the 10th. Come join the fun with all of us, our dogs, our canes and
whoever else we may involve!
Our Conference and Convention theme was "Charting Our Course into The
Future, While Keeping Our Historic Bearings." Now more than ever, we need
to come together so that the heavy lifting won't fall on just a few. Times
are getting harder, and we all need each other's support. I see us having
to be creative, steadfast and vigilant. We need to leave our comfort zone
to advocate just to keep what we have fought hard battles to win as well as
to advance the needs of citizens with visual impairments.
The resolutions we pass at each convention are at the heart of our advocacy
work. In looking at those on May 15th, the direction you have given CCB is
clear and requires action on all our parts. (See resolution summaries
elsewhere in this issue. To request the full text of any resolution,
contact the office.) We will fight for a viable California Department of
Rehabilitation (DOR) program for those who wish to attend a four-year
college and have proven by maintaining a high grade point average that
right has been earned. It is not enough (for a student's first 2 years of
college) to pay only the amount equal to the cost of a community college.
Another resolution voices our concerns about proposed changes (to streamline the process and lower costs) in the
purchase and procurement of assistive technology and training for DOR
clients and state employees with visual impairments.
We must continue to stand strong to move the powers that be forward in
allowing us the right (just as everyone else has) to equal, independent,
private and complete access to voting, whether in the comfort of our own
home or on election day at our polling place as is mandated by our U.S.
Constitution. Another resolution insists it is imperative for our safety
that we have full access to all disaster preparedness programs and
emergency alerts.
Also on the theme of education, we insist that our children (the leaders
and advocates of tomorrow) receive quality education through accessible
materials and textbooks in a timely manner.
Other resolutions support more specific interests of our vendors and guide
dog users.
You have stated loud and clear that a strong California State Department of
Rehabilitation, Blind Field Services is a must
for our continued success. You also state that we must do whatever it takes to advocate for
no further budget cuts to programs impacting quality of life and survival
for those of us who are blind and/or have other disabilities.
At least one of the above items must interest you in some way. Commit to
at least one and let's work to keep watch and advocate to keep what we've
been working toward for some 75-plus years. Together let's continue to
make a difference! We must move forward.
Return to the Table of Contents
Convention Report, Spring 2011, Part One
by Sam Chen, Delegate, Silicon Valley Council Of The
Blind
[Editor's Note: We have a special treat for the coverage of this past
spring Conference and Converention. Both the delegate and alternate delegate from the Silicon
Valley Council of the Blind have prepared their unique perspectives of
their convention experience. You will find some repetition, and a number
of convention activities, including much of Sunday's business meeting, are
not covered. But I think you'll find the 2 distinctive voices fascinating
and insightful. Both gentlemen are naturalized citizens; CCB and the
country are lucky to have them.
We, ten SVCB members, took the Capitol Corridor Amtrak train from Diridon
Station in San Jose to Sacramento on Wednesday around noon time. We were
put in the lower level of the train which is reserved for seniors and the
disabled, and indeed many of us are qualified disabled seniors. Joyful
conversation among members made the three-hour train ride pass in no time.
We soon checked into the Doubletree Hotel, which seems to be one of the
most complex hotels a blind person can ever imagine on this planet. The
hotel features spider-web like hallways which lead to all different
directions. If one did not stay on the correct path, one could probably
have ended up at a totally isolated destination. If that did happen, we
might be a few members short! On many occasions during the convention, we
had to form a long train with
one hand holding on to
another one's shoulder to follow the sighted guide to the common
destination of hotel lobby or the meeting hall for general sessions. It
was quite challenging;
however, it was fun and memorable.
Following Bernice and Roger's tradition in attending the state convention
in Sacramento, a handful of us went to El Torito, a special Mexican
restaurant across the street from the Doubletree Hotel. Not to mention the
special delicious Mexican cookery, we just loved the yummy dessert of deep-
fried ice cream.
The first day of the convention, Thursday May 12, which featured 5a few
sessions including a technology discussion and the Board meeting,
also saw the annual Capitol Day, which is a CCB visit to the legislators in
Sacramento, led by our legislative leader Frank Welte. Around 30 CCB
members congregated at the state Capitol Building, where Frank Welte
briefed the group on bills sponsored by CCB, and other issues of our
concerns. Bills sponsored by CCB include:
AB 390 which would make it a law to provide written notification to
California State identification card holders of the expiration of their
cards. AB 410 would require the state to provide a narrative descriptive
of changes to their regulations so that members' screen readers could properly interpret such changes. At this
time, changes are marked by italicized text or strike through text,
features not compatible with screen readers.
Other issues of CCB's concerns include AB 727 which would mandate by 2016 a
100% provision of healthy food in state vending machines operated by blind
vendors and members of the Business Enterprise Program. Also of concern
are negative budget impacts on SSI, Medicare, MediCal recipients within our
population.
Using the name of Art Takahara, a close acquaintance of Assemblyman Jim
Beall of district 24, I was able to secure an appointment with my assemblyman, who promised to greet me in person at his
office. I met Jim at the State Assembly Committee room on the third floor
in the state building and had a friendly conversation for 15 minutes. I
first thanked Beall for his kind efforts serving on the Human Service
Committee, and then further solicited his continuing support to the blind
community.
I also met my senator, Sam Blakeslee's staff, at his office and had a 20
minute discussion on the above described bills and issues. In addition, I
delivered the list of legislative priorities at Assemblyman Brian Nestande,
Assemblywoman Norma Torres, and Assemblyman Allan Mansoor's offices.
An official announcement was made at the convention that Frank Welte,
Governmental Affairs Director, has taken a position at the San Francisco
Lighthouse and will be leaving the employ of CCB on May 15th.
Upon Donna Pomerantz's request, Jeff Thom agreed to volunteer his time to
fill Frank's position till the end of 2011.
CCB's first Mutt Strut, a statewide fundraiser, will be held on Sept.
10th, 2011 in LA and Sacramento. All CCB members are encouraged to invite
their friends and family members to participate in the event. The cost is $25 for adults and $20
for kids under 16, which includes a T-shirt. Participants can choose the
course of either 2K or 5K. All CCB members are urged to identify as many
donors and sponsors as possible.
The resolution on emergency preparedness which I submitted was voted to
pass with revision.
Joshua Miele from Smith-Kettlewell spoke on tactile graphics for BART
routes and stations. Joshua illustrated the use of tactile maps and smart
pens by people with blindness or low vision to interpret the 3-d structure
and the special layout of the Coliseum BART station through braille labels
and audio outputs. Audio information of different
degrees on each plot can be accessed in layer; for example, first touch for
name of the location, second touch for its positional relationship with
neighboring plots, and third touch for a description of its function, etc.
Through proper training of the use of such tactile maps, a blind traveler
can find out the layout of streets around certain BART stations, bus stops
around the station, stairways, escalators/elevators,
entrances/exits, ticketing machines, fare gates and platforms, and most
importantly, where train doors open. Anyone interested in the "BART
tactile graphics" may contact the San Francisco Lighthouse for a
demonstration and hands-on experience.
Jeff Thom made the ACB report as follows: What we accomplished in 2010
includes: The 21st Century Telecommunication and Video Accessibility Act,
federal standards on quiet electric cars to assure pedestrian safety, both
of which were signed into law. Legislation on talking prescription drug
labeling was initiated. Discussions with major corporate representatives
of Apple, FaceBook, and Microsoft were held to make products more
accessible to the blind community. Jeff also announced the forthcoming
"ACB's golden anniversary" in July 2011 in Reno, and encouraged members to
attend.
A historian, Heather Lavezzo Downey, gave a talk on the history of Sacramento, a unique man-made
landscape of raised streets and sidewalks. Tourists can still tour the
underground site in old Sacramento today. Being inspired by the gold rush
starting in 1848, Sacramento city was founded in 1850, and became the state
capitol in 1854. Though severely damaged by a massive storm with
torrential rain in 1861 and 1862, which flooded the city for months,
residents in Sacramento believed that Mother Nature is manageable and
decided to reroute the American River and to raise the streets, and began
to challenge the power of man versus force of nature.
A blind geologist, Dr. Geerat Vermeij, Distinguished Professor of Geology from UC Davis, gave a
fabulous speech. He spoke about the evolution of this world. In order to
become an outstanding scientist, one has to know how to ask the right and
important questions, ask answerable questions, and know how to get answers.
Losing sight at the age of 3, the speaker got interested in science from
an early age, and he received professional training at Princeton
University. Besides teaching activities at the university, he has worked
in the field, at museums and libraries. In order to keep up with worldwide
discoveries, he usually reads ten publications a week. He composes his
research papers in braille and finally types them up after numerous rewritings and revisions.
Speakers from Kaiser Permanente Group spoke about architectural access,
accessibility of medical equipment, and accessibility of written materials
through alternative formats for disabled people who subscribe to the Kaiser
group. Many CCB members like the audio prescription drug labels which
provide the name of the medicine, when to take it, dosage needed each time
and special attentions required in taking it. CCB members expressed
interest in recycling those audio prescription drug labels. The speakers
also touched upon the availability of a talking glucometer, assistive listening devices, and network interpreting services.
The Deaf-Blind Committee decided to educate CCB members through the
publication of articles in the BC and on the California Connection
explaining that we now provide the Assistive Listening Devices (ALD's) to
convention attendees which will enable those deaf-blind members to better
follow the dialogue and speech presented in large group sessions. The
committee also discussed issues in modernizing the current CCB sound system
for smaller or less-attended sessions, such as committee meetings.
A decision was made to include a session on deaf-blindness issues at an upcoming convention.
An experienced hearing aid user advised new hearing aid users not to start
wearing the hearing aid every day, which often leads to pain and
frustration, and eventually totally abandoning the hearing aid. A better
practice is to start with wearing it only a few days in a week, and not
wearing it for the rest of the week. Doing so not only reduces the level
of frustration, but also raises the awareness of the distinct difference between wearing and not wearing the hearing aid.
The Convention banquet was held on Saturday
evening, where Dawn Wilcox was granted a special award of "community
service", which made all SVCB members so proud of her.
A last-minute replacement, Joe Hamilton, provided a very spirited and
amusing presentation to banquet attendees. Joe spurred continuing laughter
and applause.
Return to the Table of Contents
Convention Report, Spring 2011, Part Two
by David Hoffman, Alternate Delegate
And Recording Secretary, SVCB
The CCB Spring convention, held May 12-15 in Sacramento, was an extremely
well-organized event and the obvious fruit of many hours of dedicated efforts by
many people. All was guided by the great leadership of new CCB president,
Donna Pomerantz. In this attendee's view, the work done by Donna and all
of her minions resulted in a series of days which made us think about our
roots, gave us great hope for the future and reminded us of all the
challenges we have to meet head-on in order to grow at both the state and
chapter level.
It will be impossible for me to review or comment on all that was
presented, but I hope to provide a glimpse into what was experienced and
where my very great enthusiasm for this group lies. In essence,
we have a great deal to look forward to but only if we continue to
recognize the social, economic and political challenges that face us. The
weekend reminded me, among other things, that change begins with a word or
an idea put into action and with thoughtful follow-up, our experiences as
blind and visually impaired citizens can only be better.
One of the very great highlights of the weekend for me was the Capitol Day,
organized by outgoing CCB Director of Advocacy and Governmental Affairs,
Frank Welte. Although not an official part of the convention, it was
attended by many of those also attending the conference and convention.
Personally, as a relatively newly naturalized US citizen, I was very much impressed and
educated by this day of visiting the state's various Senators and Assembly
persons. Our menu of issues were warmly received with both enthusiasm and
promises of support. Participation in this day very much reminds one of
the importance of one voice in a choir and leads one to feel like they can
truly make a difference. At the same time, it is evident that our work
will need dedication on more than just one day, and whatever readers can do
to let their voices be heard will have a positive effect, if only we keep
talking.
The weekend saw many interesting and informative, and even fun, seminars and sessions. Here are some of my
highlights although I encourage everyone to access the sessions that were
broadcast on ACB radio to relive the thoughtful speakers and guests.
The very dedicated Resolutions Committee met a number of times during the
convention, including many late night hours to deftly put together about a
dozen resolutions, including such topics as:
- - opposing the lighting industry's plan to completely cease production and
sale of incandescent light bulbs to be replaced by energy-efficient
fluorescent bulbs which poses a serious issue for low vision people;
- - accessible voting machines in local elections and introducing more
current and up-to-date voting technologies to allow more options to blind
and low vision voters;
- - opposition and monitoring of reduction of state funds in state programs
on transportation, education and social services;
- - procurement of braille textbooks in a timely manner for elementary school
kids.
One other resolution that I am particularly proud to have played a very
small part in bringing to fruition concerns disaster preparedness and the
concept of making sure that blind and visually impaired residents, and their service animals, are treated in the same fair
manner as other residents. One of our chapter members, Sam Chen, brought
this proposed resolution to our chapter meeting and although not initially
met with unanimous support, with the great help of Rob Turner and Roger
Petersen, the wording was cleaned up and passed easily in front of the
members on the final day of the convention. This goes to show that every
idea developed at each and every chapter needs perhaps just a few champions
and can make a statewide difference. Way to go Sam and team!
Mike Marlin, Director, California Braille and Talking book Library, Sacramento spoke at the Braille Revival League and gave everyone a nice
summary of what the library continues to do to serve both audio and braille
readers. It is very encouraging for me to know that as I continue to learn
braille, there is definite support out there to support and supply a source
of braille material. There were 2 representatives from the state library
in attendance, and I overheard at least three convention goers say that it
was great to actually meet their own personal suppliers of books that have
entertained them for some time.
The CLUA, California Library Users of America, also met and included a very
touching discussion of talking book reader Terry Hayes Sales. Although I have only relatively
recently lost my vision, the kind words and enthusiasm for her work make me
really look forward to having her books sent to me. I guess I have the
advantage of looking forward to many hours of entertainment.
As with every convention, there was a plethora of opportunities to kick
back and share a meal with friends old and new, have a drink or two and
honor some in our community, and of course, share some fond or outrageous
moments such as the Friday night President's dinner. This dinner was
hosted by Debra Thompson, President of the Capitol Chapter of Sacramento.
At this dinner, members were encouraged to share some of their most courageous and amusing
experiences as a blind youth or as an adult behaving as though they were
still kids. Recently I was reminded that courage is often represented in
our society as the heroic soldier returning from battle with some terrible
physical or psychological wounds, or the young child who overcomes all odds
to survive a terrible illness. This evening of the convention for me
demonstrated what a friend recently reminded me of: that with all the
obstacles that we as visually impaired persons face, we do not get the
badge of courage pinned to our lapels often enough. It takes courage to
try to educate the sighted world on a daily basis, how to deal with us and not be afraid of us. This particular evening of
stories shared, many of which were rather amusing, others quite inspiring,
was a fresh reminder that we should all really be proud of what it takes to
just attend a convention such as this or take action in your own private
and little space in this world to just be a part of it, no more or less
than the hero soldier or surviving child.
Another CCB sponsored event that came up a number of times during the
weekend was the upcoming fundraiser, the Mutt Strut, to be held on
September 10, in both Sacramento and Los Angeles areas. This is the first
fundraising of this size undertaken by our organization, and if the enthusiasm and incredible hard work by all those involved is any
indication, it will be a barking success. I encourage you to check out the
details on the CCB website and get involved in any way you can, even if it
is to raise a little money, walk or run yourself or just pass the word on
to friends and family. The event will feature a 2K and a 5K run or walk
and will welcome dogs of all kinds. Guide dogs are welcome, service
animals or pet dogs. The event will feature many sponsors that the
organizers are gathering as we speak; so if your company or organization
can sponsor a team, they will get some really great publicity. Ken Metz
leads this group of dedicated organizers, and although Ken was not able to attend the convention, his team represented very well and could
not help but get me very much looking forward to participating. Please do
not bow wow out of this one.
Very very very early on Saturday, a small group of dedicated convention
attendees showed up for a membership breakfast hosted by Board member Dave
Jackson. DJ as he is known, led the group in a brainstorming session of
how chapters can support other chapters in their area on growing
membership,
sharing in events, fundraising and as the convention theme suggested,
assuring the continued health of each and every chapter. I was disturbed
to notice during other sessions and the credentials sessions where chapters in attendance were officially
counted for voting purposes, that many chapters could not attend due to
financial reasons or just lack of members, in some cases simply chapters
closing down. One of the themes that came up during this discussion,
between the eggs and orange juice, was the need for stronger chapters to
support chapters that are struggling with membership, finances or just
ideas to keep waning participation from becoming an epidemic. Many great
ideas came out of this session, and I hope they are shared with everyone
through CCB or its website.
At 7 PM on Saturday, most of us gathered for the banquet, hosted by Rob Turner, chair CCB
Credentials Committee. Rob did an excellent job keeping the evening lively
despite some unexpected changes in the schedule. Awards were given to very
worthy recipients and raffle prizes were awarded. Once again I did not win
anything, but the winners were very excited, and despite being one number
off for the fifty-fifty raffle, I will be back next time with my tickets
because we do not just give up that easily. There were so many inspiring
award winners that night including some very bright students and my
personal favorite, our chapter's member Dawn Wilcox who won a very well-
deserved award for
many years of dedicated service as a registered nurse, community contributor and support through
her work at the Vista Center for the Blind and Visually Impaired health
library in Palo Alto. Rumor has it that Dawn shed a tear or two, not sure
if it was
for the award or for not winning the balloon ride.
Clearly the weekend was a great ride for many and with continuing hard
work, advocacy, kinship and support of our great CCB staff in Sacramento
(thanks Ed and Lily), our future looks very bright.
Return to the Table of Contents
John Linvill, Inventor of the Optacon, Dies at 91
by Andrew Myers
[Editor's Note: The following article is excerpted and edited by permission
from The Stanford Report, March 10, 2011. The author, Andrew Myers is
associate director of communications at the School of Engineering.]
A pioneer of Silicon Valley, John Linvill "transistorized" the Stanford
electrical engineering curriculum and helped shape an industry that shaped
the world. (Chuck Painter) John Linvill invented the optical-to-tactile converter, or Optacon, as a
means to allow his blind daughter, Candy, to read ordinary print.
John Linvill, professor emeritus of electrical engineering at Stanford and inventor of the Optacon reading device for the blind, has died. He was 91.
Linvill was a revered figure at Stanford as much for his self-effacing and
unpretentious style as for his engineering foresight and his commitment to
the entrepreneurial spirit. He chaired the Department of Electrical
Engineering from 1964 to 1980 and was a seminal figure in the School of
Engineering during the 1960's and '70's heyday that fed well-trained
electrical engineers to an eager and growing Silicon Valley.
Born and raised in Missouri, Linvill received a bachelor's degree in
mathematics from William Jewell College in 1941 before enrolling at the Massachusetts
Institute of Technology, where he earned his bachelor's, master's and
doctoral degrees in electrical engineering. After two years as an
assistant professor at MIT, Linvill joined Bell Labs, doing research on
transistor circuit design problems.
Linvill was content at Bell Labs, but in 1954, Stanford Engineering Dean
Fred Terman came calling. Terman had in hand an unexpected gift from Sid
Gilfillan, who expressed an interest in bringing someone to Stanford to
build a program in the application of transistors. Terman's search led him
to Linvill, who had earned a reputation as a proven and popular teacher while at MIT and an outstanding
scholar in research in transistor circuits.
In 1955, Linvill became Stanford's first appointment in a discipline that
helped to shape an industry that in turn shaped the world. While the
trajectory of Stanford's program began with transistor circuit design, it
took a dramatic turn in 1956 with the arrival of William Shockley in Palo
Alto, the heart (sic) what is now Silicon Valley.
A shrewd judge of talent During Linvill's career in the Department of Electrical Engineering, he
repeatedly exhibited an intuitive understanding of transformative moments in research. He was able to see a breakthrough, to
imagine its potential importance and to set in motion the wheels to make
sure that Stanford led, always. He was a shrewd judge of his own talents
and strengths, and an even shrewder judge of talent in others he wanted to
join Stanford to realize the rare opportunity being presented to those with
an entrepreneurial bent. . . .
Invented device to help blind people read Linvill reveled in his role of mentor. He was genuinely interested in the
success of others, especially entrepreneurial success. Linvill applied his
engineering creativity and his entrepreneurial spirit to help his daughter, Candy, who became blind
in infancy. Linvill sought a way to help her to directly read printed
materials without translation into Braille. His solution, using integrated
circuits developed in the labs and with the help of colleagues at Stanford
and the Stanford Research Institute, was the Optacon (optical-to-tactile
converter). The Optacon was a portable device with a small, hand-held
camera that could be moved across any type of printed material to generate
images on a fingertip-sized tactile display that were then felt and
interpreted by a blind reader.
Linvill received a patent for the Optacon in 1966.
He was a co-founder in 1970 of Telesensory Systems Inc., a company
established to manufacture and disseminate the Optacon worldwide. The
Optacon was to become one of the most important examples of how technology
could be applied to the development of assistive devices for people with
disabilities. In 1971, Industrial Research Inc. named the Optacon one of
the 100 most significant products of the year. Helped greatly by her
father's invention, Candy attended Stanford and went on to earn her
doctorate in clinical psychology.
The late 1970's demanded a new era of innovation in Stanford's electrical
engineering curriculum. The advent of the microprocessor at Intel introduced
electronic hardware controlled by software programs integrated in the
system. Linvill and colleagues foresaw that optimum system design
would soon require the creation of hardware and software designed for
specific applications -- computer graphics, for example -- and that
groundbreaking research would require an effective partnership between
electrical engineering and computer science. The result was Stanford's
Center for Integrated Systems (CIS).
Linvill and CIS colleagues anticipated, as well, that with the proper
openness, integrated systems research would profit by engaging with forward-looking electronics companies. As co-director of
CIS, Linvill conceived and implemented a visitors program in CIS to bring
industry professionals to Stanford and the Fellow/Mentor/Advisor (FMA)
program that placed Stanford doctoral candidates in industry for a portion
of their education. More than 30 years later, CIS has become the model for
university-corporate partnerships.
In 2007, at a special celebration surrounded by his family, Linvill was
surprised by a group of former students, colleagues and friends who had
endowed the Professor John G. Linvill Fellowship Fund, which supports the
education of an outstanding graduate student in electrical engineering. Many of those contributors had
flown in from across the country to toast their friend and mentor.
In addition to serving as chair of the Department of Electrical
Engineering, Linvill was associate dean of the School of Engineering from
1972 to 1980, and was the Canon USA Professor of Electrical Engineering
from its endowment in 1989 until his retirement at the end of 1990. As a
professor emeritus, Linvill continued to follow his passions, focusing
research on integrated systems.
Linvill was named a fellow of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics
Engineers in 1960 and was elected to the National Academy of Engineering in 1971 and the American Academy of Arts
and Sciences in 1974. He received the IEEE Education Medal in 1976 and the
John Scott Award in 1980 for his work on the Optacon.
Linvill was honored with the American Electronics Association's Medal of
Achievement in 1983 for his significant contributions to the advancement of
electronics. He was recipient of the Louis Braille Prize (1984) from the
Deutscher Blindenverband for the invention of the Optacon.
John Grimes Linvill was born on Aug. 8, 1919, in Kansas City, Mo. His
twin brother, William, also a Stanford professor, died in 1980.
He is survived by his wife, Marjorie Linvill, of Palo Alto; a son, Greg
(Betty), of Belmont, Calif.; a daughter, Candy Berg (Chris), of Portola
Valley, Calif.; two granddaughters, Angela and Alyssa Linvill; and a great
grandson, Sato Ramsaran.
A service celebrating Linvill's life will be held at the Stanford Faculty Club on May 23 from
3:30 to 5:30 p.m. The family asks that donations in memory of John G.
Linvill be made to the LMS-ARCOMA Direct Research Foundation in Tulsa,
Okla. (www.lmsdr.org).
Return to the Table of Contents
Summary of Board Minutes
by Gabe Griffith
Following are summaries of the October 28 2010 CCB preconvention board
minutes, December 15 conference call minutes, and the January 27 2011
conference call minutes. These are the most recent minutes that the board
has approved. Copies of all these full minutes can be obtained by
contacting the CCB office.
October 28 preconvention board meeting All members of the board were present. Two of these were by phone.
There were motions made and passed to accept the May 6 2010, June 29 2010 and September 20
2010 minutes. All of these passed unanimously.
It was moved and seconded to move $30 from general checking to the Sylvia
Mittleman scholarship account. The motion passed.
Ed Branch read a written publications Committee report as well as a draft
of a certification of appreciation the Publications Committee has drafted.
Bernice Kandarian then discussed the survey that was sent out requesting
what formats people prefer for the Blind Californian and some general
results. She also gave information on how
many people subscribed to the CCB email lists.
There was then a discussion regarding possible future formats and
feasibility of a format compatible with the NLS players. A motion was made
and seconded to discontinue the floppy disk version of the BC and replace
it with a data CD. This motion failed.
It was moved that the Publications Committee be requested to bring before
the CCB board at the fall 2011 convention a plan to provide the BC in a
format readable by the NLS digital players. The motion passed on a voice
vote.
Donna Pomerantz talked about how the web administration has now been broken
up in to five
sections. These include email lists, ccbnet.org alias email addresses, FaceBook, the website, and
data backup.
It was moved and seconded to ratify a phone and email poll that had been
taken among board members to grant a charter to the Cochilla Valley
Chapter a charter and cede them $500 from CCB. the motion passed
unanimously.
It was moved and seconded to accept a two-year contract that had been
submitted by the L.A. Crowne Plaza. Jerry seconded. The motion carried
on a roll call vote.
Dan Kysor discussed plans for a possible dog-a-thon as a potential CCB
fundraiser. He was
asked to develop a budget for holding a dog-a-thon in southern California and bring it to the
board at the next board meeting.
There was a motion made and seconded to enter in to a contract with Right
Ways for vehicle donations. This motion failed on a roll call vote.
December 15 2010 CCB board conference call This meeting was attended by all but 1 member of the board. It was moved
and seconded to accept the October 28 preconvention board meeting minutes.
The motion passed unanimously.
It was moved and seconded to accept the
fundraising recommendation that the spring sweepstakes be held for the BC. The motion
passed.
Gabe Griffith then read several corporate resolutions that dealt with
financial institutions and changing names of the new president and
treasurer on these accounts. It was moved and seconded to adopt these
board resolutions. The motion passed.
The board then entered executive session to discuss personnel matters.
It was moved and seconded to continue working with Conference Direct and to
begin seeking bids for the spring and fall 2013 conventions. The
motion passed.
The board then decided to approve the proposed budget and begin moving
forward with plans for a dog-a-thon to be held simultaneously in L.A. and
Sacramento. The board also approved the incoming and outgoing presidents
and treasurers to expend whatever funds were necessary up to a $1,000 limit
between this and the next board meeting.
This was the last board meeting for several board members including Cathie
skivers as outgoing immediate past president, Chris Gray as outgoing
treasurer, and Ken Metz as an outgoing board member. The meeting ended
with thank you words from these outgoing members.
January 27 CCB board conference call All board members were present. Donna Pomerantz gave some opening remarks
as CCB president. She outlined her vision of what CCB can do and how it
can accomplish its goals.
The December 15 2010 CCB board conference call minutes were approved with
one modification. There were several abstentions from new board members
who had not been present at that meeting.
The board then entered executive session to discuss an offer by the Newell
Perry trustees to help defray some of the cost of CCB employee salaries in
2011.
Peter Pardini then discussed some audit matters. There were some funds that the board voted
to change designations on per recommendations from the auditors. It was
then decided to accept the bid from the same auditors to perform the 2010
audit.
Gabe Griffith read the proposed board resolution, purchasing of equipment
for blind and low vision clients of the Department of Rehabilitation and
state employees. This resolution deals with a proposed change in the way
the Department of General Services and the Department of Rehabilitation
purchase adaptive equipment for employees or clients of rehab in the state
of California. The board
adopted this resolution. It was moved and seconded that CCB be one of the affiliates that seeks to
participate in the pilot roll out of a new ACB membership database and that
we make a one-time
donation of $250 to help defray the cost of this participation. The motion passed.
The board decided to have a table at the CTEBVI conference in March.
Return to the Table of Contents
CCB Hearing And Visual Impairment Committee: What It's Up To
by Mike Keithley
In this article I want to tell you about CCB's newly-constituted CCB
Hearing and Visual Impairment Committee, what it's doing now, future plans
and how it serves you.
The committee was formed during the fall, 2010 conference and convention
and accepted by the CCB board as a standing committee last January. The
meeting at the 2011 spring convention was well attended, with over 15
people present. David Hanlon is committee chair; you can email him at
d_hanlon@san.rr.com.
This committee wants to serve the growing population of CCB members who are
either hearing impaired or
deaf-blind, a group that is expected to increase substantially as baby-boomers become senior citizens. It is both a support
group to help people deal with hearing loss and an advocacy team to
represent them to the CCB board. We hope to launch an educational program
to show that hearing loss can be lived with and develop a structure of
equipment to make all CCB convention activities accessible, from general
sessions to committee business and program meetings.
The term "hearing impairment" denotes a spectrum of conditions from "hard
of hearing" (some useable hearing) to deafness (no hearing at all). Vision
problems occur in both groups, so the term "deaf-blind" is
sometimes used but usually refers to visually impaired people who are deaf. Since approaches to accommodating hearing
impaired and deaf-blind people differ greatly and each require lots of
money, the committee decided to first address the needs of those who have
some hearing as this population is larger and probably costs less to help.
At this time we are investigating funding sources for assistive listening
devices (ALD), which will be used at conventions. The goal is to SOON have
16 ALD receivers and transmitters that will cover all convention
activities. At this time, only general sessions have ALD support, and
there are only five
receivers. So you can see that we have a way to go.
But we've started! We've done research into equipment we need and where to
get it. We need roughly $7,600, and we decided to raise funds in a two-
step process so that FM transmitter and 8-channel receiver sets can soon be
purchased.
When everything is ready, 16 people will be accommodated, and it won't cost
much for additional receivers. The heart of the system is an 8-channel
receiver, so that each specific convention activity is assigned a channel.
You just switch for example to channel one for general sessions and the
banquet or seven for the Publications Committee
business meeting. This assumes you're in the appropriate room.
The CCB Hearing and Visual Impairment Committee is also a support group for
anyone who has a hearing impairment. We don't have an email list yet, but
aspects of hearing loss are discussed on ACB's SASI (Sound and Sight
Impaired) email list. We think of ourselves as a local version of SASI.
You can subscribe to SASI by sending a blank email message to
sasi-subscribe@acb.org.
Dealing with hearing loss is similar to handling vision problems in that
you first need to consider that there is a problem which must be dealt
with. The CCB Hearing and Visual
Impairment Committee is here to help.
Prominent CCB members Roger Petersen, David Jackson and David Hanlon as
well as myself, all have hearing difficulties and belong to the committee.
So come join us at the fall conference and convention. Aside from our regularly-scheduled meeting
at 4:30 PM Saturday afternoon, we hope to make a presentation during a
general session.
Return to the Table of Contents
Is Your Balance Holding You Back?
by Deborah Armstrong
I work for a 112-acre community college. As a guide dog handler of thirty
years, I was used to confidently zipping off to meetings and negotiating
the ongoing campus construction with relative ease. As the resident geek
for disability services, I often had to drop what I was doing and hustle
off to a lab twenty minutes away to figure out why a student's midterm
wouldn't print. As a fifty-something, I didn't pay much attention to
studies proving we lose our sense of balance as we age.
Then one Sunday while washing my bathroom floor, I slipped in a wet puddle.
Suddenly I was in extreme pain, unable to stand. It took months to heal,
though luckily I did not need surgery. Because I worked with
computers, I could continue to do most of my job. My guide dog quickly learned to serve as a furry grab-bar enabling
us to visit even the least accessible bathrooms. Our transportation for
students who depend on crutches or wheelchairs helped me get to my
meetings, and though my independence was somewhat diminished, I assumed I'd
be back to my old fit self in a few months.
But even after I could walk well again, I developed a terrible fear of
falling. Though perhaps common for seniors losing their vision, I had been
a confident blind traveler since high school. Medical professionals
suggested it was a psychological thing; I
had, after all experienced a bad fall, even if only in my own bathroom. Using a knee brace because my leg was now
weaker, was a suggestion I was reluctant to follow. And I've never been
prone to big psychological issues before. I wondered if I was getting
menopausal or there was a deeper cause. I requested tests and to see a
physical therapist.
It turned out I was right; it wasn't all in my head. The physical
therapist saw immediately that my sense of balance was compromised and my
left leg's muscles were weak. The medical tests showed I had a vitamin D
deficiency, because while recovering, I'd spent less time walking around in
the sun. (A
lack of Vitamin D compromises our sense of balance.) Vitamin pills quickly fixed the deficiency, and simple
physical therapy moved me forward on the road to better balance, but
Internet research showed me some scary trends. Falls are the number one
cause of injury for seniors, and millions of seniors with unimpaired vision
experience serious injuries caused by falling every year. The problem is
that their sense of balance has declined.
The sense of balance, I also read was dependent on vision. Even physical
therapists use visual clues to assist clients with relearning balance. I
tried for example to take a fall prevention for senior class at our local
HMO, and they refused
me because they
insisted that good balance required vision. I encountered this strong prejudice everywhere I
turned for help.
It would have been easy at that point to simply get a knee brace and
permanently ride the campus shuttle for the physically limited. How could
I prove to the professionals that I believed I could regain my balance
again? Despite the danger of falls, there is little advice for the senior
who wants to prevent them. They can remove slippery scatter rugs and take
Tai Chi, but by far the most common piece of advice is to improve lighting
in the home. Nobody with severe vision loss wants to have good lighting as
the only
insurance policy to prevent falling! I decided I needed to banish my fear of falling before I could zip around
campus safely again. Luckily we have a program to teach students how to
become personal trainers. I asked C.J., the trainer, if I could become her
guinea pig. C.J. was delighted. She is an open-minded teacher with
advanced certifications in many aspects of exercise science. Personal
trainers find athletes easy to work with, but it's hard to get experience
with people who are older, stiffer, or kinesthetically challenged. C.J.
taught me a mixture of exercises I could do at home and in the gym.
Under her careful tutelage, student trainers worked with me. They learned how
to coach someone who is blind, overweight, creaky and injured, and such
experience will broaden their resumes. I was able to benefit from the
variety of these young people's teaching styles. Some of my helpers were
the students with learning differences I serve in my job. They loved being
able to assist me in return. And until the recent budget cuts, I was
paying absolutely nothing for this amazing service.
The coolest piece of gym equipment I recommend for balance is the bosu,
whose website is www.bosu.com.
This is a springy rubber ball, with a flat
side that sits
on the ground. The exerciser stands on the ball and balances while bending, stretching, or
lifting weights. The first time I was introduced to the Bosu, I burst in
to tears. I couldn't imagine myself balancing on it while even holding on
to the wall. At first we practiced just that. I'd stand, holding firmly
to a nearby wall.
Eventually, I could stand just touching the wall with a single finger.
Then I had to make it harder by bouncing up and down, flinging my arms in
to the air and from side to side. I also practiced stepping on and off it
and even doing slight knee bends. Due to my injury, it is dangerous for me
to do deep squats or some of the other routines athletes practice with
the Bosu. But stepping on and off simulated stepping down from a high train platform, and
bouncing up and down helped me strengthen the leg muscles that keep my knee
safe. Flinging my arms around throws off balance, simulating what might
happen if I stumble on an unexpected curb. I eventually graduated to a
larger Bosu which stands at the height of my thighs.
In mastering the Bosu, I discovered athletes and even their coaches were
terrified to try it with their eyes closed. Today C.J. who also coaches
the cheerleaders, requires they do some simple Bosu work blindfolded. Some
of my students have been inspired to work harder at overcoming their
dyslexia after seeing me struggle with and master balance on the Bosu.
I work out at the gym twice a week now and always do a stint on the Bosu.
Even though I've tripped on many pieces of broken concrete and those evil
cement blocks in parking lots, I have lost the fear of falling. My balance
is undoubtedly much better than it was before I had my fall. I also
suspect, after talking to many older students who both do and do not have
vision issues, that a lack of confidence might be directly related to a
lack of balance. If you are afraid to ride an unfamiliar bus or visit a
store across town, consider that maybe compromised balance is
your body's wisdom.
Your body might be telling you that you
aren't safe.
C.J. and I offer this advice for blind people
improving balance: start simply at home first. Use duct tape to hold two
old phone books together so it makes a solid cube. Add more phone books as
you advance but be sure to create a secure platform. You want it to be a
bit springy but not slippery. Practice stepping on and off your phone book
edifice in a clear, carpeted area, or if you feel unsure, near a strong
heavy table you can hold on to while stepping. Step in different patterns,
on, off, sideways, backwards. Move slowly; breathe deeply and pretend that
a string runs from the top of
your head to your toes.
Practice every day, but don't push yourself beyond your own comfort zone.
Sit in a chair, feet flat on the floor, knees slightly bent. Your feet
should be in the position you normally assume when standing. Place your
hands in front of you in any way that seems comfortable but positioned so
you cannot use your arms to assist you when standing. I like to hold my
palms together, touching my chin with my fingertips. This presses my
elbows close to my sides, preventing them from assisting me to stand. Now
stand up slowly, using only the strength in your legs. Once you are
upright, lower yourself to the chair, again not using your
hands to assist. Just as your rear touches
the chair, but before you settle your weight on to it, stand again slowly.
My physical therapist
made me repeat this 25 times nonstop every morning. It gave me amazingly
strong legs. Of course if you have any concerns that your legs aren't
healthy, you should check with a doctor first before performing this or any
other exercise.
Stand near a solid chair or counter, and holding on to it with one hand,
balance for as long as you can on one foot. Track your progress by
counting "One Mississippi", "Two Mississippi" etc. Log how many
Mississippis you can go standing on the single foot. You will see
improvement each
week. Remember to do this with each foot.
Investigate local fitness centers, YMCA, senior centers and college
gyms. If you are on fixed income, get creative and ask about scholarships
or if you can be part of an experiment or (as I did) other people's
training. If an exercise class looks challenging or inaccessible, don't
give up, but try something else. I unsuccessfully tried several exercise
classes before I found C.J. Don't let injuries, age, arthritis or your
weight be a barrier. Not every exercise opportunity works for morbidly
obese, or arthritic people, but many exercises need to simply be done more
slowly and gently. Make sure the instructor or
trainer has experience working with people who have your physical limitations. You can show them
how to work with your visual
impairment, but they need to be trained properly to deal with physical
disabilities or medical conditions. Instructors should not push a client
in to doing workouts that aren't safe.
Remember to do a variety of exercises and not just focus on balance. We
need stretching for flexibility, aerobics for cardiovascular health and the
often neglected strength training to keep the muscles supporting our joints
strong. I use a treadmill at home to keep up with aerobics. I also use
free weights at
home, to improve my strength and keep osteoporosis at bay. When I travel, I use exercise bands. In the gym, I
work out on machines and use the
time to learn new floor exercises I can do at home. I always ask students
to teach me new stretches.
Don't let little issues prevent you from keeping yourself healthy. I love
to swim but can't fit it in to my
schedule. I am ashamed I cannot walk around the gym independently,
but right now I always
have a student guiding me because there are too many people and obstacles
to navigate. More important, I can independently walk everywhere on campus
again. Neither of these little annoyances have prevented me from getting
what I need to keep my health and balance strong.
Return to the Table of Contents
Spring 2011 Awards
by Roger Petersen and Bernice Kandarian
At our Spring 2011 convention banquet, the CCB Awards Committee presented
three awards and the Publications Committee gave the usual two.
The Awards Committee conferred two Humanitarian Awards and one Community
Service Award.
A Humanitarian Award went to RC Upham, a
long-time volunteer who assists blind people to participate in recreational pursuits. Plaque: [smoked glass 8
By 10, silver underplate and silver lettering on black plate, landscape
mode] California Council of the Blind Humanitarian Award to Robert C. "RC"
Upham for his volunteer service as teacher, coach, mentor, guide, driver,
philosopher and door opener for people who are blind or visually impaired
to recreational pursuits such as skiing, canoeing and camping, dedicating
countless hours to such organizations as Sierra Regional Ski for Light and
Enchanted Hills Camp. Presented this Fourteenth Day of May, 2011, in the
city of Sacramento, California The other Humanitarian Award honored Dr.
Stuart Wittenstein, Superintendent of the California School for the
Blind. Plaque: [smoked glass 8 By 10, silver underplate and silver
lettering on black plate, landscape mode] California Council of the Blind
Humanitarian Award to Dr. Stuart Wittenstein who, as Superintendent of the
California School for the Blind in Fremont, has been a staunch advocate for
the education of children and youth who are blind and visually impaired,
for the use and teaching of braille, and for the opportunity for the
students to engage in real world work experience in preparation for real
world careers. He is also a nationally renowned leader in the
movement to preserve the specialized school as a part of the continuum of educational services available to children and
youth who are blind and visually impaired. Presented this Fourteenth Day
of May, 2011, in the city of Sacramento, California.
Our CCB Community Service Award was presented to a surprised and moved Dawn
Wilcox, whose life exemplifies integration into and service to the
community. Plaque: [black glass 8 by 10, gold underplate and gold
lettering on black plate, landscape mode] California Council of the Blind
Community Service Award TO Dawn Wilcox RN BSN who has made use of her
professional competence and pride as a nurse to educate the
blindness community about health and the health community about blindness and visual impairment. She is a
leader in her local chapter, the Silicon Valley Council of the Blind, as
well as the California Council of Citizens with Low Vision, and Coordinator
of the Health Library at the Vista Center for the Blind and Visually
Impaired in Palo Alto. And she bills herself as "Ye Olde Clarinetist" on
summer Sundays in the park in Los Altos in Ye Olde Towne Band. Presented
this Fourteenth Day of May, 2011 in the city of Sacramento, California The winner of the "Issue-Oriented Article" award by vote of the members of
the Publications Committee
was our former editor, Winifred Downing, for her article Today's Blind Child in School, (BC Fall, 2010) expressing her
profound concern about the plight of the blind child in today's public
schools. When she thanked the committee chair for the award, she said that
what she really wants is for CCB to do something about the situation.
Dave McElroy won the "Lifestyle" article award for his article Traveling
Abroad: It's Easier Than You Think (BC Spring 2010) about how easy and
pleasureful international travel can be for a blind person.
The committee also wishes to give honorable mention to a very close second:
one of our students, Tuan Nguyen
wrote a very fine article
recounting his first ACB convention. Keep writing, Tuan! You have great
potential.
In closing, both committees would like to express our concern about the
dearth of participation of the membership in this process. The Awards
Committee would like to receive more awards nominations, and the
Publications Committee wishes that the membership would submit more
articles for the Blind Californian. Please be in touch with the committee
chairs if you have questions about how to participate.
Return to the Table of Contents
Summary of Spring 2011 Resolutions
by Frank Welte
At each of our conventions the CCB Resolutions Committee puts in long hours
preparing resolutions for consideration by the assembled membership.
Resolutions are the means by which we set the policies of our organization;
so the importance of the Committee's work cannot be overstated. Jeff Thom,
Committee Chair, did a wonderful job chairing the Committee meetings and
reading the resolutions on Sunday morning. Committee members Gabe
Griffith, Gene Lozano, Charles Nabarrete, Dirk Neyhart, Linda Porelle and
Robert Wendt each made significant contributions to the drafting of the
resolutions. Frank Welte also assisted the committee. We appreciated the
willingness of the authors of the resolutions to provide their input during
the editing process. During the spring convention, the Committee
considered 14 resolutions; three were withdrawn, and the remaining eleven
were adopted.
Resolution 2011A-1 urged the California Emergency Management Agency,
CALEMA, to audit local emergency preparedness agencies to determine the
degree to which local disaster preparedness plans are meeting the needs of persons with visual impairments, and it also urged
CALEMA to develop training for local emergency preparedness agencies on
meeting the needs of persons with visual impairments.
Resolution 2011A-2 urged the Department of Rehabilitation and the
Department of General
Services in adopting any modifications to the procurement system for
purchase of computer products for department clients and state employees
with visual impairments to insure that these individuals are able to obtain
fully functioning computer systems that meet their individualized needs
with appropriate training in a timely manner.
Resolution 2011A-3 called on CCB to support SB 543, which would extend the
sunset of the California State Board of Guide Dogs for the Blind from 2012
to 2014.
Resolution 2011A-4 called on CCB to oppose AB 727, which would require the
percentage of nutritious content in vending machines located on state
property to increase from 35% to 50% by 2014 and to 100% by 2016.
Resolution 2011A-5 called for the continued sale of incandescent light
bulbs while manufacturers work on producing a light source that uses less
electricity while retaining the same light characteristics as incandescent
light bulbs. It further directed CCB to support federal legislation directed to this end.
Resolution 2011A-6 dealt with the Department of Rehabilitation policy of
funding the first two years of a client's post-secondary education at the
community college rate regardless of the college attended by the client.
It was withdrawn by the author, and it was referred to the Rehabilitation
Services Committee.
Resolution 2011A-7 directed CCB to call upon local governments to use
accessible voting equipment during local elections; it also directed CCB to
pursue a strategy to require local governments to use accessible voting
equipment during such elections.
Resolution 2011A-8 directed CCB to support efforts to insure that there be
no additional state funding reductions that jeopardize levels of service in
areas impacting Californians who are blind or visually impaired.
Resolution 2011A-9 directed CCB to support multiple options for accessible
absentee balloting, including accessible web-based technologies and
telephonic voting systems.
Resolution 2011A-10 directed CCB to call upon the state Department of
Education and the Department of General Services to insure that high
quality textbooks will continue to be produced in a timely manner for elementary school students using large
print or braille.
Resolution 2011A-11 dealt with the Business Enterprise Program's collection
of vending machine revenues at certain United States Postal Service vending
facilities. It was withdrawn by the author.
Resolution 2011A-12 dealt with accessibility problems of the
safeway.com website. This resolution was withdrawn and referred to the Technology
Committee.
Resolutions 2011A-13 and 2011A-14 were the appreciation resolutions to the
convention volunteers and hotel staff respectively.
Return to the Table of Contents
Report on State and Federal Legislation
by Frank Welte
On May 12 about 30 CCB members gathered at the California State Capitol to
take part in our 2011 Capitol Day. After a legislative briefing, members
of our group visited the offices of state legislators to explain our
positions on several issues of importance to blind Californians. We also
enjoyed a picnic lunch in the park adjacent to the Capitol. We thank the
Randolph Sheppard Vendors of California, for providing our lunch again this
year, and we also thank Silicon Valley Council of the Blind and Mr. Art Takahara for
covering the cost of a charter bus for this event.
State Legislation
As I write this article Governor Brown and the State Legislature are
continuing to struggle to close an estimated $25 billion state budget
deficit. The budget cuts agreed to earlier this year were enough to cut
the deficit nearly in half, and an unexpected rise in state revenues this
year will cover some of the deficit as well. However, in order to close
the remainder of the budget gap, legislators may consider additional social
service
cuts. We need to continue contacting our members of the Assembly and Senate and urge them to preserve vital services to people with
disabilities.
CCB-SPONSORED Bills
Our regulations bill, AB 410, by Assemblyman Sandre Swanson, has passed
through the Assembly Committee on Business, Professions and Consumer
Protection and also the Assembly Committee on Appropriations. By the time
you read this column, the bill will have been taken up by the full
Assembly. AB 410 will require state agencies, upon request, to provide
screen-reader friendly versions of regulatory text in notices of proposed
regulations. In order to control state
costs, the scope of the bill has been restricted to regulations adopted by the Department of Rehabilitation, regulations that must be submitted to
the California Building Standards Commission that pertain to disability
access compliance, regulations adopted by the State Department of Education
that pertain to special education and regulations that pertain to the Medi-
Cal program. In the future we plan to work to extend this new practice to
more state agencies.
Another CCB sponsored bill, AB 390 by Assembly member Anthony Portantino,
will place a requirement in statute to insure that the Department of Motor
Vehicles will continue its recently implemented
practice of sending renewal notices to holders of California State ID cards. AB 390 has passed through the Assembly and is working its
way through the State Senate.
Other State Legislation AB 727, by Assemblywoman Holly Mitchell, would require food services being
operated on state property to provide food that conforms to federal
nutrition guidelines and would require the Department of General Services
to encourage the purchase of this food from local growers. The bill would
also require vending machines located on state property to increase their
percentage of nutritious food items from 35% to 50% by
2014 and to 100% by 2016. By the time you read this column, AB 727 will have been considered by the full Assembly. CCB and Randolph Sheppard
Vendors of California will continue to oppose this bill unless the vending
machine content requirements are adjusted so as not to harm the livelihood
of licensed blind vendors. Please express your concerns about these bills
to your member of the State Assembly and Senate.
Federal Legislation
You will recall that CCB has relied on vehicle donations for a significant
portion of its funding in recent years. In 2004, some unfavorable federal
tax rules took effect, and
since then, revenues from car donations have been greatly diminished.
The US House of Representatives is considering a bill, HR 860, which would
bring balance back to the way the IRS treats vehicle donations, so that CCB
and other nonprofits will receive the amounts of donations that will allow
them to greatly expand their vital services. HR 860 has 61 cosponsors
including seven Californians; Jim Costa, Sam Farr, Bob Filner, Barbara Lee,
Grace Napolitano, Pete Stark and Lynn Woolsey. The Senate bill is S 110.
Please ask your member of the House of Representatives to cosponsor HR 860,
and ask Senators Boxer and Feinstein to cosponsor
S 110.
Finally, I wish to thank all the members of CCB who have shared with
e in the advocacy work of this organization and given me so many words of
encouragement in the past two years. It has been a time of learning and
professional growth for me, and it has been a privilege to serve CCB.
While I have chosen to pursue other professional opportunities, I will
still be actively engaged in advocacy and in the other activities of this
organization.
Please direct inquiries about CCB's legislative advocacy activities to Jeff
Thom, Governmental Affairs Committee Chair at 916-995-3967 or at
jsthom@comcast.net.
You can get detailed information about all of
ACB's legislative activities by reading legislative reports which will be
posted regularly on the website and distributed on our various Email lists.
You can listen to the reports by calling CCB's toll-free phone number, 800-
221-6359, on evenings and
weekends. Check with
the California Connection to find out when the next legislative report will
be updated. For federal legislative information, please check with the
Washington Connection 800-424-8666 or on the ACB website
www.acb.org.
Return to the Table of Contents
CCB OFFICERS AND DIRECTORS 2011
[Editor's note: We are indebted to Bernice Kandarian who updates and
corrects the list of CCB officers and board members, including the number of the term each is
presently serving, the year elected to that term and the year next up for
election. Terms actually begin on January 1 following election. We shall
publish the list this way at least in issues just preceding and following
elections and routinely if members wish. The presence of an asterisk means
that the individual served a partial term before the first full term.]
- President, Donna Pomerantz (10-12 1st term)
Pasadena, CA 91106
626-844-4388 h
donna.pomerantz@ccbnet.org
- 1st Vice President, Eugene Lozano, Jr. (*10-12 2nd term)
Sacramento, CA 95841
eugene.lozano@ccbnet.org
- 2nd Vice President, Roger Petersen (*10-11 partial term)
Mountain View, CA 94040
650-969-1688 h
roger.petersen@ccbnet.org <
- Secretary, Gabe Griffith (*09-11 2nd term)
Concord, CA 94521
916-505-8780
gabe.griffith@ccbnet.org
Treasurer, Peter Pardini (10-12 1st term)
Mill Valley, CA 94941
415-990-9202 c
peter.pardini@ccbnet.org
- Immediate Past President, Jeff Thom (11-??)
Sacramento, CA 95831
916-995-3967 C
jeff.thom@ccbnet.org
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
PUBLICATIONS COMMITTEE
- Bernice Kandarian, Chair
Mountain View, CA 94040
650-969-3155
bernice.kandarian@ccbnet.org
- Judy Wilkinson, Editor
San Leandro, CA 94577
510-357-1844 h
editor@ccbnet.org
- Winifred Downing
San Francisco, CA 94122
winifred.downing@ccbnet.org
55
- Evelyn Drewry
Ramona, CA 92065
evelyn.drewry@ccbnet.org
- Roger Petersen
Mountain View, CA 94040
650-969-1688
roger.petersen@ccbnet.org
- Bonnie Rennie
Santa Ana, CA 92705
bonnie.rennie@ccbnet.org
- Donna Sanchez
San Jose, CA 95128
donna.sanchez@ccbnet.org
- Peter Schellin
San Luis Obispo, CA 93401
peter.schellin@ccbnet.org
- Catherine Schmitt Whitaker
Diamond Bar, CA 91765
catherine.schmitt@ccbnet.org
- Susan Schulter
Saratoga, CA 95070
susan.schulter@ccbnet.org
- Lynne Laird, Large Print Layout
Berkeley, CA 94705
lynne.laird@ccbnet.org
Technical Operations Group
- webmaster@ccbnet.org
- Greg Fowler, John Glass, Jeremy Johansen, Phill Obregon,
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