2013 Washington Seminar
Greetings! First of all, I would like to apologize for this late issue of the bulletin. I was confident that I would be able to share good news from the 2013 Washington Seminar and here it is! “The Fair Wages for Workers with Disabilities Act of 2013” bill now has a sponsor. Congressman Greg Harper (MS) will head up the effort to abolish subminimum wages for disabled workers in the USA. This is a landmark event for the blind. We will need to have all hands on deck to educate and encourage California members of Congress to pass this critical legislation. I will let you know when we have a number and language.

In addition, Federationists were able to recruit at least twenty co-sponsors for the “Equal Access to Air Travel for Service-Disabled Veterans (HR 164).” Provide travel privileges to totally disabled veterans. This bill amends Title 10 of the U.S. Code, to permit veterans who have a service-connected, permanent disability rated as total to travel on military aircraft in the same manner and to the same extent as retired members of the Armed Forces entitled to such travel.

In appreciation
Thank you to all of the teams members of the 2013 Washington Seminar. This year, fourteen Californians managed to visit with fifty five members of congress and senators over a three day period. Tiffany Manosh and Michael Hingson did an exemplary job of organizing and tracking all of the appointments. Now it’s up to us to follow through and contact our representatives in local district offices to let them know that we need their support. Let your voices be heard.

National Scholarship Deadline is March 31, 2013
Please help spread the word that there are thirty scholarships available to eligible blind college students. The awards range in value from $3,000 to $12,000. The deadline for applications is March 31, 2013. Winners will be invited to attend the annual convention of the National Federation of the Blind in Orlando, Florida between July 1 and July 6, 2013. For more information and guidelines, go to https://nfb.org/scholarships.

California Chemistry Camp is Coming
Fifteen high school students will learn how blind professionals use science in their careers every day. Armed with the knowledge of how to make science accessible these young aspiring scientists will share three days and two nights of intense hands-on experiments. On May 3 through 5 specially selected students will travel to Napa for an all expense paid weekend of hard work, empowerment, and life changing mentoring experiences. Watch for more information in the March Bulletin.

At Large Chapter Meetings
The purpose of the At Large Chapter is to give blind people living in rural communities the opportunity to participate in a regular monthly support group of the National Federation of the Blind of California. Each month, on the second Thursday, interested people can call in to a conference call number and become fully informed and involved in the unique issues facing the blind of California. The next meeting will be held on Thursday, February 14 at 7 p.m. The call in number is 712-432-0175 and the code is 184220# so mark your calendar for March 14, April 11, May 9, and June13.

BELL is coming to California
The Braille Enrichment Literacy and Learning Program is an intensive two week Braille enrichment program. Children four to twelve will benefit from summer time fun, hands-on experiences with Braille. California will hold two BELL Programs this year, one in Sacramento and one in Los Angeles. Los Angeles will be held between July 15 and July 26, 2013. Sacramento will be held between June 17 through June 28, 2013. Watch for additional information and applications in the next bulletin.

Mary Willows, President
3934 Kern Court
Pleasanton, CA 94588
(925) 462-8575
mwillows@sbcglobal.net

To be read at all chapter meeting:

Legislative update:
As many of you know, the Senate Budget and Fiscal Review committee’s subcommittee on education held a hearing on March 22 to discuss a proposed
1.8 million dollar cut to the budget of the state special schools. Should
this cut go into effect, the California School for the Blind would be
among those greatly impacted. On March 21, members of the River City
chapter visited the offices of those senators on the committee, spoke with
legislative aids and passed out information detailing how these cuts would
affect blind students in California. On the twenty second, we attended the hearing
and many of us gave compelling testimony. The subcommittee decided to leave the item open until the budget is revised in May. This means we still have
time to speak with our senators about this important issue. We are asking
all of you to contact the members of the Senate Budget and Fiscal Review
committee, and urge them to oppose cuts to the state special schools.

For more information, including instructions on how to contact senators on
the committee, visit: For Inot
If you have any questions, contact Angela Fowler at 530-902-0987.

***

River City Chapter Fundraiser:
Hey Baseball Fans
The River City chapter is teaming up with the Sacramento River Cats.  Come take part in this great fundraising adventure for the chapter. The River Cats will be taking on the Reno Aces during their home opener Friday April 13th – Monday April 16th, 2012. For each ticket purchased online the chapter will receive $5 bucks.

To purchase tickets for this fun filled event go to: www.rivercats.com/fundraisers then scroll down until you find a link that says National Federation of the Blind – River City Chapter. The promo code is NFBC.

Hope to see you at the ball park. Go CATS! Lets catch the fever

***

The San Fernando Valley Chapter will be hosting a Crime Prevention seminar:
Time:  10 am to 1 pm
Day:     Saturday May 12th
Location: Therapeutic Living Center for the Blind
7915 Lindley Avenue
Reseda, CA 91335

Participants will learn about crime prevention, Safety tips and
some self defense.
Please RSVP to Robert Stigile, President
San Fernando Valley Chapter by May 5th
phone 818-419-5331
e-mail: <a href=”mailto:rstigile@sbcglobal.net”>Robert Stigile</a>

***

Mary Willows, President
39481 Gallaudet Drive Apt. 127
Fremont, CA 94538
(510) 248-0100
<a href=”mailto:mwillows@sbcglobal.net”>Email Mary Willows, President</a>

To Be Read At Chapter Meetings:

I don’t usually cut and paste articles for the bulletin but, this month I am making an exception.  Over the weekend we broke through a few barriers for our affiliate and I think you would enjoy reading about it.  The following is an article about “Chemistry Camp” 2011.

Breaking Down Barriers: Opening the Doors of Chemistry to the Blind
By Mary Willows and Henry Wedler

The National Federation of the Blind of California and the California Association of Blind Students sponsored a unique Science experience for blind high school students.  The event was called, “California Chemistry Camp 2011”.  It was held on April 29, 30 and May 1, 2011 in the serene Enchanted Hills Camp, a camp directed by the San Francisco Lighthouse for the Blind near Napa, California.

Ten young blind students were invited to spend the weekend with four of our NFB of California mentors. Several post-doctoral fellows and graduate students from the University of California, Davis chemistry department, the UC Davis chemistry Club, and Professors from the prestigious UC Davis chemistry department assisted Henry Wedler, undergraduate student and Treasurer of the California Association of Blind Students, to assemble materials and facilitate hands on activities which will change what it means to be a blind student.  Henry’s goal for the two day academy was not to teach a science class.  Rather, he aimed  to teach blind high school students that you can study chemistry as a blind person and there are ways to make the subject of chemistry completely accessible. Ultimately, when these students get to a science class where a teacher is misguided in thinking that they should be concerned for their safety, they can say with conviction that they want to participate fully in laboratory activities, that they understand the safety concerns of the instructor, and that they know how to work with chemicals safely. If it’s something the students don’t feel comfortable with, they know how to ask for assistance and how to work with an assistant to ensure that they, (the students) are in charge and not merely letting the assistant do everything for them. One student from Davis even asked Henry if he could do chemistry research during the summer working for a UC Davis chemistry professor. This will most likely happen either this or next summer.

Chemistry is based on observations of various solutions, atoms, molecules, chemical reactions, and reaction mechanisms. In particular, Chemistry concentrates on the composition, structure, and properties of matter as well as chemical changes that occur during a reaction.  Students at chemistry camp got to involve themselves strongly in each of these fields.

All of us have taken a Science class in school where experiments were performed and students were required to make observations of the changes they observed. But, how many of us led the experimental process, played an active role in performing the experiments, and demonstrated that a blind person can and should be a Chemist?  How many of us were relegated to the end of the lab table to simply listen in while sighted students learned how to create esters, titrate chemicals or explore thermodynamics, kinetics, natural products chemistry, and combustion? How many of us learned to use a pipette, pour chemicals safely, and observe chemical changes using senses other than vision?

What do Chemists do anyway?  If you ask Henry Wedler, you will get a litany of career choices which require a degree in Chemistry. For instance, you could get a job with a candy company making esters and analyze them using the sense of smell as artificial flavorings for candies. As Henry is doing, you could study theoretical chemistry on the computer and then get a job either teaching or working in industry to develop new and innovative theoretical models to understand how organic chemistry reactions actually happen. If you’re good at theoretical chemistry, you could do anything. You could work for NASA developing material for space suits, rocket fuels, etc. Alternatively you could perform  wine chemistry at one of the wineries next door to Enchanted Hills Camp making some of the finest Cabernet sauvignon and Cabernet Franc wines in the world. Henry’s graduate chemistry will revolve around the chemistry of wine and olive oil. With the right adaptations, theoretical chemistry is completely accessible to a blind person without assistance. The motivation for the students is that a blind person is capable of embarking on all of these careers. 

In addition to having fun with Chemistry, Henry made sure there was time for students to get to know each other.  The students showcased talents, told each other jokes and shared stories about their frustration with an education system which discourages breaking through their comfort zones. Students got to collaborate during social time with students of the transition Summit, a program sponsored by the Lighthouse for the Blind of San Francisco where high school students receive guidance on the transition between school and work. This collaboration proved to be extremely fruitful. Friendships were formed in short order between these budding chemists, their mentors, and other students at camp. The California affiliate will be holding a fundraiser to ensure that similar weekend experiences continue.  We will be holding a live auction and pasta feed on June 12, 2011 at the Courtyard Marriott in Fairfield, California.  If you would like to buy tickets to the event or make a donation to future Chemistry Camps, please visit:
 http://www.formstack.com/forms/?1071735-2Hx4MPDim9
 
Congratulations to Our Braille Readers are Leaders Winners:
The results of the “Braille Readers are Leaders” contest are out.  This year, one of the students from the California School for the Blind was a big winner.  Jonathon Wong won $50.00 for reading the most pages of braille in his age category.  If you have a family in your area with a blind child in school, please tell them about the contest and try to encourage participation in next year event.

Wine Tasting Fundraiser for the Shasta Cascade Chapter:
On June 11, 2011 from 11:00 A.M. to 2:00 P.M. local wineries will be pouring samples at President Karen Steele’s home in Shingletown.  There will be craft booths.  Donation is $10.00.  30562 Withrow Road, Shingletown, CA, 96088
Phone:  530-474-3885

Catch Our Dreams:
On June 12, 2011we will hold a fundraising event for future Chemistry Camp opportunities in California.  We will auction off over $1,000.00 in merchandise while we feast on pasta.  Our entertainment for the afternoon will be a blind ventriloquist.  Tickets are only $25.00.  For more information and ticket orders go to www.sixdots.org where you will find directions and a more detailed flyer.

Mary Willows, President
39481 Gallaudet Drive Apt. 127
Fremont, CA 94538
(510) 248-0100
mwillows@sbcglobal.net