Does anyone understand what the pasted passage below from the ACB news means? It was forwarded by Peter Altschul. When I read this item I was completely lost as to what the heck they were talking about. * Public money, private agendas and consumer choice? ACB has become increasingly concerned for the chilling impact of activities at the rehabilitation Services Administration on effective use of consumer choice in rehabilitation services. Thinly veiled attempts to replace a range of options for rehabilitation delivery with a monolithic approach to services, the publication of materials with a single philosophical focus and the funding of a study comparing orientation and mobility certification without appropriate controls to prevent the fox from studying access routes to the hen house, only narrow if not eliminate legitimate choices for consumers in access to rehabilitation. ACB is monitoring this situation and will not stand by if we conclude that consumer choice has been compromised by the very agency responsible for implementing it. Terri Hedgpeth Student Support Specialist Sr. Disability Resources for Students Matthews Center box 87-3202 Arizona State University (480) 965-1232 (v) (480) 965-0441 (fax) -----Original Message----- From: Peter Altschul [mailto:[log in to unmask]] Sent: Sunday, March 09, 2003 2:22 PM To: [log in to unmask] Subject: News notes from the national office Once again, I' sending this message because it has several technology-related items in it. Peter NEWS NOTES FROM THE NATIONAL OFFICE For the week ending March 7, 2003. * Safety first: ACB on the move. ACB this week worked with the makers of Sound Alert to encourage the deployment of the life saving technology in the United States. After the tragedies in Illinois and Rhode Island that underscored how both blind and sighted people are equally at risk in emergency evacuations of public places due to the inability to locate exits especially in smoke filled environments, ACB believes the instantaneous ability to locate the sound source of Sound Alert is imperative. Sound Alert emits a broadband sound that directs attention immediately to where the source is. Exits equipped with Sound Alert have been shown to decrease the likelihood of fatalities by as much as half. this kind of technology linked with the McGuire Associates disability evacuation planning kit has the promise of saving many lives in situations we all pray will never happen. In the coming months, ACB will share more specific information to assist in keeping safety first on our agenda as a nation and as a community. * Video Description Restoration Act about to be launched! ACB and our audio description coalition partners have been on the move this week in getting the right language hammered out for a Video Description Restoration Act. Much like when the air passengers protections had to be restored by Congress, so too must we now join the struggle to restore our rights to access to television programming through audio description. Not only must we seek access to the programming, but also to the means of gaining access to on screen menus and navigation of those menus. It will not be easy, but it is imperative that we restore access as a fundamental matter of fairness and we will win. MOre to come. * Talks continue with Sprint. As charlie Crawford was working with the audio description issue, ACB Director of Advocacy and Governmental Affairs Melanie Brunson was busy talking with Sprint about access to cell phones and services. ACB believes this dialog will only help in bringing closer the day when blind folks can access cell phones with the same ease of use as anyone else. On a related matter, the FCC cell phone formal complaint is moving forward with deliberate speed. * Public money, private agendas and consumer choice? ACB has become increasingly concerned for the chilling impact of activities at the rehabilitation Services Administration on effective use of consumer choice in rehabilitation services. Thinly veiled attempts to replace a range of options for rehabilitation delivery with a monolithic approach to services, the publication of materials with a single philosophical focus and the funding of a study comparing orientation and mobility certification without appropriate controls to prevent the fox from studying access routes to the hen house, only narrow if not eliminate legitimate choices for consumers in access to rehabilitation. ACB is monitoring this situation and will not stand by if we conclude that consumer choice has been compromised by the very agency responsible for implementing it. * National office spring marathon underway! It's that time of year again when membership numbers are due, affiliate plans for the convention must be in by mid-month, scholarships begin to move, the summer intern applications come in, the convention support activities start up, and of course we've got the legislative seminar in two weeks and the transportation survey results to input to the web site! So don't be surprised when you call if folks sound a bit haggard! Grin. Oh yeah, one other thing -- Melanie's computer decided to die as she was writing up all the legislative seminar stuff and a report on the accessible money suit still in the court. Do you think aspirin sales will be up this month? Smile. *** News notes are a compilation of the highlights of the events of the preceding week and are not intended to provide a comprehensive listing of all activities, or treatment of the topics mentioned. For information and more detailed treatment of especially legislative concerns, call the Washington Connection at 800-424-8666 nights and weekends eastern time. Be sure to read the Braille Forum each month and check in with the ACB web site and radio at WWW.ACB.ORG and WWW.ACBRADIO.ORG respectively. VICUG-L is the Visually Impaired Computer User Group List. To join or leave the list, send a message to [log in to unmask] In the body of the message, simply type "subscribe vicug-l" or "unsubscribe vicug-l" without the quotations. VICUG-L is archived on the World Wide Web at http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/archives/vicug-l.html