The Consumer Vision Magazine
September/October, 2011
Publisher: Bob Branco
Editor: Janet Marcley
Braille Production: Perkins Braille and Talking Book Library CD Production: Bob Zeida
Cassette Production: Audible Local Ledger, Sherry Bergeron Large-Print Production: Audible Local Ledger, Sherry Bergeron Email Production: Bob Branco and Janet Marcley
Print Production: Alpha Graphics
Board of Directors: Clement Beaulieu, Darryl Breffe, Steve Brown, Lauren Casey, Dan Germano, Bob Hachey, Allen Hensel, Alan Soule and Ken Sylvia
If you would like to subscribe to Consumer Vision six times a year, please email branco182@verizon.net or call our office at 508-994-4972, and we will discuss which format you want to receive. The Consumer Vision is available in small print, large print, Braille, cassette, CD and email.
Note: For searching purposes, three asterisks (***) have been inserted just before the beginning of each new article or section.
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Coastline Elderly Nutrition News: What do you know about Probiotics?
Technological Land-Slide Affects Blind Workers: Return to the Dark Ages Storm
Inconsistencies Among Agencies
Coastline Elderly Nutrition News: Eating Right for a Healthy Mind
Consumer Vision Trivia Contest
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by John Justice
Have you ever wondered what some of the terms mean which are batted back and forth so readily by computer users? Most visually impaired people use computers in one form or another, either at work, at home or on the road. Computer experts seem to believe that everyone automatically knows what a certain word means and they go on with that assumption as a basis for their discussion. Well, for some of us, they are speaking a foreign language. Maybe this article will wave away some of the fog for those computer users who don't know but are afraid to ask because they don't want to appear ignorant.
Let's begin with one of the most commonly used words in the computer world. What is a "byte" anyway? Most people understand that computers use, as their basis of operation, a simple value. Either a 1 or a 0, used in the correct sequence, is the beginning of anything we do with a computer. Most computer memory capacities are determined by the use of the word "byte," which is actually eight "bits" strung together; each bit is either a 1 or a 0 value. A byte is a single exchange of digital data. It is the minimal measurement of any digital system. Most mathematical systems we use, other than computers, are based on multiples of ten. But every single program is designed around the use of either 1 or 0. So everything to do with a computer is based on two digits, either 1, a positive number, or 0, a negative value. To quote an engineer I once knew, "It's either on or it's off. There is no in between."
So, if someone is talking about 1 kilobyte, they don't mean one thousand bytes. Actually, there are 1024 bytes in a kilobyte. At this point, you're probably asking yourself, "Who cares?" The only time this might become important is if you were trying to figure out how much memory you have left on your hard drive.
One kilobyte = 1024 bytes. That can really get to be a challenge when you are buying a system and the salesman tells you that you have a hard drive with the capacity of 250 megabytes. The drive manufacturers use multiples of ten when they are determining the size of a drive. I'm not going to give you a headache by calculating how much memory you actually have, but it isn't really 250 million bytes.
While we're on the subject of memory, there is one important point that has to be made here. In a computer, there is memory which is used to store programs and files which are kept on hard drives, disks, portable drives and so on. But when it is time to use one of those pieces of stored information, you will need a certain amount of "RAM," which translates as "random access memory." When you activate a program by "clicking" on it (or in our case as blind computer users, pressing Enter to open the program), the computer calls that program or file up and displays it. That takes RAM, quite a lot of RAM when a screen reader is involved. There are always some programs operating in the background and they use up some of that RAM space or memory as well. With that in mind, the size of the RAM in any computer is much more important than its storage capacity.
When this all started, many years ago, most computers had a maximum of 640 kilobytes in RAM capacity. In those days, most programs were small enough that this wasn't a problem. But in your computer right now, you probably have software that uses a great deal more RAM to operate. Today's modern computers, even the portable laptops and notebook systems, have a minimum of 1 gigabyte of RAM. A system like that has almost a million available bytes of memory which can be used by the system and the operator, also assigning a priority to certain types of programs while reducing or "restoring" others to use less memory.
So how can you get the best performance out of any computer? If a program uses up so much RAM to function, what can you do to give the computer as much capacity as possible to operate the software you do need? If you are not using a program and don't plan to use it immediately, shut it down. But you might need several different programs to be available while performing a task. Here's an example of what makes the Windows program so good. To write an article, we will need access to several tools or software applications. Jaws is running. A word processor, like Microsoft Word will be needed. During the preparation of this article, accumulated notes can be saved in another Word or WordPad file. Spell-checking functions and a thesaurus are already part of Word. A calculator might be required to determine the exact number of bytes to be found in the computer's hard drive storage. If all of these programs were run simultaneously in their normal full-screen form, a tremendous amount of RAM would be expended. Shutting down these applications would mean that there would be no immediate access to the data they contain.
Windows is all about doing several things at the same time. There is an excellent Windows tool which allows the operator to help his or her system function as efficiently as possible. This will involve the introduction of several additional confusing terms. What does it mean when a program or window is "maximized, restored or minimized"? Let's take those three words apart for a moment. When we speak of "maximizing" a window, we are allowing the window to use the "maximum" space available. When If we find it necessary to "restore" a program, we are "storing" it in a place where it can be accessed when needed. Finally, if a program is "minimized" for a while, it takes up the "minimum" amount of space while still being available. The computer will often take these steps automatically to preserve as much RAM memory as possible. But if you want to change how much room or RAM a program is using, focus on a program you aren't using, press Alt Space and, in most cases, a dialog will come up, giving you the option to maximize, restore, minimize or even close it.
The Window List:
Accessing this list is easy and it will tell you which programs are currently running and what state they are in. With Jaws, the key combination for entering the Window List dialog is Insert+F10. For Window Eyes users, the command may be somewhat different but the functionality is still the same. When you hear the term "dialog" as it applies to a computer system, you are in a window or display where you can directly communicate with the computer by performing certain functions. The Window List is what is called a "Dialog" because the operator can enter commands which change the displayed information. Once you are in that dialog, you can use the arrow keys to move up and down, reading the names of the programs and their current state. Most of these Window List displays will give you a button called "Switch TO," which will immediately focus the computer on that program and open or "maximize" it for immediate use. If you choose a program in this way, the Window List display is immediately closed. When a program is "maximized," it takes up almost the entire screen and all of its functions are available to the operator.
Transmission or Download Speeds:
There is a commercial war going on between the other "cable" providers like Comcast and the more modern fiber-optics systems like Verizon FIOS. But what does this mean to the average computer user? When a salesman tells you that you can get 7 megabytes of download speed from the fiber-optic system, he's giving you a value based on optimum transmission and reception conditions. 7 megabytes = 7 thousand kilobytes or 7 million bytes of data transmitted in a second.
That is one incredibly fast transfer speed. You should be aware, however, that the figure mentioned is a selling point. You will get that kind of speed some of the time when all conditions are optimal, but many things can impact that speed. Those would include internet conditions at the time of the transmission, the condition of the fiber-optic cable, weather, and so on.
But what impacts download speed the most are two factors.
1. Your own individual computer, and
2. The current usage on that particular internet service provider's network.
Under the worst operating conditions, fiber-optic transmission is many times faster than any conventional cable network and often hundreds of times faster than any dial-up connection. The reason for that is simple, although the technology is light years away from what we started with. Fiber optic is literally information sent through glass fiber by equipment which uses light rather than electricity to carry modulated signals. One fibe- optic cable can handle thousands of simultaneous transmissions. By the time the signal reaches your computer of course, it has been converted to standard electronic formats. But the speed between various conversion points is nothing less than phenomenal! It is relatively new technology, however, and as such, tends to be considerably more expensive when compared to standard cable networks. There are commercials out there which try to claim that new technology has made older-style cable systems as fast as fiber optics. They have certainly improved their download speeds but even at their best and most expensive speeds, they are still operating at about half the download speed of a fiber-optic system.
But why should anyone care about that speed? As technology has developed, software has increased in complexity and has grown in size as a result. In the year 2000, the average size of a computer program was about six hundred kilobytes. Today, the average size of a piece of ordinary software is two megabytes. When a computer user is dealing with software or downloads which are that large, he or she needs to get that information into the computer as quickly as possible. Even with today's amazing improvements in service, the potential for interruption or corruption of a large file during transfer is still a possibility. Here's an example of what I mean. If a computer user downloads a song which contains multiple media such as music, video, static data and functional parameters, one song can be as much as three megabytes in size. If anything interferes with that download before it is completed, the entire program might be rendered useless. The idea, therefore, is to transmit data as quickly as possible. The longer the connection between two computers exists, the potential for interruption increases exponentially.
The introduction of download services like Apple, Audio.com and net flicks means that more and more people are obtaining their entertainment over the internet rather than purchasing hard copies. Think about that for a moment. How much of the software on your computer has been downloaded, rather than installed from a hard disk? Most computers sold today have hard drives that are at least two hundred and fifty gigabytes in size. That kind of memory was unheard of even ten years ago. A gigabyte is one thousand megabytes.
One computer expert surmised that there is more memory in personal computers today than there was in all of the government's computers back in the year 2000. It is possible to purchase a portable hard drive today that is several terabytes in size. A terabyte is one thousand gigabytes.
As time passes, we, as blind computer users, are relying on the dependability of our computers to provide access to the world around us. We believe that the only way to assure us of reliable download capability is by obtaining the fastest possible internet service. At this time, the fastest and most reliable service is provided by Fiber Optic systems.
Computer Types and Descriptions:
When considering the purchase of a new computer, there are various descriptive terms which must be fully understood. The visually impaired customer should use caution when making a decision.
A desktop computer is the most commonly used system. It involves a central processor, a monitor and keyboard. As technology changes, that particular type of system is losing ground to other, newer designs. Since we have to use a keyboard to navigate within our software, this is still the most reliable choice for the visually impaired computer user.
If space is a problem, the next best choice might be a laptop computer.
This portable device includes the central processor, monitor and a slightly different keyboard in one single package. A combination DVD/CD drive is included in an available drawer. Most current laptop computers also have several types of inputs including card slots and USB connectors so that additional external equipment or memory can be added. The original laptop has been replaced to some extent by other designs like the notebook computer but the basic components are still the same. The only drawback to these portable devices is that there is no keypad on the right side of the unit. However, USB keyboards can be purchased at a reasonable rate and the operator will then have the use of a full-sized keyboard with all of the features we have come to know.
The recent development of a portable computer known as the Netbook has created a lot of dialog on the computer programs. The Netbook was designed as a more reasonable alternative to the laptop. It has a hard drive for storage and is fitted with card slots and USB inputs. However, as a rule, the RAM memory is much smaller and the application of a screen reader results in very sluggish response. In the test we performed, System Access was loaded onto a Toshiba Netbook. When a key was pressed, the speech took as long as one second or more to respond. There have been some reports of partial success with Netbook computers and speech but the results have been unsatisfactory in most cases.
The newest type of portable computer to come onto the market is the tablet in its many forms. Although many visually impaired operators have had considerable success with this unit, it may not be a wise choice for the average computer user. The Apple IPad uses touch screen technology comparable to the kind found on the IPod Touch and on IPhones. Apple's amazing speech does make it possible to use the equipment as a blind person but it does present challenges. The tablet computer has no moving parts.
The memory is digital and is limited to a maximum of sixty-four gigabytes. The RAM capacity produces excellent response and the sound quality, especially when connected to external speaker systems, is incredible. However, a sixty-four gigabyte IPad II costs approximately eight hundred dollars. For the same cost, one of the best laptops available can be purchased. That laptop would have a faster processor, larger RAM and almost five times the storage capacity. Since the tablet computer has no moving parts, external drives and storage units must be acquired. With the additional cost of a portable DVD player/recorder, the cost is now up to nine hundred dollars. If a larger portable disk drive is also part of the system, the total cost, not including taxes, would be one thousand dollars. Although this type of technology is fascinating, it is not, in our opinion, worth the price when the additional difficulty of simply operating the unit is taken into consideration.
Conclusion:
The most wonderful part of modern computer technology is that there is something available for almost every person's needs or preferences. This article has been presented as a guide and the opinions expressed are those of the author. They are based on personal research and our readers are certainly welcome to offer their own views on the matter.
John and Linda Justice
with Guide Dogs Jake and Zachary
personal e-mail: john_justice@verizon.net
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Coastline Elderly Nutrition News: What do you know about Probiotics?
From the desk of Kim Ferreira, MS, RD, LDN
Coastline Elderly Services, Inc.
What are Probiotics?
Probiotic literally means "for life." The best way to think of probiotics is as live, microbial cultures consumed or applied for a health benefit.
Why Probiotics?
Scientists are learning more each day about the role of microbes in keeping people healthy and the multitude of health benefits associated with consuming the right type and levels of probiotic microbes.
Research has suggested that probiotic bacteria can:
_ Maintain digestive health
_ Help reduce the risk of certain diarrheal illnesses
_ Assist lactose intolerant people with lactose digestion _ Enhance the immune function
Some preliminary studies also report that certain probiotics can play a role in decreasing Helicobacter pylori colonization of the stomach, helping patients cope with side effects of antibiotic therapy, managing relapse of some inflammatory bowel conditions, decreasing the risk of certain cancers, decreasing dental-carries-causing microbes in the mouth, and keeping healthy people healthy.
Where do I get probiotics?
Most probiotic products are either foods or dietary supplements. Probiotics are mostly added to fermented dairy products such as yogurt and cheese, and possibly also to:
_ Granola and candy bars _ Frozen yogurt
_ Juice
_ Cookies
Source: www.usprobiotics.org or www.innovatewithdairy.com.
Meals on Wheels and Sodium
Our meals provide up to 1300 mg of sodium. The current recommendation for sodium is 1500-2300 mg of sodium each day. Let's see how our meals fit into the recommendations:
Breakfast aim to consume 350 - 400 mg of sodium
Lunch: Meals on Wheels provides 600 - 1300 mg of sodium
Dinner aim to consume 550 - 650 mg of sodium
TOTAL: 1500 2350 mg of sodium
Coastline Elderly Nutrition News. Contact me with any questions at (508) 999-6400 x194 or email: ksferreira@coastlineelderly.org
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Technological Land-Slide Affects Blind Workers
Return to the Dark Ages
by John Justice
What ever happened to those wonderful exciting times when technology made it possible for the visually impaired to do more than they ever could before? The senior members of a customer service department at FedEx Tech Connect are all wishing that those times still existed. But like the dinosaurs before them, the extinction of visually impaired customer service workers may be approaching at an alarming rate.
In the mid-eighties, a very large express-package service called Federal Express took a chance and hired a few visually impaired men and women. At that time, the Americans with Disabilities Act had not yet been implemented. No government agency compelled FedEx to do this. For them, it was the right thing to do, so they did it. After several months of exacting training, these blind people were placed in call centers throughout the United States. With the use of their adaptive equipment, the blind workers were expected to meet the same criteria as their sighted counterparts.
By the time I joined this company in 1993, these people had been functioning successfully for quite a few years. The Customer Service center in Horsham decided to expand their work force and added three new visually impaired employees. By that time, the training had become almost routine. The three new workers began their class on May 17, 1993. I was one of those lucky few. There were technological issues to overcome because the company was upgrading its computer systems. The adaptation was difficult and frustrating at times. We did lose one of our original group when she decided that this kind of work just wasn't for her. She resigned. The two remaining students did successfully complete their training but it took far longer than anyone expected. Finally, all of the bugs were sorted out and we joined the rest of the Customer Service team in late August. I can still remember that mixture of emotions as I sat down at my brand new computer and began to take the first calls. On the one hand was the excitement of finally beginning a new job after completing weeks of brain-numbing training. On the other hand, I was afraid that I might make some kind of serious error and end up getting fired.
From the very beginning, I was always interested in being a part of the international team. Before joining FedEx, I had worked for the Wurlitzer Company in New York. They needed someone to understand the complexities of importing and exporting pianos. I asked to be considered and was sent to Customs school at the company's expense. I loved the give-and-take of arranging for shipments and providing the necessary paper work. Then, the company closed its doors forever. For a while, until that job offer came with FedEx, I worked one nowhere job after another.
The Wurlitzer experience had given me a chance to get my first taste of import and export and I knew that it was for me. So when an offer was made at FedEx for applicants to join the International Department, I was one of the first in line. One of the supervisors took me aside and asked me to wait until the next class was formed. She explained that the company had no support system in place to assist a visually impaired worker in International. She promised me that if I would wait, my application would certainly be considered when the next recruitment was offered. I agreed and returned to my Domestic duties. In 1997, the department posted another offer for new International recruits and this time, after I passed the rigorous test, I made it into the training class. The work was difficult and involved a great deal of mathematical calculations. For example, one of our duties was to calculate how much space would be needed for several packages, all being sent together and each one having different dimensions. I loved it! But the other visually impaired man who had tried for the training decided that all that math was too much for him. He returned to Domestic and I was on my own.
I joined the International Customer Service group just before Christmas. What a great holiday gift! I was ecstatic.
The work wasn't easy because I didn't have access to some of the resources my sighted co-workers could use. All the information pertaining to the services offered at that time by FedEx was stored in a huge data base. But it was completely inaccessible to someone using a screen reader. So I created my own data base, using a note taker and recording anything unusual. I received excellent ratings in my reviews and one of my managers told me that I had a special feel for International.
In 2004, technology reared its ugly head again and this time, the impact was devastating to every blind employee. FedEx had purchased a software package called One Source. One Source is a wonderful tool for this business but it's written in a computer language called Sun Java. No screen reader we know of can handle Sun Java. One Source was introduced quickly to the Domestic Department and before long, the blind workers had to transfer more calls than they could handle. One Source finally caught up to me in International about a year later. The company could have simply ended our employment, sending us all packing, but FedEx didn't do that. They located a position for me and my blind co-worker which involved international packages but still used the older computer system. We would be working for a small department called Service Recovery. Our managers explained that this new position was a "pilot program," meaning that it wasn't a permanent solution. She indicated that if we were successful, the same position would be offered to all of the visually impaired at FedEx.
It was interesting and challenging work. When a package became undeliverable in a foreign country, the Service Recovery Team was notified. We would call the sender in the United States and ask for new information or instructions for the package's disposition. I was given the task of assisting the other blind man with issues that involved international matters. We settled into this new position and worked at it for almost seven years. We learned that a small team of people were doing the same work in our corporate office in Memphis but they were being paid at a much lower rate than we were in Customer Service. A new manager joined the team and made the mistake of revealing our pay difference to the other team members. Someone filed a formal complaint, probably thinking that they might get a higher hourly wage. FedEx doesn't play that game. Those people didn't get better money and they almost cost a man his job. That big battle did impact our special assignment. FedEx management took my co-worker off of the work we were doing and sent him back to Domestic. The other visually impaired reps were handling calls in which they assisted our customers in finding locations where packages could be dropped off. They were going to take me out of International and have me do the same work. I filed a formal objection to that plan, reminding the management that I had been allowed to qualify for International and insisted that I be retained in that position. It worked for a while until One Source was introduced to the Service Recovery team. Once again, I was forced out of a good position because of insurmountable technological problems.
To add insult to injury, FedEx closed its Horsham call center and sent all of the workers home. By that time, due to attrition and the company's refusal to hire more personnel, there were only about sixty-eight employees left. We were all set up as remote representatives. FedEx supplied the desk, chair and computer equipment including a cable modem and a router. We now work with something called the Virtual Private Network, or VPN. We sign into the system in the morning, connect by dialing in a certain number and we're now part of the FedEx system. Once the procedure had become clear, it wasn't much different from signing in at the call center. The two visually impaired employees were also sent home. Can you imagine working from your home and not having to worry about public transportation again? But like everything else at FedEx these days, this situation was what my grandmother would have called a "cardboard cake." It looks great from the outside, but it isn't real. A cardboard cake isn't going to feed anyone. As a remote worker, the company can do whatever it wants to you and no one is the wiser. That is why we can be sent so few calls and no one comments on it. Can you imagine what would happen if someone was sitting in a fully staffed call center and handling five calls a day? I would be willing to bet that within a few days, someone would notice the disparity, remark on it and very soon thereafter, a formal complaint would be filed. The average sighted FedEx customer service employee handles a minimum of two hundred calls a day.
There are about six visually impaired employees at FedEx now. Three of us were sent home as a part of the Remote program. We are the ones who get so few calls, while those blind workers who are still at the call centers, receive a much higher volume.
Years ago, when Affirmative Action was first introduced, many physically impaired people were hired so that a "quota" could be reached. They were paid a full wage but were never given any actual duties. Some of these unfortunate victims were referred to as "token workers" since their only reason for being there was to help the employer meet an Affirmative Action goal. In one glaring example of this horrific practice, a young, intelligent black woman, who happened to be blind, was given a job by Social Security. For some reason, she was never offered the chance to take the training other visually impaired Social Security employees were given. For two thirds of her thirty years with a government organization, she sat, hour after hour, day after day, with nothing to do but read talking books. Some of my readers might think that this is another name for heaven. It isn't! If you are a reasonably intelligent person, the inactivity can eventually become a form of mental torture. It takes a person with an incredibly strong will to withstand that kind of environment, year after year. That is exactly what is now being done to all of the blind workers at FedEx. Finding locations can easily be done by any customer with internet access. In addition, Customer Service can provide that information as a part of normal day-to-day operations. I am offered an average of five calls a day. That means that I sit, hour after hour, waiting for the next call to come in. I can't leave my system except on breaks or lunches because if a call does come in and I'm not there, that would be the end of my employment. This is actually domestic work and in a year, if I don't retire first, I am expected to accept a dollar-an-hour decrease in pay since I have been returned to Domestic Services, which is paid less than the specialized workers in International. The company's regulations give me that year to find another position at comparable pay but no one has suggested that any such position exists.
I'm turning sixty-six in September and am seriously considering retiring and collecting Social Security. But if I can hold out for another year, the combined income will allow us to pay off some of our bills and then we can retire with fewer economic responsibilities.
Insurmountable problems with technology, similar to the ones I have described, are impacting many blind people throughout the United States and Canada. Customer Service positions like this one are few and far between. Most organizations are now farming out their customer service to contractors who will work at a much lower hourly rate. I believe that eventually, all of FedEx Tech Connect's customer service calls will be handled by outside personnel, not FedEx workers, because it costs less to do it that way. The average FedEx Customer Service employee makes about twenty-two dollars an hour while the contract centers pay seven dollars an hour or less. If the work is sent out to a center in another country, the pay scale is even worse. Companies like FedEx Tech Connect have to work from their bottom line. At this time, they are paying six visually impaired employees full wages to sit, eight hours a day, and wait for the occasional call. Yet, they won't offer anyone a buy-out package. I believe that the company is concerned that if they did let these blind workers go, they would face litigation. Their legal department is excellent at making sure this company adheres to the letter of the law, while flaunting its actual intent. For the record, no visually impaired Customer Service worker has been hired by my employer since 1999.
Now it's time for the disclaimer. The statements enclosed herein are true to the best of my knowledge and ability. The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author. They are not necessarily those of any other FedEx Tech Connect employee or its management.
John and Linda Justice
with Guide Dogs Jake and Zachary
personal e-mail: john_justice@verizon.net
***
Inconsistencies Among Agencies
by Bob Branco
In my state of Massachusetts, agencies funded by Mass Health offer personal care to those who need it. Some agencies provide their own workers, while other agencies ask the client to do their own hiring and firing as a way for the client to become more independent. I want to talk about the initial assessment of the client and how information gets misinterpreted at times.
There is a young woman who lives in a nearby town in Massachusetts. She is 27 years old, drives a car, does her own shopping, and lives with an able-bodied roommate. Aside from the young woman having a slight learning challenge, she fends for herself to the point where she holds down a very meaningful job.
Despite what I just told you, an agency provided this young woman with a housekeeper. First of all, the housekeeper was brought in for the purpose of looking after the young woman. Doesn't the agency realize that this housekeeper is also working for the roommate? Oh, it gets much better! While this young woman is having her house cleaned by an agency worker, she goes to work every day cleaning a hospital. I would think that a hospital is harder to clean than your own home. How would you feel if I offered to clean your house every day, while at the same time, my house is being cleaned by a government-paid agency worker? I suppose some people feel overwhelmed by cleaning other houses all week so they don't want to clean their own. That's fine. But why use a government-funded agency to do something for you that you do for a living? This young woman has two strong legs, two strong arms, and a methodical way of operating in the world around her. She even helped a blind man shop, and gave him good solid economical advice on which pork chops, hot dogs, or chicken to buy. I can only imagine what she sees in a hospital. She probably has to clean up blood, dirty needles, and God knows what else.
On the flip side, if you are blind but have a serious injury which makes you physically incapable of fending for yourself, you cannot get a government-funded agency to help you around the house even on a temporary basis, because, in your case, the agency has to get approval from the Massachusetts Commission for the Blind in order to help you. I heard this from a reliable source, but I am also willing to be corrected if my information is inaccurate. According to my source, the blind are the only disability group who need approval from their own supporting agency to get temporary or permanent personal and home care through another agency. If the ADA requires equal treatment for people with disabilities, how can this be allowed to happen?
The key word here is inconsistency. Someone is missing the boat somewhere, and perhaps you may know how we can all get on the same page. Your thoughts are welcome.
***
Storm
by John Justice
This story is true. It happened in March of 1963 while I was a junior in high school.
Chapter 1
My father was a volunteer fireman in New Jersey. I always envied him. The little alert radio would start beeping and off he would go, out in the middle of the night, trying to knock down a fire or pulling someone out of a wrecked car. Obviously, as a blind person, I wasn't going to be fighting any fires directly or driving emergency equipment. For that reason, I couldn't imagine joining the local department. But my dad had other ideas.
I was involved in amateur radio since I got my novice license in the eighth grade. Later, I became an avid Citizen's Band radio enthusiast. That is where he got the idea that I could be the company's radio operator. It took some convincing, especially with the older members who didn't believe a blind man was capable of working that kind of equipment. To bolster the argument, I took a five-week course offered by the Federal Communications Commission. The class dealt with regulations and procedures for emergency radio dispatching. If the course was completed successfully, the participants would qualify for a Restricted Radio Telephone license. The material was difficult but the FCC representative turned out to be helpful and cooperative. There were several tests and he assigned someone to read the questions and record my answers.
Now, I had a decision to make. I could wait for the results to be processed and my license to be mailed to me or I could go to Washington, D.C., directly to the FCC building, and come home with my certificate. I traveled to Washington and returned with my ticket in one day. It was a proud day for me when I attended my first meeting as a fully fledged volunteer fireman.
By the time March 1963 rolled in, I had responded to approximately one hundred emergency calls. Dad and I would pile into his pickup and we'd go to the fire station. I would move to the radio room and he would go off with the fire crew. In one particularly memorable night, a brush fire started and more men were needed. In addition to the two-way radio equipment, there was an automated unit which would send out the emergency call to small receivers, held by every volunteer fireman. That signal could be activated by either County Dispatch or by someone in this radio room.
I pushed the buttons on the radio transmitter and the alert call went out for additional fire fighters. Little did I know that my new assignment was going to be preparation for the worst storm to hit Cape May New Jersey, in living memory.
Chapter 2
Weather forecasting wasn't the scientific process it is now but I can still remember the meteorologist, Doctor Francis Fields from Channel 3, warning of a huge storm making its way through the Atlantic and heading directly for the New Jersey shore points. I could hear the wind rising in the trees all around our home. We lived about twelve miles from the nearest beach but with a storm that size, there would probably be damage from the wind. Flooding was another matter and none of us had any idea what we would be dealing with.
We were all asleep when the emergency alert radio went off at about 2:00 in the morning. Dad called the number immediately and the County Dispatch Center had declared a general alarm.
Every able-bodied fireman was to report to his fire station and await further instructions. All of the towns along the bay and the Atlantic were experiencing terrible conditions, and loss of life was a probability.
Chapter 3
When we arrived at the station, it was like a party had been declared.
Every member was there, including the ones who almost never responded to an emergency alert. We gathered in the engine house itself and waited for instructions. This wasn't going to be like anything we had ever worked on before. Dad was wondering how things were going to be organized when we heard the sound of a big vehicle pulling up outside. Chief Hall hit the switch and raised the big center doors. A bus was sitting right in front of the fire station and a man was making his way into the building.
The wind was fierce so Chief Hall closed the doors. The man called for our attention and introduced himself as a Civil Defense Emergency coordinator.
"My name is Leland. I'm going to need every last one of you to help in the rescue of people down in Cape May. We're coordinating efforts with the National Guard, the Coast Guard and local Army units. Your equipment isn't suited for this kind of work but we will need all of you. There's a bus and driver outside. We have found an old high school building which is on higher ground. It will be the base for operations. I'll assign you to teams, each one having a number. Your job will be to locate people who have been flooded out and bring them back to that school building. We have set up cots in the gym and auditorium. There will be people on hand to provide food, blankets and emergency medical assistance. Some parts of that town are covered with ten feet of water and you might find them trapped, frightened, cold and wet. I'm not going to paint you a pretty picture, boys. This is going to be long, hard and possibly dangerous. You will need all of the training and skill available and a healthy portion of good old common sense. We will assign a portable radio unit to each team and a base is now being set up at the school building.
"The situation is going to get a lot worse before this storm blows out. We will relieve each team after a few hours and bring in new personnel. The local fire departments in Cape May and Wildwood have been out there for about five hours now and you are going to relieve them as soon as we're on location. I see that you have both rescue units and ambulances here.
Please bring all of the medical supplies you can carry. Before this night is over, we'll need everything you can bring with you.
"One more thing before we board that bus. If any of you have weak hearts or other medical conditions that will respond negatively to stress or extremes of cold, you are excused as of right now. This is no reflection on you or your dedication but the situation in Cape May is going to take a lot of hard work and exposure to extremes of cold, streets flooded with salt water, high winds, ice on surfaces and probably electrical wiring which has been blown down. To make a long story short, you are going into some really nasty conditions. But there are people out there who are going to die if we don't find and rescue them.
"Okay, that's it, boys. Let's get going."
Everyone started moving toward the bus but Leland stopped my father and me. He said something to my father which was too quiet for me to hear. Dad answered in a normal voice. "Jack is our radio operator. I brought him
along because he responds to every call I do." The Civil Defense man was quiet for a moment and then replied, "Well, that solves another problem for us. I was wondering who we could spare to relay messages and now, we have just the man for the job." I was ready to pull out my license but for some reason, he didn't question my abilities.
The bus was an elderly but sturdy old crate with rattling windows and a heater that was sporadic at best. We rolled through Cape May Courthouse and onto the Garden State parkway. From time to time, the bus would move slowly and carefully through areas of the highway which were flooded. Fortunately, the water wasn't too deep. The highway would cross over bridges from time to time and I could feel the driver fighting to keep the vehicle from being blown right off of the road. The highway was taking us closer to the ocean. With every mile, the wind grew stronger and driving conditions worsened. At first, everyone was talking, discussing what the Civil Defense man had told us. But soon, the seriousness of the situation began to dawn on the crew and the noise died.
Suddenly Dad cursed under his breath, and I asked what had happened. After a moment, he replied. "We just passed over one of the inland waterways. I just saw a small cabin cruiser being rolled over by the water and wind. I hope to God no one was on board. Normally, that's calm water but it looks like a mill race right now." I remembered going down that same water course as a young boy and ending up in the Delaware Bay. The water had been moving quickly during the tidal ebb but it was as smooth as glass. I couldn't imagine how much force it would take to capsize a boat that size.
Chapter 4
The old bus came to a stop and we all moved out into the storm. I wore an old fisherman's coat called a "Sou'wester" which was perfect for this kind of weather. I came down the steps and the wind hit me in the face with spray so cold that it felt like fire. I waded through standing water about four inches deep and finally made it into the old high school building. The place smelled like what it was, an old building which had been unoccupied for quite a while. But under the scent of dust and old chalk, there was now the pervasive aroma of wet clothing and many people.
Mr. Leland led me up stairs and into an office. Civil Defense had a two meter transceiver on a corner desk. I sat down and he briefly explained the code system which would identify each search team. "There will be twenty units in all dispatched from this command post. Each team will have a call sign beginning with the letter C and numbered from one to twenty. You might hear something like 'Charlie 10.' Your job is to relay messages between the teams or to pass them information I get from other sources. You will work for two hours and then be relieved. Your father will be leading Charlie 6.
Okay Jack, that's all for now. I'll be back after I give the units their assignments."
For two hours I listened to report after report of people huddled on roof tops or standing on cars. Where possible, big Army trucks with very high clearances were used. The Coast Guard provided small boats and a crew for each of them. It was awful! A team would call in, describing what they had found, and Mr. Leland would dispatch a boat or an Army truck to pick up survivors. I grew up in Cape May and recognized so many of the streets where rescues were being performed. One of the volunteers came up from below and gave us phone numbers so that I could call family members who would, hopefully, take some of the flood victims in. Mr. Leland would write down the information, and then pass it to me, one number at a time. It was amazing to me how reluctant some of the families seemed when I explained to them that their sisters, brothers, aunts or uncles had been flooded out and would need a place to stay. Representatives from the local Red Cross were on location, trying to find shelter for the ones who didn't have family contacts available.
On my first break, I went down to the shelter itself. I sat on a chair and listened to the people talking. One little girl was crying because the rescue team hadn't taken her cat along. She was afraid that it would drown in the rising water. Another soft-spoken man sat down next to me and said that he just needed a minute of peace. His wife hadn't wanted to move from their home in Saddlebrook, New Jersey, but one of his relatives had left him a really nice Victorian home in Cape May. He packed up the family and they had moved in just before Christmas. He wasn't sure what they would find when the water finally receded. His wife was furious with him and blamed the guy for everything that had happened. He sighed and said, "If we were still in Saddlebrook, we wouldn't have to worry about this storm. That's for sure!"
Then my attention was brought to a small family tucked into a corner not far from the doorway. I think that the tone in the man's voice is what alerted me that something was very wrong.
He called the woman's name again and again. "Alicia! For God sakes, Alicia! Wake up!"
I stood and moved the short distance to where they were gathered. I apologized for interrupting them and explained that I was the radio dispatcher for the emergency team. "Can I help with anything," I asked.
The guy turned around and when he saw that I was blind, he lost it. "How the hell is a blind guy supposed to help me with my wife? I think she's dying!" he screamed. I was shocked but before I could react, someone came running over. "Sir, I'm a doctor. Let me see what I can do."
My break was just about over so I headed for the stairs. The look on my face must have telegraphed what I was feeling. Mr. Leland asked what was wrong and I told him what had just happened. After a minute or two, he spoke to me. "Don't worry about it, Jack. People respond in really strange ways to disasters like this. You were only trying to help."
Chapter 5
The message traffic was really getting heavy at that time and two more hours had passed before I knew it. I stood, stretched, and made my way down the stairs, hoping that I could get some coffee or tea. The shelter area was still crowded but I didn't hear any of the same people. As I was making my way toward the area where some of the volunteers were providing refreshments, I heard a voice call my name. There, to my surprise, was Mrs. Kneff, an old friend my mother often talked about. She came over and gave me a hug. "So you're here too, Jack," she said. "Did you get flooded out like me?" I explained to her that I was part of the fire company group and I think she finally understood.
I got that coffee at last. It tasted like acid but it warmed me up. The old building was drafty and cold, especially on the upper floors. I went back and sat with Mrs. Kneff for a while until it was time for me to get back to work. She told me that the furniture on her front porch started to float down the driveway. It was then that she knew the time had come for her to leave. I asked her where she was going to stay and she said that her daughter would be picking her up as soon as she could get there. With the roads as bad as they were, I knew that might take some time.
Chapter 6
During the final two-hour shift, some of the search-and-rescue crews began to come in. They were cold, wet and exhausted. My dad greeted me briefly, and then collapsed in a chair to rest. When all of our fire company members were accounted for, Mr. Leland brought us all into a classroom and thanked us for the work we had done. He told us that we had saved many lives but that in spite of everyone's best efforts, about thirty people were unaccounted for. He was afraid that they might have been lost in the storm.
I felt like a real part of that team as we dragged ourselves on board for the return home. The ride home seemed to take forever. We had left that morning at about 3:00 and returned about eight hours later. It was almost noon when the bus rolled into our station's parking lot.
The great storm of 1963 ended later that night. We never heard a thing. Everyone in my house was sound asleep. Dad even turned off the emergency radio receiver.
In an emergency like that, there isn't much a blind or physically handicapped person can do. More times than not, we become the victims rather than part of the rescue. Mr. Leland made it clear to me that I was a valuable part of the team. I was able to run that radio and give him the freedom to do other important things. What he said still rings in my mind and that was forty-eight years ago. "When the chips are down, Jack, all we can ask is that each man does his best with the talents and abilities he has. You did that."
John and Linda Justice
with Guide Dogs Jake and Zachary
personal e-mail: john_justice@verizon.net
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Coastline Elderly Nutrition News: Eating Right for a Healthy Mind
From the desk of Kim Ferreira, MS, RD, LDN
Coastline Elderly Nutrition News. Contact me with any questions at (508) 999-6400 x194 or email: ksferreira@coastlineelderly.org
Coastline Elderly Services, Inc.
According to current research, a brain-healthy diet is one that reduces the risk of heart disease and diabetes, encourages good blood flow to the brain, and is low in fat and cholesterol. The brain needs the right balance of nutrients, including protein and sugar, to function well. A brain-healthy diet is most effective when combined with physical and mental activity and socialization.
Manage your body weight for overall good health of brain and body. Adopt an overall food lifestyle, rather than a short-term diet, and eat in moderation.
Reduce your intake of foods high in fat and cholesterol. In the research, those who had high cholesterol and high blood pressure had six times the risk of dementia and a higher risk for Alzheimer's disease. HDL (or "good") cholesterol may help protect brain cells, so use mono- and polyunsaturated fats, such as olive oil.
Increase your intake of protective foods. Research suggests that certain foods may reduce the risk of heart disease and stroke, and appear to protect brain cells.
? In general, dark-skinned fruits and vegetables have the highest levels of naturally occurring antioxidant levels. These include: kale, spinach, beets, brussel sprouts, alfalfa sprouts, broccoli, red bell pepper, onion, corn and eggplant. Fruits with high antioxidant levels include prunes, raisins, plums, blueberries, blackberries, strawberries, raspberries, oranges, red grapes and cherries.
? Cold-water fish contain beneficial omega-3 fatty acids: halibut, mackerel, salmon, trout and tuna.
? Some nuts can be a useful part of your diet: almonds, pecans and walnuts are a good source of vitamin E, an antioxidant.
Vitamins may be helpful. Vitamins, such as vitamins E, vitamin C, vitamin B12 and folate may be important in lowering your risk of developing Alzheimer's. A brain-healthy diet will help increase your intake of these vitamins and the trace elements necessary for the body to use them effectively. (Source: Alzheimer's Association. www.alz.org)
Meals on Wheels and Sodium
Our meals provide up to 1300 mg of sodium. The current recommendation for sodium is 1500-2300 mg of sodium each day. Let's see how our meals fit into the recommendations:
Breakfast aim to consume 350 - 400 mg of sodium
Lunch: Meals on Wheels provides 600 - 1300 mg of sodium
Dinner aim to consume 550 - 650 mg of sodium
TOTAL: 1500 2350 mg of sodium
Coastline Elderly Nutrition News. Contact me with any questions at (508) 999-6400 x 194 or email: ksferreira@coastlineelderly.org.
***
My Perkins School Reunions
by Bob Branco
In the year 2000, 23 years after I graduated from Perkins School for the Blind, I had a brainstorm about reuniting all my friends from that era. I was very curious to know how everyone was doing, so I decided to plan a dinner in a Boston restaurant where former Perkins students would get together, catch up on old news and remember old times. I even invited some of the teachers who taught us back then. I chose Boston as the location for the reunion because it was centrally located for anyone who needed to travel a long distance. The dinner was very successful. As many as 26 former students and guests sat at a very long table, making it a very friendly and homey environment.
Being that the reunion was a success, I decided to do it again the following year, and even more former Perkins students and their guests attended. Eventually, I decided to plan three events each year: the Spring dinner in May, a picnic on the Perkins campus in August, and a Holiday party in November. All three events have the same theme, Friends from Perkins reuniting.
During our annual picnics, we sometimes take tours of the Perkins campus so that we can see the changes that were made in the past several decades. Many students who attended the school 40 years ago are surprised that certain landmarks are no longer there, while newer and more accessible features were constructed for those students who are in wheelchairs.
Those who attend my Perkins School reunions are not all from my class or my era. Several students from the 1960s attend, while many former students from the 1980s and '90s take part as well. It is a real pleasure planning these reunions and to see everyone there. We all have a terrific time, and many past friendships have been revived.
I am having my next event in November, hopefully at the Fours Restaurant in Boston. If you are a former Perkins student and would like to go, please contact me for further details. My email address is branco182@verizon.net.
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Consumer Vision Trivia Contest
Here is the answer to the trivia question submitted in the July/August Consumer Vision. The boiling point of water in degrees Fahrenheit is 212. Congratulations to the following winners:
Jan Colby of Brockton, Massachusetts Rosalie Goumas of Somerville, Massachusetts Linda Brown of Claremont, New Hampshire Jean Marcley of Brenda, Arizona
Jason Seeger of Warminster, Pennsylvania Susan Jones of Indianapolis, Indiana
Bob Hachey of Waltham, Massachusetts
Wesley Smith of Milwaukee, Oregon
And now, here is your trivia question for the September/October Consumer Vision: During Neil Armstrong's moon walk in 1969, who operated the command module?
If you know the answer, please email branco182@verizon.net or call 508-994-4972.