This week we are continuing last week’s discussion with the same group of folks about our constitution and bylaws. They will be able to report to us what happened during the meeting of the Constitution and Bylaws Committee last Thursday. We will only go for an hour, allowing folks to attend the final  meeting of the groups that are discussing the changes to our governing documents in preparation for our business meeting this weekend at which we will vote on the final proposals.

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Episode Notes

Tuesday Topics welcomes committee members about the constitutional changes that we will be considering on the 14th. From the Constitution and Bylaws committee we have Dan Spoone and John McCann. From the Voting Task Force we have Jeff Thom, Patrick Sheehan and Koni Simms. Our two hour program should give us enough time to not only get a clear idea of what the proposals are and are not. The folks on our call receive feedback from callers before the proposals are formally made.

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On Tuesday Topics this week, I would like to do some dreaming while we are awake! ACB is working in lots of areas now! However, there may well be an area that you would like to see our organization concentrate on. What might that be? Maybe you would like more particularity on an issue that ACB is already working on! Perhaps you think there is a huge gap with an issue that ACB really needs to focus on! In any case, what we are interested in on Tuesday Topics is your notion of what our priority issue in ACB ought to be. We will explore your ideas and talk about how best to make them happen! ACB is your organization! What do you want it to be doing?

What I am hoping will happen is that we will come up with a list of priorities during our first hour. During our second we will talk about how good the ideas are and what we need to do to make them happen! A new direction is no good unless it works so it will be fun to explore how to turn dreams into reality!

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I thought it might be interesting to talk about a question that is widely debated by people who are blind and also by people with other disabilities. Despite the passage of the ADA and the Rehab Act, the unemployment rate among people who are blind remains quite high. In fact it does not appear to have changed significantly over the last thirty years. Why is that? What can we do to change it? Is the situation worse for people who are blind than it is for people with other disabilities?

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There have been a few times in my life when I have sat in a bar for a long time because the conversation was just too good to miss! My guest on Tuesday Topics this week was responsible for a conversation that started in a bar, continued through dinner and ended much later outside in the late evening. My guest has three books on BARD, at least. He has won the Ned E. Freeman award and has probably appeared more often in the ACB Braille Forum than any other author. He is a long time proponent of braille; he has become deeply involved in aging issues; and is not interested in theory. He wants to know what can actually be done to make things better for people who are blind. My guest is, of course, Larry Johnson from San Antonio Texas. That is where Larry is now but, as you will see if you tune in, it is by no means the only place he has been!

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Tuesday Topics - Resolutions:

Paul Edwards’ first ACB convention was in 1984. While he thinks he would have come regardless of the offer made to him by Grant Mack, who was then President of ACB, it certainly helped to make his decision. Mr. Mack had come to Florida where Paul was in charge of resolutions and offered him $100 to come to Philadelphia and chair resolutions. Paul says, “I had no idea what I was getting into but, if you join us next Tuesday, you will hear some of the things that happened. I am hoping that some of the folks who used to be part of resolutions will join us. We will tell some stories of what resolutions used to be like. In addition, we will talk about what resolutions are; how they get written; what makes a good resolution; and what makes a bad one! I will encourage some of you who come to actually be a part of writing a resolution. Obviously, I and others may be up there to help you get resolutions right, but we will also show how resolutions can go wrong. If you operate with some simple rules, resolutions are pretty easy to write. What are they? Do resolutions have to be long? Tune in and find out!”

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For the first hour we are going to talk about some of the controversy that has appeared on the "acb conversation" email list. Essentially there has been a lot of discussion of whether we need two different votes. This year we will have them but many wonder whether affiliate votes might go away. Are there special issues for special interest affiliates? Have they historically been effective at election time or not?

During the second hour or so we will see if we still have issues with voting and special interest affiliates. If the topic is exhausted, I would like to explore some of the options that Tuesday Topics has for the future. What would folks like us to talk about! What do people like and what do you not like? This may seem boring but I hope people will think seriously about how best Tuesday Topics can meet your needs and interests.

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Tuesday Topics will welcome Gerard Williams who will be talking about his role at the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) as a 504 officer. He will also be talking about the initiative being undertaken by the FCC to create more broadband access. He is not an attorney and does not have the authority to answer legal questions, for the most part. I am looking forward to seeing what a 504 officer does and how what he does relates to people who are blind, have low vision or are blind with secondary disabilities such as hearing impairments.

During the second hour, we will talk about some pending FCC issues. There is currently opportunity to comment on where we are with the CVAA which passed in 2010. What kind of changes is it realistic for us to look for with the act. The FCC is interested in knowing what regulations we would like to see changed. Congress would need to change the law if we want to make changes that go beyond the parameters of the current law. How well has emergency communications worked for us during the pandemic? Both the NFB and ACB strongly support the need for the use of the SAP (secondary Audio Program) channel for communicating with people who are blind or have low vision during times of emergency. Was this facility used much during the pandemic in your area? Did you feel that there was a lot of conformation that was being communicated visually about the pandemic that was not being made available to people who are blind or have low vision? We will explore these and other audio description questions during our second hour!

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Finding the Money:

How does ACB do its budget every year? Where does our income originate? How much money do we have in the bank or in investments? Is ACB healthy financially? Or should we be worried? These are just some of the questions we will explore as we invite our President, Dan Spoone; our treasurer, David Trott; and our Director of Resource Development, Anthony Stephens. These three exemplary gentlemen will help us get a picture of how the work ACB does is funded. I think that those of you who tune in will have a lot to think about as we explore the financial well-being of ACB!

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Meet Jeff Bishop:

He is a member of ACB'S Board of Directors; a driving force with ACB Radio; has taken a leadership role in the development and implementation of the "ACB LINK" app; and is leading the effort to combine various ACB elements into a media network that will revolutionize how ACB’s media content can be accessed.

Find out more at https://acb-tuesday-topics.pinecast.co