Guide Dog Users
of California

EDITOR'S NOTES
PRESIDENT'S MESSAGE
WOMAN OF THE YEAR
GUIDE DOG DAY AT THE CAPITOL 2003
GDUC SPRING ACTIVITIES 2003
RESOLUTION 2003A#3
PCCB SPRING CONVENTION 2003

Time sure flies when one is busy! Since my last message to you in this publication, a lot has happened, and I will give you just a brief overview here with details to follow as you read on through the pages of Forward. I hope all of you are enjoying a happy summer with your families and dogs and that you will feel free to share your experiences with GDUC by contacting me, other board members or submitting articles to Forward.

CCB's spring convention was one of the best ever attended, and GDUC's programs and sales activities went extremely well. You will read more about all this later. Guide Dog Day at the Capitol was planned differently than in the past, and everyone who attended seemed to enjoy the new format. So stay tuned for details on this event as well.

I would like to take this opportunity to address a situation that effects all of us and ask you for your assistance on a matter of grave importance to guide dog handlers and other trained assistance dog teams. Last year, the US Department of Transportation (DOT) contracted with the National Council on Disabilities to create four guidance documents for the purpose of better assisting airlines personnel in their efforts to work with disabled passengers. On May 9, the document outlining policy guidance concerning service animals in air transportation was issued.

In brief, this document instructs airline personnel to allow untrained companion and emotional support animals to fly in passenger cabins on commercial flights when documentation can be produced, such as a doctor's note issued within the past year. Such animals as spiders and snakes are to be discouraged, but short of this, airline personnel have been given what appears to be carte blanche to decide which animals can and cannot fly with their handlers. Airlines personnel are not trained to ascertain which animals may or may not pose threats to other passengers and working teams, and many handlers may not know how to control animals that may become understandably upset during takeoff and landing. Imagine a distressed creature with no escape from the passenger cabin of a 747 during a 5 hour flight across country!

People with obvious disabilities are not to be asked for documentation, but some people qualified to work guide dogs do not look blind, and there are many other examples of qualified handlers with trained service animals who will and already have had their civil rights violated by these confusing and ill considered new regulations. Expert advice in this area was solicited and then apparently ignored in the creation of this new guidance document, and GDUC urges all of you to write letters in protest to a situation that can only lead to unprecedented difficulties for working teams who need to fly with canine partners. It is essential that DOT is made to understand the necessity of basing airline cabin access for animals whose owners claim them to be other than pets on the US Department of Justice's definition that service animals entitled to public access must be trained to perform tasks that mitigate disabilities for qualified individuals.

Letters should be sent to:

Damon P. Whitehead
Office of the General Counsel, Office of Aviation Enforcement and Proceedings
400 7th Street, SW.
Washington, DC 20590

Thank you for your consideration in this important matter, and I hope our letters will make a difference.

Until next time, pet your dogs and be well.

Since the writing of this article, leading service animal consumer groups have prevailed on the Department of Transportation to delay implementation of the above discussed guidance document DOT will most likely present it for discussion as part of the as yet unscheduled announcement for proposed rule making concerning this important matter.

Elizabeth Morosco was recently chosen by Assemblywoman, Fran Pavley, to be Woman of the Year for the 41st District, 2003, and I can't think of a more deserving recipient of this honor. If you haven't had the good fortune to get to know Liz Morosco, let me tell you a little about her. She works at Guide Dogs for the Blind's Topanga Canyon facility and is celebrating 20 years of service really being there for graduates, puppy raisers and guide dogs. Liz is always available to listen, give advice and a better coworker and friend would be hard to find. Besides having great respect for Liz's work in the guide dog field, I am privileged to count myself among her numerous and devoted friends.

Even before working at GDB, Liz served as a 4H leader and was an integral part of puppy raising activities including raising several herself with her daughters, Lisa and Ali. Now here's the kicker. Assemblywoman Pavley has also raised puppies for GDB, and yes, this was the same Fran Pavley who sponsored GDUC's activities at this year's Guide Dog Day at the Capitol in Sacramento.

On March 21, Liz flew up to Sacramento with Ms. Pavley, where she was honored as California's Woman of the Year from the 41st district along with winners from the other districts around the state at a beautiful luncheon ceremony. GDUC's treasurer and CCB's governmental affairs representative, Dan Kysor, graciously allowed his guide dog, Hillie, to be photographed with Liz during the event. When Liz approached Dan to borrow Hillie, Liz told me that when he handed over Hillie's leash he said, "Okay, Liz. Here are the keys to the car."

Liz expressed to me that she was very moved to be named Woman of the Year, and GDUC is extremely proud and appreciative of all the heartfelt, valuable service she provides to southern California guide dog handlers. Congratulations, Liz!

On Thursday, April 10, more than 200 people, about a third or more of them with canine partners gathered on the west steps of the Capitol for Guide Dog Day, where we celebrated 75 years of proud history for working teams. In attendance were working teams, puppy raisers, law enforcement canine units, legislators, representatives from the Machinist Union, several guide dog schools from the east and west, the California State Board of Guide Dogs for the Blind and at least one cute baby. Presenters included CCB's president, Jeff Thom, Allan Brenner, president of the Guide Dog Board, the Honorable Assemblywoman of the 41st District, Fran Pavley and Lynn Morris, Deputy Director, Department of Consumer Affairs. Ms. Pavley read a proclamation from the office of the Honorable Governor Gray Davis naming April 10, 2003, officially Guide Dog Day in California.

Lori Brown, master instructor at Guide Dogs for the Blind's Oregon campus, was the first time ever woman to be honor as California Guide Dog Instructor of the Year.

Sergeant Herndon, head of the San Francisco Police Department's vicious and dangerous dogs unit told the crowd how working teams are gaining support from law enforcement in that city through implementation of a new regulation allowing for the impounding of uncontrolled dogs who interfere with working teams pending investigation.

For many including myself, the most compelling presentation of the day was when Shirley Manning described the range of her experiences as a handler, from the joy of receiving her first guide dog, Winnie, to the gut wrenching fear of recurring dog attacks which may prevent her from having the confidence to train with a second dog.

Guide Dog Day at the Capitol, 2003, was a great success with inspiring presentations, enthusiastic participants and lots of media including four television news crews who covered the event. GDUC is grateful for all the support it received in planning and celebrating this event, and we look forward to seeing you next year on the Capitol steps in Sacramento at Guide Dog Day.

On Saturday, April 12, Guide Dog Users of California held its business meeting, morning program and luncheon activities as part of the California Council of the Blind's spring convention. GDUC did lively business in the exhibit hall selling its T-shirts, featuring the GDUC logo, "In Dog We Trust," along with fun dog jewelry such as waggly tailed dog earrings, collar tags and copies in accessible formats of booklets containing all the California laws pertaining to service animals. GDUC's morning program featured Bruce Bradley, senior instructor/trainer for the Sacramento Red Cross, who provided hands-on first aid training for our guides complete with doggy mannequins we could practice on. GDUC's luncheon speaker was Ralph Dennard, founder and CEO of San Francisco's ASPCA's Hearing Dog Program. The shelter provides many of the successful candidates that actually become hearing dogs, and approximately one third of the dogs who graduate are career change canines from guide dog programs.

Guide Dog Users of California sincerely thanks all of you who contributed to the success of this spring's activities in Sacramento, and we look forward to your support and participation in the fall.

At CCB's spring convention, the following resolution was submitted by GDUC and unanimously passed on the convention floor.

Whereas, Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) guarantees equal access to publicly funded services for persons who are blind or visually impaired and choose to travel with a guide dog as their primary mobility aid; and

Whereas, choosing to work with a guide dog as a mobility aid does not fundamentally alter the nature of a program's curriculum; and

Whereas, persons who use guide dogs have been denied rehabilitation services because they have chosen to work with a guide dog, as in the case of Stephanie Dohman; and

Whereas, Stephanie Dohman, Guide Dog Users Incorporated (GDUI) and several guide dog schools filed a complaint with the U.S. Department of Justice regarding a blind individual's choice of a guide dog as a primary mobility aid; and

Whereas, while not joining the Dohman GDUI complaint, the American Council of the Blind (ACB) staff provided substantial assistance to GDUI in its support of the complaint, Now therefore be it

Resolved, by the California Council of the Blind, in convention assembled this 13th day of April, 2003, in the city of Sacramento, California, that this organization, along with its affiliate the Guide Dog Users of California, support the principle that blind and visually impaired persons who seek services from publicly funded programs shall not be denied services because they choose to work with a guide dog, and be it further

Resolved, that this organization commend Guide Dog Users Incorporated (GDUI) for its support of the Dohman complaint and be it further

Resolved, that a copy of this resolution be sent to the American Council of the Blind and GDUI to encourage them to take all necessary steps to ensure that consumer choice is available throughout the nation.

If the fall 2002 CCB convention represented a culmination of our hard work to pass SB105 which creates a separate division to administer special services for the blind and deaf, then this spring's convention, April 10 through 13, was all about new beginnings. A new committee was established to promote sports and leisure activities. Long standing committees sported new leaders and new energy. For example, Peggy Martinez led the resolutions committee through a very productive weekend of hotly debated, but much-needed resolutions, including two introduced by GDUC. This was Jeff Thom's first convention as president of CCB, and at the Friday evening session, he provided attendees with a history of his first very active few months in office. He was snowed out of attending the ACB mid-year convention in Pittsburgh, but was able to make it to Los Angeles for the "What it Means to be Blind" conference, where CCB received an accessibility award for its work to establish the Division for the Blind.

Highlights from the Thursday evening CCB board meeting included the following. Three sets of minutes were read and approved along with the current treasurer's report where we learned that CCB although not in quite as comfortable a position as last fall's balance sheet stated, is still in good shape with 1.6 million in assets to assist in its important work on behalf of blind Californians. The board voted to sponsor three students in attending the July ACB conference. It was also decided to raise the amount of a one time emergency stipend from the crises committee for persons in financial need from $600 to $1,000. The CCB membership handbook was approved, and it was decided to hold the 2004 spring CCB convention at the Freemont Hilton Hotel. Catherine Skivers was allotted $1,500.00 for the purpose of updating CCB's history.

The Friday general session began with a welcome from Illa Collin member of the Sacramento County Board of Supervisors. Then we heard from Donine Hedrick, Program Manager, who presented an overview of the California Braille and Talking Book Library.

Four travel panel participants told of their adventures in foreign lands. Donna and Mitch Pomerantz were in South Africa, partly to exchange ideas about services for the blind, but mostly for fun. Margie Donavan told us about her encounters with people and animals in Peru and Lisa Marie Martinez studied in the "Semester at Sea" college program, and visited fourteen countries along the way. All the guide dog users in the group chose to leave their dogs at home. I was so entertained by this panel that it's hard to do it justice with a summary. I couldn't find the Friday afternoon session in the convention streaming archives, but I hope it will be there by the time you read this so you can enjoy all the stories yourself. Go to www.ccbnet.org, and follow the links to "conventions", then "listen to the spring 2003 convention to see what's there.

Lucy Greco, chair of the new sports and leisure committee introduced her members. Sheila Styron, GDUC's president, expressed her personal philosophy on exercising to enhance the process of aging and attending "Ski for Light" events the last one having occurred in Alaska, where she and Dorian got to see some of the Iditarod trail dogs before they took off running right there on the streets of Anchorage. Lucy Greco acknowledged that not all of us will be active in sports, and listed some activities you might not consider appropriate for blind athletes. She suggested that during conventions, we should have hourly stretch breaks. Not too many general session leaders took her up on this.

Cas Sylvia, a public guardian introduced us to a program designed to help adults who, because of a disability, need assistance in handling their personal affairs. Such situations can result in complex legal issues, so if you handle someone else's affairs or know someone who needs this service, you must identify the appropriate government agency in your community.

After some special interest group meetings, a few receptions, attending the president's dinner, or going off on our own to eat, we all assembled for the Friday evening session. President Jeff Thom's welcome speech is available up on the CCB web site. His address set the tone of the convention, so if you can, go listen to it up on CCBnet.

Even though several ACB officers are from California, it's a tradition to invite an ACB officer or board member from out of state to our convention. Alan Beatty from Colorado gave a motivational convention speech on "Preparing Future Leaders". He poked a little fun at the bumbling public, and then went on to stress how important it is that the leadership in the organized blind be willing to change.

Allan Brenner, Executive Director of the Earle Baum Center spoke on how to create a successful non-profit center from the ground up. His Santa Rosa agency is one of the best in the state.

Patricia Hatfield closed Friday evening's session with "The Power of Music". She had the whole audience humming and drumming. Even if you're not an athlete, you can still get your energy and circulation going.

The Saturday afternoon session featured reports from the Legislative Seminar held in Washington D. C., and the implementation of the Division for the Blind, We also heard from Molly Story about a study on universal design.

Frank Welte discussed the main themes of the very successful legislative seminar and lobbying session which took place in March. The Rehabilitation act and the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act are both up for re-authorization. We need to lobby our national representatives in order to insure the interests of people who are blind will be met. Audio-described movies and television, accessible books, and public transportation were covered and are areas requiring advocacy efforts by all of us.

Dr. Catherine Campizi hosted a panel on the new Division within the department of rehabilitation. Other panel participants were Lynda Bardis, who will head up the Division and Jim Armstrong who will head the District for programs for the blind and visually impaired. There will be another district for programs for the deaf and hard of hearing. It is expected the District for the blind will consist of nine supervisors and all the specialized rehabilitation counselors for the blind, and the counselor/teachers. Changes will begin July 1 of 2003. It is not expected that the reduced state budget will have a huge impact, as the district can hire some new people. We still don't really know how much service any one blind client will receive.

Molly Story, Coordinator of research, Center on Universal Design, North Carolina State University presented her ideas at the general session, as well as at special interest workshops. Universal Design has been a popular topic at gatherings such as the CSUN technology conference. The idea is that everyday products should be made in such a way that they will be useful to everybody. If this were the case, we wouldn't need separate cell phones, thermometers, etc. She has a special interest in medical equipment design.

Among the remaining reports was the nomination committee's report on candidates for the fall elections. Mostly, the incumbents were nominated for another term. GDUC board member, Jerry Arakawa was nominated to fill Martin Jones' position.

Sunday morning's agenda began with Gussie Morgan's heartfelt invocation and a salute to the flag led by Martin Jones, president of the Golden Gate Chapter. No constitution and bylaws changes were necessary at this time. CCB passed a resolution thanking Hallmark for its efforts to make braille cards available in all its stores, this resolution having been introduced by the Braille Revival League. A resolution, Supporting Individual Movility Choice, was introduced by GDUC, and after some revision, passed. This resolution commends GDUI for its work on filing a complaint with the US Department of Justice on behalf of Stephanie Dohman whose civil rights were violated when the Iowa Department for the Blind refused her services, because Stephanie chooses to work with a guide dog. GDUC also brought another resolution to the floor, Access to Specialized Training to Persons With Low Vision, which addresses the lack of choice in some training centers for the blind regarding the forced use of sleep shades. This resolution was also passed. Resolution 2003A5 urging rehabilitation professionals to attend consumer events and conferences for the purpose of facilitating more and better employment for the blind passed as well. CCB's 2003 spring convention was among the best attended in history, with 235 preregistered and still more registering on site and visiting the exhibits. Saturday evening's banquet was well attended where the awards committee honored several CCB-ers for their outstanding contributions. A few years back, the CCB Hall of Fame was established, and this year's inductee was CCB's immediate past president, Catherine Skyvers.

Attendees enjoyed themselves at the CCB spring convention, and much was accomplished for the benefit of blind Californians. We look forward to seeing as many of you as possible In Los Angeles this fall.