Editor's
Column
by
Tim Benjamin
The elections will be
over soon and plenty of new officials will take their places alongside
incumbents. We can hope for enough new ideas and enough old experience
to make positive things happen within our state and country. At
this point, it's hard to see any resolution in Iraq anytime soon.
We can only support our soldiers and push to stabilize that part
of the world. Whoever the president is, we must encourage him to
find a quick way to stop the killing -- and the creation of thousands
of lifetime disabilities.
But before you go to your
voting location, make sure you read pages 4 - 7 for the statements
on disability issues from Bush and Kerry. They give an enlightening
look at both candidates and how they view the needs of people with
disabilities. We thank the American Association for People with
Disabilities for allowing us to reprint this questionnaire. We
also thank all the Minnesota congressional candidates (starting
on page 10) who responded to our Access Press questionnaire. We know
that many of you have been burning the candle at both ends to keep
up with the demands of your campaigns to inform constituents and
potential voters.
Some candidates were apparently unable to find time to respond to
our questionnaire and inform the community of their stand on disability
issues. We hope they realize that the disability community constitutes
15 percent of the voters in Minnesota and may significantly affect
the outcome of the election. We also hope that by the next election,
all candidates will recognize the disability community as one that
can change the outcome of an election. We can and we do.
Many thanks to Lance Hegland for his hard work this month in helping
us with several articles. Lance has been a big contributor we hope
he will stick around and keep up the excellent reporting. As always,
Jeni Mundl is here this month with thoughtful news and advice about
new technologies. Thank you, Jeni.
Dorothy Anderson shares a brief glimpse into her life in Minnesota
institutions. We are grateful for the perseverance and tenacity that
allowed her to survive to tell us the stories of a very difficult
time for her and other people with disabilities. We have come a long
way, but sure have a lot further to go to correct the wrongs done
to Minnesotans in institutions.
Bruce Stevenson started
a universal design business called Ability Solutions to put his
skills and knowledge to work for you and me. Through growing up
with a father with a disability, and applying his own ingenuity,
Bruce knows what works and what doesn't. Give him a try for your
next adaptation project. Tell him that you saw the article in Access
Press and he will give you a free estimate and a discount.
The Charlie Smith Awards banquet is around the corner, and we'd
like more award nominations. On page 18, you'll find the nomination
criteria. And while you're filling that out, you can complete your
registration for the event. Both forms are also on the Web at accesspress.org.
It will be even more fun this year -- guaranteed! Hope you all can
come.
A big thanks goes out
to Alice Oden for taking over the responsibility of updating our
Web page. Check it out if you haven't visited lately. Alice has
given it a whole new layout. Along with the new "look",
we will be adding new bulletin boards and blogs at our site. Bookmark accesspress.org!
Fall is upon us and a chill is in the air. Get out and enjoy nature
before the bitter cold is here!
