A day to think

I wake up every morning. I give thanks to god because he has let me live one more day. I wish people could see what I see, but what I see can only be seen when a person stops and takes time to search within his or herself. You have what it takes to change things around you. For some, life has a new meaning when they are blind. People see things a different way. I believe in god although I am not able to see him, and I believe that the stars are up although I have never seen them. People have not proved to me that they are here. So, should I stop believing? No, because I trust the people that are around me when they tell me that they do and because I know that god has answered my prayers. He has given me people that I can trust. He has made one more beautiful day that people take for granted. My body will get tired, but my spirit will be happy because every day I am getting closer to my goals. Taking time to see the day and talk to god help me to grow stronger every day.
Searching in my mind allows me to be me, and not what the world wants me to be. For all of this, I give thanks to god.
Please think of these words. I am blind, but I can see. You will know what I wanted to say if you take time and help another person, talk to god, search within yourself, and love others as you love yourself.
Blessings

I cannot believe it.

I cannot believe what is going on. California has passed a budget. This budget has about 1000000 dollars in cuts that affect programs such as the department of vocational rehabilitation, which helps blind people go to school and get a job, Programs for seniors, which maintain them occupied and provide medical services. Children services are also being cut. More class rooms are being filled with students which affect them because they do not get individualized attention that they need to succeed. We have been living in a society where the rich don’t want to lose anything, and they want the vulnerable to pay for things when they go wrong. People with money or power don’t want to help when the situation is going bad. I view California as a big family where each member has problems. Either they have problems with others, or with money. But, we are two stubborn to ask for help. On the other hand, we have people who have been blessed with money, but they become selfish with it. We need help. All we want is a won sent increase, but some people don’t want that. They prefer that other people suffer. They don’t care if the most vulnerable people pay the consequences. Before I get to them, let me just say that on the other hand, we have to pay too many taxes. For example, we will have to pay a 13 sent tax on gasoline. Also, we will have to borrow 1000000 dollars if I am not wrong. OK, what are the consequences? They are very catastrophic. Disabled people will not be able to achieve their goals, children will fall behind in their education, our elderly friends will dye, and people from all three groups will also dye because they did not get cared for the way that they were supposed to. Let me tell you another analogy. Let’s pretend that all California was in the ocean. Then, All of a sudden, those whom our vulnerable, began to sink. Only those that could swim were having fun. They saw that a lot of people were sinking, but they did not do anything. They said, “We don’t know why we need to bring those people with us. They interrupt our fun time.” They don’t do anything to help them. They preferred to let children and others with special needs dye. They preferred to let those that taught them about love, honesty, and respect dye. These were also the people who took care of them when they were sick, hungry, and penniless. These under privileged people gave it all to save them. Also, some of these people went to war for them. They risked their lives, so these wealthy people could stay alive and keep their freedom and fortune. This is how these rich people, and the people in power pay them? They take away services, and meanwhile, they still have a lot of money? These teachers, doctors, and others have spent countless hours with these people and their kids helping them. They lost so much sleep to fine ways to improve themselves, so these ungrateful people could be happy with them. However, they are not. One last thing I have to say is what go's around comes around.

The Super Bowl

The Super Bowl is always a great event to here every time it comes on. Year after year, it is the event that most people watch. For me, the only thing that is frustrating is that I cannot enjoy the game as I would like to. Today, I am glad that the Stealers one. It was the teem I chose before the big game started. I still want someone to explain to me two or three plays from this game, and a few commercials. All in all, this was a game to remember. The final result was 23 to 27. I wish I could say more about the game, but I am not able. However, The nachos that I had with the nice cold sangria were very good. Bruce Springsteen was great.

the internet's communication world

I was always interested on how social networking websites worked ever since they started to spring up. The first site I heard of was Myspace. One day, after months of hearing all the good things about this website, I decided to create an account. It was easy. The only thing I did not like was the captia. From what I know, this is an image with letters and or numbers. One of my brothers had to help me out. It would have been nice of this site if they could be like blogspot, which is a website where you can create your blog. For example, when you want to post a comment on someone’s blog, you have to type the characters that appear in the image. However, for blind users, there is a link that says listen to the characters. I think that Myspace was not created for all of us. To me, this is another form of segregation. I know that the captia is a way to prevent automated accounts to be created and therefore, preventing people from getting unwanted things. In other words, by using this system, harm could be avoided. Anyway, I gave Myspace a try. When my account was created, the first thing I did was to email everyone I knew to tell them I had a Myspace account. I thought that creating this account would enable me to reach out to people and help them. I had four friends. I met two of them in college, and another friend was my band’s page. You see, I am a singer. The other friend was someone by the name of Tom. I did not know who this guy was. I posted something that I thought was interesting. Nothing happened. I commented on two of my friend's page, but I did not get a reply. I tried emailing these people, but I had no luck. One of my friends set her page to private, so the next time that I wanted to take a look at it I was not able to do it. I started to get frustrated. Not only because people did not want to speak to me, but because every time I would go into a page, I would hear music. I tried to find a way for it not to do this, but it did not work. I was done with Myspace after I heard that it would cause computers to malfunction. I asked one of my friends if there was a way that she could close my account, and she said yes.
Then, I tried blogging. It was much better. I am able to reach more people who are in different stages in their lives. I am able to comment on other people’s blogs, and I know when someone has left me a comment on mine.
Skype, Facebook, and Youtube, have also been of great help. I could post videos on my blog, send my blog address to the new people I meet in Skype, and I use Facebook to make all these come together. In other words, Facebook is the place where people could find me. However, I am about to take my Facebook page down because I am developing my website.
This will be a space where every person will have an opportunity to know me. This will be a place where everyone will be able to come together. After hearing politicians only talk about the rich and middle class people, after seeing websites inaccessible to the disabled, and after hearing so much about why the disabled community can’t do this or that, I have become tired. My dream has always been to live in a world where everyone helps one another. A world where the internet is accessible to all. What is this called? Am I too idealistic? Do I strive for perfection? The answer is yes.
This world is not going to be a perfect world. I know that. What I want to do is to teach people how to see life from a different prospective. Thru my writings, I want to see what people would do if they were poor, and disabled.
My website will be like the world I dream about. It will have things in brail, described videos, a blog, resources to help those who are in need, a radio show, Pictures with text, and so much more. I strongly believe that this could be done, and it will be done.
If I want to make a change, I need to start by making the changes in my work. Hopefully, others will learn, and they will change things for the benefit of all. At first, the change will happen in the internet world. Soon after, that change will be happening all around us

There is a song by John Lennon that is titled “Happy Christmas War is over.” The song starts by asking: So this is Christmas
And what have you done
Another year over
And a new one just begun
What have we done this Christmas? Have we done good or bad things this year? Christmas is a time when families get together, eat, have a nice conversation, and exchange gifts. That is all very good. Unfortunately, little by little we have been adapting the holiday so it can fit our meaning. For example, if you ask the majority of people what is Christmas? They are going to tell you that is a time for shopping, giving material things, Santa Claws, getting together with the family, using some kind of drug, partying, and Jesus Christ. I believe a lot of people will say Santa before saying Jesus Christ. It is very unfortunate that the true spirit of Christmas is dying. I think we could start restoring it by taking time to see the things and people that are around us. We must give thanks that we have people who love us, that we have health, and we have things that are special to us. We must forgive the person whom we have been fighting with. I have a suggestion. Write a note to a person that you do not like. Before I continue, I have to say that you must take this very serious, and you must mean every word that you are going to say. In this note, write something good about the person. Then, you must say that you begin to forgive them or at least try to do it if you haven’t forgiven them already. Your gift to them will be spending time with them. So, you must make some time every week and set it aside. That time will be so you could spend it with the person you are writing this note to. You choose the length of time. If you wish, you could write other things in the note as well. Put this note, a Christmas card, and some money into an envelope. It is time to mail it. Why should you do this? You do not have to, but if you do, it will make you feel better. Think of it as cleansing your heart.
Mary Christmas and a happy new year

My Feature Story

To graduate, and to get an AA degree, are supposed to be two exciting moments in a person’s life. A person has just turned another page from his or her book. After hard work and perseverance, a dream has become reality. I am one of those students. I graduated June 10th, of 2008, and I received an outstanding academic achievement award.

However, I am not just any student. I have Cerebral palsy, I have been blind since birth, and I cannot read brail. However, that has not stopped me. I have to complete one more class before obtaining my AA degree.

Unfortunately, the class, which is journalism1, is a substitution for broadcasting 4a which teaches students about news writing. These two classes are structured for people that can see. This is a problem for me because I believe that people like me should not be taking these classes do to their visual content. Also, I have no knowledge of the things that are being taught or how they are going to be taught. In my journalism 1 class, I have to work with pictures and websites which are not accessible to blind users.

It was almost the exact thing in my broadcasting 4a class; I had to hear what was on a video. At the same time, I had to hear my note taker describe to me what was going on the video. Then, I had to transcribe all of this information as if I was on the seen that the video was showing.
Many days I ask myself, “How am I supposed to know this? How am I supposed to know how everything is arranged and what does it mean, if I cannot see the screen?”
Another example is when I was in class, as an in-class activity, along with other students; I had to find stories in the newspaper to compile for a mock newscast. As all the students were looking in the newspaper, and talking to each other, I was sitting alone in front of a computer screen. I was frustrated because I was not doing my best to reach my potential. Tears were rolling down my eyes, and I wanted to get out of there not only because I was not doing anything, but because I did not want people to see me.

Miguel Lugo, an advocate for people with disabilities, said that there are always challenges that people with disabilities have to go through, and that there is always someone who is willing to “help you out.” According to a 2004 report titled, “Blind Adults in America: Their Lives and Challenges,” 16 percent of blind people have had some college education.

This report was conducted by the National Center for Policy Research for Women & Families; an independent research and educational organization, and was written by Diana M. Zuckerman whom has a PhD, and whom is an expert on national health policy.
As we have seen, some of them have reached their goals. However, things are not really that good when we compare this statistic and others, with those of the general population. The report also states that While 12 percent of blind people have a college degree, 18 percent of sighted people have achieved the same goal. Also, 40 percent of blind people do not have a high school diploma; compared to 25 percent of the general population that does not have a high school education. This report also found out that Blind people are less educated than people who can see. Blind people only have in average of 11.4 years of education. In the work force, 70 percent of disabled people are unemployed, According to an article, titled, "Blind Applicants Confront a Harsh Job Market," which was published on November 22 2007 in the Boston Globe. This is higher than the statistics that the bureau of labor reported for the sighted population. According to the bureau of labor statistics, 5.5 percent of sighted people are unemployed. These statistics are startling.
At SMC, a student is required to take 5 classes and an elective in able to get an AA degree in broadcasting. Out of the 8 broadcasting classes that I have taken, 6 have had some visual content that I have not been able to understand. For classes that have visual content, students with disabilities are provided with a scribe. After class, the notes are scanned, so the blind person could read them.
For some teachers at SMC, the transition from teaching sighted students to teaching blind students has not been hard. Nick Pernisco, whom is professor of broadcasting at SMC, said, “ I think that what’s happened is that I’ve become more conscious of the fact that I am not only trying to appeal to students who are able to see, but also to students who aren’t able to see.” He also says that this experience has made him conscious in terms of how he puts together his lesson plans.

Most professors seemed to be OK with having someone else helping a student by taking notes. “It seemed to work well for me,” Frank Dawson said, another broadcasting professor at Santa Monica College. He also stated that “Working with the students with disabilities department” was helpful. They told him what services they had available.
In some cases, when students with disabilities cannot do the assignment that the professor has assigned, professors give students an alternative assignment which try’s to be an equivalent to the assignment that the other students have to do.

Students are also not bothered by having blind students as classmates. “They were shocked,” Jason Tillitte, a student at SMC, said after seeing a blind student in the class. “It is a new experience for some of them,” Ron Brewington, whom is a teacher and former professional broadcaster, said.

This is not the only class that I have taken. In September of 2007, I had to take a basic math class. Because the class was not targeted towards me, I ended up dropping the class. I think that it would have been a different story if I would have been able to read brail. However, only 10 percent of blind people read Braille, according to the National Federation of the Blind. Also most college teachers have not worked with visually impaired people. This poses a big threat because as we have seen, more blind students could end up being part of that 16 percent of students who have only had some college education.
One solution to prevent this is to train the professors on how to work with blind people.

In the math class, the visual information was described. However, it was useless since there was nothing that I could relate this information to. I also ended up substituting this class for speech 11 which is an argument and debate class. “It would be nice if people could substitute these types of classes ahead of time,” Bianca Carneiro, whom was a student at SMC, said. Most of the interviewees agreed that the college curriculum needed to be changed.
How can we say that SMC or any other college is being friendly to everyone, if they are still leaving out those who need the education most. “It is our job as professors to help students,” Brewington said. Further more, We cannot expect students to willingly take a class such as journalism 1, which is not targeted towards them, and then have them go to their work place which is probably as inaccessible as these classes and which also expect a college degree which would not be obtained by the student. By adapting classes to visually impaired people, we will insure that blind people will be successful in the future. And more people will have a college degree.

abortion

People have now gotten pregnant as early as 14 to 25 because they did not know how to control them selves. Remember in the early 80's when aids was something that nobody knew about? People started getting this by going to bath houses which are places that allows people to fornicate with whomever they want. The same thing is happening with young people. They have sexual relations with multiple partners, and they get STD'S. However, they don't know how they got it. Many girls, who are going to high school or college, drop out because they need a job to support their kid. Others do it because of financial problems or because they did not wanted such a responsibility. They decided to have an abortion. The common side effects of abortion are Infertility, Cervical Laceration, Uncontrollable blood clotting, severe hemorrhage, Seizures, Coma, Cancer, and Death. Unfortunately, women do not know this because some if not most doctors, don't have to tell them these things. Other women have abortions because they were abused but even that is not an excuse to do that. The government should give money to the women so they could get more help. Also, they could get treatment to overcome this traumatic experience. I never understood why abortion was between the woman and her doctor. Further more, people say that the dad has no Wright to force women to keep the baby. Even though the man is involved with making the baby, he cannot have the baby, even if he wanted it to be that way because the baby is in her body, and she could do whatever she pleases with the baby. The government should give the dad the opportunity to decide if he agrees or disagrees with thee abortion. On the other hand, if the man is paying child support, and his income is let's say 90000 dollars, some if not most of the time, the court tells the man that he should give half of his assets to the woman. What is even more sad, is that the money that they receive does not go for the kid, she spends it on her, wile the kids have no food and no clothing. Why do dads have to give the money to women? Couldn’t there be itemized reseats?
theshepherdsvoice.org