Contents:
Well, it is the new year again. We here at your advocacy home and hub have been working hard to secure our infrastructure through many processes we will go into in this newsletter. We had a wonderful second retreat and a pow-wow it was! We have planned for the next two years for our organization to soar above any other in this state, and to have it become a model of excellence for this great nation. We put some safeguards into our Constitution, and had a wonderful, loving, smooth convention, and gave out eight plaques. We are making preparations for a legislative agenda this next session. Stay tuned!
I, as your President, want to wish all of you the healthiest, happiest New Year ever! This is going to be a great year for us, as last year's was. We will share some news, and some laughter in this issue.
As for our legal situations, we must still keep quiet about that, but we are progressing. We know all of you have faith in our elected leaders, and I cannot thank the Board of Directors enough for their service this year. We continue to need your prayers, and appreciate them as we have in the past. We also appreciate our volunteers. If you feel that you would like to volunteer some time that would be most greatly appreciated. There is a lot of work to do, and a lot of hearts and hands make it happen!
During this difficult time, your Board members have been hard at work making sure the organization runs smoothly and makes a smooth transition to our new office at 1561 Nelchina St., Unit C-1 Anchorage, AK 99501-5577. They have been and are now: Lynne Koral, President; Sandy Sanderson, First Vice-President; Deborah Jenkins, Second Vice-President; Secretary, Nugget Hiatt; Treasurer, Fed Ryan; Outgoing Board Member, Beryl Walther; Board members, Richie Gardenhire, Danny Von and Jim Swartz. They have been a tower of strength for this organization. Thank you, all!
Bev Carlson, Don Lutz and Aaron Linn have helped a great deal this year. Betty Gardenhire, Ann McNoyse, Danny Von, and Bryan Moberly have all helped with Games of Chance. Karen Haddock, Dan Shanis and Karen Sullivan have all put hours and hours of time into volunteering!
Thanks to Jim and Joy Swartz, we had a wonderful, open house for Christmas time. This is the time to be together and remember our blessings.
I again want to thank Joy Swartz for helping me put together this newsletter, making sure it is error-free, and doing the necessary edits for clarity. Thanks, Joy and Jim Swartz, for your help and commitment.
Well, before I get too spiritual, I want to thank many friends this year who made it one of our best years. Many agencies and organizations were helpful to us last year, including a few of our legislative friends, especially Loren Leman. Senator Leman was our senatorial sponsor for SB258, which was the companion to HB320. For those of you who don't remember numbers, this is the legislation to open up our right to vote. Senator Leman is now Alaska's newest Lieutenant Governor. Congratulations to Loren Leman!
Our scholarship is called the Louise Rude Scholarship. If you need a scholarship, or you will be transitioning in your career and will need re-training, or if you need some assistance to go to the university, please call us at our phone numbers and let us know. There are three scholarships of $1,000.00, $1,500.00 and $2,000.00 -- with the last two in remembrance of Daryl Nather and Louise Rude.
Well, there's more. In this issue, you will hear about changes in the Division of Vocational Rehabilitation, transportation issues, committees you can join, a computer opportunity, and diabetes information, so read on!
A big thank you goes to our facilitator, Nancy Scheetz-Freymiller. Another one of our volunteers and members, Dan Shanis, referred Nancy Scheetz-Freymiller to us, and it turned out wonderfully. If the first retreat was an introduction to board roles, responsibilities and structure, the second retreat moved us to priorities and goals for the organization and tightened up our infrastructure. Committees were established. We hope that the members will dig their feet into one of these committees. These committees are as follows:
The Governance Committee will take the lead in:
The Finance Committee will take the lead in:
The Transportation Committee will take the lead in:
The Technology/Youth Committee
Mr. Gardenhire will be writing about his plans for this committee. The vision is to reach out to our youth in the community who are blind or visually impaired for involvement in technology. It also will include sharing ideas, tips, and information regarding new equipment, testing, etc. yet. This is still in the infancy stages of development.
Similarly, Jim Swartz has laid down the gauntlet, and set down ambitious goals for recruitment of new members. We want to make sure that new members know why they are joining this organization, and what makes us unique and special. We also want to write a history of this vital, dynamic organization. That was something we spoke about in April. This committee has set its sights on chapter building and chapter strengthening.
In conjunction with that, watch for a membership form coming soon. Our membership drive is on, since we must submit our list for the National office by March 15. Please join this vital organization.
The rate of membership has gone up slightly to reflect the national membership increase of their membership dues. You will see that reflected soon in a new convention form. The new form will ask if you are a new member or renewing.
We decided to combine legislative and public relations, because during the dormant periods, where the legislature does not meet, we can be hard at work on our public relations agenda. We thought those activities were closely linked and aligned.
Governance is the new name for that which used to be our Constitutions Committee. There is much more to do than shoring up our Constitution. By the way, we do hope all of you received our revised Constitution. If you did not, please call us at our various numbers. The discussion was expertly led by Chris Gray, President, American Council of the Blind, who gently coached us with regard to certain language to be amended for the Constitution. The discussion was respectful and enlightening, to use the pun. We really enjoyed having Marvelena Quesada here also. Marvelena is Chris Gray's partner, the First Lady of American Council of the Blind. Her quiet assurance can teach us a lot as blind people, and blind women. She did not give one of her reports, so I will print that for you here.
We are a pluralistic, fierce but tenacious organization. We will continue and thrive. We will be having more seminars, and embarking on more initiatives this year.
We appreciate all our members-including our sighted members. However, we are run by those of us who are legally blind. We made sure that it was understood in our Constitution that we encompass those with visual impairments as well as those with total blindness.
So, which committee is right for you? Let us know. Be part of making this organization a strong, well-defined, well-known and well understood organization! You are the life blood of this organization.
As was mentioned earlier, eight plaques were given out to those who were so instrumental in making it possible to have accessible ballots.
Four plaques were given to legislative staff, who hardly ever get recognized. They were: Nathan Johnson, legislative aide for Representative, (now Senator), Gretchen Guess, one of the original co-sponsors on HB 320. Nathan Johnson was also a vital resource on the Committee on Voting Accessibility for the Division of Elections, for which I was chosen as Chairperson. He has also volunteered as a reader with AIRRES in the past.
Another member of the Committee on Accessible Voting was Suzanne Cunningham, a quiet but effective staffer for our friend Representative Kevin Meyer. He was unopposed in his bid to go back to the legislature this session.
Two other aides received plaques. We could not have done the work of helping with legislation if Laura Achee, staffer for outgoing Representative Joe Green, hadn't written press releases, worked tirelessly to convince other legislators that this was the right legislation, worked with the Division of Elections, and helped to gather support letters and information about Frank Haas. Whitney Highland was the staffer for Senator Loren Leman. Janet Kowalski, another recipient of a plaque, pulled it all together and discussed exactly how we could all work together to get a winning bill. She suggested that we contact some legislative staffers, and those four were the ones who were called, and came to discuss the legislation the very next day. Their commitment is a testament to their understanding of how important this legislation was. Whitney even said it was a "no-brainer." Janet Kowalski said that she understood how long we had worked as a disabled community for this outcome.
Representative Joe Green, who could not come to the legislative dinner, graciously received his plaque in his office a few weeks after the convention. Nathan Johnson also received his after the convention. The only one waiting to be given is that for our new Lieutenant Governor. With all the rearranging of the new administration, we have been flexible in scheduling. We want you to have a chance to interact with the new administration.
Out with the old, and in with the new, as it is said. With the new Murkowski administration, not only were the commissioners of each department reappointed, but the directors were also asked to resign. We bid good-bye to Duane French, who left the Division in mid-December. I wish him well, but it had always been difficult to train him about our blindness priorities. It is with great satisfaction and hope that we welcome Dave Quisenberry as the Acting Director of the Division of Vocational Rehabilitation. Dave has always been a fair person, and interested in the concerns we have brought to him in the past as Chief of Case Services. He has pledged to clean up some of the oversight problems with the Randolph-Sheppard program, and to give blindness a more pronounced profile. We will keep you posted of any news of being placed closer to the front burner.
In connection with that, and somewhat before Duane French's departure, Jim Beck accepted a position as the statewide Executive Director of Access Alaska. We were very sad to see Nancy Burke leave, and I always found her to be a voice of compromise, tolerance and reason. I always found that she would listen to what the blind community had to say. Nancy is working with the Mental Health Trust Authority. No one has taken her place as Regional Director in the Anchorage office of Access Alaska just yet.
We heard Scott Simpson for the first time at our state convention. It was a low-key affair, with no discussions of importance because he was new in his position. We are concerned that Mr. Simpson is in a position with little to no experience overseeing the Business Enterprise Program. This position needs someone who understands business practices and procedures. No one has replaced Jim Beck's position as the BEP Coordinator. The Murkowski administration has asked all departments to take a cut; and DVR has taken the brunt of the Dept. of Labor cuts.
As you may recall, we lost on summary judgment regarding the Dianne's Restaurant extended lease located in the Atwood Building. The Blind Vendors Committee has appealed it to the Supreme Court. The trial court judge, a very thoughtful one, fashioned his decision on the concept of what "established" meant in the context of establishing a business. He felt that since Dianne's had been established prior to the building being purchased by the State for office space, there was no violation of the lease.
Nothing makes us feel less independent as does transportation. Oh, yes, we need help with our mail or filling out forms sometimes, but with CCTV's and other devices, this is less cumbersome. However, no technology yet exists for us to travel when we want, where we want, and how we want in every nook and cranny of every community in this country. To this end, Chris Gray has put together a Transportation Task Force, whose chairpersons are Ron Brooks and Alice Richhart. I, your President, Lynne Koral, have been named to this task force. Of course, I am also the Chair of the Committee for Alaska Independent Blind.
Even in the most modern communities, choices are dwindling. Service is being cut back, and strict adherence to the ADA is being applied. The ADA, lamentably, has narrowed our access to supplemental transportation. We have always contended that ADA brought those states that were not previously complying with transportation needs into compliance, but that ADA is the minimum standard. States can, and Alaska has, always gone beyond the ADA. So, why now have we retracted in Anchorage?
Last year, January 1, the Municipality of Anchorage saw fit to raise the paratransit rate from $1.00 to $1.50. The rate had not been raised for many years. This year, they threatened to raise the fare from $1.50 to $2.50. Due to the hue and cry from many disabled advocates, that has not happened. However, the fixed-route system, we lovingly know as The People Mover, has cut back; therefore, disabled people who rely on the public transit system for their mode of transportation must now take cabs or limit their travel. Transportation is not a luxury, it is a necessity. Isolation is already a problem for many older people, which causes depression. Transportation is something we must plan carefully and precisely, lest it go awry.
Other considerations have hit Anchorage. The drivers have always been the laughing stock of the transit workers. This is because they get paid far less than their counterparts who work for People Mover or for the school district. The contractor, Paratransit Services, out of Bremerton, Washington, is not happy with the recent vote of drivers to join the Teamsters' Union. This has caused Paratransit Services to want to get out of their contract, it is alleged. Unfortunately, the buses have not been upgraded either, since any profit goes to Bremerton, and not into improving the ailing buses. Safety is also a concern with these older buses.
We are still noticing that many buses have but one passenger in it, wasteful to say the least, and that multiple buses arrive at the same location within minutes of each other.
In smaller communities, options are even more limited. If there is no fixed-route system, (city bus system), there will be no supplemental ADA service, either. It is up to us to think of innovative solutions, and that is what this Task Force is going to do in the next six months. We need your help. Some of the members of the Transportation Committee have designed a comprehensive survey which will be sent out relatively soon. Watch for it. You will have a choice to respond via mail, online, or telephone. There's about 57 questions or so about transportation issues. You can skip some of the questions that do not apply. The survey runs the gamut from bus service to taxi and to paratransit service. It has a thorough line of questions.
It occurred to me that HB320 had not been included in the last newsletter. I am therefore putting it into this one.
Bill Text for HB 320 - 22nd Legislature
BILL ID: HB 320
00 HOUSE BILL NO. 320 am
01 "An Act relating to the use of electronic balloting equipment."
02 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA:
03 * Section 1. The uncodified law of the State of Alaska is amended by adding a new section
04 to read:
05 SHORT TITLE. This Act may be known as the Frank Haas Act.
06 * Sec. 2. AS 15.15.030(5) is amended to read:
07 (5) The [STATE GENERAL ELECTION BALLOT SHALL BE
08 PRINTED ON WHITE PAPER WITH THE] names of the candidates and their party
09 designations shall be placed in separate sections on the state general election ballot
10 under the office designation to which they were nominated. The party affiliation, if
11 any, shall be designated after the name of the candidate. The lieutenant governor and
12 the governor shall be included under the same section. Provision shall be made for
13 voting for write-in and no-party candidates within each section. Paper ballots for the
14 state general election shall be printed on white paper.
15 * Sec. 3. AS 15.15.030(13) is amended to read:
01 (13) Notwithstanding any other provision of this title, the director may
02 provide for voting by use of electronic balloting equipment or optically scanned
03 ballots where the requisite [OPTICAL SCANNING] equipment is available. If the
04 director provides for voting by use of electronic balloting equipment, the director
05 shall provide electronic balloting equipment that would allow voters with
06 disabilities, including those who are blind or visually impaired, to cast private,
07 independent, and verifiable ballots.
08 * Sec. 4. AS 15.20.900 is amended to read:
09 Sec. 15.20.900. Optically scanned or electronically generated ballots
10 [BALLOT TABULATION]. (a) Notwithstanding any other provisions of this title,
11 the director may adopt regulations that provide procedures for the tabulation of
12 electronically generated ballots or optically scanned ballots, including procedures
13 for
14 (1) tests of the counting programs developed for each precinct
15 tabulator to ensure that the system is functioning properly;
16 (2) security for the voting and tabulation of ballots;
17 (3) the transmission and accumulation of vote totals to assure the
18 integrity of the vote counting process;
19 (4) observation by the public of the counting process in the regional
20 offices; and
21 (5) the disposition of ballots.
22 (b) The state ballot counting review board established under AS 15.10.180
23 shall test the counting programs for the tabulation of electronically generated ballots
24 or optically scanned ballots and certify their accuracy in accordance with the
25 regulations adopted under (a) of this section.
NOTE: The bracketed sections indicate deletions and the underlined, italicized or bold sections indicate language that is to be added. The computer reads the brackets, but not the italicized. Screen readers do not seem to recognize that.
Quite a few years ago, we asked about your interest and need for computers. Phillips, through a generous donation, and through Representative Kevin Meyer, has donated 40 computers. These are relatively old Pentium computers with 166MHZ, but to one with no help from Division of Vocational Rehabilitation, and who may not be working, but wants that all-important device, you might want this. If you do, an application will be devised as to why you need or want one, and perhaps a reference or two. We want to make sure that Alaska Independent Blind finds good homes for these computers.
For more information, please call 563-2525 or outside of Anchorage 1-800 478-9998. You can always e-mail aiblink@ak.net. In that regard, anyone who wants to receive this newsletter by e-mail, please let us know.
I also want to thank Jim and Joy Swartz for putting the newsletter together again. Thanks from the bottom of my heart.
New Ambulance Payments Will Save You Money
By Pam Negri
Public Affairs Specialist
Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services
Region 10
On April 1, 2002, Medicare will begin paying for ambulance services using a fee schedule. An important feature of this new payment system is the requirement that ambulance service providers accept Medicare assignment. This can mean significant out-of-pocket savings for Medicare patients.
Under the new payment system ambulance service providers will be paid a pre-determined fee for each different service rendered. This is similar to the payment methods Medicare has progressively adopted for hospitals, nursing homes and home health agencies, which have proven to be better for patients, providers and the program. Previously, payment for ambulance services was based on the providers' costs or charges and there was no limit on what ambulance providers could charge on non-assigned claims.
An important new protection for consumers requires ambulance service providers to accept the Medicare approved fee as their full payment. This means that people with Medicare will not pay more than 20 percent of the approved amount, once they have met their annual $100 Medicare part B deductible. This is the same way Medicare currently pays physicians who accept assignment on claims. This will result in significant cost savings for beneficiaries in many instances.
The new fee schedule sets seven categories of payment for ground ambulance services and two categories for air ambulance service. Increased payments are allowed in rural areas.
Medicare pays for medically necessary ambulance services in emergencies and other situations when other methods of transportation could endanger the patient's health. Coverage is limited to transportation to a hospital or skilled nursing facility or from a hospital or skilled nursing facility to the patient's home. Transportation to a doctor's office is not covered.
For answers to your Medicare questions, call toll-free 24 hours a day, 7 days a week 1-800-MEDICARE (1-800-633-4227); TTY/TDD 1-877-486-2048, or visit www.medicare.gov.
TRAFFIC ENGINEERS GIVE THE GREEN LIGHT
TO TRAFFIC IMPROVEMENTS
On Monday, March 18, Bonnie Low, Access Alaska, Fairbanks, and Lynne Koral, President, Alaska Independent Blind, gave a demonstration to about twenty-five traffic engineers about pedestrian problems at street crossings. This project was the brainchild of Alex Viteri, Assistant State Traffic Engineer, who had contacted Lynne Koral about speaking to the annual meeting for traffic engineers to be held in Fairbanks. Only two of the traffic engineers did not pair up with their fellow employees and become blindfolded. Canes were supplied by Access Alaska and Alaska Independent Blind for the engineers to use.
Thanks must not only be attributed to Viteri, but also to Scott Thomas Central Region Traffic Safety Engineer who joined our Alaska Independent Blind convention in Kenai in the year 2000. He told Alex Viteri about our interest in pedestrian safety.
Bonnie Low accepted the offer of Alaska Independent Blind President that she be involved in this educational project. Thanks to David Jacobson who supported this endeavor to train those traffic engineers.
Lynne Koral called to see if Bonnie would choose someone to do a demonstration with her who was blind and lived in Fairbanks, but, in the end, Lynne went up to Fairbanks the day after the big snow dump on Anchorage. Arriving at Frontier Airlines, with canes in hand, they traversed the route designated to try with those traffic engineers.
In the afternoon, Bonnie and Lynne spoke to the traffic engineers about some common problems for pedestrians who are blind and visually impaired. These problems include but are not limited to: right on red, round-abouts, sloped vs. squared-off curb ramps, multiple lanes, and electric cars. Then the engineers went to the corner and picked a partner. Each blindfolded partner would have a sighted partner.
According to Alex Viteri, the engineers are still talking about their blindfolding experiment at that street corner in Fairbanks. He hopes to do this again, perhaps in a couple of years. Problems that he identified were not being able to tell which direction cars were coming from, how many lanes he had to cross, when he bumped into a mailbox, which direction to turn, but, he said, he did not peek. Some of the traffic engineers felt that ADA had gone too far and after this experience they felt that DOT is not doing enough. Alex reminded Lynne Koral that detectable warning strips are being installed all over the state. Alex says he had been previously made aware of wheelchair access needs, and so this was just another awareness project he wanted to bring to the attention of the engineers at the annual meeting. But our little experiment shows that a little education goes a long way.
Thanks again to Scott Thomas and Alex Viteri for being willing to engage themselves in the traffic and pedestrian experiment.
Thanks for the pictures taken during our traffic and pedestrian experiment in Fairbanks, March 18, 2002. Thanks to Access Alaska in Fairbanks and David Jacobson for lending Bonnie Low to the traffic engineers for their yearly conferences.
NOTE: An associate of Bonnie Low took some pictures of the engineers while we waited and watched their progress.
STANFORD U. WILL TEST A COMPUTERIZED
TRANSCRIPTION SYSTEM
by Karen Birchard
Thursday, January 24, 2002
Submitted by a Relative
Stanford University is the first test site in the United States for a Canadian system designed to give students with disabilities a better shot at succeeding in college.
Students testing the Liberated Learning Project (LLP) at colleges and universities in Canada, Britain, and Australia find they no longer need note takers at lectures where LLP is used.
Although LLP adds some extra work for the lecturer, students, including those without disabilities, give the innovation positive reviews.
Using voice-activated software, the system immediately converts a teacher's words into print that is flashed onto a large screen.
After the lecturer edits the session for accuracy and corrects words that sound the same, the lecture is made available to all students online.
For the visually impaired, it can be quickly translated into Braille.
The student response has been fantastic," said David Leitch, the head of LLP and director of the Atlantic Centre of Research, Access and Support for Students with Disabilities, at Saint Mary's University, in Halifax, Nova Scotia.
Saint Mary's has been using the system for two years. "We find that all students in the classes where LLP is used are using the words on the screen to check their notetaking or find their place," Mr. Leitch said.
Students without disabilities also say that the screen, with its real-time display, adds interest to the lectures.
But the real winners are students like Jane Bagnall, who has been profoundly deaf since she was 6.
In an e-mail interview from Saint Mary's, she said: "I could see the professor's lecture on the screen as he was speaking. I was therefore getting lecture information in two ways (in text and via the Sign Language interpreter). ... The second benefit is having near-verbatim, edited lecture notes afterwards for studying. This gave me an opportunity to reconcile my own classnotes with the actual lecture notes, as my own were far from perfect. If I missed a class, the LLP notes would be available."
According to Mr. Leitch, access to lecture material has always been a problem for students with disabilities. "Some wealthy universities can hire court stenographers -- each one costs about $60,000 a year -- but the majority of students with disabilities in most universities depend on volunteer note takers, and this is less than ideal," he said.
"LLP certainly improves the accuracy and makes it easier for students to take a course," he said.
Mr. Leitch is pleased that Stanford has agreed to test the system, saying that the university's information-technology expertise means it can quickly develop solutions whenever problems arise.
"Where we see a glitch, they see an opportunity," he said.
This article from The Chronicle is available online at this address: http://chronicle.com/free/2002/01/2002012401t.htm
Here is your helping of Medic-Care news for this newsletter. (Lynne Koral).
Making Sense of Medicare:
Medicare Expands Program to Improve Nursing Home
Quality
by Pam Negri
Public Affairs Specialist
Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services
Region 10
Selecting a nursing home for you or a loved one may just have become easier. All too often, decisions about which nursing home to choose are made under difficult circumstances without a lot of information about the quality of care in a particular facility. Now consumers in every state have a wealth of information available at their fingertips about the quality of care in Medicare and Medicaid certified nursing homes.
The Nursing Home Quality Initiative, launched by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, provides data designed to help consumers across the United States make more educated decisions when selecting a nursing home. Caregivers can obtain copies of state nursing home inspection reports, review staffing and affordability information, and compare newly released quality measures such as a nursing home's prevalence of bedsores, pain, physical restraints, and infections among their resident population.
The national launch on November 12 follows the successful six-state pilot project, which began in April 2002, involving nursing homes in Washington, Colorado, Florida, Maryland, Ohio, and Rhode Island. The national launch was promoted with ads in 71 newspapers in all 50 states.
Quality Improvement Organizations (QIOs) like Qualis Health, which serves Washington, Idaho, and Alaska, and OMPRO, which serves Oregon, are contracted with the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services to collect and publish data to help consumers make decisions about nursing homes. Another key component of the quality initiative is the information and consultation that QIOs will offer skilled nursing homes in every state to improve the quality of patient care.
The seven-month pilot project confirmed that targeted quality improvement initiatives do indeed improve the quality of care. One of the major indicators of quality evaluated was pain management. Did the pilot result in any changes that eased the pain of residents? In Washington state, for example, significant improvements were noted in several nursing homes which worked with Qualis Health: Tacoma Lutheran Home, Parkway Nursing Home in Snohomish, Everett Rehabilitation and Care Center, and Cascade Vista Convalescent Center in Redmond.
Using the Nursing Home Compare tool on www.medicare.gov, or by calling 1-800-MEDICARE (1-800-633-4227), consumers will be able to compare specific nursing homes to others in the community or nation on 10 different quality measures. The measures fall into two categories - six for chronic care patients (long-term residents) and four for post-acute care patients (short-term residents). Among the measures are percent of residents:
We recommend that these quality measures should be one tool among many that consumers use. Checking with state and local ombudsman offices, visiting the nursing homes, and reading the publication, A Guide to Choosing a Nursing Home, are also good tools to use when looking for a nursing home for yourself, a family member, or friend. The quality data, publication, and findings from yearly on-site inspections and complaint investigations by State Survey Agencies are available at Medicare's consumer friendly Web site www.medicare.gov or by calling the 24-hour help line, 1-800-MEDICARE.
Pam Negri
Public Affairs Specialist
Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services
Seattle Regional Office
Phone: 206-615-2370
Fax: 206-615-2363
E-Mail: pnegri@cms.hhs.gov
American Diabetes Association
Advocacy E-News, November 26, 2002
For those planning to fly our airlines in the future, we want to remind you of the guidelines the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) has established with input from the American Diabetes Association for traveling with diabetes supplies.
The above protocol applies only to travel within the United States and is subject to change. International passengers should consult their individual air carriers for applicable international regulations.
If you are denied boarding or face any other unforeseen diabetes-related difficulties while passing through security checkpoints, please speak with the security checkpoint supervisor.
For more information please visit the American Diabetes Association's Advocacy web page at: http://americandiabetesassn.org
You may direct questions to: http://makingnoise@diabetes.org.
Well, newsletter fans, I had better shut this down for this issue. I have enough for another, so it will be out soon. Thank you, all, for your moral support, and for your prayers for our leaders and for the organization.
Phone: 907-563-2525
Statewide: 1-800 478-9998
Fax: 907-276-0066
E-mail: aiblink@ak.net
Web: http://www.acb.org/alaska/
Webmaster: pprice@indy.rr.com
Last Updated: February 22,
2003