edited by Sharon Strzalkowski
The announcement of products and services in this column does not represent an endorsement by the American Council of the Blind, its officers, or staff. Listings are free of charge for the benefit of our readers. "The ACB Braille Forum" cannot be held responsible for the reliability of the products and services mentioned. To submit items for this column, send a message to [email protected], or phone the national office at 1-800-424-8666, and leave a message in Sharon Lovering's mailbox. Information must be received at least two months ahead of publication date.
NASA Seeks Interns
NASA has internships for high school students and for rising college freshmen through doctoral students in STEM fields. Applicants must be U.S. citizens, with a minimum GPA of 2.8 for college and 3.0 for high school. High-school students must be at least 16 at the time the internship begins.
Students can apply for summer 2014 internships starting on Nov. 1. The deadline for submitting applications is March 14, 2014. Apply early, because the best opportunities are likely to be filled early. To apply, register for an account and look for internships anytime at the One Stop Shopping Initiative (OSSI): NASA Internships, Fellowships, and Scholarships (NIFS) at http://intern.nasa.gov/. Students who are selected for summer internships will receive an offer letter by E-mail sometime after Feb. 3, 2014. They will then have five days to accept or reject the offer through their OSSI: NIFS account. The offer will automatically expire after five days if no action is taken.
Where are opportunities located? They are at NASA centers and field installations all over the country: Ames Research Center, Moffett Federal Airfield, Mountain View, Calif.; Dryden Flight Research Center, Edwards Air Force Base, Los Angeles County, Calif.; Glenn Research Center, Cleveland, Ohio; Goddard Institute for Space Studies, New York, N.Y.; Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md.; Independent Verification and Validation Facility, Fairmont, W.Va.; Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.; Johnson Space Center, Houston, Tex.; Kennedy Space Center, Merritt Island, Fla.; Langley Research Center, Hampton, Va.; Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, Ala.; Michoud Assembly Facility, New Orleans, La.; NASA Headquarters, Washington, D.C.; NASA Shared Services Center at Stennis Space Center, Miss.; Stennis Space Center, near Bay St. Louis, Miss.; Wallops Flight Facility, Wallops Island, Va.; White Sands Complex, Las Cruces, N.M.; and White Sands Test Facility, Las Cruces, N.M.
For more information, or if you need assistance, contact Kenneth A. Silberman, Esq., at (301) 286-9281, or via e-mail, [email protected].
NLS Releases App for Your iDevices
The National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped (NLS) recently released an app that will allow those registered with NLS to download audio and braille books to their iPhone, iPad or iPod touch. It is called the Braille and Audio Reading Download (BARD) Mobile app, and it is available through Apple's App Store. It is free to download. Access to BARD is provided through local cooperating libraries. BARD contains nearly 50,000 books, magazines and music scores in audio and braille formats, with new selections added daily
Envision's Award Winners
Envision recently presented two awards at its conference in Minneapolis. August Colenbrander, M.D., Ph.D., an affiliate senior scientist of the Smith-Kettlewell Eye Research Institute in San Francisco, received the Envision Oculus Award; Alex Bowers, M.C. (Optom.), Ph.D., an assistant scientist and assistant professor with the Schepens Eye Research Institute in Boston, received the Envision Award in Low Vision Research.
The Envision Oculus Award is presented to individuals or organizations whose efforts in professional collaboration, advocacy, research or education have had a significant national or international impact on people who are blind or low vision. Dr. Colenbrander was nominated by a colleague who cited his outstanding contributions in the fields of low vision education, organization, and research, and described him as always being ready and willing to support young researchers through advice and active contributions with a wide international network of collaborators.
Dr. Bowers, who presented a research abstract entitled, "The effects of age and vision impairment on scanning and detection at intersections," during Envision Conference 2013, is an optometrist with a Ph.D. in vision rehabilitation from Glasgow Caledonian University in Scotland, where she evaluated the effects of vision impairment and magnifiers on reading.
Jewish Guild, Lighthouse International Merge
Jewish Guild Healthcare and Lighthouse International have announced plans to join forces and operate as one organization under the new name Lighthouse Guild International. Together, the merged organization will offer the broadest array and most comprehensive scope of services currently available for people who are blind, visually impaired or multiply disabled, ranging from physical and mental health to rehabilitation, long-term care and education. The organization will be governed by a 41-member board of directors led by James M. Dubin (chairman), and Joseph A. Ripp (vice chairman). All current members of the boards of Jewish Guild Healthcare and Lighthouse International will join the newly constituted board.
How Does a Castle Work?
National Braille Press has recently released "Castle: How It Works" in contracted braille and in a print-and-braille format, too. It's written for ages 5 to 10, and tells all about castles and why they were built the way they were. For more information on this book, visit www.nbp.org/ic/nbp/BC1310-CASTLE.htmlor call 1-800-548-7323.
Beginner's Guide to Echolocation
"The Beginner's Guide to Echolocation for the Blind and Visually Impaired," by Tim Johnson, is a guidebook that helps clarify what it means to echolocate, realize the benefits of using echolocation and how easy it is to learn, as well as put into practice with easy-to-follow, step-by-step lessons. "The Beginner's Guide to Echolocation for the Blind and Visually Impaired" is available in audiobook, Kindle, paperback, large print or accessible e-book formats. For more information, visit www.HumanEcholocation.com.
As I See It
"As I See It; From a Blind Man's Perspective, Revised Edition" is Robert Branco's newest book. In it, he discusses a wide variety of issues, including legislation, discrimination, employment, myths about blindness, and adaptive technology. This second edition includes two dozen new essays on web site accessibility, relationships, beep baseball, personal care issues, and much more. For more information, visit www.dvorkin.com/robertbranco/.