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Friday, May 21, 2004
Year V, Edition 939
Today's front section features 8 news and information
items, each preceded by a number (#) symbol.
Click on the"Below the
Fold" link at the bottom of this section for 34 more news items.
QUOTES OF THE DAY:
"We must send the strongest possible signal
that such activity is unacceptable and will not be tolerated in our
society."
--Michael Mates, chairman of the Northern Ireland Affairs
Committee, urging the government to change its "hate crimes" law to better
protect people with disabilities (First story)
"It's a good thing because everybody's equal, whether they have a
disability or not."
--Dawn Davis, a shopper who has cerebral palsy,
talking about the policy at Kohl's department stores of including mannequins
with disabilities in their displays (Third story)
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# CRIME / LAWS
Panel Urges Disabilities To Be Added To "Hate
Crimes" Legislation
By Dave Reynolds, Inclusion Daily Express
May 21,
2004
BELFAST, NORTHERN IRELAND--The Northern Ireland Affairs Committee
called on the government to change its proposed "hate crimes" legislation to
give better protections for people with disabilities.
A parliamentary report authored by the committee noted that there has been a significant increase in hate crimes, and called on police to be more aggressive in handling the problem.
Committee chairman Michael Mates said Friday that members of the panel were astonished to learn that the government had laws in place to protect people with disabilities in England and Wales, but not in Northern Ireland. He said that including such attacks in the draft legislation would send the message that "normal rules apply" in Northern Ireland.
"We must send the strongest possible signal that such activity is unacceptable and will not be tolerated in our society," Mates said.
Mates explained that organizations representing people with disabilities, along with Northern Ireland's Council for Ethnic Minorities and the Equality Commission, presented the committee with "credible evidence that disabled people in Northern Ireland do experience a wide range of 'hate crime' attacks."
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# EMPLOYMENT
Defense Measure Would Remove Priority For Blind
Vendors
By Dave Reynolds, Inclusion Daily Express
May 21,
2004
WASHINGTON, DC--Last week, the Senate Armed Services Committee
voted 25-0 to approve a defense authorization bill.
Few knew, apparently, that the measure included a one-sentence provision that would eliminate a federal program which gives blind business owners priority for certain food contracts on military bases.
The bill would affect the Randolph-Sheppard Act of 1936, which provides employment opportunities for blind people. The Act currently gives blind vendors priority to operate concessions on all federal property.
The sentence was inserted by committee member Senator John Ensign of Nevada, who claims it was wrong for the government to grant priority to blind vendors over those with other disabilities. Ensign told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch that he wanted "to put the rest of the disabled community on a level playing field with the blind vendors."
"We were trying to put some fairness in this for the other handicapped," Ensign said.
The development follows years of competition for federal contracts between programs that provide employment opportunities for blind workers, and those that provide work for people with other disabilities. The National Industries for the Severely Handicapped, which allocates contracts to groups which provide jobs for people with different disabilities, had filed several legal challenges to the government's preferential treatment of blind vendors. Last October, the Department of Defense said officials would give preference to blind vendors to run dining projects, but said it would urge subcontracts to go to other disability groups.
Related:
"Blind entrepreneurs could lose priority for military
base contracts" (St. Louis Post-Dispatch)
http://www.inclusiondaily.com/news/04/red/0521a.htm
---
# AWARENESS
Kohl's Mannequins Show Diversity
By Dave
Reynolds, Inclusion Daily Express
May 21, 2004
SACRAMENTO,
CALIFORNIA--With one in five people experiencing a disability, we know that it
is a natural part of life.
Apparently the folks at Kohl's department stores have gotten the message.
For the past ten years, Kohl's has been adding mannequins with disabilities to its displays.
Now, according to a brief item published by KCRA Television, the store has such mannequins in nearly every one of its 500 stores in 38 states.
"It shows that even if you're in a wheelchair, you can shop here," said Kohl's spokeswoman Erin Capps. "The wheelchair mannequins are just one example of how we provide a visual display of how we support diversity."
Disability advocates and shoppers said the mannequins are a move in the right direction.
Dawn Davis, a shopper who has cerebral palsy, told KCRA, "It's a good thing because everybody's equal, whether they have a disability or not."
Shopper Beverly Gerauld said people with disabilities need fashion just like everybody else.
"If they're shoppers, it doesn't matter if they come in wheelchairs, go-carts or whatever," she said.
Kohl's, which is based out of Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin, also has Asian, Latina and African-American mannequins, representing what the company calls its diverse customer and employee base.
---
# INSTITUTIONS
LDC Parents Balk At Smaller
Homes On Former Institution Campus
By Dave Reynolds, Inclusion Daily
Express
May 21, 2004
SPRINGFIELD, ILLINOIS--Parents of former Lincoln
Developmental Center residents are upset about a decision to scrap the state
plan to build four, 10-bed group homes on the grounds in favor of smaller
residences at the site.
The institution, which housed people with developmental disabilities, was closed in 2002 under orders from then-Governor George H. Ryan.
Current Governor Rod Blagojevich made a campaign promise of reopening LDC and hiring back state employees that had been laid off when the institution closed.
State officials then developed the plan to build the four homes on the property to house a total of 40 former LDC residents.
Advocates for community services have seen the redevelopment at the facility's campus as a "significant step backward" during a 30-plus year trend toward individualized community-based supports.
Illinois Department of Human Services spokesman Tom Green revealed for the first time Thursday that the department is shifting its focus at LDC toward smaller homes that would house fewer residents to give the residents "more independence, more choice."
The parents say their children don't need more independence, according to a story in Friday's Pantagraph. Instead, they need more care, something the parents fear could not be provided in smaller settings, even if they are served by former LDC staffs.
Jody Hogan, whose daughter had lived at LDC for 24 years, said, "Angie has to be fed. She has to be bathed. She has to be changed. It's like taking care of a baby."
But state officials said the individual homes could be better suited for Lincoln, which has a population of just over 15,000.
"In the Lincoln and Logan County area, there were some needs other than caring for the disabled," explained Jeri Johnson, director of disability treatment for the Department of Human Services.
Related:
"Plans for LDC site may change" (Pantagraph)
http://www.pantagraph.com/stories/052104/new_20040521029.shtml
"Lincoln
Developmental Center -- Illinois Governor Strives To Return To The Past"
(Inclusion Daily Express Archives)
http://www.inclusiondaily.com/news/institutions/il/ldc.htm
---
# EDUCATION / ACHIEVEMENT
Students Have "Toughed It Out" To
Graduation
May 21, 2004
GREENSBORO, NORTH CAROLINA--The following
nine paragraphs are excerpts from two summaries included on a single page
published by the News & Record:
Jared Austin finished exams at Eastern High School on Tuesday, but no one wanted to see him go.
When Austin was 7, doctors diagnosed his Duchenne muscular dystrophy, a disease that gradually atrophied his muscles and robbed him of the ability to move.
Austin uses his thumb to control his wheelchair. Although he has to dictate his assignments to a personal care assistant, he's still an honor roll student.
Austin said attending school with a disability wasn't a big deal.
"I had no other choice; I had to go," he said.
Doctors have done great things for Jamey Gaddy -- she's certainly known enough of them in her young life. But they don't know everything.
After all, doctors told Bobbi Gaddy, Jamey's mother, that her daughter would be unable to speak and be mentally disabled to the point that she likely wouldn't be able to attend school.
Anyone who has met Jamey Gaddy knows neither is close to being true.
The Southeast High School senior has plenty to say; she's even been invited to make a presentation at a national convention. And despite fighting cerebral palsy and a learning disability, Gaddy will graduate Sunday and plans to attend GTCC this fall.
Entire article:
"Toughing It Out" (News & Record)
http://www.news-record.com/news/education/graduates_052104.htm
---
# TODAY'S FEATURED WEBSITE
High School/High Tech
Montgomery County and Prince George's Counties, Maryland are in one of the richest technology concentrations in the Nation. Continuation of growth as a high technology center depends on improving the high technology work force. There will be a continuing dire need for qualified individuals to enter fields involving high technology. Individuals with disabilities are a large potential pool of high quality candidates to fill this high tech demand. Presently, however, only a small percentage of adults with disabilities receive high tech training and opportunities. High school students with disabilities need be exposed to the vast array of careers in high technology.
The goal of HIGH SCHOOL/HIGH TECH is to provide youths with disabilities in the Montgomery County Schools and Prince George's County Schools with early exposure to careers in the science, engineering, mathematics and technology-related fields. This exposure will be multifaceted to insure opportunity for realistic career exploration and let our participants have an opportunity to test their interests and abilities. We provide supports for success for our participants and cooperating federal agencies and high tech firms. All of our participants graduate from school and go on to post secondary education and training. The program is now in its 12th year and has become a nationally recognized model program.
http://high-school-high-tech.com
---
# EXPRESS EXTRA!!! From the Inclusion Daily Express Archives (One year ago):
LAWS
After Eleven Years And Nine Months Behind Bars, Timothy
Brown Is Finally Free -- Almost
By Dave Reynolds, Inclusion Daily
Express
May 21, 2003
FORT LAUDERDALE, FLORIDA--Timothy Brown's life
may have finally changed for the better last Wednesday.
For the first time in nearly 12 years, the 27-year-old hugged his relatives in his family's home. He met his new girlfriend that he had only known through letters for the past eight months. He even enjoyed a ham and turkey "Christmas dinner", to make up for all the holiday meals he missed while in prison.
Brown had been convicted of shooting to death Broward County Sheriff's Deputy Patrick Behan in 1990. Brown, who reportedly has mental retardation, was 14 at the time of the murder. His conviction was primarily based on a confession he gave to officers investigating Behan's murder. In 1992, he was sentenced to life in prison.
Brown later said he falsely confessed under physical and psychological pressure from detectives. Last year, another suspect surfaced who gave a more detailed confession to the murder.
In March of this year, a judge overturned Brown's murder conviction and determined that there would not be enough evidence for a present-day jury to find him guilty. Prosecutors have until June 25 to come up with enough evidence to convince the judge to retry Brown. Brown's attorneys say there is little chance of that happening.
Brown was released on $5,000 bond, which was posted by a bondsman who felt it was "the right thing to do".
But the Broward state attorney's office attached extraordinary conditions to Brown's release -- measures which the Miami Herald called a "spiteful insult". Until the June deadline, or until the case is officially dropped, Brown is under house arrest, is monitored by an electronic ankle bracelet, must undergo random drug testing, and could be disturbed at all hours by officers checking in on him.
Brown's is one of at least 38 false or questionable murder confessions have been thrown out by Broward County courts, rejected by juries or abandoned by police or prosecutors since 1990, according to an investigation by the Herald.
One other was that of Jerry Frank Townsend, who also had mental retardation and was released two years ago. Townsend spent 22 years behind bars for a string of murders and rapes before DNA evidence linked another inmate to the crimes. He confessed to the crimes in Broward County and Miami-Dade, but later said investigators took advantage of him by forcing him to confess, "helping" him remember several details, and even turning off the tape recorder to "correct" him when his story was not consistent with theirs.
Related articles:
"'I'm finally going home'" (Miami
Herald)
http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/news/front/5863438.htm
"One
last, spiteful insult for Brown" (Miami Herald)
http://www.InclusionDaily.com/news/03/red/0520c.htm
Imperfect
Justice: An Inmate is Freed, A Killer Remains Loose (Miami Herald
editorial)
http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/news/editorial/5871903.htm
Jerry
Frank Townsend Cleared of Murders (Inclusion Daily Express)
http://www.inclusiondaily.com/news/laws/townsend.htm
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