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NewsBreak
News From Around the World
In the Fields of
Disabilities, the Digital World,
Science, Medicine and Education
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May 22 through June 7, 2001
(Use this link for the NewsBreak Editorial Policy.)

Headline - June 6, 2001 Trop makes slow work of adjusting for disabled As an inspection nears, the city appropriates $45,000 to correct violations that were pointed out last year.

By Bryan Gilmer, © St. Petersburg Times

Headline - June 5, 2001 New Book Opens Hubble's Space Images to BlindFor the blind child who once asked, "What is the sky?" educator Benning Wentworth now has an answer: a tactile book called Touch the Universe, based on the cosmic images made by the Hubble Space Telescope.

Headline - June 5, 2001 Microphone array necklace aids the deaf in discerning speech The original device was a somewhat clunky three-piece prototype that later evolved into a more compact unit that could be worn around the neck. In its present incarnation, six tiny microphones and signal-processing electronics are housed in a lightweight and elegant black plastic V-shaped casing. It looks more like a boomerang-shaped necklace than an electronic device.

Headline - June 4, 2001 508 relief is on the way The General Services Administration is developing two Internet-based tools to help Web designers and procurement officials comply with new accessibility requirements that go into effect June 21.

Headline - June 4, 2001 Course for hearing impaired in distance mode Parents of deaf and dumb children can now apply for the B.Spl.Education (distance mode) for the hearing impaired conducted by the M.P.Bhuj Open University, following relaxation of the eligibility criteria by the Rehabilitation Council of India.

Headline - June 4, 2001 Surf's up for seniors on Web Center teaches them how to use computers, navigate the Internet

Headline - June 3, 2001 What Is Golf? v. What Is a Disability? Casey Martin's ticket to ride does not clarify the Americans With Disabilities Act.

Headline - June 2, 2001 EEOC sues Northwest, alleging hiring bias The federal government's workplace watchdog on Friday sued Northwest Airlines, accusing the nation's fourth-largest airline of bias in not hiring a qualified, disabled applicant for an aircraft-cleaning job.

Headline - June 1, 2001 Computer Crash Strands Disabled Riders Technicians Wrestle With System After It Loses Reservations for MetroAccess Passengers

Headline - May 31, 2001Cabbies, passengers air gripes at City Hall Support of new regulations requiring cabdrivers to take at least one radio call a day in underserved communities or from people with disabilities.

Headline - May 31, 2001 Disabled Athletes Hail Court's Ruling Golf Case's Emotional Impact Clearer Than Legal Consequences

Headline - May 31, 2001 Other' voucher plan to unfurl Vouchers will be available this year for about 340,000 disabled schoolchildren.

By Stephen Hegarty, © St. Petersburg Times,

Headline - May 31, 2001 The ADA Plays Through EDITORIAL

Headline - May 31, 2001 Govt called on to help child arthritis sufferers Authorities are calling on the Federal Government to fast track approval for new anti-inflammatory drugs, which have proven successful overseas in treating young arthritis victims.

Headline - May 30, 2001 In special gardens, the disabled grow plants to enjoy, job skills, self-esteem The list of resources for those with disabilities is growing daily, and plenty of plants that appeal not only to the eye, but to the ear, the mouth, the nose and the skin, will grow in the desert.

Headline - May 30, 2001 Parents of Three Students Allege Abuse at School for Deaf, Blind In the seven weeks since a jury ruled that a principal at the Utah Schools for the Deaf and the Blind was not legally responsible for a student's sexual assault on a classmate, the parents of three disabled students have said their children were the victims of abuse at the Ogden school.

Headline - May 30, 2001 Ticket to ride Ruling a victory for Martin and his dream

Rich Hofmann, The Daily News

Headline - May 29, 2001 Wal-Mart Disability Case Argued A federal judge took arguments under advisement after a hearing Tuesday over claims that Wal-Mart Stores Inc. failed to comply with terms of a discrimination settlement involving two deaf job applicants.

Headline - May 29, 2001 Court OKs Cart for Disabled Golfer In a 7-2 ruling with implications for other sports, the justices ruled that a federal disability-bias law requires the pro golf tour to waive its requirement that players walk the course during tournaments.

Headline - May 29, 2001 Supreme Court Declines to Review Affirmative Action in Higher Education The Supreme Court this morning let stand an appeals-court ruling that found diversity to be an adequate justification for public colleges to consider race in admissions.

Headline - May 29, 2001 Perfect timing To most fans, Jed Roberts was either the "deaf football player" or "the guy with really long hair."

Headline - May 28, 2001 Accessible experts He works like any other Web developer, tapping away on his keyboard. But there are some differences: A digitized voice reads back to him as he types and his monitor is sometimes blank.

Headline - May 28, 2001 Spreading the word When she talks about the Federal Relay Service, people listen. She has been marketing the service, which helps hearing- and speech-impaired people use telephones, to federal agencies since Sprint won its first five-year FRS contract in 1993. She has been deaf since birth, learned American Sign Language in college and delivers her message with the help of a Sprint interpreter. Who is she?

Headline - May 28, 2001 Liquid crystals engineered to visually display infectious bugs Liquid crystals, the visual element in products like digital watches, computer monitors and mood rings, may help in the quest for early detection of disease-causing pathogens.

Headline - May 28, 2001 Getting a boost from software Technology can help people with physical disabilities build up a picture of vocational opportunities beyond their own locality.

Headline - May 28, 2001 Cendant Spices Up Online Travelers' JourneysConsumers making travel arrangements online soon will be able to take virtual tours of hotels, cruise ships and other attractions

Headline - May 28, 2001The virtual Gaelteacht Attempts are being made to address the clear lack of software and resources available online for so-called minority-language speakers

Headline - May 27, 2001 Five Determined Students, Five Unusual Routes to a College Degree Seventeen years ago, Gabriel Carrera was a gang member with a $200-a-day drug habit, in jail for breaking and entering. Fourteen years ago, Scott Stoffel, legally blind since birth and suddenly struck deaf, attempted suicide by running onto a busy highway. Nine years ago, Rusmir Music lived in a rat-infested house without indoor plumbing in Nasice, Croatia, war having taken his family's home in Bosnia. Five years ago, Joshua Cullen, a piano prodigy, was in sixth grade. Four years ago, Naison Nyamatutu was a street hustler in Zimbabwe, chatting up white tourists in search of a future.

Headline - May 27, 2001 Signs of silence make an entertaining connection In the auditorium of the Passaic County Technical Institute in Wayne Tuesday, a group of performers will tell a story...but only silence will fall from their lips.

Headline - May 26, 2001Blind climber conquers Everest64-Year-old Doctor Is Oldest To Summit

Headline - May 24, 2001 Disabled woman wants to revive suit against Clint Eastwood Woman with muscular dystrophy who lost an Americans with Disabilities Act suit against Clint Eastwood last fall is seeking a new trial, claiming the jury was unfairly swayed by the actor's celebrity status.

Headline - May 24, 2001 Groups challenge descriptive services for blind Narrator tells visual action Federal Communications Commission last year to required broadcasters to offer the nation's 8 million to 12 million visually impaired people the equivalent of closed-captioning for the deaf. National Association of Broadcasters (NAB), the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) and the National Cable and Telecommunications Association challenges order in court saying FCC exceeded its authority: by compelling speech, violated the First Amendment. They also say the order would cost too much and delay production.

Headline - May 24, 2001 Plan to add 200 taxis may aid disabled Chicago could have 200 more taxicabs on the street by year's end--100 of them wheelchair-accessible vans

Headline - May 24, 2001 Retinal impairment cured by gene therapy

The Hindu, Online edition of India's National Newspaper on indiaserver.com

Headline - May 23, 2001A new version of computer textbooks Although new computer science textbooks were introduced only last year, the School Education Department and the State's Information Technology Task Force have updated the text this year too to keep up with the latest trends. The new version incorporates further changes in both content and form.

Headline - May 23, 2001 College Entrance in China: 'No' to the Handicapped Bias against people with disabilities runs deep in China, where they often find themselves fighting cultural stigma, deprived of both jobs and educational opportunities.

Headline - May 22, 2001 Not All Disabilities Are Equally Visible

You can search the NewsBreak Archive here for stories that appeared in NewsBreak on or before the date of the last story.

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*CurbCut Technologies^©: Any good technology should be easily used by anyone. That said, we designate those technologies that can be easily used by anyone as "CurbCut Technologies". And, we highlight those technologies and the work being done to advance those technologies. These are truly "CurbCuts to the Information SuperHighway^©".
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NewsBreak Editorial Policy: This page is updated daily. NewsBreak covers a two-week time-frame, i.e. from Feb.1 to Feb.14, Feb 8 to Feb 28. This will allow for some overlap. Some stories appear in our clipping service as much as several days after initial publication. However, we put them up as soon as we get them and in order of their publication date. This means that this list will vary from day to day.

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A copy of each week's news will be archived and found in the NewsBreak Archive. One caveat: There is, of course, no guarentee that any links outside this site are barrier-free and accessible or will be operative when you access them.

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The stories chosen to appear on NewsBreak are meant to represent a variety of issues which impact those who are disabled, who may become disabled, those who work with the disabled community and, of course, those who design and develop digital information and media. That means that while we look for "computer and related digital technology" stories for the designer/developers, their sensitivity to disabled issues may be heightened by reading about other related stories. Any Feedback at all is welcome.

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