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SIUC offers wide array of educational devices for blind students TRAVIS BEAN Daily Egyptian In room B150 of Woody Hall, the pages of books have no ink. That is because these books are imprinted with Braille, the reading system for blind people. However, the future of these books is rather grim. The National Federation of the Blind reports only 10 percent of blind people can read Braille. The federation has found this a cause
for concern, as it reports 80 percent of employed blind people are Braille literate. The signs are showing at SIUC as well. Lisa Caringer, senior interpreter for the deaf and hard of hearing in SIUC’s Disability Support Service, said there is only one blind student on campus who she knows of that can read Braille. Caringer said many people become blind late in life and never learn to read Braille, which can explain the low numbers. How-
ever, there might be a connection with text-to-speech technology, which she said is not a bad thing. “You might have seen quotes that technology is undermining the use of Braille, but also that technology makes things more accessible, even for people who do read Braille,� Caringer said. Just 10 years ago, students had to manually create pages with their hands using a stylus, or use an abacus for math, but Caringer said newer technology has made
things easier. One major shift has been the conversion of textbooks to audiobooks, said Bryan Dallas, a coordinator for Disability Support Services. He said one device that has helped make the leap is the Victor Reader. “This is what we give our students on loan for free,� Dallas said. “It used to be CD players. Before that it was books on tape. The reason we use this is it speaks to you.� A small device resembling an iPod, the Victor Reader down-
loads entire textbooks and reads them aloud. Dallas demonstrated the device by playing the textbook “Major Problems in American History.� He simply pressed the numbers five and four to skip to page 54. Dallas said many of the students’ audiobooks come from Recording for the Blind and Dyslexic, a national nonprofit organization that records audio textbooks. Please see BRAILLE | 4
Sayaka Ikeda, a graduate student in linguistics from Japan, helps another woman tie her yukata as Ai Saito, an undecided freshman from Japan finishes adjusting her own. The yukata is a Japanese summer outfit worn for ceremonies and festivals, Ikeda said. The women were only some of those gathered Thursday evening at Trueblood Hall for “Taste of Nations,� an event hosted by Chi Alpha, a campus Christian ministry. Beth Swartzendruber, a staff worker for Chi Alpha, said the event, which allows students to experience food, clothing and artifacts from other cultures, would continue every Thursday in February at a different location on campus. GENNA ORD DAILY EGYPTIAN
New Hangar 9 to have front beer garden, mezzanines NICK JOHNSON Daily Egyptian A bigger and better Hangar 9 bar is slated to open in either April or May, the bar’s owner said. After the 511 S. Illinois St. bar’s roof collapsed under the weight of snow from a winter storm in January 2009, co-owners Sally Carter and Jim Duke
got their reopening plan approved by the Carbondale City Council over the summer, Carter said. Concrete work on the new Hangar 9 is already under way, though it’s been stopped lately by the weather, Carter said. In addition to being larger than the old building, the new Hangar 9 will feature a front beer garden, a larger
dance floor, mezzanines for viewing bands from above, more seating areas and an arcade area, Carter said. Carter said she plans to use salvaged pieces of stained glass from the old building and incorporate them in the new structure. “Hopefully when you walk into the building you’d see a lot of new and a little bit of old,� Carter said.
The Carbondale Strip lost one of its most popular venues for live music when Hangar 9 closed, leaving a hole that has yet to be filled, Assistant City Manager Kevin Gaity said. “With the closing of Booby’s and us being down, there’s not a lot of outlets for local music,� Duke said. Carter said she’s already received e-mails from local bands lining up to
perform at the new Hangar 9. “I’m going to book bands the way I always did: A variety of music that suits all people’s taste,� she said. Students rarely travel farther north on the strip than Pagliai’s Pizza & Pasta, Gaity said. Please see HANGAR | 4