Letter from the Vice President
Dear Colleagues,
In July 2000 I was invited to attend a meeting with the members of the publications committee present at the European ICEVI regional conference in Cracow, Poland. We were discussing the Tech Talk column I had promised to take care of.
Leaving the meeting I had no idea that I four months later would be deeply involved in The Educator. When I accepted to step in on the vacant position as the vice president of ICEVI I found that ICEVI publications were one of the duties.
Where to start as a newcomer? I knew that that ICEVI no longer could expect Kevin Lessard and Perkins School for the Blind to do the hard work – Kevin and his crew had passed the torch after many years of dedicated work. A new production line had to be built up.
When I entered the ICEVI ship in November 2000 I was lucky to have Ken Stuckey as an editor, Susan Spungin as responsible for the thematic articles, and a publications committee. I soon realized that more people were needed in creating the new journal. Let me only acknowledge a few of them who have made this possible.
As the new vice president of ICEVI I wrote to Ernesto Uria at the international department of ONCE in Spain, asking for assistance. Through Ernesto I came in contact with Alfredo Carreras, the head of the Design Department of ONCE. Alfredo and his team made a number of templates for the layout of The (“new”) Educator. This issue is a simplified version of one of his templates. I will forward all his ideas to the team in India who will do the layout in the future.
India will play an important role in the production of The Educator. Nandini Rawal, the secretary of ICEVI, has set up a team ready for layout work and printing of the English version of The Educator. Dr M.N.G. Mani, the ICEVI chairperson in Asia, will produce the braille version of the journal.
On the other side of the globe Judith Varsavsky in Uruguay will translate The Educator into Spanish and Fundacion Braille del Uruguay will produce and distribute the Spanish version in print and braille.
Talking about distribution, Victor and Kara Tsaran and Wenru Niu must no be forgotten. Working hard in Philadelphia they put together a mailing list. However, this mailing list is only temporary.
If you want to receive The Educator in the future you have to sign up as a subscriber using the form published in this issue.
The Educator is a real global enterprise. I hope you will join us as a reader and future contributor.
Sincerely,
Harry
Svenssen
Vice
President