October 30, 2006

1.  Ohio Legal Rights Service (OLRS) Voter Alert: Making Voting Accessible.
2.  ENTRY POINT! Internship Program Coming to ODS November 7th from 9 to 3.
3.  The OSU Developmental/Cognitive Psychology Department Looking for Participants to Take Part in Study.
4.  Free French Tutoring. 

5.  ODS Exam Scheduling Coordinator Change.


1.  Ohio Legal Rights Service (OLRS) Voter Alert: Making Voting Accessible

Federal laws protect the right of people with disabilities to vote.  For example, people with disabilities the right to have help at voting places from a person of their choice. Voting places must be physically accessible to people with disabilities.  And because of a federal law called HAVA (the Help America Vote Act of 2002), Ohio polling places must have at least one voting machine that is accessible to individuals with disabilities.

The following information about voting and accessibility is provided by OLRS in an effort to help protect your right to vote.

Find out if your voting place is accessible to you.
You should contact your Board of Elections or your precinct voting place before Election Day to find out whether your voting place is accessible to you.  If it is not accessible, you can ask for accessibility accommodations so you can vote.  The U.S. Department of Justice publishes a guide describing what makes a voting place accessible, and temporary solutions for making it accessible.  You can find this guide, called the ADA Checklist for Polling Places, on the web at http://www.usdoj.gov/crt/ada/votingscrn.pdf

If your voting place is not accessible when you get there.
If you get to your voting place on Election Day and find that it is not accessible to you, don’t leave the voting area.  You should get as close as you can to the voting area and ask a poll worker to provide you with curbside voting.  If you can’t vote with curbside voting, call your county Board of Elections right away.  The law says that your county Board of Elections must make sure that voting places and voting booths are accessible.  Also, call the Secretary of State’s office and Ohio Legal Rights Service to tell them that your voting place is not accessible.

Visit your voting place before the election.
Last minute challenges to voting restrictions are difficult to make and are not favored by the courts.  You may want to visit and examine your polling place BEFORE election day.  Many sites in Ohio have been granted accessibility waivers by the Secretary of State’s office.  If your polling place has impediments that would prevent you from having comparable access, call OLRS to determine if there is a way to challenge the lack of accessibility.

Election Contact Information:
Secretary of State’s Office    TEL 614-466-2655 / TTY 614-466-0562
County Board of Elections     (call the Secretary of State’s office)
Ohio Legal Rights Service     TEL 800-282-9181 / TTY 800-858-3542


2.  ENTRY POINT! Internship Program Coming to ODS November 7th from 9 to 3

 

ENTRY POINT!, a program of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, (AAAS), offers outstanding paid, 10-week internships and semester co-ops in major companies throughout the United States, including NASA, IBM, NOAA, Merck,  Lockheed Martin and Google.

 

ENTRY POINT! is available to students with disabilities majoring in life sciences, physical sciences, computer science, engineering, mathematics, and other quantitatively-based fields (e.g. finance and economics).

 

Qualifying students must:

 

·        Be full-time undergraduate or graduate students

·        Be a Science, Mathematics, Engineering, Business, or Computer Science major

·        Have a B average GPA (or higher)

·        Be a U.S. citizen

 

If you meet the above criteria, you might be selected for a position this summer where you will benefit from a mentor and receive competitive pay.

 

Interviews will be held at ODS on November 7th.  To sign up, contact Mary Koeninger by calling 292-3307 or emailing her at koeninger.3@osu.edu. 

 


3.  The OSU Developmental/Cognitive Psychology Department Looking for Participants to Take Part in Study

 

The Ohio State Developmental/Cognitive Psychology Department would appreciate your assistance in an ongoing study of Numerical abilities in the Congenitally Blind.  The study aims to determine how lack of vision affects the ability to gauge quantity.  Your participation would constitute a minimal time investment and be very helpful for their research.  In addition to being instrumental to their success, you would also learn something about your own abilities and become informed about how advances in research could improve mathematical education, especially as it applies to visual impairment.  Your participation would be a service to the department, the field of psychology and society at large.  If you have a visual impairment and would like to participate in this research please, send email to young.1202@osu.edu.


4.  Free French Tutoring 

Need a little extra help with your French class?  The Office of Disability Services is happy to announce that an ODS graduate student in French, Ginny Donovan, has volunteered to offer French tutoring for ODS students- FREE.  Tutoring is available for all language levels from beginners to advanced.

 

The exact time has not yet been set, but she will be available at ODS for 2 hours per week at times that best fit students' schedules.  Contact Ginny at donovan.100@osu.edu to schedule appointments.


5.  ODS Exam Scheduling Coordinator Change

Krista Winger, Exam Scheduling Coordinator, has accepted a new position at OSU and will no longer be with the Office for Disability Services.   We wish Krista the best in her new endeavors.  Sarah terry.5@osu.edu, Auxiliary Services Administrator will be acting as the point person until we are able to fill the position.  Questions that would normally be directed to Krista should now be directed to Sarah.  Kera McClain will also be assisting at the Exam desk area.  Both Sarah and Kera along with our Frontline staff will continue to work to ensure that your exam needs are met.