Oregon daily emerald., April 29, 1982, Page 12, Image 12

More than your average student
John Bundy, a 27 year-old business
major, has the same complaints most
students have. He moans about his
accounting class and dislikes sitting in
classrooms on sunny days. The one
difference is that he is blind.
He can't girl-watch, he can't drive a car,
but he can do everything else, he says.
And it’s hard to argue with him
Sporting a grade point average that
hovers near 4.0, Bundy says he has plans
for law school when he finishes his
undergraduate work in two more years
He was only 9 years old when a bottle of
drain cleaner exploded and blinded one of
his eyes and severely damaged the other
Doctors felt at the time that they had a
chance to save the damaged eye But 16
years and more than 60 painful surgeries
later, an infection took the eye
Three months later Bundy enrolled at
the University, determined to succeed at
what he cans “the biggest challenge in my
life."
“School gave me a new beginning, "
Bundy says. "No more pain or surgeries. I
could finally get on with my life again "
Being blind has added a few hassles to
the list that all students face, such as
finding classes, having to take oral tests
and finding a seat to sit in.
But "the University has been great to
work with." Bundy says “You hear all of
this stuff about how big schools are cold
and impersonal, but I've found that to just
not be true here. I have thoughtful and
helpful professors, and they have helped
me in many ways "
Help doesn't just come from professors,
he says “Let s say I get tost Yeah, that
happens, a wrong turn There is always
someone who will point me in the right
direction "
Two days before each new term Bundy
and his mother, Mary Bundy, walk over the
routes he will use as he goes to his
classes. After two trips, Bundy is ready to
go it atone
"It really isn't a frightening experience,"
Bundy says "In fact, sometimes it's kind
of exciting . "
When he does get tost, he asks tor
assistance “Some people have the belief
that blind people don’t like to be helped,"
he says ‘To some extent that’s true But if
I need help I appreciate it and if I don’t I
still aprectate the offer."
r
University student John Bundy, a business major, doesn t find too many obstacles that can stop him these days.
Finding a seat when he enters a room is
easy. Bundy says with a laugh "I usually
just walk up to the nearest desk and ask if
there is a seat available ff no one
answers, I just sit down."
Other problems are not solved quite as
simply A few textbooks can be obtained
on tape through the Library of Congress
but he usually must find volunteers to read
his books for him
adds
Dave Wellstry is one of the readers that
Bundy depends on Wetlstry helps Bundy
with his accounting, a subject that is tough
on a blind person because it is visually
oriented
“I really admire John. Wellstry says
John has an incredibly quick mind and
he stays a step ahead of me and my
calculator"
‘School gave me a new beginning... No more pain or
surgeries. I could finally get on with my life again. ’
That's one of my biggest difficulties.'’
Bundy says I run out of money to pay my
readers and sometimes I can't find them
when I need them. If anyone wants to
volunteer, my number is 942-2556," he
He works with Bundy once a week for
several hours He really wears me out,'1
Wellstry says "He has more energy than I
do "
All Bundy s energy goes toward his
education A blind student must do three
times the work of other students, Bundy
says, so his studying leaves little time for
anything else in hts life
‘ But I enjoy the work, Bundy says
"There were so many years that I couldn't
do anything
Although he is planning on going to law
school, Bundy is undecided about hts
future
‘ Right now I'm becoming interested m
clinical psychology as well as law school."
he says But Perry Mason doesn t appeal
to me If I go mto law I just want to handle
the everyday problems that people have "
Bundy laughs at the suggestion that his
definition of everyday problems'' might
be a little broader than everybody elses
"Well. I’m just like everybody else. ' he
says "No difference, I just can't see ”
Story and Photo by Rick Attig
Local literacy council helps non-readers
By Steve Hooks
Of Wm EmtraU
An unteamed adult may seem alien to
University students
But the Literacy Council of Eugene
Springfield, 1059 Willamette St, claims
5,000 Lane County citizens cannot read
or write
These people may be functional in
every other way, says Ardis Curitser,
chairer of the council They can be
business people. laborers or
homemakers she adds
A Literacy Council pamphlet describes
an illiterate mother "Every night she has
the same nightmare Her baby swallows
poison and she can’t read the phone
book to get an ambulance."
The pamphlet portrays other people
relegated to lives of poverty, ignorance
and danger because they cannot read or
write.
Somewhere along the way, these
‘functional non-readers’ never learned
the basic skills. Curitser says
Maybe they dropped out of public
schools because of frustration or bore
dom, she says. Maybe poverty forced
them to leave school for work, or maybe
they were never taught correct skills but
somehow remained in the public school
system, Curitser says.
Many non-readers are foreigners,
especially Indochinese refugees, who
were unable to learn the language
beforehand, she adds
Graphic courtesy of Oregon Literacy. Inc
By learning how to associate words with letters, illiterate adults can learn to read.
The non-profit, all-volunteer Literacy
Council trains people to tutor non
readers, one-on-one, in basic reading
and writing skills
The council provides these tutors free
to students of remedial programs. The
council also provides low-cost books and
other materials for the programs
Community groups that work with the
disadvantaged contact the Literacy
Council for tutors, Curitser says The
county jail, juvenile counselors, social
workers, welfare and rehabilitation
agencies and Adult Basic Education in
structors refer clients to Literacy Council
tutors, she adds
Curitser says the council, housed in a
small back office of Lane Community
College’s Downtown Center, trained
about 50 volunteer tutors in the last four
workshops
The council trains tutors in two ways
Volunteers who tutor foreign-born
students receive 15 hours of training
Those who tutor English-speaking
students are trained in a 12-hour work
shop The council certifies the tutors at
the end of the workshops
The council uses a method that
teaches students to associate pictures
with words and letters It is the same
method employed by the National Affilia
tion for Literacy Advance of Syracuse,
New York, Curitser says
The time it takes students to master
basic reading skills varies, she says A
person who uses the skills in the "real
world" will master them faster than a
person who stays at home
Some students master basic skills
within a tew months, and others complete
the course in a year or more, according to
a council pamphlet
But tutors do not deal with only those
who have zero reading and writing skills,
she says
Many people, including students at the
University and LCC, have deficient skills
and want to improve their reading and
writing ability. Curitser says the council
helps adults with literate skills "from zero
up to the sixth grade ' ’
The council also works closely with
LCCs English as a Second Language
program
Because of budget cuts, the second
language program has been referring
clients to Literacy Council tutors The
council certified 11 volunteers to be
second language tutors during the last
series of workshops, Curitser says
The Literacy Council does not have to
worry about budget cuts because it
receives no funding from government
agencies or parent organizations, Cu
ritser says
Donations and a $4 registration fee for
tutor workshops fund the council, she
adds The council also receives material
and guidance from the national affiliation
The council formed about 20 years ago
but grew only in the past 10 years, Cu
ritser says Some tutors have subscribed
to the council"s motto, “each one teach
one" for more than a decade, she adds