Monday, December 5, 2011

We may change the future - 35 year effort of AAAS to promote for disabled people's participation into Science and Technology

In Oct. 2011, one of my articles about AAAS's short history about supporting students and scientists with disabilities appeared in a Japanese magazine "Kagaku(=Science)" of Iwanami Bookstore.
For convenience of English speaking people, I translated the article into English.

I'd like to thank Ms. Virginia Stern and AAAS .
Virginia, thank you for your patience for my bad and insufficient English. And I'm very happy that I could introduce your precious witness of age to the readers of "Kagaku" with cultural accomplishment and interest in science.





 We may change the future - 35 year effort of AAAS to promote for disabled people's participation into Science and Technology
                                    Yoshiko Miwa


AAAS is an American organization, but influencing for the world's progression on science and technology not only for inside the US.  It's activities are very broad, from science and technology to education, politics, and all about human society. AAAS have been working passionately for students and scientists with disabilities to make them to participate into social activities.  When we open their magazine "Science", always we can find a advertisement about "ENTRY POINT!" at a prominent position. "ENTRY POINT!" is an internship program by AAAS for students with disabilities, and it have been provided since 1996.
In 1990, a law named ADA 1990 ( Americans with Disabilities Act 1990) was enacted, and it made the US accessible. In any case, the accesibility in the US has not so long history. So, I had been interested in the actions of AAAS for disabilities, because I myself am mentally and physically disabled on wheelchair. In February 2011,I participated in the AAAS annual meeting at Washington DC, and get the cooperation of AAAS and Virginia Stern, who had been directing the AAAS's actions for disabilities. Now, Stern retired AAAS and suporting elder people in her residence and making them easier to live in their hometown and community that they have been living for long time.

  • "AAAS will change"
It is very important to attend academic conferences and meetings for young people who are desiring to build their professional career. But to disabled people, there were many barriers before attending. They might have no access to the place, no hotels to stay, or might be able to participate inefficiently because there's no access for information on Braille or sign language.
Since 1976, AAAS started an activity to make accesible hotels on every year's annual meeting. According to document of AAAS, William D. Caray, who was on responsible position in AAAS, decided "AAAS will change". The annual meetings have been held in different cities. Every year, It had been expected that cities with accessible hotels and that could hold conference of 5,000 people would be increased one by one, if AAAS could make a hotel accesible every year in the city the annual meeting would be held.
Stern told about that period:
"Development of laws about disabilities had been progressing little by little, but for hotels, there were nothing. So we had no doubt that we could change the society. Once a hotel was changed to be accesible and we held annual meeting with 5,000 participants there, the hotel would be able to expand their business."
At first, it was not easy to make hotels accesible. Stern faced to many difficulties. Sometimes it needs very tough negotiation. Once, She got there only 5 days before the annual meeting and had to charge of renovation with workmen that concerning with making some bedrooms, bathrooms, and  ballrooms in which the conference would be held accesible.
In some years later, Some hotels had emerged that motivated to renovate their hotel buildings accesible. They learned from actions by AAAS that if they did that they would be get great benefit.


  • How they could change universities?
Change senior people and the top Change senior people and the top After that, Stern and her colleage started to work the universities accessible. Some universities had already started supporting for students with disabilities, for example, Vietnam War veteran disabled students. But it was so far from the situation that disabled students would study and research without difficulties. The problems were old and beautiful buildings in colleges and universities which are built in 19th or early 20th century. It was too difficult to renovate whole of such buildings with many stairs accessible. So, they recommended the universities to relocate laboratories on the first floor from above floors.
Relocation were very heavy load for laboratories, and autonomy of universities were very important, so universities were beyond control of laws for disabilities. But most of the universities accommodated the recommendation and relocated the laboratories to the first floor.
As a result, many disabled students became able to got higher education. The second task was to provide them opportunities to employment and career formation. So Stern started "ENTRY POINT!" program with colleage, and many students started a first step of their careers.
In the AAAS annual meeting, many meetings about various issues are held. When I attended the meetings about students and scientists with disabilities, they were discussing about how to make more disabled into science and technology field and motivate them to progress their career. Someone said that "It became easy to start carrier for disabled, but it is still difficult to make their career advanced. We must make the role model "stars" and show their success stories of disabled. Everyone likes success stories." I heard that and thought "Oh yeah, the US is the country of Hollywood movies." And I asked the situations of disabled in Japan. I told the fact in Japan with embarassment. In Japan, supporting for disabled university students is quite not enough. If they can graduate from universities, to find job is very difficult, very few of them can progress their career.
  • And the laws were developed
 In the meantime, laws about disabilities had been developed little by little. In 1975, "The Education for All Handicapped Children Act" was enacted, which guaranteed opportunities to elementary and secondary education for all children including children with disabilities. According to Stern, "Child Find" program was conducted in that period. Parents of children with disabilities had been rising up the children inside their home, and they didn't think that the children could attend schools. So educational officials visited the homes and told them "The school is open for your children" or "You can attend the school".
The opportunities for children with disabilities to attend college or universities was expanded by the struggle of AAAS.
After that, highly educated people with disabilities wanted to get job and form career, the physical barrier like stairs was a social barrier for them. So, in 1990, the ADA 1990 specified to make accessible buildings, transportation, information and so on.
The US did not made accessible on compulsion of laws, but consistent effort of many pioneers changed the society accessible partially, and people who experienced the change made change of society and law.
Stern told me about how to change society which resist change:
"It is most important to make people experienced the change. Once they experienced the change, they change theirselve because they think they must change."

  • Change seniors and the top

I asked Stern at the end of the interview that "What must we Japanese have to do at first to change the current situation about disabled in Japan?". It is a very long and difficult way to rise up a disabled child and about all of that are very heavy burden for the parents. For example, there is no official assistance for children with disabilities to commute to school, so it depends only on parents whether the child can be educated or not(in these several years, it is getting better for the parents. Some local goverment are independently providing the assistance). As a result, many children with disabilities are less educated, and hard to get job. The difficulties with rising up children with disabilities stress their parents, so the children are prone to abuse or neglect, and they will be shut away from work and social participation(Note for foreign people: Most of them, the disabled people without education become repeated offences, because they want to protected from society in jailhouses).
Stern said,
"It seems very structural problems, isn't it? To make change for such problem, it is very important to change seniors of tops who can make dicision to change, and change the political situation."
It is relatively easy to change ourselves, but to change others is very difficult. I think it is almost impossible to change seniors or tops. But if it is necessary to make change to situations around disabled, we should do it.
There is an actual example of AAAS.





Wednesday, September 14, 2011

Let's drink and enjoy to save 3.11 quake victims

Yesterday I attended a meeting of science journalists and studied about nuclear power plant problem.
After the meeting ended up, we went to a drinking spot "Okada".
http://r.tabelog.com/tokyo/A1301/A130103/13063781/

Vegetable salad and baked chicken livers.
This drinking spot bakes meat and fish on charcoal grill. They are very delicious.


Baked eggplant.


Yakitori, fried pasta and Japanese sake "Dai-shichi" from Fukushima prefecture. 


I'm considering that to consume products from damaged area by 3.11 large quake, tsunamis, and the nuclear plant problem makes the people in the area receive the payments for the product and their business. This will be most long-lasting "volunteer", I think.

Of course, "Dai-shichi" were very delicious. I selected the sake because I know they are producing excellent sake, not only they are in Fukushima prefecture. And the sake is not radioactively polluted because they are produced before 3.11.
But we, Japanese sake lover most consider about what makes that they will be able to produce their products this year and in future, because producing good sake depends on the climate and conditions at the place. Fine Sake is agricultural product, not industrial.

Tuesday, August 23, 2011

About the author

I'm a freelance sci/tech writer and very bad doctoral student studying semiconductor nano processes.

-Books

I had written 3 books, and I describe about 1 book which is in print now.

"ABC of computer hardware for embedded software engineers"
(組込みソフトウェアエンジニアのためのハードウェア入門)

This book is written by 3 authors including me. We described about hardware construction, handling and treating of equipments, curcuit design on FPGA, measurement, how to use oscilloscope.
After 3.11 quake, I released free a part of this book about measurement "Can you be proud of that you are familiar to measurement equipments ?" for people who are anxious about radiation from Fukushima nuc plants.


"Linux 2.6 for Enterprise systems" (2005)

"How to construct a secure internet server on RedHat 8" (2003)

-Articles
I had written a lot of magazine artilcles.
From recently work, I will show some of them on the web.

"Cats may understand this the simplest ABC to be a microcomputer engineer" (in Japanese)

Part 1: A first electronic circuit
Part 2: A first assembler
Part 3: A first mechatronics


The below are written about the supportive engineers after the quake(in Japanese).

"Let's support the North Japan area damaged by the quake, on cloud
computing and Android"


"Let's think about what we can do just now, considering the difference of the damaged area and not damaged area"

"Although we finished some applications that support the damaged people, many propositions are remaining"

Monday, August 22, 2011

Spiritual strength will overcome radioactivity?

Several days ago, I found posters by volunteer probation officers near from Nakano station, Nakano, Tokyo.


Top: "Movement to create a bright society"
Right; "We agree to society where everyone can start over"


Left: "Don't be scared by quakes, tsunamis and the danger of radioactivity, make this Japanese society bright"


I think it is impossible for human to survive against radioactivities even if we are spiritually very strong.

Saturday, August 20, 2011

Scared, escaped and adjusted

These are pictures at meat corners of a supermarket in Suginami, Tokyo, Jul.20, 2011.
Good domestic beef meet sold at the half of usual prices.





In Jul.09, it was broadcasted that radioactive cecium was detected from beaf meat produced in Fukushima prefecture. And in Jul.14, radioactive cecium wes detected from beef meet produced in wide area of Japan. Because radioactive polluted rice straw was diffused to about all areas of Japan, so beefs which ate them were polluted. People in Japan became to hate to buy and eat beef meat. So the supermarket forced to cut down the price of beef meet.
In Jul.23, I saw very few amount of beef meats. I couldn't take the picture, but racks of beef meats were empty. It seemed so cold.

And now, most of supermarkets are selling beef meat as useal. Looking closer, we can find the beaf meat corners are scale-downed, so it seems not empty. The supermarkets are saying all of meats were surveyed and they are not radioactive polluted. We have to believe that, because we, ordinary Japanese have no way to test that the meats are radioactively polluted or not.
Japanese eat not so large amount of beaf meat, and we were not so threaten by radioactive polluted beaf meat which were found early July. Now we are considering that there are no safe beef meet in Japan, and have adjusted ourselves to slightly radioactive polluted foods.

Wednesday, July 13, 2011

A self-described care worker made a fight with me in a train

I'm wheelchaired, and sometimes (almost everyday) meet with unpleasant thing.

In this Feb., I was abused in a train runnning in Tokyo by a woman, a self-described care worker.



When I was on the train in that movie, I was going to Narita airport to flight for the U.S.
And in the U.S, I felt that if I will never go back to Japan, I will happy on one of aspects. In Japan, we disabled must fight with all around us, and that makes we too tired to do something make sense in real world.

Of course, I love Japan, Tokyo and Nishi-Ogikubo, but sometimes hope if I will live and work in countries and hope to be treated the same way as "well" people.

Monday, July 11, 2011

A farm in Tokyo 23 wards

I'm living at the west edge of Suginami ward, Tokyo.
Suginami is one of Tokyo 23 wards, and they are recognized as city center of Tokyo.

Every day, I buy vegetables at a unattended service stand of a farm near from my home.

This is very little farm around 0.5 acres, and an old farmer (90 years old ) and his son are culturing it.

It was late afternoon, so most of vegetables were sold, but there were some fresh ones.



This farm's vegetables are fresh, cheap and very delicious.
The only problem is they are odd-shaped from standard of Japanese vegetables, but to eat, we cut or slice them to very far from their original shape.
So I don't mind the odd shape of the vegetables, but in Japan, ordinary people like "beautiful" vegetables ordered like industrial products.
So people go to supermarkets 5 minutes walk from this farm and buy "beautiful" but not delicious and expensive vegetables at there,

There are many farms like this in Tokyo. And in Nerima ward (one of Tokyo 23 ward, next to Suginami ), there is a pasture. Cows are farmed there and fresh milk is sold in Tokyo 23 wards!

Sunday, July 10, 2011

Scars of 3.11 quake in Tokyo

On 3.11 quake in Japan, Tokyo was not so severely damaged, but there still remains some scars of the quake.

This is a reconstructing shrine gate(torii), Kamiogi, Suginami, Tokyo. There was big shrine gate here, but it was collapsed by the quake.



Around here, All seems as usual as before the quake. Some houses were damaged ( And my house's gate also was collupsed ), and most of them were repaired.



But poor people can't repair their house's damage yet, but June is rainy season. In August and Septenber, some typhoon will hit Tokyo. They can't live in damaged house, so now, they are repairing their home.







If their houses were more damaged enough to be registered as collupsed or half collupsed by Suginami city office, they can repair their home with public support. But unfortunately, their houses were not damaged enough to public support but enough to them can't live in there.
Some old people sold their house and land, then moved to apartment in another area, because they have not enough monay to repair their house, so they had to throw away their familiar house and area.

Friday, July 8, 2011

Sweets to prevent heat stroke

In these days, Tokyo is extremely hot.
Everyday, the temperature is going up to 37 or 38 centigrade degree.
We, people in Tokyo, must prevent heat stroke.
In June, about 400 people were taken to hospital because of heat stroke.

Today, I found a new display stand with strange sweets in a supermarket near from my home.



All of them are sweets with salt or sour and suger, and on the tags, I can read "To prevent heat stroke".

Japanese plum glaces


Japanese plum jellies


Sweet pickles of Japanese plums


Japanese plums are very acetic and contains plenty citric asid.

Azuki bean glaces with salt


Salty "konpeito" candies


I bought the last one and ate them.
I felt slightly salty taste from the face of each candy, and felt graceful sweetly taste.
A little salty taste made me to feel sweetly taste so deliciously.
It was a strange taste, but delicious for me, although I can't believe thats are effective to prevent heat stroke.

Thursday, July 7, 2011

Motoko-san's little resistance

I'm living in Nishi-Ogikubo area, Tokyo, for 21 years.
I live in and love Nishi-Ogikubo for many reasons, and one of the reason is there are many delicious eateries in this area.

Near from JR Nishi-Ogikubo Station, there is a sake bar "Shubou Takai(酒房高井)". One of best sake bars in Japan, I think.



In a bay window besides the entrance, there are many beckoning cats(招き猫)。Beconing cats are symbols of prosperous business in Japan.



"Shubou Takai" have been carried by Mr. and Mrs. Fukushima for 21 years. Motoko-san, Mrs. Fukushima, is one of my oldest friends. I started to live in Nishi-Ogikubo area about 21 years ago, and met Motoko-san and Mr.Fukushima when they just established their sake bar there.

24 June 2011, 4 days before shareholder meeting of Tokyo Electric Power, there is a poster written by Motoko-san in front of "Shubou Takai",



"This coming 28 June, the shareholder meeting of Tokyo Electric Power will be held.
Tokyo Metropolitan Government is one of big shareholder of Tokyo Electric Power.
So, we Tokyo residents have right to say opinion for Tokyo Electric Power.
Tomorrow, I will telephone Tokyo Metropolitan Government and will say that
'I wish breaking with nuclear power generation to Tokyo Electric Power through Tokyo governor.
Please report my opinion for the governer.'
Tokyo Metropolitan Government Office: 03-5321-1111
Let's raise our voice !!
Or you can tell your opinion to to the governor with e-mail.

Motoko of 'Shubou Takai' "

Now, Tokyo Metropolitan governor is Shintaro Ishihara, who is hard right and supporter of nuclear power. Motoko-san knows well about that, of course.
And 28 June 2011, shareholders of Tokyo Electric Power decided that they will not stop nuclear plants.
But I believe Motoko-san will not give up, because I know she have been continuing no-nuke actions for 25 years after the accident at Chernobyl.
In Nishi-Ogikubo area, there have been many no-nuke citizen activist like Motoko-san.

Wednesday, July 6, 2011

The Bread for Radiation Protection

I'm living in Nishi-Ogikubo area of Tokyo, known as "The battle field for eatery(食の激戦地)" in Japan.
There are many delicious restaurants, cafes, bars and bakeries.
This is a famous bakery, and they are selling many kinds of breads fresh from oven.



But last day, I found strange posters around this bakery telling about their new product.



"Fresh Bakery of Domestic Flours"
"Iodine-enriched Bread"

Iodine-enriched Bread ? What's that?



"How about a Bread with dried kelp powders for radiation protection?"

It was hard to hold back my laughter.
This area is about 200km from the Fukushima No.1 nuclear power plant, but after the 3.11 quake and nuclear plant accidents very tiny quantity of radioactive substances were found, and people have been getting panics although radiocesium levels are beyond 150Bq and radioactive iodine had not detected after this June.
So, from now, it is not effective to eat Iodine-enriched Bread or dried kelp for protecting themselves from radiation, but the staffs of this bakery are not joking. They are believing this bread are effective to radiation protection.

And this bakery and this Iodine-enriched bread are loved by people of this area.