Is maintaining the present transportation system impor­tant to you? How about ac­cess to health care? Are the present systems OK or could they be made better? These are questions you should ask yourself. If you think the current level of service needs improvement or even if you think its adequate, you better get out your pens, paper and start writing letters and mak­ing phone calls to the legisla­tors. If they don’t hear from you very soon on these im­portant issues, you can bet they are going to either cut these services or at best leave the amount of funding at last year’s level. Last years fund­ing, in most cases, will have the affect of lowering the performance of the service over time. We will be provid­ing in this issue and future issues the names and addresses of the people who need to hear from you.

I don^‘t think most people understand what a letter or phone call means to a legisla­tor or someone “in power”. It changes the impersonal num­bers to individuals who are benefiting from the service. Think about it, if you were a

person considering cutting the budget for Metro Mobility and you received a letter from a woman explaining what being able to get out-and-about means in her life. Could you then say “ah, that woman doesn’t need to go to work anymore, cut the funding”. I think it would be hard. Con­tacting these people on issues that affect you is best way to make a change and hopefully make all of our lives better in the process.

We received a few letters to the Editor this month and a question for our experts. I would like to thank the au­thors for taking the time to write, and encourage you to ask us about anything. We will try to get you an answer. If you disagree with some-thing ACCESS PRESS said, write and tell us, or if you’re just “mad as hell and you’re not going to take it anymore’ tell us that, too.

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This issue tries to give you some insight into visual impairment and blindness and many agencies and service serving this community Sensitivity toward people of disabilities is on the rise (ever so slowly). But we all need more understanding. How do you approach someone with a white cane?

I’m happy to say Peter McLaughlin has settled in at his new job as Hennepin County Commissioner and has provided us with his first column. I’m sure he will help us become more aware of what goes on down at the Government Center. If any of you have ques­tions about the county or its programs, send them in, we will forward them to Peter.