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 *Pages 1--1 from  Microsoft Word - 6011055718.txt*
 March  21,  2000 
 Magalie  Roman  Salas 
 Office  of  the  Secretary 
 Federal  Communications  Commission 
 445  Twelfth  Street,  S.  W.,  TW-  A325 
 Washington,  D.  C.  20554 


 Dear  Ms.  Salas: 
 As  a  blind  person  and  a  member  of  the  National  Federation  of  the  Blind,  I 
 have  learned  to  get  the  important  things  of  life  first  and  let  the  froth 
 come  along  later.  When  it  comes  to  the  proposed  rules  regarding  audio 
 description  of  video  programming,  MM  Docket  no.  99-  339,  give  me  the  meat  and 
 potatoes  first,  and  let  me  have  the  icing  on  the  cake  later  on.  I  consider  the 
 meat  and  potatoes  to  be  the  weather  crawlers,  the  names  of  who  is  speaking  and 
 the  printed  names  of  advertisers  which  come  on  the  screen  in  print  but  are 
 rarely  verbalized.  "Call  the  number  on  your  screen"  is  of  no  help  to  me. 
 The  icing  on  the  cake  is  the  color  of  someone's  dress,  the  description  of 
 the  furniture  on  the  set,  and  how  "distinguished"  the  politician  appears.  I 
 can  live  without  the  pretty  background  of  the  set,  but  I  may  die  if  I  don't 
 get  the  cyclone  warning. 


 Thomas  Bickford 
 11123  Woodson  Ave. 
 Kensington,  MD  20895 
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