Computers Help Give Voice to Youth’s Lifelong Dream

--”I . . . have come to life today, both in the tradition of my forefathers and in a very special way. I am now able to speak with all of you. This marks the beginning of a new world for me.” With those words, spoken with the help of computers, Lee Kweller, 13, of Pittsburgh, Pa., confined to a wheelchair, was given a voice over the cerebral palsy that has silenced him since birth. It also allowed him to take a giant step toward a very special religious maturity. Kweller used specially programmed computers to help him through his bar mitzvah. He used his left hand to type into two computers on the pulpit, calling up a portion of the Bible in Hebrew and English, five blessings, a psalm, a hymn and the speech that he wrote for the ceremony. “Because the people around me expect the best from me, I have grown and gained confidence in myself, and I believe that I can accomplish anything in this world,” Kweller told the 200 people attending the Sabbath service at Pittsburgh’s Congregation Beth Shalom. “It’s easy to say the computer did all the work, and it really did,” Michael Kweller, Lee’s father, said. “But he (Lee) programmed the computer letter by letter. It took him months.” The system’s designer, John Eulenberg, programmed the computers to speak Hebrew and chant in the traditional Jewish manner, which had never been done before.

--Ken Short of Franklin, Tenn., was stuck in a bank vault for 107 seconds. That’s all the time he was permitted. Short, 40, had that much time in which to haul away all the money he could carry in the “Million Dollar Cash Grab” contest, sponsored by a Nashville radio station. He managed to grab $26,601 in ones, fives, tens and twenties, some of them stuffed in his mouth, from the Nashville CityBank. “My mouth really tastes dry right now, but when it’s all yours, you don’t mind stuffing it in your mouth,” said Short, who took a disability retirement after 20 years with Western Electric.

--While the nation’s capital is abuzz over the four-day visit, starting this weekend, of Prince Charles and Princess Diana, most Americans apparently aren’t too keen on meeting the future British king and queen. A Washington Post/ABC television poll reported that while 29% of those surveyed held a favorable opinion of the Prince and 38% for the Princess, only 31% wanted to meet them. And 62% didn’t care one way or the other.