In December 1979, three main advocates against the removal of the Deaf and Blind schools —John Denton, vice mayor of Berkeley; John Di Francesco, School for the Blind teacher and longtime activist for the Blind community in California; and Judy Peletz, representing the Employees Council of the California School for the Blind — lobbied CBS’s 60 Minutes, pitching a story about the forced removal of the Schools for the Deaf and Blind.
Along with their letters, Denton, Di Francesco and Peletz sent a one-page pitch for an investigative report — one that is written by unidentified members of the Daily Cal staff. The writers do not mince words about how “the big, rich, powerful and arrogant University of California” acts in “collusion with the State Department of Finance and the State Department of Education” to dispossess the schools.
Unfortunately, the advocates do not receive word back from 60 Minutes, and a televised report on the efforts to remove the schools from the campus area was not produced.