i'm not sure about the scanner,but for dvd access you need to change 1 line in /etc/fsab and edit /etc/group.
/dev/dvd-rom /mnt/dvd-rom iso9660 noauto,user,ro 0 0 and the group permission to cdrom::19:<username_here>
*edit*check out the slack forums here on LQ.......this info is in one of the first couple posts and on
http://shilo.is-a-geek.com/slack ...and welcome to linux