Touro Communication Club Notes #33

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We’re back in session. The store is open again.

A note to readers: The Club will continue to meet regularly on Wednesdays at 1 pm during the summer, unless there is an Act of God. Please don’t believe people who say the Club is not meeting. Just because

Despite the two week “vacation” from the Club activities, “Life” continues. Our own personal lives with our special variables, our school life is suspended animation while life across America is filled with a number of challenges. The summer heat in NYC, the fires in California and the floods in the Midwest are Mother Nature’s “gifts” to her family. The Supreme Court 5-4 decisions will have great influence on lives in the future. The President’s bill on more invasion of privacy in the name of national security raises concerns.

Of interest to us Communicators are the number of verbal gaffes (faux pas or mistakes) that surrogates for both Presidential candidates are making. On the McCain side, former Senator Phil Gramm called Americans “whiners” about the economy. On the Obama side, Jesse Jackson said on a microphone that was still live that he would like to “cut his (Obama’s) nuts off” for making remarks that seem to look down on blacks. Or, the blooper that Michelle Obama said that the $400 federal rebate was not worth anything: “You can just buy a couple of earrings with it.” And there are more

Clearly, word choice by public figures in a public situation is examined with great scrutiny. Regardless of when it is used, careless word choice creates very difficult situations for everyone, including the user. The Chinese have a saying, “A sword kills once; the tongue can kill thousands of times.” But these gaffes are not intentional attempts to hurt. They are casual, thoughtless, out-of-touch statements which can indicate the tone and sincerity of the people who surround both candidates.

Here’s the upcoming schedule;

Wednesday, July 16, 2008 – 1 pm– Club – “Do Cultural Rituals work?” - a continuation of our discussion on Cultural Rituals

Because of Graduate Education classes meeting in Room 610, we are meeting in Room 615 near the Department office. Follow the posted signs.

Wednesday, July 23, 2008 – 1 pm Debate – Continue discussion about what we learned, a new topic and SPAR Instant debates

What happened on Wednesday, July 9, 2008 – 1 pm – Debate

After chasing around for a new room and posting signs, the group meet down the hall from the department’s office in Room 615. Richard Green, David Nussbaum and Hal Wicke discussed the communication difficulties Richard is having in his summer public speaking class. Everyone interrupts, they don’t listen, they talk over each other, they deny each other’s view. Richard commented that the students don’t allow a discussion of how there is a logical progression to an idea. David made an observation that some people have a closed mindset that is difficult to open. Hal commented that the “my-way or the highway” mindset comes in all shapes and colors. Having a closed mind makes everything simpler. You only have to consider two options –right and wrong – to know where you stand. Dealing with shades of gray are much harder.

We tossed around ideas when Drani Gabu and Olushile Akintade arrived. Richard explained his situation again and both offered suggestions. Both Drani and Shile commented that when they were growing up in their respective countries, Sudan and Nigeria, there was ingrained tradition of respect for elders. This showed up as a hierarchy of authority among their siblings where the oldest was responsible for the youngest. Both commented that the oldest would get “beaten” if a younger sibling did not behave.

At some point, as Lorinda Moore joined the discussion, Shile summarized the discussion to date. Lorinda’s energy changed the dynamic in the discussion – a female with five males. That energy change is something that we should explore in the future.

It would be up to be a court stenographer to capture the range of topics that followed – the Dred Scott decision, more strategies for handling Richard’s rowdy class, the range of communication issues, etc. Hal brought up the famous Stanley Milgram experiment at Yale on “Obedience.” Everyone commented on how the discussion was so interesting and “marvelous.”

Drani will be in Oregon until late August. We have to make sure that everyone is aware of the club’s weekly meeting time and topics.

We got so involved with the discussion that we never even got to the planned topics of finishing the debate video, choosing a new topic and the SPAR debates. We’ll do them at the next debate meeting.

I forgot to ask the following questions that Lorinda suggested at the last meeting. There are:

1. How did I feel about the discussion?

2. What part of the discussion influenced me the most?

3. Was there something that20did not change the discussion?

4. What will I definitely do after this discussion?

Join us as we try to promote more light than heat! See you next time. Bring a friend!

Hal Wicke