Touro Communication Club Notes #65

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This Week!

Wednesday, March 11, 2009

“Politics and Communication”

When two people get together, there are “politics.” Politics occur at every level human interaction – personal, family, workplace, governmental, international. Politics include the many elements and levels of human interchange. We’ll try to identify some aspects of

the politics of human interchange.

Dear Communicators:

An Op-Ed piece on Monday, March 2, 2009,”Japan’s Crisis of the Mind” by Masaru Tamamoto, set off Communication bells in my head. Culture is an important area to examine in Communication.

Simplistically described, culture is more than the different food, music and costumes of various groups of people. The firecrackers and the theatrical dragon whipping through New York City’s first Chinatown are only symbols of an enormously rich culture and value system.

Culture includes how a group of people relate to each other, their beliefs, attitudes and values as well as their responses to gender differences and the power. Tamamoto’s essay is a hard-hitting examination of the Japanese culture and its impact on its place in the world.

Tamamoto is a Senior Fellow at the World Policy Institute and seems to be taking an uncharacteristically “Japanese” view of his own country. Among the statements he makes in the well-reasoned piece is that “Japan is a mess.” It is a “nation of bureaucrats.” The crisis “is not political, but psychological.”

Tamamoto writes, “Since the middle of the 19^th century, our [Japan’s] economic success has relied on the availability of outside models from which to choose” [to imitate]. Where the West offered “progress based on establishing individual autonomy and liberty….In Japan, bureaucratic rule offered security and predictability – in exchange for personal freedom.”

As Tamamoto continued his negative attack on his native country, I began to wonder how the world viewed the U.S. in light of this traumatic transition from the culture of Bush to Obama. The world has seen America seeming reverse an 8 year course in the space of less that 50 days. Are Obama’s optimistic plans to reverse the financial disaster failing America and, by extension, the world going to be undermined by the nay-sayers. Senator John McCain has officially declared himself “the loyal opposition,” taking from the British tradition of acknowledging different, yet loyal, points of view.

What messages do President Obama’s efforts communicate to America? The world? Does Rush Limbaugh represent the “loyal opposition?” And ultimately, can we disagree without being entirely disagreeable? Sometimes, I wonder. We may have our own views, but what messages do we send to the world, as Japan, one of the world’s economic powers, sending to the world?

We almost have to overdose on critical thinking skills to gain some kind of equilibrium in this increasingly chaotic environment. Maybe Michael Jackson’s return will be our momentary escape.

UPCOMING CONVERSATIONS:

Wednesday, March 18, 2009

SPAR Debate – Thinking on your feet

Let’s see if we can move from aphorisms to public policy issues. Spouting your beliefs is easy compared to taking the opposite position and arguing something you do believe in. This kind of exercise allows you to anticipate people who have different ideas from yours.

Wednesday March25, 2009

Theatre IV – Using Your Voice Effectively

Thus far, we have focused on basic acting tools- breathing, sense memory, emotional recall and improvisation. Although we are far from finished in identifying more basic acting tools, we need to introduce working with your voice. Like the body, the voice is a major part of the actor’s instrument. Being aware of the capabilities of the speaking voice, very different from the singing voice, can give the Communicator another range of options in delivering the message.

What happened on Wednesday, March 4, 2009 “Writing a Letter to President Obama”

Letter writers included Carlisle Yearwood, Egypt Allen, Marcus Vayndorf, Charles Mason, Brian Brown, James Millner, Lorinda Moore, Drani Gabu and Hal Wicke

Hal wrote on the blackboard what we had agreed to in our previous letter writing session.

1. This letter represents to views and opinions of the students and faculty of the Touro Communication Club. [We discussed whether we were representing Touro College. Hal responded that we were writing on behalf of the people in the room on this day. He said that when we were finished with the letter, he would run it by certain administrative personnel to apprise them of our efforts. Such actions are important since the club is part of Touro College and, as I noted on the blog, an official outreach effort of the SGS Department of Speech and Communication.]

2. We endorse your efforts as Commander-in-Chief to turn the country around. [I think we can elaborate on this.]

Someone suggested that we take our cue from President Obama’s speech last week to a Joint Session of Congress. His three topics were the economy, health care and education. Clearly, education is very important to us at Touro.

For topic 3, the discussion thought “To implement educational models which stimulate student learning.” Among these included

• A revised version of “No Child Left Behind” to read “No Student Left Behind”
• Establish programs to develop qualified teachers K-college.
• Create a comprehensive universal program for developing student skills
• A Discovery program for students who want to go to college but do not have the necessary skills.
• Create Student/Teacher Award programs recognizing the impact that teachers have on their students.
• Develop a community service program which encourages college students to get into the community using their skills in tutoring, serving as Big Brother/Big Sister, aiding those citizens to achieve a better life.

Although the discussion was contentious at times, there was a general sense of good will as we hashed out our idea. Clearly, the second session was more productive than the first because we got to know each other better and were more focused in achieving our outcome.

The Communication Club regulars (those in this session plus a couple of others) are beginning to develop the early characteristics of a unified group, willing to set aside our differences to focus on a common goal.

Ah, there’s a light at the end of the Communication tunnel!

Let’s not forget Carlisle Yearwood’s IDEA several weeks ago. He suggested we develop a 3x4 index card with basic Touro information on it. We’ll talk more about this in the future.

As always, these sessions are open for everyone to attend. Bring a friend and join the excitement. See you next time.

Hal Wicke