The Touro Communication Club Notes - #95 –November 18, 2009
Communication Quote of the Week
“People may or may not say what they mean... but they always say something designed to get what they want.”
David Mamet (b., 1947) is a prolific American author who has written for the stage, television and screen and often directs his own work He has won a Tony. and a Pulitzer prizes and two Academy Award nominations for his work.
There will be no Communication Club meeting on Wednesday, November 11th because of Faculty Development Day
The Touro Communication Club
2 pm - Wednesday, November 18, 2009 – Room 223
“Charles Borkhuis and his Radio Plays”
English faculty member Charles Borkhuis leads several creative lives outside of Touro. In addition to his poetry and essays, his many radio and stage plays have received national and international acclaim. We are going to listen to one of his radio plays and discover how he does what he does. This is a rare opportunity to ask questions of a working artist about his art.
This week, instead of the usual Note to Communicators, we are listing the results of the 8th Speech contest.
8th Speech Contest – Fall 2009
November 3, 2009
Name | Title of Speech | Instructor | Course/Site | Rank |
Anzhelika Khaitova | “Everything You Want to Know About Yoga”” | Ms. Bardwell | GCA 101 Dov Revell/ SCAS | 1st Prize $100 cash |
Aliza Payziyev | “Peer Pressure’” | Ms. Bardwell | GCA 101 Dov Revell/ SCAS | 2nd Prize $50 cash |
Rosanna Martin | “Are Fathers Failing?” | Mr. Turney | GCA 100 Taino/SGS | 3rd Prize $25 cash |
Rene Vasquez | “Motorcycle Safety” | Mr. Green | GCA 100 Sunset Park | Honorable Mention |
Shalene Fernandez | “Job Interviewing” | Mr. Backinoff | GCA 100/ Taino/SGS | Finalist |
Angel Franco | “Women Are the Reason for Men’s Infidelity” | Mr. Turney | GCA 100/ Midtown/SGS | Finalist |
Jean Missial | “Music to Inspire Change” | Mr. Green | GCA 100/ Midtown/SGS | Finalist |
Rachel Mishaely | “How to MakeSpecial Occasion Cakes” | Ms. Bardwell | GCA 101 Dov Revell/ SCAS | Finalist |
Damian Forbes | “Child Abuse” | Mr. Wicke | GCA 100 Midtown/SGS | Finalist |
Jonathen Tineo | “Robots & Technology” | Mr. Green | GCA 100/ Midtown/SGS | Finalist |
Judges: Professor Charles Mason, Dean Donne Kampel, Professor Carlisle Yearwood.
Communication Department members: George Backinoff, Gena Bardwell, Jason Carvell, Richard Green, Hal Wicke. Lorinda Moore is the Administrative Asst for the department.
This year was especially competitive. There was a one point difference between each of the four finalists.
UPCOMING CONVERSATIONS:
November 25 – “SPAR Debate” We need to return to practicing our Communication skills. This is another exercise to train your ability to think on your feet. You are given a topic – let’s say, “Honesty is the best policy.” You and a partner flip a coin for who is going to agree with the statement and who is going to disagree. You have a brief period to prepare, and then you argue you side. You will question your opponent and then restate your position. The audience will vote on who gave the best argument. They cannot take sides. To keep things lively, we have many other topics.
December 2 – “Walking the Talk”- Many of us have had the experience of knowing people who promise to do something and don’t do it. This experience can be personal or within a group. A Touro Dean once described two categories of participants in a project. “There are the show horses and there are the work horses.” The show horses talk a good game, but they “don’t deliver the mail,” as one member of Congress recently phrased it. There are dozens of ways this situation occurs. We’ll share our experiences and then discuss what to do about the phenomenon.
December 9 – “Moral Decay and The Need for a Dress Code”– Recently, Charles Mason gave me a copy of an academic article entitled “Moral Crisis in Higher Education and the Dress Code Phenomenon.” The article reviews “indecent dressing among youth today”and “the need to restore high moral standards, integrity and decency.”In one of our recent sessions, the topic of saggy pants stirred up much discussion. Some people feel strongly – pro and con - about the way certain people dress. We try to keep calm during the session.
December 16 – “Thinking”- Do we know when we think? Can you NOT think? Do you know how YOU think? Do you like to think? Then what do you think about? How can you direct your thinking? What about distractions? These are only some of the topics that will probably come up during the discussion. Maybe someone will know how to read our minds.
What about one of these topics?
“How Do You Fire Someone?”
“Rap and Hip Hop – What’s the Message?"
“Rodney King: ‘Why Can’t We Get Along?”
“Asking Questions in Class”
“Cold Calling in Sales”
“Meaning”
“The Seven Heavenly Virtues”
“Why Does History Repeat Itself?”
“Repetition”
“Cynicism”
And dozens of others!
What happened on Wednesday, November 4, 2009? “Martial Arts and Communication”
For more than 90 minutes, nineteen people, new and familiar, were honored, entertained and entranced with the Martial Arts demonstration presented by Grand Master Khalif Williams, a 9th degree black belt, and his student, Ronald Johnson, a brown belt warrior and active member of the Communication Club.
Sensei Khalif Williams is the leader of the Internal Dragon Dojo [school] in the Bronx. He holds classes for all ages at his dojo. Contact information is at the end of the blog entry. He has developed his view of the Martial Arts in the following statement.
Our Virtues
Martial Arts is my secret. I bear no arms.
May God help me if I ever use my art.
Love is they law. Truth is what I worship.
Form is my manifestation. Conscience is my guide.
Peace is my shelter. Order is my attitude. Nature is my companion.
Beauty and perfection is my life.
Quitters never win and winners never quit.
Karate Kan must be gentle in life, ferocious in combat.
Focus plus timing plus speed equals power.
I do my best and the best of my ability.
The first time visitors included Ari Yehuda, Vannessa Linnen and Kevin Johnson of the Midtown maintenance staff, Britzia Bolanos, Chui Hing You, Monma Martinez, Merrill Best, Polly Adanach and Stephen Phillips, Director of Touro’s Project Aspire. Familiar faces included Pamela Sheppard, Meggy Lindsay, Lorinda Moore, Richard Green, Carlisle Yearwood, Diurka Sosa, Sheyla Martinez, Jean Missial, Charles Mason and Hal Wicke
Hal had written on the board
· Is there a connection between martial arts and communication?
· What can Communicators learn from Martial Artists?
Sensei [teacher] Khalif Williams briefly outlined his experience in over 10 different martial arts, beginning at age 7. All martial arts began in India with yoga as their inspiration. He said there are three purposes of martial arts:
1. to hurt
2. to maim
3. to kill
The applications of the various martial arts are through three means
· Verbal
· Visual
· Physical applications
Sensei Williams began demonstrating a wide variety of movements, using Ronald as both a victim and the attacker. Others who helped in the demonstrations were Kevin Johnson, Charles Mason Lorinda Moore, Pamela Sheppard and others.
Some highlights were:
· The most vulnerable spot in a male is not the testicles, but his prostate just above the penis.
· Hit the prostate, not the groin in a fight with a male.
· Men are top heavy.
· Criminals are dumb.
· The weakest part of the hand is the thumb.
· The need for mental preparation.- 90% mental; 10% physical
· Gain the power of “Chi” or energy from inner strength.
· Martial arts works from inside out.
· Martial arts are more liberating than boxing.
· Walk away from a fight
· The Japanese – “The first man to raise his voice loses.”
· “I teach through laughter.”
· Boxers have a lethal weapon with their hands; martial artists do not.
· There is power in the flick of the wrist.
· “Hesitation will hurt you.”
· “I have an obligation to teach; you have an obligation to learn.”
· “What you put into it, you will get out of it.”
· Karate means “empty hand.”
· The sixth sense is “awareness.” – the third eye.
· The different colors of the martial arts belts are from white (beginner), brown, purple, green, black (the highest) with additional levels
· “Speak to the unconscious mind. Touch the dream world.”
· “Everything is a habit – learned behavior
· Open a door with the key in your fist between middle and 4th finger.
· Two kinds of walks – Lumbering vs smart walk - who will be attacked?
· “I learn from my students – always learning – never too late to learn”
· Adapt martial arts to your life.
· The way of the warrior
Contact information for Sensei Khalif Williams, Sensei for the Internal Dragon Dojo:
1000 Rosedale Avenue
Bronx, NY 10472
Cell – 646-345-3675
Email – mykick2002@yahoo.com
We always have a great time exploring these issues. So often our daily life never focuses on these Communication issues. If you have something you want us to discuss please let us know and we’ll add it to the list.
Next time bring a friend. The Communication Club is always an open discussion, limited only by time. Everyone gets a chance to speak. All opinions are welcome. Here is an opportunity for students to challenge professors’ views outside the class without any homework or assignments. You just have to show up and listen and talk if you want.
Hal Wicke
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