Debate and Communication Club Schedule

Touro Communication Club #20

BREAKING NEWS - Green Gets Award!

Richard Green, one of the Speech and Communication faculty members who works with the Communication Club and the Debate Team, just won a New York Times ESOL Teacher of the Year Award. He will be honored on Monday evening, March 31, at the NY Times Center on 8^th Avenue between 40^th and 41^st. An advertisement will appear sometime in this week’s New York Times announcing the award. Richard was recognized especially for his work in developing technology (videos, podcasts) to support his ESL classes in Oral English. Congratulations, Richard. The award is well deserved.

Our four-week schedule:

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 26, 2008 – THE DEBATE TEAM WILL MEET AT 1:00 PM IN ROOM 610 @ 50 WEST 23^RD STREET

The Debate team has two copies of “Opposing Views: Gun Control” in addition to the extensive research they’ve already collected. We will now be able to push ahead in developing both the Affirmative and Negative arguments with the appropriate supporting evidence. We may be able to experiment with cross-examination technique in this session. This is the hard and boring drudgery necessary to get the cases up to speed.

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 2, 2008 – 5^th Speech Contest – 2 pm – Room 314 – Midtown - 27 West 23^rd St.
Student Finalists from 3 Communication classes will present their winning Information speeches. These Finalists were selected by their classmates from speaking assignments in “Survey of Human Communication,” “Public Speaking” and “Interpersonal Communication.” A panel of faculty and administrative judges will rate the speakers according to the content, organization and delivery of their speeches. First Prize is $100 cash; Second Prize is $50 cash; Third Prize is $25 cash. Refreshments will be served while the judges are deliberating.

Come to “See How It’s Done!” Learning how to speak in public is one of the fundamental skills in today’s competitive job market.

Wednesday, April 9, 2008 – The Debate Team will meet at 1 pm in Room 610 @ 50 West 23^rd Avenue.

More hard work. What we do at this meeting will build on what we did on March 26^th.

Wednesday, April 16, 2008 – Club @ 1 pm @ 610 @50 West.

The last Club meeting on the Presidential campaign was so interesting that everyone forgot to set a topic for next time. I promise it will be interesting! The topic will be posted in the next Club notes.

WHAT HAPPENED AT THE CLUB MEETING ON Wednesday, March 19, 2008.

Two new members, Alba Campuzano and Jetante Morris joined Drani Gabu, James Millner, Richard Green and David Nussbaum. George Backinoff led an exciting session of the current Presidential campaign. David took notes on the session. Drani distributed copies of Barak Obama’s speech on race and religion.

George asked the group what traits the President should have. Some suggestions included

• Preparedness
• Understand how the economy works for the benefit of all people
• Understand world politics
• Presents clear agenda
• Policy to protect nation from invasion
• Honesty
• Strong decision maker
• Fair and Balanced
• Stamina/Debater
• Candidates should have morals and charisma

George asked whether having been a First Lady was a qualification for being President. He gave examples of strong first ladies such as Edith Wilson and Eleanor Roosevelt. The group had mixed opinions.

Then the group focused on the issues of the campaign. Alba suggested an understanding of the economy and James suggested that the president should have a policy to protect the nation. Other issues that were mentioned included;

• Education (Improvement)
• Economy
• Health care
• Security
• War in Iraq resolved
• Race, gender, religion, age were issues for further discussion

The first topic to come up specific to the primaries is the controversy surrounding Obama’s association with Pastor Wright who has made controversial remarks which have been reported in the media of late. James read the New York Times excerpt of a recent speech by Obama addressing this. Drani read a different excerpt of the same speech from the Daily News.

The group then discussed the effects of the speech and how it was reported in these two very different newspapers.

The group noted that Obama made reference to his feelings of connectedness to both his white grandmother and to Pastor Wright. (The controversy that led Obama to make this fairly long nationally televised speech was over comments by the pastor of his church of choice).The group felt that Obama implied that Wright’s views may be influenced by conditions that no longer exist on the scale that Wright experienced them. The group agreed that Obama’s audience was a wide and inclusive one, and that the speech essentially succeeded.

Then George posed the question, “How should Hillary should respond to Obama’s speech?” All felt that she should not go on the offensive with personal attacks. “What about religion? George asked. The group shared a variety of personal feelings.

George pointed out that when Michigan governor George Romney made his bid for the Republican nomination for the Presidency in 1968, his religion was hardly an issue. Many did not know he was a Mormon, nor did they seem to care what his religion was. However, in this campaign, the opposite was true. When former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney George Romney's son, ran earlier this year for the Republican Presidential nomination, public pressure caused Romney to talk about his Mormon religion

Richard told of an article comparing the two religions of Clinton (Methodist) and Obama (Baptist) and how each religion has influenced the thinking and organization of the candidate. He promised to share this very controversial article.

Hal Wicke who had joined the meeting earlier, asked Alba, Jatante, Drani and James for their overall impressions of the election process so far. Jetante, Alba and James all would prefer to see a campaign that focuses on issues, and not personalities, race or attacking the other candidate. They seemed a bit disillusioned with the process. Drani commented that he expected the candidates to behave as adults, but was disappointed they were behaving as children. [Ah, the contrasts between expectations and reality are endless!]

At the end of this stimulating and informative session, all agreed it would be a good idea to have a Part Two. It would give all an additional stimulus to follow the events more closely as well as to provide an energizing atmosphere in which to discuss events as they unfold.

See you next time. Bring a friend!

Hal Wicke

Communication and Debate Club Meetings

Touro Communication Club #19

The Presidential campaign has heated up this past week with the surrogates of the candidates getting Clinton and Obama into messy food fights. Add the sudden Spitzer resignation to the political mix and after a while one can have second thoughts about what is happening in America. I admit the events of the past week have strained my own ability to maintain a level of hope in public service.

I keep thinking that the public politics are often macro versions of the micro experiences we have with our families, classmates, colleagues and co-workers. (That’s why Shakespeare wrote about kings.) With each revelation, I ask how can this event have some relevance to our understanding of Communication. My observation is that events like the past week occur when there is a failure of communication. Then how can we prevent Murphy’s law from happening? (And remember Murphy was an optimist!)

P.S. On Thursday, 3/13, Professor Gary Sheinfeld and Dean Timothy Taylor performed Sheinfeld’s final interview with James Baldwin. Professor Carlisle Yearwood provided introductory material and read some of Baldwin’s poetry. Sheinfeld was a long-time friend of Baldwin.

Our two-week schedule:

WEDNESDAY, March 19, 2008 – THE CLUB WILL MEET AT 1 PM IN ROOM 610 @ 50 WEST 23^rd Street

The current Presidential Campaign will be the topic this week. George Backinoff will lead what will probably be a free-wheeling experience. There are so many ways to look at the dominant news story: Democrats vs. Republicans, Clinton vs. Obama vs. McCain, delegates vs. super delegates, Florida and Michigan voter fights, the leaks and off-message statements by the Obama campaign, the probable appearance of “dirty tricks” made famous by Watergate, gender and race issues, the anti-Clinton and the anti-Obama internet sites, and on and on. Come with your questions and your opinions. This is a great time to speculate and shoot your mouth off –responsibly we insist – not like some of the TV pundits and talk show hosts. Bring a friend to add to the excitement!

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 26, 2008 – THE DEBATE TEAM WILL MEET AT 1:00 PM IN ROOM 610 @ 50 WEST 23^RD STREET

The Debate team has two copies of “Opposing Views: Gun Control” in addition to the extensive research they’ve already collected. We will now be able to push ahead in developing the both Affirmative and Negative arguments with the appropriate supporting evidence. We may be able to experiment with cross-examination technique in this session. This is the hard and boring drudgery necessary to get the cases up to speed.

WHAT HAPPENED AT THE CLUB MEETING ON Wednesday, March 12, 2008?

Drani Gabu, Kazi Faltah and Tetyana Averkina welcomed Theresa Wright to the session. James Millner arrived late. David Nussbaum took notes and Hal Wicke led the session.

This was a hard, brain-numbing, yet exhilarating session. We finally got into the material David’s notes provide the outline of the session. First we confirmed our resolution:

Resolved: That NYC enact a law prohibiting the sale and use of small handguns, except for law enforcement officials.

As the debaters move ahead in developing their cases, they must define the terms of the resolution. Often, an entire issue can change based on one definition.

The group brainstormed some of the issues relevant to gun control. They included:

• Homicide/injury.
• Robberies,
• Domestic violence,
• Unintended shooting,
• Second amendment rights,
• Guns at work/school/public places,
• Registration of guns,
• Control crimes (limit) – reduce crime,
• Control who carries guns (registration)
• Reduce hospital costs
• Cases in which gun has been weapon of choice

The team began to develop a chart which listed the arguments. This is an early step to clarify each team’s case. For each argument, the other team must prepare for an opposite argument. Then the issues will “clash” and a judge can determine which side had the better argument and evidence. If there is no “clash,” or opposing view, the side that advocates the argument wins that point.

You will notice that the team was able to come up with more Negative arguments than Affirmative ones. We have much more work to do. Once the arguments are clarified, then the debaters plug in the supportive evidence.

Pro and Con Chart

Pro/Affrmative	Do arguments clash?	Con/Negative
Does not protect	Not parallel/ no clash	Need guns to protect ourselves, materials, etc.
		Hunting.& Sport
		No legislation will prevent gun use
		Black market
		Second amendment
		Gun control laws don’t work
Thou shalt not kill

Research for next meeting

Cases in which handguns have been the principal weapon of choice

Evidence from non high profile cases

Next time the debate should be able to find other arguments and develop them.

See you next time. Bring a friend!

Hal Wicke

Debate and Communication Club Update

Touro Communication Club #18

The Presidential campaign seems to drift into everyone’s conversation. With five months until Denver when the Democrats stop squabbling over who will be their candidate, the horserace is producing some unexpected turns of events. The Clinton comeback in Texas and Ohio and the Obama campaign facing embarrassing off-message statements to Canadian and British sources make for interesting political gossip. Also, the number of emails being sent by both camps has exploded, often filled with misstatements and outright errors.

However, there are many lessons to be learned from this “entertainment” that are important to members of the club. First is the unreliability of polls, an important research tool for campaigns. A second lesson might be the difficulty in managing the communication so everyone is on the same page and saying the same thing. A third observation might be how elusive accurate facts are when information is carelessly misstated or taken out of context or, worst of all, is egregiously wrong. The regular voter is not trained in listening carefully or knows that all statements are assertions that must be proved with valid evidence. The Communication Club member is becoming more aware of how important it is to listen to statements people make, but not accept them at face value without verification. A final lesson might be the use of loaded language and glittering generalities (the propagandist’s term) to inflate an issue or attack an opponent. Josef Goebbels, the propaganda minister of Adolf Hitler, developed the “Big Lie” where he repeated an untruth so often that people began to believe it.

Oh, we have so much to examine and discover with future Communication conversations!

Our two-week schedule:

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 12, 2008 – THE DEBATE TEAM WILL MEET AT 1:00 PM IN ROOM 610 @ 50 WEST 23^RD STREET

We have our Gun Control Resolution is set; “Resolved: that New York State should ban all small handguns.” Now we will focus on cataloguing the Affirmative and Negative arguments. Remember, for each argument, there MUST be a counter argument – with evidence. A tall order, but one which is standard procedure in collegiate debate and in places like Congress. Hal, Richard and David will work with the team.
Today, March 8, on "All Things Considered," NPR.org audio may be heard on the story, "Arizona Weighs Allowing Concealed Guns on Campus." Just click on the following link to hear the story: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=88012596

WEDNESDAY, Narch 19, 2008 – THE CLUB WILL MEET AT 1 PM IN ROOM 610 @ 50 WEST 23^rd AVENUE

The current Presidential Campaign will be the topic this week. George Backinoff will lead what will probably be a free-wheeling experience. There are so many ways to look at the dominant news story: Democrats vs. Republicans, Clinton vs. Obama vs. McCain, delegates vs. super delegates, Florida and Michigan voter fights, the leaks and off-message statements by the Obama campaign, the probable appearance of “dirty tricks” made famous by Watergate, gender and race issues, the anti-Clinton and the anti-Obama internet sites, and on and on. Come with your questions and your opinions. This is a great time to speculate and shoot your mouth off –responsibly we insist – not like some of the TV pundits and talk show hosts. Bring a friend to add to the excitement!

WHAT HAPPENED AT THE CLUB MEETING ON Wednesday, March 5, 2008?

We thank David Nussbaum for his complete report. Jason Carvell led the session. Drani Gabu, James Miller and Theresa Wright welcomed English Faculty member Jan Castro. Professor Castro was one of the presenters at the recent Faculty Poetry Reading. (See the blog entry for February 14, 2008).

“The discussion began with the question, “What is a story?” and a working definition. Examples of known stories include fairy tales, Bible stories and Fables.

The group was asked to give their own “story.” After everyone shared their story, Jason asked the group if one person would tell the story of another in the first person as if the other’s story was his/her own. Differences in the verbal and nonverbal elements were noted and explained.

Jason followed this exercise with a relaxation exercise using breathing work and the “O” invitation to story concept.

The known story of “John Henry” was agreed upon as a basis for discussion. It was discovered that stories eliminate distance among people. A lively discussion of the imagery in the story followed. Everyone learned how to conjure details of the imagery and how to use this imagery to give the story a three dimensionality when telling it.

Several other “lessons” were evident, beyond the idea that stories eliminate distance among people. That early stories were an explanation of things unseen was an important idea. Another observation was that although stories evolved over time, their one constant is that they tell us our place in the world. Finally, when we tell a story, we draw from our sphere of experience which connects to the universal experience. In hearing a story we draw the larger experience into own world.

Everyone participated actively by giving suggestions for stories to discuss, sharing their own stories and contributing to the discussion of Storytelling. The general feeling was that we had only begun to explore the power and impact of Storytelling. No doubt the club will do another session soon!

See you next time. Bring a friend!

Hal Wicke

Debate and Communication Club Meetings

Touro Communication Club #16

BREAKING NEWS: The 2/26 and 2/21 debates between Senators Clinton and Obama and the 1/31 speech of Michelle Obama (we saw the entire speech at our 2/13 Debate meeting) are available by clicking on the links provided below:

• Read as you Watch the Feb. 26 Democratic Debate of Cleveland, Ohio (the interactive video link is found on the left-hand side of the page that opens when you click here.)
• Watch the New York Times interactive video from the Feb. 21 Democratic Debate and Analyze the transcript here.

• Watch Michelle Obama's Speech here.

Click on the links above to watch the Feb. 26 and Feb. 21 debates and read the text at the same time. The New York Times provides this incredible tool for analyzing the campaign speakers.

Our two-week schedule:

WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 27, 2008 – THE DEBATE TEAM WILL MEET AT 12:30 PM IN ROOM 610 @ 50 WEST 23^RD STREET

Hopefully, we can apply some of the delivery strategies of Michelle Obama to our affirmative and negative debate briefs on gun control. Continue your research on gun control in New York State. We will phrase a proposition and start lining up evidence on both sides. We will also being practice cross-examining each other. Both Richard Green and David Nussbaum will serve as task masters for the questioning.

WEDNESDAY, March 5, 2008 – THE CLUB WILL MEET AT 1 PM IN ROOM 610 @ 50 WEST 23^rd AVENUE

This should be an interesting session. Richard Green will be leading the group on “Storytelling:” We all have personal and family stories. Since the days of the caveman, stories were the original way people learned about the experience of others and the larger world. The stories of the Bible were passed along from one storyteller to another well before they were written down. Then in the Middle Ages, balladeers set stories to music and went around the countryside singing what have become “folk songs.” Stories have a particular fascination for everyone because the structure that begins “Once upon a time...” captures the imagination of everyone from children to senior citizens.. A good story has a beginning, middle and end with lots of delicious digressions. Bring your stories to share.

WHAT HAPPENED AT THE CLUB MEETING ON THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 20, 2008?

Our second session on “Reading Aloud” was very intense, despite our being bumped from our regular room because of a Graduate School workshop. Newcomer Gabriel Amar, only a month in this country from Morocco, joined our regulars, Drani Gabu, James Millner, Kazi Fathath, David Nussbaum, Richard Green and Hal Wicke.

Hal reviewed the several Paralinguistic aspects of the voice which when they are adjusted will change the meaning of the text. Then Richard provided a difficult text from William Carlos Williams, an American poet and pediatrician, which we studied the first 4 lines. We read it over several times to decide on its general meaning. Then we discussed who the speaker was and what was his attitude toward the subject. Next we decided on an emotion that would best embody the message of the poet. Then everybody performed the 4 lines with the intention each felt the poetry communicated. Next, Hal asked each person whether he heard what the reader intended. The audience reactions were honest enough to say they did not hear what the reader intended.

Along the way, David gave some Voice and Diction instructions to each reader to help focus the practice. Each responded willingly to the instruction.

This was really hard work. Everyone was trying to make the muscles of the voice execute the directions sent by the mind. It was amazing to watch the concentration in the faces. Drani was most expressive in shaping his facial muscles to make the voice follow his brain’s messages. But Kazi made the most extraordinary change in his vocal quality as he shaped his rich bass-baritone voice into the clearest articulation he has ever done. It was so striking he reminded me of the brother of Darth Vader (the actor James Earl Jones). Everybody applauded themselves for their effort.

James and Drani came up to me after the 2-hour session and asked if actors go through this kind of intense work. Hal said, “This and 1000% more!” What we did is very elementary and mechanical for experienced actors. With much vocal and physical practice and analysis, actors take the words off the page and make them come to life in the mouth of the character. The more believable the character is, you forget the actor. If the audience notices any technical aspects of the performance, then the actor has not worked hard enough to make the technique disappear.

We felt that two sessions on “Reading Aloud” were enough. It was time to turn to something else. Hal gave out a laundry list of possible topics. Richard suggested that we focus on “Storytelling.” Everyone agreed. Storytelling is the oldest communication tool. Before the printing press, everyone told stories.. Richard passed out copies of an article about storytelling in a business setting, published by Costco. A recent management book is called, “Management by Storying Around,” a motivational strategy to excite employees in an organization.

See you next time. Bring a friend!

Hal Wicke

First Poetry Reading, Debate and Comm Club Meetings

Touro Communication Club #15
Last week was very busy. Not only did the Debate Team meet on Wednesday, but some of us went to the English department’s first poetry reading. Summaries of both events follow. This week, we are back to our regular once-a-week schedule.

Watch the interactive video from the Feb. 21 Democratic Debate and Analyze the transcript by clicking here.


THE CLUB WILL MEET ON WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 20 AT 1 PM IN ROOM 610 @ 50 WEST 23rd AVENUE – NO EXPERIENCE NECESSARY. – JUST CURIOSITY.
Once again, we will give everyone hands-on experience (actually “voice-on”) with Reading Aloud. Actors know how important it is to use your voice effectively, but regular people – like us – can learn the same techniques to improve your speaking voice. We’ll start again with the telephone books and the various aspects of “Paralinguistics” (that’s the technical term for the ways the voice is used). Then we’ll add an emotion or two and end with you reading the poetry selection you brought with you.

WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 27, 2008 – THE DEBATE TEAM WILL MEET AT 1 PM IN ROOM 610 @ 50 WEST 23RD STREET
Hopefully, we can apply some of the delivery strategies of Michelle Obama to our affirmative and negative debate briefs on gun control. Continue your research on gun control in New York State. We will phrase a proposition and start lining up evidence on both sides. We will also being practice cross-examining each other. Both Richard Green and David Nussbaum will serve as task masters for the questioning.

WHAT HAPPENED ON THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 13, 2008 –DEBATE TEAM MEETING?
Three newcomers joined us for the first time: Kattey Mayrose (who has had debate experience), Theresa Wright and Kazi Fathath. They were welcomed by Libio Carcasses, Tetyana Averkina, Drani Gabu and James Millner. English faculty member Carl Yearwood returned to join Richard Green, David Nussbaum and Hal Wicke. Professor Yearwood was one of the presenters at the Poetry Festival the next day. (More later.)

As promised, Richard began the session by showing the 1/31/08 Delaware campaign speech of Michelle Obama, wife of Presidential candidate, Senator Barak Obama. The speech was about an hour long, perhaps too long to maintain our interest, but very fascinating to those Obama-fans who listened first hand.

Watch Michelle Obama's Speech By Clicking Here.

The “feeling” reactions varied from “inspiring” to “ok” to analytical reactions questioning Ms. Obama’s evidence. Then we began a superficial analysis of the speech itself, beginning with her repeated theme of society’s “shifting the bar” to achieve success. Kattey questioned Ms. Obama’s assertion how her husband could raise the income of the middle class and raise taxes at the same time. Since both Kattey’s parents are in the military, she also questioned how Obama would cut the number of troops in Iraq and still maintain adequate troop strength to support their mission.

The tone of the speech was motivational – to get people to vote for her husband. Ms. Obama used a lot of personal anecdotes to demonstrate how the upbringing of both Ms. Obama and Senator Obama was similar to that of their audience. Some people questioned the accuracy of her evidence since they found that their Ivy League education was elite and unlike that of “regular folks.” The propaganda device Ms. Obama was using, among others, is called “Plain Folks” – I’m just like you – whether she is or not.

Another propaganda device Ms. Obama used was “the straw man.” The speaker who uses this device cleverly raises an issue of dubious or arguable value and then proceeds to show how she (or her husband) would easily defeat or solve the problem. Examples included references to Hillary Clinton’s health plan and John McCain’s opposing view of getting out of Iraq.

Hal reminded everybody of Aristotle’s three aspects of rhetoric (persuasion) – logos (logic); pathos (emotion) and ethos (personal character). Everybody agreed that Ms. Obama’s speech was dominated by pathos and ethos with a little logos thrown in to give people a sense that what the speaker was saying was “logical.”

People seemed to think that the session was very interesting and valuable as the Presidential campaign gets closer to a two-person race. To be honest, however, this analysis is only the most superficial compared to the rigorous analysis necessary for debate. But at least, we got our feet wet!

We have further opportunities to watch Obama and Clinton in action in the upcoming debates. As we listen – and that’s the key skill – we have to listen critically to discover the credibility of their positions, especially now that John McCain is the Republican front-runner.

Recently I sent you an issue of FactCheck.org highlighting several campaign issues. FactCheck.org is a project of the Annenberg School of Communication at the University of Pennsylvania. It is one of the most prestigious schools of communication in the nation. Its Dean, Kathleen Hall Jamieson, shows an impressive grasp of the campaign issues (without any hype of the media’s self-appointed pundits) when she appears periodically on Bill Moyer’s Journal on Channel 13 on Sunday evenings.

WHAT HAPPENED ON THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 14TH VALENTINE’S DAY POETRY READING?
For one brief moment on Valentine’s Day 2008, the gritty prose of Touro College was transformed into a richly textured poetic atmosphere by five Touro professors in the Languages and Literature department. All five demonstrated a variety of styles and subject matter, each describing very different personal realities.

“Today’s program is historic,” exclaimed Dean Timothy Taylor in his introductory welcome to a packed classroom at the Midtown campus. Professor Brenda Coultas introduced the five poets who read briefly from their works to the enthusiastic applause of the audience.

Professor Charles Borkhuis, playwright and screenwriter, commented that “Poets feels the need to write..Through the use of imagery, they open a deep channel to their childhoods to help clarify their need to write poetry.” His selections reflected a cinematic use of language with unexpected conflicting images. One of Borkhuis’s most memorable lines was, “The trouble is – I am the missing premise from my own argument.”

In honor of Valentine’s Day, the love poems of Professor Jan Garden Castro caught the audience’s attention. She has published widely, including a book on the artist Georgia O’Keefe. The words were personal and affecting, One of her poems, “Bones,’ included the line “Love is easier to make than popcorn.”

Drawing from her background in the heartland of Illinois, Professor Brenda Coultas, also with extensive publication credits, created a series of poetic narratives, illustrating Lincoln country through the description of one man’s reflections. One memorable line was, “I heard the word and the word was autocracy.”

Poet/Professor Joseph Sabado drew from his farming childhood in California as he recreated images of his father working on the family tractor. “Nobody can make us ashamed, nobody,” exclaimed his father. Another line was his father’s determined, “I’ll make straight this crooked spine of a life.”

The closing portion of the Poetry Festival was led by Professor Carlisle Yearwood, who has a long list of publishing and performing credits. With his passionate and theatrical baritone, Yearwood painted several distinctive and trenchant portraits of “Harlem is a woman.” He then transformed a bleak prose piece of James Baldwin into a vivid poetic vision. In a trenchant comment on American culture, he closed with “Hey, you! What’s up with that cellphone?”

A first of its kind for Touro, this Faculty Poetry Festival promises to be an annual event.

Four members of the Club were in the audience: Drani Gabu, Richard Green, David Nussbaum and Hal Wicke. All thought the event was excellent.
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Remember our meetings are now on Wednesdays @ 1 pm.

See you next time. Bring a friend!

Hal Wicke

Communication and Debate Club Meetings

Touro Communication Club #14

Now that school has begun, I’m sure it is a struggle to get back into the swing of things. Juggling is the name of the game for everyone - your classes, your work and your family obligations – and then trying to remember to include a meeting of the Touro Communication Club! We are doing some very interesting things and would love to have more of you share in these experiences.

Richard Green suggested at our TCC meeting last week that we consolidate our meetings to Wednesdays, alternating between the Club activities and the Debate team. So, from now on, we will have our meetings on Wednesdays in Room 610 or 611 across the street @ 50 West 23rd Street.

Next week is an interesting week. Two events on the agenda.

WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 13, 2008 – DEBATE TEAM WILL MEET AT 1 PM IN ROOM 610 @ 50 WEST 23rd STREET
Our next challenge is to identify the basic documents which will be the foundation of our affirmative and negative cases for Gun Control. These documents include: the U.S. Constitution and all its amendments (particularly the 2nd amendment) and the current New York State law on gun control. From the NYS law, we’ll frame the Resolution and then share our collected evidence for both sides and begin to build our cases.

Richard has downloaded the campaign speech of Michelle Obama which she presented in Delaware on January 31st. If we have time we’ll play the speech for analysis. In this Presidential campaign we are not taking sides, but since there have been some excellent “stump” speeches (the standard speeches the candidates – and their wives and husband – give)., both the Club and the Debate Team will be fascinated to watch a “pro” in action. We’ll look at how she structures her speech, what kinds of examples and evidence she uses and how she relates to her audience. I guarantee you will come away from this kind of analysis with a much sharper ear for her message, the “spin” of the message (manipulation of information with language) and speaking tips. Michelle Obama is really good at what she does.

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 14, 2008 – ENGLISH DEPARTMENT FACULTY READING FROM 1-2:30 PM IN ROOM 223 @ 33 WEST 23RD STREET. – a Valentine’s Day Treat!
We heard about this faculty reading via the grapevine, but we are pretty sure that Professors Charles Borkhuis, Brenda Coultas and Jan Castro are among the presenters reading their own works. This is very exciting since so many of the Touro faculty have artistic and professional lives outside their classes. What they do on the outside enriches what they do in their classes.

WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 20, 2008 – THE COMMUNICATION CLUB WILL MEET AT 1 PM IN ROOM 610 @ 50 WEST 23RD. By popular demand, this will be our 2nd session on “Reading Aloud.” We will start with reading the telephone book in an exciting manner. Then we’ll turn to reading of published short poetry and prose (no original writing this time) to discover how your voice can make the words come off the page. Bring a couple of your favorite poems and short prose pieces to experiment with. Hal Wicke will get you used to sounding silly and stretching your voice by having everyone read from the telephone book.

WHAT HAPPENED ON THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 7, 2008 –COMMUNICATION CLUB MEETING?
James Millner welcomed newcomer Kristina Stone to the “Read Aloud” session. Kristina was the lst Prize winner of the 4th Speech Contest with her speech on “Domestic Violence.” Drani Gabu and Johnny Celestin joined the group after their classes. Richard Green and David Nussbaum supported the session led by Hal Wicke.

Hal handed out a check list of various aspects of the delivery of the speech. Then he wrote the vocal aspects on the board Then he went through a list of seven characteristics (“paralinguistics” is the technical term) which the speaker (or singer) can use to vary the words and/or sound. They include:

Rate(Speed)
Normal speaking rate 125 w/p/m;
Normal thinking rate: 400-600 w/p/m
Volume (Loudness):
Pitch (High/Low):
Quality (Timber):.
Articulation (Sound formation)
Consonants.
Vowels
Pronunciation (Words):
Vocal Variety (Variation)

Kristina, who is a singer who has performed at the Apollo Theatre, was amazed. “I didn’t know all this was going on. I just sang my songs!” she exclaimed, while taking lots of notes. Hal said that a singer and a speaker can sharpen their speaking ability if they practice these elements. We offer GCA 112 – Voice and Diction which focuses on articulation, the formation of the sounds. David and Richard, who both teach the course, offered comments during the session.

Hal then asked all four of the students to read from the telephone book in their most interesting manner. After each read in their most brilliant manner, one of the other students began to analyze what he/she heard. With more listening practice, everyone will be able to identify how each of the paralinguistic elements.

Before Kristina left, Hal read his version of “Jabberwocky,” a nonsense poem by Lewis Carroll from “Alice in Wonderland.” He tried to show how a speaker could play with his voice using the various paralinguistic elements.

This kind of concentrated mental practice is very fatiguing and everyone needed a break. There was much more to do with the telephone books as well as the reading of the literature we brought. Hal wanted to read a section of “Mr. Silly,” a series of children’s books on which his son learned to read in Kindergarten. This is such a fun session because it is so different from the other courses we teach and take.(But then Hal is prejudiced.)

The group felt that we should continue for another session on “Reading Aloud” which will be on Wednesday, February 20 @ 1 pm.

Then we got into a discussion of a variety of topics, including the inevitable Presidential campaign

Drani Gabu was asked to be the Captain of the Debate Team. He accepted, not fully knowing what the responsibility meant.

Remember our meetings are now on Wednesdays @ 1 pm.

See you next time. Bring a friend!

Hal Wicke

Communication and Debate Club Meetings

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 7, 2008 – THE COMMUNICATION CLUB WILL MEET AT 1 PM IN ROOM 610 @ 50 WEST 23RD. This should be a “fun” session! We will focus on “Reading Aloud.” We will start with reading the telephone book in an exciting manner. Then we’ll turn to reading of published short poetry and prose (no original writing this time) to discover how your voice can make the words come off the page. Bring a couple of your favorite poems and short prose pieces to experiment with. Hal Wicke will get you used to sounding silly and stretching your voice by having everyone read from the telephone book.

WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 13, 2008 – DEBATE TEAM WILL MEET AT 1 PM IN ROOM 610 @ 50 WEST 23RD. Our next challenge is to identify the basic documents which will be the foundation of our affirmative and negative cases for Gun Control. These documents include: the U.S. Constitution and all its amendments (particularly the 2nd amendment) and the current New York State law on gun control. From the NYS law, we’ll frame the Resolution and then share our collected evidence for both sides and begin to build our cases.

WHAT HAPPENED ON THURSDAY, JANUARY 30, 2008 –DEBATE TEAM MEETING?
Drani Gabu, our team anchor, welcomed three returnees, Mor Sarr, Tetyana Averkina and Johnny Celestin and newcomer Libio Carcasses to the Debate training session. Faculty David Nussbaum and Richard Green continue to help Hal Wicke in the Debate sessions. Hal learned later that James Millner had a death in the family and could not attend.

Drani reviewed the stack of Gun Control research he collected, particularly the 2nd Amendment of the U.S. Constitution and the NYS law. The first part of the two hour session was spent on defining the terms of the 2nd Amendment. We quickly found how challenging the apparently simple task was since several people defined words differently. We talked about the “status quo” of the Resolution – not yet framed.

We were brainstorming various arguments for why guns were important (a 2nd Amendment position) when the most interesting exchange occurred. Tetyana spontaneously questioned the definitions of Libio’s statement about why keeping guns are important. Libio’s responses raised other questions about what constitutes valid evidence and the careful use of language (“all” when you mean “some.”).This unexpected exchange showed how careful questioning in a cross examination can expose the strength of an argument and the evidence used to support it.

Hal asked the others how they would have responded to Tetyana’s questions. He was trying to do an “autopsy” on the questions and answers to raise awareness of how so many aspects of communication – and debate – can be misinterpreted. This autopsy process will be a regular feature of the Debate training.

In another exchange, Hal took the book on becoming an entrepreneur in business that Johnny was carrying and went through parts of the table of contents to point out how many aspects of going into business required superb communication skills. Interviewing workers and persuading venture capitalists to give you money were among the topics.

This summary doesn’t do justice to what happened during the session. Everyone seemed to be riveted on what we were doing. For his first time, Libio said that the session moved “slowly but was very interesting.”

See you next time. Bring a friend!

Hal Wicke