Touro Communication Club Notes #52

tourocommunicationclub.blogspot.com

THIS WEEK: Wednesday, November 26, 2008 – Enjoy Your Turkey!

Next week - TBA

On the national scene, the primary interest is on President-Elect Obama’s selection of his Cabinet. The biggest fascination is on Senator Hillary Clinton’s possible appointment as Secretary of State, with the official announcement waiting until after Thanksgiving. The immediate question is what to do with former President Bill Clinton – his role with the Obama government with many of his foundation donors who are in foreign governments. An interesting speculation is who will replace Hillary as New York Senator? A couple of jokesters suggested Bill Clinton. We’ll see.

Nationally, the financial crisis grows worse. In a s pectacular feat of corporate insensitivity, the Detroit trio of automakers flew to Washington to ask for a $25 million bailout in their 3 corporate jets. Congress is growing reluctant to give them the money even with a plan of how it will be used. Stay tuned.

Internationally, an interesting ripple arose last week when Prime Minister Nicholas Sarkozy of France proposed another Group of 20 meeting in France to discuss reducing the harmful effects of American capitalism – without President Bush.

The Somali pirates are becoming more adventurous, capturing off the Somali coast an oil tanker bigger than 3 football fields with 2 billion gallons of oil worth $100 million. In Zimbabwe, the political succession remains in limbo

In Iraq on Monday, the Parliament is to sign an agreement on the date for the pullout of American troops by 2010. But the process has been anything but sedate with the politicians physically attacking each other and chasing others out of the legislative hall. The outcome of the agreement becomes in doubt.

For Communicators, patterns of behavior emerge for reflection and analysis.

• RE: Clintons – how do you (Obama) communicate your message despite competing voices?
• RE: Sarkozy. What do you (Bush) do what someone says one thing to your face and then goes out and does something else?
• RE: Pirates What are your options when some people choose to operate violently outside of the law?
• RE: Iraq Parliament. How can you get people to agree on ANYTHING when they have so many strongly held points of view?

Working together is always a difficult task. Finding agreement among people with strongly held beliefs raises the level of difficulty. The negotiation skills become very important in our daily lives.. We should explore these in the near future.

A footnote: Hal Wicke taught a workshop on Public Speaking for teachers this week through the Academic Computing Workshop schedule. The goal was to give instructors another tool to use in their classes to involve students in the courses. The three teachers who showed were enthusiastic. We will be exploring other ways to introduce other Communication skills to Touro instructors.

Wednesday, November 26, 2008 - Let’s take the day off so we can get ready for Thanksgiving.

Wednesday, December 3, 2008 –To be announced.

What happened during the 6^th Speech Contest on November 19^th?

There was a good crowd to witness some very good speakers. Here is the speaker list

6^th Speech Contest – Fall 2008

November 19, 2008

Name	Title of Speech	Instructor	Course/Site	Rank
Meggy Lindsay	“Silent Enemy With20the Chambers”	Mr. Wicke	GCA 100 Midtown	1st Pr ize
Deborah Wade	“Substance Abuse and You”	Mr. Green	GCA 100/ Taino	2nd Prize
Geovanny Leon	“From 90 lbs to 8 oz.”	Mr. Wicke	GCA 215/ Midtown	3rd Prize
Alex Solomon Matatov	“Archimedes of SyracuseD	Mr. Green	GCA 100/	Honorable Mention
Theresa Archer	“Kwanzaa”	Mr. Green	GCA 100/ Midtown	Finalist
Cedric Flemming	“Audio Engineering”	Ms. Thompson	GCA 100/ Midtown	Finalist
Keonna Greenidge	“Teens and Alcohol”	Ms. Albert	GCA 100/ Taino	Finalist
Bryan Kolb	“History of Pizza”	Mr. Green	GCA 100/ Midtown	Finalist
Raymond Sheppard, Sr.	“The Springarn Medal”	Mr. Green	GCA 100/	Finalist
Ehpraim Smith	“Multiple Sclerosis”	Ms. Albert	GCA 100/ Taino	Finalist

The judges were Robert Babsky of the Office of Institutional Advancement, Lanyell Tolbert of the SGS Learning Center and George20Backinoff of the Speech and Communication Department.

As Communication students become more aware of how to use their communication skills in every aspect of their daily and professional lives, we will be listening to our peers to learn how they are doing and what we can learn from them.

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

Hal Wicke

Touro Communication Club Notes #51

tourocommunicationclub.blogspot.com

THIS WEEK: Wednesday, November 19, 2008 – 2 pm – Room 314

The 6^th Speech Contest

Finalists from the Communication classes will gather to present their information speeches to their colleagues and a team of judges. The top three will receive cash prizes of $100 (First Prize), $50 (Second Prize) and $25 (Third Prize). The topics always are fascinating in their variety. Refreshments will be served during the nail biting stage when the judges’ ballots are talleyed. These students are demonstrating the power of public speaking to influence an audience. Come and cheer them on!

The daily juggling continues of whatever happens in the world. We juggle money, family, finances, housing, school, courses all the while there are wildfires in California, financial chaos increases, unemployment increases (6.5%), and the Group of 20 nations meet with President Bush to continue their charade of international cooperation, among many other events.

Meanwhile, President-Elect Barack Obama’s much heralded and anticipated tenure in the world’s toughest job moves forward in the remaining time before January 20^th. Senator Hillary Clinton’s name was leaked to become Secretary of State. All job applicants have to fill out a 63-page application, describing possibly uncomfortable details of their private lives. Apparently, there was no question about drug use. Disconcerting news that threats against Senator Obama have spiked have been keeping the Secret Service busy. Even the issue of “Saggy pants” and Obama’s model-thin frame have captured the gossip columnists.

The next few weeks should bring a clearer picture of the profile of Obama’s Cabinet. Word is that he is operating on the theme of Doris Kearns Goodwin’s history of President Lincoln’s Cabinet where he consciously included many of his political enemies. The prevailing aphorism is “Keep your friends close and your enemies closer.”

The national Communication fun has begun.

Wednesday, November 19, 2008 – 2 pm – Room 314-318 @ 27 West 23^rd Street – The 6^th Speech Contest. Finalists from the Communication classes will present their winning speeches, competing for cash prizes and recognition by their peers. Faculty judges will make the final decisions.

Wednesday, November 26, 2008 - Let’s take the day off so we can get ready for Thanksgiving.

Wednesday, December 3, 2008 – Room 222 -@ 27 West 23^rd Street – To be announced.

What happened during the discussion of “Political Speech and the Art of Deception” on Wednesday, November 12, 2008?

The crowd was the largest th e Club has had in its history with many newcomers

The “old-timers” included Olushile Akintade, George Backinoff, Drani Gabu, James Millner, Lorinda Moore, Steve Gradman, Marcus Vyandorf, Hal Wicke, Carlisle Yearwood.

Returnees included Brian Brown and Geovanny Leon.

Newcomers included Egypt Albin, Darryl Bowers, Omar Dunnen , Lionel Cohen Jon Goodman and Denise Santos.

Hal passed out a 4-page outline of many of the factors that deception can occur in political speech – or in any written and oral communication. You are more likely to catch a deception in written work than in an oral exchange because the reader has time to go over the material. When we speak, we have only one shot at it. If we don’t understand, or misinterpret or reject the speaker and/or the message, emotions rapidly escalated.

But, no sooner than the definitions of the three kinds of oral communication came off the page, the discussion started revving up.

Since no one ever takes notes at these events except Hal – and it’s hard to take notes and juggle the dis cussion – the details unfortunately blur in memory. Suffice it to say that once again it was interesting, nay, exciting. There was only one touchy moment where it appeared that the ad hominum fallacy emerged. (I have to be pedantic sometime!).

When emotions rise, reason and rationality go out the window. Fortunately, Hal played the lion tamer and was able to lower the emotional temperature. In vain, Hal tried to identify a number of deceptive linguistic tricks (from the list) that were used during the discussion.

Everyone said something, even if it was an observation at the end of the discussion. The two DMX students became quite comfortable in the free exchan ge of ideas about the election.

Using Lorinda’s question – everyone comments on the session and what they learned – emphasized the important of continuing these open ended discussion which give both faculty and students a unique chance to meet as equals to exchange their views on a Communication topic of interest. It is important that five faculty were present as co-equals with the students.

Denise said she would like to have this kind of discussion take place at Taino. Interest was expressed in the theatre. These ideas have been heard. The question now is how to schedule them.

The biggest lesson of today’s session wasn’t even mentioned. This was the first time in a year that the Club met in a classroom at Midtown, rather than across the street at 50 West. The attendance only proves the old real estate adage: “There are three important factors in real estate: Location, Location, Location.”

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

Hal Wicke

Touro Communication Club Notes #50

tourocommunicationclub.blogspot.com

Beginning this coming Wednesday, November 12, we will move our Club meetings across the street to Room 222 of 33 West 23^rd Street.

THIS WEEK: Wednesday, November 12, 2008 – 2 pm – Room 222

“Political Language and the Art of Deception”

During the run-up to the election, charges of mis-statements, quotes out of context, outright lies and 100 other linguistics sleights of hand were thrown about. Now that the emotional temperature has dropped, the mis-use of language isn’t the hot topic it was in the last few weeks of the campaign. We now return to the EVERY DAY mis-use of language. We’ll look at the many ways language can be twisted to achieve a persuasive goal. Turn your ears on!You’ll provide most of the examples..

Now that the suspense has lifted and fears of a close race vanished, people all over the world were dancing in the streets. Kenya declared a national holiday in honor of the election of their almost native son, Barack Obama. Touro students were elated.

Despite the excitement of the election, the problems facing America remain. President-Elect Obama’s first press conference on Friday, November 7^th, created the impression of someone authoritatively in charge, someone who could be reasoned with and someone who conveyed the impression that he knew what he was doing.

In analyzing any Communication situation, there are at least six factors to examine:

• The facts – data, plans, points of view
• How and who Obama chooses for his staff and Cabinet
• Obama’s domestic priorities – financial disaster first
• Obama’s foreign policy priorities – overtures to foreign leaders, etc.
• The analysis of the audience(s) who will hear the facts
• The presentation of the facts – who, what, where, why, etc.
• The interpretation(s) of the facts – the feedback

o How do Obama’s choices create the image of his governing style to the public

o How does the 75 + 100 day honeymoon period mask public reactions

o How much dispute will he have with his own party and the Republican party

• The response(s) to the interpretations.
• The implementation of the plans

Now the Communication fun REALLY begins!

Wednesday, November 19, 2008 – 2 pm – Room 314-318 @ 27 West 23^rd Street – The 6^th Speech Contest.

Finalists from the Communication classes will present their winning speeches, competing for cash prizes and recognition by their peers. Faculty judges will make the final decisions.

Wednesday, November 26, 2008 - Let’s take the day off so we can get ready for Thanksgiving.

What happened during the Election Results discussion on Wednesday, November 5, 2008?

The Communicators – Olushile Akintade, James Millner, Lorinda Moore, Steve Gradman, Marcus Vyandorf and newcomers Rich Cohen and Frank Antwi. Hal Wicke moderated.

It should be noted that Frank saw a poster for the meeting and found us. He is in the DMX program.

It was a homogeneously agreeable group that gathered to discuss the Presidential election the previous day. Most everyone seemed to be on an emotional high.

The personal reactions to Barack Obama’s election included

• “Tremendous”,
• “Scared for his influence on the world,”
• “Fearful.”
• “The election was personal.”
• Lorinda told a personal story as a child growing up in Mississippi.
• “We all now have blood type “O” [Type O is the universal giver- so the metaphor works on another level]
• Jesse Jackson crying.
• Obama wasn’t a candidate; he was a movement!

Several males had great difficulty finding words which were reflective of their emotions. (We must revisit “Gender Communication.”)

James observed brilliantly that he felt that the “Pathos” of the election will change the “Ethos.” [Important learning takes place when people begin to make connections from one area to another. Bravo, James!]

• Male “saggy pants” style and the impact of dress on the larger society.
• Oprah is like Donald Trump – money is thicker than blood.
• The Black “Elite” – The Jack and Jill club – Martha’s Vineyard
• Does money unite or divide/
• Obama is in for a rude awakening.
• Is Obama is really an “oreo”?
• Obama speaks to the people the way Bobby Kennedy spoke to the people
• Saul Alinsky – the father of community organizing
• America had to have a black man become President before a white woman.

Steve shared his experience of running a polling place in Brooklyn and trying to accommodate the crowds.

Shile compared his childhood in Nigeria to his American experience. He was taught to always remember where you came from.

• Pitfalls of celebrity have been avoided by Bruce Springstein – the Boss
• McCain’s concession speech was very effective.

What’s next for Obama?

• Learning how to transition from candidate to president
• Creating the transition team
• Appoint staff and Cabinet

• Obama’s management style becomes important.
• Question – does nepotism (employing your relatives) create difficult management situations?

Comparing conventional management styles vs. artistic management – Lorinda, Rich and Frank are in several aspects of the music business. They contrasted the authoritarian management style of an artistic environment with a democratic inclusive style which seems to be Obama’s style.

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

Hal Wicke

Touro Communication Club Notes #49

tourocommunicationclub.blogspot.com

THIS WEEK: Wednesday, November 5, 2008 – 2 pm – Room 610: Discussion of the Election. With the polls showing the race is tightening and some media clearly divided between Democrats and Republicans, we can expect a real nail biter. Even the faculty has been having several hotly discussed conversations. Even if your candidate did not win, our discussion will hopefully shed more light than heat on this important event.

The election which concludes this week has pushed virtually everything off the horizon. The financial crisis has grown worse. It has been spreading around the world. Many countries in Europe and Asia are facing difficult times. Iceland is virtually bankrupt. In contrast, China has an enormous surplus and, in some cases, has been acting as banker to the world.

Meanwhile, the pirates off Somalia are thriving, the U.S. has attacked Taliban bases in Pakistan, two leaders seem to have health problems (Iran’s Amadinajad and North Korea’s Kim Jung Il), Zimbabwe’s leadership stalemate continues, Sudan’s situation continues to degenerate. It sounds like – same old, same old.

How do we survive? With our heads in the sand. Many of us are preoccupied with our own lives – in our own bubble - and unless something happens to us personally, we could care less. We trudge to school. We know that Midterms are coming up and assignments are due. We socialize with our friends. We eat our fast food. We go to our jobs to grind out another paycheck. Our lives seem to be on automatic.

By the time you read this – assuming you open the blog – I hope you will have voted. One person told me he’s not voting because all politicians are the same – they promise and don’t deliver. “They just crooks,” this disenchanted person railed at me.

Since he was so certain, I could only offer Pandora’s box as an alternative. According to the myth, when Pandora opened the box, all the sins and wickedness escaped into the world. At the bottom of the box was the slice,a sliver of hope, which has to fight hard against the negativity in the world. I keep an imaginary box of hope in my head.

Here's the list of our upcoming Club events:

TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 4, 2008 – ELECTION DAY – PLEASE VOTE! Lorinda Moore and Olushile Akintade have been conducting a voter registration drive at Midtown and Taino. Over 100 new voters have been registered from Touro. More to come!

Wednesday, November 5, 2008 – 2 pm – Room 610: Discussion of the Election. Discover the reasons your colleagues voted the way they did. Compare this election to the elections of 2000 and 2004. What were the highlights? What were the lowlights of the campaign?

Wednesday, November 13, 2008 – 2 pm in a 2^nd floor room @ 27 West 23^rd Street – “Political Speech and the Art of Deception” Why don’t people trust politicians? Why some people feel they have to vote “for the lesser of two evils”? We’ll explore what happens in the speech that politicians deliver and how political strategies often govern the talking points the candidates deliver. We’ll try to have a lesson in linguistic ear training.

Wednesday, November 19, 2008 – 2 pm – Room 314-318 @ 27 West 23^rd Street – The 6^th Speech Contest. Finalists from the Communication classes will present their winning speeches, competing for cash prizes and recognition by their peers. Faculty judges will make the final decisions.

What happened on Wednesday, October 29, 2008 – 2 pm – Room 223 – Midtown -The film “The Great Debaters” (2008) with Denzel Washington. A dramatization of the true story of the unlikely 1935 journey of a debate team from the historically black college, Wiley College, which challenges powerhouse Harvard College.

The film drew the largest crowd to date of any Communication Club event. The following signed the roster: Folly Adamah, Olushile Atkintade, Musa Bryant, Hazel Caleb, Orica Diaz, Defina Dominguez, Anasia Hampton, Natasha Johnson, Pal Kwon Kim, Lorinda Moore, Isha Shea, Bruce Washington, Carlisle Yearwood.

Shile reported the following:

“Everyone left right after the movie and we only got one or two comments.

“Comments:
“This movie depicts the constant struggle of African-Americans in the U.S. and how we have to fight for practically anything.

“The Great Debaters is very moving and inspiring. It shows how strong the soul is to hang in there despite all odds. Passion is mixed in words that persuade and change the values and perceptions of people.

“That's pretty much all I got!”

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

Hal Wicke.

Touro Communication Club Notes #48
tourocommunicationclub.blogspot.com

THIS WEEK: Wednesday, October 29th –Film – “The Great Debaters” - 2 pm – Room 223 -27-33 West 23rd Street - A dramatization of the true story of the unlikely 1935 journey of a debate team from the historically black college, Wiley College, which challenges powerhouse Harvard College.

“The world is too much with us; late and soon,Getting and spending, we lay waste our powers;”

The words of William Wordsworth’s 1807 sonnet still ring true almost 200 years later.

After the onslaught of pressured politics and pressured financial chaos, a human being – at least this human being – would not be faulted for becoming turtle-like in retreat from the blur of the world. Voltaire would encourage us to cultivate our gardens (“Cultivez son jardin.”), if we had one in New York.

On the financial front, probably the most significant news of the week was the admission of Alan Greenspan, former Fed chairman, that his argument for markets correcting themselves was incorrect. “I was wrong,” he said significantly. When the money guru of the last 25 years says he’s wrong, this is earth-shaking news.

In spite of the blur of events, several factors are apparent in the home stretch.
Obama’s trip to Hawaii to see his “Toot” (“tutu” is Hawaiian for grandmother.) seems not to have affected the daily news in the media.

Despite Obama’s best efforts, McCain seems to continue to work on the low road of ad hominum attacks.

The electoral map becomes more important with 5 states as toss-ups.

The Obama political fund-raising is approaching the gross national product of several nations.

Reports that there are growing concerns about voter fraud from malfunctioning voting machines. One lawsuit went to the Supreme Court where it was denied hearing.
Everybody’s holding their breath for an “October surprise.” Maybe the financial crisis WAS the October surprise!

But our life at Touro returns to normal after the holidays. I’m confidant that some students have forgotten they are in school and they have to come to class and to study. In my years of teaching, I have observed that after ANY vacation, students need about 4 weeks to get back into the swing of studying.

And then we have Thanksgiving and the Winter holidays! Aw shucks!

Because of the Jewish holidays, here's an extended list of our upcoming Club events:

Wednesday, October 29, 2008 – 2 pm – Room 223 – Midtown -The film “The Great Debaters” (2008) with Denzel Washington. A dramatization of the true story of the unlikely 1935 journey of a debate team from the historically black college, Wiley College, which challenges powerhouse Harvard College.

TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 4, 2008 – ELECTION DAY – PLEASE VOTE! Lorinda Moore and Olushile Akintade have been conducting a voter registration drive at Midtown and Taino. Over 100 new voters have been registered from Touro. More to come!

Wednesday, November 5, 2008 – 1 pm – Room 610: Discussion of the Election

What happened on Thursday, October 23, 2008 - 2 pm - Room 610 – Debate – Mock Presidential Debate.

Hal Wicke went over the foreign and domestic issues of both Republican and Democratic candidates. Lorinda Moore, Drani Gabu, Musa Bryant and Amina Bibi developed both sides to each of the issues. Steve Gradman and Marcus Vyandoff joined in the discussion.

As part of the preparation for the debate, we listed the Democratic and Republican positions on foreign and domestic issues. The foreign policy issues were analyzed first – the Iraq & Afghan wars, the credibility of the U.S. abroad, the Bush “Doctrine.” The domestic issues included the financial and housing crises, Homeland Security, energy and global warming, health care and education, immigration, the social (wedge) issues of abortion, same sex marriage, creationism and stem-cell research. It was clear that we could not cover all the issues equally. Our time was spent primarily on foreign policy issues.

As the discussion continued, it became clear that questions of Barack Obama’s relationships with William Ayers and Rev. Wright were attempts of the McCain camp to distract voters from more important issues like the financial crisis. Many media pundits view these ad hominum (attack the person, not the issue) tactics to distract the voter. We will know on November 4th whether the voter was distracted.

Inevitably, as one topic was discussed, it became clear that there were other issues that were interrelated. Probably the greatest lesson of the session was that no issue could successfully be analyzed by itself without understanding its inter-related context.

About 4 pm, we had not finished the exhaustive list of issues. Everyone was relieved that they would not have to debate each other.

The discussion which lasted until 4:30 without break was lively and demonstrated a growing understanding of the issues that face the country during this election and after

As moderator, I was impressed with the general command of the issues that the group demonstrated. Everyone seemed comfortable to express their views – and were candid if they didn’t know much about the many topics.

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

Hal Wicke

Touro Communication Club Notes #47

tourocommunicationclub.blogspot.com

THIS WEEK: Thursday, October 23^rd – Mock Presidential Debate- 2 pm – Room 610 -50 West 23^rd Street - Our debate team will be undaunted as they take on an enormous challenge of standing in for Senators Obama and McCain. To make it inter esting the debaters will change sides for each question. Come and be a judge!

This week’s political news seemed to explode with one story after the other:

• Thursday – The final debate between Senators Obama and McCain
• Friday – Senator McCain finally appears on the Dave Letterman show
• Saturday – Gov. Sarah Palin appears on “Saturday Night Live.”
• Sunday – General Colin Powell endorses Senator Obama

Oh, yes, the financial chaos still is buffeting Wall Street and Main Street. Warren Buffet, the financier writes in the October 17^th New York Times op-ed page the following memorable quote:

“A simple rule dictates my [financial] buying: Be fearful when others are greedy, and be greedy when others are fearful.”

No wonder the Sage of Omaha has done so well!

Because of the Presidential election, not much news coverage has focused on the impact on the world of America’s financial crisis, said to be the worst since 1932. Buffet calls it “a mess, both in the United States and abroad.” The finance ministers of the G7 countries {(France, Germany, Italy, Japan, United Kingdom, United States of America and Canada) have been extraordinarily responsive to the crisis. This may be some confusion because there’s also the G8 countries (the same ones plus Russia) who are heads of state.

Sometimes I wonder how ordinary mortals keep all this alphabet soup clear and still walk and chew gum.

Because of the Jewish holidays, here's an extended list of our upcoming Club events:

Thursday, October 23, 2008 - 2 pm - Room 610 – Debate – Mock Presidential Debate. Members of the club will undertake the challenging task of impersonating the positions of Senators McCain and Obama. The debaters are studying the issues that face the nation and, by a coin toss, be assigned either the Democratic or Republican positions. The format will follow generally that of the first Presidential debate. A list of foreign and domestic issues will be provided in advance to the debaters (listed below). A total of six questions will be selected the list of issues below. Each team will make an opening statement. Then each debater will have 90 seconds to respond to a question, followed by a cross-examination by the opposite side. Final statements from each team will close the debate. Judges from the audience will decide on which team won the debate.

Foreign issues Iraq war Afganistan war Credibility of the U.S. abroad The U.S. role in the Middle East The Bush “Doctrine” Covert foreign operations

Domestic issues Financial crisis Housing crisis Homeland Security Energy Global warming Education Social issues (abortion, same sex marriage, creationism, stem cell research)

Wednesday, October 29, 2008 – 2 pm – The film “The Great Debaters” (2008) with Denzel Washington. A dramatization of the true story of the unlikely 1935 journey of a debate team from the historically black college, Wiley College, which challenges powerhouse Harvard College.

TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 4, 2008 – ELECTION DAY – PLEASE VOTE! Lorinda Moore and Olushile Akintade have been conducting a voter registration drive at Midtown and Taino. Over 100 new voters have been registered from Touro. More to come!

Wednesday, November 5, 2008 – 1 pm – Room 610: Discussion of the Election

What happened on Thursday, October 16, 2008– The film “Recount” (2008) with Kevin Spacey

Olushile Atkintade generously set up a full screen so we could see a large picture of the film. Musa Bryant, Amina Bibi, Drani Gabu, Lorinda Moore, James Millner joined newcomer Akua Weekes of the Langugages & Literature Department, George Backinoff and Hal Wicke to watch the film. Math instructor Marcus Vyandoff joined the group after his class.

The group was riveted by the rapidly paced realistic Emmy-winning dramatization of the 2000 Presidential election between Al Gore and George W. Bush. Among the free-wheeling comments during the discussion were:

• The Democrats experienced what blacks have experienced [in having voter access denied].
• There has been a consistent history of voters being challenged or denied dating back to 1776, after the Civil War in 1865, in 1920’s, 1960 and 1968. George commented, “It’s very depressing.”
• Secretary James Baker’s comment on the “process worked.” Did it? Some said yes; others said no.
• Are we “a country of laws”? Perhaps but they are often bent out of shape.
• The film seemed like a thriller.
• The Constitution is a flexible document, able to be changed along the way.
• The 2000 Supreme court decision was “an abuse of power.”
• At least there were no tanks in the street.
• Gore didn’t really fight.
• Drani’s observation at an earlier Communication Club meeting that he had thought that Americans would behave as adults during the election process, but he has felt they have behaved like children.
• Drani grew up learning to respect authority and the law.
• Lorinda grew up learning to question authority.
• The government is moving toward socialism and away from free market capitalism as a result of the financial crisis.

And many other comments too quickly spoken to be written down.

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

Hal Wicke

Touro Communication Club Notes #46

tourocommunicationclub.blogspot.com

“Recount” (2008) with Kevin Spacey is our next political film. This Emmy-winning dramatization feels like thriller as it portrays the highly controversial 2000 Presidential election between Al Gore and George W. Bush. We’ll have a post-film discussion.

We have two melodramas playing simultaneously in America – the financial disaster and the Presidential election. Indications are that both will get much worse before they get better. In less than 3 weeks we will know who will be elected to pick up the financial mess. Americans will know on November 5^th who they chose to pick up after the elephants of Wall Street.

As these melodramas unfold, we are learning new tidbits about the financial shenanigans and even more ways to slime a Presidential candidate. Whoever said money and politics weren’t creative?

An interesting phenomenon has surfaced in the political campaign, known as the “Bradley Effect.” Named for Tom Bradley, mayor of Los Angeles, who lost his bid to become the first black governor of Califor nia against George Deukmejian, a white Republican, the polls had predicted that Bradley would win the election. The question is quickly raised whether the voters had lied to the pollsters.

As the election melodrama spins its own thrills, the polls show that Barack Obama is 5-10 points ahead of McCain in most of the polls. Whether the Bradley effect will repeat itself as voters – particularly white voters – say one thing to pollsters and vote another way in the voting booth. We’ll be discussing the minutiae of the 2008 election for months to come.

;

Because of the Jewish holidays, here's an extended list of our upcoming Club events:

Thursday, October 16, 2008 – 2 pm Room 226 – The film “Recount” (2008) with Kevin Spacey. This Emmy-winning dramatization of the highly controversial 2000 Presidential election between Al Gore and George W. Bush which was decided by the U.S. Supreme Court.

Thursday, October 23, 2008 - 2 pm - Room 610 – Debate – Mock Presidential Debate. Members of the club will undertake the challenging task of impersonating the positions of Senators McCain and Obama. The debaters are studying the issues that face the nation and, by a coin toss, be assigned either the Democratic or Republican positions. The format will follow generally that of the first Presidential debate. A list of foreign and domestic issues will be provided in advance to the debaters (listed below). A total of six questions will be selected the list of issues below. Each team will make an opening statement. Then each debater will have 90 seconds to respond to a question, followed by a cross-examination by the opposite side. Final statements from each team will close the debate. Judges from the audience will decide on which team won the debate.

Foreign issues Iraq war Afganistan war Credibility of the U.S. abroad The U.S. role in the Middle East The Bush “Doctrine” Covert foreign operations

Domestic issues Financial crisis Housing crisis Homeland Security Energy Global warming Education Social issues (abortion, same sex marriage, creationism, stem cell research)

Wednesday, October 29, 2008 – 2 pm – The film “The Great Debaters” (2008) with Denzel Washington. A dramatization of the true story of the unlikely 1935 journey of a debate team from the historically black college, Wiley College, which challenges powerhouse Harvard College.

TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 4, 2008 – ELECTION DAY – PLEASE VOTE! Lorinda Moore and Olushile Akintade have been conducting a voter registration drive at Midtown and Taino. Over 100 new voters have been registered from Touro. More to come!

Wednesday, November 5, 2008 – 1 pm – Room 610: Discussion of the Elec tion

What happened on October 7, 2008 – The film “The Candidate” (1973) with Robert Redford.

George Backinoff led a lively post film discussion with Musa Bryant, Lorinda Moore, Steven Gradman and Hal Wicke present. Several people poked their heads into the room during the film but did not stay.

“Pretty realistic” was the general reaction to the film, even though it was made 25 years ago. The pace and movie-making held up well, despite the audience realized that the 2008 media strategies and technology are much more sophisticated.

General observations included:

• The behind-the-scenes behaviors were new in film in 1973. If it were done in 2008, about 30 minutes could have been cut from the film’s length of 1:50.
• The front man (the candidate) has little to say as he is manipulated by his handlers.
• Comparison Redford is to Obama as Don Porter is to McCain. Age and beauty.
• George W. Bush had speech writers tell him what to say.
• Analogy to Rosa Parks – she was picked for her “starring role” in the civil rights movement because she fit the necessary criteria for the required heroine needed to refuse to get off the bus.
• Robert Redford’s character was picked because he fit certain criteria, made apparent by Peter Boyle’s character of the campaign manager.
• Today’s message would be packaged in a slicker manner.
• Mario Cuomo was elected 3 times as the New York’s Governor and did nothing while in office. [Cuomo was known as the “Hamlet on the Hudson.”
• An elected official has to DO something once in office to justify his campaign rhetoric.
• Dwight Eisenhower was elected two 2 terms because he was a WWII hero, but did nothing while in office. And these were considered America’s “Golden Years.”
• What do we learn? Maybe having a do-nothing president is not such a bad thing.
• But FDR had to do something in 1932 after the 1929 Market crash under Herbert Hoover.
• Currently, America is $63 trillion in debt.
• The2008 negative campaigning is turning off people to politics.
• Sophistication becomes jaded behavior: “I don’t believe the campaign ads anymore.”

I was struck at how lively the discussion was despite having so few people present. The next film, “Recount” is as close to a documentary as fiction will allow.

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

Hal Wicke