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WELCOME
TO "YOUR VOICE" FOR JULY 28, 2001, VOL. 1, ISSUE 29
Those
who say it cannot be done should get out of the way of those who are doing
it. -- Joel Barber.
June
2001 Shorthand Reporters Association of Australia, SRAAnews, Editor Kath
Jones
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JOIN
US FOR A CUP OF COFFEE AND "YOUR VOICE"
The
Florida Association of Verbatim Reporters welcomes you to another edition
of "Your Voice." Convention
fever has arrived, and there is no cure.
THE place to be during the NCRA 2001 New Orleans convention is the
NCRA Online Party. Meet
fellow reporters, scopists, students, teachers, and others who post at the
Verbatim Reporters Forum. Join
in the fun as forum correspondents from across the nation and beyond meet
each other face-to-face for the first time!
There is no charge, and the party begins at 5:30 p.m., lasting
until 8:00 p.m., Friday, August 3rd.
The
NVRA conventioneers will be treated to an e-Technology seminar presented
by Lynda Batchelor and Jim Barker, Roberta Newberry will discuss
"Voice Writer Schools and You," Toni Wallace, from Court
Reporting Consultants and StenAccount, will explain how to market for and
keep a client for life, case management for clients, and more.
For August 7-11 Savanah, GA, NVRA convention details visit NVRA.org.
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STENOSCRIBE
NCRF DONATION
StenoScribe,
Inc., has donated to NCRA and the National Court Reporters Foundation a
complete StenoScribe Techlennium speech recognition realtime software
program and Martel mini speech silencer total value of $4,250.
The software and peripheral package will be auctioned at the NCRA
2001 convention in New Orleans. The software system includes the Techlennium realtime
program, Dragon NaturallySpeaking Version 5, the StenoScribe Reporter/CAT
and Scopist programs, 2 mini microphones, converted headset, ergonomic
handsfree stand, sound enhancer, the seating program, and a StenoScribe
carrying case. Martel
Electronics has added to the StenoScribe Techlennium realtime system by
donating the most popular speech silencer used by the voice writer, the
Martel mini silencer, with soft seal accessory and instructions.
StenoScribe support is included with this NCRF donation.
The
NCRF is the educational and research arm of NCRA and endeavors to inform
the public about the role of the court reporter and attendant
technological advances. The
Frank Sarli Scholarship is funded through the NCRF.
StenoScribe is proud to play a role in raising funds for this
educational foundation just as it has for the NVRA Horace Webb Scholarship
Fund. Visit StenoScribe at
www.StenoScribe.com or phone 800.456.3290.
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WWW.VOICEWRITERAMENDMENT.COM
Visit
the VoiceWriterAmendment.com link to "News articles guaranteed to
amuse and amaze!" and read "Stenotype in court." This hilarious recitation of an early Illinois machine
writer's appearance in court can be found at:
http://voicewriteramendment.com/historical_news_articles.htm
Another
stop to make is http://voicewriteramendment.com/nsra-ncra.htm and
"Explore NCRA's and the profession's fascinating history. Read the very heated debates of the early 1900s when the pen
writers tried to keep the stenotypists out.
Draw the parallels to today's discussions about voice
writers." In particular,
take a look at: 1933
Proceedings of NSRA Annual Convention and Mr. Lewis Goldstein's delivery
of an address on the subject of “The Stenotype and Its Effect Upon
Shorthand Reporting.”
Two
timely passages are: "I
would like to say an awful lot as to the relative merits of the stenotype
and of shorthand as a means of recording speech.
Some years ago – and I think it was in 1915 – I took the
complete stenotypy course, and for that reason, in a way, I am more or
less familiar with the mechanical operation of the machine; and yet those
are things that we must realize and we must recognize the fact that the
stenotype is a machine that can under proper operation record speech.
You can’t deny that.
Of
course, it has a good many mechanical limitations.
Personally, I feel that it is not as flexible as your notebook.
There are many things you can do with your pen and notebook that
you can’t possibly accomplish with the stenotype – and when I say,
'can’t possibly accomplish,' of course, it can be accomplished, but I
mean in a practical, every day sort of way."and"The second is
the question as to whether or not the stenotype reporters should all be
taken in as members of this Association.
Frankly, a good deal can be said about that, but I see that the
Association has on its rolls today some twenty stenotype reporters.
I personally am of the belief that we should take them in; that we
should hold out the hand of welcome to them, and mean it; we should get
together on all these problems affecting our work. After all is said and done, we could have taken the attitude
of the ostrich and buried our head in the sand and forgotten about their
existence entirely. But,
frankly, I would like to have them in to discuss matters with them and get
around a table and point out the difficulties, and so on.
It should be the duty, however, of those stenotypists who are
members of our organization, to make sure that those who are being
proposed for membership are men and women of real ability; men or women
that they themselves would send out on a real job for which they were
engaged, in connection with their own work.
Of course, we should have them in, but we should be very careful in
that particular regard."
This
speech given by Mr. Goldstein in 1933 is the opportunity for us, in modern
day reporting society, to observe history repeating itself 68 years later.
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IT
COULD HAPPEN TO YOU!
NCRA
conventioneers will want to mark their seminar catalog for the Saturday,
August 4th seminar "Never Say Never: Perspectives on Realtime Voice
Writing." Presenters
include voice writer amendment coauthors, Jason Meadors, RPR, Donna
Kanabay Harvey, RMR, CRR, Sandra Fein, CCR, CVR-CM-HRVR, and Loretta
Armstrong, CSR, RDR, CVR, CRR. This
dynamic team of court reporters will engage in a unique discussion about
offices where both machine and voice writers work together harmoniously.
Find out why a machine writer possessing an RDR and CRR would
crosstrain and work using the voice and machine writing methods.
Could this someday be you?
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HAVE
YOU HEARD?
Richard
Sherman just taped a series of "Mr. Modem Minutes" for ABC
Radio. These spots should
start airing around the country later this summer.
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THECOURTREPORTINGSTORE.COM
To
research court reporting in the new millennium, visit
TheCourtReportingStore.com for everything you will ever need in the court
reporting profession, including schools, equipment, employment and more.
Click the banner link to Tonie Wallace seminars, Court Reporting
Consultants, StenAccount, and other professional services.
TheCourtReportingStore.com
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STENOSCRIBE
GOES TO SAVANNAH AND THE BIG EASY
StenoScribe
will be presenting the Techlennium and other speech recognition systems as
part of the NVRA Savannah convention August 7-11.
Certified StenoScribe Trainers, Cindy Staples and Brenda Davis,
will be present with convention specials available to conventioneers.
Visit the vendor concourse, and look for the StenoScribe showcase
seminar scheduled programs. Find out how you can boost client satisfaction and create new
business! StenoScribe, The
Court Reporters Technology Source, www.StenoScribe.com and 800.456.3290.
StenoScribe
will have the Techlennium speech recognition realtime system available for
view at the NCRA 2001 convention in New Orleans, August 2-5.
Stop by booth 805 and meet Nancy Cavender, CVR-CM, "Your
Voice" managing editor and president of the Florida Association of
Verbatim Reporters. StenoScribe
is the "Your Voice" sponsor.
Purchase
a StenoScribe Techlennium in the month of August 2001, and receive bonus
Microsoft Small Business software programs, including, Word, Outlook,
Publisher, and Excel. To
inquire, visit www.StenoScribe.com or phone 800.456.3290.
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ILLINOIS
REPORTER HIRING FREEZE LIFTED, BUT . . .
The
Illinois Supreme Court has begun implementation of a new plan designed to
improve accountability of court reporters and eventually provide a record
in every courtroom in the state. The high court's "Court Reporting
Management Initiative" has court reporters worried that the plan is a
recipe for backlogs in transcript production. Except for a delay in Cook
County, the new plan went into effect in early July.One positive point is
the court reporter hiring freeze of three years has been lifted.
The freeze was precipitated by the study of digital audio recording
in the courts.
Regarding
the controversial aspect of the plan that prohibits court reporters from
working on producing transcripts from their notes on state time, one court
administrator remarked that any well-managed system has accountability
built into it. Mary Beth
Rollins, president-elect of the Illinois Court Reporters Association, was
quoted in the article. Her
concerns are as to the rule of not transcribing on state time during
recesses or conferences. This
rule may be detrimental to the rapid turnaround rate for which Illinois
reporters strive.
The
Administrative Office of the Illinois Courts would like to have the
present court reporters become "court reporting specialists,"
which would include a 5 to 15% pay raise, but not provide remuneration for
transcripts. Court reporting
specialists would, among other changes, be required to operate electronic
recording equipment, which is being used by an increasing number of
circuit courts to record proceedings where no court reporter is present.
A second new category has also been established, "courtroom
specialists." This
category of workers does not need to be a state-certified court reporter.
They would transcribe but not take down court proceedings.
"There
are two groups of people who suffer: the court reporters and the trial
lawyers, and they don't know what's going on yet. It's going to take the
attorneys to object [to roll back the changes]," said Seymour L.
Wolfe, a northern regional representative of the court reporter's
association. In DuPage County, where the high court first approved the use
of digital recording, the chief judge said some reporters have resigned or
retired citing the new rules. On the other hand, the circuit has hired
court-reporting specialists and plans to hire more, he said, and "In
deference to the court reporters, it is a totally different job now."
The
original article was published at Volume 147, No. 143, Monday, July 23,
2001, Page 0001, "Courts revamp of reporting system takes
shape," by DANIEL C VOCK Law Bulletin staff writer
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REPORTERWORKS.COMCheck
your NCRA convention packets for ReporterWorks' informational flyers.
ReporterWorks is all-Windows software that provides billing, rebilling,
calendar, letter writing, and a host of other features for court reporting
offices. The standard
ReporterWorks version is $349; ReporterWorks Pro, $599; and ReporterWorks
Solo, $129. Contact
ReporterWorks toll-free at 877.482.1505 or sales@reporterworks.com for
more information.
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AUDIOSCRIBE
AT HOME IN LOUISIANA
NCRA
is coming to New Orleans and, of course, we here at AudioScribe feelright
at home in South Louisiana. We
are going to make the trip down I-10to the upcoming convention to meet all
of you and hope that you will stop bybooth #700 and meet our employees and
representatives including ourPresident, Chief Technical Officer, V.P. of
Operations, Director ofMarketing and Communications, Director of User
Support, PurchasingAgent, Director of Hardware, as well as several of our
certified trainers,travelers, and users. Be
sure not to miss the auction . . . we’ve donated acomplete SpeechCAT
Writer Software Bundle, including SpeechCAT’s expertdocumentation,
training and top notch technical support.
Give us a call at800.869.0569 and stay tuned to www.audioscribe.com
for information.
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"OUR"
MR. MODEM?
Once
again, Richard Sherman, Mr. Modem, is featured in a "Reader's Digest
New Choices" article. Editor-in-chief,
Greg Daughtery reflects on Mr. Modem's July/August 2001 magazine column,
"Photos in a flash," accompanied by a great photo layout of
Richard mugging for the camera. Mr.
Modem, Richard, takes us through the digital camera photography steps, how
they work, choosing a camera, from camera to computer, and then to online
photo albums. He opines,
"In today's world of instant gratification, the thought of waiting to
have film developed seems oddly unacceptable.
Enter the era of digital cameras."
Richard suggests Web sites to assist the digital photography
enthusiast.
Regarding
the Editor's titled article, "Our Mr. Modem," doesn't Mr. Modem
belong to us court reporters, not "Reader's Digest New Choices"?
Guess we'll just have to share!
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SOUTH
CAROLINA STATE COURT REPORTERS ASSOCIATION
Time
is fast approaching for the 2001 convention held by the SCSCRA
(officials).
The convention will be open to freelancers again this year for CE credits.
The
SCSCRA convention will be held in Columbia, South Carolina, August 23-24
for those seeking credits, including reporters not currently members of
our association. The Members
Forum will be conducted on August 22nd, for SCSCRA members.
Bettye
Gum, CVR-CM
SCSCRA
Convention Continuing Education
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COMPUSERVE
COURT REPORTERS FORUM
"I
love my music. During a long
road trip last weekend, I had the chance tolisten to ALL of my favorite
CDs. In amongst CCR, John
Prine, Aerosmith, andKISS, I found this song to be incredibly appropriate
to the proposedamendment, no matter which side you're on . . . and
certainly worth a readagain after 38 years."
Mary
Ann Payonk, RPR, RMR, CRR, RDR (VA)
Come
gather 'round people wherever you roam
And
admit that the waters around you have grown
And
accept it that soon you'll be drenched to the bone.
If
your time to you is worth savin'
Then
you better start swimmin' or you'll sink like a stone
For
the times, they are a-changin'
Come
writers and critics who prophesize with your pen
And
keep your eyes wide - the chance won't come again
And
don't speak too soon for the wheel's still in spin
And
there's no tellin' who that it's namin'
For
the loser now will be later to win
For
the times, they are a changin'
Come
senators, congressmen, please heed the call
Don't
stand in the doorway don't block up the hall
For
he that gets hurt will be he who has stalled
There's
a battle outside and it's ragin'
It'll
soon shake your windows and rattle your walls
For
the times, they are a-changin'
Come
mothers and fathers throughout the land
And
don't criticize what you can't understand
Your
sons and your daughters are beyond your command
Your
old road is rapidly agin'
Please
get out of the new one if you can't lend your hand
For
the times, they are a-changin'
The
line, it is drawn the curse, it is cast
The
slow one now will later be fast
As
the present now will later be past
The
order is rapidly fadin'
And
the first one now will later be last
For
the times, they are a-changin'
"The
Times, They Are A-Changin'"
Bob
Dylan, 1963
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Thank
you for visiting "Your Voice" this week.
We will be on hiatus for one week but see you back here in two.
Send your news or feature articles or unsubscribe to VoiceWriter@aol.com.
"Your
Voice" staff,
Nancy
Cavender, CVR-CM
Managing
editor
VoiceWriter@aol.com
Pat
Baeske, CVR-CM-HM
Proofreading
editor
Gayle
Featheringill, CVR-CM-PNSC
Staff
member
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