THE PRESIDENT'S MESSAGE
SPRING 2008
IF we could first know where we are, and whither we are tending, we could better judge what to do, and how to do it. - Abraham Lincoln
Recent events make it more important than ever that we, as court reporters in our great state, stand together and strong. we need to open our eyes and recognize who is friend and who is foe. we are not federal officials, state officials, freelancers or captioners - we are verbatim stenographic court reporters, each and every one of us. We should all stand for the same things, and we should not let anyone or anything divide us.
You all put forth a valiant effort in supporting LB 1126. Forty-three (43) other states charge no sales tax on court reporter transcripts, many of whom have fought their revenue departments and won. As I spoke to people from other states who led battles against a sales tax, the circumstances were nearly identical. Let us hope that the lawmakers in our state see this for what it's worth. Every one of you that wrote to senators, phones senators and testified should be commended.
You can track the status of LB 1126 by going to http://www.unicam.state.ne.us/web/public/home and typing "1126" in the Search bills/Resolution box. There is also additional information there regarding the statement of intent and the projected fiscal impact.
-Julie Pell, President
Nebraska Court Reporter's Association
A house divided against itself cannot stand - Abraham Lincoln
THE PRESIDENT'S MESSAGE
WINTER 2007
The holidays are my favorite time of the year, a special time for celebration, thankfulness, and a renewed appreciation of those people and things we love. For me, I love to spend time with my family. I love to bake. I love to eat. I love to shop (even with the crowds), and all of the rest of the fun things that go along with this season. With all of those things also seems to lurk chaos, but chaos and I work well together. We have an understanding.
Lucky for you all, this means no hip-hip-hooray president's message this time. Just a warm wish from me to you and your families for holidays filled with joy and laughter and peace. I am so very grateful for the privilege of working with you as colleagues and friends.
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MESSAGE FROM THE PRESIDENT - SEPTEMBER 2007
IThose of you who already know me well know that I love this job. Good, great, bad and ugly, and certainly not always glamorous, but I always come away from a day of reporting having learned something new or meeting someone new and hopefully improving my writing skills. I have passion for this profession. I hope you all feel the same way. It's a constant challenge to write faster and cleaner, take another certification test, get jobs out faster, et cetera.
Over the next year, I would challenge you to challenge yourselves. Sign up for a certification test that you haven't passed. (You'll see me there.) Try something new. If you don't write realtime, get hooked up and give it a whirl! Now, I know some of you are thinking, there are reporters out there who don't write realtime? YES, there are! If you've never captioned something for someone in the deaf community, try it. You will LOVE it!
I would challenge you to educate someone in your community or in your courtroom or in a law firm about exactly what it is we do as court reporters and how we can benefit those around us. How many times are you asked what you do and you say to someone, "I'm a court reporter," and they either have no clue what it is that you do or they say, "Oh, you type on one of those little machines" as they wiggle their fingers in front of themselves in the air? Or think about how you answer the question, "Why don't you just use audio recording?" Really think about it. It is important to answer questions such as these with educated, informed, professional responses, no matter who is asking. Go to high schools, middle schools, grade schools where your kids are and show off your stuff. Do a pro bono demonstration of captioning on an overhead for some event. This creates the perception of who we are and what we do. Then maybe next time when someone asks you what it is that you do and you say, "I'm a court reporter," they'll say, "COOL, someone came to our school and demonstrated that" or "WOW, we were in a courtroom and the reporter explained how that works."
There are so many issues affecting the court reporting profession: reporter shortages, contracting, transcript fees, copy sales, electronic/video recording, technology, courtroom security just to name a few. Our focus as an association should remain unwavering, and that is to advance our profession through skill, technology, impartiality and professionalism.
One of the reasons this association was formed is so that reporters would have a place to address issues and concerns and find solutions for them. This association is membership driven, and if we head in a direction that direction that you as a member feel we should not, you need to step forward and speak out. I think it is important that we as an association remain aligned with National, and I also think that NCRA can provide us with invaluable tools in our fight to preserve and advance our elite profession.
With all that said, I'm off to a soccer game. Yes, if you were beginning to wonder, I do have a life beyond court reporting :) I have a wonderful husband and three sons that are very active in sports, music and school. Yet another reason I can think of that I love this job...the flexibility! Hope to see you all at fall convention.
