| MCRA MEMBERSHIP IS NECESSARY IN ORDER TO HAVE ENOUGH ARROWS IN THE QUIVER TO FIGHT FOR YOUR CURRENT & FUTURE RIGHTS. PLEASE CONSIDER RENEWING TODAY! |
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JOIN MCRA WITH AUTOMATIC MONTHLY PAYMENT!!
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For the cost of a vanilla latte or chocolate mocha you can make a monthly payment of $9.32 and be a member of MCRA!! Consider it a cup of MoCRA
Set it up on recurring payment and never think of it again!
And it's a deduction on your taxes!
WE WORK FOR YOU!!
LET'S MAKE MCRA GREAT!!
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2018 COURT REPORTING & CAPTIONING WEEK
FEBRUARY 10 TO 17, 2018
HAVE FUN PROMOTING COURT REPORTING THIS WEEK! HERE'S SOME WAYS YOU CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE:
Siri Challenge: Make a sign and tape on front of your laptop or machine. Be creative! Have someone speak into their phone (notes, for example) using Siri. You take down the same. And let the person see the difference!
Take time to visit a school this week to show off your skills! Even if it's just sitting in the lunch room or commons area. Take a candy bowl and make a sign that
says something like ... "Selfie Challenge! How many people can I get to take a selfie at my machine and post?"
Encourage teachers and principals to do it too!
Don't forget to post pictures to MCRA's Facebook and Instagram!
What's some other ways to promote court reporting?
Let's hear from you on Facebook!
CLICK HERE FOR MCRA'S FACEBOOK GROUP
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MCRA ANNUAL CONVENTION
4/27-29/2018
Drury Plaza Hotel, St. Charles, MO
Address:
380 Mulholland Drive, St Charles, MO 63303
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TOWN HALL SEMINAR
There will be a Town Hall Seminar during the MCRA Conference. This seminar is scheduled for Saturday, April 28, 2018 from 3:30 p.m. - 5:30 p.m.
The Town Hall will have a proctor, myself. Geez, will I ever learn what the word "No" means!
A Town Hall is a forum to discuss specific interests, concerns, upcoming legislation and any variety of topics that court reporters may want more information and/or opinions of others to help them better understand how to handle certain situations.
I would like input from the membership on topics of discussion for our upcoming Town Hall seminar. Please send your ideas and thoughts for topics of discussion to [email protected]. I will be putting together an agenda for this seminar. This seminar will be conducted the same as other seminars and is meant to be educational and orderly.
Please keep in mind, freelancers cannot get into any rates for services. Officials can discuss rates and compensation because that is public knowledge set by the legislature.
This seminar will be open to officials, freelancers, CART providers and captioners.
I look forward to your submission of any item(s) you would like to be considered for discussion.
Deborah K. McLaughlin, RPR, MO-CCR, IL-CSR, KS-CCR Moderator for Town Hall Seminar
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Distinguished Service Award Nominations
With the upcoming Missouri Court Reporters Association's April conference being right around the corner, it is time to submit nominations for the 2018 Missouri Court Reporters Association's Distinguished Service Award.
The MCRA DSA is to recognize an individual member who has gone above and beyond to serve our court reporting profession. This can include service and volunteering for our state association and/or our national associations.
The DSA honoree can be an official, freelancer, captioner or CART provider. This is a high honor awarded to an outstanding member of our association.
Please send your nominations to Deb McLaughlin at [email protected] by March 5, 2018. The DSA Committee will review the nominations and select the 2018 DSA recipient. Please include in your submission the reasons why you feel the nominee deserves the DSA award.
Sincerely,
The DSA Committee Deborah McLaughlin, Chair
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The 2018 Missouri Legislature session began on January 13th, 2018, and closes on May 18, 2018. The Missouri Court Reporters Association has two bills that are currently moving through the legislature.
House Bill 1487 is sponsored by Representative Curtis Trent, District 133, which includes part of Greene County. Senate Bill 871 is sponsored by Senator Gary Romine, District 3, which includes Iron, Reynolds, St. Francois, Ste. Genevieve, Washington, and part of Jefferson County. The Senate Bill has been heard before the Senate Judiciary Committee and is proceeding.
These bills are the exact same language that we proposed last year. Our bill was one of 75 bills that passed through the House and Senate out of the 1076 bills that were submitted last year. On the final day, the governor vetoed our legislation. Since that time, the Board and our lobbyist David Klarich have worked very diligently and gotten the fiscal note that was attached to our bill removed.
The fiscal note was based on numbers that "sounded about right" and contained no actual fiscal back-up. We researched the issue and worked with the Public Defender's Office to have them remove the fiscal note. Since the removal of any fiscal note has now occurred and the bill has sponsors in both the Senate and House, we are hopeful that this language will once again pass through the legislature and that this year the governor will sign it into law.
Again, if you have close ties with any member of the Missouri Legislature or if you have an interest in serving on the MCRA Legislative Committee, please contact Kathy Foley at [email protected]. Thank you!
Rozann Brancato and Kathy Foley appeared on January 29, 2018 to testify in support of SB871. They're pictured here with Senator Gary Romine.
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| MCRA WOULD LIKE TO SEND MELISSA HANNAH, PRESIDENT-ELECT, TO NCRA'S BOOTCAMP MARCH 9-14, 2018. WOULD ANYONE BE WILLING TO COVER COURT AT THE TANEY COUNTY COURTHOUSE, FORSYTH, MO FOR PART OF THE DATES OF 3/9 TO 3/14 TO ALLOW FOR MS. HANNAH'S ATTENDANCE? THIS WOULD BE CONSIDERED VOLUNTEERING TO HELP THE ASSOCIATION. PLEASE CONTACT MELISSA HANNAH AT [email protected] IF YOU CAN OBLIGE. THANK YOU!! |
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... INSTEAD OF STATS THIS MONTH, HOW ABOUT PERSPECTIVE?
THIS IS AN ARTICLE FROM THE PERSPECTIVE OF THE ELECTRONIC RECORDING MAKERS:
NOTE THAT THEY ARE TAKING NOTICE OF OUR CURRENT LACK OF COURT REPORTERS AND HAVE A STRATEGY TO TRY TO REPLACE US.
I'VE TAKEN THE LIBERTY OF HIGHLIGHTING CERTAIN THINGS THAT MAY BE OF INTEREST TO YOU, AND DEFINITELY ARE OF MINE.
Submitted by M. Hannah and K. Foley
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MCRA is looking for someone to fill the
following in April 2018:
* SECRETARY
* REG. 4 VP
Would you be interested?
THANK YOU FOR YOUR SERVICE!
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REVIEWING SURVEY RESULTS ON RECIPROCITY
QUESTION 3:
"MCRA will be discussing the topic of reciprocity at the January 6 meeting. Do you support reciprocity in Missouri? Please leave comments."
Number of Response(s) / Response Ratio
YES 52 80.0 %
NO 10 15.3 %
No Response(s) 3 4.6 %
Totals 65 100%
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WHAT'S GOING ON IN THE BAR:
Judge Fischer gave the Judiciary State of the State Speech:
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. - "I am happy to report Missouri's judiciary is in good shape," Chief Justice Zel M. Fischer said while delivering the 2018 State of the Judiciary.
Speaking before members of the Missouri Legislature, lawyers and lobbyists during the Wednesday address, Fischer spoke of the challenges and the victories that Missouri has faced.
He noted that Missouri's decision to join the uniform bar examination has proven to be a solid move, reporting another 29 jurisdictions have now joined the Show-Me State in using it.
He also boasted the impressive feats in technology and innovation, as the Missouri Judiciary was ranked third in the world for the best use of technology used to improve court services and public access.
The
Uniform Bar Exam
(UBE) is the answer to the wishes of many law students and lawyers around the country. It's a bar exam that is uniformly administered and scored across participating jurisdictions, which means your score on the bar exam can be transferred among different states.
Prior to the existence of the UBE, potential lawyers had to take multiple bar exams to be admitted to more than one state to practice law, or wait for years to waive into another state. Now, with the UBE, you can take one exam and use the score from that exam to be admitted to practice law in any state that accepts the UBE.
The UBE represents a big shift in the bar exam world, and it seems like even more states will be adopting the UBE in the future. Let's take a look at which states use the UBE, which states are considering the UBE, and the structure, format, and scoring of the UBE.
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NCRA tests given 12 times a year
NVRA tests given 11 times a year
MCRA tests given 2 times a year
Court reporting schools currently graduate 1 to 2 students per year.
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If you have a machine that you can donate for this cause, working or not, please contact Melissa Hannah
(417) 827-4712. Or if you would like to lead a class, and you need machines, please contact Melissa Hannah.
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STUDENTS CORNER ...
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WELCOME TO THE COURT REPORTING PROFESSION Deborah K. McLaughlin, RPR, MO-CCR, IL-CSR, KS-CCR
"Being positive won't guarantee you'll succeed. But being negative will guarantee you won't." Jon Gordon
No doubt about it, court reporting school is one of the hardest things you will do in your career as a court reporter.
Now, that that's out of the way, get busy and get through the hardest part, so you can enjoy the rewarding part.
I can't say it enough, practice, practice, practice. Read back, read back, read back. That's how you will get through court reporting school.
Practice. Many students, perhaps, aren't sure how to practice. There are a variety of ways to practice, and you should utilize different ways, rather than the same way each time. Practice should include the current speed you are working on, the speed immediately above what you are working on and the speed immediately below what you are working on. For instance, if you are at 120 wpm, you should practice at 110, 120 and 130.
Why would you practice at three speeds? First of all, the speed you are on needs to be attained with accuracy. The speed immediately above what you are working on will help you to get accustomed to faster speaking than what you are working on, which will make your current speed seem a little slower. The speed immediately below what you are working on, will give you confidence. The speed below is also an opportunity to write your notes perfectly, because we all know when we write a speed above where we are, our notes aren't so perfect!
Many of you are working towards realtime, and while that's great and very important, sometimes during your practice you need to forget the realtime, and stroke something for each word that is
For a practice session, do these two things, and see how you do. First practice by thinking about the words you are hearing and the strokes you are writing. That's called concentration! Now try practicing by looking out the window or thinking about your grocery list, and let your ears, your brain and your fingers do the work. Maybe picture yourself on the beach with a pretty tropical drink in your hand, the sun shining on your face. Perhaps you will do better letting go of the concentration and letting your ears, your brain and your hands do the work for you. They know what they are doing, and they are pretty good at it!
When we had paper notes, we used to call it "reading back". There was no English words, just steno outlines. Now when we read back, it's off the computer screen. Each time you practice, write a five-minute take, whether it's your current speed, a speed below or a speed above where you currently are. Pick one. Take down the five-minute dictation.
Now go back and read through the English words on your computer screen while at the same time listening to the dictation. This will help you see where your errors are. Perhaps you are dropping more than you thought. Perhaps you are writing wrong words, for example "those" instead of "these" or "this" instead of "that".
Maybe you are dropping little words such as "the" "of" "if". I promise you, this method of practicing will help you see which areas you need to work on. It will also help you pass your speed takes, and eventually your state certification because you will know your flaws and correct them, rather than constantly making them over and over again and not knowing what they are.
YOU MUST PRACTICE SIX DAYS A WEEK FOR NOT LESS THAN ONE HOUR EACH DAY. PLEASE TAKE SUNDAY OFF AND ENJOY THE DAY, SO YOU WILL BE READY TO GET BACK IN THE GRIND ON MONDAY MORNING.
WE NEED YOU IN THE FIELD! WE HAVE JOBS WAITING FOR YOU! THIS IS ONE AWESOME CAREER!
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2018 CONVENTIONS
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MCRA
April 27-29, 2018
Drury Plaza Hotel
St. Charles, MO
NVRA
June 27-30, 2018
Double Tree Resort
Myrtle Beach, SC
NCRA
August 2-5, 2018
Hyatt Regency
New Orleans, LA
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HELP WANTED
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NEOSHO COUNTY COMMUNITY COLLEGE
OTTAWA, KANSAS, CAMPUS
COURT REPORTING INSTRUCTOR/COORDINATOR
Reports to: Associate Dean-Outreach and Workforce Development
Classification: Full-time, 10-month Employee
Applicant must be a certified reporter.
Pay Status: Academic Management Support, Exempt
Fringe Benefits per Board Policy
Starting Salary: $39,000-$44,000
Created: June 2017
Contact Chris Herndon, M.S. Ed., CSR, RPR, CRI, Interim Director at 913.221.7479
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MCRA Website ..................................................................... mocra.org
MCRA Webmaster/Consultant ............... Kathy Foley (816) 881-3804
Address Changes .............................................................. Pat Baeske
CCR Testing Information ..................... Maggie Burch (573) 751-7342
Continuing Education .................... Rozann Brancato (816) 881-4517
Convention 2018 ............................... Rebecca Brewer (314) 974.2386
Distinguished Service Award .... Deborah McLaughlin (314) 974-1199
Legislative Affairs .................................... Kathy Foley (816) 808-7016
NCRA Member Services ............................... Toll Free (800) 272-6272
NVRA Member Services ............................................... (601) 582-4345
Advertising ......................................... Melissa Hannah (417) 827-4712
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