e-Notes & Quotes 01/2014

Welcome, Board News, Spotlight on Committees

Welcome!

Welcome to the inaugural publication of e-Notes & Quotes!  This online newsletter will be published quarterly and will strive to bring pertinent information to its members both as LASC employees and court-reporting professionals.  This publication and all future publications can be found on the laccra.org website.

WHAT IS LACCRA ALL ABOUT?  WHAT ARE THE BENEFITS IN BELONGING TO LACCRA?

Well, hold on to your sesame-seed buns, here’s the answers to these questions:  First let’s review a little history about today’s LACCRA Board.  The LACCRA Board is made up of 14 volunteers who have been elected by the membership who are either assigned or BAF official court reporters.  These volunteers have committed themselves to be involved in an association whose mission is to protect and promote the court reporting profession within LASC.

The benefits of belonging to LACCRA are networking within the association and outside the association, official court reporter advocacy, and professional development, mentoring and marketing with the intent to safeguard and promote the court reporting profession.   

Board News

During the past few months, your newly-elected LACCR Board and newly-formed Committees have been ardently working on establishing new ways to connect and network with our members, other professional associations and local court reporting schools in order to promote our profession.

Spotlight on Committees

Member Outreach Committee
As you may not know, the Member Outreach committee is responsible for maintaining the content found within the laccra.org website, e-blasts and publishing an online newsletter.  Basically this committee is the funnel through which information submitted by the Board and Committees is distributed to the membership.

There are a few new features on the laccra.org website.  There is a new attribute within your Member Profile.  This attribute is a “certification” attribute whereby members can indicate their NCRA certifications, such as RPR, RMR, or CRR, just to name a few.  The purpose of this attribute is to help identify and better meet the needs our members in planning association seminars. 

As a reminder, please review your Member Profile and confirm its accuracy.  Due to the many changes and movement in assignments occurring this past year, it is important to keep your Member Profile as up to date as possible.  If you have any questions in this area, please contact Michele Hyson at [email protected].  Michele is our association administrator and will be glad to answer any questions you have! 

The Member Outreach Committee is in the process of updating the entire website and within this overhaul will be two new sections: Floater Tool Box and Classifieds.  The first new section will feature insight into the world of the floating official reporter, from essential equipment one should have on hand, courthouse parking and on-call locations, court and courier protocol, and auditor, court computer and photocopying locations. If you are a floater and have some insight to share that would be of benefit to other floaters, use the Submit a Floater Tool Box Suggestion form.  Suggestions are always welcome!   The second new section, Classifieds, is pretty self-explanatory and will be free to members and non-members.  To place an ad, simply fill out the online Classifieds Ad form.

Lastly, your Member Outreach Committee is once again asking for Branch Reps!  Yes, we’ve all heard the cry for Branch reps before.  Well, guess what, we still need them!  Being a branch rep only requires a minuscule amount of time and effort.  This is how it works: a Board Member or Committee Chair will contact you as a branch rep to distribute our yearly calendar and other information through flyers, or to simply spread the word about an important upcoming meetings or events occurring within your courthouse.  

Branch Reps are needed in the following courthouses due to large number of members assigned: Stanley Mosk, CCB, Van Nuys, Pomona, Airport and Long Beach and Compton.   We also need Floater District Reps who will work with the courthouse Branch reps in an effort to network and distribute information even more efficiently!

And don’t forget, two branch reps are better than one, especially in our larger courthouses.  Please consider becoming a branch rep today and contact Carolyn Dasher, Member Outreach Chair, at [email protected] to volunteer.  Really, we need your help!

As the saying goes, “Many hands make for little work.”  Branch Reps are the foundation to our grassroots-networking strategy!

Public Outreach Committee
The Public Outreach Committee is proud to announce the implementation of the LACCRA Facebook and Twitter social media tools!  These social media tools will enable our association and its members to network with other court-reporting professionals on a global level. 

To further enlighten the public of our special skills as official court reporters, three of our members had the opportunity to participate in the Mock Trials Competition had at the Stanley Mosk courthouse this past November.  Please, read the following article written by Dina Lidis of the Public Outreach Committee to gain insight into how this participation was received. 

Mock Trials Competition
By Dina Lidis, Committee Member

“On November 25 Diana Van Dyke, Cindy Rosales, and I, of the Public Outreach Committee had the honor of reporting the Mock Trial Competition which took place at the Stanley Mosk courthouse.  

“The Mock Trial Competition is put on by the Constitutional Rights Foundation.  It is a statewide academic competition in which high school and middle school students compete in a hypothetical trial, complete with a judge, attorneys, clerk, bailiff, and for the first time, a court reporter.  The students have coaches help them prepare.  The proceedings are timed, and after completing the competition, they are scored on their performance.

“The hypothetical case was called People vs. Concha, tried by some very intelligent, poised, and gracious students from all over Los Angeles County.   They were passionate and well prepared and spoke in rapid-fire form.  There were a few times I was asked to read back which was daunting considering the speed at which they spoke, but at the same time, I was glad the judge made the request because then everyone was reminded of the court reporter’s silent, but pertinent role in the courtroom.  At the end, the judge rendered a verdict and gave constructive criticism.

“We received thanks from many of the people in attendance which included parents, a few of whom were lawyers.  A couple of the students asked me how my machine worked.  To cap off this rewarding experience, Diana was asked to present an award at the awards ceremony on December 4.  Reporting the mock trial is one more way the Public Outreach Committee is promoting the court reporting profession.“

Photo caption: CCRA Public Outreach Committee Co-Chair Diana Van Dyke presenting the Constitutional Rights Foundation Mock Trial 2013 Teacher of the Year award to Jennifer Bader.

Seminars Committee
During the month of November 2013, the newly formed 2014 Seminar Committee developed and sent a seminar survey to the membership for input as to the topics of seminars the membership is interested in and preferred venue location.  The results of this seminar survey were overwhelmingly a continued focus on CAT Software training, including both intermediate and advanced, realtime, including CART and technology.

Downtown Los Angeles received the most votes, right ahead of the San Gabriel Valley, as the venue location of choice.   In all, the survey totaled 74 responses, not bad for a membership totaling 442.    As a result of this survey, the theme for this year’s seminar track is TIME – Taking Initiative Manifests Excellence.   2014 presenters will focus on seminars designed to help each one of us acquire and maintain the skills necessary to work more efficiently and thus have more time for ourselves.    

A complete Save-the-Date seminar schedule will be emailed to the members as soon as all seminar details are confirmed.  To ensure you are receiving the most up-to-date information on LACCRA Seminars and other important news, make sure your Member Profile contains your current email address and contact information.   You can also access the Events Calendar to view updates as they become available.  

News You Can Use

Court Reporting and Captioning Week

By Dina Lidis

February 16-22, 2014 is NCRA’s second annual National Court Reporting and Captioning Week. During this week the public is educated about our profession and career opportunities with presentations to high schools and communities and through promotional events and marketing. Also many states have taken part in a Veterans’ History Project day in which veterans’ stories are memorialized by court reporters.

NCRA’s Web site (ncraonline.org/awareness) contains materials that members can distribute such as brochures about making a good record and different areas in which a court reporter can work. If you’re on Facebook or Twitter, you can quickly spread the word to your friends and family. On the Web site you can download a Facebook or Twitter icon which says “official” to use as your profile picture. I’ve already put mine on my page. These icons will create a talking point when people ask you what that “official” icon means.

During this eventful week in February, LACCRA’s Public Outreach Committee will be sending daily e-mails to its members and posting on Facebook and Twitter with information on how they can participate.  We will also be distributing a small token for reporters to wear during the week to promote the event and encourage dialogue among our peers, coworkers,  and the public.  Please help LACCRA and your Public Outreach Committee spread the word about what a wonderful profession court reporting is and recognizing our contributions to society.

Attaining NCRA RPR Certification

FYI, did you know you no longer have to be an NCRA member to become an RPR? Click on the following link to learn more: http://www.ncra.org/Certifications/content.cfm?ItemNumber=11592&navItemNumber=11593

Court Reporters Board of California

Click here http://www.courtreportersboard.ca.gov/about-us/min-20130329.pdf to view the "March 29, 2013, Board Meeting Minutes," for the Court Reporters Board of California. These 2013 open-session Board Minutes include information that may ultimately impact our profession, namely, concerns regarding students’ inability in passing the CSR exam and school closures.

To subscribe to the Court Reporters Board E-Mail Notification List, visit: https://www.dca.ca.gov/webapps/crb/subscribe.php.  The board uses this general notification list to notify anyone who is interested in receiving e-mail alerts about major updates to the board’s website and activities.  To view the latest issue of the CRB Today Newsletter, click here: http://www.courtreportersboard.ca.gov/formspubs/fall_2013.pdf

SEIU President’s Report:  New Year, New Challenges

SEIU 721 President Bob Schoonover gives us a look at what’s in store for Local 721 members in 2014.  To read the complete article, click here: SEIU 721 President’s Report.   

For more up-to-date information of what’s happening with Los Angeles County Superior Court, click here http://seiu721.org/courts/.

Tech Know How

Product Showcase – Tablets Saving Time

By Karen Peckham, Board Member

So it's time to submit another time sheet, a status update form.  What I've done is e-mailed all Court Reporter Services fillable forms to myself and saved in my iBooks.  When the time comes for filling out the form, I just e-mail the form to myself and open the file in a Program such as Foxit, iAnnotate PDF, PDF Max or PDF Expert. 

All these programs allow you to clear the form and fill out your info, and then simply e-mail the form to Court Reporter Services all from your desk in the courtroom or in the middle of a grocery store when the light bulb goes off and you forgot to send it in.  Don't forget to save a copy for your records.

For e-mailing a transcript to an attorney who needed it yesterday, simple make a .txt file of your proceedings, e-mail it to yourself, then open the file in Docusign or PDF Expert, iAnnotate, just to name a few of the Apps I use every day, and attach your digital signature, then hit e-mail and send.  Voila!!!  You can get back to the links, the gym, and the hiking trail.  All you need is your trusted phone and your lightweight iPad, you're good to go.  You'll have more time for enjoying your free time. 

Helpful hint:  After filling out your forms, send in the flattened mode which will save your annotations and Court Reporter Services won't be on the receiving end of a blank form.

Enjoy!!!

Is Your Software Out of Date?

By Anastasia Swinkles

As the Southern California sales representative for Advantage Software, I occasionally encounter reporters who are not using the most current version of our Total Eclipse CAT software.  Recently, I had a client who was looking to upgrade her equipment, wanting to purchase our state-of-the-art writer, the Passport Touch, and a new Fujitsu laptop running Windows 7, which – let’s face it – is already out of date since Windows 8 debuted.  Thankfully, our team at the home office realized that she was not current on support and running an old – very old! – version of Eclipse.  I’ve been on Eclipse for about 15 years, and I think I ran that old version over 10 years ago!

Unfortunately, there are inherent technological problems with allowing your software and equipment to age.  Most important is old versions of software will not run on a Windows 7 platform, nor will the fabulous new Touch run on the old software being used.  And now we’re looking at multiple years of back payments due for the support that was not paid.  I think the longer you wait to upgrade, the more intimidating it can be. 

Keep in mind, the back payments are not a penalty.  Those costs go towards covering the software updates that have been developed over the years.  Software development teams don’t work for free.  Those reporters that have kept their support contracts current have paid for the updates.  I don’t know about you, but I don’t think it’s fair to me, as an Eclipse user, that someone can just reinstate their support and get all the years of improvements that I’ve paid for along the way!
The latest and greatest Total Eclipse version includes not only keyless access, but Connection Magic, a collaborative editing tool that allows multiple users to edit the same document at the same time.  So you can write realtime while your scopist is making corrections and sends updates to an Internet-connectable version of Bridge.  The Auto-brief feature is more powerful, giving you not only brief suggestions but also offering reminders of briefs that you are stroking out.  There is also an Analyze Documents feature that allows you to run a scan on a previous day’s transcript and cull out the terms that are not in your dictionary.

With all the new developments and features designed to help make our job easier, it is so surprising to me that reporters continue to use outdated software. Your software should be helping you turn out more efficient transcripts in a timely manner.  I’m so excited when I learn about a feature that will save me time in my work.  The better your translation, the less editing you have to do later.

Please go to http://www.eclipsecat.com to check out our latest developments to Total Eclipse and the Passport Touch.
You can contact Anastasia Swinkles at [email protected].

COMPUTER SECURITY – What Reporters Need to Know

By RJ Hochmuth, StenoCAT
 
Not too long ago it was possible to be a court reporter and never need to connect to the internet. This has changed as people and computers have become increasingly interconnected requiring new challenges to keeping your computer secure.

Having a secure computer starts with the operating system. In the simplest terms the newest version of an operating system is always more secure and safer than prior versions. Microsoft support for Windows XP and Office 2003 is ending April 8, 2014. If you are using an old computer that has Windows XP it is time to upgrade or replace it.

Windows updates and patches are important to guarantee your computer security.  Forgoing security updates and patches leave your system open to exploits.  Many reporters turn off windows updates because they object to the intrusive nature of the update.  Windows updates settings can be changed putting you in control of when and if an update is downloaded.  This allows you to choose a convenient time that works for you.  Utilize the windows settings to stay in control of the update process and avoid inconvenient automatic updates that suddenly try to restart or apply updates when you are writing or in realtime.

Anti-virus software is a critical component for computer security.  This provides an active layer of protection working with the passive protection of a fully updated and patched operating system. There are anti-viruses which range in price and features. Many popular virus scans are AVG, Avast, Avira, Norton, and Trend Micro. Many free virus scans are very good and provide protection on par with paid versions, the main difference comes down to features and product support. Some of these advanced features include an email scanner, data encryption, link scanner, and an advanced firewall.  It is important to only install one anti-virus software on a computer, as multiple anti-virus software installed can conflict in the scanning and detection process.

Malware is an inclusive term covering malicious software and it encompasses security threats like virus, trojan, spyware, and riskware.  Malware can be prevented by using anti-malware software which monitors and removes threats. Anti-malware software can be part of a complete anti-virus software suite or a standalone program.

A firewall protects your computer from unauthorized access while still allowing necessary programs through. It is not necessary to purchase a firewall since all modern versions of windows have one built in.  For additional security you can use one bundled with your anti-virus software suite.

Security doesn’t just end with your computer, file security is also important. Backing up files on an external hard drive is the best method to ensure the files are safe and non-accessible from an offsite source. For transferring files between computer and temporary storage, a flash drive can be used.  It is recommended that a flash drive be used for short term storage only as they are easily subject to loss or physical damage.

When doing realtime over a wireless network it is important to make sure that the network has a password to prevent eavesdropping. Anytime you are connected to an unsecure wireless network doing realtime it is possible for someone to view the information you are transmitting. Not all wireless security methods are equal, WEP is no longer considered secure, and it is recommended that you use WPA or preferably WPA2.

While connected to a wireless network it is important to have a safety mindset while using the internet. This includes using a password for your windows login, not opening up an attachment from an unknown source, not downloading unknown files from disreputable websites, and not clicking on links that appear suspicious.  Following these practices combined with a computer that has all current Windows updates and patches applied and anti-virus software and anti-malware software installed ensures that your computer will be protected into the future.

Professional Spotlight

Taking Pride In Our Profession

To gain insight into a stenographer’s role on a national level, read the following article about White House stenographer Peggy Suntum, whose career has spanned five presidencies, throughout which she had a front row seat to history, reporting the words of commanders in chief for prosperity.  Witness to History: 30 Years As a White House Steno, by Zkek J. Miller.

Taking pride in our profession and in our work, below is a picture of Naren Jansen, a former LASC reporter, who left LASC to become a Congressional reporter. She embodies the best in our profession and our work!  Naren Jensen is pictured in the background, wearing a white suit!

The following message is a personal one from Board member and Treasure, Diana Whitesel, who has recently been diagnosed with breast cancer and has begun the difficult journey that accompanies such a diagnosis.

As many of us are all too familiar with family, friends or loved ones who have undertaken this difficult journey, we know that sometimes sharing one’s thoughts helps immensely!

A Personal Message

From Diana Whitesel, LACCRA Treasurer & Seminar Co-Chair

Today I signed up to participate in the Avon Walk for Breast Cancer in Santa Barbara.  I recently learned that one of the most devastating sentences a person can hear in their lifetime is “You have cancer.”  In my case it is breast cancer.  I know many of you have heard these words.  They may not have been said to you directly but to a loved one. 

There is a fear and trepidation that follows that sentence being uttered and a diagnosis of cancer.  Your time is no longer your own.  It becomes filled with doctor appointments, tests, results, treatment plans, and surgeries.  That’s even before the chemo or radiation.  The waiting is interminable.  The helplessness and dread creep in no matter how much you vow to be strong and assertive.   The flip side is your friends, family, and colleagues that rally around you with their love and support.  The outpouring of well wishes and affection is overwhelming.  This is when you realize the impact of the community of friends you have built in your life and how it is so important to your well-being.  We as human beings are not meant to go it alone.  We have a desire and need to be a part of a community.  We sometimes forget how far that community extends until something dramatic happens.  Cancer is dramatic.

This September I will walk in Santa Barbara for the Avon Walk to get my assurance back that I will be “normal” again.  I hope to finish my treatments by June so that I can walk 39 miles in September and regain my strength and power.  If you or a loved one has gone through cancer, especially breast cancer treatment, please think about joining me on this walk or donating to a walker.  For more complete information regarding the Avon Walk for Cancer, click here: http://www.avonwalk.org/

Useful Tips!

Clipping coupons is fun, and it doesn’t take a lot of time.  Saving a dollar here, a dollar there, it all adds up.  Here’s a few websites that may make searching for coupons easier:

Coupons.com and Target.com

Staples offers its members free delivery on items over $45 or if you‘re a premier member, you can receive 5% back on your purchases.  If you’re assigned to a courtroom, have your paper delivered there.  It’s free delivery, and you don’t have to carry that heavy box into work.  Also, when you return empty toner cartridges, you’ll receive $2 for each recycled toner cartridge. Office Depot and Office Max have similar rewards programs.  And you can buy ink for a lot less at 1ink.com.   Costco also carries a variety of printer cartridges.  If you’re a CCRA member, Pengad will periodically offer a 10 % discount on your order.  You will be sent a code, and you use that when you purchase supplies.

YUGSTER.COM  This is a fun site!  The YUG stands for Yours Until Gone.  Every day approximately six new items are posted.  They’re available until they’re gone.  There are many different items such as computers, cables, TV’s, jewelry, and sometimes some quirky items.  The items are discounted anywhere from 30 to 90 percent.  Some items are free.  You can sign up to get their daily E-mail.

If you have a link you’d like to share that offers discounts or rewards, use the Submit a Useful link form here!