By: Karen Kelly Larson, RPR

Carlyle Larsen and Jerry Haverberg after Jerry's VHP interview for the Library of Congress.

“Does not play well with others.”  That’s the phrase inscribed on a favorite pendant that I often wear (perhaps as a warning to the aforementioned others), and it’s actually the truth.  Call it a quirk or a flaw in my internal wiring, but for my entire life I have found it difficult to interact with people I don’t know well.  Consequently, I looked forward to professional functions with all the anticipation of someone facing a root canal and I’d avoid those functions whenever I could.

Paradigm Reporting & Captioning, where I worked as a court reporter for many years, has been involved with several humanitarian and/or socially conscious causes and events, and while my heart wanted to participate in these events, my “wiring” always said no.  However, it was Paradigm’s involvement in the Veterans History Project of the American Folklife Center of the American Library of Congress that ultimately compelled me to plunge in and get involved.  As the official website states, this project “collects, preserves, and makes accessible the personal accounts of American war veterans so that future generations may hear directly from veterans and better understand the realities of war.” My parents are members of The Greatest Generation and their era, along with WWII history, has long intrigued me, so having the opportunity to help preserve firsthand the testimony of such veterans was the catalyst behind my volunteering to be one of the reporters the next time Paradigm hosted the event.  When physical issues arose that precluded me from doing the actual reporting, despite being more than a little terrified at the prospect, I then agreed to be one of the interviewers.

That was how I came to meet Carlyle Larsen, a WWII veteran from Madison, MN, on October 29, 2011.  Carlyle is a WWII buff’s dream:  utterly organized, articulate, and unflappable, even in the face of my fluttering, nervous hands nearly sending my glass of ice water cascading into the equipment of Lisa Richardson, the court reporter (much to the amusement of Dave Young, the videographer).  Carlyle came complete with a sheaf of documents, his uniform, and other show-and-tell items, all of which combined to draw those present deeply into his narrative.  A dynamic speaker and consummate gentleman, Carlyle made it easy for me and I was immensely glad that I had leapt into this project.

After his interview was concluded, Lisa, Dave, and I had the opportunity to converse further with Carlyle, who is passionately involved with veterans’ issues, and it was during that conversation that he told us about his friend Jerry Haverberg, a fellow veteran and Madisonian.  Jerry had told Carlyle that he dearly wanted to participate in the Veterans History Project, but his ongoing battle with a deadly cancer prevented him from making the long trip to Minneapolis.  Although she leads a crazy-busy life working as one of Paradigm’s captioners, Lisa nevertheless looked at me and said, “I think we need to go out there and make this happen,” and my reply was, “Yes, I think we do.”

And so it was that Lisa, Angie Ballman-Punton (who, after a cram session with one of Paradigm’s pros, was making her debut as official videographer), and I embarked for Madison on a beautiful Friday morning, November 4, 2011.  In the spirit of full disclosure, it must be confessed that each one of us at some point in our journey to Madison did a little whining about having to make the trip when we could be perhaps putting the day’s sunny beauty to selfish personal use, but the whining was short-lived and we quickly began to see the day as a worthwhile adventure.

Upon our arrival at the Haverberg residence in Madison, we were warmly welcomed by Jerry, his wife Helen, and their portly-but-adorable little dog Sully, and as we entered their home, we found the dining room already dressed as the setting for Jerry’s interview.  His friend Carlyle had been over earlier in the day to bring an American flag to use as a backdrop behind Jerry’s uniform, and Helen and Jerry had several mementos of Jerry’s military service laid out on the table.

Jerry’s physical frailty was immediately apparent, but his indomitable spirit was equally evident, and with Helen waiting in the wings to provide backup when necessary, we began the interview.  While Carlyle’s WWII service had been more behind the scenes as a communications and radio expert, Jerry’s service had been in the roiling arena of combat from the very beginning, with his troop transport, the Sheffield, facing German submarines.  Having averted disaster there, he went on to participate in the execution of Operation Torch in North Africa.  In Algiers Jerry and other members of his detail were captured and nearly executed, but fate once again intervened and they were spared.  Jerry was also involved in the prolonged, fierce fight for the taking of Hill 609, which followed the battle for Kasserine Pass, significant as the first large-scale clash of American and German forces in WWII.  From North Africa Jerry was transferred to Corsica and then ultimately rotated stateside.

At more than one point during our interview Jerry became visibly emotional while recounting his combat experiences, and there can be no doubt that his military service was fraught with horror and hardship, but it was also my observation that Jerry was possessed of a merry soul which allowed him to find a little humor even in the midst of war.  As he described each theater of  the war he was involved in, with tongue firmly in cheek he would express his astonishment that “people were trying to kill me there, too” – including a domestic theater of operations in which he wooed and won his future wife Helen away from her then fiancé.  He also regaled us with a hilarious tale of sampling the specialty of an Algiers restaurant – rabbit – only to be informed afterward by the proprietress, Madame Peru, that rabbits aren’t indigenous to Algiers and therefore had to be imported, but with the war now precluding that, Algiers’ alley-cat population had since become seriously depleted.

At the close of his interview Jerry told us about a 135^th Infantry reunion that he regularly attended.  Their motto is “To the last man,” and in keeping with that motto, the plan is for the last survivor to raise a glass in a toast honoring his departed comrades.  The consensus was that as one of the youngest veterans, Jerry would most likely be making that toast, and Lisa, Angie, and I all promised that if indeed he were there to pour the drinks, that we would be there to raise our glasses with him.

Jerry Haverberg lost his final battle with cancer on January 30, 2012, but because of the Veterans History Project, a part of him lives on.  I am deeply proud to have been a member of the team who made that happen, and my hope is that reading this article will compel others to participate in this important project.

The sage old adage is to “look before you leap,” but sometimes you just have to take a leap of faith.

Jerry, it would’ve been my privilege to raise a glass alongside you …

Minneapolis, MN:  Paradigm Reporting & Captioning was pleased to support the Twin Cities Ronald McDonald House by proving a meal for their Cook for Kids program.  The Ronald McDonald House Oak Street in Minneapolis is home to children facing life-threatening diseases and their families.  The House provides accommodations, meals, K-12 schooling, not to mention a movie theater, game rooms, and an indoor gym/basketball court all free of charge to the families!  Members of Team Paradigm, including representatives from our court reporting team and staff, prepared, served and cleaned up after a taco fiesta.  We were humbled and inspired by the happy children and the positive attitude of their parents.

By:  Elizabeth Gangl, RPR

In February of 2006 I accepted the job of transcribing “just a couple of tapes” from an interview of Judge Diana Murphy conducted by Lisa Brabbitt from the St. Thomas School of Law.  This was a part of a project sponsored by the American Bar Association, the Commission on Women in the Profession, and the Trail Blazers in Law Project.  Transcribing tapes is not exactly a choice job assignment for court reporters.  We want to be present and in control, and tape-recordings allow for none of that.  I didn’t keep a word list, I didn’t make dictionary entries, I didn’t document the research I did.  I handled this job as a one-and-done; just get it out and move on.  Three weeks later, more tapes came in.  I went back into my files, pulled up the first job, refreshed my memory and transcribed this new batch, but still didn’t do much documenting.  From past experience I should’ve known – never assume you are done with a particular project.  In March, the third set of tapes arrived.  By now — go ahead, just hit me over the head with a hammer — I realized this was a much bigger project than originally stated.  It was not just Judge Murphy’s history as a federal judge, but her life history, and she has lived an extraordinary life.  What I should have done at that point was call the person in charge to get a greater understanding of the true scope of project.  And I should have done it sooner than later.

More tapes came in throughout 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, with the last tapes coming in February of 2010.  The final page count came in at 705 pages, with numerous revisions required because Judge Murphy did proofread, and I have no problem with that, but she made many, many, many corrections, be it spelling, punctuation and/or deletions/additions of people’s names she referenced throughout her interviews.  Interestingly, some of the spellings I had to defend, based on my research, which I had documented, and I had to accept her punctuation style, even though I disagreed with some corrections.

Throughout the course of this job, I learned a few things, or relearned, I guess you could say.  Never assume a job is a one-time thing, as I did.  Keep a list of spellings used and, just as important, document the resources used to find those spellings.  I did find some wonderful websites regarding the state and federal judiciary, which I used constantly throughout this project.  I put those in a list of my favorites.  I started keeping a list of spellings and incorporated an index with those names, places, etc., and returned that to Lisa and Judge Murphy so they could see at a glance what needed to be verified.  I also sent them a list of “sounds like” on the tape, to make sure I had heard something correctly. Over the course of many years court reporters change software, change hardware, even change personal writing style.  I began keeping a number of backups in various forms, and made notes in my worksheet of how I was punctuating and capitalizing; any pertinent information needed to maintain consistency throughout the years.

At one point, about 500 pages in, Lisa and I met so we could go over the transcript.  Judge Murphy and/or her clerk had made corrections, hundreds of corrections, many of which I simply couldn’t read or understand the margin notes.   Extra time spent, but no charge to the client for this.  By now I was committed to seeing this project through and being proud of the end product.

In February of 2010, after the last tapes were transcribed, I got a call from Lisa’s assistant. Now it’s crisis time – several tapes had been misplaced, just now located, and how hard would it be to include them in the proper place in the transcript and, oh, by the way, we’re now in a time crunch!  Thankfully, because of what had become part of my meticulous, some would say obsessive recordkeeping – I was able to quickly determine they had long ago been transcribed and it was simply an error on someone else’s part.  No harm, no foul, no more time spent.

Some day, when they finalize the Women in Law project, you will find Judge Murphy’s story in the Library of Congress.  She is a fascinating woman who has accomplished many amazing things in her life. I am honored that I was able to play a small part in this project of the American Bar Association.

Las Vegas, NV:  Paradigm President Jan Ballman was pleased to be in attendance at STAR’s 2012 spring conference held at Caesar’s Palace.   Jan is shown with Irving L. Starkman of Starkman Reporting and Videoconferencing, Philadelphia, PA at the annual meeting wherein Mr. Starkman was honored for his outstanding and longstanding service and fundraising efforts on behalf of the organization.

By: Anne Hegerman

The first time my fingers hit the keys on my writer, I knew that court reporting was for me. When I made the decision to go back to school and pursue a career in this field, I knew that it was going to be hard and I quickly learned that it was 100 percent harder than I thought it would be. Passing that last speed test is forever etched in my memory. It felt like I was a student court reporter one moment and a “real” court reporter in the next moment. In that one instant, just like that, I was done! I was no longer a student! The hours of practice, the angst of each and every speed test, it was all done. I was ready to work, right?

The first thing I learned out in the real world of court reporting is that it is nothing like school. School was safe and predictable, with short and concise transcripts (ten pages!), the speakers were consistent and appeared every time, and class always, always, always ended on time.

A little real-world experience later and I have learned the importance of having a solid support team behind you, both at home and professionally. I have learned that all the hours of practice and studying have been worth reaching this point. I have learned that there is still a much higher point to reach than this and that it is indeed good to keep working to be better and become certified — as in credentials and not institutionally, that is.

Last, but not least, I have learned that transitioning from a student court reporter to a “real” court reporter was not only 100 percent harder than I thought it would be, but 100 percent worth it.

Minneapolis, MN:  February 23, 2012 marked the private screening of Paradigm videographer Chars Bonin’s first feature film Finding Home in which he wrote, directed, produced and acted. Paradigm staff and court reporters alike came out to support our friend Chars.  Nearly 400 movie-goers packed into The Heights Theater in Columbia Heights for the special showing.

2011 Attorney of the Year honoree Brent Routman of Merchant and Gould with Paradigm President Jan Ballman.

Minneapolis, MN:  Paradigm was pleased to be on hand to congratulate the 2011 Attorneys of the Year at the Hyatt Regency on February 23rd.  The Attorneys of the Year are chosen by the Minnesota Lawyer publication based on leadership in the profession, involvement in major cases or other newsworthy events, excellence in corporate or transactional services and public service.  Congratulations to the 2011 honorees!

By:  Dawn Workman Bounds, CLR

About 10 years ago, I hit a crossroad.  It was one month after 9/11, my best friend was just finishing up a battle with breast cancer, and I got to thinking about what life and living really meant to me and how I could do it “better.”

My best friend in the world had survived breast cancer and her doctor had told her she needed to detoxify her body regularly since she chose not to do chemo and opted for a more holistic approach (which included surgery and radiation, but no drugs).  She discovered and turned me on to Bikram Yoga and ever since, I am addicted to it.

That was just the first change I made to the way I live.

Yoga changes your body inside and out.  It builds muscle and tones you and even improves the function of your organs.  Bikram yoga specifically cleanses your body through detoxification via sweating.  After practicing Bikram Yoga for several months, I started to “sweat clean,” meaning there was no odor.  Bikram yoga also helped me change my eating habits completely, mainly because you cannot practice 26 postures for 90 minutes in a room that is heated to 105 degrees if your system is full of sugar, caffeine, fat,  processed food, and the aftereffects of alcohol.

I had a toddler at the time that I began practicing yoga, and that made me a fanatic about anything she ingested.  I learned how to prepare fresh foods from scratch, which is something I still do at least five nights a week because it is quite challenging to eat healthy when dining out.

I also found that Bikram yoga helps me to perform my job as a court reporter, which, as all reporters know, can be very challenging physically, as well as mentally.  This type of yoga forces me to focus and concentrate for 90 minutes only on myself and the words of the yoga instructor.  There is a posture called Locust, or Salabhasana, that keeps the muscles in my forearms stretched out and loose, and therefore I have no symptoms of carpal tunnel syndrome.

Besides cleansing regularly through Bikram yoga, here are some other healthy rules I live my life by:

• Everything in moderation.
• Don’t skip breakfast.  I cannot perform my job very well if I don’t have some protein.  I sometimes will even boil a couple eggs in the morning while I’m getting ready if I know I’m not going to have to time to eat.  I’ll eat them in my car on the way to the job if I have to.  I pretty much only drink water at a job.  I might have a little caffeine or an apple or banana for some sugar in the afternoon if it’s a particularly grueling job.  I carry nuts…raw almonds are best.
• A good tip for lunch is if you order a salad, order it custom. Ask that things like cheese, dressing, croutons, and bacon are either left off or on the side.  That way you can still get a little of something that’s not that good for you, but you control your intake.  If you get a sandwich, try tuna.  Protein is really helpful for concentration, for me anyway.  Lately, I’ve started getting some tuna or chicken salad without the bread, just on lettuce with veggies.  You just have to figure out what foods make you feel the best.
• Read labels.  I won’t buy a box of cereal that has more than 9 g of sugar per serving.  I won’t buy a jar of sauce or a can of anything that has more than 500 g of sodium.  I prefer to buy meat at a butcher shop and try to buy organic and free range products.
• Buy organic whenever possible—especially if you will be eating the skin (versus peeling it off).
• Avoid soda and drink LOTS of water.  Eight glasses a day isn’t nearly enough, especially with exercise.  Keeping yourself hydrated is good for everything from your digestion and elimination to how your skin looks and feels.
• Stay away from refined sugar. I use Stevia and Truvia to sweeten and I don’t buy anything, i.e., applesauce, peanut butter, etc., with sugar added.  You can rinse anything canned to remove some of the sugar/salt from it.
• Buy “real” and “natural” things, rather than things with a lot of chemicals added or artificial flavors
• Rinse ground meats under hot water to eliminate excess grease after cooking.
• Cook with olive oil.

If you incorporate some of these tips into your daily life, you won’t believe what a difference it will make in your energy level and how you feel.  I can’t remember the last time I had a cold/flu.   I attribute that to the fact that I get rid of my toxins through exercise and diet, which in turn boosts my immune system.

Sleep is the other activity that court reporters don’t get enough of, and I know from experience that that sometimes can’t be helped in this line of work.  A healthy lifestyle will help with that, too.  I get my best sleep, even if it’s only 5 or 6 hours, on the nights after I do yoga.  I think I just sleep deeper and I’m more relaxed.

As you can probably tell, I’m really passionate about healthy eating and exercise.  I hope some of the information I’ve provided has been helpful to you, even though I’m certainly no expert; it’s just what I do.

Namaste.

Palm Beach, Florida:  Jan Ballman, Registered Professional Reporter / Certified Manager of Reporting Services,  attended the National Court Reporters Association’s Annual Firm Owners Executive Conference, where court reporting firm owners from around the globe gathered to network and share best practices.   Ballman is a Trustee on the National Court Reporters Foundation Board as well as the President and CEO of Paradigm Reporting & Captioning, Minneapolis, MN…Minnesota’s largest reporting agency and home to the most highly certified court reporters in Minnesota

Palm Beach, FLA: Paradigm President Jan Ballman with DepoSpan President Shelly Hunter, Principal of Hunter+Geist, Paradigm’s Denver affiliate, were in attendance at the international association’s annual meeting on February 5th.