Author tells class what it takes to report on 'Survivor Stories'

Bonnie Sumner's Reading/Writing 550 class chats by Zoom with author Cara Tabachnick (bottom row, center).

The 17-year-old survivor of a plane crash in the Peruvian rainfores, the soccer team trapped in Thailand's Tham Luang cave system, the sole survivor of a serial killer in Los Angeles, and a survivor of the Babi Yar massacre in Ukraine. These are a few of the stories included in Cara Tabachnick’s book, "The Greatest Survival Stories of All Time."

Tabachnick recently joined the Language and Culture Institute's Reading/Writing 550 class, which read chapters from her book as a complement to the unit “Survival Skills” in their textbook. Students wrote journal responses to the stories and analyzed how the people demonstrated any of the six concepts of survival described in their textbook reading “Mind Over Matter.”

The author answered questions from students such as whether she had become friends with any of the survivors she wrote about, how she got people to talk with her, which was her favorite story, and if she would be able to survive an ordeal similar to those she wrote about.

In response to the first two questions, Tabachnick told the students that one of the rules of journalism is to not become friends with the people one is reporting on. She also said people generally are willing to talk about their stories and want to be heard.

Her favorite story, she said, was about the marathon runner who got lost in the Sahara Desert between Morocco and Algeria. Her response to her ability to survive a traumatic experience was that she felt that not only she, but most people, could summon the strength to survive, but what was often more difficult was dealing with the emotions following the experience.

One surprising thing Tabachnick shared was that for her, writing was akin to running: painful while you are doing it but extremely satisfying when a project is complete.

She does extensive research on her subjects prior to any interviews or writing. In addition, she said, she does not write questions in advance of her interviews but takes a more organic approach to interviewing.

 A graduate of the Columbia University School of Journalism, Tabachnick is a former crime reporter for Newsday. She served as deputy director of the Center on Media, Crime and Justice at John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York, where she was managing editor of The Crime Report.

For the past 10 years, Tabachnick has worked as a freelance journalist. Some of her recent articles include “The Swift and Merciless Execution of Corrine Sykes,” “Morocco’s ‘mule women’ risk their lives hauling goods from across the border from Spain,” and “The teenager who ran from Africa and now hopes to run to Spain.”

— Bonnie Sumner

Presentations point to the power of persuasion

Students in professor Mary Freday's class presented posters recently in which they "pitched" a product — either one they invented or an existing one — and explained the choices they made when designing their advertisement.

Students had to use persuasive language in their poster. But beyond that, creativity was encouraged!

In three-minute presentations based on the posters, students had to cover the following points:

• Why did they choose this product?
• What is great about the product?
• Explain why they designed the ad they way they did.

See more photos in our Facebook album.

Video: Creative Minds in the Grammar Class

Students in professor Monica Mulholland's Grammar, Listening, & Speaking 450 class in Fairfax showed off their work last term in this video:

Photos: Hokies football player Terrell Edmunds visits the LCI

Thank you to Hokies football player Terrell Edmunds, who spoke to LCI students this morning about his grueling schedule, why he loves playing football, and what it's like coming out of the tunnel in Lane Stadium with "Enter Sandman" blaring and thousands of fans cheering.

Students, perhaps more familiar with soccer than football, peppered Edmunds with questions about what it's like to make such powerful hits, what his most memorable plays were, what his favorite position is, and what it takes to make it to the NFL.

Class welcomes special guests; student talks his way to the top

Guests included: (back row, from left) Jerry Sauter, Steve Bull, Bob Miller, Susan Miller, Pat Turner, (front row, from left) Ariel Hylton, Norma Bull, Erin Bull, and Bonnie Sumner.

The LCI's Advanced Studies Elective class in Blacksburg recently welcomed nine guests who were charged with evaluating students speaking to a prompt. Each student responded to five prompts with five different judges. All of the guests were former colleagues of instructors Bonnie Sumner and Pat Turner.

Says Bonnie: "The students seemed to enjoy the activity, and our guests were complimentary of the students they worked with."

A toast to the Toastmasters

In other news, students from LCI recently attended a Toastmasters meeting that convened in the annex.

Ibrahim Hamdan

Ibrahim Hamdan received first place for the Best Table Topic, an impromptu speech. Ibrahim's topic was to imagine he was a published author on a tour promoting a new book titled "The Body in the Kitchen."

Ibrahim adeptly took the topic from a murder mystery and segued to a commentary about how we seldom take time to notice all of the details around us in our daily lives.

In addition to winning first place in his category, he was the only person who did not have any "ah, um, you know, etc." in his speech. He was also the only LCI student to speak.

Congratulations, Ibrahim!

Seeing it differently: New perspectives in art education with international students at Radford

Two Radford students discuss perspectives with a student teacher from Mexico.

Random objects, creative name badges and mask making brought new insights when Radford University art education majors shared an interactive class with nine students from Mexico.

On the Covington Center classroom front desk sat four items: a glue gun, a rock, a hammer and a stuffed animal. Discussing the similarities and difference among these items, RU students mingled with their international guests.

In this exercise, Richard Bay, professor of art education, explained such activities used in an elementary classroom setting help school children increase their perspectives through the comparison of the objects’ textures, weight, volume, size, materials and usage.

Seemingly different items have more in common than one might expect, much like the two cultures that combined during this unique class opportunity. The inverse can be true as well. It is all about perspective. Through this class, both cohorts gained a deeper understanding about each other’s perceptions and cultures.

“When RU students interact with international students, they acquire a different set of skills,” said Charlene Dandrow, associate director of the Language and Cultural Institute at Radford University (LCI@RU). “They develop an important 'literacy' that enables them to successfully engage with diversity, which nowadays is a crucial skill to have in the competitive global market.”

Read more about the visit.

English classes available for international spouses and partners

A new program allows the spouses and partners of Virginia Tech's international students, faculty, employees, visiting scholars, and other affiliates to take English classes at the Language and Culture Institute.

Eligible spouses and partners can participate in the institute's Intensive English Program, which offers instruction in all skill areas, including listening, speaking, reading, writing, and pronunciation, from beginning through advanced proficiency levels.

Read more at VT News or go to www.lci.vt.edu/spouses.

Free foreign language classes open to faculty and staff

All Virginia Tech faculty and staff are eligible for foreign language conversation courses at the Language and Culture Institute. We offer classes in Chinese, French, Spanish, and German.

Participation is free, though course books must be purchased separately. Classes begin Feb. 2.

Find out more about the classes in our campus notice.

TOEFL Prep classes available in National Capital Region

The Virginia Tech Language and Culture Institute has space available for people in the National Capital Region who want help preparing for the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL).

Starting July 22 and running through Aug. 28, the classes will meet Tuesdays and Thursdays from 6 to 8 p.m. at the institute’s new facility in the Merrifield neighborhood of Fairfax, Virginia. The location is just a block from the Dunn Loring-Merrifield Metro station on the Orange Line. Get directions here.

The classes will include five hours per week of intensive classroom instruction and an hour per week of guided testing practice. Tuition is $639 and includes textbook, CD, and iTest interactive exam practice.

The TOEFL is the most widely respected English-language test in the world, recognized by more than 9,000 colleges, universities, and agencies in more than 130 countries.
Register now

For more information, or to register, call 703-205-2750 or email lci-ncr@vt.edu.

Students take part in joint summit on alternative energy

Students in Professor Vanessa Ghaderi's Gateway class and Professor Ada Chrisman's 500 GLS class met recently for a joint summit on alternative energy.

Students watched two TED.com videos — one a debate on sustainable versus nuclear power, and one by David MacKay, who explores the mathematics that show worrying limitations on sustainable energy options and explains why we should pursue them anyway.

Students then worked in groups to decipher what they had learned and attempt to influence each other while forming their own opinions.

"I really enjoyed this kind of activity because it gave you an opportunity to share with other students that are not your daily classmates," says Chrisman's student Mariela Ochoa from Guatemala. 

"The topic is very interesting to me because I think the environment is a shared responsibility. ... I strongly support the idea that nuclear energy is not the solution, and we have to consider all the risk that this implies. Aside from this, it is important that we change our consumer energy patterns, because if we still consume energy in that way that we do now no energy source will be enough." 

Offering another side of the debate, Texas, a student from China, writes: "As the most important new energy, nuclear energy plays a crucial role. First, according to the nuclear fission theory, we just need a tiny amount of uranium, and we can get a large amount of energy to use. Second, compared with some sustainable energy, like wind power, nuclear energy is developed, which means that it can be used as common life, and it has a completed protection system. In conclusion, we need to insist on the development of nuclear energy, trying to find a better way to control its disadvantages." 

Student posters unwrap 'The Ultimate Gift'

Donita Moore's Reading and Writing 450 class wrapped up the last term by creating posters highlighting aspects of the novel "The Ultimate Gift." Made into a 2007 film, the book centers on one man's quest for purpose and meaning in an empty life.

Students highlighted certain aspects of the story and then shared their thoughts with visitors at a poster session on May 15. A number of visitors said the presentations made them want to read the book and see the movie.

Khaled Almenhali (left) and Zijia Liu talk about their Work poster.

Xiji Hong talks about the film version of "The Ultimate Gift."

Amjad Alharbi, Musaed Almajed and professor Jonathan Dworin peruse the posters.

Adelina Miranda talks about the "gift of family."

Abdullah Alghamdi's poster focused on the "gift of money."

Ali Alneyadi and Linda Sanford

Sijie Pu

Students bring holiday cheer to Blacksburg nursing home

A number of Language and Culture Institute students made a gray Monday a bit brighter for some local nursing home residents.

Kay Gude and about a dozen of her students, plus Linda Sanford, visited Heritage Hall on South Main Street in Blacksburg. There, they handed out more than two dozen presents neatly packaged in festive bags to some of the men and women in long-term care.

"We went to Wal-Mart and Dollar Tree and picked out gifts based on what they liked and what they needed," said student Amwaj Al Bahar, of Kuwait.

Students visited with the residents and took photos with them as they delivered the presents. "They're like the little Santa elves!" Gude said as she pushed a cart full of gifts down a hallway.

These sorts of visits make the residents smile, said Sherry Reynolds, the activity director at Heritage Hall. "They like seeing the young people and being around the young people," she said. "This really brightened everyone's spirits."

(Click on a photo to see a larger version.)