Increased Interconnectedness Suppresses the Spiritual

Media and World Religions Midterm
Question 6

Discuss the interconnected nature of our lifeworld. What is the impact of this interconnectedness on our spirituality?
As the world grows more and more interconnected, mankind seems to simultaneously be losing its connection with the divine. In the earliest times of civilization, people seemed to focus their time and attention on religious matters. In fact, it is difficult to completely divorce the divine from daily life during much of the earth’s history. Entire religious groups intentionally separated themselves from “corrupting” influences and society, and established their own belief systems where they lived in isolation, cut off from the world. These people were often viewed as religious zealots. We think of them as monks, reformers, Puritans, the Amish, and others. Often, these monks would sacrifice all their earthly possessions in order to grow closer to the divine. Their entire focus was their personal spirituality.
Conversely, in these so-called “modern times,” mankind has become so busy and distracted, that we have distanced ourselves from the divine. This process has been so gradual that most people seem to have not noticed, like a frog you place in a pot in which you gradually increase the heat. An ever-more interconnected world inevitably leads to the stifling of originality. An ever-more interconnected world is an ever-more homogenized world, as weaker practices and cultures are forced to adapt to the whole. In a setting such as this, the spiritual has become marginalized, and in some places ceases to exist altogether.
It has been said that the human mind is like a stage where only one actor can be performing at a time. This means that in our frantic attempts to simplify our lives with invention and innovation, our lives have become so cluttered with “necessity” that other, former, and arguably more important actors cannot break through the din for their chance to perform. Deity has taken a backseat to politics, the economy, entertainment, professions, and leisure. Religion and spirituality was once seen as as much of a necessity as anything temporal. These times have passed for all but the select few groups we mentioned earlier. Indeed, it requires great effort to maintain the spiritual aspects of our lives, and our society in a world where doing so has become looked down upon, and is no longer touted as honorable by at least a vocal minority who would seek to stamp out spiritual practices altogether.
It is evident that increased interconnectedness suppresses the spiritual.

Mission Statements and "Organization" Charts

As a part of my internship with KSL, I was supposed to find out what their Organizational Chart looked like, and where I fit into it.

Here is the "organization" chart...see if you can figure out where ANYONE fits in.


To be honest, the “organizational” tree for KSL is so muddled, it’s anything BUT “organized.” I’m not even sure where my internship supervisor fits into it, much less myself. I would assume that he would count as an “On-Air Host,” and I report to him.

For any of you who got through that boring part, and made it this far, and are still interested, here's the mission statement for KSL:

Mission Statement
Bonneville International,
Parent Company of KSL

People
We expect top performance of ourselves. We provide the right environment for success and growth. We communicate honestly and sensitively. We have fun.

Communities

Our products and services entertain, inform, and lift our audiences. Our communities are better because we get involved and make a difference.

Profit

We meet aggressive financial goals consistently to drive growth of our businesses. We create value for our clients. We set the standard for how business should be done.

"Winning with Integrity," we're proud to be Bonneville!

_______________________

Source: http://bonneville.com/?nid=9

Internship Report, Week 7

Intern Name: Mark Hamilton
Internship Site: KSL Newsradio 102.7 FM and 1160 AM
Emphasis: Broadcast Journalism
Semester and Section: Fall 2008, Section 001
Week Number: 7
Number of Hours This Week: 18

Week 7 Report:
BYU played TCU this week, and got trampled. By “horned frogs”. The headlines in the papers looked ridiculous, especially if you looked at it some a standpoint of just comparing the mascot animals involved. Could a horned frog really beat up a cougar that badly? That’s just what happened.

When the microphones were still hot, just before breaking for commercials, you could hear the restrained frustration in the voices of the announcers. And when we were in the commercial break, you could not misunderstand Greg Wrubell’s feelings about the performance of BYU’s team. He really just captured what we all were feeling, when right from the get-go, the cougars seemed to choke.

The air of excitement that had existed in the newsroom in previous weeks was squelched, as the cougars gave their worst performance in recent memory. Not to overlook TCU, since they deserve a lot of credit. They came out swinging, and looked like a top-ranked team that they now are. The game changed the mood in the newsroom in a way that nothing else has. Normally it’s all fun and excitement to be working there, but Thursday seemed painful for more than just the players—it hurt us.

It was also interesting this week—as I eluded to last week, that the industry is tenuous—because on Thursday night, there was someone being trained to do what one of our Producers does. After that person left, our Producer was visibly uneasy, and when asked who the trainee was, he responded “Meet my replacement.” Now, I know little about actual newsroom politics, and what is really going on, but it seemed to me to be somewhat unfair. This particular producer seems like the kind of person everyone would want in a newsroom, and at least from my observation, it seemed like management had gone behind his back, and the first he found out about being replaced was when this new person came in to be trained.

I guess I am finally witnessing firsthand the ugly side of journalism.

We need a car. Last week we heard nothing from our car broker, and I need to call him today or tomorrow to help him understand that we need one NOW. I think he may still be of the understanding that we have all the time in the world, because it seems he puts other people ahead of us in importance. Hopefully by this time next week, I will be driving a “new used car.”

That’s all for this week!

Thanks,
Mark

Internship Report, Week 6

Intern Name: Mark Hamilton
Internship Site: KSL Newsradio 102.7 FM and 1160 AM
Emphasis: Broadcast Journalism
Semester and Section: Fall 2008, Section 001
Week Number: 6
Number of Hours This Week: 20

Week 6 Report:
BYU played New Mexico this week in what everyone expected would be one of their most difficult matchups thus far. That proved to be accurate, as New Mexico’s prolific defense held BYU’s prolific offense to just 21 points—an offense that had previously averaged more than 40 per game.

The preparation for this week’s game was interesting, because BYU’s Coach Mendenhall has some New Mexico history. Bronco used to be the Defensive Coordinator for New Mexico, and he brought to BYU many of the lessons learned under Coach Long’s administration. And that, I think, is one of the major reasons that this matchup seemed to go nowhere in a hurry. It was one of the most unproductive games I have seen, offensively. But a win is a win, I guess.

Something happened this week that helped me better understand the intricacies of the broadcast industry…

I received a phone call from *someone I work with on game days, and he asked me to get specific audio from certain games for him as soon as I got there, because he was going to be late. When I got to work, I started working on that immediately. Then when **someone else I worked with asked me where he was, I told him he was going to be late. Apparently, I was the only one he had called. That inspired some frustration on their part. It made me think about the highly competitive nature of this industry, and how easy it is to get on someone’s blacklist. It also made me think about the nature of hiring and firing in the industry, and how tenuous the situation can become. In a stable newsroom like KSL’s, either someone has to quit, move on, or be fired to open up a spot for someone like me that wants to be hired. And I was sad to realize that I was almost hoping that that spot would open up in time for me to take it. Just as a disclaimer, the people I work with are great, and are a large part of the reason I would love to work there. I wish them no ill-will.

We heard from our car broker this week, and almost ended up with a Jetta Wagon – something I’m not sure I’m comfortable with…I’ve never wanted to drive a station wagon. Turned out that it didn’t end up being a good deal, so Mr. Mourik didn’t get it for us. And it snowed this week after the game, making it hard for me to get home from Salt Lake. Good thing I had borrowed my parents’ car, anticipating that very thing. We need a solution soon.

That’s all for this week!

Thanks,
Mark

*name withheld
**name ALSO withheld

"Called to Eat"

When I was in the LDS Missionary Training Center, or MTC, there was a slight food-shortage crisis. Record numbers of missionaries were in the MTC at the same time, and there just wasn't enough food for everyone to be able to eat as much as they wanted. This revelation came to light because the people in the later meal schedules sometimes had nothing to eat but "onion rings and cereal." It was determined that it was because people on MY meal schedule (the first shift) were eating 3 or more entrées.

After that, this famed all-you-can-eat buffet-style MTC dining experience was limited to one entrée per meal, per person.

In protest, the 12 members of my District composed new Spanish-language lyrics to the missionary classic "Called to Serve," which we would then sing loudly in protest as we waited in line for our meals. The lyrics follow:

"Llamados a Comer"

Voy a comer tres o cuatro entrées,
No me importa lo que pasará.
A los otros, que vienen tardes,
No recibirán nada...

Como, siempre como,
Engordándome al fín,
Glotón, yo soy glotón,
Como oso en jardín
Pollo, Super-Pollo,
Mi amigo a comer,
¡Yo estoy feliz,

porque yo se que gordo puedo ser!

BYU - Helping Students by Not Helping Students

I drive. A lot. And because of how amazing my car is, I love it, except for the commuting associated with my internship.


My anguish over commuting stems from three things:

1) I have to get up at 4 a.m. to get to downtown Salt Lake from Provo,
2) I have a car that may die at any time, and in any place, and could even kill me, and
3) I have to find parking near BYU campus.

Here's an article about the situation from the Daily Universe, BYU's newspaper:

Last Friday, I recieved the following E-mail from BYU admins:

As the last line emphasizes, this is a project that will benefit students. Well, it would have been TRULY beneficial if they had undertaken this massive project DURING THE SUMMER.

During the summer, campus looks kinda' like this:

Photo by Mark Hamilton

Empty.

According to this site, the Spring and Summer Term enrollment is actually on the DEcline, and sits at roughly one-fourth that of Fall and Winter Semesters.

If you're interested in exact numbers, in 2007, there were 10,321 students at BYU for Spring Term, and just 7,563 for Summer. Compare that with the 30,426 for Fall Semester and 29,004 for Winter, and I think we've built a pretty compelling case.

Instead, what BYU has done is disrupt the already tenuous parking situation in the middle of what we have just shown to be the busiest time of the year for BYU. I have a hanging A-lot pass that I'm not supposed to use for things unless they're KSL Radio, and because of the disruption of this parking lot, those A-lot pass holders are forced into other lots too, meaning that there weren't even A-lot spots. And since I'm coming from SALT LAKE to Provo, I don't have time to circle campus looking for a spot. As it is, I was late to my quiz in class.

Boo, BYU. Shame on you. Is it so hard to take care of things like this during summer term when only 24.86% of your student body is in Provo? I think not. Planning like this would make the school's namesake cringe.