We need to Talk

This one might be of interest to SOJC people and I’m hoping that we can all have a discussion over this. Not just over the problems but also possible solutions.

Two years ago, a Bay Area station I listened to regularly named KGO 810 was abruptly canceled by the Cumulus Media company. The story goes is that it was in the middle of one of their talk shows (A wonderful host who since moved his show to YouTube. I’ll include a link below if you wanna check it out) when the broadcast was cut off with a specific message. This is the post that appeared on the social media page. . (https://x.com/KGO810/status/1578075216705908737?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1578075216705908737%7Ctwgr%5E9cfb31ad3db5dffbfe66f25c5c8339510af2e31e%7Ctwcon%5Es1_c10&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fabc7news.com%2Fkgo-810-radio-what-happened-to-news-bay-area%2F12300436%2F). Then the story goes onto say that the station began playing songs about gambling. Around that same time, there had been a measure on the ballots in California that would have made the promotion of sports betting legal. Prop 27 was, as I understand; not passed in California. So, I have to wonder, if Cumulus replaced KGO 810 with the intention of monetizing on the possible success of Prop 27, how legal would a station be around sports betting when the measure ultimately failed? I’m not going into legalities since I know so little of Media and Corporate law to speak of it. Those of you who are studying law, I’d love to hear your 2 cents.

My big question for the past 2 years has been “Why?”. Anyone in journalism and media knows there are 5 main questions that must be answered: Who, What, Where, When, and Why. Sometimes, you can throw in “How” when appropriate but I digress. Let’s look at these Ws of Journalism. Who? KGO 810. What? Cancellation. Where? San Francisco. When? October 2022. The only question that hasn’t been answered is “Why”. If they were taking away this station, they could have at least told us why. I remember telling my mom this and she said that if Cumulus has shareholders, they’d have to answer why they did this. Someone on Facebook pointed Prop 27 to me. Others had said it was a matter of saving money.

However, KGO 810 was only a handful of news and talk stations left in California. There basically isn’t any there now. The handful of News and Talk stations I’ve been able to find anywhere on a streaming app, is either too politically bias for my taste or its merged with Sports or something. The thing is that News and Talk is important to society and there’s no legislation to protect it. Media companies have all the control over these things as this example has shown. I’m not saying control what these companies do. Just, make sure that if these companies are going to ax a good station, the listeners deserve to know why and that if it’s just a matter of greed over something that makes it more sense to change, then they should just keep the station as it is. KGO 810 was perfect as News and Talk. It was intelligent, Moderate and politically non-bias. If it’s not broke, don’t fix it.

So, now let’s look at the current state of News and Talk radio. It can’t be a matter of the changeover to streaming apps. Many stations can be found on streaming platforms such as “IHeartRadio” “Audacity” and “Radio.Net”. An online article from Birmingham City University spells out the psychological benefits of TV and Talk Radio. “TV and radio can be a great source to gain advice. ” (Topic 1, ” Why Tv and Radio are Good For Your Mental Health, Birmingham City University). Another online article, “How Therapists See The Benefits of Listening To Radio” add that Radio “As we listen to a conversation, interviews, and news on the radio, we also get informed. We receive the same amount of knowledge we assume we only get in television alone. ” ( Media and Information, First Paragraph, “How Therapists See The Benefits of Listening to Radio”). So, why are there so few news and talk these days? I can never figure it out. Maybe someone knows something that I don’t yet.

So, there should be a big effort to salvage what News and Talk we have left and a just as big an effort to bring back the kind of news and talk thar KGO 810 used to be. If you go on YouTube and watch shows like Mark Thompson, Nikki, Medoro and the Karel Cast (All who used to be on this station), you will see what News and Talk is missing.

Now, I invite everyone to weigh in on this. I look forward to your responses.

 

Links-

https://abc7news.com/kgo-810-radio-what-happened-to-news-bay-area/12300436/

https://www.npr.org/2022/11/09/1133986282/california-gambling-prop-26-27-midterm-results

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bb-1loplV2Y (Mark Thompson Show. Episode for 10/16/24)

https://www.bcu.ac.uk/blog/media-and-journalism/why-tv-and-radio-are-good-for-your-mental-health

How Therapists See The Benefits Of Listening To Radio

 

This is a tale told to us on the way to Fatima in Portugal. A little note about the travel company. Viking Cruises is a travel option I recommend. They show you some great stuff, you learn a lot of stories and they really take care of you. This excursion was the day after my birthday en route to Porto from Lisbon. First we hit Battalia but the big story was told to us afterwards to prepare us for the next place: The sanctuary of Our Lady Of Fatima. Now, I’m not Catholic but I am religious and I love a good story. Even if you just love a good story, you’ll find this interesting at best.

The people involved were all real and I will provide a couple links to the story since we were told what was possibly a condensed version. It was 1917 in Fatima and 3 children: Jacinta, Francesco and their older cousin Lucia were in a cove tending a flock of sheep. According to our Viking guide, Lucia was getting ready for her first communion and decided to practice the rosary when there came a blinding, bright light. Before the children stood what they could only describe as a “beautiful lady”. She introduced herself as “The lady of the Rosary”. She told them that they must come see her at the cove on the 13th of each month and to learn to read. She also told them that the current conflict that had been the first world war would soon be over. I can only imagine the children questioning how to achieve the second request as they were simply peasant children in a village somewhere in Portugal. That started the most challenging 6 months of their young lives.

After the lady left, the children agreed not to tell anyone what they had seen. When one of them is seven years old, that will go as well as you might expect. Jacinta brought it up to her parents who told Lucia’s parents. Soon enough, the whole village heard about it and yes, they were skeptical. Even when some people began to believe it, Lucia’s mother was said to never believe it. Even after the miracle of the Sun, Lucia’s mother to her last days, NEVER believed any of it. Regardless, on the 13th of each month, they went to see what the lady would tell them. Once, poor Jacinta received a disturbing vision of hell. Being a sensitive seven year old, you can guess how it frightened her. She also gave the children three big secrets. One spelled the next world war. The second told the fall of communism and the third secret was one that Lucia kept secret was decades until she believed it to have happened.

Then, on October 17th, 1917; the cove was filled with people who came to see all this for themselves. The day was rainy and everyone was soaking wet while they waited for a sign. Suddenly, they say; everything and everyone went dry suddenly. the sky cleared to reveal the sun. Then the sun began to move around. Witnesses said that it danced around a bit and change colors. Others say the sun got bigger for a second. The sick were healed and other went to their knees in prayer. The miracle only lasted under an hour and this became known as “The Miracle of the Sun”.

Afterwards, though Lucia and her cousins received no peace. After the miracle of the sun, people would try to put their hands on them to be blessed. Some tried to steal and even buy the children. I’ve heard of sensationalism but this is a level you rarely hear about. In the middle of all of it, Lucia lost both her cousins Francisco and Jacinta months later to the 1918 flu. Lucia herself was lucky to survive that but she herself would leave Fatima a few years later. In her early teens (I think they said 14), Lucia was smuggled out of Fatima to a convent in Spain. She had said that she wanted to be close to God so she chose to become a nun. Sister Lucia wouldn’t reveal the third secret for a very long time.

It was the assassination attempt on Pop John Paul II that prompted Lucia to reveal the third secret that was given to her at Fatima. The secret mentioned a man in white with red stains and people running towards him. After the assassination attempt, Lucia wrote the secret down and mailed it to the pope, believing that the third secret had come true.

Links-

https://www.portugal.com/history-and-culture/what-happened-at-the-miracle-of-fatima/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8glOjL4ncRw&t=37s

 

 

While I was in Portugal last month, I had the opportunity to go on a day trip from Barca D’Alva (I think that’s what port we were at) to Salamanca, Spain. There are a couple quick stories that I have been itching to share.

The Cathedral at Salamanca has 2 sides to it: the old Cathedral and the New Cathedral. We were told that many brides want to get married in the old cathedral. We had been passing by the car with a bride and groom in it as it drove by. We were also told that the waiting list is usually 5 years ahead. Yikes! At least that gives a girl time to get her guy to propose and to plan the whole thing.

Near the cathedral, we passed through the former Muslim quarters of Salamanca. As was par for the course in the medieval period, the government kicked the Muslims out of Spain. Over time, that part of the city began to change and there really is nothing left of that time. There’s very little left to suggest what had once been there

The University of Salamanca comes with a couple of quick stories. One is that it’s said to be the oldest universities in Europe and 4th oldest in the world. Yeah, University of Oregon may have its history, but Salamanca has us beat by at least 500 years. One building known as the “Casa De Las Conchas” or the “Seashell house”. Called as such because the building is covered in carved seashells, the symbol for the “Buen Camino”. I can’t talk much about this building as I am still researching what it was used for, and I might do another post to explore this further as I learn more further. If you know something about the Casa De Las Conchas, tell me in the comments.

One thing the guide pointed out to us was one conch that is broken. It’s up in the air what that broken conch says to others but right now, that building is currently the public library.

Across from the Casa De Las Conchas is the La Clerecida. La Clerecida is a baroque church with some extremely unique markings. On the side you see red markings. Each set of red writing has a name of a graduate and a date in Latin, but this is not ink. Each graduate wrote this is BLOOD! YES, you heard me right. Let me explain what the guide told us

Before a final exam, a student would be locked up in a room overnight to cram, one can only imagine. The next day, these students would be examined by a group of professors. The ones who passed, were treated with celebrations including a bullfight. The bull would then be later sliced up to eat by hungry University graduates who would then take the blood of the bull and write their name and date of graduation. below the writing was score markings also made by the students. The students cut the bull up themselves and used their swords which, of course is basically another knife that needs to sharpen on occasion. So, the students would use the side of the building to sharpen their swords for this task.

If you’re going to Salamanca and you’re looking for an interesting challenge, here’s one that’s also something of a brain exercise. University of Salamanca, like most universities used to be a boy’s club. Where you have an all-boys club, you have guys who probably never dated or dated much. This was the medieval period, after all. You also have a lot of Anti-woman attitudes and so, of course there was a narrative that was pushed at the boys: Lust means Death and so, they better forget getting a girlfriend and focus on their studies. To emphasize this point, there is a stone pillar with three sculls, and one has a very distinctive difference.

A frog. Yes, you heard this correctly. The symbol for women back then was a frog and one thing that people should try when they come to Salamanca is this: try and find the scull where the frog sits. It’s considered good luck to find this frog and if you DO find it, you’re supposed to have good luck on your exams, and you’ll one day return to Salamanca. Yes, I found the frog.

Next time, I’ll be telling a powerful story of faith. Have you ever been to Salamanca? What did you learn there? I’d love to hear your own stories.

Until next time

Sources-

4K | Spain | Salamanca | Finding the Frog at the University of Salamanca (youtube.com)

Residencia de estudiantes centro de Salamanca | La Clerecía (youtube.com)

Exploring La Casa de las Conchas: A Treasure of Salamanca (youtube.com)

 

My mom was a non traditional student when I was 9 years old and until she graduated when I was 11, I remember her having a stack of course materials which, of course included textbooks.

Now, we’re in an age where many professors, in a move to help us cut costs on textbooks; opts in for free learning materials. This is a pretty good move. I remember at LCC, the math resource center had a collection of handout sheets. Which, I think would really help with cutting costs on learning materials. The professors could craft them and then copies can be made available in the department offices.

 

Here’s my big question and I’m hoping someone who reads this blog can provide some insight. With the increasing popularity of this learning option, textbooks are obviously not being ordered by the professors. I’m not sure how big the loss in revenue is for the company that makes the textbooks but no doubt they’ve noticed the current trend of online resources. Are these companies doing anything to compete with this trend? Why are textbooks still an extravagant expense when they need to sell them amongst the current route that professors are taking to help students to not have to worry about the expense? I feel that we need this trend to continue and that it should be more widely used. If the textbook industry finds itself in trouble for lack of revenue, they might consider their pricing. I don’t know. What do you think?

Greetings, Ducks. Whether you’re looking to your goals or you’re in the lecture hall giving us the tools we need, welcome to my blog. Please enjoy your time here and feedback is always welcome. It helps me understand how I can improve. With that, I’m curious to know who you are, what you’re studying and what concerns about campus life or society you’d like to see discussed here. We need to talk so what would you like to talk about?

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