What Does Diversity Mean?

Diversity was the topic at a live taping of Intersections, a radio program on NPR-affiliate KBIA in Columbia, Missouri. The show hosted a panel of diversity experts living in the Columbia area. They included Ibtisam Barakat, a Palestinian author and poet; Eduardo Crespi, the Argentinian founder/director of Centro Latino; Marie Glaze, the human rights specialist for the City of Columbia (she also lived in Columbia's First Ward during segregation in the 50's and 60's); Nathan Stephens, an African American professor and director of the University of Missouri Gaines/Oldham Black Culture Center; and finally Chief Diversity Officer at the University of Missouri, Roger Worthington, whose childhood memories include his Latina mother choosing not to teach him Spanish so that he could fit into White culture.

No caucasions sat on the panel.

So what does Diversity mean, and why is it so important? The panelists responded that "diversity" equals "difference" and that diversity is important because a) the world is intermixing and if we don't learn to accept some of our differences then we're going to fight a lot, and b) diversity can be a source of strength, allowing people of different backgrounds to share unique knowledge.

Do we really need a panel of experts to tell us this stuff?

Probably yes.

Ocean blues

Sometimes when you're in a bad mood, hearing about bad things can actually help. I found this to be the case while listening to Dr. Jeremy Jackson describe the degredation of the world's oceans. His lecture is truly global, as is his expertise in the field of marine research, and his quirky pessimism about the environment's future. I think this man might deserve to be cannonized, or whatever is done to show respect for really important people.

Better Incarceration

Norway recently completed a 252 million dollar prison, Halden Fengsel, arguably the most humane prison in the world.

It has no barbed wire or guns. Cells are grouped and share communal kitchens with steel countertops, sofas and coffee tables.

Inmates receive an education, including cooking classes and music lessons.

The architecture is designed to soothe feelings of isolation and ostracization, instead of merely confine and prevent escape.

The Guards consider prisoners to be their "pupils" and aspire to give prisoners "a meaningful life within these walls." To this end, guards share meals and play sports with prisoners. Furthermore, there is not a strict division of the sexes, some guards are women.

All of these details, explains one of the prison's architects, Hans Henrik Hoilund, is "to make the prison look as much like the outside world as possible" and to foster "a sense of family."

"When they arrive, many of them are in bad shape," says Are Hoidal, the prison's governor.

Noting that Halden houses drug dealers, murderers and rapists, among others, Governor Hoidal explains that the staff's primary purpose is rehabilitative not retributive; "We want to build them up, give them confidence through education and work and have them leave as better people."

Could such a prison really prevent crime? Consider that Norway incarcerates only 69 Norwegians per 100,000 while the United States incarcerates 752 Americans per 100,000.