Friday, November 11, 2011

Almost Over!

I cannot believe the semester is winding down. It seems like we just started. The end-of-semester pressure is starting to mount. Every class is requiring a lot of work from me these last few weeks. I have several papers to write and several finals to study for.

On the plus side, it means this will all be over soon. I am really looking forward to this Christmas break. It will be nice to breath. I am looking forward to actually being able to spend time with my wife without stressing out about everything else in my life. I am also really excited to visit my folks in California. We might even head down to San Diego again. What is certain is that we will go to Universal Studios so that I can get on The Simpsons Ride. I am a huge Simpsons nerd!

One of the simple things I am looking forward to is being able to read something for pleasure. I have read so much this semester, yet I feel like I have not read anything for fun. It will be nice to step out of academic writing and enjoy a nice, fun, read.

Other than that, the semester has been good to me. I got a lot of experience at the Writing Center, I met a bunch of new awesome people, and I am one semester closer to graduating.

Slacker Prompt!

How's the end of the semester shaping up for you?

Monday, November 07, 2011

Discussing Diversity... Is It Helping?

I sort of dislike the term "diversity," because it's so relative. It just reinforces labeling and segregation by subconsciously making others seem more "other." Despite the fact that discussing the importance of respecting everyone's differences is meant to clear away deep-seated cultural predispositions, the differences are just being focused on and brought into clearer light. It could be that I'm just more comfortable than the average Utah resident being around those of different cultural or ethnic backgrounds, sexual orientation, or social class because of my extremely varied interests and the many, many jobs I've had over the last three years, which have spanned every social class and drawn from a very wide variety of people for their employ.

I'm probably mistaken, but the only issues pertaining to diversity that I've witnessed at Weber State University are: 1. Our school has somewhat of a lack of minority populations, and 2. The small, non-caucasian, ethnic groups that do exist on campus are very prone to form cliques, which is perfectly understandable. If I were going to school in Saudi Arabia, I would befriend any other American students because, obviously, those of a similar cultural background are the most comfortable company to keep. Because there isn't much of a variety of "diverse" students, as compared to peer universities, at Weber State, the major groups aren't forced to interact and become familiar with those that are very different from themselves, which limits the whole student body, socially. I hope that when I tutor students of a "diverse" background, I make myself seem less "other," so students who differ from me socially, ethnically, or otherwise will be more inclined to interact with me. I wish I could more freely engage these cliques without seeming like I'm trying too hard to be friendly and coming across as invasive and odd; because in my opinion, I think the world would be exponentially more advanced if those that have gone out into the wide world to project their own ideas had rather gone out into the world and just listened.

That's really all I have to say on the subject of diversity, so I won't unnecessarily drag this post out just to meet the length requirement.

Diversity

As far as issues with diversity at Weber State University go, I think the university is doing a good job with making the students who don't fit the traditional white blonde hair blue eyes LDS mold feel welcome and accepted. It's fine for there to be an ethnic or, in this case, a religious majority. In fact, anywhere a person might travel on this earth, there's bound to be a certain group of people who outnumber other smaller groups of people. It seems that our school accepts the fact that most of the students are going to be " white and delight-some" faithful LDSers who all went on missions and who plan on staying in Utah for the rest of their lives while, at the same time, seeks to level the playing field for the rest of the students who don't fit that description.

Upholding a policy of tolerating diversity can also broaden the student-body's perception of the world. It's well known that Americans are regarded as being rude by people of different nationalities because of our tendency towards informality and our opinionated nature. But if one just takes a look around campus he or she will see many foreign students from a variety of countries and this is for the benefit of the student-body as a whole, since it affords us a glimpse into the effects of globalization. Should we just act like a doormat and adopt multiculturalism in order to replace the backwardness of Utah? The answers should be a resounding no! We Utards shouldn't completely forget that the dominate culture is the "white and delight-some" one. Racial issues aside, there needs to exist a dominant ethnic group in every society in order for there to be order. Just look at what happened in Iraq after we as a nation toppled Saddam Husein. The two ethnic groups that were vying for dominance, the Sunnis and the Shiites, were kept from killing each other because the former leader of that country was a Shiite. But now because there is no dominate ethnic group, they're killing each other left and right.

Thank God we live in the United States though. To be honest, our country's history is stained with the indelible legacy of racism, but thanks to the civil-rights movement, we now understand the concept of equal protection under the law. And it's because of our traditions of honoring the rule of law that there will never be a situation, at least on a larger scale, like the one in Iraq. As a matter of fact, if educating the younger generations is done right, then there doesn't need to be a dominate ethnic group, as the rule of law would act as a check against one group working to commit genocide against the other. And It's obvious that Weber State shares in the ideology that lends itself to the ideas expressed above and partakes in the spirit of honoring diversity.

Sunday, November 06, 2011

Not by the color of his skin...


            Before I answer the question of diversity at Weber State let me be clear about my bias. As an undergraduate I majored in Anthropology.  Most anthropologists consider Anthropology, “the study of human diversity.”  Still, researchers come at the study from two apposing views. Both groups catalog diversity but they are trying to prove two completely opposing points.  One group wishes to disperse any concept of commonality.  They wish to prove that all aspects of thought, personality, bias, and belief are culturally constructed, and so all conventions are relative and unreliable.  The other group studies diversity to find commonality.  They wish to prove that diversity is superficial, that under it all we are all still human.  As a personal bias I tend to lean more toward the latter view.  The interesting thing is that both sides feel completely vindicated by the data.  Each group looks at the same research and claims divergence or commonality, depending entirely on their pre-conceived bias.

            So is Weber State a diverse school? Does it face problems of diversity?  If by diversity you mean a variety of religious, ethnic, or racial backgrounds, then perhaps Weber State is less diverse than most schools.  If you mean do students at Weber State approach life from a variety of mental backgrounds, then yes Weber is exactly as diverse as any university holding the same number of students. 

            Let me give you a hypothetical example. Let’s imagine three people at Weber State were evolved in an argument about a hot button topic, like abortion. Two of them are white, LDS, heterosexual, and male, and the other is African American, Buddhist, Lesbian, and female.  Let’s imagine that the two men take their expected pro-life role and the woman takes her expected pro-choice role. (I am aware that either group could take either position, I am speaking hypothetically to prove a point.)  So we could easily conclude that the two men, who have more in common, support the same view because of their commonality, and that the woman chooses a different view because of her difference.  But, let’s assume that one man has chosen his position because of his compassion for the unborn child while the other wishes to protect the sanctity of sex as a means of procreation.  Imagine the woman has also taken her pro-choice view because of her sense of compassion toward women burdened with unwanted pregnancy.  In this situation the diversity lies between the two men and the commonality between the two proponents of compassion.  This example is hypothetical but by no means unrealistic and illustrates that race, religion, gender, sexuality, even positions on political issues beliefs and biases, are superficial to diversity. 

Many other students this week criticized the idea of “color blindness.”  I agree that it is wrong to ignore diversity, but diversity is not related to color, religion, gender, sexuality, or political preference.  All those things are superficial.  To understand what we have in common and where we diverge demands that we look past these superficialities.  That is what people mean by color blindness, not that they don’t see diversity but that they don’t see color as a viable means to judge someone.

            It is impossible to determine a school’s diversity by observing superficial qualities.  To determine if Weber State is a diverse school or not demands deep understanding of the underlying values.  Values, as I stated in the beginning, which I believe most people hold in common.  Diversity, in the common sense of the world, is a mask that hides our true commonality.