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Dissecting diversity
znknowns- Science column
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here was a simple game that
I used to play around cam-
pus when I first arrived here
four years ago. It went like this: all
day long - in class, walking on the
diag, in the dorms and dining halls
- I would conduct a search. I would
scrutinize every person who passed
within my field of view, looking for
one particular characteristic. At
times, I'd lose hope that I'd ever
find what I looked for, but it was
always followed by renewed vigi-
lance. For hours at a time -days,
even - I would be unsuccessful,
until, some lucky moment, I would
finally spot my quarry. There! At
long last! A black student!
This account is slightly embel-
lished, but honest in spirit. I dis-
tinctly recall scratching my head
as a freshman and wondering
aloud, "Where are all the black
people?" As a native New Yorker,
I was used to encountering a rich
variety of races. on campus, the
pronounced lack of minority stu-
dents was a little disorienting.
It should be made clear here
that I'm a Chinese-American who
was raised in Brooklyn in a pre-
dominately black neighborhood,
across the street from a Jewish
synagogue. The issue here is not
blackness in particular but the
palpable sense of loss that I expe-
rienced in an environment which
did not live up to my expectations
of diversity.
Campus diversity provokes
vivid reactions in all who are con-
nected to the University (the reac-
tion being abject confusion in my
case). But the rhetoric and blus-
ter occlude the fact that there is
a substantial amount of empirical
research on the costs and benefits
of creating a diverse community.
This is diversity as its own end, not
in the service of righting historical
wrongs.
Stakeholders on both sides of
the affirmative action debate can
wring their hands and moralize,
but the scientific study of diver-
sity is leading to results that would
surprise both parties.
One of the most persistent and
startling findings to come forth is
the inverse correlation between
the diversity of communities and
the social cohesion of those com-
munities. Robert Putnam, a social
scientist at Harvard, showed in
2007 that people are less trust-
ing if they live in more diverse
communities. The uncomfortable
truth Putnam uncovered was that
the more ethnically heterogeneous
a community was, the less likely
people were to interact with each
other - even with people of their
own races.
In fact, people in homogeneous,
isolated places such as Bismarck,
North Dakota and rural South
Dakota had the very highest levels
of social cohesion - nearly 80 per-
cent of these people agreed that
they "Trust neighbors a lot." This
is in stark contrast to the people
in San Francisco, Los Angeles and
Boston, where less than 30 percent
agreed with that statement. These
large and diverse cities had some
of the lowest levels of trust in
the survey.
Putnam, who was a profes-
sor at Michigan prior to mov-
ing to the Ivy League (he wasn't
the first one), found that when
people encounter the other or
the alien, they shrink back into
their shells. They become fear-
ful and withdraw. They flee the
civic center to hunker down in
the unmenacing glow of their
television screens.
Hitting closer to home is a
study that replicated the commu-
nity-corroding effects of diver-
sity on college campuses. Stanley
Rothman at Smith College and his
colleagues found that increased
campus diversity was correlated
with student dissatisfaction with
their university experiences.
However, some claim that Roth-
man used a flawed methodology
to define diversity (as the simple
proportion of black students),
and that a different study led by
University psychology professor
emerita Patricia Gurin was more
accurate. Surveying students at
the University over several years,
The surprising
science behind
multiculturalism
on campus.
Gurin and colleagues found that
those exposed to diversity in the
classroom showed more intellec-
tual engagement and growth.
Although Putnam's results
regarding communities in gen-
eral have been closely scrutinized,
they remain unassailable. Even
after accounting for all sorts of
factors, the negative correlation
between diversity and social cohe-
sion remains. One scholar whose
work is often used as a counter-
point to Putnam's is Scott Page,
acting director of the University's
Center for the Study of Complex
Systems. Page, in his recent book
"The Difference," praises the
power of diversity to increase the
productivity of groups.
Page concedes the reality of
increased tension in more diverse
environments, but he believes that
this is ultimately a beneficial qual-
ity.
"Big, diverse cities are the most
productive places on Earth," Page
said, "given the choice between
North Dakota and New York City,
where would you rather spend a
weekend?"
The same principle holds true
for a University environment. This
brand of utilitarianism sacrifices
comfort for gains in productivity.
The expenditure of social capital
results in other intellectual and
economic returns. It toes the line
between the familiar and the
novel, the simple and the chal-
lenging.
"Productive universities need
that intellectual friction to do
what they do," Page said.
The academyisthebattleground
of ideas, where roiling, fractious
intellects can stake out positions
and defend them with reason and
analysis. What do students learn
when they are surrounded by mir-
ror images and coddled in soft
agreements?
Pefhaps the academy is sup-
posed to be a little uncomfortable,
a little dangerous, a little prickly.
If not here, where else?
Engineering junior Dominic Piro shows off the human-powered submarine, the result of years of toil Tnetail-ena o mercury m, toe Human-rowerea:ubmarine i eams latest
and adjustments Wilson Student Team Project Center
hink pedal ingaebicycle eishard?
Try pedaling a submarine.
A look at the University's most bizarre team
Wednesday, September 26th
11 am-3pm at The Michigan Union
Meet with over 100 law schools plus
local test preparation services
Collect application information and
explore law education options
Visit The Career Center's website for a
list of schools scheduled to attend
(www.careercenter.umich.edu)
Seeause...one day can make all the differene!
For more information contact us at:
3200 SAB
(734)764-7460 Defamdantff
www.careercenterumich.edu Divisionof Student Affar
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10ANDOLPH COURT APART1MNS
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Private Entrance!
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And much, much more!
Equal Hasn Apprtunity
n land, Mercury III, the
pride and joy of Engineer-
ing junior Dominic Piro,
is unimposing, even with its shark
paint job. A 10-foot long oval shell
made of carbon-fiber _ composite
and balsa wood with a bicycle drive
train mounted inside, it looks likea
soapbox racer with propellers.
But even though the designs are
similar, Mercury III isn't a soap-
box racer, it's a working subma-
rine. Capable of reaching speeds of
nearly 5 knots, or roughly 6 miles
an hour, it's the result of years of
tweaking and adjustments.
Piro is co-manager of the Uni-
versity's Human-Powered Subma-
rine Team, one of several student
projects, including the Solar Car
Team, sponsored by the College
of Engineering. Possibly because
it doesn't move as fast, the subma-
rine isn't quite as talked about as
the University's award-winning
solar car. But even though the team
operates in relative obscurity, the
sport requires athletic prowess,
deft engineering and considerable
daring. Staying on course in a sub-
marine is difficult, and racing one
is even trickier.
Inside Mercury ° III, there's
enough room for a single person,
provided that person isn't too tall
or too wide. To get it moving, the
pilot has to pedal the submarine
like a bicycle.
"I'm not claustrophobic, but I
don't like the idea of climbing in
the sub," said Christine Matlock,
the team's diver manager.
As the sub moves through the
tank, its speed is measured at
checkpoints along the way. The
team with the fastest submarine
wins.
In 2006, the University's team
won the one-person propeller-driv-
en category, reaching a top speed of
4.587 knots in an event near San
Diego, Calif.
The team was the third fastest
in the One-Person Propeller divi-
sion during the International Sub-
marine Races in Bethesda, Md. this
past June. At a top speed of 4.958
knots, pilot Willie Hatfield set the
record for the school.
In all of the submarines the hulls
fills with water and the pilot, com-
pletely submerged, breathes using
scuba gear. He lies on his side to
pedal, looking at the bottom of
the tank through a window in the
nose of the submarine. Because the
pilot can only see directly in front
of him, the race course has to be lit
with neon lights, or "mood light-
ing" as Hatfield called it.
"Everything else is murky and
blurry expect for this long string of
blue lights," he said.
Pedaling the sub is no small feat
- it weighs about 1,000 lbs. By
pedaling alone, the pilot moves the
How do you train
for a race that
happens 15 feet
underwater?
sub, themselves and several lead
weights added for balance.
Hatfield said that during a one to
two minute race he typically used
half a tank of air. For divers breath-
ing normally, not under physi-
cal strain, the tanks typically last
about 30 to 40 minutes.
The indoor tanks in which the
submarine usually operates com-
plicate the task. Shallow water,
that is, water less than 12 feet deep,
is the most dangerous because the
pressure is most unstable, said
Larry Harris Taylor, a University
Medical School researcher and the
team's dive safety officer.
Stopping the submarine is
another matter. Once divers staff-
ing the competitions stop the sub,
they monitor the pilot for signs of
injury or panic. Because of the dan-
gers of sudden pressure changes,
the submarine - with the pilot
inside - must be brought back to
the surface gradually.
"If you panic, it's pretty bad,"
Hatfield said.
Hatfield, who graduated last
spring, didn't spend time at the
gym training for the event. Instead
Hatfield used his single-speed road
bike as transportation from Central
Campus to North Campus.
Hatfield said he purposely used
a single-speed bike to simulate
piloting the sub, which also has a
fixed gear.
"I never saw him walk any-
where," Matlock said.
Because scuba equipment is
classified as life-support under the
University's insurance policies,
and both pilots and team members
use scuba gear, operating the sub-
marine for the team is classified
as high-risk. Though maybe not in
practice - there haven't been any
recent submarine-related injuries
- according to insurance policies,
operating the submarine is one of
the riskiest sports at the Univer-
sity.
Any time the sub is in the water,
Team Dive Manager Christine
Matlock requires at least three div-
ers, along with the pilot, to inspect
and prepare the submarine for a
run. Once it's submerged, the sub-
marine's hull fills with water, and
the team members can make sure
it's properly balanced.
To be covered by the Universi-
ty's insurance, each member of the
submarine's dive team must meet
the dive standards of the American
Academy of Underwater Sciences.
Therequirementsincludeknowledge
of CPR, first-aid certification and
passing a DAN 02 Provider test - a
test on giving oxygen to an injured
person. Each diver must also have a
physical from a designated doctor at
University Health Services.
And finally, before they can
get into water, Taylor evaluates
See SUB, Page 11B
ONE UP
BILL MAHER
E-mail your own submissions for new
rules on campus to
thestatement@umich.edu.