Additions: It sounds simple[:] “What is diversity at Penn State?” But, [W]hat may look simple[,] can actually be filled with many ideas, definitions and sub connotations, the context that goes far beyond that simple question [this phrase is confusing. I'm not sure what you mean]. In order to determine what diversity is[,] we must deconstruct it. Diversity at Penn State has four basic facets: the underlining meaning of ‘diversity’, who or what is diverse, what are those diversities, and to what extent are they diverse? [yikes]
In order to answer this question we must first decide on what “diversity” means. The first facet, the most basic meaning, may be found in the dictionary. According to the Merriam-Webster OnLine Dictionary, diversity is a noun meaning, “1: the condition of being diverse; 2: an instance of being diverse” (Merriam-Webster). But The American Heritage Dictionary; Second College Edition lists diversity as, “1. a. The fact or quality of being diverse; 2.Variety or multiformity” (American Heritage 412) Neither definition is concise, rather, they are both vague and begging for further inquiry. So the dictionary didn’t [did not; don't use contractions in academic writing] solve the problem of what is diversity.
Both Merriam-Webster, and The American Heritage dictionaries had one commonalty in their definitions, [of] “diverse”. According to the Merriam-Webster OnLine Dictionary, diverse means,“1: differing from one another; 2: composed of distinct or unlike elements or qualities” (Merriam-Webster). The American Heritage Dictionary; Second College Edition calls diverse: “1: Distinct in kind; unlike. 2: Having variety in form; diversified.” (American Heritage 412} So, diverse is a group of items, people, or thoughts, activities that are in the same classification but have different traits. [okay, so this paragraph is an interesting method, but I think it's rather confusing. I think your introductory sentence needs to be a little stronger, as to your conclusions]
The second and third facets are closely related: the who, or what is Penn State [I don't know what you mean here; I think you might mean "We need to explore the question further: what is meant by Penn State and what categories are we attempting to diversify"], and the category in which we are looking for diversity [?]. First, who, or what is Penn State? According to the Wikipedia, The Pennsylvania State University is a land grant university founded in 1855. It currently operates 24 campuses throughout Pennsylvania (Wikipedia). Penn State’s own web page lists hundreds of majors, associate degrees, graduate programs and continuing education for the adult learner (Campuses and Colleges). Whether you are studying for an associate degree at the PA College of Technology, working on your bachelors degree at Altoona, or finishing up a professional post graduate program at Hershey Medical Center, you are Penn State. System wide, there are over 81,000 students (Enrollment by Gender).
Even though there is a wide range of context[s where] we can find diversity in, most people still think of diversity as just the proportion of different race[s], and gender[s], and their proportion to the overall community. This leads to the fourth facet of diversity at Penn State. When dealing with the human aspect of diversity, whose model do you use to determine if you are diverse? Must all groups and genders be represented, and if so, to what extent? The question that leads to more debate then most of the others is “how much?” [This paper does an interesting job of breaking down and picking apart the problem of meaning associated with diversity. That said, the language used in the paper is extremely confusing at times and, more importantly, I don't think you do as good a job making your concluding point. This paper would be much more affective if a new definition were built up at the end beyond the one line conclusion.]
Deletions: It sounds simple. “What is diversity at Penn State?” But, what may look simple can actually be filled with many ideas, definitions and sub connotations, the context that goes far beyond that simple question. In order to determine what diversity is we must deconstruct it. Diversity at Penn State has four basic facets: the underlining meaning of ‘diversity’, who or what is diverse, what are those diversities, and to what extent are they diverse?
In order to answer this question we must first decide on what “diversity” means. The first facet, the most basic meaning, may be found in the dictionary. According to the Merriam-Webster OnLine Dictionary, diversity is a noun meaning, “1: the condition of being diverse; 2: an instance of being diverse” (Merriam-Webster). But The American Heritage Dictionary; Second College Edition lists diversity as, “1. a. The fact or quality of being diverse; 2.Variety or multiformity” (American Heritage 412) Neither definition is concise, rather, they are both vague and begging for further inquiry. So the dictionary didn’t solve the problem of what is diversity.
Both Merriam-Webster, and The American Heritage dictionaries had one commonalty in their definitions, “diverse”. According to the Merriam-Webster OnLine Dictionary, diverse means,“1: differing from one another; 2: composed of distinct or unlike elements or qualities” (Merriam-Webster). The American Heritage Dictionary; Second College Edition calls diverse: “1: Distinct in kind; unlike. 2: Having variety in form; diversified.” (American Heritage 412} So, diverse is a group of items, people, or thoughts, activities that are in the same classification but have different traits.
The second and third facets are closely related: the who, or what is Penn State, and the category in which we are looking for diversity. First, who, or what is Penn State? According to the Wikipedia, The Pennsylvania State University is a land grant university founded in 1855. It currently operates 24 campuses throughout Pennsylvania (Wikipedia). Penn State’s own web page lists hundreds of majors, associate degrees, graduate programs and continuing education for the adult learner (Campuses and Colleges). Whether you are studying for an associate degree at the PA College of Technology, working on your bachelors degree at Altoona, or finishing up a professional post graduate program at Hershey Medical Center, you are Penn State. System wide, there are over 81,000 students (Enrollment by Gender).
Even though there is a wide range of context we can find diversity in, most people still think of diversity as just race, and gender, and their proportion to the overall community. This leads to the fourth facet of diversity at Penn State. When dealing with the human aspect of diversity, whose model do you use to determine if you are diverse? Must all groups and genders be represented, and if so, to what extent? The question that leads to more debate then most of the others is “how much?”
Additions: James R. Beecher Jrb1039@psu.edu
English 15
What is diversity and Penn State?
It sounds simple. “What is diversity at Penn State?” But, what may look simple can actually be filled with many ideas, definitions and sub connotations, the context that goes far beyond that simple question. In order to determine what diversity is we must deconstruct it. Diversity at Penn State has four basic facets: the underlining meaning of ‘diversity’, who or what is diverse, what are those diversities, and to what extent are they diverse?
In order to answer this question we must first decide on what “diversity” means. The first facet, the most basic meaning, may be found in the dictionary. According to the Merriam-Webster OnLine Dictionary, diversity is a noun meaning, “1: the condition of being diverse; 2: an instance of being diverse” (Merriam-Webster). But The American Heritage Dictionary; Second College Edition lists diversity as, “1. a. The fact or quality of being diverse; 2.Variety or multiformity” (American Heritage 412) Neither definition is concise, rather, they are both vague and begging for further inquiry. So the dictionary didn’t solve the problem of what is diversity.
Both Merriam-Webster, and The American Heritage dictionaries had one commonalty in their definitions, “diverse”. According to the Merriam-Webster OnLine Dictionary, diverse means,“1: differing from one another; 2: composed of distinct or unlike elements or qualities” (Merriam-Webster). The American Heritage Dictionary; Second College Edition calls diverse: “1: Distinct in kind; unlike. 2: Having variety in form; diversified.” (American Heritage 412} So, diverse is a group of items, people, or thoughts, activities that are in the same classification but have different traits.
The second and third facets are closely related: the who, or what is Penn State, and the category in which we are looking for diversity. First, who, or what is Penn State? According to the Wikipedia, The Pennsylvania State University is a land grant university founded in 1855. It currently operates 24 campuses throughout Pennsylvania (Wikipedia). Penn State’s own web page lists hundreds of majors, associate degrees, graduate programs and continuing education for the adult learner (Campuses and Colleges). Whether you are studying for an associate degree at the PA College of Technology, working on your bachelors degree at Altoona, or finishing up a professional post graduate program at Hershey Medical Center, you are Penn State. System wide, there are over 81,000 students (Enrollment by Gender).
To serve all of these students, Penn State has over 21,000 full-time employees across the state. According to the Penn State Fact Book, in the fall of 2004, Penn State had 21,163 full time employees. When you add part-time and student employees, the rank of working Penn Staters grows to 38,707 (Full-Time and Part-Time . . .).
Penn State’s built environment is just as diverse. Over Penn State’s 150-year history, the university has built hundreds of building. These can be just as diverse as the teachers that teach in them or the throngs of students that run their halls. On the University Park Campus alone the building styles range from the wooden balloon frame of the old Victorian cottages to the Classical Roman design of Old Main. You can also find the utilitarian design of the mid 60s dorms of Center, South, and East Halls along with the postmodern design of the new architecture building behind the abstract façade of the Palmer Museum. The materials used to build Penn State range from wood, and brick, to stone, steal, glass, and concrete.
Even though there is a wide range of context we can find diversity in, most people still think of diversity as just race, and gender, and their proportion to the overall community. This leads to the fourth facet of diversity at Penn State. When dealing with the human aspect of diversity, whose model do you use to determine if you are diverse? Must all groups and genders be represented, and if so, to what extent? The question that leads to more debate then most of the others is “how much?”
Browsing the many online informational pages about Penn State, such as Wikipedia, one learns that Penn State has over eighty thousand students, and thirty eight thousand employees. Penn State offers Penn Staters: hundreds of majors (both associate, and baccalaureate degrees) not to mention graduate programs, teachers, and instructors (that are known worldwide), more than twenty campuses locations (both rural and urban) with student populations ranging from a few hundred to a more then forty thousand. You can find extracurricular activities that include division one sports, the theater, and visual arts, and hundreds of club, and Greek organizations that also call Penn State home (Wikipedia). Penn State is a collection of many things, and people that are, “ . . .differing from one another . . . composed of distinct or unlike elements or qualities. . .” (Merriam-Webster). Penn State features a, “. . . variety in form . . .”(American Heritage 412)
So, what is diversity at Penn State? Diversity is the collection of differences. We are diversity. Work Cited Page
“Divers.” The American Heritage Dictionary, Second College Edition. 1982.
“Diversity.” The American Heritage Dictionary, Second College Edition. 1982.
“Divers.” Merriam-Webster OnLine Dictionary 22 September 2005.
It sounds simple. “What is diversity at Penn State?” But what may look simple is actually filled with many ideas, definitions and sub connotations, the context that goes far beyond that simple question.
In order to answer this question we must first decide on what “diversity” means. The most basic meaning may be found in the dictionary. According to the Merriam-Webster OnLine Dictionary, Diversity is a noun meaning “1} the condition of being diverse; 2} an instance of being diverse.” But The American Heritage Dictionary; Second College Edition lists diversity as “1. a. The fact or quality of being diverse; 2.Variety or multiformity”{pg. 112} Neither definition is concise, rather, they are both vague and begging for further inquiry.
So the dictionary didn’t solve the problem of what is diversity. In order to determine what diversity is we must deconstruct it. Diversity at Penn State has four basic facets. The underlining meaning of ‘diversity’; who or what is divers; what are those diversities and to what extent are they diverse?
Both Merriam-Webster, and The American Heritage dictionaries had one commonalty in their definitions, “diverse”. According to the Merriam-Webster OnLine Dictionary, diverse means “1: differing from one another; 2: composed of distinct or unlike elements or qualities.” and The American Heritage Dictionary; Second College Edition calls divers: “1: Distinct in kind; unlike. 2: Having variety in form; diversified.” {pg. 412} So divers is a group of items, people or thoughts, activities that are in the same classification but have different traits.
The second and third facets are closely related. The Who and What of Penn State and the category in witch we are looking for diversity. First, who or what is Penn State. Not only is Penn State University Park, but there are over 20 campus locations across the state that are part of the Penn State System. Penn State offers hundreds of majors, associate degrees, graduate programs and continuing education for the adult learner. So weather you are studying for an associate degree at the PA College of Technology, working on your bachelors degree at Altoona, or finishing up a professional post graduate program at either Hershey Medical Center or Dickson School of Law you are Penn State. System wide, there are over 81,000 students. {Penn State Fact Book}
To serve all of these students, Penn State employs just over 21,000 people across the state. According to the Penn State Fact Book, in the fall of 2004, Penn State had 21,163 full time employees. When you add part-time and student employees, the ranks of working Penn Stators grows to 38,707. {Penn State Fact Book}
Penn State’s build environment is just as diverse. Over Penn State’s 150 year history, the university has built hundreds of building. These can be just as divers as the teachers that teach in them or the throngs of students that run their halls. On the University Park Campus alone the building stile range from the wooden balloon frame of the old cottages to the Classical Roman design of Old Main. The utilitarian design of the mid 60s dorms of center, south, and east halls to the post modern design of the new architecture building behind the abstract façade of the Palmer Museum. And materials rang from wood, and brick, to stone, steal, glass, and concrete.
With the wide range of context we can find diversity in, most people still think of diversity as just race and gender and there proportion to the overall community. This leads to the fourth facet of diversity. When dealing with the human aspect of diversity, who’s model do you use to determine if you are diverse? Must all groups and genders be represented, and if so, to what extent. The question that leads to more debate then most of the others is “how much?”
This facet is characterized by a continuum of ideas. The simplest is that each race or gender at least be represented. In the middle of the twentieth century one attempt to resolve the issue of “how much” was the establishment of the affirmative action model. In this model, the part, a school or business, should look as much like the hole, the city or state in witch the part is in, as possible. The implementation of this model was anything but smooth. In some sections of the country, particularly the south, national guards troops needed to be mobilized to assist with the desegregation of many school. Another model may be called the pie model. In this model, the part is divided into as many even pieces of the pie as there are group to be represented. Id does not mater the actual percentage of the total population.
So, what is diversity at Penn State? Diversity is the collection of differences.
With just over eighty thousand students, almost thirty eight thousand employees, offering hundreds of majors, both associate and baccalaureate degrees, not to mention graduate programs. With teachers and instructors that are known world wide. With more than twenty campuses that have student populations from a few hundred to a more then forty thousand, in settings, both rural and urban. With extracurricular activities ranging from division one sport to the theater and visual arts to hundreds of club and Greek organizations, Penn State is a collection of many things and people that are “differing from one another . . . composed of distinct or unlike elements or qualities” {Merriam-Webster}and “Having variety in form; diversified”{American Heritage}