Perspectives on Social Issues
(April 2007)

Supermax Prisons Damage Psyches, Are Counterproductive
"Every inmate [at the Ohio State Penitentiary, a 504-bed supermax prison in Youngstown, Ohio] lives alone in a 7-ft. by 14-ft. cell that resembles nothing so much as a large, concrete closet, equipped with a sink, a toilet, a desk and a molded stool and sleep platform covered by a thin mattress. The solid metal door is outfitted with strips around the sides and bottom, muffling conversation with inmates in adjacent cells. Three times a day, a tray of food is delivered and is eaten alone. The prisoner may spend 23 hours a day in lockdown, emerging to exercise once a day. The lights in the cell never go off, although they may be dimmed a bit at night.

If there's not much to like about the conditions in Youngstown [or the 30 supermaxes across the U.S.], there's not much to like about the people confined there either. These are the men corrections folks like to call ‘the worst of the worst,’ the kind of felons who dealt drugs or led gangs or killed on the outside and continued to do so in prison. But that level of control may be counterproductive. It's possible that the very steps we're taking to keep society safe and such prisoners in check are achieving just the opposite. [Prisoners] serving sentences for more mundane crimes do sometimes get released. Demolish their psyches while they're in prison, and nobody's safer when they get out."

“Are Prisons Driving Prisoners Mad?” by Jeffrey Kluger*, TIME, Jan 26, 2007.

Solar Cell Breaks Efficiency Barrier
"Scientists have produced a photovoltaic (PV) cell with an energy conversion efficiency of 40.7 percent, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) reported in December [2006]. The collaboration of DOE and Spectrolab, Inc. (a subsidiary of Boeing) led to the achievement of a decades-old goal: to break the 40-percent efficiency barrier on solar cell devices. According to Richard King, a principal investigator at Spectrolab, 'The excellent performance of these materials hints at still higher efficiency in future solar cells.'

According to Spectrolab, the highly efficient units allow for the use of fewer cells overall to achieve the same power output as their more conventional silicon counterparts. As a result, the technology may allow for PV system installation costs of U.S. $3 per watt, with electricity production costs of 8 to 10 cents per kilowatthour. The achievement has the broader potential of helping to reduce U.S. reliance on imported oil and increase national energy security, DOE's Karsner notes."

"New Solar Cell Breaks 40-percent Barrier" by Alana Herro, Eye on Earth, WorldWatch, Mar/Ap 2007.

Racial Inequalities Persist in U.S.
"Noting the achievements of African-Americans like Senator Obama, we would like to believe that we 'are over' the race problem. But the statistics paint a more sobering picture. Dr. David Satcher, the 16th surgeon general of the United States, notes that 85,000 African-Americans died in the year 2000 due to inequality in health care. The infant mortality rate of black babies is double the infant mortality rate of white babies in the United States. African-Americans have lower life expectancies than white Americans by six or seven years. Twenty-five percent of black Americans live in poverty. One-third of African-American children live in poverty. Black poverty rates are triple those of whites.

Tavis Smiley’s book, Covenant With Black America, explores many other disturbing inequities that persist in the United States today in housing, education and the criminal justice system. The Hatewatch web site lists cross burnings and activities of white supremacist groups today, and it is possible to track the hate groups currently active in each state. The Harvard online racial bias tests have shown that millions of Americans harbor racial preconceptions. As past inequities continue into the present, we have a moral responsibility to address them."

"Race in America" by Maryann Cusimano Love, America, Feb 12, 2007.

Children Press Political Leaders for Peace
"Eleven-year-old Najib Nihna’s voice was clear and authoritative as he addressed Lebanon’s leaders in an urgent call for peace. ‘Put away all your private interests and your personal accounts; let forgiveness triumph over pride,’ Najib said Feb. 4 [2007] on the steps of Beirut’s National Museum. As he spoke, heads nodded in silent agreement amid the crowd gathered outside the museum, carefully selected as the venue for the ceremony because of its position straddling the ‘green line’ that divided east and west Beirut during Lebanon’s 1975-90 civil war.

Najib spoke on behalf of hundreds of Sunni, Shiite, Druze, and Christian schoolchildren gathered from all over Lebanon. Some stood behind Najib with head scarves, while others wore crucifixes; all wore white T-shirts bearing the symbol of a dove and the Lebanese cedar. As Najib spoke, 12 pairs of young Offre Joie delegates read the same message to leaders of Lebanon’s rival political factions, calling on them to return to the dialogue table and settle their differences peacefully rather than allowing their supporters to resort to violent street clashes."

“In Lebanon, Children Urge Political Leaders to Unite for Peace," National Catholic Reporter (NCR), Feb 16, 2007.

Poorest of Poor Live on 20 Cents a Day
"The World Bank started making international comparisons of poverty only about two decades back. For obvious reasons of convenience, it developed two simple notions of poverty. The lower poverty line was set at $1 a day per capita. Those below it were considered to be 'the poorest of the poor.' The upper poverty line was set at $2 a day. Those living on $1 to 2 a day were still poor, but not as bad off. However, there was a problem. It was realized that $1 goes much farther in purchasing necessary items of consumption in a poor country than in a rich one. To make purchasing power across countries comparable, economists developed what is known as the PPP (purchasing power parity) index.

Taking into account the lower cost of living in impoverished countries, a conversion factor is now applied to market exchange rates to calculate what is minimally necessary to survive there. Using World Bank numbers, applying this conversion factor for India effectively means that if you survive on 1 PPP dollar a day in that country, it is equivalent to being given 20 cents in your hand in the U.S."

“India on 20 Cents a Day," Commentary, Sojourners Magazine, Feb 2007.