Digitizing Nelson Mandela Archives in South Africa (June 30) 

 It’s been 20 years since the fall of apartheid in South Africa in 1994. and for the last year now, students and faculty here at the University of Missouri have been assisting the University of Western Cape to help preserve an archive of thousands of photographs, films, artifacts, oral histories and other historical documents related to the struggle for freedom during apartheid.

The Mayibuye archive is housed at the Main Library of the University of Western Cape in Cape Town and Robben Island. Western Cape played a key role in the struggle against apartheid and was the only “colored” university in the country. Many of the thought leaders in the administration of Nelson Mandela came from the university.

The MU College of Education’s School of Information Science & Learning Technologies and the University of Missouri Libraries is working with archivists in Western Cape to digitize much of the archive and make it available online. The two universities have also had a long-running partnership that stretches back into the 1980s.

The Missouri School of Journalism’s role in the archive project is to tell the stories contained in the archive, and we’ll largely be talking about that effort today.
Guests:
Randy Smith, Professor of Convergence Journalism at MU 
Lauren Langille, Graduate Student at MU 
Kevin Drew, Graduate Student at MU 
Professor Harold Herman, University of West Cape, South Africa 


Live Blog Archive Digitizing
 

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Recent discussions

What the VA hospital controversy means for the future and for Missouri (June 23)
The United States Veterans Health Administration has recently been under national scrutiny, after reports that veterans were on waiting lists at some VA hospitals for more than 30 days… in some cases, dozens of people had died while still on waiting lists to receive care. Moreover, there’s been evidence of efforts at some hospitals to hide evidence of those long waiting lists. Congress is discussing the issue, and the Veterans Affairs Secretary resigned last month. In the meantime, we want to know more about the issues facing the VA system, and how the news might affect the Va facilities here in Missouri.

Transportation Infrastructure and Amendment 7 (June 17)
For years now the state of Missouri’s infrastructure has been a concern for public officials, politicians and Missourians on the whole. The Missouri Department of Transportation and state legislators have come up with a way to combat the department’s shrinking budget, but it’s up to Missouri voters to approve it. Amendment 7 will be on the August ballot: it’s a three quarter cent statewide sales tax increase on everything except groceries and medicine. It’s estimated to generate 534 million dollars annually over the next 10 years, with all of the money to be spent on a wide variety of transportation purposes in the state.



Classical Music and Education in the Summertime (June 9)

Some believe that learning and listening to music, particularly classical music, at a young age is tied to success in the future. 

In Columbia, there are many efforts to get children interested in classical music: multiple avenues for music education, and even classical music performances in town targeted at kids.

Today on Intersection, we’ll talk about how young people in Mid-Missouri are exposed to these influences, and about some of the challenges in reaching them.

A conversation with University of Missouri Chancellor R. Bowen Loftin (May 5)

R. Bowen Loftin took over as Chancellor of the University of Missouri three months ago, taking the reins from Brady Deaton, who had served as Chancellor for a decade. Loftin had served as President of Texas A&M for nearly four years before making the move to Missouri. Now that he’s had time to settle in Columbia, today on Intersection we’ll find out more about who he is, and his plans for MU.
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The future of downtown development, and Repeal 6214 (April 28)

Columbia’s city clerk has until Tuesday evening to decide whether the petition known as Repeal 6214 has enough signatures and is valid - and whether the city can continue with its plans, approved last March, with the developer the Opus Group. If you’ve been following this story, you know that this is about another student housing complex planned for downtown Columbia. Those in favor of the plan - including the mayor and a majority of city council members - say increasing the housing opportunities and investment downtown is a good thing. Opponents of the plan say the deal doesn’t do enough to address infrastructure needs or the livability of Columbia’s downtown communities - and they’ve gathered more than 3,000 signatures from Columbia citizens who agree with them.

A look inside Mid-Missouri's international communities (April 21)

In Columbia, more than 8 percent of the population is foreign-born, compared with just under 4 percent on average in the rest of Missouri. In Columbia Public Schools, there are 61 different languages spoken amongst the students in the English Language Learning programs. Today on Intersection we’re talking about mid-Missouri’s international communities. Why is Columbia more culturally diverse than other parts of the Midwest? What is life like in Columbia for people from around the world, and how does their presence affect the town as a whole?

Today we’re joined by three guests who work and live on the frontlines of mid-Missouri’s international communities - and two of them were born outside the US, but now call Columbia home.

The world according to Peter Stiepleman, and his vision for Columbia Schools  (April 14)


On Tuesday, Columbia voters approved a $50 million dollar bond issue that is part of a 10-year plan to fund a new elementary school and other improvements, and to finally get rid of the district’s classroom trailers, eventually, for the Columbia school district’s growing number of students. And, as the district moves forward, a new superintendent will be at the helm: Peter Stiepleman has been the district’s assistant superintendent of elementary education, and takes on the role of district superintendent when Chris Belcher retires this June. During the search, the Columbia Tribune's Hank Waters called Stiepleman one of American education’s “hot prospects” who has “shown his stuff” in Columbia. We take your questions and answer some of our own.
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Each week, we start with an issue that affects people like you in mid-Missouri. Then we line up a group of panelists who can speak intelligently about that topic, and bring them into the studio for a live discussion every Monday at 2 p.m.