Author Archives: bdm86

About bdm86

I'm a freshman in the ILR School from Princeton Junction, NJ. Outside of school I enjoy playing basketball.

Final Rose Café of Spring 2017

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The final Rose Café of the semester focused on cutting the cord and using internet based entertainment such as Netflix or other streaming services. The talk was timely because earlier this week I had talked to my parents about canceling our TV service in favor of a service such as YouTube TV. Luckily, my family has internet service that can support streaming services, so we have the opportunity to consider alternate services. However, the speaker stressed the importance of bandwidth and latency in internet services.

The speaker’s research focuses on determining consumer’s willingness to pay for increased bandwidth or decreased latency. This is a difficult problem because many consumers do not understand the differences and even when explained they might give inaccurate information when their money is not on the line.

It seems natural that more and more people will cut the cord and shift towards online options. I can easily foresee never subscribing to cable or landline phone in my life. Besides live sporting events, I almost never miss TV at school with online options such as Netflix. I am excited to see how these online services will enhance the user experience with TV instead of just moving the same content to a new device.

The Effort That Goes into a Cup of Joe

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This week’s Rose Café event was focused on coffee and coffee farming. The speaker was the CEO of a coffee roasting company that supplies coffee to Cornell Dining. The coffee roasting company tries to supply coffee in a responsible manner and provide workers with greater opportunities. His company has help fund preschools, health clinics, and other necessities for coffee farmers.

I was most surprised to learn of the amount of physical labor that goes into producing a small amount of coffee. The coffee is picked by hand, often in remote areas, and carried in large bags by hand. Next the beans must be separated from the fruit within 48 hours to prevent fermentation. One farmer will spend countless hours picking coffee and hauling hundred pound bags down mountains for months only to produce a small amount of coffee. Other workers must manually sort every coffee bean to ensure quality.

Prior to the talk, I had never realized how labor intensive coffee production is. It was amazing to learn more about the lives of coffee farmers and their living conditions. The next time I drink a cup of coffee, I will have a much greater appreciate of the hard work of coffee growers.

This Rose Café event was one of the most engaging and informative of the semester.

Torture

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Last night’s Rose Café focused on torture in South East Asia. It was difficult to hear about the prevalence of torture in some countries. The speakers talked about police torturing people during the investigation of a crime to get a confession. Even though the real perpetrator might go free, the police want to create the impression that they quickly solve crime. Of course, this approach does not solve crime, but is itself a crime. I could not imagine the horror of being an innocent person, or a guilty person, tortured and forced to confess.

The issue of torture is clearly important; however, I would imagine that researching the topic as a profession, as the speakers do, would take a mental toll. I would imagine that researching terrible stories of torture for years would be extremely difficult. However, shedding light on the issue is an important means of helping reduce torture so perhaps that positive benefit helps the researchers push forward.

During this semester of Rose Cafes, I have been fascinated at the topics that academics devote their careers too. A past speaker was an expert in the history of fats and oils. Without the Rose Café, I never would have appreciated the range of unique and niche topics that are researched in academia.

I hope that the research into torture and the awareness brought by this research will help eliminate the terrible human rights abuses discussed in the session.

My Clay Sculpting Masterpiece

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Three tiered clay towner

Last Thursday I attended a clay sculpting event and the Johnson Art Museum. As you may be able to tell from the picture of my final product, I have no experience making clay sculptures. I also did not have any ideas of what to make before starting which made things interesting. I ended up deciding to make a tower and see how tall I could make it. The event was actually quite relaxing partially because I had no expectations of making a nice-looking sculpture. It also reminded me of elementary school art class which brought back some good memories.

I also enjoyed watching other people make their sculptures. Many of the other participants created sculptures that were very good looking. Some of the other participants clearly had a plan coming into the session and brought additional supplies to help them create their masterpiece. Other participants, like me, had no preconceived ideas and experimented with the clay before deciding on what to build.

I thought the clay sculpting event was fun and relaxing. It also allowed me to be creative. There were no rules and the clay could be shaped into almost anything allowing my imagination to run free.

 

The Transatlantic Series

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Tonight’s Rose Café focused on the Transatlantic Series which is a series of track and field competitions between American universities and universities from the United Kingdom. I was previously unaware of the rich history of the series and I enjoyed learning more about the competition. It was interesting to learn that Oxford and Cambridge Universities team up to compete against two North American universities. It must be an interesting experience for the athletes to compete on the same team as their rivals; however, maybe national pride unites the athletes during the competition.

I think it would be interesting to create a similar series in different sports. However, I cannot imagine basketball or football athletes from different institutions temporarily combining into a signal team. Perhaps swimming is a good candidate for a similar transatlantic competition series.

The speaker tonight also displayed great passion for the games. It was clear that the games have had a large impact on his world view. I think his passionate speaks strongly to the value of cultural exchanges at a relatively young age. It would also be valuable to have such a cultural exchange with student-athletes from countries with greater differences. Athletics is a great way to bond and these interactions could go a long way toward increasing sensitivity between nations and cultures.

I was happy to learn about a tradition that Cornell is deeply involved in.

Brazilian Dairy Markets and More!

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Tonight’s Rose Café talk was led by a Brazilian professor who studies the Brazilian dairy market. However, the majority of the talk focused on Brazil’s geography, culture, and politics. I always enjoying hearing more about foreign countries especially from natives of the country. Like everyone else at the Café, I had never been to Brazil so I had a lot to learn. One of the things that surprised me was the vast array of different ecosystems present in Brazil. From the Amazon rainforest to the swampy wetlands and even dessert. Before the talk, I was only familiar with the beautiful beaches and dense Amazon rainforest.

It was also interesting to learn that Brazil has an advanced aerospace industry, but also large slums. I was familiar with Embraer because I have flown on their jets. A few years ago, I flew round trip from Syracuse to Regan National on an Embraer. It was much more pleasant then flying on those propeller planes that sometime service the Ithaca airport.

Someday I might want to visit Brazil. It seems like an interesting country with a multitude of different ecosystems to enjoy. After I typed that last sentence, I searched flight prices to Brazil and I discovered that I won’t be visiting anytime soon. If I had that type of money to spend on airfare, I would like to visit my relatives who live in Longyearbyen, Norway. This town is located on the Svalbard Island about 1,500 miles north of Oslo. Longyearbyen is known for its scenic views, Northern lights, and polar bears. Unfortunately, I better visit soon because the changing climate will likely have a large impact on Longyearbyen. Unfortunately, recent administrative action may increase the urgency of my travel.

What Do You Do For a Living?

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If you had asked me before tonight if anyone spends their career researching the history of fat I would have probably said no. I would have been wrong because today’s Rose Café speaker does in fact study the history of fats as a career. While the speaker talked eloquently about the history of fat my biggest take away from the talk was that some people make a living studying the history of fat. This got me thinking about all the other interesting a niche career paths that people take. Most of my neighbors, family members, and friends have more typical careers such a lawyer, doctor, teacher, psychologic, engineer, accountant, and more. I rarely run across a person whose job is so out of the ordinary that it makes me rethink the breadth of possible career choices; historian of fats happens to be one of the careers that made me rethink the breadth of possible career choices.

I have met a few people with out-of-the-ordinary career choices. For example, one of my neighbors was worked for a TV channel and his job involved a large amount of watching TV. When I was in middle school, this sounded like a pretty cool job to me. I have also met people whose job is to test a popular video game. When I heard, this I imagined them playing the game in big reclining chairs for eight hours a day. However, they actually test the game programmatically without playing it too much.

Perhaps I rarely meet people with unique jobs because people explain their jobs in relatively plain terms even if their work is quite distinctive. For example, I wonder if tonight’s speaker would introduce himself as a historian rather than as a historian focusing on fats.

Cooking Food to Eat

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Today’s Rose Scholars event was a cooking workshop. It was fun to be in the kitchen and it was a nice break. With the dining halls on campus, I really have no need to cook during the school year. However, during the summer I will be cooking and eating without a dining hall which means I will need to cook. Last summer I was in the same situation and my cooking left some to be desired. I mostly cooked extremely simple meals. My cooking kept me full, but it could have been tastier.

The cooking session made me realize that cooking is not too hard. The key is planning your shopping to have the needed ingredients.

The session also reminded me of my high school cooking class. My friends and I were usually good at following the recipes and making good tasting food, but occasionally we would mess up. Once we realized we messed up we would all scramble to correct our mistake before the teacher realized. Sometimes this was a difficult task, but it made for some good fun. Unfortunately, sometimes we would mess up a recipe so badly that we did not think we could safely eat the resulting food. However, if we did not eat the food at the end the teacher would know that we did not successfully follow the recipe.

Overall the cooking workshop went by quickly and we were rewarded with a nice lunch afterwards.

All Rise

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Tonight’s Rose Café featured the Ithaca City judge. It was interesting to have a some-what informal discussion with someone who you would normally see on the bench wearing a robe. The judge talked about some of his experiences as a defense attorney and now as a judge in a state criminal court. He also discussed the effects of judicial elections on the independence of the judiciary.

At the end of his talk he said that his court is in session on Wednesdays and Fridays. I would be interested in attending because I have never witnessed proceedings in a criminal court. Last year, I observed oral arguments at the United States Supreme Court and was fascinated by the process. I was not familiar with much of the legal nuances that were debated, but I enjoyed hearing all the Justices except one ask thoughtful and pointed questions of lawyers. I was also amazed by the lawyers’ ability to quickly respond and cite relevant cases, amicus curiae briefs, and exhibits as if the information was written on the back of their hand. I was also surprised by Justice Thomas, he appeared to take a nap during the arguments, but he might have just been closing his eyes and sitting still.

Last year I received a summons to be on a grand jury. The jury would have meet once a week for a number of months. I was probably one of the few who was excited to receive such a notice because I would have enjoyed learning about the system from a new perspective. I had to write to the court and let them know that I could not serve on the jury because I go to school in Ithaca which is far away from Trenton were the courthouse is. I’m sure I will have another opportunities to have jury duty.

I also appreciated hearing the Judge’s perspective on sentencing. He mentioned the deliberation and psychological impact of sentencing a person to incarceration. I cannot imagine having that type of power over another individual. I fully understand why the judge would say sentencing is the most difficult aspect of his job.

Making Sense of Feedback

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This week’s Rose Café was focused on feedback that students receive from instructors. The talk made me think about the importance of learning from feedback on writing assignments. It also reminded me of multiple times when I received a paper from a professor and had difficulty interpreting their comments. Often, I will go to a professors’ office hours to discuss the feedback to get a better understanding of how my writing could be improved. However, often the most important written assignment is due at the end of the semester and I never could discuss the paper with my professor. This is frustrating because a letter grade is not enough feedback for me to improve my writing with. On the other hand, some of my professors have provided extremely detailed and thoughtful feedback which has helped me improve my writing skills. One professor would provide detailed feedback before the final paper was due which allowed me time to refine my writing. This process seems more consistent with how writing works in the real world. During my internships, coworkers would frequently ask each other for feedback on their writing before publishing or submitting their work.

There was also a discussion about rubrics. I have mixed feelings about rubrics. On one hand, they help focus my writing and help me ensure that I am meeting the requirements of the assignment. However, rubrics also constrain creativity. All things considered, I would prefer not to be constrained by a rubric, but I still appreciate some direction about the requirements of an assignment. Speaking of feedback, feel free to leave a comment.

Life

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Equality is a part of life that I have come to value. Earlier in my life I experienced what it is like to be treated unequally because of who I am. These experiences made me value equality more. In high school (until senior year) I was unable to take AP courses because I have a disability and the school’s policy was to not provide accommodations to AP students. I was also obliged to leave classes to scan materials so that I could read them. By the time that I would return to class I might have missed the discussion about the document and the class moved onto talking about the next topic. These experiences taught me what it feels like to be treated unequally.

Luckily, I have also been able to experience being treated equally and the opportunities that come with equality. Now at Cornell, I feel that I am treated the same as my friends and classmates who do not have disabilities. Whereas in high school, my experiences and opportunities were constrained by a discriminatory system I now feel that who I am does not constrain me.

Politics

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Last night’s Rose Café talk focused on current day politics. It is certainly an interesting time to discuss politics because of the new administration and the seemingly increase in partisanship. There are several issues that I believe may be contributing to the increasingly partisanship division.

I think one of the issues is that conflict, divisiveness, and dysfunction make for more interesting media. Very little has been reported on nominees or legislation that have received bi-partisan support. This makes the partisan political conflict seem even more extreme. For example, during the Café talk it was stated that most Supreme Court decisions are 5-4. However, after researching this later I found that only about 20% of cases are decided 5-4.

Another problem is the echo chamber that occurs when people are not exposed to diverse viewpoints. Often it takes an effort to seek out differing viewpoints and seriously engage with these arguments. This dynamic has undoubtedly shaped my personal beliefs since the areas which I have lived are mostly comprised of people who share my political views. I have found it difficult to step outside of this echo chamber.

I am also concerned by the lack of rigorous intellectual debate in politics. So many issues are litigated in the court of public opinion on rather petty grounds. I wish that more issues would be studied and debated with academic rigor in public forums.

In the end, I still believe that there is more that unites us than divides us.

Farm and Home Week

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The first Rose Café of the semester focused on the history of the College of Human Ecology and two of its most notable faculty members, Martha Van Rensselaer and Flora Rose. During the discussion, I learned about Farm and Home Week, an annual event at Cornell during the middle of last century.

Following the discussion, I called my grandma and grandpa to get their take on Farm and Field Week. My grandma said that the event was discontinued after her sophomore year. She said that as a student in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences the event was memorable. On the other hand, my grandpa was a student in the College of Arts and Sciences and said that he never became involved in the Farm and Home Week. I enjoyed hearing my grandparent’s memory of some of the events discussed at the Rose Café.

I was also interested to hear about how the home economics classes were free for women in New York State. My grandma also didn’t pay tuition, but paid $62.50 (about $530 in 2017 dollars) in fees. I would assume that the home economics students also incurred some fees, but it is commendable that the state could offer high quality education to its citizens at such an affordable price.

Lastly, I was interest to learn about the connection between Flora Rose and Elenor Roosevelt. I had been unaware of this portion of Cornell history. I thought it was particularly interesting that Elenor Roosevelt served Flora Rose’s nutritionally enriched cereals at The White House. I was made aware of the nutritionally enriched cereals from the sign outside of Rose House, but I did not realize that the cereal was served by Elenor Roosevelt at The White House.

Overall, I enjoyed learning more about Cornell history mostly because I enjoy talking with my grandparents about the history and hearing them reminisce about their time at Cornell.