Author Archives: Roxana

Torture

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Last week’s Rose Cafe deviated from the normal set of topics we usually have. Instead, the conversation revolved around the difficult subject of torture. We had the privilege of having Dr. Nick Chessman and Pornpen Khongkachonkiet lead the discussion on the subject matter, specifically focused on their work in Southeast Asia. The combination of the two speakers, Pornpen a human rights activist and Nick a scholar, helped to provide two important perspectives. Pornpen spoke from that of a local who is on the front lines talking to those directly affected by the use of torture by the government of Thailand, while Nick spoke on how his own research in Myanmar has influenced his work on torture.

The main question that was asked by the Rose Scholars and one that the speakers kept coming back to during the talk was whether or not torture “works”. Pornpen’s response to this question really struck me the most: Is stripping the dignity and humanity of another person worth obtaining an piece of information? This question really made me reflect on what countries that utilize torture mechanism really value. This topic was a gruesome one to cover, but I am grateful that our speakers were willing to share their experiences with us.

Clay at the Johnson

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On a rainy Thursday afternoon, I and group of other Rose Scholars made our way up to the Johnson Museum for an afternoon clay making session. After a quick art history lesson where we viewed various Pre-Columbian pieces of clay artwork, we were brought to the studio and given the opportunity to create our own masterpiece.

Inspired by the walk through of the Johnson’s clay collection, I decided to embark on the ambitious task of crafting a full fledged teapot. The last time I had touched a piece of wet clay I was still an avid Jonas Brother’s fan, so needless to say the teapot went south quickly. Regardless, I had fun molding my clay into various shapes and sizes and taking my mind off the endless work I had waiting for me when I got back to my dorm.

The hour went by incredibly quickly and I was reminded why I love attending Rose Events at the Johnson. The activity is always something fun, creative, and surprisingly cathartic to a stressed out college student, and this one was no different.

Andre Simores’ Brazil

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At the past Rose Cafe, we had the pleasure of listening to Andre Simores talk about his home country of Brazil. Previously, my knowledge on the country was mostly comprised of the Amazon Rainforest, Rio Carnival, and their national soccer team. In Andre’s talk, however, I was introduced to a wide range of topics concerning Brazil that have perked my curiosity to learn more about this multifaceted country.

Andre started out the talk by giving us all a quick geography lesson. Through his presentation of the various landscapes found in Brazil via google images, I was surprised to see such a variety. From deserts to forest to their own version of the Everglades here in the United States, I don’t know why I never bothered to imagine anything other than a tropical environment, especially considering Brazil’s status as the 5th largest country in the world.

The talk then shifted to more specific topics, including the agriculture and educational system in Brazil. Some of the main exports Andre mentioned were raw sugar, soybeans, and poultry meat, which I found pretty surprising to note. Andre didn’t talk too much about the dairy industry that he is involved with, which I think would have been interesting to hear and compare to that of the United States. In regards to the education system, Andre noted how in Brazil, the top universities in the country were public institutions that only those that had the opportunity of attending a private preparatory school were able to go to. This type of system, sometimes completely opposite of the United States, tends to contributes to the unequal distribution of wealth in the country that Andre also spoke on.

Overall, it was a pleasure to attend this event. I came in not thinking of Brazil outside of the World Cup and came out with newfound knowledge and curiosity about this dynamic country.

 

Ambitions and Mentors

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I walked into last week’s Rose Cafe expecting to creep in the back corner like I usually do and listen to Sam Beck lecture about the NYC Urban Semester program for an hour without much input from students. As soon as we all settled down though, he opened up the talk with “I don’t like to lecture” and instead insisted he wanted to hear about all of our individual ambitions and how Cornell’s resources like the Urban Semester could help us achieve them. I immediately suppressed a groan. I’m always curious to hear other students talk about their studies and goals, and I love to hear the passion in the voices of those that know exactly what they want to do. I, on the other hand, haven’t really found a passion in my area of study and have no idea what to do after Cornell, so whenever anyone asks me these types of questions I don’t have much to contribute. As the other students began sharing, however, in between those with a clear plan there were more people in the same situation as me that I would have imagined, which was incredibly reassuring.

As Sam Beck went around the room and had us share our major and future goals, he gave everyone individualized advice and encouraged just about everyone to look into the Urban Semester to help them get real world experience. He also emphasized the importance of finding a mentor on campus, either a professor or advisor who makes an effort to get to know us, helps us navigate our interests, and who is generally invested in our success at and beyond Cornell. I am incredibly fortunate to have found a mentor on campus, whom I met freshman year. This professor has provided me access to so many incredible opportunities and I am very grateful to have someone who is as invested in my future as I am. I truly hope every student has the opportunity to form this kind of relationship during their time on campus, as I have found it to be incredibly valuable. Overall, this talk really made me reflect on the opportunities I have been granted at Cornell as well as the resources I have yet to explore.

Art on a Sunday

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Last Sunday I attended Nicholas Carbonara’s Art Event in the Rose Common Room. It happened to fall on the first sunny day following the week of the never ending snowfall, so the room was warm and bathed in sunlight. In addition, Nicholas’ two dogs were running around and greeting every newcomer who walked in. Initially I was feeling stressed about my assignments and a little annoyed that I had to take two hours out of my prime study time for this event, but once I sat down my worries seemed a little farther away.

Nicholas opened the workshop with the idea of using art as a therapeutic method to break away from our stressful workload and the added commitment to social media that seem to consume our lives. He noted that the event would be the perfect opportunity to try this out, allowing us an uninterrupted hour full of blank papers, dogs, and funky music to draw, write or simply sit there and self reflect.

During that hour, I utilized every bright color I could find in the box of markers and drew whatever came to mind. I’m not an artist, but I’ve always found doodling to be relaxing. In this setting, it was definitely a similar experience. Once I had filled up my sheet with various shapes and colors, I spent the rest of the time petting and nuzzling Ewok, one of Nicholas’ dogs. Overall, his hope of us having an afternoon to distance ourselves from our hectic schedules and instead taking a moment to breathe was personally successful. It was a pleasure to attend this event, and I hope Rose has more events to provide us with tips on self care.

Blood in The Water

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Last week, I had the opportunity to hear Heather Ann Thompson speak about her book “Blood in The Water: The Attica Prison Uprising of 1971 and Its Legacy”. Previously, I had heard the term Attica thrown around occasionally but never actually knew the context, so I was intrigued to learn more.

What I hear in that lecture hall was truly sickening. On September 13, 1971, prisoners at Attica Prison staged a revolt and held hostages in order to negotiate and attain basic human rights that they had been denied, things as simple as sufficient food and water. After a false hope of meeting these demands, state police arrived and killed prisoners and hostages alike. Those left alive were subsequently humiliated and tortured.

This is not the story the public had heard, however. After careful crafting and, how Thompson described, “various meetings in the pool house to get everyone’s stories straight”, the public was informed that the prisoners were responsible for the dead after days of riots in the prison. In the process of writing this book, Thompson described the obstacles she encountered in gathering this information because of how warped the records continue to be and the misinformation that persists about what really happened on that September day.  It’s stories like these that have me questioning what other events in our history the government has manipulated in order to save face.

Art to Reflect

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Last Wednesday I attended Nicholas Carbonaro’s art opening in the Rose Dinning Hall. I wasn’t sure exactly how they were going to pull that off, but they had a jazzy band playing on the stage and some tasty chips and salsa that really put you in an art gallery kind of mood.

Before Carbonaro formally introduced his work, I had a chance to walk around and take a closer look at the variety of artwork that was hung on the wall, from photographs, paintings, clothing, and some smaller sketches. The majority of them featured a distorted human face decorated in various symbols and colors. I was intrigued, but mostly a little confused.

When Carbonaro walked up to the microphone to talk about his work, I finally saw the correlation between the idea he was trying to get across and the artwork itself. Carbonaro described how growing up social media and “selfies” weren’t a thing for him, and how today we use these tools to present a specific image to the world of ourselves. His pieces were instead trying to reflect the reality of how the world sees us or how we feel we are being seen, even if it isn’t so pretty. After his talk, I was able to appreciate his work more now that I understood the premise behind it. Overall, the artwork made me reflect, which is what I think he was hoping for.

Vagina =/= Woman

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Last Saturday night I joined a group of other Rose Scholars to go view the heavily advertised “Vagina Monologues”. From the name of the show, I was already pretty off-put. I didn’t have any interest in watching a trans-exclusionary radical feminist skit show on a weekend, but due to a busy week I wasn’t left with another choice but to crowd into Bailey with all the other patrons. Maybe I would be pleasantly surprised after all.

After about the third sketch about vaginal orgasms and various exclamations about pussy power, I was really glad I hadn’t coughed up 10 dollars for this show. Prior to the viewing, our GRF Sarah informed us that the show was based off the 1990’s original, and it was quite obvious. I can see a time when these sketches might have been groundbreaking or taboo, but in this day and age the message is outdated and a little ignorant. The majority of the sketches reinforced the idea that having a vagina and knowing your way around it is essential to being a woman, which completely excludes the transgendered community and other groups that identify as female without the reproductive genitalia. Other issues I had with the production were the seemly random interjections of woman’s issues in between sketches.  What’s the point of bringing up the struggles of homeless females in the United States if you aren’t going to elaborate or shed more light on the topic? Overall, with the huge platform they are given, the show would do better to update their sketches to better reflect current woman’s issues and not cater specifically to the cis-gendered.

With all that said, the performers themselves were great and committed completely to the roles they played. The show itself, however, was just not my cup of tea.

People and Politics

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Professor Enn’s Rose Cafe this past week, first and foremost, was a pleasant change from any of the past Rose Cafes I have attended. The atmosphere in Professor Blalock’s apartment was much more relaxed and comfortable in comparison to previous ones held in the library that felt more like a classroom setting. Because of this, the atmosphere was more conducive to questions.

I wasn’t sure what to expect from the conversation, as the main topic, the current state of the country, seemed pretty vague. However, people had plenty of questions for Professor Enn’s right off the bat and soon I was having flashbacks to high school when some AP US History topics were being mentioned that have recently become more relevant in the state of the current administration. Being in a major that doesn’t require any sort of government of economic classes has definitely made me a bit rusty but this event was a good reminder that I need to reeducate myself in order to have a more informed opinion.

After discussing recently implemented policies and the general polarization of country’s political parties, the conversation ended on the frustrating, tired note of “respecting other people’s political opinion”. This mindset is the result of having privilege. It’s easy to say you respect someone’s decision to vote for tr*mp when his comments and policies do not put the lives of you or your loved ones at stake. People of color, immigrants, refugees, Muslims, the LQBTQ community, and other marginalized groups cannot say the same.

Robert Jones puts it better than I could: “We can disagree and still love each other unless your disagreement is rooted in my oppression and denial of my humanity and right to exist.”