Author Archives: bdm86

About bdm86

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

Food and Brand Lab

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I had heard about the Food and Brand Lab prior to the Café talk this week, but did not know much about their research. I was glad to have the opportunity to learn more about their research and was not disappointed by the discussion.

The talk about the Food and Brand Lab was interesting and somewhat disturbing. It was disturbing to learn how little thought we put into our food choices even though those choices have a major impact on our health. Since there are so many choices to make regarding food choices, people have to rely on convince and habit to deal with all the possible decisions.

I was very interested in the discussion of how “the best diet is the one that you don’t know you are on.” It was amazing to hear stories about how slightly altering the presentation or possible choices of food can change how people eat. For example, the researchers discussed an experiment about children eating carrots during lunch. One group of children were not given a choice of vegetable and were required to take carrots. The other group was given the choice of either carrots or celery. The group that was given the choice of carrots or celery mostly chose the carrots and consumed more of these carrots. This is an amazing example of how psychology can be used to get people to eat healthier foods without telling them that they must eat the healthier foods.

Another interesting example was the proposed large soda ban in New York City. The researchers suggested that this ban backfired because people do not like to be told what they can and can’t eat. According to their research, soda sales in the New York City area actually increased during the time that the soda ban was being debated.

The researchers also gave an example of putting large arrows on the floor of super market pointing to the produce in order to get people to buy more fruits and vegetables. I was amazed that such a simple idea could get people to eat healthier foods.b

The Food and Brand Lab was a great final Rose Scholars event for the semester!

Cornell Dining

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The talk about Cornell Dining helped me appreciate how much effort and thought goes into the food that I eat everyday. From how long the lines will be to how much food is thrown away, every detail is considered.

A few topics discussed particularly interested me. First the meat rationing system that has been established has positive and negatives in my opinion. It seems like a valid method of reducing waste, but it has some draw backs. If a person wants two servings of meat they will need to use two plates, which will create extra dishes. It also seems like an attempt to reduce costs by making it more difficult to consume the amount of meat you would like. Maybe there is a middle ground. Perhaps using a smaller serving implement would induce the same reduction in consumption while keeping to the “all-you-care-to-eat” approach.

I was also interested in the discussion about long lines at the dining halls. In my experience Okensheilds in particular has very long lines during lunch hour. The dining staff said that the facilities were designed to reduce lines by allowing people to walk up to the food they want. During low volume times, this system works great and people are able to get their food quickly. However, this seems impractical given the volume of people wanting to eat a limited number of dishes. Maybe this opinion is bias as someone who is accustomed to standing in lines. I would be interested to see what would happen if an experiment was done in which all people were told not to stand in line and just get their food. Would this work and reduce waiting time? It would be interesting to see.

Lastly, I was confused by the discussion about signs in Becker House from the New York City Board of Health which say “Sanitary Inspection Grade A.” I was confused not only because Becker House is not in New York City, but also because Tompkins County does not have a letter grading system. In my opinion, these signs are slightly deceptive because they indicate that Becker House received an “A” grade when it didn’t. I also looked at the Tompkins County inspection data and, while I was able to find inspection data for Rose House and others, I was not able to find any inspection data for Becker House. I hope that I missed the data for Becker House or this is simply an inadvertent omission.

If a Tree Falls

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The documentary If a Tree Falls: A Story of the Earth Liberation Front follows the story of Daniel McGowan, a man accused and eventually convicted of several large arson attacks. Mr. McGowan and the other members of the extremist environmental group called the Earth Liberation Front set fire to businesses which they thought were harmful to the environment. Mr. McGowan and his accomplices deliberately did not kill or injure anyone. They were only interested in destroying property.

My main takeaway from the documentary was the issues with using violence in an attempt to bring about social change. Instead of focusing attention onto the issues and promoting change, the violent actions of the criminals focused attention onto themselves. While the documentary touched upon relevant environmental issues its principle focus was issues of criminal law and Mr. McGowan’s legal defense. Unlike other environmental documentaries I have watched, this documentary did not move or motivate me to learn more about environmental issues. Instead, it left me more interested in the interpretation of criminal law in this case. To me, this shows that the actions of the criminals were not effective at accomplishing their goals.

Also interesting is the choice by Mr. McGowan and his accomplices of using fire to promote environmental issues. Large fires like the ones shown in the documentary are harmful to the environment and release pollutants into the atmosphere. Additionally, by burning down structures that would be rebuild, the group only increased demand for lumber. Based on my recollection of the documentary none of the victimized businesses where permanently shut down further showing the ineffectiveness of using arson to promote social change.

I believe that the group would have been more effective by using the political process. Given the large demonstrations happening there was clearly fairly widespread support among citizens for environmental reforms. If efforts were focused on political reforms it is possible that results would have been achieved.

Where’s the Urgency?

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The panel of professors discussing the environment addressed many issues that have been widely reported upon for years. While it seems the world is making progress towards addressing these issues, improvement still is not fast enough. Unfortunately, if we do not act on climate change quickly it may be too late.

Often people are more likely to act on issues that directly impact them or when they believe that their action will be impactful. For many people neither of these conditions are met and thus little action is taken. The professors talked about designing economic policies to ensure that people and companies consider the environment in their production decisions. This process involves taxing actions which harm the environment. If these policies are to have a serious chance of impacting climate change they need to be multi-national and implemented with a sense of urgency.

If only one country in a region implements these policies many businesses will move to nearby nations to avoid costs. Also, since it takes time for pollutants to dissipate from the atmosphere changes should be implemented rapidly in order to have the best chance of success.

Despite the challenges, it was encouraging to hear about people who are making a difference. For example, the activists who help stop fracking in New York made a sizable difference through collective action. Also, I was excited to hear that Cornell is using innovative methods to be more environmentally friendly such as using water from the lake for air conditioning.

I also hope that other small changes will collectively make a major difference. One idea I have is turning off the hallway lights in the dorms at night. They could be activated my motion sensors just like the lights in the bathroom.

International Criminal Law

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The talk about international criminal law was extremely informative. As someone who follows the news closely, the talk helped me realize how little the news media covers the topic. Despite its relevance in many news stories the topic of international criminal law seems under emphasized. By contrast, I feel that when a story involves matters of domestic criminal law the news media often discusses the legal aspects of a story from all angles. I wonder if my perception of the news coverage is correct and if so what can account for the differences.

I thought that Professor Jens David Ohlin’s style of using current events to teach about international criminal law concepts was effective. Since I had some previous knowledge of the events he was talking about I was better able to focus on the legal concepts being discussed. The professor also used questions to help him tailor his talk to the audience. It seemed that the questions he asked helped him judge the audiences’ familiarity with the topic.

I was also fascinated by the many intricacies of the law and how it seemingly leaves room for a variety of interpretations. I was amazed by the story that Professor Jens David Ohlin told regarding the South African government not arresting a foreign government official charged by the International Criminal Court; even though South Africa had signed a treaty promising to arrest individuals charged by the court. This case also involved domestic courts ordering officials to abide by the treaty. I’m sure there are numerous other examples illustrating the complex interplay of domestic and international law.

A topic that was not discussed, but would have been interesting to learn more about, is how technological changes impact international criminal law. I have heard a lot about the interplay between technology and domestic laws written before the internet. I would be interested in how this interplay is impacting international law.

After hearing the talk, I will try to seek out information about how other news stories fit into the system of international justice. I would also be interested in taking classes on this topic in the future.

Three Generations

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I was excited to take a tour of West Campus and learn more about the history because the history of West Campus, in a way, is a part of the history of my family. I’m the third generation of my family to live on West Campus and each generation experienced something almost entirely different. In the early 1950s my grandpa lived on West Campus in what’s called a Quonset Hut. As the name implies, these huts were not luxurious. Luckily, when my mom lived on West Campus she got to live in the relatively luxurious University Halls. From what Professor Blalock said about the U-Halls they were only luxurious in comparison to the huts of 1950s West Campus. Somewhere in the middle my aunt lived in one of the gothics. As a family we have it all covered.

My favorite part of the tour was to hear a new perspective on the evolution of West Campus. The current iteration definitely seems more thoroughly plan than previous iterations. Instead of just a place to sleep, West Campus is now a place to do much more. It was interesting to hear about how Cornell built upon the residential college system of other universities and made something similar, yet distinctive. This system has succeeded to create community between members of the same house, but not create barriers between residents of different houses.

I was also interested in the tunnel system that connects some of the houses together. I’ve spent some time in the U.S. Capital where a network of tunnels keeps Congressional Representatives out of the Washington summer heat as they journey to vote. In Ithaca, heat is not the issue, but rather the cold. I wondered how a pedestrian tunnel system would change the dynamics of West Campus in the winter time.

It will be interesting to see what the next generation of West Campus will bring. However, I feel that whether it’s a hut, a U-Hall, or a gorgeous modern dorm the people inside the building matter much more than the buildings themselves.

“Time is Time”

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Professor Dan Schwarz’s talk about “how to succeed in college and beyond” was apt for the start of the school year. I appreciated the balanced emphasis on the present and the future. Professor Schwarz talked about considering your future plans, but also living in the moment and having fun. While you need to have a focus on your future goals you should not let those long-term goals cloud shorter term goals. For example, having a goal of going to graduate school could cause you to loose focus on daily goals. Getting daily exercise or a good laugh every day help lay the foundation for attempts at more ambitious goals. I appreciated this prospective because sometimes I can get overly focused on larger goals and allow smaller goals to be pushed aside.

I also appreciated Professor Schwarz’s mention of the importance of resilience. I think resilience is and incredibly important quality that it deserved even greater emphasis. In talking about the goals and the future it is important to recognize the possibility of failure. When something does not work out as planned it is vital to accept the disappointment and try again. Given the ambitious goals that many people have, disappointments are inevitable. The challenge is how to respond to these disappointments and grow from the experience.

Ultimately, my greatest take away was to do what you love. It was clear that Professor Schwarz’s genuinely enjoys his job. His passion and excitement was palpable. I think loving what you do and finding meaning in life is a great measure of success both in college and beyond.