Author Archives: Carmen Smith

Religion vs. Science?

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The discussion today involved the seemingly historical battle between science and religion. Although the Church today may be very progressive in terms of the sciences, there seemed to be a flaw in the argument that religion has not always historically opposed scientific progress; the first ten minutes of the talk was listing historical situations in which the Church was directly opposed to scientific progress. Although the Church itself may have changed, there is still a significant portion of the religious community that opposes some scientific progress, just as there is a significant portion of the scientific community that does not believe in religion. To say that they are mutually exclusive would be a disservice to religion; however, there does seem to be a disconnect between these two groups. It is possible, as mentioned by a few students, that people’s denial of certain scientific findings could be more of a personal wish for consistency rather than a religious reason. Either way, I believe that saying there is no opposition between religious and scientific communities in our society would be incorrect and a disservice to both.

The Refugee Situation in Eastern Europe

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In the light of disturbing events that have taken place in recent days, this cafe event is very relevant to current affairs and events that are transpiring around the world. Given recent increases in expression of xenophobia, the topic of Syrian refugees is one that is likely being discussed by members of many governments as I type this review. Specifically, in my home state of Illinois, there has been a statement from the governor stating plans to prohibit the influx of refugees at this time; however, aldermen of the city of Chicago have stated that they are still willing to accept any refugee. The support of refugees from some government officials has created a feeling of security for some Muslim citizens and for incoming refugees. This secure feeling and support is already tearing down the wall of fear and discomfort between Muslim and non-Muslim people that a group of terrorists attempted to build last week. Unfortunately, this acceptance and comfort does not exist for all refugees. In Eastern Europe, there is an enormous influx of refugees. Certain governments have decided that they cannot physically handle such large numbers of refugees and have begun to shut down their borders. This is what the cafe series event focused on specifically. One of the most intriguing topics was the different models of human existence on Earth. There is the spaceship model, which says that Earth is a spaceship and humans can only use the resources available to the ship; the other model is the life raft model. This model explains the Earth as a life raft, and it can only support a certain number of people. If too many people are using the resources of the life raft, then the entire life raft will sink. While both are being used by certain individuals in power to defend their legislative decisions, it is difficult to concretely state that one of these is the correct approach when looking and humanity’s role on this planet.

Cornell Dining, best dining

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While the discussion seemed to be driven by the students involved in the service/dining industry, it was interesting to hear both the comments of the dining staff and the questions that students had for them. In terms of responses, there was one that stood out to me, because I know that it is untrue. The dining staff was asked about meat rationing in the dining hall system, and the speaker stated that meat would never be declined to a student that requests more when being served; I have experienced and seen, on multiple occasions, a refusal to serve more than one small scoop of meat at the dining halls. Besides this, I had no issues with what was stated at the event. It was interesting to hear the attempts to improve health and reduce waste in the dining system. I also received an answer to the most pressing question, after the event; Paul Muscente confirmed that North Star dining hall and Robert Purcell serve two different types of soft-serve ice cream.

Would a sea of glass make a more fragile ocean?

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If ever there has been a Café series event that has made me reconsider my future career goals to instead one day drop everything to pursue a passion, it was easily yesterday’s talk with Drew Harvell. It was clear by her enthusiasm (and the career-long dedication to the project) that she is very passionate about the marine ecosystem and the glass models that are being restored. The idea of traveling the world to study marine life and comparing the findings to century-old artwork is somehow, dare I say, cool in its very essence. To add to this, her work has already seemed to immensely improve documentation of marine invertebrates, and even the study of pathologies in these marine ecosystems. While this may not seem impressive to some, there is great value in increasing our knowledge in such a way in any field; furthermore, the health of marine ecosystems has enormous economic and public health implications, in relation to the commercial seafood industry.

A story about the ELF; no, not a charming Christmas story

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Unfortunately, I have to start this post with a disclaimer; I, in no way, support the actions of the Earth Liberation Front (ELF). Marshall Curry did such a fantastic job capturing the complexities of Daniel McGowan’s situation, however, that I must concede that the morality of the events is not black and white. One of the most intriguing parts of the film was when McGowan reflects on the last action before the group dissolved. When McGowan discusses his unhappiness with the events that occurred at the University of Washington and northern Oregon, the audience gets a glimpse of the internal conflict that he must have encountered at the time. This exclamation of guilt and remorse does not justify the previous actions, but it is just one example of the complexities of this ELF story. It was really interesting to see the individuals on the side of the law reflect on their questioning of morals and motives after living through the story. I truly enjoyed this film and I am glad I had the opportunity to listen to Marshall Curry’s discussion after the screening.

Also–as a side note–it was really strange to think that both McGowan and representatives of the legal/prosecuting side both enjoyed this film.

Human Rights vs. Human Nature

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This café series event was surprisingly very interesting. Human rights has been a very important topic for me in recent years, as I have developed my sense of morality and beliefs. As someone that is concerned about human rights issues, I unfortunately did not have too much knowledge of the legal aspects of war crimes and such. I noticed that the short biography for the week stated that his research includes military action that is not associated with a specific nation (which I assume includes large terrorist organizations and such); the legal issues and lack of treaties associated with the war on terror is an interesting topic that I wish Professor Ohlins would have touched upon. The change in battlefield warfare and the changes in wartime traditions are even more apparent when you include the modern wars in the middle east. The idea that there have always been traditions for warfare (although ever changing) truly disgusts me. Is war so necessary to our nature that we have traditions associated with it, as we do with every major aspect of human culture? When Rose Scholars were suggesting ideas for responses to war crimes, it was almost amusing to see how acceptable these “reparations” are. I know that everybody is against war overall, but it was interesting to think that one government paying another is an accepted response to certain war crimes. The idea almost plays out like a political cartoon, with politicians passing money around for the “unacceptable” crimes that are committed around the world. As discussed in the scholar program, it is not an easy task to legally punish a war criminal; however, when action isn’t taken against criminals—and the judicial body has little power to act—war crimes seem to be an acceptable part our society and culture.

Put the “Fun” in “Farm Work”

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The Cafe series on agriculture and enology was a very interesting one. Although I am in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, as an Animal Science major, I rarely learn about the human aspect of agriculture. I found the migrant worker patterns to be one of the most interesting aspects of the conversation. I feel as though my question–why migrant workers do not tend to localize in regions lacking in border patrol agents–went unanswered. There was a migration line along the Mississippi River to the Midwest, and this made me wonder why this is not the most frequented path, as there are not many border patrol agents lurking around farms in central Nebraska. Another Rose Scholar mentioned that it would be too difficult to manage traversing across state lines to reach the Midwest; however, this migration pattern exists and is used (along with the path across the entire east coast to New York). It could be that the Midwest, as the corn hub of the country, has different labor needs than other regions. As mentioned, New York is a big producer of fruits and other crops that are human-labor intensive. Conversely, the corn industry may be better suited for the replacement of human labor with machinery. Another explanation is that there is a large population of migrant workers in the Midwest, and I am just unaware of it.

I also found the dialogue on the stigma against farm work intriguing. It was interesting to note the underlying verbal battle between the two guests. One speaker was insisting that these farm workers struggle with difficult work and hope that their children do not have to suffer through the same labor. The other speaker was insisting that farm work is fun, so we should all try it. I guess one’s opinion on farming depends on the type of farming they spend their time studying; if one were to study the lives of struggling migrant workers, understandably they would not believe that the word “fun” is an adequate descriptor of farm work.