Author Archives: Dhruv Gaba

Printed Media Intertwines with Nature

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The Poisonous Plants exhibit is an art exhibit that currently rests in The Flora Rose Dining Hall. It’s a newly added collection of pieces which are centered around the idea of various poisonous plants. These prints were created in the class Introduction to Print Media taught by Professor Page. The students of the class worked with Professor Todd Bittner, Director of Natural Areas of the Cornell Plantations, and Diane Miske, Gardener and Visitor Services Coordinator at the Cornell Plantations. Professor Page likes to take the learning in his class, and really apply it to a different medium or outlet, hence all the prints being centered around these plants.

 

The plants are definitely the highlight of every piece but they draw on so much more than just that. Some showcase human emotions through the plants while others try to mix human perceptions and feelings with the anatomy of the plants. Overall it brings upon quite a stunning intertwine between the mediums and leaves the viewer to think and observe more than what’s presented at the surface. Some of the pictures attached are pieces of work from the gallery. I highly recommend for that people visit Flora Rose Dining to get a view of these pieces of art.

 

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Better Dining, Better Cornell

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This past week’s Becker Rose Café hosted Rose House Chef Daniel Czebiniak and Associate Director of Cornell Dining, Paul Muscente. First, we began by discussing all about Cornell’s vast dining options and high achievements. Just recently, Cornell Dining was voted #1 in New York State which is a huge achievement. Upon that, Cornell is consistently ranked very highly nationwide. We have 30 different eating options from All You Care to Eat dining halls, cafés, and finally the two markets on campus being Bear Necessities and Jansen’s Marketplace. They offer a wide selection food options and unlike other schools, each Dining hall hosts its own menu each night rather than the same food everywhere resulting in a ton of options for food.

After this talk we focused more on Chef Daniel and his experiences at Cornell Dining. He worked professionally as a chef in the Ritz Carlton as his past culinary experience. Following this, he worked in the Statler Hotel’s Kitchen, and now resides within the Flora Rose dining hall. He says the experience has been amazing. The technical background and intensity of the Ritz Carlton was definitely interesting but he also enjoyed working alongside students at the Statler Hotel and now in the Rose dining hall, he is able to create new menus and take a bigger role in keeping us healthy.

A huge part of the Chef Daniel’s job is sustainability. This means that the tries to avoid waste as best he can. This is done through properly ordering the right amount of ingredients, using leftovers in delicious and efficient ways, and finally making alterations to menus if he sees that certain dishes aren’t liked by students and thus a lot of it is being thrown away. It’s a big task, but with the help of his staff, he’s able to provide delicious, healthy options to better the Cornell community.

The Wonder Within

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This past week’s Rose-Becker cafe hosted Professor Drew Harvell. She discussed marine biology, and focused on the fragile ecosystem that is our choral reefs. We watched a short film called Fragile Legacy which lead us through the history of glass modelling of marine life and then her recent studies and travels. Glass modelling is a crucial aspect of the representation of marine life. Many animals have hardy bones or some better material that can be easily preserved so we can put them up in displays in museums, but that is not the case for many marine animals. Jellyfish for instance have very soft bodies, and if you were to preserve them in any chemical solution, it would just look like a big white blob. For that reason, glass is used in order to show the delicate nature of the organism and describe the way that it moves and flows. Some of these glass models will be presented within the Johnson Museum next year.

Another aspect of the documentary was discussing her travels, and the delicate nature of the coral reef ecosystem. The coral reefs and the wildlife within them are constantly being damaged. Some fisherman throw dynamite into the water to kill lots of fish and collect them and in the process are damaging the reefs beyond repair. There needs to be much more government sanctioning and regulation in order to preserve their delicate ecosystem. We wouldn’t want any more rare and exotic species to go extinct than there already have. We have such a beautiful world beneath our waters which still holds many mysteries. Let’s hope we don’t destroy them before we can find them.

Love Yourself

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Being body conscious is now a natural part of society because of the media presented all around us. We’re constantly being subjected to advertisements and commercials that try to define beauty which at times creates unhealthy obsessions. These companies brand and advertise to have everyone think that there is always a way to make themselves better or more beautiful given this one product, even if the person is perfectly happy and healthy. This was the subject around our discussion within the workshop, Love Your Body, hosted by Lyn Staack.

It was a very interesting and informative session. We talked about how society shapes how we look at ourselves, but more so how little things in our lives can affect us carrying forward. We had a discussion about our favorite food, and not only how we liked it because of the taste, but why that food became our favorite. For most it was deeply tied into ones childhood, and how the situations of the time changed our perspectives.

Afterwards, we also had a small drawing exercise where we drew ourselves and labelled things that we liked about  ourselves. It was a pretty healthy activity to look at yourself and instead of honing in on the flaws, look at everything you should be happy for. It was a great talk and workshop that showed everyone that we’re all beautiful in one way or another.

A History Uncovered

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West campus is amazing. It is filled with beauty and hosts some of the best food, and dining halls on campus, but for the most part, people don’t know about its vast and exciting history. During a information session and tour hosted by House Professor-Dean Garrick Blalock, I was able to learn more about everything West Campus has to offer. To begin with, we were given a talk about Ezra Cornell’s history. As a poor farmer, and man with the school education of a 3rd grader, it’s surprising how he was able to build such a prosperous and thriving community. Starting as a farmer, and then later working for a plowing company, he was able to make some money. He was later approached by a man who laid down telegraph lines and he went on to modify the plow design in order to lay down telegraph lines better. Soon he was able to create networks upon networks of these telegraph lines until he was able to make his fortune. From this capital, Cornell was born.

After the lecture of Cornell’s history, we were given a tour around West Campus. We went to Noyes to learn about the events there such as free food and massages there every other Tuesday, and the indoor basketball courts that are a bit hidden away in Noyes. Afterwards, we went over to Lyon hall, and were told about the Quill and Dagger society: an old, secret society at Cornell that created McFaddin and Lyon Hall to commemorate the Cornellians that died in WW1. There is a secret elevator that takes you to the very top of Lyon hall, which is the society’s headquarters. We were able to also visit the War Memorial room in Lyon, and see the relics and documents remembering the fallen heroes. It was great seeing such a fascinating piece of history so close to the students.

Our tour ended with a trip through the underground tunnels connecting Becker to Rose. These tunnels are used to transport food from the loading docks in Becker to Rose dining because Rose itself doesn’t have a loading dock. It would be cool if these tunnels were open to students. While logistics would be awful, it would be pretty handy not to have to walk around so much in the cold once winter hit.

Overall, it was a fantastic experience getting to learn more about West campus through its history as well as all that it had to offer to students currently. The tour definitely made me appreciate McFaddin and Lyon hall more after learning how they are memorials to the past.

Indian Identity

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Professor Eric Cheyfitz came and gave a very insightful talk during this past Becker-Rose Cafe. He spoke of the genocide and the wrongdoings toward the Native American people. He spoke eloquently on not only how the genocides were taking place but also the extent at which these things are being ignored. For example, he has been trying to convince Cornell to make a small addendum to the convocation and graduation speeches that include a note that the land that we’re on was once part of the Cayuga tribe. This is something I knew nothing about since it’s never mentioned but he made a good point about how we should not deny our history but rather remember it and grow from it.

One other thing that was mentioned which struck me was that he mentioned saying American Indian was politically correct. This was very different from what I had been taught thinking Native American was the correct phrasing. It was a little weird almost hearing that because being Indian myself, the term is now almost confusing towards my identity. I realize not enough people understand this fact or utilize it enough to have the confusion present, but if it were the case, I wouldn’t be able to easily see the connection or references.
It’s just something to think about: how these naming conventions set to identify us.

Worldly Advice

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During the Becker-Rose Cafe discussion this past Wednesday, we had the pleasure of hearing from Professor Dan Schwarz. I came into the mini lecture style setup in the Rose library, exhausted from the already long day, and awaited what I hoped would be an interesting talk, and boy was I pleased. Professor Schwarz, talked initially about how we as students, don’t know how to have fun. That line really stuck out to me, as it was the first time someone older than me accused me of not knowing how to have fun, or rather that I don’t have enough fun. I sat up in my seat from then onward intrigued at the direction this discussion had immediately taken. He discussed how many students on campus are bogged down with problem sets, or various academic extra-curricular activities that having fun, relaxing, or trying new things takes a backseat to finishing the mountains of homework that are constantly looming over us. I realized that he was absolutely right. Being as busy as I am, I schedule in allotted time for fun more and more rather than just going with the flow. I’ll deny friend’s invitations if I wasn’t given at least a days notice. Overall, it’s hectic but and at times disappointing but it keeps my stress manageable and I don’t worry about all-nighters. Even so, I’ve decided that I personally do need to relax more and take the time to enjoy the opportunities here at Cornell. There won’t be another time in our lives when we can so easily learn about different cultures or go to various events with friends so close to us without huge hassles, and it’s about time that I start capitalizing on what’s available. I highly recommend many of the Rose Scholars events that have been posted, and just by reading up on some other blog posts, you can definitely see all the cool things that unfortunately have passed by, but are a testament to the high quality of future events. I will definitely be attending more!