Author Archives: Ilana Kotliar

Menus of Change at Cornell Dining

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Today’s Becker-Rose Cafe focused on a topic that directly affects all of us students: food at Cornell. Chef Daniel and Paul Muscente provided us an inside perspective on why Cornell Dining is the way it is and new programs that have recently been installed. There are many initiatives within the Dining system that are under the umbrella of a larger “Menus of Change” program whose general goal is to promote healthy eating and increase sustainability.

One specific produce goal is to serve 10% more fruits and vegetables. This is a great aim and all of the great dressings, veggies, and salad toppings offered on West campus definitely promote healthy eating in this respect. However, it would likely further this goal to have an increased variety of fruits and vegetables available. I aways look forward to those infrequent nights when the dining halls serve strawberries and avocados, which always seem to be in high demand. They are perhaps more expensive to purchase, but as Chef Daniel pointed out, less resources go into preparing them (as opposed to preparing a chicken dish, for example) and they are very good for you!

The initiative to offer infused water as a healthier alternative to soda is also something that I personally take advantage of. This seems to be the perfect solution to the “healthy vs tasty” dilemma because the fruits inside the water add a bit of flavor. On a side note related to beverages, the apple cider offered at dining halls is very delicious and it is very nice that the cider is available to students for some time after “apple season” typically ends.

A slightly more controversial implication of “Menus of Change” is the rationing of protein dishes at the dining halls. According to Mr. Muscente and Chef Daniel, the goal of this is two-fold: to promote a plate that is half veggies, one-fourth starch, and one-fourth protein and also to reduce waste. However, despite Mr. Muscente’s claim that if a student wants more he/she can simply ask the server for more, in my personal experience this has not been the case. Rationing proteins has left many students feeling frustrated and with the sentiment that they are not truly having the “all-you-care-to-eat” dining experience that they are paying for. Moreover, taking extra trips to get another ration, and sometimes waiting on line for it, takes extra time, which busy Cornellians may not always have to spare. Perhaps the rationing is a good idea, but further research needs to be done to determine the correct amount to ration.

Although there is still potential for improvement, Cornell Dining clearly “towers above the rest” and I am looking forward to seeing what exciting new ideas they will implement in the future!

Marine Beauties

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Tonight at the Backer-Rose Cafe Professor Drew Harvell came to speak to us about the creatures of the ocean and to screen the short film “Fragile Legacy.” This documentary, which Professor Harvell is a part of, is quite eye-opening in terms of the variety and beauty of creatures that call the corals of the oceans and seas their homes. The idea to create this movie actuated stemmed from glass models of sea creatures. In the 1800s the glassmaker Leopold Blaschka took a trans-Atlantic voyage. During this trip he encountered an astounding variety of sea life that he later on modeled in glass – incorporating even the most minute details into his sculptures. This beautiful project – which demonstrates the power, beauty, and potential of the fusion of art and science – was used as a teaching tool here at Cornell University during the school’s early years.

In the present day, Professor Harvell’s (and others’ ) undertaking of the project to restore the glass models gave rise to adventures around the world and dives in places such as Indonesia and Hawaii. The purpose of these trips was to try to see if the species that were alive in the 1800s are still thriving today. “Fragile Legacy” shows footage of various types of octopuses, sea stars, jellyfish, sea anemone, cuttlefish, and more – creatures of every possible shape, color and appearance. However, there used to be an even greater variety – as indicated by the fact that biologists such as Harvell cannot find real life matches to some of the Blaschka models. Thus, her work and this film carry an important message: marine life is beautiful, but once it is endangered there is little we can do to help. We must act to preserve and protect the Earth and its gamut of creatures. If we don’t, we will loose something that is not only beautiful but also crucial to the health of our oceans.

Taking action!

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  Three professors joined us today for an Environmental Panel at the Becker-Rose Cafe today: Shanjun Li, Greg Poe, and David Wolfe . Each of them brought their own unique experiences and knowledge to the table, such as Professor Shanjun Li’s insights into the economics side of climate change. One major point that came up was: How can policy help reduce pollution on a large scale?  Two possible, but very different, policy solutions are the “Taxation” method and the “Cap and Trade” method. In the tax method, a fixed tax is placed on a set unit of volume of carbon emission, so what you pay is directly proportional to how much you pollute. In contrast, a fixed overall level of pollution is established in the Cap and Trade policy and permits-to-pollute are issued. These permits can be traded like any other free market good. It seems as though both options have pros and cons. For example, taxation does not directly place a limit on pollution levels, even though the value/cost of the tax does have an impact on this. A subsequent issue for policy-makers is predicting the ideal tax level to set (I.e. $15 dollars per cubic foot of carbon dioxide emitted, $150 dollars, or $1500?). Contrastingly, Cap and Trade sets a definite limit on pollution, however it treats pollution as a commodity and thus can potentially take away from the negative associations with pollution. Moreover, this method raises the question – who gets the permits? How does does the government go about issuing the permits and allocating how much pollution-rights is granted to permit holders? If a large corporation that pollutes a lot is able to influence government officials who issue the permits, then the Cap and Trade system becomes corrupted and change is not implemented where it is needed the most.
    Whichever option ultimately wins out, I agree with the panel that a lot of countries should take action, regardless of the method they choose. Both policies give “economic players” such as consumers and companies the incentive to take into account when making decisions a very important negative externality – quantity of pollution emitted. If many countries all take a big step and implement climate change-targeting policy, we can indeed affect a positive change. And even though government regulation is extremely critical, we should also remember that people’s rising up and actively fighting for an issue successfully affects change as well. The future of the Earth is in our hands!

Business Insights for Everyone

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Today Rose House hosted a dinner conversation with the entrepreneur and Cornell alumni Michael Belkin, who came to speak to us about his career and his successes in business. Although the majority of the questions and discussion had to do with topics such as start-ups, business school, and app developments, Michael made a few points that I think are very wise and applicable to everyone, regardless of major or intended career path.

1. An insight that is particularly useful to us, as students: classes are more interesting if we take the material we are learning and try to see it through the lens of how we can apply it to the real world. In elementary, middle, and high school I recall asking my teachers (or listening as other students would ask) “When are we ever going to need knowledge of X or Y?” I feel like that question still resonates with students at the university level, and if we endeavor to make the connections between the classroom and the world, our academic pursuits can take on a whole new meaning and significance.

2. It is rare to start with an idea and end with the same one. Michael discussed how he had to adapt his vision, keep what worked, discard what didn’t, and be open to making changes as he developed his app. Having an open mind seems to be essential in all situations in general – our environment is constantly shifting, and to keep up and thrive we must be willing to make adjustments along the way.

3. Examine your assumptions closely. Bringing a concept to life successfully involves making many assumptions about the behavior of others. As shown by the lengthy list of assumptions that must be satisfied for Michael’s original concept to have been successful (i.e. members of the LGBTQ community will check in to a location upon arrival, app users will feel comfortable enough talking to other app users etc…), there are a lot of hypothesis that we must make about human behavior. Perhaps if we were more aware of the assumptions that we make in our daily encounters, we would increase our percentage of successful ones.

As a final thought, Michael mentioned that a “mistake” led to a new market for his app and greatly contributed to its success. I believe that this demonstrates (in addition to being an example of point 2, above) that hard work and good decision making will lead to success, even if it is in an unforeseen direction.

What You Didn’t Know about NYS Agriculture

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Justine Heuvel and Mary Jo Dubley came to speak to us tonight and offer their different but complementary perspectives on agriculture, both in New York State and in general. Many interesting facts were brought up that seemed to come as a surprise to many of the students in attendance, thus demonstrating the point that there is a disconnect between the consumers (us and everyone!) and the true producers of food – the farmers. For example, we learned that a quarter of NYS land is farmland, and this land is home to 36,000 farms. Moreover, agriculture is a 5.7 billion dollar sector of our economy and New York is the second largest producer of apples and pumpkins in the country (as well as in the top 10 of many other fruits and vegetables). Although I am accustomed to hearing about apple-picking trips and buying apples straight from the orchard, the greatest percentage of apple farm sales is actually to Wal-Mart, which is the number one buyer of NYS apples.

Another surprisingly large number that was discussed was the percentage of undocumented farm workers, with estimates ranging from 50%-95%. The implications of this are quite far reaching, especially considered in combination with our approaching Presidential election. A stricter policy regarding undocumented workers could create a major farm-labor shortage and thus severely drive up the cost of food. It seems as thought US citizens do not want any jobs in agriculture for many reasons – such as safety concerns, a seeming lack of room to “move up” in the industry, the associated social stigma, and also the hard nature of most jobs on the farm. However, as Mary Jo Dudley pointed out – being (successful) in agriculture also requires business and organizational skills and scientific knowledge. Farmable land is a finite resource and the challenge of increasing efficiency, maintaining quality, and decreasing costs provides the opportunity for a great deal of improvement and advancement. Perhaps this incentive will increase the number of Americans in agriculture and help to increase awareness of the problems farm workers face today.

Knowledge is Power

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Today, Eric Cheyfitz discussed the history of the American Indians during the Becker-Rose Cafe Hour. Over the course of his talk he mentioned many pieces of legislature, such as the Dawes Severalty Act of 1887, whose names sounded familiar but whose content I had trouble recalling from my American History classes in High School when we briefly covered it. Indeed, when Professor Cheyfitz asked the audience who had previously learned any of the information that he was recounting to us now, a startling few number of people raised their hands. If our generation does not have the knowledge or awareness of both the history and modern day plight of the American Indians, how can we ever hope to help solve their problems (that we created)?

It seems as though the loosing battle that the Native Americans fought against the Westerners is proof of the idea that the winners write the history books. This is especially applicable to all of us living in Cornell, a University that is built on land stolen from the Cayuga Indians at the end of the 1700s. Although you cannot change what has already happened, there is still an active role that we can take to improve the situation now and for future. This can be as simple as becoming more educated about the six different Indian nations of our region of the country. Why is this so important? Because culture and tradition are part of what make up the identity of a group of people and by preserving these things we are helping to keep the Native American culture alive. Moreover, by actively learning we embrace the potential of discovering information related to healing and nature that can be applicable for the greater good. And finally, knowledge has the power to create a greater understanding and acceptance of an amazing people!

Professor Schwarz Gives Motivating and Informative Talk

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Tonight, Professor Schwarz gave a talk for the Becker-Rose weekly cafe on how to succeed in college and beyond. His presentation gave attendees a whole variety of useful insider tips on what to focus on in each year of our undergraduate years. However, I feel that the most important message of the evening was that the power to determine our college experience rests entirely in our hands. Cornell offers its students almost every possible resource imaginable – from the variety of classes offered to the broad spectrum of clubs on campus. It is now up to us to actively take advantage of it. For example, Professor Schwarz began by advising all students to get to know one professor well each term, and to shoot for a 50% success rate. With most students taking four to five classes a semester, its seems as though 100% success rate should be the norm. However, reflecting on my relationships (or lack therof) with my previous professors, this is clearly not the case. This rather surprising realization really drives home the point that there are so many amazing opportunities here that are ours for the taking and the more effort we put in, the more dividends it will pay down the road.

Additionally, I really liked the emphasis that the Professor placed on both working hard and spending our time wisely, but also having fun, and doing things that make us happy. I think that this kind of dynamic equilibrium is the key to long term success because it ensures a balance in life and a very purposeful existence. And without balance or purpose it is very easy to fall and get lost!

To conclude my first blog post, I have attached below a mini-list of inspiring pieces of advise that Professor Schwarz gave to conclude his talk. I intend to keep them in mind as the semester continues and hope to make my sophomore year a successful one!

1. Time is time

2. To deal with failure you must have reliance, resourcefulness, and resolve

3. Start where you are; you can’t change the past.

4. Laugh a lot