Author Archives: jhw262

Food as Fuel

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As an athlete, the decisions we make in the dining hall tend to be crucial. The food we eat is fueling us not only to get through our academic day, but also the practices and training that come afterwards. I have always had an interest in food and the way that people approach it. Being on a team for so many years, I have seen the impacts eating has on runners; either in a helpful or very harmful way. Because of this, I was interested in learning about the psychology behind our food decisions.
Based on lots of interesting studies, I learned some hints as to how exactly hit the dining halls. One thing we learned was to go for a smaller plate. Most times, people will eat until the plate is cleared. If you keep piling food onto that plate, it will be more than you need by a long shot. In addition to smaller plates, I also learned that your plate is most times covered by the things you see first in line. So, I know now to start with the vegetables and end with the protein. In addition to those, I also learned that the correct protein size is about the size of your palm. These are all things I will take into consideration as I make my way through the dining halls from now on. This talk was extremely interesting for me and I learned a lot about food and why we make the decisions we make.

A little Ithaca wherever you go

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On Saturday’s Ithaca Beer Company Tour, we learned about the steps that go into the beer making process. First, we our tour guide told us about the ingredients that are used. Hops, malt, yeast, and water are the four main ingredients. While portions of the hops, malt, and yeast are shipped in from other places, the water is from Ithaca. Most companies filter or add things to their water, but Ithaca Beer Company does not do this. This way, you have a little bit of Ithaca wherever you go.
After learning about the different ingredients, we saw where the different processes take place. There are extremely large silver containers that each process takes place in. To go between the multiple containers, the beer must go through a series of hoses. In these containers, the bubbles are added to the beer. We learned that the two most important variables in the process were the time and temperature. At the Ithaca Beer Company, they make mostly ales because it takes only one to two weeks for them to brew, instead of three to four weeks like a lager. Soon, they will be expanding their business and hopefully be able to make more lagers because they will now have the time and resources for that.
After shown these processes, we saw the bottling process. Here, we learned that that they can pack 81 bottles per minute. That is 5000 bottles per hour. we saw a special package that was made just for Pennsylvania. They had requested a special Flower Power Beer and got its own packaging. While right now they only make bottles of beer, soon they will be trying to make some cans as well.
After seeing all the steps, it was time for the tasting. I got to enjoy the ginger beer that they make on sight as well. The two beers that the others tasted were a Pumpkin Ale and an IPA. Our tour guide was extremely enthusiastic and well informed, making the tour both enjoyable and educational. I would recommend this tour to people who were curious about the processes that go into making beer at the Ithaca Beer Company.

beyond the cup

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Growing up, I never enjoyed the taste of coffee. But it seems that I am unable to go a day without it now. Being a new found coffee lover, I was excited to be able to learn about the different kinds of coffee and how they are each made and processed. This presentation was very interesting as far as learning where the coffee comes from and the impact it has on the environment.
The main point I learned from this presentation was that gimme! Coffee does not just worry about getting the best coffee. Instead, they worry about the impact they have on everyone and everything around them. Some main concerns are the environment and the effect their farming has on it. Instead of using huge machines like some more mainstream companies, they make sure their coffee cherries are picked by hand. The machines cause unnecessary things to fall out of the trees, such as branches and unripe cherries while the hand pickers are able to get exactly what they need without damaging the trees. In addition to caring about the environment, they get their beans from one farm and make sure that they are able to support this farm and all of its processes. Another thing I found very interesting were the competitions they were talking about. There is apparently a huge coffee community/ Baristas can compete in competitions making their own specialty drinks. They can showcase the coffee they chose to brew or create something extremely out of the ordinary. I think it would be really cool to see the kind of things they come up with. Overall, I enjoyed learning about the different ways coffee can be produced and used.

Beyond the Story

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On Friday, I took my first trip to the Kroch Library. While we were there, we learned about the rare manuscript collection and some background history of Cornell. Learning both history of Cornell and about these rare manuscripts were very interesting.
One of the first books we saw was a book with a chain on it. When first showed the book, I was not sure what to think about the fact that there was a chain. But, we were told that the book belonged to a monastery and that it was chained so that it could not be taken from its place. The book was also hand printed and took a very long time to make. To me, this was the biggest eye opening thing we learned about. I was taken aback by the way these books were made and had to be kept under such protection. To see where people spent so much time putting books together and protecting them was very interesting. In addition to the chain, we also saw the hand work done on the inside of the book. There were hand done letters on every page that means so much time was spent making this book. This to me was really impressive. It reminds me how important our knowledge is and how lucky we are to be here with all these books at our fingertips. It also shows how much time and technology has changed. This book and the story behind it really caught my attention and made me think a little differently when it comes to my experience here.
Some other very interesting things we saw were the first draft of E.B White’s, Charlotte’s Web, along with a book that was at the death of Sitting Bull. I am glad that I went on this trip and I was able to experience such cool things that I otherwise would not have seen.

Marshall Curry’s ‘If a Tree Falls’

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Last week I saw the award winning documentary “If a Tree Falls.” This film, directed by Marshall Curry, tells the story of the activist group ELF, or Earth Liberation Front and their means of protesting. The story follows one of the members of ELF and his awaiting his trial. By doing this, the audience is able to see not only what happened, but also how it is being handled in the present situation.  Throughout the whole film, suspense is building as it gets closer and closer to the day of his trial and his punishment will be decided. By doing this, the audience can see the side of the cops as well who are working on the trial. While it would have been easy to focus on one side of the story, Curry brought in members of both sides as well as locals to the area to discuss exactly what was going on. Showing both sides leaves more room for questions.

One major issue in the film was the idea of whether or not the group should be called a terrorist group. While I can understand where the government could see this as being terrorism, I was shocked that this was even a relative question. To me, it only seemed to be that they were trying to fight for what they thought was right. They had learned from years of peaceful protest that that would not get the attention they needed. Although they maybe did not approach it the best possible way, both sides are understandable.

One vivid scene I remember was towards the end of the movie. There was a shot of a forest on a mountain and there were just sides of the forest gone. This image really caught my attention when I realized exactly what these people were fighting for. I really enjoyed this documentary because I learned so much from it. I thought it was very interesting how it showed both the sides of the story and allowed us to make our own decisions and opinions on the issue. I also liked how the story followed a specific person who was in the group and his journey through this time.

Always Learning

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Last weekend I was able to be part of the tour of West Campus. During this tour, we explored tunnels and hidden rooms while learning about the history of Cornell.

The tour was opened with a bit of a history lesson about Cornell. While I thought I knew a lot about Cornell, I was fortunate to learn a lot more that I had not already known. We learned about the history of West Campus and how these dorms that we live in came to be. In addition, we learned about the very start of Cornell. I found it interesting about how Ezra Cornell thought that we should be integrated more within the community we study, so he was against the building of dorms. I thought this was a very interesting take on college living. I had always wondered why the living situation at Cornell was very different than other colleges that I had visited. This opened my eyes to a different way of thinking about integrating myself into the community that we are lucky enough to call home here in Ithaca.

After the bit of a history lesson, we took a tour around some hidden rooms and secret tunnels that make West Campus, and especially Rose House, so special. We visited the beautiful War Memorial Room in Lyon Hall and learned about the Quill and Dagger room upstairs. After this, we were able to see how our food gets transported into Rose. We explored a hidden tunnel below Rose that is connected to Becker.

I really enjoyed this tour because I was able to learn so much more about Cornell and West Campus that I did not already know along with exploring and seeing different aspects that I did not know existed. I am happy that I was able to take part and learn so much.

All that glitters is gold…

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Last Sunday I attended the showing of the Heavy Metal Exhibit curated by Sam Stern in the Human Ecology Building. I had seen the exhibit a few times going in and out of classes, but was excited to learn more about what it was exactly about.

To start off the tour, we saw the Fiber Arts and Wearable Art Exhibition in the Jill Stuart Gallery. Since I am a Fiber Science major, I had classes with the people who had designed these exhibits. I really enjoyed seeing what each person had created and learning more about the thought process behind each as well. The Fiber Science and Apparel Design program is something that totally fascinates me, and I was thoroughly impressed with each of their exhibits.

Following this, we started the real reason for our visit, the Heavy Metal exhibit. Starting with the invisible metals, we saw undergarments throughout time and how they shaped the ideals and goals of the people who were wearing them. Next it moved onto the ‘Rock’ stage where metal was more than just a material; it was also a way of living during this time period. This was followed by some Chanel Pieces that had the classic metal finishing. The last part of the exhibit contained six outfits that all had metal incorporated somehow. Because of the technology of the time, if dresses were to have gold or silver quality to them, they would be made completely of 16 karat gold. These dresses were no exception. We learned the history of both the dresses and those who wore them. Another outfit was a swimsuit that was bought for one of Frank Sinatra’s mistresses that was made completely of gold as well. In addition to dresses and swimsuits, there was one Indian sari that was also made of metal. The entire collection was beautiful. Seeing these pieces and learning about their history was extremely interesting and informing. In addition to seeing how metal was used throughout the history of fashion, it also illuminated how much apparel changes over time. It was interesting to see these changes in the collection as well.

In addition to this amazing exhibit, we were able to see the collection that the Fiber Science and Apparel Design program has. In this collection we saw pieces designed by the Martha Van Rensselaer herself along with the very dress that Eleanor Roosevelt wore to her husband’s presidential inauguration. Having these pieces of history so close to where we learn is amazing to me. I really enjoyed the tour and exhibit and learning more about the history of fashion.