Author Archives: NL

A Delightful Food Lecture

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I thoroughly enjoyed attending last week’s lecture with Paul and Chef Daniel. From the very start, I could see how enthusiastic Chef Daniel is about his job. All and all, there were a number of interesting questions raised about the dinning here at Cornell. While I have only been at Cornell for one semester, I am very appreciative of Cornell’s food especially coming from a university that adamantly did not focus on dinning.

In regards to potentially expanding dinning hours on West, I was not appreciative of the answer that Paul gave regarding this idea. I understand that there are budget constraints and union concerns, but the fact of the matter is that Cornell does not have a true “Late Night Dinning” on West where students are able to grab something to eat very late at night after classes or after going out on the weekends.

Nonetheless, I was shocked to see their swiftness in listening to some of our concerns. For example, within the next day or so, the Chefs in Rose House moved the cookies away from the fresh fruit stand to better adhere to nutritional and allergy concerns.

I am still not sure why House Dinners are more limited in the dessert department. I enjoy the nuanced desserts, however, I do not believe the dinning services should limit students even more with their limited selection.

I enjoyed Paul’s presentation on Cornell’s dinning services beyond West campus and certain changes that he and his staff are looking to make for years to come. I feel as though this lecture/presentation made me more aware of the food preparation and hospitality practices with a behind the scenes look. I am very glad that I attended this lecture last week.

The Beautiful Sea

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This event was definitely one of my favorite Becker-Rose Café series thus far! I have always had an interest and appreciation for aquatic life. While I have scuba dived before, I have never seen something as beautiful as the organisms that the Professor saw underwater off the reef or depicted in the Blaschka models. I heard of the Harvard Blaschka glass before but did not know much about it nor did I know Cornell had its very own collection.

After viewing the glass pieces on the video, I was amazed at the beauty and precision that must have went into creating such pieces. Not to mention, Professor Harvell’s remarkable reconstruction/repair of the many broken pieces. When I heard that the Blaschka pieces were sitting on a shelf in a box stored away from display, I was amazed. The beauty in those delicate pieces was most certainly depicted in the images in the documentary where the real organism was pictured side by side against the glass piece.

The discussion prior to and after the video was also very enjoyable. Professor Harvell’s dedication and enthusiasm towards the subject matter made the lecture series event that much more intriguing. I will most certainly consider taking one of Professor Harvell’s courses during my time here at Cornell. I am excited to see what other people thought of this event as well!

A Little Effort Can Go a Long Way

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During last week’s Rose Café events, Professors Shanjun Li, Greg Poe, and David Wolfe discussed a number of environmental issues both domestically and abroad. Due to the professors’ various backgrounds, the panel was very diverse. While at times there was disagreement about an international vs. domestic approach on pollution control, for the most part, the professors agreed upon the most cost effective and most environmentally sounds approach to tackle these issues.

Remarkably, when the professors asked who was involved with environmental activism, beyond shutting off your lights when you leave a room, the response was very underwhelming. While I am conscious about polluting our environment and wasting our valuable resources, I feel as though I could be doing much more. Although I agree that I should be involved more with environmental activism, I am rather frustrated by how the professors danced around environmental protection actions. I believe the professors’ lack of complete support for any one particular environmental measure stems from their cost benefit analysis. While trade offs are a huge factor to consider, such as fracking over using coal, they cannot and should not discourage people to the point where they do nothing at all.

Overall, I enjoyed this particular question and answer session. However, in the future I would recommend the professors engaging in a more informative discussion with some sort of presentation to educate the audience on some of the current environment debates in order to provoke a more nuanced discussion. I truly look forward to attending, If a Tree Falls: A Story of the Earth Liberation Front, this upcoming week. While I do not know a whole lot about environmental activism and ‘environmental terrorism,’ I am eager to learn about the issues.

 

 

 

How do we define collateral damage?

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Overall, I found last week’s lecture to be very interesting and informative regarding the bombing of the Afghan hospital. Professor Ohlin added insightful remarks during the lecture about whether or not the United States should be “charged” with war crimes. As such, the Professor discussed the importance of the intel the US government received from the Afghan forces. This particular example truly encouraged me to consider the numerous US air bombings and the very reason the government got involved. At the very least, the US is guilty of ignorance for not verifying the Afghan forces’ intel on the ground. Unfortunately, the US could be responsible for heinous war crimes.

Professor Ohlin expressed the concept of collateral damage and its implications on war. The relative definition of this idea and case-by-case basis makes it difficult to justify actions that in the process kill innocent civilians.

In addition, I found Professor Ohlin’s continued discussion on the International Courts to be remarkable. The fact of the matter is that the United States stands as a voting delegate on the United Nations Security Council and thus is able to veto any vote charging them with war crimes. This feature unfortunately removes formal accountability for the US to admit its wrongdoings. Regardless of what the NATO and the Afghan government investigation, the US will not be punished for the bombings.

After this lecture, I took it upon myself to research the notion of war crimes and the Afghan hospital bombings in greater detail. I find it interesting that President Obama apologized to several of the Doctor Without Borders staff members. In my opinion, I contend that the President apologizing most certainly admits a great deal of guilt. In the future, I will most certainly consider this area of law as a potential interest of study and possibly career.

The Unknown Future of Farming

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During this lecture, I learned several things about the current farmland initiatives that are taking place nationwide. Interestingly, the majority of farm laborers are undocumented. Prior to attending this lecture, I knew only a little bit about the difficulties immigrant laborers face in their daily lives here in upstate New York. While I am aware of the proximity to Canada’s border, I did not think that the U.S. Border patrol sought after hardworking immigrants on private farms.

I learned this past week that the average literacy rate of many of these laborers is at or below a 6th grade level. I am in support of many initiatives that aim to educate American laborers. I was glad to hear that Cornell has its own program that strives to teach farmers English. As a transfer student, I am trying to get involved with the community both inside and outside the Cornell community. With over 25% of the nation’s farmland being suitable for farming, I believe it is imperative that more local and federal government recognition is given to these immigrant laborers. While society has a shifted toward a growing movement of locally harvested farm goods and products, this effort has come from an environmental and sustainability standpoint and has not addressed the mass production of our food and the associated labor.

Overall, this lecture reminded me of a discussion that I attended after reading, The Good Food Revolution, when the author, Will Allen, spoke to the effects of labor work and sustainability. Over the years, Allen’s vision stressed the importance of developing more sustainable farming projects across the country. While he started the project to bring quality food to those living near unsustainable harvesting land or food deserts, in the process Allen tackled some issues revolving around labor. Nonetheless, it will be interesting to see if the farm labor movement will start to get more attention by the government. I enjoyed this lecture and look forward to this Wednesday’s lecture!

 

The Ongoing Genocide

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Professor Eric Cheyfitz explored a number of interesting topics during the Becker-Rose Café lecture. He discussed a number of issues relating to land ownership and the forcible removal of Indians including events that transpired on Cornell’s land. I find it deplorable that Cornell refused to acknowledge its taking of Indian land, regardless of the potential legal, political, or reputation ramifications. Professor Chayfitz brought to my attention what he described as a mass ongoing genocide of Indians. He denoted that the government’s forceful removal, withholding of vital vaccines, and other intervention efforts has killed off a great deal of the population.

While discussing his study of interest on Native American literature and federal Indian law, he mentioned several interesting remarks about native rights in South America. I found his numbers on the world’s population consisting of 300 million indigenous people, especially Bolivia’s makeup staggering 60% natives, to be very alarming that many nations do not recognize their influence. I certainly will nod to his claim that the education system as a whole does not provide students a thorough foundation of Indian history and the natives’ associated grievances.

In some ways, I feel cheated that I was not taught a great deal about Indian History. As such, as I continue my studies here at Cornell I hope to enroll in one of Professor Cheyfitz’s courses and/or other American Indian Studies courses alike.

Prior to attending this event, I did research Professor Cheyfitz’s other academic interests and pursuits. I found his personal involvement outside of the classroom to be very impressive. As such, I wish Professor Cheyfitz talked more about his work on Indian preservations and some of the legal testimonies in more detail. Nonetheless, I thoroughly enjoyed this lecture and look forward to hearing from Professor Cheyfitz again.

Planning for Cornell. Planning for the Future.

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The future is an incredibly daunting aspect of one’s life to ponder about. The fear of the unknown can become challenging and cause some to question their options. My fear of the unknown almost prevented me from attending one of the most challenging universities in the nation. As a transfer sophomore, I am excited to get involved with activities, both inside and outside the classroom, that I can dedicate my time and energy to. However, it isn’t always easy to hit the ground running and find the balance between academics and activities outside the classroom. While I came from a relatively competitive public high school, I always questioned my ability to do well at Cornell where everyone here was in the top percentile of his or her graduating class.

It wasn’t until after Dr. Schwartz’s presentation that I realized I now had the recourses to alleviate college student nerves. During his lecture, Dr. Schwartz sketched a plan for every student, regardless of the student’s graduating year, to follow and adapt in his or her everyday lives. Furthermore, Dr. Schwartz explained to me that there would be times where I may do poorly on tests and or some assignments. He stressed that students would overcome this failure, learn from it, and move on. By “moving” on, Dr. Schwartz elaborated that students shouldn’t immediately jump to changing his or her major due to a lower grade than expected, but instead seek additional assistance from fellow classmates, graduate students, and last but not least, professors. Dr. Schwartz encouraged students to take a goal-oriented strategy in pursuing and maintaining relationships with different professors each semester. He contends that by fostering good relationships with professors, students will be able to get more involved outside of the classroom in a plethora of research opportunities as well as seek recommendation letters for future pursuits. In regards to off-campus activities, Dr. Schwartz recommended that students should get involved with activities on campus and possibly steer clear of Greek Life if students are taking a demanding course load. Interestingly, Dr. Schwartz preached that “time is time” not money. He wanted all students to understand that life moves fast and it is better to look back at thing we attempted and did not like than to look back and wish that we did x, y, z. Lastly, Dr. Schwartz left us with a few words of wisdom on how to not only do well here at Cornell but in all of out future endeavors. As such, Dr. Schwartz stated the 3Rs, Resilience, Resourcefulness, Resolve (with an emphasis on persistence). He explained that the 3Rs would be vital in exploring new opportunities and accepting of oneself and others.

Overall, while Dr. Schwartz’s presentation emphasized a number of strategies for college students to adopt, I feel as though his target audience should have been focused on incoming freshman. He made a number of helpful suggestions for college students; however, I believe that high school seniors and/or freshman entering the college sphere would gain more from his advice. Nonetheless, Dr. Schwartz is a thoughtful individual who presented helpful information (teacher recommendation advice) during my first Rose Scholars event.