Author Archives: Seren

A Dope Movie

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Last Friday, I attended a screening of the movie Dope. I can very easily say that I thought this was a great movie. Not only does it touch on the human condition and racism, but it also employs humor, fear, sadness, happiness, anger, desperation, and a variety of other emotions. I remember feeling not only these emotions but many others as well both during and after the film. As an audience member, I instantly connected with the protagonist’s aspirations, optimism, and determination throughout his arduous twisted journey. I think his demonstrated ability to successfully maneuver the many obstacles that he repeatedly faces proves that he’s a unique problem solver and does perhaps indeed deserve the *SPOILER ALERT* big Harvard acceptance letter at the end.

Also, at a time of high racial tensions in the U.S., I think this movie is particularly interesting because it portrays non-stereotypical characters and plot line. The main protagonist is an African American young male, and of the other two protagonists, one is an African American lesbian tomboy and the other is a Latino young male. They are defined as geeks or nerds early on because they’re passionate about 90’s rap music and culture and not about what average teens are in to as well as the fact that they’re in a band. They also mention that they particularly stay away from gangs and drugs, although those are accepted and prevalent in the community. I feel that I can somewhat relate to this because I’ve never quite had the same interests as the majority of other girls my age growing up. I’m very glad to have seen this movie because it allowed me to engage in the experiences of Malcolm, the main protagonist, through a unique lens that I wouldn’t have otherwise gotten a chance to see through. I also think movies like this are important to watch for the base reason that they simply open up one’s mind to other perspectives that one’s mind was previously closed off to, either subconsciously or consciously.

The Intricacies of Coffee

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On November 14th, two representatives from Gimmie! Coffee gave a very thorough and informative presentation on the specifics of all processes that go in to making a great cup of coffee. With four locations in New York, including one in Ithaca, they are known for great quality, fair trading practices, and their support for local environmental causes. To insure superior quality and therefore taste, they aim to conduct business directly with the grower instead of with a manager or distributor company in the middle. They also provided our group with taste tests of expertly brewed fresh coffee.

As a huge coffee fan and drinker, I very much enjoyed the presentation and the new interesting facts that we were presented with, such as the fact that added flavors such as french vanilla are just chemicals sprayed on to coffee beans as well as the fact that the decaffeination process is equally or possibly even more unglamorous. Although it seems like common sense, I previously did not realize the huge amount of effort and resources it truly takes for us to be able to go to a Starbucks or other coffee shop and order a cup of coffee on the spot in any fancy or simple way we desire. Especially as a college student, I’m very grateful for the easy availability of caffeine for long study sessions. I’m also glad that Gimmie! Coffee only purchases fair trade coffee beans to better support both the farmers themselves and the farmers’ families. Their sourcing of only organic coffee is also a huge plus, as synthetic pesticides and fertilizers can cause immense long-term environmental disturbances. In this way, Gimmie! Coffee supports both the farmers as well as the land the farmers rely on, creating a seemingly sustainable production system of great quality coffee for the residents of New York State.

Justice in the Workplace

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This documentary followed the story of a group of food service workers who were able to gain justice. They had been treated very poorly by their manager and were tired of it. They were being paid less than minimum wage and received no payments for overtime. Working conditions were less than stellar as one machine desperately needed new parts but was instead allowed to remain potentially dangerous. The one main man portrayed in the film that is actually illustrated on the film poster is an immigrant from Mexico working solely to afford the materials and tuition for his daughter to attend and graduate college. The film itself was very well made as we were allowed special inside access into the very difficult and length process that these workers had to go through in order to get the contract they deserved. The sheer immense dedication and determination demonstrated by these workers over the course of many months without a steady, reliable source of income goes to show how much this cause meant to them. As a viewer, I couldn’t imagine the difficulty of their situation of trying to overcome the odds against them as low wage food service workers in New York City. I think their overjoyed success of receiving a great contract at the end was very well-deserved and demonstrative of what hard work and dedication can accomplish. I think the fact that low wage food service workers in the U.S. are at a huge disadvantage simply because of who they are is unacceptable in the 21st century. I also think there needs to be much stricter regulations and oversight on how these businesses treat their workers on a day to day basis, not just occasional checks. Managers should be held more accountable of the responsibilities that come with managerial positions, such as giving rightly calculated paychecks, paid overtime, and continual safe working conditions. I am honestly glad for the effort and time given by the people at the Laundry Workers Center who helped the workers achieve success in this film. I believe there should be more support organizations for labor rights both in large cities as NYC but also smaller cities across the U.S. that might be given more freedoms to abuse and maltreat workers simply by being in rural locations without sufficient oversight to perform regular quality checks. I hope this film reaches a large audience and engages people to think proactively and act on this issue.

Art Speaks for Itself

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On Halloween, a group of us went on a two hour tour of the public art around Ithaca downtown. We were shown murals in parking lots, on electrical boxes, on random building walls, and underneath a highway. Each mural was uniquely composed, some with messages attached and others simply a design or picture left to interpretation. One mural across from a Marriott in downtown depicted five male Native American leaders each representing a different area from this region. Each figure holds an object representing unity and peace among them and the new settlers of that time. Among the murals located in downtown Ithaca, our tour guide specifically mentioned this one to have been the most controversial. When first painted, there were and still are five main males. However, criticisms occurred due to the fact that these specific Native American groups were matriarchal, meaning they were led by females. To appease those who didn’t like the patriarchal depiction in the mural, the artist went back later and painted strawberries both on the main image as well as along the sides and borders of the mural to represent their actual female leadership. I found it interesting and odd that the artist didn’t learn about their matriarchy beforehand while conducting background research. However, I’m glad the artist went back later and added those much needed changes in order to make the mural more accurate.

Another piece on the side of a building facing a main road depicts a young boy and woman working on an agricultural field. This piece was chosen out of many submissions to represent a part of the Latino culture. I particularly enjoyed this mural because of how it was made, which was by using little tiles to create a mosaic. The colors of the sky and the reflection of the sky on the body of water are also beautiful as they give off a relaxing and aesthetic appeal of agricultural work. Although the work itself is very difficult and physical, the piece manages to successfully balance the back-breaking work feel with a peaceful, picturesque feel. This piece also makes me very grateful for the many hours dedicated farm workers all around the world spend to grow food for their communities. It also makes me wish that there was a greater abundance of extremely convenient local food shops or farmers markets in major cities instead of huge chains such as Whole Foods, Publix, Safeway, Costco, etc. Hopefully, this mural will also awaken these and other thoughts in people who walk by it. In general, I think art helps instead of harms those who keep open minds to interesting ideas and perspectives, so I’m very glad that Ithaca is so accepting of public art with thought-raising messages and wish more cities would follow their lead.

Into the Streets We Went

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A day dedicated to community service by the community is a great idea. Because we’re all living in the same area, local townspeople and students alike, a large effort to help each other definitely bolsters community morale and strength. Last Saturday, as a group of about 10 people, we traveled to the Greater Ithaca Activities Center. Our goal was to rake, sweep, and discard fallen leaves as well as pull up masses of overgrown weeds from around the main building. Given that the rakes and brooms were in limited supply, these tasks had to be completed by hand (with garden gloves) by the majority. The more physical aspect of these tasks made the work itself more enjoyable as we were able to get up close and personal with the leaves and weeds. Being an Environmental and Sustainability Sciences major, I particularly enjoyed the fact that I was immersed in a more natural environment and able to spend a few hours helping a good cause simply by being outdoors. If we had had more time, I would have liked to stay longer and possibly help inside the building as well.

Knowing that the Greater Ithaca Activities Center is dedicated to providing a a large variety of fun and engaging activities to kids of all ages and backgrounds in the community made the service I did extremely worthwhile. Not only do they host children after school, but they also put together different sports teams, offer tutoring services, and organize unique events related to science or Halloween. After this experience last Saturday, as soon as I can figure out reliable transportation, I would like to volunteer on a regular basis with them doing whatever I can to further their mission of improving the lives of the youth living in greater Ithaca.

Remembering Amy

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The documentary Amy exceeded my expectations. Going in, I thought it would be an overly produced show emphasizing only her drug use. While it did heavily focus on her downward spiral, it refreshingly described and showed her youth. The home videos of her as a child and teenager demonstrated her innocence and pure love for singing jazz, which is all she wanted to do. The progression of events are undoubtedly sad after she gets noticed by a record label company. Although her romantic relationships also took a heavy toll on her, I think the film emphasized that it was a large combination of both dealing with heartache and being thrown into the spotlight in an unhealthy way. I found it interesting that, although she wanted to be successful, the type of success that found her only unfortunately eventually led to her untimely death.

Amy Winehouse’s passion and commitment were also significantly emphasized in the film. She repeatedly remarked that all she wanted to do was be a well-known jazz singer. The fact that she wrote all of her own songs really resonated with me. In this day and age, a vast majority of popular artists have their music written for them. I feel that this undermines the whole purpose of music, which is to express yourself. Although her broken heart and drug addiction were the main inspirations for many of her songs, she still managed to beautifully and understandably express her complicated and unique feelings. Although, in my opinion, she tried to use music as a sort of therapy, it was very unfortunate that she didn’t have a support system of the necessary strength to help her get into rehab sooner and stay there longer. I think she might still be alive today if she had had much stronger support, which is very sad to think about. I think anyone in general deserves a strong support system, let alone someone with mental health issues and a drug addiction. Because of this, the documentary affirmed to me that, because everyone is going through their own difficult issues, it is only worth being nice and helpful towards others, as it could help them more than we could potentially know.

Energy Production for Cornell Campus

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As someone who tries to be environmentally friendly, touring Cornell’s Central Energy Plant and learning about the various energy production processes that occur there was particularly interesting. Our tour guide explained that the entire plant used to run on diesel but now uses natural gas for most heat and electricity production. I was very glad to hear that they also utilize hydro, solar, and some wind power instead of relying 100% on natural gas, which is not a renewable resource and produces some greenhouse gases during combustion. However, I think a lot more should be done to advance efforts to use a greater percentage of renewable energy sources at Cornell because the university has a lot of smart researchers and resources to help do so. Furthermore, their smart idea of keeping a small amount of diesel as a back up energy source on the off chance of a severe emergency was very reassuring to hear. I was also surprised to hear that they are able to power all of Cornell University campus (and only the campus) year-round with electricity, heat, and warm and cold water. Inside the plant itself, it visually seemed like thousands of large metal tubes all twisted and turned around and through each other to complete the huge energy-producing machine. When inside the main control room, it was obvious to see that a lot of effort and hard work must go in to keeping the plant running smoothly and efficiently. It made me marvel at how far technology, and specifically energy production, has advanced since the very first ideas of mass production. Going forward, it’ll be very interesting to see which directions Cornell will decide to take with both energy production and energy use.  IMG_3049 IMG_3047 IMG_3046

Fran, The Naked Lady

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In my opinion, appreciating different perspectives should be a backbone in any inclusive, respectful, and friendly community. This is why I thought it was great to be able to observe and think about the very creative and stimulating art pieces done by Nicholas Lawson Carbonaro, a local resident. He put up eight incredibly unique pieces, each one enunciating different emotions, ideas, and methods. Done throughout roughly the past two decades, one piece having been completed in 1997, the art pieces demonstrated many different ideals of the times they were created in.

For example, one painted piece, which he went into depth describing, was of a larger woman lounging in the nude on a plush chair draped in a blanket. One of her false eyelashes had fallen off as she posed and Mr. Carbonaro had insisted for them to stay where they landed on her chest and then managed to both incorporate and dignify the fallen eyelashes. In my opinion, the fallen eyelashes, although occurring by chance, add large emphasis to the overarching feeling the painting was already giving off. Many students, including myself at times, can extremely easily relate to this feeling of overwhelming laziness due to comfort after a long, difficult day. In my mind, as I looked upon the painting, I began to construct a story. This woman, whom I’ve named Fran, simply desired to come back to her cozy home after a long day of work. After watching television and getting some pottery done, she decided to sit in her most favorite lounge chair naked, enjoying this private freedom with only her two cats, Bubbles and Mr. Magic. Half an hour into this paradise, one of Fran’s false eyelashes falls and lands on her chest where she glances at it, decides it’s fine where it is, and continues to lounge. In my storyline, this is where Mr. Carbonaro comes in, figuratively, and takes a snapshot of this woman experiencing comfortable nakedness.

In conclusion, the storyline as well as the painting itself are relatable in that I personally very much enjoy comfortably lounging about every now and then and definitely do think that not everything in life has to be perfect, that that eyelash truly is where it should be. In not necessarily the exact same way, I hope everyone takes the opportunities to lounge and be comfortable in their own skin. I think Mr. Carbonaro beautifully captured this ideal and I look forward to getting the chance to see his art in the future.