Author Archives: 2009txt

Your power inside

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Tonight I went to the self-defense workshop my friend and had a great hour with two lovely ladies and fellow rose scholars. Interestingly, the instructor started off adjusting our standing position and explain that to make a great strike, you need to accumulate ‘energy’ inside your body. Then they taught some great skills. The first one is stand in somehow taichi fashion, push forward the hand in the back to push the attacker’s head backward. Immediately after that, rise your leg on the same side of attacking hand and kick the soft spot of the attacker (I guess would be around the belly area). And in the end, in case the attacker responds and catches you again, push his shoulder (from one side) and eject yourself immediately. Another technique they taught us is for when the attacker grabs you body along with your arms from your back. When you find yourself in such a situation, first step on attacker’s feet (if you can reach them) and mind to step on the ankle area instead of the toes (I guess that is because it would be much more painful if you step on the bones than flesh). Then extract you hip a little bit forward, hold your breath for a second and use all of your strength to hit the attacker with your hip. At the same time, stretch both of your arms forward to get rid of his/her control. When I first saw the technique I really doubted its effectiveness. Surprisingly it hurts a lot in real practice. Because my friend is taller than me, when she hit with her hip, it hit directly on my belly area so it was very effective. I guess that you need to hit much harder and combine with stepping on the feet with the attacker is someone much taller than you.

This is a very fun evening and I enjoyed the session a lot. If anyone is interested in further learning. The two ladies will be having a self-defense class at Cornell next semester. Have a look if you are interested!

 

A discussion on labor rights

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The Hands That Feeds film yesterday was very impressive. The film focused on the labor rights mainly on latino group. Surprisingly, the documentary was both deep and entertaining. The film focused on the epic fight of the low-income group in New York for better treatment. It was very interesting that there was a white woman who pretends to be very mean to Mahoma and later proved that she does it on purpose in order to teach them not to give up in such situations. I was very moved when in the end, Mahoma and his co-workers finally opens a deli shop and it seems that everything works out in the end. Although the film mainly focus on the labor right of latinos, it also opens further discussion on the labor rights of other minority groups in US. It also strengthens in the film that language can be a big barrier for a foreigner. I think it is important that not only does the low-income groups fight for better treatment in the society, but also they should try to acquire the skill necessary to receive better salary. In general, I think the film was fantastic.

Interesting movie of ocean creatures

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On Wednesday I attended the lecture about oceanography. I am very sorry that I went in late and only watched a part of the film. There are amazingly colorful creature in the sea and the professor seems to be passionate about the subject. She also recommends the intro oceanography class to us. Perhaps I will take it some day. During the charter days events this spring, I also saw professor Harvell giving a lecture at an ecology panel. She also show cased many gorgeous ocean creatures. I think it is really admirable that she chose this seemingly unusual career path and has become a great experts at it. I also want to learn more about the environment.

An interesting discussion on environmental issue

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On Wednesday evening I went to watch the If A Tree Falls film by Mr.Marshall Curry. I found it very extreme for the environmentalist to burn down the timber factories because I think that is a very inefficient way to solve the problem. They probably didn’t care about the people that are going to lose job because the place they work for is burned down overnight. When people start to attack one another in a violent way, even the purpose is good, usually bad thing happen. And the environmentalist was imprisoned for over sever years. I think when people start these kind of physical protest in a group, it usually become a frenzy. I don’t want to judge the people in the group because I don’t know anyone of them. But burning down factories is not what sane people would do and I challenge that everyone in that group do it for the “righteous” purpose instead of just getting back at the society. I am not sure which site the director stands for or if he even wants to take a stand in the film, but I feel that the film is sending a sad message because this is a lose-lose situation where several properties are burned down to the group and the environmental problem is not solved. I really appreciate the people who strive for the cause, but it is hard to have it all. To have economics growth, we need to endure pollution and worse environmental situation.

Great Talk on International Law

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Before the event I actually expected a more lecture style talk which the professor would go over the structure of international law and briefly talk about how it works. Interestingly, he starts off by talking about the recent bombing in Afghanistan and ask us how is bombing a hospital special. I didn’t know the news before hand and this questions immediately triggered my curiosity. He points out that hospital is considered a safe zone and it is not ok to bomb such a place in war.

Then he went on to give more examples on international law. I didn’t recall some of them but it was a comfortable and relaxed talk. My friend Julia really enjoys it and she think the professor is very clever for channeling the important ideas in international law in some very basic examples. I am very into the tech field so this event is an open-eye event for me.

Amazing secretive tunnel in Rose House

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On Saturday I went to the Behind scene event. First Professor Blalock briefed about the history of Cornell university and how Ezra Cornell came to decide build the university in Ithaca. I was really surprised that Ezra Cornell has no higher education and made himself a rich man through innovation and years of hardworking. That is an inspiring story.

After touring in Noyes, we went to the War Memorial Room. It was a mysterious locked room on the first floor of Lyon hall. The Memorial room is small but very clean and organized. They said that the ROTC people have been cleaning it regularly. I feel proud of the Cornell students that gave their life to the country. Although I am not an American, I admire this spirit very much and hope that one day I can be well equipped enough to make contribution to my country as well.

Then there is the secret tunnel connecting Rose and Becker dinning. I didn’t notice it until the professor told us that there isn’t a single food truck in north campus because all food as transported through the tunnel. I really appreciate that Cornell has put into a lot of thought in building a better living environment for students.

In the end we went to Professor Blalock’s house, which is located at the first floor in Rose. It was a very beautiful house. We had amazing sushi, apple cider and cake during the reception and I met some new people. It was amazing! Thank you for organizing this event!

College Planning Seminar

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On Wednesday night I went to the Rose cafe event titled: How to Succeed in College and Beyond: Preparing for The Future after Graduation by professor Dan Schwarz. There was nice snacks before the talk began and a lot of people were there. I was particularly interested in this topic because I am struggling on finding balance in studying and socializing recently. Also I start to feel the pressure of job searching so I thought it would be great to hear some advice.

Although Professor Schwarz teaches English, his approach to college planning is very practical and specific. Here are some points that I learned

  • Don’t to afraid to talk to professors during office hours. This helps form bond and could possibly lead to future possibilities
  • Start looking for job early, ideally from sophomore. Summer is a good time to try internship and junior summer intern may lead to full time return offer.
  • Take computer science and economics courses. I think it is very interesting that he brings this up since this is usually the talk from STEM or business people. I would do some research on what this professor has researched when I got free time.

To be honest, I have heard all these advice before. It is good that the professor sum it up. However, I wish there were more advice on mind set and motivation stuff, like how to make decisions when you are stuck on which subject to major in or which club to pick. Because I always face these kind of choices and I am still trying to find an effective thinking method to solve it quick. And also, although I think learning practical stuff in useful and realistic, time should be spent more on the stuff that you like so that you can get better in that area everyday. I have been stuck on this problem. What do you guys think?