Author Archives: Olivia Corn

Hydroponics

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Last week I went to a lecture on hydroponics.  I have never been a science kid: I dreaded taking my science requirements here at Cornell and genuinely do not understand science.  However, I was really fascinated by this Rose Cafe and found hydroponics incredibly interesting.  I also want to say that I ate the salad at house dinner and it was incredibly tasty with the hydroponically grown lettuce.  When we think of growing food, none of us would ever think of growing food in a lab, and this subject was something I had heard about in passing but had never thought about.  I didn’t realize that there are more types of hydroponics than just one, depending on the plant.  Some plants need to have their roots get a good amount of air and the roots cannot be completely submerged in water, so for the different types of hydroponics, the air parcels are placed in different places and the water hits the plants differently (submerged, misted, tilted, etc.).

There was one question I had on hydroponics, however.  Is the increase in production cost worth the benefits of hydroponics?  I wouldn’t call myself an expert on hydroponics, so I can’t answer this question, but I am excited to see where the future of hydroponics leads us.

The Modern Primitive

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Last week, I went to the Rose Cafe with GRF Sam Lagasse, where I learned about the modern primitive.  We looked at various dances and photographs, and I looked at these dances and photographs in a new light.  Before the conversation, if I looked at a painting of a train crossing water, I would have thought about how the painting was different.  But, I never would have really considered the meaning of the painting: why is the train going over water when trains usually go over land, what does the train represent in contrast with what the water represents, and what does this photograph say about progress?  I never would have thought about the train representing masculinity, over fragile waters.  I never would have thought about how the train represents travel and the journey into the future.  I never would have thought about so many different aspects of the painting.

I was really happy to go to this talk because it gave me a bit of a new perspective when analyzing certain parts of my life.  He brought up some contemporary examples, like the paleo diet (people eating like they used to because it was “healthier”) and the new push to move away from being so engrossed in technology, and I like how the idea of the modern primitive was applied to things I encounter daily.

Housing Prices and Changing Architecture

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I really enjoyed the discussion we all had with John Schroeder last week.  I thought it was really cool to see how the city of Ithaca has changed over time and see how different everything now looks from how it looked 100 years ago.  One thing that greatly annoyed me, however, was what I learned about housing prices and how Cornell plans to provide housing for its students forthcoming.  I always thought that collegetown housing prices were exorbitant because of landlords hiking up the rent to make as much of a profit as possible, but I never considered the ways in which Cornell significantly contributes to the problem.  A lot of houses on Cornell’s campus do not pay property taxes, and Cornell as a whole could charge way less than it does for housing to relieve some of the financial burden students face.  In addition, Cornell has a lack of housing, which allows landlords to drive up prices because of supply and demand.  The new housing coming to north campus is not going to help in the short term because it is going to be swing housing, used to house students who would usually be living in another dorm but aren’t because those dorms will be under renovation.  Cornell needs to fix this problem soon, and fast.

Hair Care

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I went to the Cafe event last Wednesday where I learned about hair and how to care for your hair.  I know a lot of people think that hair and the way it looks is silly, but that really is not the case.  Dress for success and other organizations that help women look their best are super important because a hair style or a certain piece of clothing can make someone feel better about themselves and give them a confidence boost.  When I was in high school, my hair was unmanageable and looked messy a large percentage of the time, and I was self conscious about it.  I found two or three products (through a lot of experimentation) that I now use regularly that removed my frizz and make my hair look shiny and healthy and it made a huge difference not only with the way I saw the world but with how I felt about myself.  Not only did I feel more professional, but I felt that people would take me more seriously.  As dumb as it may sound, the hair products and makeup products I use regularly help me feel better because this world is so focused on the way we portray ourselves, that I feel more normal if I look more put together.  I enjoyed hearing the advice Nicholas had for us about how to look more professional, and what certain hair products can do for the way we all present ourselves.

Fake News: Not Just Trump

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Last week I went to Professor Schwarz’s Rose Cafe on fake news, and when asked to define fake news, it took a second before I could come up with something.  The literal definition of fake news is news that is fake, but it has taken on a different meaning since Donald Trump coined the term.  Trump uses the term fake news to attack stories about him that he does not like, making his supporters dislike the media and become wary about the news released about him.  But, I never realized how much of the news is actually fake.  Just two days ago, Tom Petty went into cardiac arrest, and many news outlets were reporting that he had passed away, when in fact he was still alive, but had just been taken off of life support.  He did pass away sadly later that night, but this example reminded me about what Professor Schwarz said about news outlets such as CNN being “fake” because of their rush to be the first to break a story- in doing so, they do not fact check as much, and this leads to them being wrong more often than other news outlets that wait a few minutes longer to post “breaking news.”  In addition, almost all news outlets have a political leaning as well as a bias, which provides different versions of the same events.  For example, when looking at the recent events surrounding the NFL, some outlets discuss how the NFL is taking a stance against racism, while other outlets discuss how Americans should stand for the national anthem.  While discussing the same event, the biases and leanings produce different versions of events.  I found this talk very informative and interesting.