I absolutely loved volunteering for the YMCA as part of Into the Streets! I thought that we’d be indoors, but we were in the woods! Thankfully the weather was great. My team’s job was to transfer firewood from one part of the woods to the main area. The wood was heavy, but it was so worth it! The forest is so beautiful in autumn. It was like taking a pleasant hike, only we did it like six times carrying blocks of wood every other time. It was also great bonding!
Author Archives: tos5
Hello LinkedIn
So I decided to choose this talk because, honestly, my LinkedIn is a mess and since we’re in college I figured this talk would most definitely address it. And it did! GRF Sam talked about safety and presentation online. He addressed how our profiles should have a consistent presence across social media platforms to promote consistency and a sense of professionalism. When we did get to LinkedIn, as I knew we inevitably would, I learned tips such as once you’ve been established, a little thank you to an event invitation goes a long way. I also learned that apparently, people have personal websites to promote themselves and their social media accounts. I think that’s the most you can do to present yourself professionally. I’m not sure whether I’ll do that yet, but thanks to this talk I’m grateful to have learned of the option!
Mint Tea and Fake News
Is it rude to say that I was a bit disappointed in the talk? The content wasn’t bad though, and Dan Schwarz is smart and a great orator.
However, I signed up for a talk about how to succeed in school. Lord knows I need it- all the tips and tricks for a successful four years from a genuine Cornell Professor. Instead, we talked about fake news in the media. And I was positively bored. I found myself yawning a few times as we discussed Trump (inevitably) and sketchy newspapers. The best part of the talk was when I made myself mint tea. I did learn a few interesting fun facts, though. Like how most news sources get their news from the New York Times because they’re the only newspaper that has enough money to send out good investigative journalists. And for that reason (the good investigative journalism), The Times sweeps up Pulitzer Prizes every year.
Other than that, I can’t tell you much else. Journalism isn’t one of my favorite things to discuss. It wasn’t all a waste though. That was some tasty mint tea.
Pigs!
When I got the email for Shiv’s table talk about genetic engineering, the thing that stood out to me the most was that it mentioned pigs (!). I don’t adore pigs, although I did love Wilbur in Charlotte’s Web. I was just curious- what do pigs have to do with genetic engineering?
A lot apparently- 0ur table talk was fascinating! We talked about a new technology called CRISPR, a genetic engineering tool that can alter the DNA of cells by using a protein to cut out the unwanted portions of a cell and replace it with modified material. CRISPR is extremely versatile and easy to use, and it can be used in various fields. It can be used to cut out a genetic piece that would cause disorders in children, or make a plant immune to a disease. As a result, this technology is extremely valuable. However, there is a legal battle going on about who actually owns the technology- a professor in UCSF who first discovered its use in bacteria, or her partner who first applied this knowledge to the use of human cells.
But back to pigs. CRISPR can be used to alter pig DNA so that human organs can be grown in pigs. This would be revolutionary- thousands of people wouldn’t have to die every year because they can’t get a organ from a human organ donor. Instead, they can get it from a farm animal.
As good as CRISPR sounds, it has the potential to create huge ethical problems. For instance, someone at the table mentioned ‘designer babies’. Parents could use this technology to make their children have a certain eye color, or skip out on a hunched back gene. And the thing about science is that sometimes people don’t know where to draw the line.
CRISPR will probably win a Nobel Peace Prize one day (hopefully after the messy legal battle is cleaned up). However, it is important to recognize that as amazing as it is, it may potentially bring up future problems to society. I just feel sorry for the pigs.
Japanese Anemone and Lightning Rods
The botanical gardens visit last weekend was absolutely charming! I’d explored the gardens before on my own and my friends, but I’d never taken an actual tour. The tour also fascinated me because I was hoping to meet someone who would teach me how to revive my daisy plant, Mira, from the dead. So I was very excited to meet our tour guide.
Our guide was sweet and extremely knowledgable- she had over twenty years of experience giving tours and taking care of the plants in the gardens. We started at the tropical plants outside the entrance of the welcome building. There, I learned that bananas grow on plants, not trees. Then, we walked to tour our first garden- the winter garden. As our group walked, our guide pointed out a gray shed. She said it belonged to a Cornell alumni and Nobel Peace Prize laureate, a woman who had discovered jumping genes through her research with corn plants. It was amazing to see the place where such an amazing woman once worked. Afterwards, we walked into the first full garden of our tour.
The winter garden is full of evergreens and will be the only garden still gorgeous when winter comes. My favorite part of the winter garden tour was when an adorable dog interrupted our tour and walked between our legs. Our guide told its owner to put it on a leash because of the garden policy, but I still loved it.
Our next garden was the flower garden! It was a rainbow of color. Our guide told us that people would send messages to each other using ‘flower language’. Essentially, different flowers and colors had different messages. For instance, a yellow rose, which today represents friendship, used to mean that a woman did not want to see her suitor anymore. That was absolutely fascinating!
Next, we visited the food garden, and then the herb and medicinal garden. Our guide warned us not to touch the black peppers. Then we picked, smelled and passed around a few plants, such as a plant used to clot blood, and another used to make moth balls.
Afterwards, we exited the gardens to look at plants growing in the shade of some lofty trees. There I saw what I think is now my favorite plant- the Japanese sea anemone. It has the most beautiful pink blossoms. Our tour ended with us examining the trunks of the tallest trees. Lightening rods had been installed to redirect electricity into the ground and prevent the energy from exploding the trees.
I was sad when the tour came to the end. But afterwards, I ran up to our guide and asked her what to do with Mira, my daisy. After we talked I learned that I had been watering the poor thing top much! And now she’s coming back to life. What a knowledgeable trip.