Author Archives: aac85

Controversial Opinions

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Tonight I had the chance to listen to Professor Daniel Schwarz share life advice and talk about his book How to Succeed in College and Beyond: The Art of Learning. A great deal of the advice that Professor Schwarz shared was about how to succeed in the early years of college – tips such as taking classes with professors that care about the students, building relationships with professors, taking a wide variety of classes, and going abroad. Unfortunately, I am a senior about to graduate, so I won’t be able to put much of his advice to use.

Professor Schwarz also shared his (unfavorable) opinion toward the Greek system, prefacing it by saying that he knows his opinion is a controversial one. He said he feels that the Greek system is toxic, and that people in the Greek system – especially in fraternities – all seem to have the same set of beliefs, which cuts down on cultural discourse. I am not in the Greek system, but many of my friends are, and every one of my Greek friends is incredibly kind, intelligent, caring, and open to learning about other cultures and beliefs. I agree that the Greek system does have many flaws that need to be addressed, but I think it is unfair to make the generalization that every person in the Greek system is single-minded and judgmental.

Another statement of Professor Schwarz’s, that sororities are problematic because most victims of sexual abuse are in sororities, struck me as completely off-base. This idea is basically victim-blaming; it implies that women in sororities bring the sexual abuse upon themselves. This is completely outrageous – the blame for such a crime lies solely with the person who actually committed it. Additionally, the idea that abolishing sororities would help stop sexual abuse is problematically narrow-minded in that it fails to acknowledge or stop sexual abuse that happens to girls who are not in sororities.

Of course, the corollary argument that Professor Schwarz seemed to be implying was that most perpetrators of sexual abuse are in fraternities. But of course, the issue is not that simple. There are many fraternity men who do not commit sexual abuse, and there are many non-fraternity men who do. The issue of stopping sexual abuse should not be equated with just stopping fraternity members from doing it; it should be equated with stopping all men from doing it.

A Look at the World of Varsity Athletics

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Tonight we had the privilege of hearing Coach Silviu Tanasoiu, the head coach of the Cornell men’s varsity tennis team, give a talk. My little sister is an avid tennis player, so I was extremely to hear Coach Tanasoiu’s perspective on life as part of an Ivy League varsity tennis team. I’ve always known that varsity athletes are incredibly busy, but I had no idea to what extent. Coach Tanasoiu described being a student athlete as “getting a medical degree and doing military service at the same time.” Student athletes often have two practices a day, one in the morning and one in the afternoon. They spend most of their weekends traveling to compete. On top of that, they have to juggle classes and extracurriculars like everybody else. Hearing this made me appreciate just how hard student athletes have to work.

Coach Tanasoiu also shared a number of valuable lessons that apply not just on the tennis court, but in everyday life. He spoke about the importance of being grateful to the people who help you, sharing the example of when his parents sold the family car so they could afford a plane ticket for him to compete at a prestigious tennis tournament. Coach Tanasoiu also told us that he once dropped a high school player he had been recruiting for eight months, simply because the player was disrespectful to his coach. Hearing this reminded me of how grateful I am for all the support I have received from my family, teachers, and mentors.

Finally, I also found it very interesting when Coach Tanasoiu spoke about how the coaches pay attention to everything the players do, from the way they warm up at practice to how they compete at tournaments. He said that deciding which players earn the six coveted playing spots often boils down to little moments. This showed me that people are always watching, even when you don’t realize it, so it is important to always put your best foot forward in everything that you do.

The Challenges of Being a DREAMer

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Tonight I had the opportunity to listen to a talk by Esmerelda Arrizon-Palomera on undocumented youths in America and the implications of the DREAM act. She shared several images that exemplify the different challenges and biases that undocumented youths face. One was a pair of crossing signs – one that shows two parents appearing to run away from something with a child in tow, and another that shows three educated people in graduation garb, appearing to walk towards something. The fact that both images show the people with the word “Caution” speaks to the irrational fear of immigrants that many people in the United States demonstrate. While the first image perpetuates negative stereotypes of immigrants, the second way shows them as model students. Arrizon-Palomera talked about how regardless of how much education an undocumented person receives, their condition as undocumented will always be a precarious one. Arrizon-Palomera compared the feeling of being undocumented to feeling contained or stuck. This made me realize how much a lot of us take our citizenship for granted – things like being able to get a drivers license, have a Social Security number, and qualify for financial aid are all luxuries that undocumented students don’t have. College is already stressful enough as is – I can’t even imagine how difficult and stressful it must be to have to deal with all of those issues as well.

Arrizon-Palomera also talked about how a lot of undocumented people have no memory of crossing, since it happened when they were so young. Therefore, they often don’t even realize they are undocumented until they go to apply for driver’s licenses. Additionally, she talked about the DREAM act helps protect students, but it criminalizes their parents, thus separating students from their parents – so that protection comes at a cost. Again, this made me realize how lucky citizens are and how much we take for granted.

Looking at the Prius in a New Light

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Tonight I had the eye-opening chance to listen to Garrick Blalock speak about why technology isn’t helping the poor. He started off the presentation by asking the audience if they know that Priuses are better for the environment, if they own a Prius, and if not, why not. When put like that, the answer seems simple: emissions from normal cars are contributing to global warming, but Priuses have lower emissions, so of course everybody should buy a Prius. However, this becomes a more complicated, moral dilemma once you factor in money. Priuses also happen to cost a lot more up front. So even though they ultimately help you save on gas money and save the environment, there is still that initial price hurdle to clear. This symbolizes the larger issue that going green and saving the environment are luxuries that less affluent people can afford. Organic grocery stores like Whole Foods are well known to be exorbitantly priced. Solar panels are more expensive than traditional forms of energy. All electric vehicles – not just the Prius – tend to be in a higher price range. Thus, when people do not live in the most environmentally friendly way possible, this may not be because they are selfish and enjoy their consumerist lifestyle; in fact, they simply cannot afford to live any other way.

When I was thinking about the issue of the expensive Prius, this also brought to mind for me the issue that the rich get richer, while the poor get poorer. The people who are rich enough to afford a Prius are the ones that get to save money on gas. The people who are rich enough to afford tutoring and elite educations are the ones that get to make more money. The people who are rich enough to invest in stocks are the ones that get to earn more dividends. And the list goes on.

With all these things in mind, when Professor Blalock talked about how the type of cook stove that is used in Uganda causes emissions that are harmful to breathe, this made me realize how imperative it is that they start adopting new, healthier cook stoves. And according to Professor Blalock, the new cook stoves aren’t even more expensive, so money is not a factor.

Cornell Tech: More Than Just Tech

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Before tonight, I had never given much – if any – thought to Cornell Tech. I had heard about it, but always just thought of it as a graduate program for computer science and engineering students. I am an English major in the College of Arts and Sciences, so to me Cornell Tech was something that had absolutely no relation to what I am studying. However, after listening to tonight’s talk by Professor Adam Shwartz, I have a completely different perspective on the school.

Professor Shwartz informed us that Cornell Tech is about more than just technology – it’s about providing a multidisciplinary education in business, communications, health, and numerous other fields. Two of the programs that Cornell Tech offers are Information Systems in Connective Media and Information Systems in Health Tech. After hearing Professor Shwartz talk about the goals of the Connective Media program – to teach psychology, info science, and computer science in order to help people better connect in today’s modern, digital world – I was incredibly interested to hear about this. I am very passionate about the media and am hoping to go into that field when I graduate, so I was pleasantly surprised to hear that Cornell Tech actually offers a media-focused program. Professor Shwartz said that the media program involves lots of project-based learning (such as building start-up companies and presenting them to actual investors), which sounds like a wonderful opportunity.

In the past, I had always envisioned Cornell Tech as a bigger version of Gates Hall, with lots of coding going on all the time. But according to Professor Shwartz, there are lots of startup studios where students can work on company challenges and create new businesses. He said there are very few theory classes; almost everything is focused on practical applications. After hearing all of this, I have a newfound appreciation for Cornell Tech. If I were to ever consider going to graduate school, I would definitely want to apply to there.

Climate Change: A Laughing Matter

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Tonight I had the opportunity to listen to a talk by Professor Aaron Sachs about environmental humor (or the lack thereof) in today’s society. Before tonight, the lack of environmental humor was something I had never really thought about. I always assumed that there was plenty out of it there, just like there are plenty of jokes about politics, religion, celebrities, and other such categories. However, Professor Sachs pointed out that environmentalists are often unable to laugh at themselves and can come across as too serious. After hearing this and watching some of the parody videos he showed, I began thinking about my encounters with environmental documentaries, articles, and books, and realizing that many of them are, in fact, too serious and preach-y. Lots of environmental documentaries aim to show, it seems, how every little thing that people do will kill polar bears, raise the global temperature, release toxins into the air, and doom our grandchildren. While climate change is certainly an important issue, there are probably better ways to go about encouraging people to make a difference than simply making them feel bad about themselves. Telling somebody that everything about their lifestyle is wrong is not going to make them jump up and suddenly want to change.

Humor, on the other hand, is a much more gentle way of getting people to see a point. And just because it is lighthearted does not mean it is any less effective. I have seen lots of very effective humorous/parody videos that make important points about issues like rape, gender equality, and minority rights. Professor Sachs pointed out that laughing at yourself can be fairly difficult and complicated; however, I think in the case of environmental humor, that extra effort can definitely be well worth it.

An Evening of Music

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Tonight we had the honor of watching the Momenta String Quartet in an open rehearsal. Before they played, they talked about the piece they were going to be playing, Janacek’s String Quartet No. 1, also known as the Kreutzer Sonata. They told us that it is one of the few musical pieces to be based on a book (by Leo Tolstoy) which was based on a song (by Beethoven). I always love when art is meta and self-conscious, so I definitely thought that was very interesting. The artists also told us what to listen for in the piece, such as the sounds of trains and conversations. I found that incredibly helpful, and it gave me a whole new perspective as I listened to the music. I definitely felt like I was able to pick out conversations and envision a storyline throughout the piece. According to the artists, the piece does not tell the story linearly, but rather in fragments. As an English major, I really like the idea that Janacek decided to not be predictable and simply transcribe the story into the music event by event, but instead mix it up and keep the audience guessing as to which part was being conveyed.

The future of Ithaca

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Tonight I had the chance to attend a great talk by Lisa Nicholas on economic development in Ithaca. She spoke a lot about the importance of compact, mixed use development – compact meaning everything is within walking distance, and mixed use meaning that there is a combination of businesses and residences. I definitely think that compact development is a good idea. As a student who does not have a car and has to rely on the TCAT to get places, being located close to businesses makes a huge difference (especially during the winter when it is blizzarding and below zero degrees outside). As Nicholas pointed out, the southern part of Ithaca where Wegmans, Wal-Mart, and Chipotle are located seems like a huge trek to people without a car. Even though distance-wise it is only a few miles, it takes over an hour to get there by bus from Cornell’s campus. Nicholas talked about how they are currently trying to make the Wegmans area more accessible, which I think is a great idea. For the students who aren’t on a dining plan, Cornell is something of a food desert – places like Target, Wegmans, Wal-Mart, and Tops are all a long bus ride away. Even if students do decide to take the bus, they can only buy as much food as they can carry in two hands.

Nicholas also talked about the high rent issue in Ithaca. Nicholas explained that there is a very low housing vacancy rate, which means high demand and low supply – hence the high prices. Even though I have lived in a dorm for all three of my years at Cornell, I am still incredibly interested in all of the problems with the Ithaca housing market, since I have so many friends who are paying exorbitant prices for run-down apartments.

An Abundance of Corruption

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This week I had the opportunity to attend a very eye-opening lecture by Professor Nicolas van de Walle about government in Africa. I was completely blown away by his description of all the corruption that takes place in many African governments. For example, he said that large amounts of money would simply disappear from the government in Cameroon, and workers would often take their office lightbulbs home with them at the end of the day for fear that somebody would steal them overnight. According to van de Walle, many of the governments were simply looking to profit off of everything, placing 400-500% tariffs on imported goods without any guilt over the resulting strangulation of the economy. All of these facts were a complete shock to me. It made me realize how much we take for granted in the United States – if somebody discovers government corruption, they are usually hailed as a whistleblower and an exemplary citizen. Senators or Representatives may assign people to look into the corruption. The people involved in the corruption will usually lose their jobs and/or be subject to criminal punishment. In the countries that van de Walle described, the citizens have none of those options – they simply have to deal with it.

van de Walle also talked about how attempts to “reform” the corruption are often not only unhelpful, they actually further the corruption. Dictators who lead successful coups often promise to get rid of the corruption, and they make it a point to prosecute the allies of the previous president, but then right after that the new leaders end up being just as corrupt as the old ones. To me, this seems like an incredibly vicious cycle – and as van de Walle pointed out, one that can only be solved by democracy.

Finally, van de Walle’s suggestions for how to encourage democracy in such countries made me, again, realize how lucky we are to have democracy in the United States and how important it is to not take it for granted. van de Walle said that term limits are one of the most important factors to preventing corruption – he suggested that any government run by the military or by a president who has been in power for more than ten years should not be eligible to receive foreign aid. In the United States, the 2-term limit for presidents is something that we are all familiar with, but never really give much thought to. van de Walle made me realize how lucky we are to have such checks and balances.