Author Archives: Aaheli

Harmful Protection

Posted on by
2

Survivors of domestic and sexual violence, abuse, and assault often lack the proper resources to seek out help from someone who can provide complete confidentiality to them. In fact most survivors are more likely to go to their loved ones for help and solace before going to a professional. This is a very natural response because humans tend to go to the people who they are closest to in their hard times rather than complete strangers. The only problem with this response is that their loved ones can relive their pain for a few moments but cannot get them the proper treatment or guarantee complete confidentiality. Sooner or later, that confidant will reach out to another person they trust in order to seek out help for their loved one. In order o combat the effects of sexual assault and violence, one must seek out help from the right resources.

 

Laura Rodriguez de Simons, Client Services Director for The Advocacy Center of Tompkins County, gave an insightful talk on how she got involved with providing services to survivors of sexual assault and abuse and how she turned her passion into her career. Laura explained that she wanted to work for nonprofits, but after she got her MBA she decided to work for a real estate company for a few months. Often students don’t realize that they can work in a field that is not related to their college degree, and Laura explained how even though she doesn’t work in a business, she still uses her MBA to manage people around her. She strikes a good balance between her passion and education which I feel is very important to do if you want to be successful in the field you’re working in and make a big difference. Laura emphasized how patient confidentiality is vital to protecting victims of assaults, so that they get the necessary mental and physical treatment to recover. I can only imagine that if a friend ever confided in me with a serious problem like rape, abuse, or domestic violence, my first instinct would be to seek out the proper resources for him/her to get help. I would assure him/her that I would respect their privacy, but would also have to direct him/her to a professional like Laura who is capable of dealing with such survivors. I don’t want to risk my friend’s well being by protecting their issue, I want them to get the proper help that they need as soon as possible.

Food For All

Posted on by
1

Food Insecurity is defined as limited access to food which makes it difficult for a person to lead a healthy life. Even though food insecurity might seem like a far distant problem on a college campus, it affects a large majority of college students. Cornell is an urban food desert, which means that residents within the community have to commute more than a mile to find the nearest supermarket. Even though Cornell hosts several dining halls that operate throughout the day, students don’t have a very viable option of actually cooking food for themselves. Considering that a roundtrip to the nearest supermarket(Wegmans,Tops,Target) takes a about 2 to 3 hours, many students just don’t have the time to venture out of campus to find food. Also, Cornell students have very busy schedules which often leads them to sacrificing meals for their work. This happens most frequently during dinner, when most dining halls close before 8, causing students to spend their BRBs or find other sources of food to compensate for their busy schedules. When students run out of BRB’s they are only left with their meal plan, which also provides students with limited food options considering what kind of plan they have.

Anabel’s grocery store is an up and coming student run grocery store that is going to be located inside Anabel Taylor. The store is going to source local produce and sell it at an affordable price for students. The store’s main goal is to reduce food insecurity around campus by selling healthy food to students at a lower price. The students who are running the store described themselves as activists for the people suffering from food insecurity around campus. As victims of food insecurity themselves, the students want to encourage everyone on campus to have a filling and nutritious diet. As a student who stays on campus during breaks, I am looking forward to having a grocery store that will be open regardless of all the dining halls being closed. Even during the year, I always wish that there was a local grocery store on central from which I could buy snacks and fruits at an affordable price without wasting any of my BRBs. Hopefully, in the next few months, I will be able to go to Anabel’s grocery and buy a lot of delicious and healthy treats.

Life Beyond Sport

Posted on by
Reply

I have always been very fond of watching professional tennis. I keep with with all the seasonal matches, follow the rankings of the top players, and actively look out for new players to support. Since I’ve always been a spectator of tennis, I’ve never actually realized how much time and dedication goes behind playing each match. In addition to staying physically fit, the players have to be emotionally stable before each and every game, and that support only comes from the environment in which they are training. Therefore, the people they they surround themselves with both inside and outside the world of tennis plays a prominent role in their success.  Silviu Tanasoiu, the coach of Cornell’s men tennis team, explained to us how his players stay physically and emotionally sound during the training season and learn to balance the sport with their academic and social responsibilities.

The Cornell men’s tennis team have players from all over the world who are the best in their region. Coming from all walks of life, these players not only bring their best game to Cornell, but they also bring in their different cultures. Ultimately, what binds all the players together is their passion for the game and their commitment to their academics. Coach Tanasoiu mentioned that young tennis players aiming to play professionally in the future are averse to going to college in the fear that it will interfere with their training. I believe that getting a degree from college allows the players to secure a backup plan in their career if they do not get the chance to play professionally. By going to university, athletes realize how much the world has to offer outside of tennis which can help them realize their true potential. Education is the key to finding out what one’s interested in and good at, so that they can expand their education into a full fledged career. However, for athletes the path might not be as clear from the beginning, as they are equally committed to their sport as they are to their academics.  Nevertheless, they should have the opportunity to explore the world beyond their sport and a university education gives them just the right amount of studies to balance with their training.

Culture and Change

Posted on by
Reply

The living arrangements in the villages of third world countries are vastly different from those available in the urban sectors of the countries. The rural life is a completely alien lifestyle to foreigners and urban citizens who are exposed to new technologies and use them on a regular basis. The disadvantages of living in such rural sites include the scarcity of everyday technology like stoves, microwaves, and other kitchen appliances that we take for granted. Often, people have to sacrifice their health to make up for the lack of resources in their community. Garrick Blalock highlighted the issue of bringing modern stoves to a village in Uganda, where women burned wood, that they chopped themselves, to heat their pots and pans. The health risks associated with inhaling the heavy influx of smoke from the wood is very high and often children, who are in the kitchen with their mother, have to inhale that smoke.  However, a lot of the families have refused to adopting new methods of cooking as it is not feasible for them to spend money on gas stoves. How is it possible to convince the villagers to take up a new method of cooking? It’s not.

 

Garrick explained that the he and his team had an idea of bringing modern gas stoves to the village and the new gas stoves emitted much less smoke than what the villagers were actually using. Unfortunately, the new gas stove also cost about 5 times the weekly salaries of the villagers. In order to get them to try the new stoves. Garrick and his team made a deal with the villagers in which they would pay for the stove in weekly installments if they actually found it useful. Even though, 50% of the villagers kept the stoves after 5 weeks, when Garrick visited after 2 years, he saw that almost all the families who had originally kept the stove had switched back to the old stove. The problem lies in the fact that it is impossible for a person to make another person change their regular hobbits. The change must come within. If the villagers realized that the new stove would be of no use to them, they would go back to their old stove no matter how harmful it might be. They are probably more concerned about their economic situation than their health, so if it means giving up a new piece of technology they will do it without any hesitation.  In order for the Ugandan village to see the change, they have to to propel it themselves.

A New Take on Technology

Posted on by
1

As an engineering major, I am constantly involved with developing unique technologies whether it’s through the work on my project team or through my coursework. Innovation is a key part of the engineering culture that allows students to harness their creative and technical skills into creating important and useful products. By being immersed in such an environment, engineers begin to generate new ideas for a business/mobile app/or website that they want to launch, and soon they begin building a startup. Startups are the reason so many engineers and non-engineering majors turn into entrepreneurs at such a young age because they take their learnings directly from school and translate it into a real-world application. Dan Schwartz’s presentation on the Jacobs Technicon Cornell Institute delineated the importance of entrepreneurship and startups to the work that college grads pursue after college.

The Technicon Institute is a stepping stone into immersing yourself completely in the startup or engineering culture. Schwartz emphasized that college grads don’t often get constructive feedback on the projects that they are working on, and in order to be successful in the real world, it is necessary that students get honest feedback from their professors. The faculty at the Cornell Technicon institute offer such feedback to their students, so that they can flourish in the startup community. When students begin their startups, they are often unsure about the decisions that they have to make in order to increase the value/importance of their company, and that’s when the Technicon Institute can offer support to its students. By being part of a diverse and innovative culture at this institute, students engage in solving real world problems to improve their understanding of engineering, business, and human interaction- three very important aspects to running a startup

How to Approach Environmentalism

Posted on by
Reply

Aaron Sach’s talk on environmentalist humor brought out the underlying issues relating to how people view environmentalist propaganda. I have always considered myself a very “green” person. I always choose walking/biking over driving. I always turn off the lights, recycle every day, and try to reduce my consumption of meat as much as I can. Although, it’s very obvious that I’m not an active “environmentalist”, I still care about the environment and and want to protect it. So why am I afraid of considering myself as an environmentalist? I feel as if I am not as dedicated enough to the cause. Sachs pointed out that environmentalists pride themselves in taking their work very seriously and don’t allow humor to get in the way of their cause. Therefore, if you’re an environmentalist you can’t really laugh at yourself or at the jokes being made on your work. I know that I can’t take the environmentalist cause as seriously as real environmentalists; however, I believe that I can still be part of the community.

 

Sach’s talk delineated the fact that environmentalists are often viewed as silly activists due to their hardcore approach to work and unwavering belief that their cause surpasses every other in the world. Although environmentalism is not the only cause affecting the world today, it is certainly one of the biggest. Environmentalism encompasses a broad range of issues ranging from climate change to animal rights to resource conservation. Being involved with one of these issues automatically pushes you to be a part of all of them. Everyone can and should get involved in protecting the planet in any which way that they can. After all, the footprint that we leave behind for the future generations has a big impact on their way of living. If the planet’s resources and climate continue to degenerate at the same rate, the survivability quotient will slowly become non-existent in the near future. However, if everyone contributes in their own way to reduce their carbon footprint, the change will be inevitable.

Exploring the Vagina And More

Posted on by
Reply

Vagina Monologues. The name struck me as soon as I heard it. What could it possibly mean? A group of women giving a 2-hour presentation on vaginas and telling other women’s stories relating to their vaginas. Absolutely yes and much more. The first act “hair” set a good precedent to what the show was going to be like. The dialogue between two women discussing men’s obsession with women’s pubic hair brought out many issues relating to women succumbing to men’s idea of sexual pleasure.  Shaving pubic hair is a very emotional and terrifying experience for women because it physically removes a layer that is needed to protect their vaginas. Ultimately it should be up to the woman, not the man, to decide if she wants to remove her vaginal hair because she is in control of her own body and has the responsibility to take care of it.

 

The skits in which the girls embraced their sexuality was as liberating for us to watch as it was for them to perform. The skit about the two sex workers talking about their sexual encounters with women while dancing on the pole was very exciting to watch. By acting out their emotions through their pole dance, the girls created a humorous environment for girls to indulge in their sexual pleasures. And what better way to describe your sexual desires than to physically act them out in front of a live audience. Everyone was in splits by the end, and I wanted to give those two girls a standing ovation. The vagina monologues recognized women who have faced and experienced sexual violence in their lifetime, but also exposed the hypocrisy, scrutiny, and humor that goes along with looking at one’s vagina. I’m looking forward to seeing their show next year.

A Heavily Populated Collegetown

Posted on by
1

Ithaca has been my second home for the last 2 years. I have been fortunate enough to be a part of this unique and cultural college town that allows its students to be a part of the community. Through my various excursions to the commons and participation in into the streets, I noticed that Ithaca always seemed to have some form of attraction for everyone living in it. Therefore, when I attended the talk by Lisa Nicholas, I wasn’t surprised when she told us that Ithaca had one of the lowest vacancy rates in the country. After all, the booming education industry and great retirement facilities attracted people of all different ages to move here. Unfortunately, there aren’t enough houses and buildings to meet the demands of the Ithaca’s growing population. Lisa emphasized that the new construction projects in Ithaca, which included the development of a Marriott and Hilton Hotel, were passed as a result of accommodating more tourists and college families in Ithaca. I know how hard it is for my parents to find a hotel room that is conveniently located near Cornell, so I hope that these new hotels allow more families and tourists to be closer to the heart of Ithaca.

 

Additionally, Lisa described how construction projects were approved in Ithaca. Since the commons have a very open and unique layout, with small story buildings and quaint shops, the presence of a new building should not disrupt the aura of downtown. Therefore, the new projects must be situated in an area that adds to the beauty of Ithaca. When a student inquired about the shutting down of a multi story student building in Ithaca, Lisa stated that the building planners did not have a feasible plan to use a small plot of land to build their building; therefore, the project had to be shelved, so that the planners could revise their projects. After attending the talk, I was surprised to see the large rate of building and planning that had been present in Ithaca for the last 10 years. I was lucky enough to be living in a safe and comfortable environment at Cornell, but I couldn’t imagine what some families, tourists, and other students had to go through to find a home in Ithaca. I hope that in the next ten years, the number of living spaces in Ithaca match up to its flourishing population.

Skating Slowly

Posted on by
Reply

I was ready to skate after years of psyching myself out of it. I knew I had the worst balance out of everybody on the rink, but I decided that I wasn’t going to let my insecurities affect me anymore. There were many people who couldn’t skate as well as me, but we had all come here to have fun. As soon as my blade touched the ice, I quickly grasped the side bar for support and didn’t let go until I was standing across the big red Cornell sign in the center. I saw some of my friends already gliding across the ice. They looked so free and happy. When I was I going to feel like that?

 

Soon the skating lesson started, and we were introduced to the history of the famous Lynah Rink. I was surprised that this 50-year-old rink still holds the record for the most packed games for every night of the hockey season. I decided that I should go to at least one hockey game during my time at Cornell just to experience the power of the crowd. Right now though, I was trying to focus on how to get up after I’d fallen on the ice. The instructor made us practice getting up on the ice a few times, and soon she was teaching us the basic skating techniques.

 

As we practiced gliding with two feet, I lagged behind most of the people who were reaching the opposite side of the ring, but I was comfortable with my speed. I knew that if I went any faster, I would lose control over myself. Later we practiced some stopping techniques, which I didn’t use at all considering my skating speed was lower than normal. As the time went on, I become more comfortable with my skating pace and began traveling farther distances. I noticed that I skated more confidently, when I was skating by myself rather than with other people. So, I just skated around the middle of the rink, until my feet started hurting and I forced my friends to leave the rink with me. I think I want to go back again. Only this time, I want the whole rink to myself.