Cambodian and Chinese Interactions

Posted on May 1, 2016 by Ethan Salans Kramer

This past Wednesday I attended a talk with Andrew Mertha about the his interactions with Cambodia and China. Although I didn’t fully understand his role because I arrived a few minutes late, I really enjoyed his talk. He discussed how he spent time in Cambodia, trying to learn as much about China and it’s secrets as possible. Although I didn’t really understand the purpose behind his stories, I really enjoyed his talk.

He talked about how we spent time in Cambodia, and how many people were motivated by money. He mentioned that he wanted to spend time in a library, but it was closed due to holiday. In order to open it, he said he had to pay their salaries for the day, and he had it open to him self. Additionally, they were more than happy to make him copies of top secret documents because they made money.

I thought it was funny to learn about a culture that was so motivated by money. I originally thought that our culture was like that, but based on this, it seemed like we were less.

Overall, I really enjoyed the humor and anecdotal talk.

Stand for what you believe in

Posted on April 18, 2016 by Ethan Salans Kramer

This Past Saturday I attended a rose scholars event regarding how we do activism. It was a nice discussion with other members of the Rose community discussing what activism was, and if we felt we participated in activism. We started off by discussing what social issue was of most importance to us. After that, we discussed what lead to effective activism. It was neat to hear people’s perspectives on whether or not there should be a “person in charge” for activism.

Several examples were MLK, Malcolm X, and Anonymous. It was a good discussion about how by being able to rally behind a figure head, it makes the ideas you are fighting for ma bit more tangible. Moreover, people discussed how having someone from the inside be the figurehead resulting in the message being a lot more clear. Someone shared a counter example saying that in the fight for illegal immigrants to get education, a legal resident is needed to be the figurehead or else it is very difficult to get anything done. Overall, I thought the discussion was neat to hear people’s different perspectives on activism.

Bones make the best Soil

Posted on April 9, 2016 by Ethan Salans Kramer

This Past Wednesday I attended a talk from soil expert Dawit Solomon. His research focuses on identifying and quantifying the processes and causes of soil degradation in natural and managed eco-systems. He talked about dark soil, and how it was dependent upon carbon. He mentioned that if it was dark, it lead to great fertile soil. The cool part about it was that the soil was transformed from dry to dark as a result of civilizations adding carbon.

He showed a picture that showed a hole dug to expose the layers of the earth. You could clearly see where the transition from dry to dark fertile soil was. It was cool to learn that you could date when a civilization started based on the amount of carbon in the ground.

He also spoke about how they turned the soil fertile, and how it is not well known. He explained that it has to do with adding carbon from living things back into the ground. A great quote form Garrick was with composting and similar methods, you “shift carbon from the atmosphere, and put it in the ground”. As a result, you prevent global warming. It also helps with making the soil fertile. Bones were apparently the best way to make the soil fertile, which was neat.

Life and Tennis Coach

Posted on March 31, 2016 by Ethan Salans Kramer

This Past wednesday I attended a talk by the head of the men’s tennis team, coach Silviu Tanasoiu. His talk was very interesting because he spoke more than just about tennis, and spoke about the students and the recruitment process. He talked about his recruiting of a russian tennis player, which was the most interesting story for me. In short, he explained how the student was between two schools, but chose Cornell because he reached out to the mother, who spoke Russian. This example was really neat because it highlighted a few key points. He discussed that honesty is the most important process when recruiting. He said getting to know the person is very important. And getting to know the family, their coach, and their background can make the difference in getting someone to come to the program.

It was really neat to learn about the amount of effort that goes into recruiting students. The coaches care more than just about winning, they care about developing the students as a whole. As a result, i am very impressed with the discussion.

The hope for a Better Life

Posted on March 23, 2016 by Ethan Salans Kramer

This past wednesday, I attended a rose Cafe series for the second time this semester. Although I thought the topic was very interesting – illegal immigration – I did not enjoy the presentation. The presentation seemed too rough, and not the most eloquent or thought out. As a result, it was a bit difficult to enjoy.

However, it was very interesting. A very neat part was the poster that said “My name is Laura, I am undocumented”. It was a poster about college education. Had you not know it was about illegal immigration, you would not have been able to tell. The colors were blurred, she was a smiling person with grad mortar board on, and had pictures of students smiling. It makes it very neat because it shows that people only want to gain a better education and better life. It puts it in perspective when people discuss illegal immigration because a lot of what people want is just a better life. Thats a lot hard to argue against.

Survival of the Fittest – Museum of Earth

Posted on March 8, 2016 by Ethan Salans Kramer

This past weekend I attended a tour of the museum of Earth. It was my first time there, and I thought it was really cool. They had a bunch of large bones that were very impressive to see. One of the coolest things they showed was a bunch of dioramas that showed the evolution of animals. It was neat to hear that they had one of the best collections of them, and it clearly showed. In order to make the talk more interesting, we were each provided out own fossil. Mine can be found below, I apologize it is rotated, i’m not the best with this website.

The ‘coolest’ thing I found was the below image. It was an exhibit about the change in the average temperature throughout the history of earth. The bittersweet part was that when dinosaurs roamed, the temperature was 80 degrees F. I sure wish that was the same case today!

Music with a Meaning

Posted on February 22, 2016 by Ethan Salans Kramer

This past Friday I attended the Momenta Quartet open Rehearsal. It was a chance to hear some great String’s music in first person, and I jumped at the opportunity. Although I am not a music lover, nor do I have any musical talent, I really enjoy peaceful strings/classical music. It does a great job of making my worries go away.

One think I really enjoyed about this open rehearsal was that it not only played great music, but also shared a little bit of the history of the piece. They discussed how it was supposed to include a train, as well as a climatic scene where someone may have been murdered. While listening to the music, I could definitely pick up on those elements. There were some very rhythmic parts that sounded like the train, and some very high energy parts where it felt like dozens of people were playing.

By closing my eyes while I was able to listen, I felt transported to the scene described. It was not only exciting, but also quite peaceful to be able to listen to such a talented group perform right in front of me.

I fully recommend this type of event to anyone in the future.

The Harm of NGO’s and Charities

Posted on February 11, 2016 by Ethan Salans Kramer

This past weekend I attended the watching of Poverty Inc. I signed up for the event because it happened to be the only event I could attend this week. Originally, it was not an event I thought I would enjoy, but my mind quickly changed once the film started.

Poverty Inc discussed the aftermath of a natural or economical disaster in several countries. It showed how people all over the world begin efforts to send supplies and aid to those countries to help them. However, what I found most interesting, and what was the key point of the film, was that all of those NGO’s caused more harm than good. The film went through describing how sending in extremely cheap resources and giving things out for free in those countries directly hurts the few businesses there that could have flourished or helped the population. A good example they gave dealt with eggs. A small farmer was providing eggs for the entire town, however many GMOs came and gave our free eggs. As a result, the small farmer could not compete and went out of business. Then, when the GMO’s left he was not in business and the town suffered. This made me really think about the best way to help struggling people.

From the film and the video, I learned that the best way to help people isn’t through free stuff. You should teach them how to be indepenedt, and give them the infomation to succeed. It made a lot of sense, given the age old axiom “If you give a man a fish, he’ll have food for the night. But if you teach a man to fix, he’ll have food for the rest of his life”.

I thought this video and discussion was really great at explaining the harm of doing good, and not really thinking about the effects of your actions. Can anyone provide any personal experiences?

Bring Comfy Shoes

Posted on January 31, 2016 by Ethan Salans Kramer

Today I attended Open Skate, which was a blast. Overall, I really enjoyed the event, despite even fall flat on my back on camera!

I enjoyed the brief history lesson about Lynah rink, and how it came to be after a warm winter season. I also really enjoyed and appreciated the chance to learn how to skate, instead of just trying to figure it out on my own.

The event itself I thought was a great way to relax, have fun, and meets others in the Rose house System. I had the chance to skate with people in the house, as well as watch some very impressive skaters that currently live there. I don’t think the event was the most educational (I learned a little bit), but overall I think it was one of the best events we’ve had. The chance to do something fun and stress free made this event definitely worth going to. I recommend skating at Lynah on open skate night for anyone that is interested in learning or having fun!

Also, After taking of my skates the nicest thing was slipping into my loafers. Make sure to bring socks and comfy shoes!

Rose Scholars Spring 2016

Explore, challenge, connect

Author Archives: Ethan Salans Kramer