Author Archives: Gianna Buccellato

Great Advice, but Hard to Apply

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I feel like Professor Schwarz lecture  should have been called how to succeed in the College of Arts and Sciences. Don’t get me wrong, his advice sounded good and I’m sure a lot of people found it beneficial, but specifically I didn’t think a lot of it would be useful or easily applied in my case.

One thing he said that sounded great was to take a class based off of the professor and find good professors for your classes.  I wish I could do this but as an engineering student the majority of my classes are major required with only one lecture option for the semester I have to take them, so I really can’t take a class for the professor. This is great advice I hope to apply to my liberal arts requirements, I’m just remarking on how for the vast majority of my classes, at least at the moment, I can’t apply this advice.

He also commented about grade inflation is a problem at the school. Again I don’t think I really see this in my engineering classes but maybe I’m wrong.  I have had professors who curve the class to a B-. I had professors freshmen year said that only 5% of the class will get an A as a final grade.  I’m sure some of my other classes did have some inflation going around but I do think that it isn’t as significant of a problem in the College of Engineering.

There was definitely a lot of good in the talk and I found Professor Schwarz to be a funny and entertaining speaker who was fun to listen to and really passionate about the topic.  Even if I felt I couldn’t use some of the great advice he gave, I’m glad I went to talk because he was fun to listen to.

Stress Management

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I’ve never really thought about finding better ways to handle my stress.  This talk opened my eyes to how unhealthy large amounts of stress can be and how to cope with them.  It’s true that everyone experiences stress differently but this talk made me realize that it can be very unhealthy for people, especially because of some of my stress habits.  For example, I tend to lose my appetite when I get very stressed out which is poor for my health and to overcome the stress I’m dealing with. We also talked about how sleep is important and how far too many students here don’t get the amount of sleep they need every day.

I think the meditation session I found most useful as something I could incorporate everyday that would help myself refocus.  It’s a nice way to just relax for a short while and forget about all the things you’re worrying about.  I read somewhere that stress can be like holding a glass of water: the weight of the water will depend on how long you hold it. If you don’t set down the glass for hours, then your arm will hurt and the glass will feel much heavier than it did when you first picked it up.  The point is to remember that you have to put the glass down at some point just like you have to release the stress at some point.  Continually holding on to all the negative energy and whatever has you stressed out will only increase that stress.  Hopefully I can actually do this meditation to help me put down that glass of water.

Soil Conservation

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Soil conservation has never been something that weighed on my mind. I never really realized the impact it can have on our global food production and its influence on climate change.  It’s estimated that 25% of excess carbon in the atmosphere is due to soil decimation.

The talk really opened my eyes to the way everything on this planet is connected. We would like to think that not taking care of our soil only affects things directly related to it but that is not the case.  The fact that soil and climate are related in such a way is something I never would have realized had I not attended this talk.  It was very insightful and made me think more about what I can do to conserve the earth’s natural resources. Also, mad props to Cornell for making a cheaper and more efficient fertilizer for poor african farmers.

A new perspective

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I had never really considered what life would be like for someone who wasn’t born in this country but had lived almost their entire lives in the United States.  Last week’s Becker Rose cafe changed that for me.

I had never heard of the Dream Act.  I had no idea was DOCA was and I certainly didn’t understand why any of this was important.  I understand now why so many undocumented youth would have a problem with a bill, that although it might have been well meant, does more harm than good.  It paints a picture that only undocumented youth pursing an education are the only ones “worthy” of being allowed to stay or work in the US.  The bill also puts a negative stigma around the parents of undocumented youth by criminalizing them.  The language used suggests that the youth were brought to the US through no fault of their own and many undocumented youth do not want their parents to be criminalized.

I think the talk really helped open my eyes to other peoples struggles and problems.  I had never heard of this movement before and I don’t know if I would have heard it otherwise had I not gone.

How Do We Implement New Technology?

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I wasn’t sure what to expect going to my first Becker Rose Cafe event, but I definitely did not expect us to start a conversation about how you buy a car and why we all don’t have a prius even though we know its a more environmentally friendly car.  But the discussion led to the fact that you can research a new car, and then test drive it and see if its for you.  You also have warranty on the car so that if it stops working due to manufacturers error then you can get a refund.  All these ways are to help people feel safer and more secure about making a massive purchase so that if anything goes wrong you don’t lose all the money you invested.

I thought it was really interesting when we applied all these ideas to selling stoves in Uganda.  Most people use these three stone oven to cook all their foods and the smoke inside their houses are very damaging to the lungs.  In addition to that the stoves they use also only use about 25% of the energy from the heat to cook and the rest is just lost to smoke.  Now you would think that by just telling people this information they would change immediately to something that was better for them but sadly that is not the case.  The most effective way to introduce people to new technology is to implement the same things that the car industry does like financing and risk reduction so that people can make a safe investment.  It’s saddening to know that people still live without some of the basic technologies that are viewed as necessities.

I don’t know what the best thing to do in this situation is but hopefully someone can figure out a way to help people be more open to changes like this to benefit their health and also just make their lives easier.  This was a very thought provoking lecture and it definitely left me with a better appreciation of all the things I take for granted.

Ithaca’s Hidden Gem

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I had no idea that Ithaca housed a well known museum home to one of the largest fossil collections in the world.  I love museums and I can’t believe I didn’t know about this sooner but I’m so glad I got the chance to explore this amazing place.

I loved the tour we were given and how she made it so personal to all of us.  I was handed the fossil of a trilobite and sadly soon found out that I did not survive the 2nd mass extinction.  It was definitely awesome that she let us handle a tiny fossil and made the experience personal and more interactive.

My favorite fossil was the one of the Hyde Park Mastodon, which is one of the most complete mastodon fossils in the world.  I believe our tour guide said it is nearly 98% complete with just a few missing toe bones.  It was amazing to be able to see a complete fossil like that in person.  There was also a replica of the ancestors of the sharks and I have to say that I would never go near the ocean if I knew things like that still swam in its depths.

My only complaint is that I didn’t have enough time to go explore everything in that museum but I’ll be sure to go back sometime in the future!

Hidden Meanings

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I always think it’s pretty cool to go back and look at movies you loved with a more critical eye or even uncovering some hidden truth to your favorite childhood movies. I remember the time I realized that the Lion King was basically Hamlet my mind was completely blown.  Now Inside Out wasn’t a childhood movie but it is a movie I thoroughly enjoyed and even went to see in theaters.  I was astounded looking at the amazing visuals and the thought and care that went into every part of this incredible pixar film.  But there definitely were some key observations I missed the first time that came from our discussion about the science behind inside out.

Some interesting things to note are the way the characters inside each persons brain are portrayed.  Riley’s emotion and distinct and individual and display both genders but her parents emotions look just like her parents do physically.  There may be no significance to this or maybe Riley is still developing her gender identity or personality in general.  There’s no proof of significance but the science would make sense.

What I found most interesting was the fact that memories are associated with a certain emotion which can change over time.  There is definitely truth to the little memory orbs that are tinted the color of the emotion she’s feeling at the time it took place.

Regardless of what was meant by the creators, Inside Out is an incredibly detailed and reasonably accurate portrayal of the emotions and thoughts a young girl going through a tough time would experience.

New Friends and Cool Art

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The art teacher in my high school always had this quote posted outside her door.  I don’t know who said it but the quote was “Earth without Art is just Eh.”  It was clever and I always used it to think about music because I was a band geek and that was the art form I loved most.  But after walking through the Johnson Museum for the first time I think the quote finally made sense to me for the visual arts.  From the sculptures to ancient artifacts from different cultures to the laser room you can see what it means.  How boring would life be if we didn’t personalize and decorate basically every aspect of our lives?  Some of the paintings were so detailed and realistic that I thought they were just photographs until I read the description.

One of my favorite exhibits I saw were these murals that were painted in a hospital and had to be uncovered from layers of paint that went over them.  I learned that the murals are actually going to be placed in Cornell’s new tech school in NYC once the campus is completed.  It was truly amazing to hear how much work and effort went into recovering and restoring the original works so that they still reflected the initial intent of the creator.IMG_3178

I think the best part about the tour was that I made a bunch of new friends in Rose Scholars.  I usually go with other Rose Scholars I know but this one I went to last minute by myself.  I’m glad to say that it was a very fun experience meeting new people and getting to explore and appreciate the art with them.

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It’s Been a While

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I used to take figure skating lessons.  I remember I was probably in 6th or 7th grade when I started.  I think my parents didn’t want me to feel left out because both my younger siblings were playing hockey (ironically neither of them continued with it).  But I remember enjoying it a whole lot.  It’s kinda sad to say but I think the last time I skated was maybe freshmen year of high school.

When I saw the event listed on the poster in my dorm I immediately talked to all my friends to try and get them to come.  It took me a while to remember all those lessons and not fall on my face.  It probably also didn’t help that at first they didn’t have my size in figure skates anymore so I had to try hockey skates first.  Let me just say that if you learn on one kind of skate, trying to use the other is in no way easier than if you were a complete newbie.  Actually that may not be true for going from hockey skates to figure skates because figure skates give you more control.  Either way, I eventually got figure skates in my size after trading about three or four times and I got to enjoy gliding around the rink again.

This was probably my favorite rose scholar event that I’ve been to, mainly because it was something I got to enjoy with all my friends and create memories that will last a lifetime (although I hope they all forget watching me fall over and over again until I got my pants soaked).

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