Author Archives: Justice

NSYNC

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I have been fascinated by physics since the middle of high school. When I applied to Cornell, I looked into its physics labs and found a place in which I wanted to work, the Cornell High Energy Synchrotron Source (CHESS). The funny thing is that when I got here as a Freshman, I decided on being a Computer Science major and never worked in the CHESS lab. A couple years later I visited the lab I thought I wanted to work at for the first time. While I love the physics behind how the particle accelerator works, I was not as excited as I thought I might be while on the tour. I guess I just did not see the use of colliding electrons. Sure they find elementary particles, but why is it important? My high school self would start screaming about discovering how the world works, but I guess I’ve changed since then. These experiments are done to test a theory that seems inconsequential to me. Obviously the theory is why everything exists, but I feel like there are better things I personally can be doing with my time than proving or disproving an arcane theory. That being said, plenty of other research in biology and materials science goes on that is more practical. I don’t even necessarily think that practical is better; I am just not inspired as I once was with particle physics. Lucky I found Computer Science I suppose.

That’s Bad Too?!

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Andy Zepp came to talk about natural land in the Finger Lakes. One aspect of his lecture that made me think about something I hadn’t before was how something as seemingly benign as a hiking trail can actually be fairly intrusive to an ecosystem. One might expect an environmentalist to support more hiking trails, so that people can enjoy the beautiful world around them, but little would they know that these trails and people stomping on the ground, making noise, displace wildlife and affect their habitats. While gross acts of ecological negligence, such as one he showed where the top of a beautiful, arborous, mountain was decimated to make way for fracking frackers, are the usual targets for people who like to live on Earth, less obviously detrimental acts can still have significant impacts on our world.

What’s the Right Word?

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I’ve always wanted to know good synonyms for “good,” “bad,” and “sad” to use in my essays. Melancholy was one such word for “sad,” but it was always so difficult to use without sounding awkward and out of place. As an undirected and pensive sadness, it seems to have a highly specialized use. While I don’t often find the use for melancholy in essays, I do find use for it in real life. Melancholy and sadness are emotions that everyone needs to feel to take part in the human experience. They put one in a mindset to think deeply about difficult situations and questions that no other emotion does. Many times, sorrow is felt by oneself, so it allows for introspection that might be difficult to engage in at other, happier times. I always feel that I understand myself better and have grown into a stronger person after a bout of melancholy.

Know Who to Ask

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Laura Rodriguez de Simons’ gave an important lecture on her social work last week. She let people know about the private support that The Advocacy Center offers for victims of domestic violence. It’s incredibly important that people know how to get help when they need it in any context, especially one as personal and impactful as abuse.

Besides informing us about The Advocacy Center, Laura also explained the types of obligations that staff at Cornell have when faced with information about abuse. For example, for the most part, professors and GRFs are required to report knowledge of abuse to the school, but there are a few people including herself who have no such obligation. Not only is it important to know to get help, but it is just as important to know who to ask for help. If one wants his or her situation to be private, then it is vital to know who does and does not have to report to the school. This type of information can get to the school easier than one might imagine. Just last week I heard about a professor at a different school who had to tell her college about a situation involving one of her students because that student’s friend informed her about it. People must know all of their options, so they can make the best and most educated decisions for themselves.

Osamu bin Playin

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My suitemate, Osamu, has been playing Viola for six years and Violin for nine years. Last week I went to the Cornell Symphony Orchestra concert, and it was infinitely better than the Yale Symphony Orchestra concert I went to over Spring Break!

I was surprised to find out that the musicians don’t have to be at the concert hall until right before the concert starts as my other suitemate, Tom, and I left for Bailey before Osamu did — he was busy with his red bowtie. That being said, O and the other musicians are no slackers. They rehearse several times a week and had to get up at 8am to rehearse until 1:30pm the day of the concert.

One piece that really stuck with me was the first. It had a fantastic and powerful drum interlude towards the end, which awoke everyone in the audience.

Ultimately, it was great to see the culmination of O’s hard-work in an exciting performance.

Funny things about China and Cambodia

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Professor Andrew Mertha came to talk about Cambodia and China on behalf of the original speaker who couldn’t make it. Mertha was hilarious. He mixed corny jokes with politics and  history. He poked fun at how disorderly the Chinese government and bureaucracy are throughout the talk. One doesn’t necessarily think of China’s policies as being unstructured and chaotic as they were able to enforce their strict childbearing laws, but I guess when China does succeed at issuing a policy, it is a miracle. Another part I enjoyed hearing about was how he was so easily able to obtain classified Chinese documents from an archive in Cambodia. He got a hold of classified Chinese files that explained “missile plans, no, no missiles, but outlines for rubber factories.” He had no inhibition for overused jokes, but they were funny in the context of the all-important Becker-Rose cafe. At some points it was difficult to concentrate on the material because I was laughing at the jokes, but that’s okay. Afterward, an old man stood up and said that he had come to the lecture under the wrong impression, expecting something else, but then he said that he liked it more than he thought he would have if it were just a normal talk. It’s nice to have a break from the countless, interminable, lectures we attend.

Jeb!

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I’m sorry to disappoint, but this blog post has nothing to do with Jeb Bush or politics. It’s far less exciting!

One thing about ‘Aferim!’ I couldn’t help but notice were the many references to folklore. Did people “back then” used to be so boring as to need to relate every event to some absurd story, which had changed five or six times due to being passed down by rote, about how the world started. I feel sorry for those who believe these narratives and use them to justify their dubious actions, namely slave-holding and wife-beating in the film.

At one point in the movie, the priest went on for five minutes describing every possible stereotype from the English to the Romanians to the Gypsies, which in the end warranted the beating of Gypsy slaves. This film took place in the Romanian territory of Wallachia in 1835. For many people during this time, priests were the authority on morality, so when they spewed their ridiculousness and reinforced uninformed generalizations about different types of people they turned their listeners into thoughtless, accepting drones, especially when it favored them, i.e. allowing them to own and beat slaves.

I remind you to question your beliefs and authorities.

How to Fail in College

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One thing Professor Schwarz spoke about last week that I have been thinking about recently is the first year after graduation. As I move closer and closer to my senior year and graduation, I am beginning to think about what comes after school. The professor mentioned how the first year out of college is similar to Freshman year as people learn how to act independently and make new friends. He said that many people feel lonely during the time right after graduation because they are probably in new places with few people they know and need to figure out their lives for the first time.

Ever since kindergarten I knew what the next step was. I knew I would move up one grade and the schools would give me everything I needed to do. Once I finished high school, the college environment was a little different, but ultimately I just had to take the right classes for my major and then graduate. Now that I only have one year left of my undergraduate years, it is becoming more urgent for me to find what I truly want to do, so I can have a fulfilling career. This is a scary thought because I have a general idea, but there are so many cool subjects to study and things to work on in the world that I am not sure if I have chosen the right field.

Regarding choosing one’s path, Schwarz talked about how he thinks people should begin to think about what they want to do as early as their Freshman year. I agree that people should have some sort of focus and not blindly amble through college; however, I firmly believe that it is an exceptional case where someone is certain of what s/he wants to do after college. Even if that person thinks s/he knows, it is highly improbable that that person has even had extensive experience in his or her field to know for sure. Furthermore, I think it is unhealthy for people to “know” what they want to do at any point in life because, if you think about it, that person has not even encountered most things in the world, so there could be any number of other studies or jobs or arts or people or anything else to pursue. Part of my uncertainty about life frightens me for sure, how could it not, but I would rather spend my entire life learning and experiencing everything I can and never finding “the one thing I want to do,” if there is such a thing, than settling for something less than completely fulfilling.

Honestly, what terrifies me the most is the thought of eventually settling for something I do not like since forever searching sounds exhausting.

Tennis Traits

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Silviu Tanasoiu’s talk at last week’s Rose cafe had an unexpected message outside of tennis.

One story he told that had a deeper meaning than just the tale he recounted was the one about recruiting a player whose mother only spoke Russian. A recruit was deciding between Princeton and Cornell, and Coach Tanasoiu ultimately got him to change his mind to Cornell because Silviu was the only coach to reach out to his mother in Russian, which made her feel part of the process. Not only does the story speak to Silviu’s character as a person and coach, but it demonstrates an important broader message that is to leave no stone unturned in order to achieve what one wants. Each potential recruit is so valuable considering how small, but widespread the supply of players is, so Tanasoiu must do everything he possibly can to get a player to come to Cornell. The careful persistence that tennis coaches and Tanasoiu in particular have for finding and getting the right athletes for their programs is astonishing. The coach showed that persistence and prudence are important qualities for finding tennis players, but they are important for any pursuit.

Another aspect of Silviu’s talk that can be taken outside of the context of tennis is his honest belief in the value of education for athletes. A lot of coaches spew the rhetoric of producing scholar-athletes where scholar comes first in the name because school is more important than sports. I don’t believe a word of it. They just want the best athletes, which is perfectly fine, but don’t lie to my face. Silviu on the other hand I feel is more sincere when he speaks about the importance of education because the players he selects come from such a sparse and specialized pool. The top tennis players in the world often go pro without going to college, so it is very difficult to convince one of them to come to college instead of living his dream. This predicament means that Coach Tanasoiu has to make the benefits of a Cornell education a hard sell. Silviu must truly believe and convey that education is paramount, because if he didn’t, the players he tries to recruit would never move across the world to delay a professional career they’ve probably been dreaming of since they were young.

Coach Tanasoiu’s persistence and sincerity are admirable traits in a person. Although he just spoke about tennis, Silviu implicitly revealed attributes that all people should aspire to have.