Author Archives: Siddesh

Self-Management

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It was a pleasant surprise to have a session on meditation, stress management and healthy habits instrumental to a student. Stress has both a emotional and physical component and it is often subtle when we are under extreme stress as Ms. Rubenstein-Gillis and Ms. Gerding pointed out. As one would imagine, it differs from person to person and it could be the tightening of the chest, to a racing mind, a fragile emotional state and more.

Stress is the byproduct of the body and the more healthier the body is, the higher tolerance one has to stress. A healthy body depends on sleep and getting a sufficient amount of sleep is imperative. Unfortunately that is easier said than done. To be honest, it is easy to slip into a mindset that sacrificing sleep will allow you to stay on top because someone else will be sacrificing sleep to get ahead. Therefore you would have to keep up and sacrificing sleep seems more of a tangible accomplishment than say the boosted mental awareness from sleeping the entire appropriate period. You may not perform as fast but you would still get it done since the only real time limit exists with exams. Regardless, quality and attention may suffer so I try to shore up my shortcomings in sleep with power naps.

It was interesting to hear about setting up a pre-work routine, similar to how people have a routine before sleeping with brushing teeth etc., as a means of getting work done effectively. I never knew that before and I will be sure to implement that. I will also try to work in chunks but it requires exceptional time management and I would be more concerned with what needs to be done today and tomorrow, rather than 5 days from now. It probably is more efficient to work in chunks but I am so used to my way that it will be hard to change. That is probably a problem with a lot of students with inertia with current systems of how they work, preventing them from improving how they approach their tasks.

This was a delightful session and I enjoyed having a mini-meditation period at the end. Do you plan on integrating any techniques we learned during the talk?

The Importance of Dirt

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Dr. Solomon gave an engaging presentation on soil sciences and about how something as innocuous as dirt could have important and far-reaching consequences, e.g., global food supply, carbon sequestration. It is easy to become ignorant about the issues that are festering in nature because it doesn’t directly affect our lives, at least for me. Food scarcity is not a problem for me but as you can imagine, third-world countries struggle with it. It was interesting to learn about the various areas that soil affects, such as the nutrient cycle, carbon cycle and other natural phenomena that are designed to stabilize ecosystems. One of the more pressing issues is global warming and the increasing levels of carbon dioxide. Dr. Solomon stated that soil is a huge carbon sink and contains significant more carbon than the atmosphere. Carbon sequestration with soil is a possible method of fighting greenhouse gases but it has its downsides. A major contributor of carbon emissions is from soil disruption and storing CO2 into the ground could possibly increase the amount of emissions of carbon from the soil due to improper procedures or otherwise.

Jumping off the short lesson on soil and its role in carbon sequestration etc, Dr. Solomon moved into his research topic on soil degradation and  shifted to a more applied science focus. If it wasn’t stated enough already, Solomon’s work in Ethiopia only served to reinforced the notion that soil is essential to much of life. In Ethiopia, the soil has been degraded and rendered infertile, resulting in food scarcity and high malnutrition rates among the population. Learning from indigenous African groups, Dr. Solomon and his group thought to use cow bones as the basis of fertilizer to enrich the eroded soil. Cow bones have a high amount of phosphorous and using it as a fertilizer. African group have been doing something similar, using organic carbon-based material as a means to enrich the soil. Remarkably, they have had done this over hundreds of years and while this process of enriching the soil took hundreds of years, the cow bone fertilizer, according to Dr. Solomon, would speed things up. It is a remarkable application of the concept of soil consisting of various nutrients, many of which are essential to plant growth, and artificially increasing that amount of nutrients via means that are easy to obtain and something that would otherwise would just collect dust on a landfill.

Apparently, the science backs up the viability of this cow bone fertilizer and I am excited to see the success of this product over the next few decades because it holds important implications for food security and more. What is more astounding is that it is as effective as more expensive types of fertilizer and this cow bone fertilizer is being sold at a cheap price, targeted at third world citizens so they can afford it. It is a remarkable feat by Dr. Solomon and his team and it is great to learn about a subject and how it can be applied to solve real-world problems!

Balancing Time and Performance: Student Athletics

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Silvio Tanasoiu, Head Coach of Men’s Tennis at Cornell, led a discussion around a subject matter that was atypical when compared to previous ones on the life of a student athlete. Granted, I will not be experiencing such a life in the foreseeable future but it is interesting to see how students balance their workloads, both academic and extracurricular, in this case being sports. Athletics is an important part of our lives and I hold great admiration for those who pursue such a path, particularly during college, because of how difficult and time-consuming it can be. Coach Tanasoiu didn’t mince words when he said that the schedule of a student athlete is incredibly packed and full. Time management, as one would imagine, is very crucial to a student athlete because he or she must be able to fulfill academic commitments and still perform at the highest level in the sports they are involved in. The US’ system of collegiate athletics is quite unique in that it allows athletes to have access to higher education and not really derail them from the path to competitive sports. This of course, as mentioned before, has the disadvantage of having very rigorous schedules and regimes to fully harness the potential of those individuals, but I would imagine the payoff is immense.

The support structure and the interest the coaching staff and athletic department take into the lives of each student athlete is remarkable and says a lot about the dedication and passion individuals have working in that industry. Coach Tanasoiu remarked how difficult it is to recruit top class talent to become student athletes and why wouldn’t he? Aside from misconceptions from foreigners about getting education precluding development into a professional athlete, it is an immense amount of time and effort one has to put into to balance both academics and athletics. Thus it becomes very hard to convince athletes to go through college athletics, a field that is already very competitive in recruiting, so it is fascinating the lengths Coach Tanasoiu goes to in order to recruit those athletes. In one of the stories he was tellings us about athletes he recruited, he went through the effort of writing a letter in Russian to a player’s mother, who incidentally was quite supportive and key in the development of her child becoming a world class tennis player. His mother typically was never included in the conversation of recruiting her son because she didn’t speak English, unlike her husband and child. Thus, when Coach Tanasoiu went above and beyond, unlike recruiters from fellow Ivy Leagues, the player accepted because of his mother’s approval. It is small things like this that makes me appreciate the dedication of Coach Tanasoiu. This guy gets student athletes at the very core: their struggles, hardships and the need for support.

Developing student athletes takes effort from both the player and the coach. It is taxing, tiring oneself out from playing a physically strenuous match, traveling 10 hours back to campus and also completing very complicated homework and questions. However, handwork and inspiration allows these individuals to flourish, picking up key skills that allow them succeed in life because of whatever they have learned and experienced in time management, athletics and academics. It has been a pleasure listening to Coach Tanasoiu and allowing me to view an unadulterated view of student athletics. If you had a chance, would you become a student athlete?

Resistance to Change

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Professor Blalock led an intriguing discussion about general individual and societal resistance to change in the context of helping the environment. The surveying at the beginning of the talk was a clever way to demonstrate right in front of the audience the general “apathy” people have when it comes to changing their lifestyles to better preserve the Earth. Most people don’t want to change to more efficient cars or similar technology because of inconvenience, lack of style and more. With that in mind, Blalock talks about how he and his research team went to Uganda to help a native village adopt a more efficient stove. It was surprising and slightly horrifying that Ugandans, especially children, were exposed to harmful smoke emissions, equivalent to smoking multiple packs of cigarettes, on a daily basis.

You would assume that the advanced technology, which would not only be more efficient but it would make the living environment better, would be adopted and integrated immediately. However, as Blalock and his team learned, this was not the case. The Ugandans who received the new stove learned how to use it but when Blalock returned many years later, none of the families were using the new stove. It is probably because it may have stopped working and there were no technicians around to fix it, and it was something that the Ugandans weren’t used to. While families probably didn’t want to expose their children to such harmful emissions, the three stone stove was easier to operate, cheaper and an appratus they have learned to use all their lives. Convenience is a major factor and any form of inconvenience or reason to not use it because it is too hard or adds friction to people lives, no matter how small, will cause people to drop the new technology, regardless of how superior it is, in favor of the old and tested technology.

I enjoyed the connection to his research and I think that society will transition to a more eco-friendly one as next generation technology improves and becomes near infallible.  Resistance to change exists, but there is change nonetheless, most likely spearheaded by the new generation of individuals. Is there anything you are willing to change in your life that would help the environment and if not, what is the biggest reason why you wouldn’t, especially if it is a small, trifling issue?

Cornell Tech: Specializing Technology

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Professor Adam Shwartz, Director of Jacobs Technion Cornell Institute at Cornell Tech, gave a talk discussing the graduate school and what the main focus and aims are for the educational institution. Shwartz talked about how technology, e.g., computer science, plays an important role in today’s society and its significance will only increase in the future but there exists a disconnect between this advancing field and fields like medicine that would benefit from it. Essentially, there aren’t necessarily many programs that focus on healthcare and technology and how computer science majors for example would be able to effectively communicate with doctors. Often people specialized in the technology sector would be able to create an apparatus that would speed procedures or yield important data that doctors and other medical professionals could use but each use different jargon that makes it difficult to create the device that is most beneficial. According to Shwartz, Cornell Tech aims to bridge that gap from the outset of a graduate student’s education.

Not only does Cornell Tech frame their education to be more representative of the real world in terms of knowledge and ability to communicate, there is an emphasis on group-style learning and projects. Instead of having students being lectured at, Cornell Tech implemented more interactive and dynamic ways of learning where groups would consist of a mechanical engineer, a computer science student, an entrepreneur and more (with a minimum knowledge of engineering and technology but diverse in specialties) and they would receive projects. The diversity within the groups allows students to walk away with multiple perspectives on approaching a problem and will be better capable of not only building new products, but also to sell and communicate to people on its merits. There will be many opportunities for students at Cornell Tech to get live feedback on their projects from not only professors but also VCs and angel investors, people who form the bread and butter of these future visionaries.

As someone inclined towards the medical field and also the technology sector, the emphasis on the intersection between the two fields is quite compelling to me and makes Cornell Tech stand out and seem like an attractive option. It seems that former Mayor Bloomberg’s initiative of creating NY’s version  of Silicone Valley and promoting the technology sector being passed onto Cornell Tech seems to have paid off. Shwartz mentioned how Cornell Tech is willing to push the envelope in integrating technology in various areas, humanities or otherwise, that normally would have some sort of disconnect between the two because of a difference in education and poor communication. Because of the changing nature of technology, Shwartz promised that the education at Cornell Tech will continue to change and adapt accordingly. What you might have learned at the college now might be different from what might be taught 10 years down the road. It is a promising initiative and definitely makes Cornell Tech a school to keep an eye on, especially when considering its ambitions for a sustainable zero-energy campus! Are you considering going to Cornell Tech?

Environmental Humor: A Viable Option or Pipe Dream

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Professor Aaron Sachs led an interesting discussion about the possibility of infusing humor into information and warning imparted by environmentalists. His perspective that environmentalists take themselves very seriously and essentially always harp, so to speak, on people to change their ways to save the environment is actually quite insightful. There is nothing wrong with speaking the truth and warning people of the dangers that will come about if current human behavior and activity don’t change. It is important that people are educated about such information. However, people typically don’t take well to urgent warnings that don’t really affect them in the short term and this adds to the general apathy and teasing and satirizing of environmentalists. Many environmentalists would probably be fine if they are the butt of jokes to a certain extent if the message is getting across to the people and resulting in actual change. However, that is not what is happening.

Sachs proposes environmentalists to use humor and comedy to convey important information to the people and it is a logical option. Information in the guise of humor, à la Last Week Tonight With John Oliver, is quite effective and will appeal to a broad audience. Additionally, since humor makes people laugh and associate it with positive emotion, they are more likely to consider it on a later basis. It offers a different perspective and it may be easier to accept that the worst case scenario may actually happen in the frame of a joke. Sachs does acknowledge the cons of such an approach because environmentalists invest a major part of their time and effort into their work and it may seem that we are trivializing their accomplishments and discoveries. However, humor is still a viable option in dealing with the more complicated topics that nobody would be able to impart the general public without getting bogged down in technical jargon. There is a balance to be struck because humor is the best tool for connecting and communicating to the layperson. Nobody is stopping environmentalists from continuing their normal, serious approach but perhaps a mixture of humor and seriousness will be essential in presenting the topic to the people and then continuing their interest in said topic in a factual and a more professional manner.

Sadness and Melancholy: A Nuanced Difference

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Sara Schlemm, a PhD candidate in the English department at Cornell University, led a talk about melancholy and sadness and the nuanced  differences between the two. The format of the initial discussion was quite good because she asked us how might we differentiate between sadness and melancholy. It sounds the same but one is more ephemeral and the other is a nostalgic sadness or sadness without any obvious reason, respectively. This difference as you might imagine was not necessarily common knowledge and it is not surprising to learn that melancholy was misdiagnosed for schizophrenia and other mental illnesses.

Unfortunately I have never seen Vertigo but it was evidently a very good example of how melancholy is portrayed in literature and culture. Madeline, the female protagonist, was quite beautiful when had a melancholic, somber air around her. The state of reminiscence, tinged with sadness, is quite mysterious and explains why it is so compelling to many and something that art strives to portray and describe in many pieces. Enigmas has always interested man and a melancholic individual would not be any different.

Etymology has never been a major interest of mine but it is always fun to learn about the very small, and often pedantic, differences that will almost always have very good reasons why they differ; whether such a distinction is relevant in modern society is another story in itself involving the evolution of language and communication. However, I am glad I attend Sara’s talk on the difference between melancholy and sadness and perhaps I will evaluate an individual, both in literary and in person, if they are truly sad or just merely melancholic. The latter is of course no less alarming but making such a distinction can help assess his or her state more appropriately. What other pairs seemingly identical words actually in fact have quite different meanings?

Crafting a Neighborhood for Everyone

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Lisa Nicholas led a discussion about economic development in Ithaca and it was an insightful look into civic engagement and policies that are important to the growth of an area. I was surprised with some of the statistics that she relayed to, particularly that Tompkins County was the only region in  upstate NY that had an increase in population and yet the City of Ithaca didn’t experience any growth. From a Urban planning perspective, it was evident that the 0.5% vacancy rate and high rental costs explain the lack of corresponding growth. A region is always evolving, especially for an employment hub like Ithaca, and important decisions with housing, infrastructure and public areas are made to preserve the identity of the city.

Even though there was a need for more student housing, it was interesting to see the residents reject the proposal on the basis that it would be unsightly and inappropriate when considering the architecture of its surroundings. The role of the local citizens is crucial in maintaining the characteristics that make Ithaca, Ithaca. This makes urban planning all the more complex and increase the need to be open-minded. It must take into account many different factors, from sustainability to preserving natural and cultural establishments. This was evident when two new hotels were opening in the Commons but because people didn’t want change the identity of the Commons from being an open, public area (especially when considering the Commons is a pedestrian mall, a rare occurrence in the US), they specifically will be designing the ground floor/lobby to be open to all Ithaca residents.

The use of compact development might be an intelligent way to introduce more housing in an already cramped, developed area. The amalgamation of smart urban planning, an engaged public in the development process and a commitment to an overarching vision of what Ithaca should be is an excellent model of civic engagement and I hope to contribute to the development of Ithaca myself, how seemingly little or insignificant my role may be, for my stay at Ithaca and also in my local neighborhood. Do you engage in your local community?

Mishandling Africa: Untapped potential?

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Professor Nicolas van de Walle discussed governance in Africa and it was quite interesting to learn about the development of Africa over centuries, from colonialism to self-governance and a very active interest from foreign powers. It was a bit of a shock to hear that moving Africa from being occupied by Britain and France to being an independent continental power may have negatively affected its development but it does make sense when you realize that self-sufficiency may not have been fully established yet. Africa is in a delicate place right now with various geopolitical conflicts and while foreign aid is pouring in, Professor van de Walle points out that it might not be as effective as you would like it to be.

For one, the majority of the funding for various infrastructural projects is actually from foreign aid and that creates an imbalance of power as Africa would be naturally inclined to listen to the foreigners, possibly risking its national interests. Additionally, the capital that was pouring in was never effective for long-term development. Even though there were major improvements in welfare, healthcare, education etc in 1970s but it was rendered futile after the oil crisis in the following decade. Obviously, this lead to the bankruptcy of many different countries. It is evident that excessive foreign aid is not really effective because it doesn’t teach the countries to stand on its own two legs. Professor van de Walle argued that democracy would be the best solution for stability in Africa but it would be hard not only because of the rampant corruption and dictatorships already in place, but the transition to the new form of government would create a period of economic and social instability; foreign powers in particular would be averse to such a change because they have already invested immensely into the courtly and they wouldn’t want to disrupt that.

Africa is a continent full of fertile agricultural land and natural resources. It was surprising to hear that there is a great amount of Chinese migration to the region but the clean air, availability of agricultural work and other opportunities makes Africa very attractive. This speaks to the untapped potential of Africa and it is apparent that the growth of the region was mishandled over the years. There are a few countries that are quite successful that have democracies but the majority are dictatorships. Dictatorships seem to be effective for a period of time, cleaning up corruption after a coup and stabilizing the region. However, as the term stretches and the ousting of corruption simply equals prosecuting members of the previous party in power, such a form of government looks less and less attractive. Democracy in the long run would be more beneficial because governments can be held accountable. This governmental transition and an establishment of a more delicate, Africa-favored foreign aid policy would be crucial in allowing this region to grow into a developed one.

Chi-Raq: Lysistrata and Gang Violence?

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I typically don’t watch movies like Chi-Raq that are musicals but the description had me intrigued. At first I was curious how an old Greek play, Lysistrata, would relevant in a setting that is Chicago’s South Side, notorious for its gang violence, gun worship and misogyny. To my surprise, I was very entertained by the movie but I probably could do without the constant rhyming for the sake of comprehension. It muddled the dialogue and made it hard to understand certain scenes, especially when conjoined with the local slang. However, I did appreciate it as a smart artistic style.

According to critics, Spike Lee pulled off a somewhat respectable portrayal of black culture and values but may have overreached; nonetheless he addressed important problems that needs to be talked about. The actors were passionate and acted their hearts out. Their sadness, rage and turmoil (particularly Demetrius’ at the end) was palpable, a testament to fantastic performances. Certain scenes were extremely emotive, particularly Father Corridan during Patti’s funeral, who delivered a rousing eulogy turned diatribe against the NRA, gun and thug culture, and the pervasive fear against retaliation. The plan to deprive the men, particularly those in gangs, of sex until the “self-inflicted genocide” is ended for the sake of protecting their children and their own lives worked out well, in the movie anyways. It was amusing to see the men changing from arrogance to desperation masked by false bravado. I applaud the never-ending persistence and dedication of the women to their cause of bringing peace to their neighborhood.

Obviously practicing diplomacy around celibacy would be impractical in the real world, but the movie was nonetheless captivating in portraying the senseless violence, the motivation behind such warfare and how a “macho” culture leads to utter bloodlust, endangering the innocent. I think that Spike Lee did well bringing forth important questions, problems and challenges Chi-Raq that need to be addressed in the US because this movie is not completely fictional and  representative of many neighborhoods. Change can be hard, particularly in a culture where violence, citizen militarism and fear is valued and even nurtured. However, it is necessary in order to move towards a safer, better life.