Author Archives: cao63

Being Well at Cornell

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Last week, I participated in the table talk discussing Health and Wellness for students on Cornell’s campus. We discussed how even if students, want to pursue help there are not many channels that allow for such help to happen. For example, Gannett schedules future appointments instead of same-day appointments for counseling or psychological advising. For a person who feels stressed at that moment in time, being told that they can not meet with someone is something that is problematic.  So a possible solution was to hire more specialists especially since they are expanding the building.  Another idea that we felt would decrease stress, would be to have scheduled amusement every week. Having inflatables, hayrides, face-painting, cotton candy, bringing these things to students would help create a  nostalgic feeling which in turn decreases stress levels. This would also inspire people socializing with their friends. Having some of the activities like orientation week, every week would improve health and wellness at Cornell. On a smaller scale, I feel that Rose could also have more stress relieving focused activities. My suggestion was to have free 10-15 minutes massages for all residents from professional masseuses. This would create a great turnout.  This also would allow people to take the time out of their day to have a moment of relaxation. More ideas like this would create a healthier campus for everyone.

 

Improvement

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Last week, I attended the Rose Cafe where we discussed what could be done to improve the Rose scholars program and the dorm’s environment in general.  There were many suggestions that discussed have new events and having events that are consistently on one day to randomized throughout the week. I agree with this because due to having a set academic schedule it limits not only I but others who want to attend different events.  I also feel that non-Rose scholars should be able to feel involved, I understand that Rose scholars are always at these events so maybe the others may not feel as inclined to go, but I feel that what we as scholars have been exposed to is new and amazing.  Another suggestion I have is more stress related activities,  this institution is very stressful, so I feel that there can activities in place that help us students relieve our stress. Taking into account for the budget, instead of taking residents to places maybe bring the places to the residents. For example, having free massages for the residents from professional masseuses, I feel will help a lot of people. I also know that a lot of people would show up as well. I feel that improvement can only be made in strides. Introducing new events and ideas while getting more people to show up, I feel would be a great improvement for next year.

Life and Art

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For last week’s table talk, we discussed the documentary “F” is for Fake.  This documentary was directed and starred in by Orson Wells. It was about infamous fakers Elmyr de Hory and Clifford Irving. De Hory made his name by selling forged works of art by painters like Picasso and Matisse. Irving was infamous for writing a fake autobiography of Howard Hughes.  However, we watched a two-minute excerpt from the movie where Orson Wells’ character begins a dialogue. There were certain quotes that I took from the excerpt and explained my interpretation of these in the table talk. 

The first quote was, “There for centuries, created by men with no signature, there for the celebration of God’s glory and the dignity of man.” He was standing in front of what looked to be a castle and the camera was switching back between him and the castle. I thought this meant that what the structure signified was more important than those who created it.  Another was, “Scientists tell us as a universe which is disposable, works in stone and print last a few decades or a millennium.” “Things fall in war or wear away into the ultimate and universal ash, maybe a man’s name doesn’t matter all that much.” This to me meant that the infamous fakers should not have been outcasted because they committed these crimes, instead, they should have been appreciated for the talents that they possessed. Art tends to physically fade away and new art is always being made. The artists that they were imitating were classic artists, and I feel that the fakers were showing their appreciation for them because they stood the test of time.

An insight into Brazil

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From the last Rose Cafe, our speaker Andre Simores is a Ph.D. in Applied Economics and a Professor in his home country.  He spent his time allowing us to experience the beauty of Brazil’s landscape and gave us an insight into Brazilian culture.

Brazil is the fifth largest country behind China, the United States, Canada, and Russia. They use Celsius degrees and the metric system. He mentioned that the weather outside that day was about 10 degrees Celsius.  He explained what were appropriate dishes for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. For breakfast, people ate bread and fruit, while drinking milk.  For lunch, they had a dish that included rice, bean paste, meat, and veggies.  For dinner, they ate a sandwich. People usually worked from 8-12, have a two-hour lunch break, and then continued to work from 2-6. The capital is Brazilia. He showed us pictures of other cities in Brazil and gave brief descriptions of the agriculture that make them unique from one another.

Pantanal is known for its breed of horses that can eat grass from the bottom of water which means that they have adapted to wetlands Pampas is a  flat area that has very productive soil. Amazonia has a dense rainforest. Cerrado has small trees. Caatinga is the poorest area in terms of agriculture it seems to represent a desert, water from the rivers are used to grow agriculture there.

 

Immunotherapy

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Immunotherapy is defined as the prevention or treatment of disease with substances that stimulate the immune response. During last edition’s table talk, I learned about a new development in cancer research, CAR-T cells.  In our immune system, we have two types of T-cells which are killer T-cells and helper T-cells. They work together to scan the cells and the environment in our bodies to destroy foreign invaders.  However, when a cell becomes cancerous it is harder for T-cells to detect and destroy them because they behave like normal cells.

CAR-T cells are genetically altered T-cells. The T-cells are collected from the patient’s blood and given special receptors called chimeric antigen receptors (CAR). These receptors give the t-cell the ability to recognize antigens on tumor cells. After being created the CAR-T cells are infused into the patient. The T-cells multiply and guided by the receptors recognize and kill cancer cells. Patients have been known to go into remission after six months of this treatment.

Even though this is a breakthrough treatment in cancer research it comes with some risks. The CAR-T cells may end up malfunctioning which has caused death among two percent of the people that use this treatment.

 

A New Experience

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This was my first table talk and I enjoyed the fact that I was the only male at the table. We discussed the anthology, This Bridge Called My Back. Even more than the content in the book we discussed the message that novel was giving which was about women of color feminism.

We went around the table and talked about what we thought women of color feminism was. One person had discussed that it was its own dimension of feminism because of suffrage pioneers like Susan B. Anthony wanted women to have the right to vote but they did not want that same right for Black women. I discussed how planned parenthood was for women to have contraception and safe sex options, their founder Margaret Sanger wanted to sterilize women of color so they could not reproduce. Someone else discussed how in Chinese, marriage for men and women were different because in the language it was as if men were getting married and if women were being given away.  Another example that was discussed was the wage gap and how women of color are subjected to double jeopardy, and this results in them having the lowest wages out of white men, white women, and colored men.

All of the people at the table discussed: When were they aware that they were a feminist? I particularly have been able to earn progressively through reading between the lines in my history classes and having discussions with people who thought about these things more than me. I also have a mother and have witnessed other women be marginalized in this society.

The Cornell-raised Judge

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During last week’s Rose Cafe, the Honorable Judge Scott Miller came to speak to us. He is a judge on the Ithaca city court until 2018 when he will run for a re-election. He graduated as an undergraduate from Cornell and he also graduated from Cornell Law School.

There were many topics discussed, but there were some that I found very interesting. One question that was asked was do the sentences or the preparation for sentences weigh on the judge’s mind?

He said that it did because he would be altering the course of a person’s life. However, he would not have felt as bad if he felt that his sentencing was for the benefit of that person’s life. He told us about a client that had a narcotics problem. They were not able to stop on their own. So the judge had to make a decision so this person would not able to harm themselves any further.

Ultimately, I appreciate Judge Scott’s visit because he touched upon topics regarding the criminal justice system. In the era of Mass incarceration, it is important to have a judge who understands the importance of a fair trial for defendants. As it is often seen in the media, many judges across the country fail to incorporate these principles into their practice and that can be disheartening.

Difference in Perspective

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I was able to watch, Flora’s film They Call Me Muslim. The film followed two women’s lives in France and Iran that had two different perspectives on what it was to them to be Muslim. It was filmed between December 2004 and January 2005.

In France, they have a democracy, they passed a law that banned the Islamic headscarf. This created an outcry in the Muslim community. The Muslim community makes up 10% of France’s population. 800 Muslim students were affected, 47 of them expelled.

The first woman was an 18-year-old named Samah. She had been wearing her headscarf since she was 14. When this law was passed she was still in high school and she felt that her identity had been violated. The Hijab makes her feel confident because she feels that a woman is an object that needs to be hidden.

In Iran, they have a theocracy, which forces the women to wear the Hijab. To rebel and also protest, the women have been able to wear the hijab in different ways.

The second woman is K, she is a mother of two and she feels that she should be able to wear what she wants. She smokes and she dances which are two things that the religion shame. While in her home she was wearing a tank top and shorts and said to the camera, “They call me Muslim…but do you see me as a Muslim? What do you have in mind for a Muslim person?”

This film showed the two different perspectives of what it meant to be Muslim. I felt that if they wanted to they could have included more women from different places to make more of an impact on showing what being Muslim meant to these women while also educating others.

Change

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I attended the Rose Cafe discussion hosted by Professor Peter Enns last week. Though we talked about a myriad of topics. One that stuck out to me was the differences in “changes” that we have observed about one month into President Trump’s presidency.   Compared to former President Barack Obama, it seems that Trump wants to create change as fast as possible. This has been illustrated by his Immigration ban policy, where he wants to keep people out of the country. From CNN, Trump’s policy is supposed to bar citizens of seven Muslim-majority countries from entering the United States for the next 90 days and suspends the admission of all refugees for 120 days. This is not only problematic fro our country, but also problematic for the world. However, if this executive order were to go through the people that voted for our president will get what they wanted, accelerated change.

When it comes to this ban from the United States, I think about the people that look towards our medical care for help because it is world class. I also think about the people that want to come here for better opportunities. That is what our country is about. I feel that this particular exclusion by our commander and chief, who is the representative of the country could change the United States. However, I do not think for the better.