Last week I went to Keith Lemnios talk on Sun Coffee. I must admit I did not go into this talk with the best mindset. My mind wandered back to daily memories of me frantically chugging this coffee, asking myself if there was even a drop of caffeine in it. I was ready to burst our my complaints until I heard Keith’s moving stories about working with the coffee farmers. Keith did a great job in showing us that he is really trying to take care of the farmers that work for his company. Sun roasters coffee is building schools and making sure farmers kids get an education. I was deeply moved by this after seeing evidence of how hard coffee farming really is. Now instead of complaining about the lack of caffeine in this coffee, I will happily drink it knowing that this coffee is allowing a child to get the education he or she needs. That’s the taste of literacy my friends!
Author Archives: Hadley Laskowski
Tea, Thailand, and Torture
nickThis week’s Rose café was different than the others. Dr. Nick Cheesman came to discuss the topic of torture in southeast Asian. Never have we discussed such a disturbing topic before during a rose café. As I held my tea in my lap, Dr. Cheesman described how victims were found on the brink of death after being hung by their feet and electrocuted. The most shocking part of this talk was finding out that this torture was not being perpetrated by some mentally-ill criminal, but by police officers. Police officers in Thailand and Myanmar started torturing citizens to get them to confess to crimes, and now torture has become a widely used practice towards all kinds of legal offenders. Officers might torture someone to confess to crimes like murder or drug possession, and they even torture for bribes. Most families don’t know how to stand up to the police when this kind of torture happens to a loved one. They might not know where their loved one is being held, and if they do, they are only allowed a few minutes to meet with them. After they are released, many people die from the effects of the torture they experienced. A human rights lawyer in Thailand was working to combat the torture crisis, but he has mysteriously disappeared.
In my time at Cornell, I have rarely reflected on the reality of torture. Now I feel extreme pain and empathy for the vast amount of victims that are experiencing torture every day under the supervision of government workers. It is time to get to the bottom of the torture dilemma by asking and investigating about it. It is not a matter of finding out if torture “works”, but rather discovering the ubiquitous patterns that lead to the internal corruption of our institutions. Southeast Asia may seem far away, but it is important to keep in mind that torture can happen in any place, at any time.
Running with the British
This week at Rose café I heard Paul Wilcox talk about his experience in the transatlantic series a competitive track association. In this association, the Ivy league schools battle Oxford and Cambridge in a series of track and field competitions. The series was founded in 1894, and still exists today. Wilcox talked about his involvement as a runner in his youth, and as a manager now. Back in his day he was a hurdler, who single-handedly challenged some of Cornell’s best hurdlers. Although one might imagine that this series breeds ferocious competition between the world’s most elite schools, Wilcox assured us that the transatlantic series brings its fair share of enlightening and enjoyable experiences to the English runners. He assured us that it’s a pleasure for his athletes to travel to the United States to compete (even if that means they experience a little culture shock).
While I personally don’t know much about track and field, besides the fact that people run, throw things, and jump over things, I was happy to hear his talk. Additionally, I was delighted that I got the chance to meet some of the athletes. I met a young woman named Annabelle who told me she was a high jumper and veterinary student. Immediately I realized how hard it must be for these athletes to travel, work, and compete. I have great respect for student-athletes like Annabelle, and I hope to meet more people like her in the future. In general, this talk was a success, for it forced me to exit the bubble that is my Cornell life and imagine what it’s like to walk, or in this case, to run, in someone else’s shoes.
Google Brazil
Today Andre spoke about Brazil. He reminded us that Brazil is huge! It is the fifth largest country in the world. It has almost every kind of climate, from dry grass lands to tropical wetlands. He showed us pictures of the most beautiful places in Brazil. To be honest, this google image search went on a little too long for my taste. Luckily, he dove into deeper topics as the talk went on. Andre assured us that the new president is bringing about positive changes. Previously, the politics of Brazil were extremely corrupt. It still exists, but the people are starting to fight against the corruption. Corruption is one of the biggest problems in Brazil, and it weakens all of its institutions. Andre went on to discuss the history of democracy in Brazil, and the cycles of change that occurred to create the current government.
This talk was informative, but I was disappointed about the style of the talk. While I learned things about Brazil that I didn’t know before, I realize I could have easily acquired this information from a wikipedia page. I wish Andre spoke more about his personal experience, or about his area of expertise which is dairy supply. I appreciate the effort Andre put into teaching us about Brazil. However, I hope the next Rose café will teach me more than I can learn from a quick google search.
The Key to Being a Good Rose Cafe Speaker: Don’t Speak
This Rose café was different from the others. For once, I heard my fellow residents speak more than the guest speaker. Sam Beck is a cultural anthropologist who works with the Cornell urban semester program in NYC. During this talk he barely spoke; instead, he asked us questions and made his viewers the stars of the show. He is passionate about students. Specifically, he is passionate about helping them find their dream jobs. And what better place to find a dream job than in NYC, where possibilities seem to be limitless! Sam asked us to go around the room and introduce ourselves, say what we are studying and what we planned to do in the future. Clearly this was a contentious subject for students. One guy even said: “I’m on a one-way street to unemployment!”. However, Sam helped us lighten our spirits by inquiring into our interests and giving advice (most of which involved persuading us to go to new york). When it was my turn, I told him that I am psychology major that likes to travel. After thinking for a moment, he blurted out: “how about the psychology of tourism!” I chuckled. His responses were always genuine and creative. All in all, it was a pleasure getting to know Sam and my fellow Rose residents during this talk. I am curious to find out who they will become. As for me, who knows. You could be reading the blog post that inspired one girl to forever change the tourism industry.
Fat Issues
Not all fats are created equal. In this week’s Rose café, Professor Robins discussed the history, chemistry, and politics of fat. Here are some fun fat facts:
- Fat is malleable. That is to say, chemists can change the components of fat quite easily, and it is much more changeable than starch. This makes it an ideal ingredient for processed foods.
- Palm oil is the most efficient producer of fat. It produces twice as much fat per acre as coconuts and 4 times as much fat as soybeans.
- People thought that the agriculture industry would plummet as fats became readily processed, however that is not the case! Much of the fatty oil produced around the world goes into animal feed, stuffing our pigs and cows with little cost! (However, the real cost is on the animals, and on us)
This discussion of fat made me delve back into my ephemeral, yet very familiar and pessimistic the-world-is-doomed mindset that usually takes over me when I discover new ways in which people are profiting on widespread suffering. In this case, the exploitation is in the forests, the animals, and the bodies of consumers. Forests are being demolished for their palm oil. Animals are being subjugated to fatten-me-up-and-slaughter-me slavery. And we the people are getting diabetes and obesity left and right from processed fats that are pumped into almost everything we eat. However, one must remember that in demoralizing situations like this we have three choices: Become an exploiter of fat, fight the fat, or stop giving a fat.
Milk in my Cocoa Puffs
Last week I went to a seminar on nutrition in America by Eileen Keating. I learned numerous interesting facts regarding the history of nutrition in the United States. For instance, I learned that milk was considered the healthiest, most nutritious food a person could consume. Families bought gallons of milk and drank it voraciously. Additionally, I learned that housekeeping was considered a profession and women went to school to take classes on cooking, biology, chemistry, nutrition, etc. in order to learn how to feed their families properly. It is difficult to imagine a world where women go to school to become housewives and no one knows what vitamins are. However, this talk helped me acquire a new perspective on nutrition in America, showing me that these drastic differences in nutritional knowledge occurred only a few years ago.
The great impact this talk made on me derived from my realization of the rapidly changing nature of nutritional intelligence. Just several years ago people thought milk and cereal were the most nutritious breakfast one could eat, and now there are a host of dairy-free people, gluten-free people, and die-hard vegans out there claiming the opposite is true. I have heard so many different theories on what the healthiest diet is. Now it seems that everyone is a protein and lean meats cheerleader. When I went vegetarian for a year, everyone asked me: “but where do you get your protein?” I am curious to see how our conceptions of nutrition will change in the future. For now, I have to thank Eileen for inspiring me to think about food in a different way.
Living with One Eye Open
This week I attended an art show hosted by the Rose House in the rose dining room. When I walked in, I immediately noticed a different aura than I was used to feeling in that room. I heard smooth jazz teeming from the corner, where a pianist and a sax player smoothly conducted their instruments. I tasted the fiery pinch of red salsa, which had been set out with chips for visitor’s delight. Most importantly, I saw art splattered across the walls, which popped out against the gray concrete that usually surrounds me when I enter the dining hall. This art was like nothing I’d ever seen before. It was fascinating for one reason: because it revealed the beauty in the mid-blink. Think about it: have you ever seen a picture of yourself caught off guard, with one eye shut and an extra chin showing? These kinds of pictures represent the gut-wrenching fear of every person when they get a notification saying so-and-so “tagged you in a photo”. Immediately you think, “Oh god! What does the public think of me now!” Well, the walls of Rose dining hall were covered in pencil sketches of these moments. I saw a plethora of faces that were caught off guard, blinking, frowning, coughing, agonizing, slumping. While at first I was lightheartedly amused by these photos, with time I became more infatuated with them. This art show made me reflect on the human experience, and realize that there are no ugly faces. All of us share this extremely strenuous journey we call life, and sometimes that just makes us blink. Our faces are constantly evolving, expressing, living. There is something inherently beautiful about that.
Your life is meaningless
Last Wednesday Dr.Hill invited us to the rose apartment to discuss “life”. I wasn’t sure what to expect from this talk. I walked in, put my bag on the ground, grabbed a soft cookie, and opened my ears. Dr.Hill proceeded by describing a close encounter with death he had a few days prior. He sat up in his chair, adjusted his heart monitor, and urged us to reflect on what is important in our lives. After much thought, I have begun to condense my ideas about the meaning if life.
The human desire to fulfill some sort of existential purpose has been present in all of history. Religion, politics, and art have all sought to guide the collective pursuit for meaning. However, by simple observation it seems that the events of the world are quite random, and daily life is quite banal. It is devastating to think that we were not created for some purpose. But why be upset about the inevitable uncertainty of our existence when there is so much to enjoy in life? I believe that once we accept the randomness and uncertainty of everyday life, the only option left is to enjoy that which lies right in front of us.
Friends, family and doing what we enjoy are far more important than fulfilling some sort of arbitrary meaning. When I think about what makes my life worth living, I think of my friends, my family, and the experiences I’ve had with them. Most of these experiences are normal: watching TV, eating too much, talking about our days. That said, these experiences I would not trade for anything. I would rather sit on my living room floor in a world of uncertainty and share Chinese takeout with my best friend than discover an all-encompassing meaning of life and pursue it alone.
Job Application Secrets Uncovered
On Friday I attended the Rose House Cover Letter Seminar. There I learned that the job application process starts much earlier than you would expect. As a sophomore, I have not invested much time into investigating the intricacies of job applications, but I am glad I started this process now. I learned the importance of having an artful perspective on making a good cover letter and resume. You don’t need to write down everything you’ve done; instead, simply mold your resume to emphasize the things that are applicable to the job you are applying to. After taking this seminar, I feel confident that I can write a good resume and cover letter. Additionally, I feel reassured that if keep working hard and doing what I love, I will find an employer that is a match made in heaven.