Author Archives: hcxxxx

Understanding the “Net”

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This past week, Professor Jeff Prince from Indiana University discussed a topic in which we often don’t think about deeply, but we utilize in our daily lives religiously: the Internet. I thought it was interesting how Professor Prince shared his research on the development of the internet and the future growth and implications it will have on the market.

The internet is often caught in this constant debate in regards to free market and free regulation. Many argue that current regulation serves as a barrier for large companies who would take over the free market of the internet. Professor Prince talked about how moving away from net neutrality could actually serve as a benefit for both businesses and consumers by lowering prices because of increased competition.

I’ve never really thought about putting the internet in the perspective of the economy and the markets so it was interesting to hear that side of the story. I think it would be interesting if I could learn more about this topic and understand the concerns behind net neutrality as well as the benefits of ending it. Seeing how reliant we are on the internet throughout our daily lives today makes me hesitant to end net neutrality because so many parties could attempt to abuse and take advantage of it, but I think one would first have to examine the real costs and benefits of doing so first.

Sun Coffee: Impact and Vision

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Last week’s Rose Cafe allowed me to have the great pleasure of meeting Keith Lemnios, the CEO of Sun Coffee Roasters. Through this discussion, I was able to learn more about his company and vision. I thought that one of the most interesting parts of the discussion was really how Mr. Lemnios emphasized the “why” aspect of leadership. Leaders cannot be leaders without answering this question of “why” their product is benefiting others or why they seek to pursue this vision in the first place. Many companies often operate under a mission of serving the greater good when they actually only seek the monetary profits, through this talk, I learned how companies really hold value in themselves beyond the profits.

Mr. Lemnios discussed how he is mission-driven and seeks to provide his employees with the benefits and resources that they need as well as provide his customers with coffee that is fresh and worth the money they paid. I very much admire Mr. Lemnios’s mission-driven attitude and hope that I can apply this type of approach as I seek out my own goals and advance in my professional life as well.

The Controversial Subject of Torture

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At last week’s Rose Cafe, Dr. Cheesman and Pornpen Khongkachonkiet provided a very interesting perspective and greater understanding of torture. Torture is definitely not a dinner-table topic, and while I was aware of how intense the conversation would be, I thought this Rose Cafe was interesting and thought-provoking.

Dr. Cheesman’s academic work on torture focuses on if it actually, quote-on-quote, works. It’s difficult to even pose this kind of question because it’s basically letting go of one’s ethics and view of humane treatment to subjecting a person to utmost pain in return for wanted information. Mr. Kkhongkachonkiet also provided great insight to this controversy. Is torture really worth giving up one’s moral values? Is it right to receive information in return for the degradation of human value as a human being?

I think that this talk definitely is prevalent to many issues that we have today in society, as well as the contemporary view on torture. It’s a difficult concept to grasp, but I certainly was challenged to ponder over the issue.

My Experience as a Rose Scholar

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To be frank, my primary reason for applying to the Rose Scholars program was to get guaranteed housing for the following year. As a transfer student, I didn’t want to have to go through the worries of looking for apartments so early into my first semester at Cornell, and being a Rose Scholar seemed like the most logical option for me to take. I did, however, really enjoy my time being a Rose Scholar and attending many Rose Cafe events. Honestly, if it wasn’t for this program, I most likely would not have attended these Cafe events, but I’m very glad that I did because I was able to learn so much from them.

For future years and moving forward with this program, one of the suggestions I do have is providing more events with shorter time commitments. I often felt that the Rose Cafe events were my only option because the majority of the events took up a couple hours on a Saturday or a late night on a weekday. Although I wanted to explore more, my academic endeavors as well as other commitments often overlapped and I couldn’t go to a lot of the other events that the House hosted. I think the Rose Cafe events are great, but it would also be nice to have other options with similar time commitments.

I also think it would be great to incorporate other House programs with the Rose Scholars program. This could be a way of unity of West Campus as well as another way for students to interact and get to know each other.  A lot of West Campus is made up of transfer students, and I think it would be great to provide them with the opportunity to mingle with other students and help them step out of their comfort zones as well.

Overall, I enjoyed the Rose Scholars program and I definitely think it changed me as a person. I was able to learn a lot and I look forward to living in Rose again for another year.

Sports’ Alternative Role

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This past Rose Cafe series featured Mr. Paul Wilcox, the Honorary Secretary of the Achilles Club since 1987. He talked about the Transatlantic Series, a track and field series that took place and invited participants from various higher education institutions in both England and the United States. I found this talk interesting because I did track and field in middle school and for a season in high school, so I could personally relate to the role sports played in my life in bridging communication gaps within society and the community.

I especially enjoyed how Mr. Wilcox touched upon this communication power that sports has on different communities and cultures. The Olympics is a modern example of really bringing the world together through athletic talent; but more so, the Olympics shows a sign of sportsmanship and unity. Mr. Wilcox emphasized how the experience of traveling together as teammates and meeting counterparts from the other side of the world really broadens the mind. I can wholeheartedly agree with this statement.

Mr. Wilcox also discussed the history of different relays which I found interesting as I love learning about history, and having not known how far back track and field travels, it was cool to see how the sport has developed to further bring people from different cultures and organizations together.

Thinking Ahead

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Last week’s Rose Cafe was very different from the previous Rose Cafe events I have attended. Typically, speakers try to elicit student participation through discussion questions, which, resulted in little response. However, Sam Beck directed his discussion on us students, asking us what plans, if any, we had for the future in terms of careers and other interests. Professor Beck emphasized the importance of the college experience; it’s more than just learning from textbooks and learning information word-for-word. College is about utilizing the multiple resources around you in order to gain as much of a fulfilling experience as possible. Professor Beck talked a lot about the Urban Semester experience offered here at Cornell. He talked about the importance of experimental learning in which we could directly engage with the community and experience our career interests firsthand, an opportunity that is not offered at all schools.

After this talk, I really thought about my own career interests and how I currently pursue and experience them. I realize how much reading and thinking I do, but more so, I realized how much action I lack. For me, as an ILR major, taking an Urban semester could be a great firsthand experience in the field of HR management and operations, which is where I aspire to take my skill set to. This talk was a great breath of air for me to take and realize what I needed to do next.

 

Nutrition During the Great Depression

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During this week’s Rose Cafe series, Jane Ziegalman came to talk to us about nutrition and its role during the great depression. Bread lines in NY have been operating since the late 1850s. But as the Depression deepened and the number of hungry Americans increased, eating habits began to change. Home economics was started by women who believed that it should become a legitimate profession. These women focused on creating a style of cooking that avoided strong smells. In fact, Flora Rose, the namesake of our House, formed the home economics department here at Cornell. As someone who never really studied home economics even in high school, I’ve always been curious about what home economics was about and its importance. Other famous figures, such as Eleanor Roosevelt, also created a specific diet for her family in the White House. Her approach didn’t rely on taste; this made me chuckle and reminded me of how my mom tries to regulate my family’s food intake and bases it off of nutritional value rather than taste. All in all, this talk was very interesting and definitely stimulated my curiosity to learn more about the food history during a desperate time period for the US.

Modern Art Interpretation

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While I am usually not an art enthusiast, I found Rose House Fellow Nicholas Carbonaro’s exhibit to be very interesting and different. I thought that the way he portrayed his emotions in the abstract art that he created was not only interesting, but it really expressed his feelings for different events that occurred throughout his life in a unique way.

When he discussed his art with us, Nicholas mentioned how it’s really a way for him to express his creativity and that is an aspect of himself that he hopes to continue to express throughout his life and career. I really admire that dedication as a lot of times, people don’t like to express their creativity because it is either not of the norm or it doesn’t define what is a “successful career.” Myself included, I think a lot of students are so honed in on the idea of what the future will be like for us as career people and so I find it very admirable that Nicholas chooses to explore his future through his creativity. It was a great exhibit!

Maximizing Feedback

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This past Wednesday, I had the privilege of participating in an engaging discussion with House Fellow Cynthia Hill. To begin the discussion, Mrs. Hill began with holding up cards to show common corrections that we see on papers; from ‘awk’ to the dreaded ‘?’ nearly all of the symbols were familiar to me as something that I have seen on a paper I get back from professors and teachers throughout my academic career.

I never really considered analyzing what these symbols really meant. What does a check exemplify? Good? Average? Decent? What do you do when you receive an “awk”? Mrs. Hill went on to explain that a lot of what we see from written feedback is how the person is framing what they expect from us and from our writing. We also talked about the use of rubrics and how we utilize rubrics when we get them from an instructor. For the majority of us, a rubric is almost a godsend; it provides us with the necessary criteria that we know we have to put in our papers.

Mrs. Hill’s facilitation of this interesting topic really made me think about the elements of writing a paper and how to interpret feedback. Sometimes, when we see that we received the grade we wanted, we don’t even bother to look at the feedback that our professors may have provided. After this talk, I’m a little more cognizant of the value of feedback and that it’s okay to question the different vague symbols used.