Author Archives: Kevin Jiang

Successful Companies Are Mission-Driven

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At the Rose Cafe, it was great to have Keith Lemnios, the CEO of Sun Coffee Roasters, lead a discussion on coffee and his company’s approach. Even though I am actually not a huge fan of coffee myself, I was still excited to hear the leader of a company discuss his beliefs and philosophies. He began the discussion by displaying a clip of a TED talk video, where a speaker stated that what separates the the most prominent and successful individuals and companies, such as Martin Luther King and Apple, is their emphasis on answering the question of “why”: these individuals and companies carry out actions and build products based on their convictions and core beliefs. I actually found this statement to be remarkably profound, since I had always viewed companies as entities that were simply profit-seeking and profit-maximizing by building out as elite of a product as possible. However, I can definitely see how consumers often make decisions based not purely on the product itself, but also the way in which the company’s values and beliefs align with their own.

Mr. Lemnios stated how this mission-driven attitude shapes his approach to running Sun Coffee Roasters. His mission is to provide farmers that the company partners with and their families with quality wages, as well as opportunities in education for individuals to leave the cycle of farming from generation to generation if they so choose. I was deeply impressed by this mission-driven approach, and I feel many companies in today’s era would be better off by having such an attitude.

A Two-Fold Approach to the Subject of Torture

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This Rose Cafe session was on the difficult subject of torture. It is a concept and practice that I find abhorrent, but nonetheless, it was great to have our speakers Dr. Cheesman and Pornpen Khongkachonkiet provide us with a richer understanding of the matter. I thought it was especially neat them as speakers, since Dr. Cheesman’s theoretical and academic-based work on torture complemented Pornpen’s activism in fighting torture. I was actually previously unaware that any academic work was actually being performed on the subject of torture, but I felt the ideas and results that Dr. Cheesman shared were certainly important. For example, a question commonly associated with torture is whether it “works”. Dr. Cheesman stated that it is problematic to be asking such a question in the first place, since it legitimizes the practice to an extent and ignores the severe ethical and moral issues with torture. I also felt Pornpen raised a great point in regards to this question when she discussed the concept of “value”. In many ways, asking whether something works is a question of what is valued, and it is deeply immoral to value any perceived gains like “information” over the value and dignity of a human life.

Like in many fields, having a two-fold approach combining the academics/theory with practice seems especially effective for fighting torture. Activists like Pornpen deserve the highest admiration for their efforts, and the research of individuals like Dr. Cheesman can lead to deeper understandings of the subject, which is also crucial since it is difficult to combat what one can’t understand or perceive. Thus, ideally, researchers and academics can constantly share their work and findings with activists in order to better inform them in their approach to tackling torture.

Possible Improvements to Rose Scholars

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At the Rose Cafe, Dr. Hill led a discussion regard possible improvements to the Rose Scholars program. I thought many people raised a lot of really valid and great points, with many centering around promoting more socialization and camaraderie within the program. While the event programming certainly seems to be fairly diverse and varied overall, and the quality of  events that I have attended have been quite high, they do not truly center around socialization at their core, which means that it is quite difficult to facilitate camaraderie through these events. I definitely feel that having events centered around socialization, such as frequent food/ice-cream socials would help alleviate this problem.

In addition, while I feel the Rose Cafe programming and speakers have each been pretty great, I have noticed that there is a lack of STEM/technology topics at the Rose Cafe. It would be great if the cafe could perhaps invite professors in computer science, physics, etc. to talk about issues such as AI research and other major scientific research trends. For example, I know that this semester there is a Cornell CIS Seminar Series on Artificial Intelligence offered that features lectures from computer science professors on various AI topics that is open to the public, and in the lectures that I attended, it has been extremely well-attended. Thus, I feel that if the Rose Cafe were to offer more STEM/technology topics and speakers, I think it would draw a great deal of interest, perhaps even from students and people outside the Rose Scholars program.

Transatlantic Series: Importance of Sports

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One of the great things about attending the Rose Cafe is having the opportunity to learn about various topics that I would be unlikely to encounter otherwise. At the Rose Cafe with Paul Wilcox, the Honorary Secretary of the Achilles Club, we learned about the Transatlantic Series, which is a track and field competition pitting Ivy League schools in the United States against universities in the United Kingdom. It originated in 1894 (which predates the modern Olympics!), and in its current iteration, Penn and Cornell team up against Oxford and Cambridge, with the location of the event alternating between the universities.

As an avid sports fan, I personally feel that such events are truly awesome. When we think about college athletics and also professional athletics in today’s world, there typically is little interaction between sports teams in the United States and teams in other nations in numerous sports (ex: NBA, NFL, etc.); this is unfortunate since I have always believed that sports possesses a unique unifying power for human beings. Having such events as the Transatlantic Series can be crucial for breaking down barriers and experiencing cultures from all over the world. The fact that the event involves college students is especially neat, and it seems like a bit more exciting and shortened version of studying abroad!

A Different Rose Cafe

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The Rose Cafe with Sam Beck, a social and cultural anthropologist who is also the Director of the New York City Urban Semester Program, approached the session in a different manner from previous speakers. The topic of the night was advertised to be a discussion of the New York City Urban Semester Program (which, by the way sounds like a pretty cool program), but rather than simply providing a lecture and traditional talk of the program, he sought to engage all the attendees in a more personal way. In fact, he asked each of us to discuss what we were majoring in at Cornell and what our future goals and aspirations are, and then attempted to discuss how the New York City Urban Semester Program could be useful in the context of these academic and career goals. I found this approach to be more enjoyable, as the back-and-forth engagement we had with the speaker allowed us to hear many of Sam’s individual feelings and thoughts regarding a wide array of subjects, and we definitely discovered his wittiness and sense of humor :).

As each student talked about their studies and future goals, Sam offered a lot of feedback and advice that I feel an anthropologist is especially equipped to make. For example, he asked a lot of questions regarding what motivated us and why we were actually pursuing these academic and careers paths, and I think in general, people don’t necessarily spend enough time thinking about such important questions. Thus, for young people such as ourselves, it definitely is especially germane for us to think more critically about our current and future paths!

Fats: More Than What Meets the Eye

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At the Rose Cafe, Professor Jonathan Robins led a pretty interesting discussion on the many aspects of fats. Prior to coming to the talk, I was not particularly knowledgeable about the subject of fats. I was aware of the fact that small amount of fat should be consumed, and did not really know much about the healthiness of the various fat sources. And since the professor is a nutrition historian, he was able to share information regarding the narratives and discussions surrounding fats in both today’s world and in the past. One interesting thing he shared was the fact that consensus about what types of fat sources are most healthy has changed pretty significantly over the years. In fact, just a few decades ago, there was a remarkably negative connotation surrounding fats, and consensus then was that fat intake should be extremely minimal. There has certainly been a shift away from this belief in today’s world, and perhaps there will another shift in the future. For example, coconut oil seems to be a highly popular source of fat these days, but perhaps another fat source will be lauded and consumed more heavily in the future.

I also found the “political economy” of fats to be quite fascinating. The professor discussed how oil palm trees are actually remarkably efficient at producing palm oil, and thus is a remarkably large part of the economy of several nations, such as Malaysia. However, there are significant concerns about the impact that aggressive production of palm in these countries has on the environment, and as a result, there has been significant debate on the subject. Thus, something that we almost consume for granted on a daily basis possesses complexities that affect the environment and economy of several countries heavily. All in all, I realized after the discussion that the subject of fats actually possesses numerous complicated layers, including areas like nutritional health, production efficiency, etc. I’ll definitely try to take a closer look at all the various oil types and brands the next time I visit the supermarket!

A Successful Legal System: It’s All in The People

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The Rose Cafe with Judge Scott Miller was incredibly compelling and enlightening for me. Judge Miller is a New York State judge, and he shared with us numerous aspects of his experiences in the world of law, from being a defense attorney to his current position as a judge. He reflected on the moral dilemma that defense attorneys experience when it comes to defending individuals that have all but admitted their guilt, and he reconciled these situations by essentially being committed to the legal system and preserving its integrity. Indeed, under our law system, individuals are presumed innocent until proven guilty, and thus a defense attorney has a duty to carry out his/her responsibilities to the best of his/her abilities. And although such dilemmas are difficult, I definitely agree that such a approach is the most fair and moral.

What amazed and impressed me the most about the Judge was his approach to his job. Judges must remain impartial and unbiased in their work, but at the same it is crucial to have integrity and a sense of morality because such elements are depended on in just about every decision, such as bail and sentencing. I could definitely sense the quality of his character, and it gave me a bit more confidence in our legal system because of the existence of judges like Judge Miller. In this vein, I believe that the legal system is the most important aspect of a functioning society, since as the Judge emphasized himself, a high-quality legal system is crucial for ensuring the morality and ethical nature of a society.

What Matters To Me In Life

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At the Rose Cafe, Dr. Hill described aspects of life that deeply matter to him and what drives him in life. I found the talk to be pretty thought-provoking and relevant to us as college students. As we go through the day-to-day grind of being a college student, it can be easy at times to lose sight of why we do the things we do and reflect on what we truly value in life. Indeed, being a major in a certain subject or being part of a certain academic club shouldn’t define someone as a person, since it is one’s internal core, which is comprised of such things as values and beliefs, that truly approach the essence of the individual.

Each person possesses different values and perspectives when it comes to the “bigger picture” of life, and for me personally, what matters a great deal is to make an impact. And I deliberately have stated this in a general sense because I think there are many ways to have a tremendous impact, whether that’s being able to start a company with millions of consumers, or being a teacher/professor and making a daily difference on the futures of students, or perhaps being a great and loving parent. As someone who is still young, I’m not quite sure which areas of life I will be able to positively affect and impact the most, but I can’t wait to discover them!

 

Morality is What Matters in Politics

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It was great to have Professor Peter Enns come and discuss with us some of the political issues and discourse currently dominating this country at the Rose Cafe. We touched on a variety of issues, such as the whether or not President Trump’s recent executive orders are actually legal and how to have constructive and inclusive conversations with all types of people. And on the subject of having inclusive and fruitful discussions, one of the points raised was to try not to attack and question the motives and character of individuals, but rather focus on the substance of the issues at hand. However, I believe that the values, beliefs, and motives of individuals are essential to the way they approach policy on these various issues. For example, whether or not people feel areas such as education and health care are human rights dictates the types of policy they put forth or support. And thus, while discussion of the validity of someone’s motives and beliefs can be a very challenging and perhaps uncomfortable subject to approach in a conversation, I actually think that it is crucial to truly get to the root of many of the political issues that face this country.

And while conversation is never a bad thing, I think what is far more important is actually calling out and standing up against injustices that take place in this country. I believe that such events like the Women’s March are simply awesome and are incredibly hopeful signs.  This actually relates to what Professor Enns discussed as the “zone of acquiescence”, which refers to a range of acceptable policies on political issues, and certainly many events and occurrences of the past couple years should have exceeded and gone far beyond society’s zone of acquiescence. Thus, although our country is facing a difficult political climate, I genuinely believe that as long as we continue to follow our morality and act against injustices, the country will be in good shape.

College of Human Ecology: Impact of Individuals

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It was really great to have Eileen Keating, the archivist for the College of Human Ecology, come share with us some truly important history of Cornell University during the Rose Cafe. She discussed the impact that Flora Rose and Martha Van Rensselaer had in helping to make Cornell a more inclusive place. The two were big proponents of the field of home economics and believed that it could serve as a path to higher education for women. Through various quotes and accounts that Eileen Keating shared, one thing that really struck me was just how passionate these two amazing women were about promoting this movement and field.I also found it particularly cool that these two women had a pretty close relationship with Eleanor Roosevelt. Having this connection allowed the movement to gain further traction and prominence. Their efforts eventually led to the development of the College of Human Ecology!

Attending the talk definitely allowed me to appreciate the importance of the College of Human Ecology even further. It is clear that the home economics movement significantly impacted the mission and direction of this college, as its array of interesting majors, such as nutritional science and fiber science, were certainly inspired by the efforts of this movement led by Flora Rose and Martha Van Rensselaer.