Schizophrenia: a gift in a curse

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I don’t know a lot about Schizophrenia and what it can do to a person, or how realistically the representation of John Nash’s condition was portrayed in A Beautiful Mind. However, I have heard that estimates as high as twenty-percent of root causes for homelessness are being attributed to Schizophrenia. In light of this, it is truly admirable how Nash was able to control his hallucination and maintain such a functional social life, not to mention the achievements of his breakthroughs in academia. Because of this, I disagree with the introduction given about how Schizophrenia trapped Nash within his own mind. I think rather than trapping him, his condition allowed his imagination to run free to harmful depths, because I do believe there is an opposite extremity to oppression. By liberating his mind and appealing to his creativity for inspirational breakthroughs, Nash escaped the real of practical reality to that of his obsession with military operations in Russia.

It is amazing what a person can accomplish with enough mettle and motivation. John Nash should serve as an inspiration to any average joe facing a difficult time. However, it concerns me that this movie might inspire people with severe psychological disorder to refuse medical treatment, or that a loved one might influence someone in need towards such a decision. While John Nash’s accomplishments are notable, I don’t believe that every person facing this struggle has the necessary means to overcome this disorder without medical attention.

Whenever I think of an underlying theme to this movie, I keep coming back to perseverance through all challenges and the achievements that are attainable to any individual with enough effort and persistence. The movie really inspires me to devote myself to my passions the way that John Nash was able to devote himself to studies in mathematics.

I think, therefore I am

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Last Friday, I attended the showing of the emotional movie A Beautiful Mind, which features the life of John Nash who was celebrated for his genius mathematical theories yet endured the tricks played by his mind. The movie underscores the contrast between the genius of his theories, and the dramatic loss of clarity in his mind. His delusions make him believe fervently and wholeheartedly in things that are not present, immersing them into his world that is real and present. The movie concludes assuringly — through the tremendous support of his wife, medical treatment, and the harnessing of his will to combat his delusions, he was able to return to teach and continue the work that he was so passionate about.

I think that the reason this movie can stir so many emotions stems from the need of self preservation. It scares us that this could happen to anyone, that schizophrenia is a very real and affecting mental illness. John Nash was diagnosed with schizophrenia late, and was given no warning that it would happen. What is to say that it won’t happen to us? It is often said that what makes up who we are must contain how we think, our memories formed, the things in our mind, governed by our mind, empowered by our mind. So then who are we when this mind does things we feel like we can’t control? Are we the same people if our mind is mixing reality and imagination so thoroughly that we can’t tell? What even is it if our mind chooses to live in a different world? If there is a cure to a mental illness, once it’s cured, is someone a different person? It is unsettling to imagine that there are things that we simply have no conscious control over, yet comforting in that like John Nash, with proper help and support, it is possible to live with it.

A Different Farmer’s Market

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Last Saturday I finally had the opportunity to go to the Ithaca Farmer’s Market for the very first time. I had always heard good things about the Ithaca Farmer’s Market, so I was very excited to finally have the chance to go. I would certainly recommend going, for it was a great experience. There was lots of amazingly delicious food, as well as beautiful crafts. I also found myself wishing that I had a garden, since there were so many wonderful plants. Overall, it was a Saturday well spent, and I shall certainly return.

Being from upstate New York, I have been to plenty of farmer’s markets before, but I found the Ithaca one to be a bit different from the others that I have attended. The most notable difference was the enclosure. The farmer’s markets that I have been to before have all had their booths set up under temporary tent-like structures (much like the farmer’s market at Cornell). At the Ithaca Farmer’s Market, however, everything was set up in a wooden enclosure that appeared to be built for the purpose of housing the farmer’s market. This was also the first farmer’s market that I have attended where there were vendors selling crafts, in addition to the typical vendors selling food and plants. Maybe I just had never noticed them before, but the only place where I have seen a collection of craft vendors is at a crafts fair. I actually thought that their inclusion was nice, since it added in a bit more of a variety to the types of vendors present. I have always liked attending places like this, and the Ithaca Farmer’s Market was set up in a way that I enjoyed.

The 85 Ways to Tie a Tie

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Last week, I attended an event related to professional attire. One of the activities during the event was learning how to tie neckties and bow ties. Most of the attendees didn’t know how to do it. I was surprised to find out there are actually 85 ways to tie a tie!  In the late 1990s, two researchers Thomas Fink and Yong Mao of Cambridge’s Cavendish Laboratory used mathematical modeling to discovered eighty five possible types of knots using a conventional type of tie. Tie knots can be described a s a sequence of five possible moves: left (L), center(C) right(R), into (i), out (o), and through the loop(T). A tie knot can be defined a s a sequence of moves using a combination of the 6 possible moves such as left in, left out, right in, right out, center in  and center out. All knot sequences end with center out and alternate between in and out, all knots of odd numbers of moves begin with left out, and the even numbers of moves begin with left in. Therefore, the shape of a knot depends on the number of right, left and center moves. For instance, here is the step you need to follow if you are using the four-in –hand method knot:

  • Bring the wide end to the left and either over or under the narrow and divide the space into right, left and center regions
  • The knot is moved in half turns so that the direction alternates between out of and into the shirt.
  • The wide end is then wrapped from the right (left) over the front to the left(right) underneath to the center
  • Finally it is brought through (T) making the front loop as shown below

Enjoy practicing!

 

Schizophrenia and The Nobel Prize

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A Beautiful Mind is, by far, one of my favorite movies to watch ever since I saw it during my AP Psychology class. I first watched the film when my class was covering mental illnesses such as personality disorders, bipolar disorders, and last, but not least schizophrenia. One of the symptoms of schizophrenia that made me so interested in the brain is the concept of hallucinations. And contrary to drug-induced hallucinations, these stay for life and are associated with negative experiences. These fabricated characters are there to increase the symptoms of anxiety, insecurity, and paranoia in the sufferer. Furthermore, unlike the film, people diagnosed with schizophrenia often hear voices that are constantly belittling them.

But what surprised me most about this movie was that, John Nash, a mathematician responsible for creating the Nash equilibrium that revolutionized economics as well as led to the development of game theory was able to ignore the negative influences in his life. The fact that he does not know what is reality and what is fantasy, but nonetheless is able to overcome these difficulties show that determination can bring you anywhere you want. Even with a mental illness, he was able to win the Nobel Peace Prize. And while the movie is not a complete accurate depiction of Nash’s life, I certainly still enjoy watching Russel Crowe develop Nash’s character from a sane student, to a paranoid mathematician, to a Noble Prize winning professor.

Building A Better Community

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Contrary to the regularly scheduled cafes, this event was set up by Dean Hill to give and receive feedback from current Rose Scholars and what lies ahead for the future of the program. And this being my second year in the Rose Scholars program, I was here to witness the changes that Dean Hill and Professor Blalock decided to implement, such as the online sign-up sheet and capacity limit for certain events. At first, I didn’t quite like this change since I was always used to attending the Wednesday cafes to get my requirements done. I did it primarily because it took the least amount of time. However, since the online system was implemented, there were times that I had to attend different Rose Scholars events. One that I have come to particularly enjoy is the Friday movie nights. Even though they are a bit longer, I realize that I enjoy watching a movie that pertains to different cultures or studies and have been attending them since.

Likewise, a few of the Rose Scholars voiced their concerns about the capacity limits. I took it as a net positive since this creates an incentive for people to participate in the community. If you want a slot, then you have to be active and sign up for it early instead of just dropping in and treating it like a requirement. In addition, I think some other scholars raised wonderful points about the programming of the Scholars program. Every week, there are time scheduled events and we can expect them to be the same. However, since everyone’s time commitments are different, it would certainly be delightful to see events being shuffled around the days of the week while preserving the time slot.

And lastly, I really feel that the Rose Scholars program could contribute more to socializing people within Rose House. Most of the participants either come in groups or attend for the sake of the requirement. I believe that if there were events that have the sole purpose of letting other house members meet each other, it could foster better interest in the community offerings. All in all, I think this was a great talk and I’m glad to see the effort that is being put in for the development of the program.

A Study of Determination

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The story of John Nash as portrayed in A Beautiful Mind was constructed to showcase the determination and perseverance of the tormented professor. The film covers the life of John Nash, a mathematics scholar, who developed one of the greatest advancements to game theory (the Nash Equilibrium) while also suffering from mental illness. It showcases the will power with which Nash essentially forces himself to ignore his hallucinations and focus on getting back into mainstream life. His wife also plays an important role by supporting him in his struggle. The story is certainly inspiring, even though I later learned that portions of Nash’s actual life are different from what was presented on film. Nevertheless, the story in the movie is what we should focus on, and we see from this story that determination and mental strength can lead to amazing results.

I knew nothing about Nash’s life before the film and so I thought the way the filmmakers depicted Nash’s descent into madness was done quite well. In the film, Nash is doing his best to be successful in life, when suddenly his work becomes very serious. It is only a great deal of time into the movie that the audience finds out that entire portions of the movie were merely Nash’s hallucinations. It all made for an interesting story. I did some research later and I did find out that some things were changed from the actual story. One of the most trivial was that in the film Nash goes mad in 1954 when in reality he started having mental issues in 1959. Why the filmmakers felt the need to change that one detail still confuses me. There are a series of other changes made to Nash’s life which made for a more compelling story and I understand why the changes were made. However, because of those changes I think it is important to focus solely on the story portrayed in the film and to consider how we can be more focused and determined in our lives.

A Beautiful Mind

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Ron Howard’s A Beautiful Mind (2001) very interestingly, and entertainingly, depicts John Nash’s (Russell Crowe) encounter and life long struggle with Schizophrenia. As a viewer, looking back at the film, I became very interested in the process of introducing the mental illness to the audience. From a director’s viewpoint, there are two ways to introduce this mentality. Does one choose to view Nash from the outside, and see his actions from the perspective of someone else? Or does one choose to view everything from Nash’s perspective? Without a doubt, the second option seems to be much more interesting, and attempts to paint a picture of what it is like to live with such a mental illness. So, we experience the start of the illness as Nash does, without recognition of its arrival. We meet his roommate Charles (Paul Bettany), whom we assume to be very real for a good portion of the film.

This friendship and association of family with Charles is integral to getting the audience to feel similarly to Nash when the truth is revealed. When we finally learn that Charles is not real, that he is a figment of Nash’s mind, we want to counter it just as much as Nash does. We hope that there is a misunderstanding, that there is some way that Charles didn’t show up in Princeton’s record books. It gives the audience the chance to experience what they know to be true to be turned upside down. That magical ability of film gives audience members a closer experience to what Nash experiences, leaving them to sympathize with him, as well as question their own worlds once they exit the theater.

John Nash: the late genius

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When I heard that John Nash, the mathematical, economic, schizophrenic genius that became a new father of modern economics, had died in a car crash on the New Jersey Turnpike almost exactly two years ago, I was heartbroken. But it invited me to look into his life through research and not simply a film.

This week was not the first time I’d seen the movie. I’ve watched it countless times for its direction, its gorgeous soundtrack, and its heartwarming (while largely Hollywood-fabricated) story. I’m personally a fan of 1950s vibes, so A Beautiful Mind hits the spot.

But indeed, did you know the movie greatly exaggerates and leaves out a lot of details about his life? You may remember the illusions of William Parcher, the prodigal roommate, and niece. Those were never real. In fact, Nash never even saw the people in his head; they were all visual. In addition, in the film, John and Alicia lived happily ever after as a married couple. In reality, he divorced Alicia in 1957. They continued to live together, but legally separated, for about half a century before remarrying in 2001.

This does not mean the movie is entirely dishonest or distasteful. If the characters of John’s imagination were only audio, the entire film would have been much less interesting. But it should encourage viewers to look for the truth themselves, since Hollywood is not known for accuracy.

Issues in Psychiatry

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On looking up A Beautiful Mind, I noticed a large number of articles that discussed the movie’s portrayal of mental disorders. While I cannot analyze the details of the portrayal of schizophrenia, there were other aspects about mental disorders portrayed in the movie that seemed entirely plausible.

The movie’s portrayal about Nash’s diagnosis was faithful to the true series of events. It’s slightly startling to find out that Nash’s schizophrenia was diagnosed pretty late in his life, when he was 32. It is alarming that there is the possibility that mental disorders can take a long time to be diagnosed or even noticed, if they ever are. Often times, the delay or inability to diagnose mental disorders is due to issues of reliability and accuracy with methods of diagnosis.

The primary method of diagnosing mental disorders is based on the psychiatrist forming opinions about the personal accounts of a patient, and perhaps corroborating the accounts with a secondary source like a parent or a partner. The individual’s account is also analysed in relation to guidebooks like the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM), that list the common conditions of disorders. The psychiatrist then makes a diagnosis based on the comparison of the paient’s account and the DSM.

Unfortunately, since this method depends on both the subjective account of a patient and the psychiatrist’s perception of the disorder, so it is often prone to a lack of reliability. A study by Cooper et al (1972) found that when watching the same videotaped clinical interviews, British psychiatrists diagnosed cases as depression while American psychiatrists diagnosed the same cases as schizophrenia.

Apart from the lack of reliability, another issue is that of accuracy. Historically, and even today to a lesser extent, the standard of mental health was/is erroneously conflated with a perceived statistical norm. Anything that was considered to be different from the masses would be regarded as ‘not normal’. For example, the DSM 1 and 2 listed homosexuality as a paraphilia and sexual orientation disturbance respectively. It was only around the late 1900s that homosexuality was removed from the DSM.

The field of psychiatry and the DSM have a troubled history. However, there is work going on to address the issues of reliability and accuracy in diagnosis. There is an attempt to study disorders from a more balanced perspective: by looking at biological, cognitive and socio-cultural aspect factors that affect mental health. Moreover, manuals like the DSM are continually being changed and updated to keep up with new findings in the field of psychology.

 

Tying Ties with Ty

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Last week I attended the seminar series event in which we learned how to tie various ties. Coming into the seminar, I knew how to tie a standard tie, but what I didn’t know (and was always interesting in learning about) was how to tie a bow tie. First we discussed what was appropriate attire for various events, for example interviews or cocktail hours. One aspect about attire that stood out to me was the difference between the genders. After the presentation, i see why women might take so long to get ready. There are a lot of critical decisions that have to be made in order to meet the dress code for a given event. Guys have sort of a standard base in which they can base their outfit on (shirt and pants) while women, have to decide on whether or not a skirt is appropriate or what about a jacket, etc. Also, for guys it is easy to dress for events because we can always remove a tie or take off our jacket. If a woman picks the wrong piece of clothing, game over.

Because of this seminar, I have a new respect for people who wear bow-ties. Before this seminar, I always thought that people who wore a bow-tie were trying harder than they had too and that the bow-tie gave off a sense of a sense of arrogance like “Look at me, I’m wearing a bow-tie, I’m smarter than you.” After attempting to tie a bow-tie, there may be something to the arrogance. It is really hard to tie a bow-tie. Granted we didn’t have mirrors, but just trying to follow from the step-by-step instructions and even with help from Ty, it was tough.

Also, it was interesting to learn about the different variations of business casual. At my old school, business casual always meant jacket with tie optional depending on what the occasion was. In the seminar, there was a photo ranging from a guy wearing a polo and jeans to a guy with a sweater, jacket and tie all representing business casual. Regardless I definitely came out of that lecture with a better understanding of how to dress for success.

Bread and Windowsill Plants

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According to their advertising, all of the vendors at the Ithaca Farmer’s Market produce their products within 30 miles of the market location. Consequently, I didn’t know what to expect. How many farms are there in the Ithaca area? -a surprising number (at least for me).

At the farmer’s market, I found not only vendors selling produce, but also honey, dairy and meat products, fresh flowers, bread and baked goods, soaps, jewelry, and gifts. There were also several restaurant stalls. The first lesson I learned was that I have been seriously underestimating our agricultural community.

Mine is not a farmer’s market going family. I had always believed they were essentially an outdoor Whole Foods-everything is beautiful, and it’s probably better for you, but who has that kind of money? The prices I saw at the market were surprisingly reasonable. Of course, you also get the benefit of knowing where your food came from, and the opportunity to purchase organic products. I don’t know that most “mid-range” grocery stores stock much organic produce-Wegmans might be an exception. But I do know that, when you can find it, it tends to be considerably more expensive than non-organic alternatives.

I live in a dorm, and my ability to cook is limited right now, but if I ever get an apartment, this is somewhere I can seem myself shopping on a regular basis. Not only is the farmers market a good place to go to get groceries, it’s a great way to get off campus for a while. The pavilion is located right by the lake (inlet?, river? Do they call it something else once it makes its way into Ithaca proper?) and there is a seating area and a dock in back. For my own part, I bought a banana and nutella crepe after I was finished browsing, and enjoyed the water view. I also grabbed a loaf of bread to bring back to my dorm. Cornell’s food is generally pretty good, but I feel like you can’t get good bread here.

One final advertisement: If, like me, you have a windowsill garden that is rapidly getting out of hand, Ithaca Farmer’s Market has something for you. I bought both a succulent and a passion flower, and, if there was more time left in the term, I definitely would have started some dorm-room herbs.

The Effort That Goes into a Cup of Joe

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This week’s Rose Café event was focused on coffee and coffee farming. The speaker was the CEO of a coffee roasting company that supplies coffee to Cornell Dining. The coffee roasting company tries to supply coffee in a responsible manner and provide workers with greater opportunities. His company has help fund preschools, health clinics, and other necessities for coffee farmers.

I was most surprised to learn of the amount of physical labor that goes into producing a small amount of coffee. The coffee is picked by hand, often in remote areas, and carried in large bags by hand. Next the beans must be separated from the fruit within 48 hours to prevent fermentation. One farmer will spend countless hours picking coffee and hauling hundred pound bags down mountains for months only to produce a small amount of coffee. Other workers must manually sort every coffee bean to ensure quality.

Prior to the talk, I had never realized how labor intensive coffee production is. It was amazing to learn more about the lives of coffee farmers and their living conditions. The next time I drink a cup of coffee, I will have a much greater appreciate of the hard work of coffee growers.

This Rose Café event was one of the most engaging and informative of the semester.

An Incomplete Picture

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Last week was not my first time watching A Beautiful Mind.  I had learned about John Nash, the schizophrenic genius, while I was in high school. I then watched the movie, and loved it. However, this was my first time watching it after Nash and his wife’s death on the New Jersey turnpike two years ago. The movie was more impactful this time around because it kept reminding me that someone can suffer so much and survive, only to lose to something as trivial as not putting on a seatbelt. Thinking about his death, I research Nash on Wikipedia the night before the movie. During the viewing, I was shocked at the sheer amount of discrepancies between what I was watching and what I had read the night before. Nash never hallucinated a roommate, and a CIA agent, instead he heard things that weren’t there. He didn’t have a happy marriage for 30 years; while he was in a psychiatric hospital he had an affair with one of his nurses. After getting her pregnant, he abandoned the child and wife. His first wife then divorced him (thought they still lived together) and then remarried in 2001. In addition, Nash never went back on medication like the movie said. In many ways, Hollywood directly lied so that Nash would be a more sympathetic character.

My feelings are conflicted about this. In one hand, I see why the studio lied about being on medication. If they had sent the message that you can overcome schizophrenia by sheer will, a lot of people’s lives may be damaged. Also, it’s hard to depict auditory hallucinations in film, so I see why they had him visualize things that weren’t there. Still, I think it’s harmful to lie about Nash’s personal affairs.  Nash was bad in some ways, but that doesn’t mean his accomplishments in math and overcome schizophrenia are any less amazing or notable. By striking these personal affairs from the record, you effectively forgive them. You inadvertently send a message that as long as you are great at one thing, history will forget your flaws. I love Nash for his contributions to mathematics and I admire him for conquering schizophrenia, but I don’t think we should forget that he was a human with flaws.

Corporate Social Responsibility in A Cup

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Yesterday, I attended the Rose Cafe with Keith Lemnios about Sun Coffee. As an avid coffee drinker, I was really interested in learning more about the company that supplies the coffee to the dining halls here at Cornell. I expected to just hear about the process of making coffee, but ended up learning so much more about the company and the great things they are doing to help the environment and the lives of their workers.

Lemnios told us how he reevaluated his companies practices after finding out that the families that were growing the beans had been earning the same level of wages since the 40’s. Since then, they have worked to provide living wages to families and really enhance the lives of their workers. They have invested in the education of the families that work on their farms and work to provide better lives for them. Lemnios really seemed invested in the welfare of their workers, and it really showed through his visits to the farm to check in on the workers and how they are doing. I think this is awesome, especially being in ILR, I am extremely interested in companies that care so much about the workers, especially in countries that do not have the labor laws in place regarding safety, working conditions and wages that we have in the US. The company was also extremely concerned with their environmental impact, and preserving the rainforest. More companies have been adopting corporate social responsibility and this trend should continue, as it really shows the trends towards companies caring more about their impact on the world than making a profit.

I also learned information about the process of making coffee that I had not known before. While this is slightly embarrassing to admit considering my coffee addiction, I did not know that coffee beans grew on trees and were the seeds of cherries from the trees. It was really interesting to see the process by which Sun Coffee roasts their beans, and see the measures they have taken to ensure their process is sustainable and environmentally friendly.

This Rose Cafe really opened my eyes and made me think more about where the things I eat and drink actually come from. Before, I never really considered the supply chain and processes it takes to get the coffee to the dining hall, and now that I know, I have a greater appreciation for this coffee and the great company behind it.

The Ethics Behind a Company

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This week’s Rose Cafe was given by Keith Lemnios who founded the company Sun Coffee Roasters in 2006. I found his talk to be very insightful, even for a coffee un-enthusiast like myself. Mr. Lemnios started by talking about the qualities that help a company succeed, the most important of which is having a core message or a mission somewhat independent from the product itself. For his company, their goals are to be environmentally friendly and socially responsible. Their harvesting of coffee beans is done in the rainforests, chemical-free, and their roasting of beans is done with very little pollution emitted. In terms of helping the coffee farmers, Sun Coffee Roasters provides living wages and helps provide education for the children of the farmers in Nicaragua. Mr. Lemnios goes to the country frequently and oversees the building of schools and daycares which help the children complete their education so that they may have opportunities in their lives that their parents did not. This is a mission that resonates particularly well with colleges, and Cornell University is among many that support his company by buying the coffee for the dining halls.

Mr. Lemnios’ parting words were essentially asking us to reflect on our own decisions as consumers when choosing what to buy and which companies to support. This got me thinking about the products that I frequently use and buy. For example, there have been many reports over the years about inhumane labour practices in Apple factories and the Nike sweatshops, etc. Yet, I’m sat here typing this on my Mac computer, with a pair of neon Nikes on the ground below me, and a bunch of ‘fast fashion’ clothes hung neatly in my closet. I am more or less in an ethical dilemma between my wanting to stand by principles on what is right and my own materialist desires for ‘luxury’ goods. I honestly have no idea how to reconcile these two, so I sort of live with this vague feeling of uncomfortable guilt when I think too much about stuff this.

It is so great to hear about how companies like Sun Coffee Roasters are really making a difference in people’s lives and I’m glad that Cornell supports them. I only wish every other company cared so much about the environment and the people.

Torture- Opinions

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This past Rose Cafe, we had a refreshing and interesting change from our usual style and topic of discussions and talked about the controversial topic of torture. Dr. Nick Cheesman from Australian National University and his activist colleague Pornpen Khongkachonkiet led the talk, talking mainly from the lens of Southeast Asia where their work is centered. As someone who grew up in Southeast Asia in the city of Singapore,this was very interesting to me.

I found it really interesting to hear from our two speakers because Pornpen was able to offer us the perspective of someone who witnesses and actually deals with matters of torture on a daily basis, while Dr. Cheeseman offered an academic opinion based on his own research in Myannmnar/Burma.

After hearing the talk and listening to the delicate perspectives and information surrounding torture, my existing opinion around torture- that it is something completley evil and immoral and takes away every piece of humanity from the victim- was reinforced. The talk was a difficult and emotional one but I am glad we were able to hear some expert perspectives on such an important, sensitive yet rarely discussed is

Why use Torture?

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The art of torture has a long and evil precedence in our society, and it continues to be used today in various professions. Torture tactics are designed to illicit a specific reaction or response from the victim who might or might not be involved with the pertinent issue at hand. I have always wondered if torture is acceptable to use on some people more than others. For example, do terrorists deserve to be tortured for committing some of the most heinous crimes in the world more than a regular criminal? The inability to justify torture is what proposes the question is torture really necessary? Dr. Chessman’s talk about the use of torture in southern Thailand and Myanmar raised some important questions like why people use torture and what kinds of issues does it raise?

Dr. Chessman and his colleague Pornpern, a human rights activist, described the the intention behind torture and its catastrophic effects on the victims. Pornpern, who interviewed several victims of torture in southeast Asia, raised a very important question about the intention behind torture. He asked if it was worth dehumanizing another person to obtain a piece of information? Is information superior to one’s morality? More importantly is fake information worth torturing people over because many times torture victims are completely unaware of the information being asked of them and are coerced into lying. I think it is unacceptable to torture human beings regardless of whether or not they are innocent and it is even more unacceptable to justify torture as an efficient means of retrieving important information. Torturers create their own scapegoats and put them through physical and emotional pain to satisfy their own demands and needs. In the end the torturers become the so called criminals that they are interviewing and sacrifice their own morality for what might be a small piece of information.

Torture

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Last week at the Rose Cafe we were fortunate enough to welcome Nick Cheesman, from Australian National University and his research companion, Pornpen, an activist from Thailand, to talk about torture in South East Asia. We spoke about torture, how effective/not effective it is, and how it imposes on people’s rights. I did not know the topic of the talk going into the cafe, and did not expect such a heavy topic; the rose cafe’s are normally light-hearted and mildly academic related.

I was very interested in Cheesman and Pornpen’s viewpoint about why torture still occurs. Pornpen stated that her research points to the idea that torture is a cathartic way of dealing with an issue without solving the core of the problem. I find this statement really accurate, as it also explains the concept of scapegoats.

In addition, one of the most interesting questions asked during this cafe was the question “Does torture work.” Cheesman stressed that this question itself was dangerous. Furthermore, despite various political assertions recently that torture is effective, Cheesman stated that this was not true. I completely agree with Cheesman’s statement, and find the amount of people who do not agree, and the fact that our own president does not agree with Cheesman’s viewpoint very disturbing. Perhaps this is a product of propaganda in our society? For example, the fact that torture is shown to be so effective in movies and plays, etc.

After this question was asked, Cheesman proceeded to warn us that he would begin to talk about something disturbing, and we were welcome to leave. As I am someone who was feeling uncomfortable, I left at this point.

On Torture

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There was a very serious talk that occurred between Nick Cheesman and his research companion last week. We discussed torture broadly and then specifically how it was used in Thailand. The details and gravity of the talk definitely made it the most serious Rose cafe that we had this semester.

I thought how wrong it was that torture was used so broadly in Thailand, but then I realized that the US employed the methods for a long time as well. This shows that between developed and developing countries, torture is too common.

Torture should not occur under any circumstance and neither should the death penalty. Those are both, in my opinion, violations of humanity and the state should not be allowed to make decisions regarding the wellbeing of any individual in that manner. There is just too much room for error and abuse. And there is a danger that people will view torture and executions as acceptable just because it is institutionalized within the state.

Overall, I am grateful for the talk as it forced me to think about these uncomfortable subjects.  I think the work that Nick Cheesman does is very important as torture is an issue that needs more discussion within our society since it is still used in many parts of the world.

March For Science (and Advocating for Science)

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The march for science table talk was very interesting since there were so many surprising facts/figures/thoughts presented. For example, GRF Tyler showed us what the proposed budget for various government agencies (NIH, FDA, etc) under the Trump Administration looks like, as well as the results of a survey where people were asked if climate change is real.

I think that people are really disillusioned by the world around them particularly because of what information is available to them/the things media presents to them. For example, anti-vaxxers do not believe in the benefits of vaccines because they were presented a poorly done research that was “presented” as “fact.” Lack of education on top of a poor understanding of science plus a difference in experience (modern day people have never lived through a smallpox outbreak, for example, so they don’t know the true value of vaccines and how detrimental it could be to have even 3% of the population unvaccinated) resulted in the emergence of the anti-vax movement. The topic of climate change is headed in a similar direction, with a large number of well-educated/well-informed population speaking out to the government to try to change things, and then with a growing number of ill-informed, uneducated population perpetuating that “climate change isn’t real.”

All of this is incredibly problematic since scientific decisions impact all of us. Since we all live on this earth, a smallpox outbreak caused by anti-vaxxers would impact every single person who lives on this earth. The same goes for climate change. This is why the March For Science means so much. It means educating the population to help make decisions that impact all of us, and it’s advocating for continued scientific research and discovery, because on the long run, that’s how humankind will advance. It’s particularly sad that the current administration doesn’t see things this way (choosing to invest more in defense) and I’m scared to see where this kind of mindset (science is objective/should be ignored) would take us should we continue on this trajectory.

In the talk, we also mentioned how to best advocate for science. Scientists are good at what they do, but are not good at advocating for themselves and not good at convincing policy makers to change policies. I think we came to the conclusion that as scientists/supporters for science, we must not only have facts, but have reasons why these facts are important: in the form of anecdotes and calls to actions.

There are lots to be learned from the March for Science and there’s still a lot we can all do to be better advocates for science. It all starts here.

The Psychology of Torture

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Last week I went to a Rose Cafe where we talked about torture in SE Asia. I think that torture is wrong because of moral reasons. A comment was made that torture was mostly likely to occur in places that had an insurgency because the groups engaged in “us vs them” thinking. This made me think of the psych classes I’ve taken over the years where we talked about how normal people can do terrible things. For example, in the famous Milgram study, a majority of participants gave lethal shocks to other “subjects” when they answered questions incorrectly. No one was physically harmed in this study because the “subjects” were compatriots of the researcher, and no actual shocks were given. The participants, who were all normal, average people, believed that they were giving lethal shocks though. This study revealed that even average people can do terrible things in the right situations. It showed that the situation has a greater effect on how a person will react than the person’s personality. That may be one reason why many people who are facing an insurgency may engage in torture. Again, I think that torture is morally wrong, and should not be done under any circumstances, but using some key elements from psychology may help us understand why and how normal people can do such terrible things.

At the Cost of a Brilliant Mind

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A Beautiful Mind follows the rise to fame of mathematician John Nash from his socially-awkward and secluded student lifestyle at Princeton to his romantic life with student and later wife Alicia Larde. The film tells Nash’s story inventively through his struggle with schizophrenia and how the illness affects all his relationships, both professionally and personally. The film is able to effectively tie Nash’s illness with his brilliance as well as follow the progress of his illness as it slowly consumes his life entirely. By embedding certain characters from its very beginning such as Nash’s roommate, Charles Herman, director Ron Howard builds trust with his audience, driving us into adrenaline-packed action and suspense as we follow voraciously Nash’s venture with the Pentagon and later his attempt to crack Soviet codes. Howard carries us on this journey, building empathy for a character so skillfully that the epiphany of the protagonist coincides with our epiphany as viewers. When Nash comes to the realization that Charles is a figure of his imagination, that the Soviet plot is his own fictional indulgence, we feel just as betrayed. When he is in denial, so are we, and when he recovers and reconciles reality with his illness, so we too come to terms with what we chose to believe and what we came to understand as story and fiction.

Torture

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Last week, I had the pleasure of attending the Rose Cafe hosted by Dr. Nick Cheesman, from Australian National University, and his colleague, Pornpen, a human rights activist from Thailand. They explored the use of torture, which Cheesman argued is never justifiable, as a “ticking time bomb” scenario never actually exists, and argued that we should try to find the reasons why it still happens.

One hypothesis, which Cheesman and Pornpen hinted at, as evidenced by Pornpen’s work in the South of Thailand, is this idea that torture is a sort of satisfying ritualization, or a catharsis, which attacks and issue without really solving it. Thus, victims might be interrogated and tortured for a crime they might not have even committed, simply because this provides immediate satisfaction. This relates to the structure of power, or perhaps a desire to express that through the inhumane subjugation of another human being.

I think we need to take a long look at our own society, which often takes a cavalier “let em have it” attitude towards victims of torture in this country, ascribing this to the idea that they are terrorists or criminals. Why do we have this attitude toward our fellow human beings? Is it because we don’t stop and think, or is there something far more sinister in how we all view the world?

Torture and Morality

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Last week I attended the talk given by Nick Cheesman and his colleague Pornpen. It was very interesting, and currently very relevant, to hear about the role of torture in states where there is currently much political unrest.
While discussing the situation in South East Asia, specifically Myanmar and Thailand, I found myself most impacted by something Dr. Cheesman said regarding the way we look at torture. Dr. Cheesman asserted that the question “Does torture work?” is itself unnecessary and even harmful. He said that the question often directs attention away from the deeper moral issues of torture, and, while a popular question, is not one worthy of consideration.
I had never quite thought that way about the issue of torture, because I think that, in America, the issue of torture centers on its status as a “necessary evil.” Our society is very much one where the utilitarianism of a practice is considered above all else. Perhaps this is the nature of capitalism, or merely a product of our society. However, in consideration of Dr. Cheesman’s statement, I think it is important that we make a point to conserve morality above utilitarianism. This has implications beyond torture, for the availability of healthcare, social programs, environmental concerns, etc. This may be contrary to our current system, but I think that this change of perspective would do much to improve the state of our country.

Stigma

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The film “A Beautiful Mind” pushes to break a stigma that unfortunately has yet to be broken by even the most powerful of movies (as also seen in the film “The Imitation Game” and “Pi”). The film follows the storyline of math genius John Nash and his rise to fame because of his brilliant mind, while he also struggles painfully with schizophrenia. To understand Nash is to try and understand what it is like to have to fight against yourself between what is going to bring you success (his math fame) and what will you peace (his admitting his schizophrenia and getting help and losing fame). Mental illness, especially those as complex as schizophrenia, were and are stigmatized heavily and seem to become seen as more of the person than the person themselves. Nash’s brilliance would have taken a backseat to the fear of his mental health–he would have gone from “Nash the genius” to “Nash the schizophrenic” . This movie graciously tries to reveal a respected man for all he is in the hopes that audiences will still see him , and others like him, as a respected complex, brilliant, regular humans with a mental illness, and not as a monster. I hope that many people were humbled, as I was, by this film and were challenged to think more carefully about how to treat people.

Information from Torture: An Exercise in Futility?

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This past Rose café we had the pleasure of having two people hosting the session. The topic was generally about the use of torture and focused on Myanmar and Southern Thailand. Fortunately in addition to Dr. Nick Cheesman, we also got the opportunity to learn about Southern Thailand from human activist Pornpen Khongkachonkiet. From what I could gleam from our sadly too short discussion was that there seems to be a systemic culture of finding the culprit due to the prevalence of violent crime and drug dealing. It didn’t matter if the accused was actually guilty or merely innocent; having a suspect and confession was far more important and thus led to the use of torture. Under such duress, I don’t think such information is admissible since judgement is impaired. It would be circumstantial at best but I don’t know enough to hold a legal opinion. However, torture is not something that can be eliminated entirely. I personally think it is part of human nature and often driven by desperation. All we can do is mitigate its use and allowing it to be used in court.

Dr. Cheesman brings up a good point that we shouldn’t necessarily be asking is torture effective. Rather we should take a more holistic and upper level approach and ask questions like, “What drives the use of torture?” In other words, what factors might encourage or promote the use of torture as a systemic means of gathering information? This has political and moral implications that question the fabric of the country-or society-itself. Khongkachonkiet offered a contrast in information compared to Dr. Cheesman where the former drew upon her extensive experience with interviewing victims in the ‘Deep South’ to illustrate a picture of how it is living there, for the ordinary citizen, law enforcement and the government. The latter seemed to take a more theoretical approach, giving context and asking questions from the real world experiences that Khongkachonkiet describes. I appreciated the two perspectives as it allowed me to view the issue of torture from multiple angles. Torture is an interesting practice and I maintain that it will never go away but I think steps must be taken to limit its use. Something I wondered if Thailand’s apparent use of gratuitous torture would allow for sanctions. Or perhaps that may be too extreme and not worth risking the delicate balance of power that thrums through our globalized society. Regardless I don’t think it will be easy to change regions like Southern Thailand in their use of martial law, unconstitutionally seizing and exercising their power and torture since it seems systemic, engrained in their culture and is top-down. Major changes, most likely through legislature, and protests will be necessary to fight back. Organizations like Khongkachonkiet’s is key to this kind of movement in my opinion and I hope the UN can also get involved and advise Southern Thailand on a better path.

This was definitely one of the more interesting sessions that I have gone to because it opens my eyes to a field that I don’t necessarily get the opportunity to learn and discuss in since torture isn’t necessarily something that comes up in conversation or the relevant courses in educational career. I will definitely be looking into more on torture and picking up some of the books Dr. Cheesman mentioned!

Interview Insider

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So last week I had the privilege to attend a rose seminar on what not to wear to certain events: interviews, parties, information session, and work. Much to my surprise, there is a far thinner line for men to differentiate between business casual and business formal. Basically, if a man is wearing a matching suit, shoes that match his belt, a button down and a tie, this is considered business formal. The second the suit coat comes off, it’s business casual. Personally, I think it is nice that men can be flexible in terms of what they chose to wear for business casual attire: a blazer, a sweater, a button-down shirt with a bow tie, it looks like fun. It was also interesting to learn that people perceive ties as a more professional look compared to bow ties or collared shirts. Ultimately, however, the way one dresses to an interview, in the event they are unsure of what to wear, should give off a professional vibe, and then change if need be to fit the work environment.

The rule stands that it is always better to be overdressed than underdressed. After seeing what was appropriate for a woman to wear, I felt much more comfortable about the decisions I have made in terms of clothes I’ve worn to interviews and information sessions. Basically, girls should wear heels and either a matching skirt suit, pantsuit, or a dress with a nice blazer to be considered business formal. Personally, this is great for me because I love wearing heels and dresses because it gives off a very feminine aura. At the same time, however, it is important to take into account the work environment one is in and in certain more serious settings, a pantsuit is better suited for women to be accepted in the work force.

We ended the seminar by practicing how to tie a tie with Ty, a GRF in Flora Rose, which was fun but definitely showed me that I need to work on it much more before I can consider myself a pro. This seminar really helped, especially since I am entering my senior year and will begin applying for full-time jobs. And I have a new addition to my bucket list, learn how to tie an Eldredge knot.

Torture

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Last week’s Rose Cafe deviated from the normal set of topics we usually have. Instead, the conversation revolved around the difficult subject of torture. We had the privilege of having Dr. Nick Chessman and Pornpen Khongkachonkiet lead the discussion on the subject matter, specifically focused on their work in Southeast Asia. The combination of the two speakers, Pornpen a human rights activist and Nick a scholar, helped to provide two important perspectives. Pornpen spoke from that of a local who is on the front lines talking to those directly affected by the use of torture by the government of Thailand, while Nick spoke on how his own research in Myanmar has influenced his work on torture.

The main question that was asked by the Rose Scholars and one that the speakers kept coming back to during the talk was whether or not torture “works”. Pornpen’s response to this question really struck me the most: Is stripping the dignity and humanity of another person worth obtaining an piece of information? This question really made me reflect on what countries that utilize torture mechanism really value. This topic was a gruesome one to cover, but I am grateful that our speakers were willing to share their experiences with us.

The Best Part of Ithaca’s Farmers Market

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The way the overcast daylight seemed to illuminate its crunchy, light brown shell still resonates in my mind.  While there is no “perfect falafel” unfortunately, not all falafels are created equal.  The particular one that graced my palate today was a fine specimen to behold, the type that gives rise to an internal struggle of emotions.  Inside raged the battle between quickly devouring the pure euphoria that is a fried chickpea ball and taking my sweet time so that I might prolong the already fleeting moments we had together.

The gyro stand I got my food from was conveniently situated at the end of the farmers market, next to several places suitable for sitting.  And for a place whose main attraction is all the things to purchase and browse, many people were sitting right on its perimeter, enjoying the food/things they had just bought, or doing nothing.  Like the part of a pie between the filling and crust that has just the right combination of gooeyness and hardness, the very outside of the perimeter was the best part of the farmers market.  There, people took a break from the overly crowded space of all the stands and had a chance to get to talk to their friends and enjoy what they had bought.  And a lot of people looked well past enjoying the food they had already devoured, but still looked happy to be sitting by Cayuga Lake in good company.  Once I was done making my own purchases, I wanted the event to be over because I realized I had assignments to do.  Spending an unnecessary 60 minutes of walking around was nice, though, because it was purely unnecessary and a break from a high pressured schedule.

Heads up, the Farmer’s market circulates different vendors depending on the season, so if you like falafel gyros get there ASAP.

Beyond the Instrumentality of Torture: The State, Performance, and Political Power

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On Wednesday evening, we had a difficult yet thoughtful discussion with Nick Cheesman and an activist Pornpen Khongkachonkiet about torture in Southeast Asia. We talked about a lawyer being kidnapped and tortured for his work defending insurgents, the effectiveness of torture (and why this question is entrenched in assumptions), and how torture can be a performative aspect of the state.

In thinking about the ways in which torture is portrayed in film, in television, and more generally in media it is always portrayed as a means to an end and a success. When I think of portrayals, I think there is a ubiquitous assumption that the person subjected to brutality is always guilty of something, that the pursuit of this person is for the purpose of some grander purpose, and that people will be saved in an impactful way that justifies the use of extrajudicial force. In pondering such a difficult topic, I wondered about the assertion that torture is used in identity construction of the state and as a way to impose and perform political power. People often forget that corporeal violence, especially from the state, is a controlling mechanism. If we agree with this analysis, it follows then that the reproduction of this imagery has the purpose of communicating a very particular message.

I wonder how this analysis of torture relates to the carceral state that we live in. How are we reproducing messages that people in prison deserve horrific treatment with proven lasting debilitating and traumatic effects like solitary confinement? How do we distance ourselves from individuals deemed criminals? How do we pathologize criminal acts and ignore the broader societal processes that may encourage these things? Lastly, how does the carceral setting factor into the building of the identity of the state. After all, we do know that people of color are disproportionately locked up and thus their status as “citizens” is diminished.

Clay at the Johnson

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On a rainy Thursday afternoon, I and group of other Rose Scholars made our way up to the Johnson Museum for an afternoon clay making session. After a quick art history lesson where we viewed various Pre-Columbian pieces of clay artwork, we were brought to the studio and given the opportunity to create our own masterpiece.

Inspired by the walk through of the Johnson’s clay collection, I decided to embark on the ambitious task of crafting a full fledged teapot. The last time I had touched a piece of wet clay I was still an avid Jonas Brother’s fan, so needless to say the teapot went south quickly. Regardless, I had fun molding my clay into various shapes and sizes and taking my mind off the endless work I had waiting for me when I got back to my dorm.

The hour went by incredibly quickly and I was reminded why I love attending Rose Events at the Johnson. The activity is always something fun, creative, and surprisingly cathartic to a stressed out college student, and this one was no different.

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.

STEM Fields Today And In The Future

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I had the opportunity to view the film Hidden Figures and the listen to the discussion that followed regarding the role and growth of the STEM fields. The film was fantastic and followed the lives of women who faced much discrimination because of their race and their sex. Though these woman faced many challenges they over came their hardships and perserviered in fields that only men were thought to be able to study and do well. Despite these issues, these woman furthered the space program as well as provided role models for future young woman that have been discriminated against. The panel that followed the film discussed the role STEM fields have played and will play as society and technology advances further. Additionally, it was discussed that not as many women are involved in STEM fields as men. This film as well as the panel was very interesting and provided a lot of information as to how women, societies ideals, as well as technology have evolved and will further evolve. I do recommend that if you have not seen the film Hidden Figures, that you see it

Punishing the bad: is tourture a right thing?

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This week’s Rose cafe was an about very sensitive topic: torture.  Nick Cheeseman, who is a researcher from ANU and Porpen, an activist, came in to talk about torture in South east Asia. He brought up this question of “does torture work?” to punish those who have committed a crime, a necessary step of punishment throughout SEAsia.

For me, I have never thought it was right. I had a friend who was from Thailand, whose uncle was in jail due to petty crime. However, the jail used torture on him because he has committed a crime. According to the uncle, who is now free, the torture was used as a “cure” and “teaching” to the prisoners. However, rather than preventing crime, it only increased hatred and feeling of vengeance among prisoners. I also think this method is very wrong. No prisoners need to be physically or forcefully harmed mentally. The fact that they are in prison is enough. I think it is important for prisons to reform so that rather than using torture, the government can use its power to prevent future crime, to help the integration of criminals back into society as able good citizens.

I also think that it is important to raise awareness of this issue. I was not informed of such occurrences in South East Asia until the rose seminar, which triggered me to do more research on the topic.

 

Snappy Casual.

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As a business major, we start the first day of school with learning what business professional, business casual, smart casual, and casual are. Every region of the country and even the world perceive it to be very different clothing. Although going into this workshop I didn’t think I would be learning new information, more so a refresher, this Rose event was probably my favorite.

Ty, the GRF leading this along with two SAs Liz and Ben, taught us how to neck tie AND a bow tie. The most ironic of this workshop was that most of the audience in attendance were women with only one man. Even though I would most likely never need to wear one in a professional setting, it was so much fun to learn. We learned how to tie a full windsor knot on the neck tie. It’s the classic full triangle knot and probably my favorite. Towards the end of the workshop, I was able to tie it pretty well!

The bow tie was definitely much more tricky. Not only is it shorter, there are a bunch of loops to be formed and all tightly against your neck. It can’t be scooted up like the neck tie. The trickiest part for me was the last step of pulling the second loop for form the bow tie. In the end, I finally got it and bragged about knowing how to tie a bow tie for the rest of the week.

I think the bow tie matches perfectly with my outfit. What do you think?

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.

Some strong feelings, a cursory understanding, and further questions

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As I braced myself for what promised to be a very intense Rose Cafe, I thought I would reflect a little bit about my stance on torture. Just as Dr. Cheesman said at some point, you cannot enter any academic work pretending that you are not biased at all, so I figure it would be good to start with my own biases toward the subject. My stance on torture is not exceptionally nuanced. I hate it. I hate it as a concept, as a practice, how it is portrayed and glorified in movies, and most of all how so many people see it as a topic that is up for debate because in my mind, there should be no debate when it comes to torture. Like I said, whole lot of bias, not a lot of nuance. So coming from that mindset, I was very interested in going to this Rose Cafe to try to get a more nuanced, academic perspective on a topic about which I had very strong feelings but very cursory knowledge. I was delighted to hear from both Dr. Cheesman and Pornpen Khongkachonkiet and I think the conversation really worked to show how Dr. Cheesman’s theoretical, academic approach fits into Ms. Khongkachonkiet’s practical, activist work and vice versa. Overall I think it was an excellent cafe on a vital, if intense, subject.

I would be very interested to investigate the phenomenon of torture more, not just as a tool of the state or of the military (which I understand to be very modern institutions), but how torture has existed as a human phenomenon across time and space. Dr. Cheesman mentioned this briefly when he discussed how there is a perception that torture has decreased since the Middle Ages when in reality it has just gotten “cleaner”. I think by looking at Dr. Cheesman’s theoretical framework for the implications and motivations for torture at the institutional level, it may be possible to then ask the question “Why is torture even a phenomenon in the first place?” This very broad question may get into some sociological/psychological/anthropological areas that aren’t entirely relevant to either Dr. Cheesman’s or Pornpen Khongkachonkiet’s work, but coming from my little corner of existence it is an important one because in many ways I still cannot wrap my mind around it. I found it exceptionally interesting when Dr. Cheesman was discussion how the question “Does torture work?” only serves to garner the answer “Yes.” My followup question would be “What then does one mean by ‘work’?” because there seems to be an awful lot of evidence that in terms of torture as an interrogation tool used to gain information, torture does not “work”. But perhaps that assumes interrogation is the only motive behind torture in the first place, diverting the attention from more pressing questions like “Who does torture serve and how effective is it as serving them?” From the talk, I gathered that as an interrogation tool it may not be effective, but as a tool of the state/military to establish or maintain power and control it is very effective. In that regard it does “work”. So I would be very interesting in investigating further the politics of the questions we ask when it comes to torture and what questions we maybe should be asking instead.

A Bang for Your Buck: The Unexpected Affordability of Farmer’s Markets

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As a college student, my life consists of studying, sleeping, and eating. In the few moments I have to spare, I choose to relax and rewind with a TV show, a movie, or even just a nap. Because of my busy schedule, in the nearly nine whole months I have been at Cornell, I have very rarely ventured off campus to experience the local lifestyle and culture of Ithaca. This on-campus isolation has been a regret of mine that I have been wanting to change for a while. This past Saturday, the Ithaca Farmer’s Market finally offered me the opportunity to connect with and explore my surrounding community.

From fragrant flowers and raw honey to handcrafted scones and freshly squeezed juices, the Farmer’s Market showcased the talents, hard work, and passions of local merchants, artisans, and farmers. It is undeniable that locally-produced, fresh food is of a higher quality than supermarket goods. Therefore, you’d expect that farmer’s market goods are more expensive than grocery store merchandise, right? I did, and, in fact, I panicked because I arrived at the Farmer’s Market with only $15 in my pocket…

However, interestingly enough, I left the Farmer’s Market with a full $7 remaining in my wallet. My purchases, consisting of a raspberry almond scone, a cup of natural strawberry lemonade, freshly-fried apple cider donuts, and a burrito, cost me just $8. Shocked at this low cost, I did some researching upon returning to my dorm and discovered that, according to a study, farmer’s market produce is about the same price as supermarket produce. Additionally, organic items actually cost less at local markets than they do at grocery stores (Read more: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/forrest-pritchard/first-time-shopping-at-farmers-market_b_5519524.html).

These unexpected results need to be more heavily advertised to encourage more folks to support their local farmers, get involved in the community, and partake in higher quality, fresher food.

destressing

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Last Monday, I dined with Sara and Liz to learn how to de-stress. We had a small group eating together, sharing our hectic schedules, and discussing personal coping mechanisms. I was extremely comfortable interacting with my neighbors and sharing my experiences. I realized that this was a great way to top off my year as a Rose House Scholar. What began as a planned program of choosing weekly events to participate in and comment on for credit, had turned into something much more. I now realize that I have become part of the House here at Rose, and the people, my neighbors, have become part of my life. Several times throughout the year I was unable to attend an event with Rose, but I took the idea for the excursion and went with friends or on my own. Throughout the year, I have shared lectures and movies, a play, a plantation visit, and several special dinners with my neighbors. I have also visited the Johnson Museum, the Ornithology Lab, and the Holy Cow demonstration! As a Rose Scholar, I have been urged to explore the best Cornell has to offer and I have thoroughly enjoyed it! Sitting with Sara and Liz, eating and de-stressing, has brought home a feeling of belonging at a place that is far from home. I will miss Sara and Liz, and all the Seniors in our house who will graduate. I wish them the very best from the bottom of my heart!
With hopes of returning to Rose,
Nadia

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.

 

Torture

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Last night’s Rose Café focused on torture in South East Asia. It was difficult to hear about the prevalence of torture in some countries. The speakers talked about police torturing people during the investigation of a crime to get a confession. Even though the real perpetrator might go free, the police want to create the impression that they quickly solve crime. Of course, this approach does not solve crime, but is itself a crime. I could not imagine the horror of being an innocent person, or a guilty person, tortured and forced to confess.

The issue of torture is clearly important; however, I would imagine that researching the topic as a profession, as the speakers do, would take a mental toll. I would imagine that researching terrible stories of torture for years would be extremely difficult. However, shedding light on the issue is an important means of helping reduce torture so perhaps that positive benefit helps the researchers push forward.

During this semester of Rose Cafes, I have been fascinated at the topics that academics devote their careers too. A past speaker was an expert in the history of fats and oils. Without the Rose Café, I never would have appreciated the range of unique and niche topics that are researched in academia.

I hope that the research into torture and the awareness brought by this research will help eliminate the terrible human rights abuses discussed in the session.

Thoughts on The Professor

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What struck me most about The Professor was how through the accounts of his students, and even through the scenes of Cheng Man-Ching practicing himself or helping his students, you really got the sense of how special this man really was. His ability to connect with his students on such a deep spiritual and emotional level even across a language barrier was evident in how Tai Chi for so many of his students became a lifelong practice. It is a relatively recent understanding in Western medicine and psychology that caring for the mind benefits the body, and caring for the body benefits the mind. This is the basis for many Eastern philosophies and religions. From yoga and meditation in Hinduism and Buddhism, to Tai Chi in Taoism, there is an understanding that exercising the body is simultaneously an exercise in spiritualism. In terms of Western psychology, there is that understanding just in a less spiritual sense. Exercising the body is known to help the mind by reducing stress, but it it rarely talked about in terms of a spiritual experience. At one point in the video, someone said that those practicing Tai Chi and really focusing on the movements and postures don’t even realize that they are meditating. That really struck me as a key point in the video. It seemed like a lot of the students were drawn to Tai Chi as a new, unique form of exercise, but stuck with it because of the immense spiritual benefits they discovered along the way. I think in a lot of ways there is a tendency in the west to not trust tradition when it comes to medicine or understanding how the body and mind works, and while Western medicine and psychology certainly has developed a lot over the last century, there is a reason much of Eastern medicine and psychology has remained relatively unchanged in the last 5000 years.

I found that The Professor was similar in many ways to Brilliant Moon, a documentary on Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche, a Vajrayana Buddhist master who was instrumental in the preservation of Tibetan Buddhism after the Chinese invaded Tibet. The practices and philosophies behind Tai Chi seem very similar to a lot of Buddhist practices and philosophies. Additionally at their cores, both deal with how tradition is preserved in an ever changing world. I would highly recommend Brilliant Moon to anyone who enjoyed The Professor or who is interested in Asian philosophies. Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed The Professor and learning about an aspect of Asian philosophy and practice that I hadn’t known much about before!

My biggest fear

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My biggest fear is schizophrenia, partly because we know so little about it. But more importantly, because the scariest thing in the entire world is not losing what you have, and not losing other people, but having what you think you have not be real. It doesn’t seem to be correlated to inheritance or any particular environmental factors. It just happens.

Honestly, thinking about diseases like schizophrenia make me think more closely about what our reality actually is. Is such a disease perhaps simply the projection of a very independent mind? Do we all have a little bit of extra-real tendencies? After all, the common phrase “your perception is your reality” speaks to the idea that each person perceives the world slightly differently. In this way, society overall has some sort of average perception of reality, which we all take to be truth. We all deviate from this mean, which causes each person to have a different personality. Some people may fall further than the mean from others, and they get labeled as ‘weird’ or in extreme cases ‘delusional.’

Ultimately, John Nash was crippled by the magnitude of his separation with the average perception of reality that the rest of society had. He was lucky to have such a wife to help him through the worst of his delusions. I hope that I have such a person in my life in the future. 

A Non-pragmatic approach

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Thinking about torture is a very present issue for me since I am planning on commissioning into the military. Personally, I am resolutely of the opinion that torture is not an effective method of obtaining critical information from prisoners. Many times over it has been shown that people will just say what they have to so that they stop getting tortured. There have also been numerous instances in the past ages of torture being used as a method just to get somebody to confess to a crime that they may have not actually committed.

You have to ask yourself, what would it be like to be strapped down to a table with a rag over your face and water poured over your mouth? It is completely impossible for anybody that has not had it done to them to actually imagine the experience. But I’ve had an MRI and even that was pretty bad — being restrained and put into a closed tube — and that was to help me! People who have been waterboarded say that it is the worst thing that they have ever had to do in their lives.

It is too easy to look at someone as simply an enemy. I know many friends that when asked about using torture would respond with something like “well they would do it to us, so the sob deserves it I guess.” But this kind of Tit for Tat thinking is precisely what allows torture to continue to be used in militaries. Often times it is not even for information, but for pure retribution.

Aside from all of this, I think that the most striking point made in the talk was that when torture is discussed in the political realm it is often projected purely hypothetically and cerebrally. “Does it work?” I think that a very valid point that he brought up, however, is that torture should not be an issue that is allowed to be thought of simply as a tool which happens to be not such a pleasant one to use. The other implications and ramifications of using torture should be thought about certainly before, and probably in place of, the logical and practical application side of torture methods.

Terrified. Petrified. Stupefied.

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I watched A Beautiful Mind on Friday. Though I had heard of the film before, I had no idea who John Nash was and I didn’t know what the film was about. The poster description said “After John Nash, a brilliant but asocial mathematician, accepts secret work in cryptography, his life takes a turn for the nightmarish”. Upon reading the description, I assumed that it would be a spy thriller of some kind, with John’s work leading him into the secret and dangerous world of espionage. I thought of dead drops, car chases, Russians (well, in a way I suppose I wasn’t totally wrong). But the film turned out to be more than that.

The bombshell of the film occurs when it is revealed that John has paranoid schizophrenia. Charles, Marcee, and Parcher (as well as a plot against the United States by the Russians) are all figments of John’s imagination. As Dr. Rosen said in the film: Imagine if you suddenly learned that the people, the places, the moments most important to you were not gone, not dead, but worse, had never been. What kind of hell would that be? The way the film robs the audience of the full understanding of what happening, as we were able to see what John was experiencing, and the revelation that a lot of what we just watched didn’t actually happen was particularly powerful. I found that the film touched upon the complexity of the human mind and found the way the film visually represented what was going on in John’s head to be interesting. I enjoyed the film and would definitely recommend watching it.

End of the Year Stress

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On April 24th, I took part in a Rose Talk regarding how to better manage end of the semester stress. We each took turns talking about what advice we give to others, what places we enjoy studying at, and what our current strategy for handling stress is.

An interesting topic we spoke about was why is it that we can offer great advice to stressed out friends but have difficulty taking our own advice. As a result of this realization, I’ve been consciously making an effort to take the advice I give others and apply it to myself.

Lastly, we discussed how we feel as though Cornell’s infrastructure isn’t sufficient for the number of students; we shouldn’t be worried about not being able to find a seat at a library during prelims or how it seems as though dining halls can’t handle the influx of people during peak hours without creating long lines. While these problems don’t add an immense amount of stress individually, together they do.

Busing that stress

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For table talk, we had conversation about some of the most important topic of college life: stress management. As the final week is rolling in, there is this big question of how are we going to keep out mental health good, while keeping up with all the works?

One thing that was brought up was how it was inconvenient for many students to use mental health care in Gannett. With need of multiple scheduling and finding the ‘right councilor’, there are multiple steps watch students have to take in order to get help. Students need to have easier access to mental health help here in Cornell.

Another thing we talked about was reward system: how each students should have a award in mind. A goal with sweet prize.  I realized that having some kind of reward at the end help me push through, even in tough time. For instance, when I finish my test and get certain grade out of it, I would treat myself to a nice dinner in commons. Because there is appropriate reward for the hard work, students can work even harder to achieve study goals.

One suggestion I did not get to share was that each house should have a mental wellness events every week, such as meditation session and counseling. It’s simple but effective management of mental wellness that is very accessible.

A Spiritual Fight

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The professor: Tai-Chi’s Journey West juxtaposed America’s turbulent 60’s with an Eastern art that has stood the test of time. As a daughter of Chinese-immigrants, the Professor’s attempt to unify the east and west in his classroom resonated with me personally. I’ve learned that it’s not always easy to bring together two cultures, and the older I get, the more difficult it seems.

Though tai-chi may have once taught enough skills to hold a person in a fight, in today’s age, I feel like it could not to the same extent. I see tai-chi more as a personal skill that shows resiliency and discipline but may not have as much external use as it once did. The film showcased Eastern values through tai-chi’s use of grace, serenity, and introspection, and it reminded me of other practices like yoga and meditation.

Overall, the professor’s journey is admirable and adds to America’s great mix of multi-cultural practices. It reminded me of the importance of being at peace with oneself, the ability for people to communicate beyond words, and has inspired me to practice yoga and meditate more regularly.

 

 

Tai Chi Vs Taekwondo

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Last week I saw a documentary movie about a great master, Cheng Man-Ching, who brought Tai Chi to the Western world. I don’t have much knowledge about Tai Chi, but I have heard a lot about Taekwondo. I was curious to know the difference between the two types of martial arts. Here is what I have found.

Taekwondo is grouped under hard martial arts because it emphasizes on kicking and striking techniques. Training involves punching, kicking, jumping, and blocking. Tai chi on the other hand is considered as soft and internal martial art. It emphasizes on stability and involves rhythmic and relaxed movements (moving meditation) which involve redirecting and countering techniques. It helps to improve sleep, balance and cardiovascular health. Similar health benefits could also be acquired from Taekwondo. Tai chi is considered as non-aggressive martial arts while Taekwondo is aggressive since its main purpose is to build defense skills that will help during a fight.

A Geological History of Cascadilla Gorge

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The Cascadilla Gorge hike was one of my favorite Rose events this year. I especially enjoyed learning about the history of the gorge and trying to envision the natural forces that shaped the area. One of the cooler aspects of the hike was when our guide pulled a rock from the cliff and it had several shell fossils. It seemed crazy to me that any old rock from the cliff could contain imprints of organisms that lived millions of years ago. I was always curious about why the waterfalls in Cascadilla Gorge, Ithaca Falls, and Fall Creek Gorge have almost perfect stairsteps. The reason is that the waterfalls are actually made up of two (or more) different types of rocks. One rock is softer, so over time, the softer rock is eroded away, leaving behind the harder rocks. This is also the reason why there are large pieces of rocks near the bottom of the waterfalls. Those are the harder rocks, and they aren’t eroded so easily, so when they break off of the main bedrock, they don’t get broken down by the force of the water.

What is Tai-Chi?

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What spoke to me most about the movie was the cultural influence that the Tai-chi master had on his students, which I don’t think is exclusive to learning Tai-chi. Towards the end of the documentary most of them had changed their interpretation of Tai-chi from a mere martial art to something relating to health or a new lifestyle. Their lives were changed, not because of learning a form of self defense but rather the new state of self-consciousness about their bodies that the master had encouraged. They stated in the video that when the master died, the students separated into groups, between those that wanted more emphasis on the physical aspects of Tai-chi and those who wanted to learn more about their own well-being.

I had a similar experience in when I practiced Tae-Kwon-Do. I was interested in learning it as a form of self-defense and found myself learning more about how to take care of my body and staying safe, using the energy and strength I already have in a strategic manner. Yet physical contact and fighting did not seem to me to be the primary focus of martial arts after that experience. It was a way of teaching preventive action and awareness of your surroundings more than it was about how to hit and block. However, I have come to believe that this emphasis on other aspects of life when learning a martial art comes from instructors with a deeper understanding about how martial arts tie in practically into our lives. My brothers had previous instructors who taught more on the basis of fighting strategy, but those tended to be larger classes.

I had never really discussed my own martial arts experiences with anyone. Watching this documentary helped me to interpret my own experiences in a new light. Ultimately, I think what made the experience of the people in the video so powerful was the wisdom and knowledge that the Tai-chi master was willing to share with those who had never experienced his culture or passion.

 

A Tai Chi Professor

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It’s pretty crazy to imagine that a good portion of the American population know what Tai Chi is. This is largely thanks to “The Professor,” Cheng Man-Ching. Cheng is heralded as the man who brought Tai-Chi to the west. As an ethnic Chinese-American male, I have enormous respect for the Professor, especially since my mom was at one point heavily into tai chi. To us, tai chi is in a way like yoga. In another way, it’s a lifestyle. To be in tune with your “chi”, or spirit, is to know yourself.

The documentary did a great job in explaining tai chi in terms of 1960s America. Indeed, the students of the Professor were mostly “hippies”- odd folk who were open to learning new things. Now, it is an exercise performed by many in this country and around the world.

And sometimes, I wish my mother would go back to doing tai chi. I think she was a lot happier then. Having that spiritual and emotional outlet would be incredibly helpful as life gets more hectic. As such, I have a strong desire to learn tai chi. If I only I could find a Professor like Cheng.

definitely not ip man

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There was one Summer when my father and I watched a bunch of Tai Chi related films, for some reason. We watched “Ip Man” 1, 2, and 3, “Man of Tai Chi” (I don’t recommend this one), and “The Grandmaster”. Since then, I’ve been mildly interested in Tai Chi.

Seeing the poster for this film, I had assumed it was about Ip Man (I should really read the descriptions) and decided to watch it. It turned out to be a documentary about Tai Chi master Cheng Man-Ching coming from Taiwan to New York City in the 1960’s and teaching a variety of people, notably hippies. It was interesting to see this man and his teaching create a microcosm of Americans learning Tai Chi in New York City. From the footage in the film, it seemed that their community was tightly-knit and everyone appeared so care-free (maybe a symptom of being in the 60’s).

As I’m thinking of what to write, I’m reminded of a short clip I saw this week from a new Netflix show hosted by Bill Nye. I’m not entirely sure what the show is about, but the segment I saw was a brief rant about “cultural appropriation”. From what I understand, this phrase apparently describes how someone of one culture adopts certain elements or lifestyles of another culture. An example given in the clip was what “[white people] have done to yoga”, presumably making yoga look bad by practicing it. I think this is ridiculous, and goes against the idea of America as a melting pot, however cliche that phrase may be. This isn’t the first time I’ve heard of “cultural appropriation”, and it seems to me that some people understand it as a form of racism. If people weren’t morally permitted to embrace and/or practice aspects of other cultures, I think that should be considered more racist than “cultural appropriation”. The people who chose to learn from Cheng Man-Ching certainly weren’t being racist, but today they would be considered perpetrators of “cultural appropriation” by some, which is absurd.

The biggest threat

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Dr. Strangelove depicts the ominous and everpresent worry about an unstable person with power who has the ability to cause damage to a lot of people. The world of nuclear strategy is endlessly complicated with many levels of secrecy. I often fear for the safety of the country because of irrational foreign leaders, and the world-wide system of nuclear deterrent by armament.

Ultimately, I imagine that under sane control, the world is likely to not come to an end with a nuclear holocaust because few would really want that to happen. However, if there were a person in control who was delusional or homicidal, the delicate balance of nuclear prevention could fall. This is why it is imperative that the people in charge of the nuclear codes for any country be completely and utterly reliable. They must be regularly screened for mental illness and there must be many failsafes in the event that someone tries to take matters into their own hands.

I think one of the biggest threats to the world is nuclear sabotage. If some terrorist organization were able to hack into nuclear codes of any country and launch them at another country, the attacked country would respond with and equal and opposite force of nuclear weapons resulting in massive destruction. I think it is important that nations across the globe reduce their numbers of nuclear weapons so that if there was an accident or sabotage, there would still be a small faction of a change that the world was not entirely destroyed.

Transcending expectations

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Gattica represents the vision of a world where discrimination is put in the form of science. Science is based on rationality. Therefore, the world that has been created in this movie is one where discrimination has been adequately rationalized by society. The genetically superior humans are allowed to have pretty much anything that they want. In fact, one of the most influential factors in viability for a potential partner is a digital readout of their genetic makeup. All other factors seem largely negligible.

The inspirational part is how someone can still transcend such a system which is so meticulously created in order to prohibit upward social mobility for those who are a member of the lower class. There are people like that in today’s society, and we revere them. The people who come from a background of every disadvantage, but still manage to persevere and find success in any manner of ways.

A thorough tour

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The three person panel on immigration came at a valuable time for many others and me to comprehend the nuances behind president trump’s executive order. The most illuminating member of the board was longtime professor of law, Steve Millerman. He began by explaining what had actually happened, saying on jan 25 3 there were multiple executive orders. The travel ban exec order, which prohibited people from 7 countries for 90 days from entering the country. A ban on travel from Syria, and a 120 day refugee ban – which is currently on hold. He then asked the question: what does this hold mean? Apparently, he said, it will take a couple of weeks for the federal district court to make a decision. Trump is not so resolute about what he will do with the executive order, whether he will revise the order, or maybe scrap it altogether. Historically, Donald Trump has been known to make a fast decision, and if it doesn’t work out, instead of finessing in order to fix the problem, he is more likely to scrap the idea and start something new. This method has been a large factor in his success as a businessman and entrepreneur.

The ban is a symptom so so-called islamaphobia, which has been developing over the past decade in the United States. Such factors as the ‘united states of jihad’ (which describes American citizens who convert to terrorism) scare Americans into xenophobic practices. But, most often, these fears are quite unfounded. Opponents of refugee bans site may statistics, but one which is especially potent is the fact that no refugees from primarily islamic countries have ever committed acts of terrorism on the U.S. mainland. Trump claims to want to defeat ISIS, however, if trump truly wants to defeat ISIS, then he has to partner with some of the islamic states. The United States cannot defeat an enemy when, in the region in which it is fighting, Americans are viewed as the enemy as well.

On a positive note, however, the robust reaction from the united states civil society and academia is very promising, showing that not all Americans believe in the changes that are happening with these controversial policies.

The Academic and Political Perspectives on the State and Torture

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This Wednesday’s Rose Cafe about the state and torture is probably the most thought-provoking as well as rewarding talk I have attended this academic year. The combination of human rights activist, Ms. Pornpen Khongkachonkiet, and scholar, Dr. Nick Cheesman, is very interesting; as I was able to understand torture both from academic and political perspectives.

Dr. Cheesman shared some of his academic researches on torture. He suggested that the debate of whether torture is an effective way to extract information and whether its gains outweigh the harms the victims bear, is like the famous trolley problem. There is no absolutely right decision as whether to push down the person on the bridge or let the five people lying on the rail die. Likewise, one should not expect a definitive answer in regards to the dilemma of torture. Furthermore, Dr. Cheesman stated that this kind of debate prevents people from looking at the bigger picture–torture is not simply a tool for information extraction, but a part of state ideology that has symbolic meanings. Moreover, I really appreciate Dr. Cheesman’s candor, when he acknowledged that even though he is a scholar, he is not neutral on his research subject–torture.

While Dr. Cheesman’s research has more emphasis on Myanmar, Ms. Pornpen Khongkachonkiet is a human rights activist in Thailand. I have admiration for activists, for they have little financial incentives for their works, and are often times under threat, both from the state and private parties. In other words, activism is kind of work that requires both courage and expertise. Although Ms. Khongkachonkiet’s did not discuss her live as an activist in the talk, her presence was very inspiring in the sense that it encouraged me to do similar works in the near future.

This talk is the last Rose Scholar event of the semester, and I am so glad it ended on such a high note.

Healing and Movies

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I am currently taking an anthropology classes on healing traditions in South Asia and this documentary on Tai Chi kind of reinforced the idea that certain practices or traditions can have certain healing effects not only because of the actual movement associated, but there is a psychological component too. Tai Chi is practiced for its health benefits and it was creating as a fighting art which is interesting.  It’s known to channel the chi through the slow movements and focusing on clearing the mind. Many compare Tai Chi to yoga but yoga is more focused breathing and the physical element of meditation. I may be wrong.  But the Professor was an interesting character himself. He not only introduced several forms of healing but he created bond between his students who were very different from one another. I can’t believe he gave his students prescriptions to a Chinese apothecary. However through his Tai-Chi teaching, he not only contributed to spiritual healing of an individual but also somehow healed society. He provided a feeling of fraternity in a group of diverse individuals. I was kind of amazed in how he also taught calligraphy. I never thought of calligraphy as meditative but this documentary that it can be. Then again, I’m sort of a perfectionist when it comes to writing and I can (and sometimes will) rewrite notes until something was visually pleasing. In addition, I was kind of interested of how the Professor’s teachings affected not only the students who were interviewed in the documentary but others as well. Through a little research, I found that Maggie Newman and Ed Young are still teaching Tai Chi. Ed Young is actually also known for mastering Chinese medicine which was very interesting and he’s also well known for Chinese poetry, calligraphy, and painting. I found it fascinating that Ed Young came to the U.S. to study architecture and he slowly transitioned into an artist. I don’t know. I found this documentary extremely interesting but I also like documentaries. However, one thing that came from watching the Professor and his tactics was that I finally found something that I wanted to write about for my anthropology paper.

Confusing for a documentary

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I came into this film with certain expectations, and unfortunately they weren’t really met. Overall, the organization and the editing of the film were really distracting, and I think that the presentation of things that aren’t really Tai Chi related while touting it as a story about Tai Chi rather than just saying it’s the story of Cheng Man-Ching and his legacy is confusing to an audience who enters without context.

Perhaps the most frustrating part of this documentary was the way it was put together. I typically enjoy informative documentaries, but this was not put together to my personal taste. From the design of the information cards to the awkward and uninformative lower thirds during interviews, I found it hard to take the film seriously. There was little introduction to the people speaking and long unnecessary pauses that should have been edited out, like the slow reaction, pan, and zoom in to a squirrel. The narrative flow of the film was also quite confusing. For a recent production (2016), its quality as a documentary was kind of lacking.

That’s not to say it didn’t present historical and factual information. It did, but in my opinion, it was just done poorly. The documentary seemed to be more about the story of Cheng Man-Ching and the impact he had on his students, and not just about tai chi chuan, which it seems like some of the other responses were confusing. It presented a lot of other aspects of traditional Taiwanese culture that Cheng also taught his students, but those ideals are separate from the practice of tai chi chuan. The practice of calligraphy and painting and Daoism are common in Taiwan, and Cheng clearly embodied them, but those are completely separate.

One thing that was even more frustrating was their lack of complete understanding. They would participate in activities and they would begin to feel that chi, but when they tried to describe it, they used different words with skewed connotations, confirming my beliefs that they learned movements but the not the context of the practice in not only tai chi chuan, but the painting and the calligraphy as well. The students clearly embraced the traditional practices, but I find it hard that they could pass down the full meaning of tai chi chuan. The end of the documentary showed Cheng’s style practiced globally, which is great, but to me it feels like what yoga has become – something recreational, but not really cultural anymore.

Perhaps my personal experience with tai chi chuan and Taiwanese culture colored my perception of the film, but it seemed poorly put together and conflated different things because they weren’t fully understood. I think it’s not a bad look into the spread of culture because Cheng was open to teaching westerners, but I think viewers should be critical of what the film presents and not use it as a first introduction to tai chi chuan, because it doesn’t do a very good job at distinguishing Cheng’s many different teachings from the practice in general.

Slim Pickens Does the Right Thing

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I am a fan of The Offspring, a punk rock band. I had always known their song “Slim Pickens Does the Right Thing and Rides the Bomb to Hell” (quite the name!) was based on the film, Dr. Strangelove. The music video features a highly stylized animation filled to the brim with scenes of war, explosions, and of Death himself, personified as Dr. Strangelove.

Peculiarly, Dr. Strangelove is regarded as a comedy film. Yet, any individual component of the film cannot be considered amusing. The deranged general’s rambling monologues hints at rampant paranoia and megalomania. The at-times inefficient war council is a snide remark at the governmental bureaucracy. And, of course, the issue of nuclear bombs and the apocalypse are anything but jokes. The way that the characters make light of the “end of the world” may seem as concerning as it is amusing to some.

However, having done some research on nuclear weapons, I have realized that, even if every nuclear weapon were fired and detonated, a nuclear apocalypse would not occur. Massive swathes of land would be rendered unlivable, and perhaps a majority of the human race would be killed, but civilization would not end, and the world would not be immersed into nuclear winter for hundreds of years.

Many experts were convinced that the Kuwaiti Oil Fires would blot out the skies in ash and smoke, plunging Europe into an artificial winter. The amount of oil burned, and the amount of energy expended, would have been close, if not equal to, the detonation of nuclear devices. The result of the Kuwaiti Oil Fires was a temperature drop of around five degrees Celsius over the Persian Gulf– not quite the apocalypse that experts had prophesied.

What was the purpose of that tangent? It meant, to me, the movie was a comedy. The possibility of the doomsday device which Dr. Strangelove described seems ludicrous to me.

The nature of public fear has changed as the years go by. Once, exposed angles and scandal were the foremost phobias; then, it was fear of the military draft, then, mutually assured destruction. Today, one of the foremost fears of society is the loss of privacy– from hackers and from the government.

The moral of my seemingly aimless ramble is that the movie would not have been as funny had it been translated to a more pertinent modern issue. Given time, someone may make a parody of today’s greatest phobias, just as The Offspring have parodied nuclear annihilation with a punk rock song.

Martial Arts Class or a Cult or a Bunch of Friends Hanging Out?

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I remember sleeping over at a friend’s house when I was little, probably about 3rd grade or so.  The beauty of being that age is that your body has a natural alarm clock, and mine was set to 6 AM, so I got up, got my friend up, we had some breakfast, and went to explore outside.  We got to a park, and I vividly remember seeing this elderly couple doing these slow movements synchronized with each other on a tennis court.  Matthew, my friend, knew that these guys did this every morning, and so was less shocked.  This was the first time I remember seeing tai chi, but at that age I don’t think Matthew or I knew what it was.

The movie “The Professor: Tai Chi’s Journey West” documented a group of Tai Chi students that studied under Cheng Man Ching.  The documentary is filled with modern day commentaries from people who studied under him in the 70’s, mixed with older archived film of their actual classes.  Much of the time, the students talked about how great their teacher was at showing them the way one can manipulate another person’s body based on the other person’s movement, sort of similar to what I saw from the elderly couple.  What I found most interesting though is that Cheng Man Ching also spent time teaching his students how to fight with swords, how to write calligraphy, and even gave them prescriptions for Chinese medicine, which they could then take to a nearby apothecary.  In all the videos, everyone was wearing everyday American style clothes.  And given the broad range of things the tai chi teacher spent time on with his students, it sometimes seemed more like these guys were all hanging with each other.  I’ve never tried tai chi or sword fighting with actual swords, but watching these pupils and their teacher together, regardless of what they were doing, brought about what seemed like a certain familial quality to the screen.

Making Light of Situations

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The feeling I got from “Dr. Strangelove” was similar to the one i got the first time I saw the episode of Spongebob Squarepants where Spongebob tries to explain to Plankton what fun is.  He creates a song based on the following acronym: F is friends who do stuff together, U is for you and me, N is for anywhere and anytime at all down here in the deep blue sea.  Plankton, feeling like he grasped the concept,  then tries to come up with his own version: F is for fire that burns down the whole town, U is for uranium bombs,
N is for no survivors when you… at which point Spongebob abruptly cuts him off.

Dr. Strangelove, from its first scene of two bombers harmoniously transferring gas, to its ending of peaceful music playing over a symphony of nuclear bomb explosions, is kind of like Plankton’s verse.  What I found particularly cool about Dr. Strangelove is its subject matter given when it was made.  There would have been much more tension related to nuclear bombs in the 1960’s than now.  Making a movie parodying a huge component of that tension, mutually assured destruction, seemed like a pretty gutsy thing to do.  I liked the different types of humor involved.  A lot of it seemed more on the subtle side, rooted in conversations that I would have found boring as a kid, but can appreciate a little better now.  There were many scenes that involved little more than conversation, usually between two people at a time.  However, there is still the iconic scene of  Major T. J. “King” Kong riding his bomb into the earth like a bull in a rodeo.  Of course there is the more serious issue of what to do regarding the building of nuclear weapons and I am no expert, but after watching a montage of what a chain of nuclear explosions would be like, it’s safe too say there are probably already too many nuclear bombs today.

Perfect Timing

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Watching the documentary, “The Professor: Tai Chi’s Journey West”, I realized that Tai Chi came to America at perhaps the perfect time. As was mentioned in the film, the 1960s and 1970s were quite a turbulent time filled with experimentation and questioning traditional western values. For many Americans, the new perspective which was provided by Tai Chi was exactly what the new times called for. “The Professor”, Cheng Man-Ching, also seems to have been the perfect teacher for the task of bring Tai Chi to America. Hearing the interviews of former students of Cheng Man-Ching shows that he had a way about him which completely mesmerized his students.

I have never tried Tai Chi, and never knew much about it until watching this film. To me Tai Chi seems more than a simple martial art, it has aspects which apply to everyday life and health. Tai Chi’s tenants to never be violent but to deflect and return violence acted against you is an interesting life philosophy. In a way it combines non-violence with a means of self-defense. Likewise it teaches you how to avoid brute strength which is costly and destructive, and to rather use your head to find a solution. The film gave a good representation of what Tai Chi is while also providing a history of its introduction to America.

Fixin’ Cascadilla Was Killa on Ithaca’s Bills

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Sorry. I tried to make the title rhyme. A bit forced.

Anyway, the gorge is actually really expensive. First, the donation of it was several million dollars (6, if I remember correctly). Then, after a series of storms in the early 10s (is that what we call 2010-2020?) it cost 2 and a half million to fix. A lot of that was preemptively blowing up the rockside so that it didn’t fall on the visitors at some point (thanks, guys).

It’s beautiful though. Admittedly, I rather enjoy the more natural areas without paved walkways and fences, but there is no doubt that Casc is majestic, and one of the most beautiful areas in Ithaca I’ve ever seen. When you go at the right time, the water in the air catches the golden light of the sun in a way that makes the whole gorge absolutely magical.

Meeting with Harlem Grown’s Tony Hillary

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I’ve recently found myself involved with a program called Alternative Breaks. I joined in a bit late, and in a bit of a rush, but when I found out they were partnering with NYC’s Harlem Grown program I forced myself onto the team as quickly as I could.

Harlem Grown is an urban agriculture project in the most historic and unfortunately, most underprivileged part of Manhattan. After the Great Migration of African Americans during the period following emancipation, thousands of black families left the south for opportunities in big cities like New York to the north. Because of very intentional practices by the powers-at-be during the time, they found themselves mostly concentrated in Harlem. This became an unforeseen blessing for the world- the Harlem Renaissance during the 1930s was a period of some of the most culturally important works of art, music, and literature. Now, again due to very intentional practices like selective mortgage lending/financing, bank redlining, and racially restrictive covenants, Harlem is a place of high amounts of poverty, homelessness, and most relevant to this post- food insecurity.

Tony Hillary owned a limousine business in New York City and drove around some A-List Hollywood elites, and he made a lot of money doing it. When the Recession hit, he put a pause on this business and out of the kindness of his heart, decided to start volunteering on local public schools. That’s when he saw just how dire the situation in Harlem had become- public schools are funded through real estate property taxes, and because Harlem had significantly lower property values then, say, other parts of Manhattan, the public schools in it had less funding to pull from. The result was another component in the vicious cycle of poverty, crime, and lack of education.

But where many people saw a problem, Tony saw an opportunity: adjacent from the school he was volunteering for, there was a vacant lot. The kids called it haunted and stayed as far away from it as possible. In reality, the owner had allowed it to become derelict and full of junk and junkies, to the dismay of the neighborhood. Tony contacted local government, acquired the lot, and turned it into the first garden that would go on to become Harlem Grown.

My first conversation with him made me incredibly excited to work with the program, not only to contribute to this beautiful work that they do, but to also learn more about the story that got them to where they are.

I spent three hours of my life watching cat videos

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There were good moments. There were bad moments. There were moments were I thought my eyes were bleeding. And then there were really strange moments, like when the MC asked young kids to come up to the stage and do their sexiest meow.

It was uncomfortable to say the least.

But even that was nothing compared the never-ending compilation of cat videos. It seemed never ending. It seemed it eternal. It was a meowntain I could not climb.

There were 100 videos. Let’s sit here and do the math together.

Let’s say the average cat video is about a minute and half long with a standard deviation of 1 minute (taken from a random sample that I made up), and there were 100 videos, if my cat-ulations are correct, then I watched roughly TOO MANY CAT VIDEOS (or, two and a half hours).

I should get some sort of life achievement for this: “Pur-fect Score: Watch 100 Cat Videos”

It wasn’t all bad though. There were some good ones in there. Overall, the event had me feline fine.

(im sorry)

Food & Feminism: The Intersection of Greek Life and Feminism

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I went into the dinner just expecting to listen. When it comes to subjects like feminism, I feel that often men speak too much. It is not a place for us to speak. It is a place for us to listen- and to learn. And that’s the attitude I went in with- not to speak.

But, I am a man, and so I of course spoke a lot. We are simple creatures.

In my defense, the feminist woman at the table was speaking on a matter that was something I’ve always been very curious about: greek life.

I’m not a fan of greek life, and I never have been. I view it as incredibly exclusionary, often institutionally racist, dangerous, and most relevant, sexist.

Numerous studies have shown that frat brothers are far more likely to rape, and that sorority girls are far more likely to experience rape. The Guardian says: “These are not anomalies or bad apples: numerous studies have found that men who join fraternities are three times more likely to rape, that women in sororities are 74% more likely to experience rape than other college women, and that one in five women will be sexually assaulted in four years away at school.” There you go. And these claims are strongly supported by studies from different academics everywhere.

Greek life is, at least to me, the antithesis of feminism.

Not only because its an institution that more-or-less condones these types of predatory behaviors, but also because it encourages young women to stick by strict guidelines of binary gender identities.

Image result for sorority

A sample of the often super-diverse individuals who get accepted into a sorority. This is ZTA (zeta thelma alphid? zebra taco accent? who knows.)

The young woman who was there speaking on feminism was also a sorority girl, and a part of the panhellenic board. And so naturally, I asked her about all of these things. Her argument was along the lines of “I understand where you’re coming from. We’re working on it. I would rather work within the system to make it better than to let it continue the way it is”. I thought that was a respectable answer. But I also think the better option is to end the greek system altogether.

A Movie About Not Being A Mannequin Man As Told By A Mannequin

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Seriously. Fight Club is a movie about not being the kind of man who looks like a Calvin Klein model (among many other tropes spliced together in a fast, jarring, violent, philosophical clusterbomb of Nietzsche-esque cool). It’s a great point, especially because the advocate for this point is Brad Pitt.

.Image result for brad pitt underwear

(this guy)

The movie centers around a guy who is bored with his life because he’s got too many IKEA furniture pieces and an office job, so he blows it up and starts making soap bombs with an imaginary best friend that he’s created (that he becomes when he’s asleep- the logistics of this are never fully explained). Starting out by fighting in the basement of a dirty bar, Fight Club eventually evolves into something much grander: a plot to sow discord and mayhem in the streets of New York (?) culminating into a master plan to “set the world to 0” by destroying five buildings that credit card companies own (because computers/external hard drives didn’t exist in 1999/there aren’t other buildings in the world with credit information).

He eventually decides its all too much and destroys his imaginary friend by shooting himself in the mouth (literally) and then watches the five skyscrapers collapse onto the city below (BUT Brad Pitt assured us there would be no casualties because the buildings were vacated prior to detonation) (??!!??) and spends the rest of his life with Helena Bonham Carter.

I worshiped this move as a 15/16 year old. In fact, I loved it so much that my friends and I took to our basements to beat each other senseless in this spirit of (genuinely felt at the time) “letting go of everything”, so that we too could be free.

This was my first time watching this movie in many years, and although I concede to the fact that there are some great, thoughtful scenes (particularly when Brad Pitt rips the clerk out of the gas station), philosophically its not as deep as I once thought it was. I realize the political relevance to Fight Club was Berkely, and I think I have the same sentiment about them both: Brad Pitt/AKA Edward Norton via exploding buildings and the Yiannopoulos riots via exploding buildings ultimately accomplished very, very little.

Tai Chi, a Way of Life

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After seeing The Professor: Tai Chi’s Journey West, I was surprised to learn about the divide amongst the Chinese population in New York City concerning teaching Americans Tai Chi. During the film, when the Professor Cheng Man-Ching returned to Taiwan, the Tai Chi studio was shut down after the Chinese community in the area decided to prohibit Americans from learning. It gave an aspect that I was unfamiliar with, as in today’s society there are dozens upon dozens of martial arts institutions in the United States, many of which now are Tai Chi based. Yet, back in the turbulent 60’s, there was a certain amount of a restricted nature to the spread of Chinese culture.

Another aspect of the film that I found interesting was the concept of Tai Chi itself as something other than a martial art. From everything I’ve heard about Tai Chi, I assumed that it was based on a combative nature. It was surprising to learn of the different uses of Tai Chi for health purposes, as well as just being a way of life. I certainly did not expect brush strokes or drawing lines to be a part of a martial art, but when placed in context with the rest of Cheng Man-Ching’s program, it began to make sense. It was also amazing to learn of the routines that members would go through everyday, especially when one interviewee spoke of doing a hand motion over and over again for an entire session with the Professor. Overall, the film has definitely sparked my interest in not only martial arts, but Tai Chi in particular.

A Missed Opportunity

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Last Friday, I had the opportunity to watch the film The Professor: Tai Chi’s Journey West. Although I knew very little about Tai Chi before watching the film, I have had a bit of exposure to it. In fall semester of freshman year I had, out of curiosity, decided to sign up for a class on Tai Chi. However, I never really got the chance to participate much before I ended up with a foot infection that caused me to miss out on most of the course. Since then, I have always been curious to know what I could have learned from that class. After watching the film, I can say that my interest in Tai Chi has only increased.

While often lumped together with the other martial arts, Tai Chi is actually quite different. The film revealed how Tai Chi is more of a way of life, than just simply another martial art. It is often used as a form of meditation, and it can have benefits on a person’s health. In addition, the film showed how Tai Chi has a philosophy behind it. Perhaps most interestingly of all was how Tai Chi related to concepts like art or medicine. I found it really fascinating to learn that the Professor would incorporate painting lessons into his class on Tai Chi. It was not exactly a combination that I would have thought of, but it surprisingly seemed to fit really well.

The whole concept of Tai Chi seems really interesting. I really like the fact that it is an all-encompassing way of life. Overall, the film made me more curious to learn Tai Chi, as well as make me regret having missed out in the first place.

A peek into the history of the Earth – Cascadilla Gorge Hike

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We walked from Rose into Collegetown, and met with a guide who took us on a hike of the Cascadilla Gorge, a 1/4 mile section that reveals hundreds of millions of years of the Earth’s history. We learnt about the story behind creating a path to walk through the Gorge, and the story of restoring the path to its former status in the last 5 years.

The guide pointed out rock layers of igneous and sedimentary rock, as well as explained how the gorge was carved by a large glacier that covered this part of New York.

We got to experience the waterfalls, and the rushing water in the gorge, and we really got to appreciate how beautiful nature can be.

Gorge Waterfall Movie

Above is an example of just how loud it was down in the gorge.

I had never hiked one of the gorges before, and this experience definitely inspires me to hike more around Ithaca.

Please Do Not Touch

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Please do not touch. Please stand at least 10 feet away. No flash photography. All very commanding words that cover museum walls and signs, taunting viewers to take surreptitious glances around before reaching out their little finger to rebel and poke an ancient masterpiece.

At the Johnson for the second time in a week, I found my visit to the Johnson for the sculpting workshop to be enlightening. We took a tour of Pre-Colombian sculptures, of where I made the observation that the Johnson did not have many of these “do not touch” signs around. Instead, the glass walls that encased the pieces of art were more transparent in their messages for nosy students and wandering fingers.

The reason I mention this is because I learned an important fact about making art during the sculpture making portion of the workshop. As obvious as it may sound, working with clay and sculpting is difficult to do well, and I can see that it takes incredible practice. This becomes painfully clear when your piece is not architecturally sound, refuses to stand up properly, or refuses to stick together. At this point in time, the “please do not touch” signs that would surround it if it somehow made it into a museum should be more properly phrased “please do not breathe, sneeze, or cough” since the piece will collapse. Despite my initial frustrations, I did construct a small bowl shaped as a fish, and found this workshop to be incredibly fun and paradoxically relaxing. I find that these events that provide the perfect opportunity to create have been very enjoyable for me in, and hope that they continue.

The Professor and His Students

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For some reason, I assumed that ‘The Professor: Tai Chi’s Journey West’ was a movie/biopic rather than a documentary. A few minutes in, I was pleasantly surprised, and found the rest of the documentary engaging.

Cheng Man-Ching moved to the U.S during the 1960s and started teaching Tai-Chi to students in New York City. Apart from being one of the first prominent Tai Chi teachers in the U.S, the documentary also highlighted The Professor’s acceptance and openmindedness. Despite protests from individuals, he never refused to teach anyone because of their background/identity. As a result, his class was diverse. The most striking aspect of the diversity was that between students who were focused on the martial arts aspect and those focused on the health benefits and the meditative aspect.

The Professor managed to create an environment where both groups of individuals were able to pursue their interests, as well as broaden their understanding about Tai Chi. During the documentary, a large number of students spoke out the class transformed their single-minded view of Tai Chi to something more complex and balanced. Moreover, The Professor often guided students according to their needs. One of the student’s mentioned that all of The Professor’s teaching’s were rooted in the philosophies of Taoism and Confucianism. However, The Professor’s method of teaching ensured that the student’s progress would not be limited by their direct comphrension of the philosophies. He guided his students according to their capabilities so that everyone had an equal opportunity to learn.

At the end of the documentary, The Professor’s class had a reunion at Maggie Newman’s birthday. Watching all of the individuals interact and connect after so many years is a testimony to the effect The Professor had on his class. He brought together individuals might not have interacted otherwise, and created a durable bond between them. Although the documentary chronicled the The Professor’s/class’s experience teaching/learning Tai Chi, the most memorable part was the relationship between The Professor and his students.

Dr. Strangelove – Think more deeply about the need for weapons

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This was an interesting experience. I thought the initial discussion before the movie was played was insightful, and enabled me to think more deeply about the movie while I was watching. The prior discussion focused on methods of destruction and compared some of the methods that previous leaders of the United States thought about and executed.

The movie is set in the time of the Cold War, and the USSR has created a “doomsday device” that could destroy the world upon detonation. This got me thinking about the size of the United States’ and Russia’s nuclear arsenals, which include thousands of nuclear weapons, which could easily destroy large portions of the Earth. The size of the stockpiles have been reduced dramatically since the Cold War ended, but do we really need the threat of nuclear weapons to protect ourselves?

When the doomsday device was detonated, Dr. Strangelove wants to put people underground in mine shafts in order to rebuild the population, in a ratio of females:males – 10:1. This is just one example of the satirical comedy employed during the movie in order to put a lighter spin on the events.

All in all, the movie prompted some insightful thinking.

The Professor: An Interesting Film

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For me, documentary films are always iffy. Some filmmakers create a strong, compelling central narrative, that ties together the various clips and characters that make up a film. But other films just feel like a two-hour flood of facts. I wasn’t sure if I would like “The Professor: Tai Chi’s Journey West”-even from the title, it sounded like a niche film, something that would only be of interest to martial arts fans.

I needn’t have worried. The film does a good job of explaining Tai Chi to a lay audience. It makes good use of archival footage, showing Cheng Man-Ching and his students in their studio. I especially enjoyed watching the “forms”. As someone who had not seen Tai Chi before, this was not what I was expecting. I believed Tai Chi to be a martial art, but the forms seemed like something different, elegant. The closest thing I can compare them to is yoga, but that’s not really an accurate comparison. Yoga is stretching and posing, this seemed more fluid. The film also showed footage of “Push Hands”, in which the Professor would unbalance his students, sometimes bounce them up against the walls of the studio, without seeming to use any force.

While “push hands” and forms are two specific aspects of Tai Chi, for Cheng Man-Ching, it seems like Tai Chi was nothing so much as a way of life. Cheng Man-Ching was also a painter, who had his students practice drawing straight lines for weeks. Cheng Man-Ching saw Tai Chi as a way of keeping healthy, an approach to life. Learning about his philosophy and about what he taught his students expanded my views of what Tai Chi is. It doesn’t seem like “just” a martial art any more.

However, this didn’t feel like a film about Tai Chi. It’s a film about a group of people, and the effect one man-the Professor-had on their lives. Most of the film is comprised on interviews with his former students. A lot of them describe being “hippies” or “weirdos” when they came to the Professor’s studio. It was interesting to see how, many years later, the Professor’s students still seemed to know each other, and how many of them still taught Tai Chi. Watching the film, it was obvious that Cheng Man-Ching had a dramatic impact on their lives.

I would recommend this film to a friend, and I would say to someone considering it that you don’t have to know anything about Tai Chi to enjoy it. In part, this is a film about martial arts history and philosophy. But, it is also a study of a community, its relationships, and the very interesting, very impressive man who brought it together.

 

Torture: A Symptom of Imperfection

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The Rose Cafe talk on torture was not a lighthearted one. Much like the talk on cowardice, this harrowing talk, made by Nick Cheesman and his human rights activist associate from Thailand highlighted a controversial issue that still plagues autocratic and democratic countries alike. Dr. Cheesman’s talk offered no easy solution, but instead provided a thorough interrogation into the phenomenon of torture using examples from Southern Thailand and from other experts who have done research on the topic before.

His associate talked about how the socio-political situation in Thailand led to the escalation of the instances of torture in the country and how it is used as a tool to speed up the bureaucratic process as well as maintain national security. According to his associate, while the Thai government claims to condone torture, police officers employ torture in order to quickly (often sloppily) solve high profile cases such as rape and murder. The use of torture allows the authorities to easily create a scapegoat which appeases the media and superiors of the authorities. The instances of torture has also risen in the past few years due to the attempted coup in 2014 in the south of Thailand. Because of this attempted coup, the Thai government put many cities in South Thailand under martial law, thus allowing the military to exercise unconstitutional means to obtain information for the sake of national security. Dr. Cheesman’s associate’s description of the torture was as mortifying as it was enlightening; illustrating that even with the advent of modernity, torture is still considered a just mean to an uncertain end.

I later asked Dr. Cheesman about the efficacy of torture as a way of extracting information from a suspected criminal. His response was surprising and demonstrated why the issue of torture is still so fiercely debated to this day. According to Dr. Cheesman, my questions was in fact a loaded question that presupposes torture functions as an instrument, rather than a result of political ideology. My loaded question necessitated an affirmative response (yes it is effective, but should we use it?) that much of academia is currently wrapped up in debating yet the debate seems to lead to no useful answer, precisely because the premise is flawed. Instead Dr. Cheesman guided me to think about torture as an inevitable result of political ideology and as a natural result pertaining to the nature of the state as an institution. Only after have we thoroughly interrogated the purpose of the state can we begin to fathom how torture arises out of political ideology. Torture, in effect, is a symptom of an imperfect ideological system. Understanding under what circumstances torture arises can we then be able to prescribe means to reduce the causes of torture and prevent further atrocities that we see occurring in Myanmar, Thailand, and China from happening in future generations.

History of Food in the US

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History of Food in the US

 

Ms. Jane Ziegelman a historian, who was in Flora Rose House Cafe to talk about her new book “A square Meal”. One might hardly think of food other than in the context of its taste, however in this book she has historized the development of conceptions of food in the United States since the depression. Food which we think of as ahistorical is influenced by the history of the United States’s involvement in World War II and depression. She articulated that there was a shift in attitudes toward food in the U.S due to depression, where in the need to rationing and eating for calories and nutrient took precedence over taste and texture.

Not surprisingly, College of Human Ecology, then it was still in the form of Department of Home Economics, played a crucial role in changing the food habits and preference of American citizens such that they will be able to consume just enough calories and get the adequate nutrients from, ingredients they might not have thought of or even wanted to use in their cooking. Department of Home Economics developed recipes with cheap ingredients, yet with creamy and rich taste. Jane actually shared some of the recipes developed here in Ithaca by Flor Rose from her book. She further said some of the dishes that are very popular today and part of our menu was developed under the depression era. It was important for us to understand the influence of the historical events on our food and eating habits, in that sense, Jane opened the door for me to think about it.

Tea, Thailand, and Torture

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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.

Feedback on the “Rose Family”

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At the beginning of this semester,  I found that the program lacked interesting events such as talks we had on the previous semesters. After the talk with Dr. Hill last Wednesday, I realized that I had forgotten that these events require funds, and the house might not have enough money. However, they find interesting way to balance the situation. I applaud their new initiatives with the high table, the movie nights and the predictability in the schedule. Meanwhile, a student mentioned that it may be better if there was a rotation between events so that students can attend diverse events due to their schedule.  I think it is very good idea.

Another comment I can make to the Rose house compared to its sisters, it is that I feel like Rose is too formal most of the time. It is good to be serious and elegant sometimes, but I also think that maybe we should plan more fun stuffs or events to do like play times between residency, comedy movie, or others. We already have a lot of formality in class. Usually at home we should relax away from books.

Except it, I love my Rose building especially Lyon hall. I love this ancestral buildings that are extremely gorgeous, but I am very curious to find the secret elevator and room that is inside the Lyon Hall. It actually can be a fun treasure-discovery game in which we learn about the buildings and the Rose House history.

 

The Future of Rose Scholars

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I greatly enjoyed last week’s Rose Cafe with Dr. Hill. As usual, he was quite candid, encouraging the rest of us in the room to express our thoughts, concerns, and ideas about the Rose Scholars program. I think the discussion was quite productive, and will hopefully result in a number of positive outcomes.

I agree with the theory behind the Rose Scholars program. Those who are on top of their plans and those who choose to be active in the community should be rewarded for doing so, instead of simply being able to tag off more active residents so they can live in a West Campus House next year.

There are two suggestions which I do support.

  1. We need more social events or games. Why not have a jeopardy contest, for example, with prizes, or some social events with games so we can get to know each other? I feel like if we became closer friends with one another, that would be the best way to encourage greater participation in Rose House events. Not to mention that games would bring out the spirit of competitiveness and result in more lively activities.
  2. We should allow scholars to attend more lectures and events on campus. The drawback from this is that people may be less motivated to attend events in the House itself, or that they may be dishonest while going, but I hope that that would be kept to a minimum. I greatly enjoyed the Heather Ann Thompson lecture, for example, and it showed the best of what can come out of Cornell.

Views from the Scholars

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Last weeks cafe was unique in that it wasn’t just someone lecturing about a topic, but it was an open discussion about the state of the rose scholars program and ways we may be able to improve the program moving forward. As I am nearing the end of my second year of the rose scholars it was interesting to be able to reflect on my time in the program. Here are some of my opinions regarding the program:

I really like the Thursday seminars and I wish that they were weekly occurrences. These seminars provide information that is different than the standard lectures you hear from career services.  The people who run the seminars provide personal anecdotes from previous experiences that provide helpful tips. There have also been times when i have attended this event where we had to end our discussion early because we had ran out of time. If the seminars are weekly, then we would be able to cover more content and possibly hit more areas. During the seminar in which we discussed interviews, possibly we could do a follow up session in which you have the opportunity to do a mock-interview.

Another suggestion I would make is to maybe have more viewing party sort of things. Similar to the Super Bowl (even though i didnt attend it) and debate viewings, there should be events for if there is a big game on, awards show, or even weekly TV show that can bring people together.

One thing i think would be interesting in terms of scholar and non rose scholars in Rose House would be to have house teams that compete in intramural sports. Maybe we could have a house softball or frisbee team or something to that extent. The fee for participating is either free of a small fee and many organizations have teams in order to build chemistry and unity. It doesn’t have to be competitive, but just an excuse for people to get out and do something.

Other than these few suggestions, I think the structure of the program has been great and i am interested to see how the program progresses.

Addressing a Difficult Topic

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Tonight at the Rose Cafe, Dr. Nick Cheesman and an activist from Thailand led us in a very interesting conversation on torture in Southeast Asia. I felt having the perspectives of both an activist and an academic was a great structure for the talk as it allowed us to discuss both specific examples and the theoretical components of this difficult topic. In terms of specifics, the activist from Thailand was able to give us her personal insights into the status of torture in this country. When someone asked why police in Thailand resort to torture, she explained that the use of torture enables the police to rapidly obtain a confession which then allows them to publicise in the press that they have captured the supposed perpetrator of the crime. Since I’m currently taking a law class in which we have been discussing limitations on police-obtained confessions in the U.S., this observation led me to wonder whether stricter rules on the types of confessions that are permitted in court could diminish the prevalence of police torture in Thailand.

I also found Dr. Cheesman’s discussion of the theoretical aspects of torture very informative and especially relevant to our current political situation in the U.S. At the beginning of his talk, he mentioned that President Trump has suggested that torture “works” in terms of its ability to coerce information. When someone asked for Dr. Cheesman’s opinion on whether torture works, he answered that the answer to this question is a rhetorical yes, however the problem is with this question itself. He explained that in his work he has proposed the idea that we should stop analysing torture in terms of its effectiveness as this doesn’t address the broader ethical questions relating to torture. My hope for the future is that our political leaders in the U.S. will also move away from looking at the instrumentality of torture and instead consider its serious ethical implications.

Reviewing the Rose Scholars Program

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The Rose Scholars program has been an integral part of my life for the past two years. Within the two years that I have been a part of the program, I have seen it change. More events were offered, the Cafe series was moved and the style of doing things was slightly different. One things that I have noticed is that I very much enjoy having a wider array of options in regards to events. Although I still usually attend the cafe, I have also attended other events such as a table talk. Even though the program is small, I would love to see even more variation in the events and types of events. Also, while I do find the smaller size of the cafe to be appealing, the way seating is can make it a bit difficult to see the speaker if you get stuck on one of the sides towards the back.

I think that having a way for the scholars to get to know one another better would be a great idea. Most of us only know a few select others and sometimes these are the people we live by. Even if there were just two or three social events just for Rose Scholars throughout the year, this could allow for better engagement and communication during events. In order to create a sense of community within Rose, it is also necessary to get active participation from those who aren’t Rose Scholars. From what I have experienced, this doesn’t happen too often but I would love to meet other people who are living in Rose even if it is just for the year.

Overall, I think the Rose Scholars Program is a great way to get people involved with the house community and I have enjoyed being a part of the program. It has encouraged me to attend events that I otherwise would not have.

Reviewing Rose Scholars

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I found it useful to think about Rose Scholars as a program and how we can improve it. Since I have been a member since my Sophomore year, it is interesting to think about how it has changed and how it can continue to change for the next year. I agree that it would be beneficial to provide more opportunities for the scholars to bond and have more discussions. I suggest that there be prompts at the end of discussions to allow individuals to speak to each other in smaller groups about the material that was presented. I typically do this with my friends after rose scholars, but I feel that it would be valuable to have access to different perspectives.

One thing I will say about the Rose Cafe events is that they are a great opportunity to explore topics I would not have gotten exposure to often. In learning from experts about their research, or people on campus about their work, I am able to exercise the knowledge I have obtained in my coursework by thinking about these topics through the lens of my own perspective. That is, thinking about different things with regard to labor, policy, and inequality. I appreciate having this ability, and the requirement of one event for week forces me to make time for this.

 

One thing I think could be an improvement in the events is to offer varied speakers or implement more of the speaking events on campus. I often find that there are lectures I would love to attend but have to forego them because I must attend a rose event that day and there is not enough time to attend both. I also agree with a suggestion made to offer more social events that count as events as I think that this could be a fun way to get to know other scholars and maybe make for a generally different vibe during the cafes.

 

Uniting the Scholars

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This is my second year in the Rose Scholars program, so you could say I’m sort of a veteran when it comes to choosing events to attend and arranging my schedule around them. I have attended everything from the artifacts tour in Olin Library to the Cascadilla gorge hike to a non profit tour in Ithaca commons. I really enjoy the events that allow me to explore the rich culture and history of Cornell and Ithaca and go to places that I’ve never been before. The Rose Scholars program has really allowed me to branch into the Cornell and Ithaca community and take some really amazing study breaks. It’s so refreshing to go to a café talk for an hour after working all day and coming home from classes. It’s exhilarating to go on a hike or nature walk on a Saturday morning and start the weekend on a pleasant note. The Rose Scholars program continues to offer wonderful events for the students to attend, but I find myself falling into the same routine every week and attending the same types of events.

To be honest, I really do like that the events have a routine this semester. I know that the table talks are on Mondays, cafes are on Wednesdays, and the films are on Fridays. Usually, I can only make it to the cafes due to my schedule but sometimes I wish that I could make it to the other events as well. Charlotte proposed a great idea about rotating the events around so that they take place on different days during the week but at the same weekly times designated for an event. In this way, the scholars would get to experience all the different events that the program has to offer and not be restricted by the same event every week. I also think it would be beneficial for the program if the scholars got to decide what events they wanted to see every week. If there was some way for us to vote on at least one event every week, that event would probably get a higher turnout due to the high demand for it. I personally would like to have more social events that allows the scholars to bond, get to know each other, and eat some delicious food too. I really hope that the students take an active role in deciding the Rose scholars events next year and organize more social events to unite the scholars community.

Reflecting upon old memories

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“Mom what are they doing in the park over there?” the three year old me asked my mother as I pointed my fingers towards a group of middle to old age men and women slowly waving their hands in smooth order. They were all really relaxed and it looked like they were having fun.

“They are practicing Tai-chi”, my mother answered.

I grew up in Taiwan from the ages of zero to five. While I do not have complete memories of everything that I experienced during that time, I remember a handful of memorable experiences. This was one of them. After that day I had proceeded to pretend that I was doing Tai-chi within my home and I would imitate random movements when I was seeing them done in parks. Tai-chi is a common exercise done in Taiwan, especially in the morning hours. It was seen as something that old people did but it was seen as normal.

Ever since I moved to the states during elementary school, I had barely noticed the absence of Tai-chi in American culture. It wasn’t until last week when I realized that people in the states would view Tai-chi as something foreign, a little bit strange, slightly bit other-worldly and weird. It is interesting because when I am in Taiwan, I didn’t think anything of Tai-chi. However here, in a separate environment, what is once so familiar to me seems out of context and unfamiliar.

I find this interesting because even as someone who has experienced different cultures, I am still susceptible into molding my thinking and viewpoints based upon what is the norm in certain areas. I think we should realize that no matter where we are and who we are with, we should remember to keep an open mind – approach things as if they are already familiar to us already.

 

Technology’s Influence on Art

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During my journey through Johnson’s Art Museum on Saturday I can’t help but notice the detail of prints. In days that lack computers or modern photography, prints were used to depict realistic images of the world around them. The artistry, level of accuracy, and scope of these works are inspiring and I can’t help but wonder if artists today can become masters of prints as much as these artists did.

While I am sure there are some people today who can replicate the quality of prints made centuries ago, I wonder what is the difference in the number of the people who has this skill. Out of the populations in the past, what is the percentage of them that know how to make prints.

As technology improves, how many skills are lost due to their lack of usage? Even though the thought that there are an infinite number of skills that has been lost through the centuries is a little bit disheartening, that is the price of “progress”. I guess the art of creating print documentation is replaced by knowledge on how to Photoshop, take pictures with iphones, and how to take pictures under microscopes. What would these technologies be replaced by a hundred years from now? 3-d sculpting? Virtual reality landscape painting?

Our documentation of imagery becomes more realistic every year. With that realism, there is an increase in accuracy in terms of depicting what is real. However we have to be careful to notice that soon the images that we create are no longer just real but realistically distorted, ultimately painting an unrealistic expectation of what is real. Perhaps it is then we should look back at print artworks and realize what is real imagery at its most basic form.

Fantasy and Biography

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When I initially signed up to see Neruda at the Cornell Cinema, I had absolutely no idea who he was. I simply signed up because I like going to the on campus cinema, and it’s sometimes fun to try things you know nothing about. The night before the movie, I mentioned to my girlfriend that I was going to some movie called “Neruda,” obviously betraying my ignorance. She gasped that I had not heard of him, and proceeded to passionately tell me all about his work and who he was and why he was so famous in Latin American culture (my girlfriend is from Puerto Rico). Hearing about him directly from someone I knew made me much more excited for the movie, and to learn about his life.

Maybe it’s because I’m not a film expert, but I struggle to think of a movie similar to Neruda that I could compare it to. The film balances two different style, fantasy and biography, kind of like how Neruda himself had two sides of his life, art and politics. A significant portion the movie borders on fantasy, though none of it was impossible. I mean fantasy in that the makers of the film took artistic liberties and speculated what COULD have happened during Neruda’s time as a fugitive. While they played with hypotheticals, the filmmakers also followed Neruda’s political downfall and subsequent escape to France. It was interesting seeing the film balance these two goals, while depicting a man who himself balanced a desire to help others rise politically but also express himself through poetry.

I’m glad the film did not sugar coat Neruda’s abnormal moral compass. He wrote beautiful love poems for his wife, but then would leave at night and go to brothels. Neruda didn’t depict him as having any regret, in fact he seemed to view this lifestyle as compatible with a  married one. It reminded me of the tv show Narcos, where Pablo Escobar would cheat on his wife but then scold or kill anyone who disrespected her.

I’m very happy I went to see Neruda, and would recommend it to anyone, especially if they’re unfamiliar with his work or want some insight into communist Chile.

Rose Scholars with Dr. Hill

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I found the efforts by Dr. Hill to improve the Rose Scholars program and the overall experience of living on West campus to be truly outstanding. It is inspiring to see someone like him work so hard on behalf of students. I do believe that the Rose Scholars program has improved tremendously over the two semesters that I have been here and I am confident that it will continue to become even better.

One idea that was suggested during the Rose Cafe that I support is having social events that count as events. This is a fun and enjoyable way for students to take some time off from studying and mingle amongst ourselves. Social events are important if we would like to see a community form among the Rose Scholars and this could be later be expanded to West Campus overall. However, to achieve the community that we aspire to be, we need to start small and thus, we should try to at least try to develop some sort of group cohesion among Rose Scholars next semester.

Another improvement that could be made is having more opportunities to volunteer as part of the Rose Scholars program. I believe that many students find volunteering to be an enjoyable and worthwhile experience. Adding volunteering events would be a great way for students to get opportunities to volunteer and become even more ingrained into their communities.

Overall, I believe that the progress that has been made is fantastic and with the leadership of Dr. Hill, I am confident that Rose Scholars will continue to improve. It is nice to see that our feedback is taken seriously and I look forward to seeing the program evolve in the future.

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.

Building Community

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Last week I went to the “Tell Us What You Really Think” Rose Cafe. Professor Hill talked a lot about building a living-learning communities on west similar to the colleges at Yale. This is very difficult to foster this kind of atmosphere because most of the people who live on west are doing it out of convenience, and picking houses simply based on where there are open beds.

I made a suggestion to hold fun events at the beginning of the semester to draw people in that are not part of the Rose Scholars program. Unfortunately, budgeting is an issue.

Another idea, though I’m sure it would be near impossible to implement, is to team soon-to-be rose residents with Rose Scholars or current Rose residents. The new residents can be paired with the resident that lives in the room they are going to be assigned to. They could see their new rooms, maybe join their upper-class mentors for dinner in the Rose dining room, or go on a tour of West. Certainly not a perfect solution, but it’s an idea to foster communication between rose house generations and build community. In my experience, students come visit the rooms they are going to live in either way.

Another idea is to promote the creation of a building group me, and get the building together for little events like movie nights. We did this last year in my building, and I made friends that otherwise probably would not have talked to.

In general the Rose Scholars program has been a great experience, but there are some ways it could improve, particularly when it comes to creating a community.

Rose Mingling

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Last Wednesday, some of us were able to sit down with Dr. Hill to talk about the Rose Scholar Program and possible improvements. Overall, the feedback for the program was positive. However, some improvements were suggested. One that stood out to me was the possibility of rotating the types of events through a set schedule of times throughout the week. I think this would be a great improvement. I am mainly only able to make it to the Rose Cafes, which are very interesting, but I wish I was able to be exposed to more of the events while not skipping my other engagements.

An improvement that I suggested was a type of forced bonding among the Rose Scholars at the beginning of each semester. I think that this would greatly change the dynamic of the program. If wanting to join became more about the people in the program and less about having a bed in Rose House the following year, this could help begin to create a culture that the house would be known for. It is also beneficial for each Rose Scholar, as making new friends is always fun but can sometimes be daunting.

This forced bonding could also be integrated into the application process to be a part of the Rose Scholars Program. If events were held where potential applicants were able to mingle with former Rose Scholars and learn about their experiences, as well as meet some of the other applicants, this could create a sense of camaraderie and further the creation of a Rose House culture.

The Rose Scholars Program

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Last week I attended a Rose Cafe where we talked about the Rose Scholars Program. Dr. Hill asked us to reflect on the last year and to think of the things that we liked/didn’t like. I’m really happy that I decided to apply to be a Rose Scholar because I learned a lot of things that I wouldn’t have otherwise. I went to Rose Cafes that were about topics such as Cornell Dining, the Cornell tennis team, Flora Rose, Human Ecology etc. I really learned more about the University, and I think that being a part of this program has enhanced my time at Cornell.

One suggestion that I have for next year is to have more science/ math speakers come in for the Rose Cafes. A lot of the speakers have been in economics and liberal arts, and I think that it would be interesting to have a Physics professor come in and give a basic rundown of some of the more interesting parts of physics/ their research. A  lot of people do research here on campus, and I think it would be interesting if we could get a couple of speakers to talk about what they’re doing so that we not only know more about their subject, but also so that we’re more aware on what’s going on on campus. I think that a lot of people, myself included, live in a bubble where they only things that are going on in their major, so I think that it would be beneficial to learn more about the Cornell community at large.

Program in Review

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Last week I attended the open forum for the Rose Scholars program. This forum provided the Rose Scholars with the opportunity to have an open discussion about the program and suggest potential changes for future years. We also discussed the role of the program in the overall purpose of the West Campus community.
Overall, I have enjoyed be a part of the Rose Scholars program, and believe that attending the lectures and events, in addition to being part of the smaller Rose Scholar community, has positively impacted my time at Cornell this year. However, I do think that there are things about the program that could be changed. First of all, I think it is important to encourage a greater sense of community within the scholars, may that be via Scholar-only event or “forced bonding” activities. Second, I think it is important that there be a greater variety of times/events at specific time slots for people with busier schedules.
In terms of the role of the program within the context of West Campus’ goal, I think that there need to be changes made which promotes unity within Rose house as well as a specific culture for the house itself. It seems that removing the sign-up parameter for events would improve attendance of non-Rose Scholars, and creating more “social” events that are tied to an academic event would be beneficial to creating a more potent sense of community and encourage attendance.
In the discussion of the West Campus system as a whole, I think there were many points made which would improve the “house loyalty” concern within the community. In may other institutions, there is a much stronger house system, and I think it should be a goal of Cornell to develop this. Ways to do this include developing unique house cultures, including freshman in the West Campus System, e.g. each house adopting North Campus residences, as well as encouraging competition between houses. I personally think this sense of competition would encourage people to root for their houses and in turn increase the sense of community and loyalty within the system. While the development of house sports teams did not work here in the past, I think that some kind of game show, Family Feud, Jeopardy, etc., in which each house had a competing team, would be more successful as it lends itself better to the student culture here at Cornell.
I have enjoyed being a part of the Rose Scholars Program and West Campus System here at Cornell, but I do think there are changes which should be made. I hope that some of these changes can be made so that, in the future, the system will reach the point where it is fully achieving its goal.

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.

My Clay Sculpting Masterpiece

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Three tiered clay towner

Last Thursday I attended a clay sculpting event and the Johnson Art Museum. As you may be able to tell from the picture of my final product, I have no experience making clay sculptures. I also did not have any ideas of what to make before starting which made things interesting. I ended up deciding to make a tower and see how tall I could make it. The event was actually quite relaxing partially because I had no expectations of making a nice-looking sculpture. It also reminded me of elementary school art class which brought back some good memories.

I also enjoyed watching other people make their sculptures. Many of the other participants created sculptures that were very good looking. Some of the other participants clearly had a plan coming into the session and brought additional supplies to help them create their masterpiece. Other participants, like me, had no preconceived ideas and experimented with the clay before deciding on what to build.

I thought the clay sculpting event was fun and relaxing. It also allowed me to be creative. There were no rules and the clay could be shaped into almost anything allowing my imagination to run free.

 

The value of science

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In last week’s table talk we discussed the March for Science that was to happen on Earth Day.  The March for Science was an event coordinated by many individuals who fear that science will not be taken seriously or given priority in the new government in power. Due to the history of denying climate change, lack of support for women’s biological rights, and a general distaste in studying clean energy, the future of science seems grim. With the new government proposing billions of dollars worth of cuts to organizations such as the NIH, NASA, USDA, and many more, it is clear that the new government does not see science as a priority. Because of this, many want to mobilize and voice their concerns. We discussed how we must be the voices that gap the everyday man to the scientists. Currently many don’t prioritize science research because they do not understand it. Scientists are unable or unwilling to explain the importance of some of their research to the general person, and due to this disconnect, people just have a lack of enthusiasm and care for research. Without care, they are less likely to support measures that increase funding or prioritize science. To spread awareness is an important goal.

During the table talk we discussed how much money the current administration is taking away from research funding, and some of the amounts were frightening. Billions of dollars were being cut from clean energy initiatives, which was not extremely surprising, but a lot was also being taking from branches such as the NIH and USDA, segments of science where the importance of these two branches has been proven.

To spread awareness and education are what we should be worried about. To spread the truths about climate change and the facts that support clean, renewable energy, we might be able to save our planet and move towards a healthier, greener world. We will need a lot of support for this to occur, and that is why education is crucial. Those of us with science backgrounds must find a way to bridge the gap between the regular population and scientists in order to spread this message.

 

 

Suggestions

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Last week, we had an open discussion about the Rose Scholars program. Therefore, I would like to propose solutions to a couple of issues that came up in the discussion. Firstly, Dr. Hill mentioned that it would be ideal if more Rose House residents who were not necessarily in the Rose Scholars program came to events. One suggestion I have for achieving this is to not use asterisks to denote Rose Scholar events. I feel like they are liable to make some students feel like they are more exclusively focused on Rose Scholars and not Rose House residents in general. Because most of the weekly events are eligible Rose Scholar events already, I believe it would be better to simply denote which are not Rose Scholar events.

Another issue that came up was the social aspect of the program. Besides the initial ice breaker at the beginning of the year, I feel the scholars generally don’t really get to know each other too well. Not to mention, I do not believe ice breakers are that great to begin with. As most students are not enthusiastic about them, they simply go through the motions and forget most if not all of the dozen or so names they randomly pick up. Instead, I believe it would be better to perhaps have more game nights. I know there were at least a couple board game events this semester, which I was not able to make. But in general, I believe students are likely to get to know each other better when sitting at the same table playing a game for thirty minutes or so. Another option would be to have sports events. For instance, there could be casual basketball games at the Noyes Community Recreation Center. Then students who go would get some exercise as well!

Rose Scholars- Feedback and Opinions

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This week’s Rose Cafe was an honest and open discussion about the Rose Scholars program. It was a great and refreshing opportunity to discuss the program and what it is like living in Rose House in general and it was interesting to hear different peoples opinions on the program. Here is some feedback and thoughts I have regarding the program:

  1. I agree with many other people’s blogs that we need more events with smaller time commitments. I ended up mostly attending Rose Cafe as it was the shortest event and happened every week at the same time so I actually just put it in my Wednesday evening time slot in my calendar for my own convenience of having a fixed schedule. On days where I haven’t been able to attend Rose Cafe, I struggled to find another event to attend that is interesting to me, is of a reasonable duration, and at a time that works for me. Unfortunately, as much as I wish I had more time to spend exploring Cornell and Ithaca and enriching my experience here, I simply don’t have time to visit the plantations for half a day. There should be more events which are shorter and interesting on a regular basis, so that people actually go to events other than the cafés and learn and immerse themselves in Rose and the Cornell/Ithaca area- which is the very purpose of the program.
  2. Another major criticism I have is why the ‘Feminism and Food for Thought’ weekly program (that is always featured on the ‘What’s Happening email) does not count as a Scholars event. I would personally love to attend this series and gain credit for it. As a passionate feminist, I believe that it is crucial for us to discuss issues of gender and sexuality. It is absolutely imperative for more people to engage in conversation about feminism. Considering there have been other Rose Scholars events that touch on feminism, as well as a variety of intellectually stimulating topics like economic development, globalization, etc, I don’t understand why this series does not count as a Scholars event. It strikes me as perhaps subconsciously/accidentally sexist to dismiss this fascinating series and exclude it from being a Scholars event, when it is so relevant and in line with the other events that do count for the program.

Letter to Julia 4/24/17

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Dear Julia,

I liked this event; I like to offer constructive criticism. Geoffrey Burt Hill and I had a brief, but pleasant conversation about headphones (He agrees that those Thurston Moore designed over the ear headphones look kind of dumb. It’s okay though, I still love Sonic Youth.) and Kendrick Lamar’s new album DAMN. (To Pimp a Butterfly is still Kendrick’s best, IMO, but it’s definitely as good as Good Kid M.a.a.d City, but I digress) before the event began so I was in a pretty good mood going in. We all talked for a while about the housing system, West campus, and the challenges of building a residence house with a personality and character that’s distinct. Apart from the suggestions that I made within the event, I also think Rose could do a better job with sign ups. It’s very frustrating when you sign up for an event, there’s no space, and then a day after the event you get an email saying there’s an empty space for you. (That’s happened to me more than once…) Beyond the Rose Scholar Program I think my biggest gripe with Rose House is that there is not an oven or stove in the second floor kitchen in Rose Main. It’s very inconvenient to have to go all the way down to the pantry on the ground floor anytime I want to cook something–especially when the pantry is locked because of vandalism.

Love,

Robert

Mobilizing

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On April 17th, I attended the Table Talk regarding the March for Science that occurred on Earth Day, April 22, 2017. Initially, what attracted me to this Rose event is the fact that I’ve become more interested in the environment and studying sustainability, so I thought that the talk would provide me with some knowledge as to what the march was for.

What I learned, however, was more shocking than I expected. While I thought that under the Trump administration, funding for certain research sectors would be reduced, I didn’t realize to what extent those proposed cuts were. The numbers further amplified the importance of the March to me. Additionally, during our talk, we spoke about how individuals could effectively communicate the importance of science to those who are more skeptical; given the nature of such a complex topic, we didn’t come up with a definitive answer but just that when conversing, it’s important to not put down another person’s beliefs because that only then makes them a stronger proponent of their beliefs.

US & UK: Sports Culture

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Last week I attended the talk led by Paul Wilcox. Though I had no direct interest in sports, my younger brother runs track very seriously so I decided to sit in on this presentation. I found it very interesting how the athletic culture in the U.S. and U.K. were so drastically different in ways I had never thought about before. For example, in the U.S., former athletes are encouraged, and even honored, by large donations to their Alma mater. However, in the U.K., such a practice was not as encouraged. In addition, I found the discussion of the athletes dedication to travel such long, and likely uncomfortable at times, distance was very inspiring to see. I admired the passion of the athletes and through their dedication I gained an appreciation for the culture of sports that I had not previously had. I will definitely look forward to more events like this in the future.

Tai Chi and Cultural Intergration

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This Friday’s film was a documentary about a man from Taiwan went to New York City to teach people Tai Chi. What I find impressive is that the scenes are set in the 1960s, an era that is characterized with violence and conflicts within the country and across the globe: Martin Luther King Jr. was giving speeches at marches, and U.S. soldiers were being sent to Vietnam despite oppositions from its citizens. Thus, I am surprised and impressed to see that in the documentary, so many people, with different gender, race, and ethnicity, go to learn Tai Chi together. Moreover, not only the movements, such as pushing hands, are taught, but Chinese culture is spread as well; as the students vividly articulate the philosophy behind Tai Chi–Taoism in the documentary.

My only experience with Tai Chi was from the Yoga class I took last year. I thought I would feel the power of Chi when pushing hands, like when one tries to push water in a swimming pool. Nevertheless, I felt nothing–there was no energy flowing between my palms or whatsoever. I did feel peace, like meditating while still doing exercise of some sort. However,  Tai Chi remains to be a powerful but mysterious thing for me. I have heard myths, like people who master Tai Chi can jump really high, or they have really long life expectancy. The documentary confirmed some of the myths. As the Professor, with relatively small body build, manages to ‘defeat’ (push away) all his students. It sends a inspiring message: one does not have to look strong/tough to be powerful.

My final observation is about communication. In the documentary, a translator interprets the Professor’s instructions into English so that the students could understand. Yet language barrier does not keep the students and the Professor from forming a deep bond between each other, as the documentary captures several moments that the class are laughing together. This reminds me of a friend, who once told me that she joined karate because it was easier for her to communicate with others in non-verbal ways; and she made lots of good friends from karate. I suppose that there are some universal expressions in the movements (of Tai Chi, karate, etc.) that enables people to communicate and understand each other.

In short, it was an interesting comparison to the Hollywood films we usually watch in Rose House.

Avocado on the Horizon

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Last Saturday I spent part of my day at the Johnson Museum. Although this was not my first time, it always seems as if I discover something new whenever I go. Although I’m not that great of an art “interpreter” per say, it’s always enjoyable looking at the different art forms, genres, and mediums. This time around I encountered a piece that caught my attention, particularly because it was a video. Semiotics of the Kitchen by Martha Rosler was first released in 1975. The video is six minutes long and portrays a woman in the kitchen presenting several kitchen utensils, each of which stands for a letter in the alphabet. At first I was very confused and even a bit scared, considering the video is played in a dark room with only a bench in the center of the room to watch the video from. The woman in the video demonstrates how to use different utensils in the kitchen which may seem odd in itself, but what makes it even more bizarre is that her motions are aggressive and, for the most part, she doesn’t seem to use the tools correctly at all. Like I said, I was really confused at first (remember I’m not that great at interpreting art) but once I read the description of the piece it made a little more sense to me. Artist Rosler, a well-known feminist, commented on this piece that “when the woman speaks, she names her own oppression”. I’m no expert, but I think she might have been trying to explain how women are undermined and subjicated through media, commercialization, and the “technologies” of the kitchen during this time and even today. Here’s a link to the video online in case you’re interested in checking it out. Perhaps you can add more to the conversation and interpretation than I can. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vm5vZaE8Ysc

Once we left the museum, we walked over to Rose to create some of our own art. When you’re so busy with school, papers, exams, etc. it’s easy to forget about your creative potential! I decided to draw an avocado. . . I named this piece “Avocado on the Horizon”. I had a lot of fun coloring it in with pastels and definitely wouldn’t mind more art sessions throughout my semester!

 

 

 

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.

Cascadilla Gorge: Behind the Scenes

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Last Saturday, I attended the hike through Cascadilla Gorge. I had already been a couple times but as this was a guided tour given by Cornell’s Botanic Gardens Director of Natural Areas and Flora Rose House Fellow Todd Bittner, I learned so much about this gorge that I had never known. It was so fascinating to hear about the geographical history of the Cascadilla Gorge, about its formation and the changes that occurred due to plate tectonics, climate shifts, and water erosion. We also learned about the relatively recent history of the Gorge, the donation to Cornell in the early 1900s and the renovations to the trail in the past ten years. One thing that really stuck out to me was the fragility of the gorge. It doesn’t appear so but changes in weather like floods or droughts frequently necessitated costly repairs and renovations. I really have a new appreciation for all the aspects that must be taken into account when building the trail: safety, cost, durability, aesthetic, etc.
I also realised how fortunate we are to be attending a school so closely integrated with nature. Cascadilla Gorge is a mere ten minutes walk from Rose House and such a beautiful and peaceful place. It’s truly a great way to de-stress from schoolwork and enjoy nature.

Thoughts on the Rose Scholar’s Program

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As a returning Rose Scholar this year, I have enjoyed the program very much. I sincerely appreciate the opportunity being a Rose Scholar has given me to expand my intellectual horizons and get to know guests/students in smaller, discussion-promoting settings who I otherwise would never have known. I also admire the great diversity of visitors we have hosted at our Rose Cafes, many being professors/scholars hailing from universities of different countries with educational/cultural systems quite different from our own, and it is very eye-opening to learn about their unique journey in academia. Moreover, blogging about the events has helped me better reflect on my experience and consolidate my questions/reaction that I did not have the adequate time to do so during the event. I think the Rose Scholars program has taken a considerable step towards creating a sense of membership within the Rose House, one of the primary goals of the program, but more importantly, cultivated a sense of community and engagement within the residential system.

My biggest suggestion for improvement, especially pertaining to the goal of creating a sense of house membership, is to incorporate social opportunities with the primary goal of encouraging Rose residents to get to know each other better in informal settings. Although I agree that the Rose Cafes and Table Talks/discussions have been very beneficial intellectually, I find that students are not able to connect with each other very much during these events. Becoming familiar with each other/recognizing friendly faces as a member of Rose House is a precondition to creating a sense of belonging within a house. Another suggestion relating to events would be to conduct a pre-semester survey of Rose residents on their interests and what they seek to get out of the program. This feedback could be incorporated when organizing events, for example, when choosing discussion topics for Monday’s dinners or Friday’s films. This would be a relatively easy way to both bolster event attendance and give residents a larger voice in the creation of their own academic/social environment.

Imagination: More prevalent in the past or the present?

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Last Saturday, I attended the Rose event at the Johnson Museum that exhibits early imaginative art, featuring videos, etchings, and colorful works. I was most intrigued by the intricate etchings of various styles, including ones of dark yet extravagant prisons, ones that served as political satire, and others of creatures. The foresight and practice required to create the image that the artist desires astounds me. It is difficult enough to create the precision of many tiny lines when drawing; but then having to etch out the negative space so that the print itself becomes the image is quite fascinating to me. While I could never attain this level of skill, I did find it very stress relieving for all of us at the event to create our own pieces of artwork. There is something about being creative and patient at the same time that is very rewarding.

After viewing these images and reading the blurbs that described each themed artwork’s imaginative technique or portrayal of a theme, I began to wonder whether one becomes inspired by imagination theoretically more easily much earlier on, or more presently. If in the past, less ideas have been explored, so a new idea is more likely to be actually novel. However, presently, after much more time has passed, much more precedent is available for new ideas to build off of. I realize, though, that it really isn’t important whether it is easier to be creative in the past or the present, as long as learning continues.

Story about the Saviors or the Struggles

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Thursday movies, a trend this Spring semester, made me look forward to it. But I was never was this excited as to this, to watch any other movie. Hidden Figures was released early this year, and I was unable to watch it then, thus, Rose Thursday movie night offering to watch Hidden Figures were exciting. The story of these three women of color’s achievement is brilliant.
In fact, it was really motivating to mid-semester beaten up brain.
However, as another individual in the audience, pointed out right after the movie, during the Q& A session, there was a subtle but vibrant political message about racial struggles and how to fight against this oppression. This story narrative had a supervisor, who didn’t “see color” only saw talent and hard work. This individual is a savior, who saves the day for one of the main characters. In addition, the entire story was occurring in the backdrop of space mission race with Soviet, and these women of color who are treated unjustly and unequally based on their race were still displaying loyalty and patriotism. The movie gives a strong patriotic message: although these women of color were oppressed and discriminated, they believed in the system, displayed loyalty to and patriotism. And continued to work within the system.
Despite this nationalist propaganda, and the savior veneration, the movie felt definitely motivating on a Thursday night after a busy week.

Art in Space and Time

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Pt. I:

Last Saturday I arrived at the Johnson Museum after volunteering at the Museum of the Earth, and I noticed a completely different environment from where I had spent explaining dinosaur egg diagrams to kids. I have always been big on museums, and these two museums were no exception. I glimpsed “Cosmos,” the LED outdoor ceiling display created in homage to Cornellian astrophysicist Carl Sagan. Comparing this experience side by side to seeing the fossilized creatures on display at the Museum of the Earth, I noted the vastness of the universe across both space and time, and I felt dwarfed by magnificence. We as human beings play such a small role in the grand scheme of things–a both terrifying and comforting thought.

Pt II:

Afterward, we went back to Rose House and created our own art using oil pastels. I loved art in middle school, and my parents would send me to art camp as a child, but being a STEM major, I hadn’t touched oil pastels in years. I found it relaxing to sit for an hour in silence and draw as we pleased. I would definitely love to do more art-based activities in the future, maybe even take a few classes eventually.

Dr. Strangelove and Relationship Issues

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Stanley Kubrick’s Dr. Strangelove portrays a comedic, albeit dark, side to the Cold War. The film has been on my to-watch list since I saw Kubrick’s on-screen depiction of one of my favorite books, A Clockwork Orange. Although I still prefer A Clockwork Orange, Dr. Strangelove did not disappoint. Although many observations could be made about how the movie portrays war, peace, and the human condition, one thing for certain could not be missed: the male-centric plot and the sexualized phallic symbolism through missiles and firearms.

It was my impression that this imagery was meant to emphasize a tense love [war] affair between the U.S.A. and U.S.S.R, Uncle Sam and Mother Russia. This could be especially noted in one of the scenes in the war room in which Turgidson receives a call from Miss Scott during an important meeting, during which he reassures her in a hushed tone, that of a patronizing man talking down to a hysterical woman, “Of course it isn’t only physical! I deeply respect you as a human being!”

In a later scene, this tone is mirrored when the president of the U.S. calls to explain the bomb situation to the president of the U.S.S.R., for which he starts off civil and reassuring but then exasperatedly rants,”Of course I like to speak to you! Of course I like to say hello!”

“Well listen, how do you think I feel about it, Dimitri?!”

The scene shows the absurd nature of the war and tension between the two nations by portraying what we all imagine should be a civil, rational conversation as a heated lovers’ quarrel. Although this is deeply disturbing, the humor behind this was not lost, and the film left a sweet-turned sour taste in my mouth, pretty standard for a Kubrick film.

The contradiction between intentions and outcomes

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Dr. Strangelove is known for its satirical take on Cold War age fears of nuclear warfare, and is consistently ranked on lists of top comedies. However, beyond its comedic and historical value, Dr. Strangelove speaks to human error in negotiation and how multiple parties use unreasonable tactics to achieve their goals.

The Soviet Union’s doomsday device is a classic example of bringing forward an undesirable end. Instead of focusing on the Soviet Union’s own interests, the initiative behind the doomsday device focuses on retaliation. Instead of peace, the U.S and the Soviet Union are shown to focus on increasing levels of aggression, undermining each party’s wishes and exacerbating the issue. Sometimes, seeking to avoid an undesirable outcome brings about that very outcome.

Warfare causes groups of people to view each other as separate and non-human, leading them to discard any possibility of similarity, understanding, and reconciliation. Ripper embodies this notion through his belief that the Soviets are polluting the precious bodily fluids of Americans. This kind of dehumanization and separation of the self and other has been witnessed across the pages of history in genocide, imperialism, and racial tension. It is only by working together and understanding each other that numerous goals can be achieved together.

 

Does anybody here remember Vera Lynn?

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Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb poses an interesting situation where the USSR creates a “doomsday device” that will wipe out live on earth if it is attacked. Theoretically, such a device should discourage any nuclear warfare, since any attack would be followed by destruction of all belligerents. However, an idea that was proposed was moving thousands of survivors into mineshafts to outlast the nuclear radiation caused by the doomsday device and reproduce in order to restart the war all over again once the fallout subsided. It reflects a darker supposition about the persisting tribal nature of humanity, an enduring part of us that wants to wipe out the other side.

I admired Stanley Kubrick’s ability to weave comedy around nuclear apocalypse, a traditionally darker topic. It reminds me a lot of Kurt Vonnegut’s style. In fact, the ending of Dr. Strangelove is very similar to the ending in Cat’s Cradle, where essentially all life is extinguished without either work really focusing on the appalling nature of the outcome. There was no gore in the movie, and the series of unfortunate events leading to the nuclear holocaust were quite humorous. Additionally, the Vera Lynn song at the end maintained levity.

Immediately after the movie ended, I realized that the title was odd, since Dr. Strangelove seemingly played a very minor role in the film. After thinking about it for a while, I think that perhaps the title is a reference to the suggestion that Dr. Strangelove made about how there would be ten women for every man in the mine shaft shelters, in order to rebuild the population.

Opinions about Dr. Strangelove

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I honestly didn’t know how I would approach writing about this movie because I didn’t enjoy it very much. The movie was funny and the jokes were enjoyable sometimes but, the political situation of the movie kind of hit home. In addition, I was not really able to follow plot and although some of the jokes were funny, it wasn’t something I would choose to watch. However, it was still a learning experience. I liked Ty’s powerpoint in the beginning and the little discussion that we had about President Eisenhower and President Kennedy. I was never a person who liked learning about war and battle tactics only because I really do not support most of the time. Regardless, it was interesting learning about the concept of mutually assured destruction (MAD) and how the Cold War was a perfect example of it. Originally, I thought that MAD was probably coined during the Cold War because of the idea that there were finally weapons that could potentially wipe out an entire region and effect the surrounding areas of contact. When I thought about war later on, I found that notion to be completely silly because the idea has been in effect for centuries, if not millennia. The idea that it is better to leave another alone because you are aware that they are just as dangerous as you are has been around since the beginning. The term may not have been coined but, the idea has been in effect. It’s interesting how the best example of mutually assured destruction was the Cold War where there were probably many, many more battles that were just as striking. As I said, I usually don’t like these kinds of movies and the idea that an insane general was able to wipe out an entire region in Soviet Russia was unsettling. It’s easy to do such actions when you don’t think of people as people and, instead, refer to them as a statistic. I understand that this is a satire yet, it still gets me slightly upset and frustrated.

Eisenhower Vs Kennedy

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Before watching the comedy movie Dr. Strangelove, we had a small discussion about the foreign policy in the United States during the cold war. GRF Tyler was comparing Eisenhower and Kennedy Era which were two different approaches of handling the battle between the United States and Soviet Union during the cold war.

President Eisenhower was the president of the U.S from 1953-1961. He was considered as a progressive conservative. He was very much focused on foreign and military policy. His presidency was also dominated by the cold war and the confrontation with Russia. The U.S also developed a global nuclear power which is the main theme that is shown in Dr. Strangelove as there was a big tension between the U.S and Soviet Union. He supported mutually assured destruction (MAD) which he called “massive retaliation”, which supported equal or greater attack against Soviet Union. He was also supporting countries in Middle East and Latin America that stood against communism.

The successor of Eisenhower was Kennedy (1961-1963) who is known for establishing peach corps, Nuclear Test Ban treaty and the space race. During his time there was also tension with communist states. He tried to combat communism from being accepted in third world countries through peaceful ways. Unlike Eisenhower, he was more flexible with his foreign policy and used informal negotiations and bureaucracy to stop communism.

Current Resemblance

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When I watched Dr. Strangelove, it kind of reminded me of our current situation in the US. We are almost at the verge of having a war with either Syria or North Korea. This movie seemed relevant in these times. Dr. Strangelove made me think how an incorrect interpretation of a military order could create irreversible consequences. At the meeting with the US president and military generals, there were different opinions and some arguments, particularly of what is legal and what is not. One general tried to justify his actions by claiming that in certain circumstances, there are exceptions to seeking permission from the commander-in-chief. That can be very dangerous. Countries have to be diplomatic to maintain peace in the world. If an irrational and impulsive decision is being made, it can affect the whole world and destroy many lives. Innocent civilians are killed as a result of choices made by a few. This movie reminds us to be rational about our decisions, especially those considering national security.

Art and Empathy: Neruda

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Films like Neruda (most notably those of the Coen brothers) in recent years have been emerging more and more frequently, taking on a style inspired by documentary that when placed in a formulaic approach to storytelling (inciting incident, rising action, climax, denouement), takes an interesting spin on the biopic. I find this mix to be an inventive method for story-telling that is somewhat semi-fantastical and rather imaginative, that really speaks to the power of art and how it is able to use experience as a form in which to fit itself within in order to transform and/or heighten our understanding of that experience (to create a sort of logic or reasoning for the things that we do experience, to give sense to life). Director Pablo Larraín is able to do so effortlessly by merging reality and fiction, art and politics. He illustrates the relationship between President Gonzalez Videla and Pablo Neruda as one that is subtle, playing the fine line between the co-existence of these two parallel sphere: how politics feeds into art and how art in turn has the agency to determine or sway the direction of politics to a certain extent, and if not on that grand scope, at least on the micro level of influencing individuals’ understanding of people and how a system of people work, in turn creating empathy. I think here is where Larraín is incredibly strong—in building that empathy not so much for Pablo Neruda as for his invented detective character, Oscar Peluchonneau, who is an Apollonian balance to the rather Dionysian lifestyle Neruda leads but also adds a complexity to the hackneyed dichotomy of good and evil. It is this ability for art or film to share experiences that are “other” or outside of ourselves that the power of art has in creating culture.

Dr. Strangelove

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Stanley Kubrik’s Dr. Strangelove was a weird movie. It was supposed to be a dark comedy about Cold War fears. The plot revolves around the circular threat of a Russian doomsday device that could be triggered by a U.S. bombing. The real danger in the movie is not the existence of bombs or nuclear weapons, but the incompetence of the decision-makers and idiocracy in power that may trigger them. In today’s world, every time we pick up a newspaper we are reminded of the random unpredictable human element that may result in the end of the world as we know it. Whether it is a threat of another World War or climate change, it is the decisions of the people in power as carried out by their bureaucracies that ultimately will determine the outcome. This fear is presented in the movie and it is what makes the movie relevant to today’s world. However, for me, this hits too close to reality and for this reason I found the film to be a scary exaggeration and not funny at all. I do not like to think about what could happen if those in charge are even more incompetent and in the dark than we may believe they are. Also, the whole production seemed dated, including the jokes. It was OK for a few hours, but I would never consider it a classic or one of my favorites. Some of it for me was boring, and the ending was unclear and dumb.

Letter to Julia 4/21/17

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Dear Julia,

In my opinion Dr. Strangelove is 10/10 great movie. It’s the best kind of satire. The whole film is completely ludicrous while remaining somehow painfully believable. It perfectly captures the absurdity of Cold War paranoia and jingoism. Everything I’ve ever read about the Cold War just reinforces how dangerous unstable that time was for both Americans and Soviets. One thing I thought about as we watched this movie during the event was how many classic movies have taken America to task for its role in the Cold War, like. There’s especially a lot of movies that focus on the Vietnam War like Forrest Gump, Apocalypse Now, Full Metal Jacket. (On the other hand there’s movies like Rocky IV where Sylvester Stalone pretty much defeats Communism through boxing) I bet there’s a lot written somewhere about how film was and is a tool for society to come to terms with American history with. If that was a class at Cornell I’d definitely take it.

Love,

Robert