GRF Shiv, on Super Bowl Sunday held an even where he essentially was showing us how to gamble. He printed out packets from a gambling website in which we had answer questions that were predictions of the game. However, just like most gambling you have to make an investment online. After, if you make a prediction and someone else were to make the same, and both of you were correct then you would split the profit of the people who were wrong. For example, on the packet it seemed like that New England Patriots were the favorite to win, and the Philadelphia Eagles were the underdogs. After the Super bowl, the Eagles won with a score of 41-33. Unfortunately for those that made abet on the Patriots, it seems like they would have lost some there investment to the people who placed a bet on the Eagles get to split it. I think when I have more time, I will look more in this phenomenon because there are people that have learned about the algorithms have been able to gain profit from it.
Author Archives: cao63
Urban Planning
It was very nice of House Professor Blalock to guide this discussion on urban planning. I never really knew too much about urban planning prior to this table talk. I remember that he asked us ideal places that we would want to live. I responded, “California, because there are large distances between most people and their neighborhoods and of course the sunny weather”. Another scholar responded, “New York”. Dr. Blalock then explained to us that New York from an urban planning standpoint would be a better place to live because since everything is relatively close to each other in terms such stores, schools, and other buildings which is convenient. In California, because there is so much space there is not the sense of convenience compared to New York. In California, people are encouraged to drive everywhere which is not good for the environment and people’s personal and physical well-beings. Due to the convenience in New York, people can walk places which is better for personal and physical well-being.
He also told us a little about the history of Ithaca. In terms of urban planning, the city of Ithaca was built where a body of water was. Additionally, it was built on a hills so he was explaining that when it rains, due to the hills it will collect in the commons or downtown Ithaca. In other words, the commons will flood. Also, we found out that Ezra Cornell’s fortune came from investing shares in telegraphing companies which merged into what we know as Western Union.
Being a bystander
On April 26th, I was able to attend the mini-seminar series that pertained to bystander intervention. We watched multiple scenarios which are could be ideal for a bystander. The first was a potential sexual assault, which was interesting to see because there was a man who was trying to take a girl who was way too inebriated upstairs. A group of her friends saw this and came to divide both of the people to stop something from potentially escalating. The second scenario was a girl of a different race than her friends being denied access into a party by one of the brother’s whose fraternity was throwing the party. The friends decided to leave the party instead of going in. Third, was a hazing situation in which a roommate sacrificed his sleep to console his shaken up roommate who came in late. Fourth, was a person struggling with an academic program, because they were not doing well and started questioning their ability to do their program. Another person overheard their strife and decided to talk to them, and was gave them advice to ask for help. Another was that a person, came to a party and drank way too much, they ended up blacking out. Their friends were wondering what to because they didn’t want to ruin the party, but eventually they called 911 because their could have been dire consequences.
All these scenarios were very realistic. What I learned was don’t stand around and expect to something to happen, when you have the opportunity to, because you never know what can happen.
Fantasy = Nostalgia
Last week, I attended Rose Cafe, where GRF Sara began to share with us her PhD studies in Romance and Fantasy. She described Romance, not as a term that people use to describe their intimate relationships with each other, but more of a relationship with hardships. Specifically, those that were in the medieval times. When she inevitably brought up fantasy, all I could begin thinking about were the various books or movies that I would read or watch that allowed my imagination to go wild. Especially, when I read a book I felt like I could really visualize the situations that were happening and always had questions. Usually, these questions were about why characters could not do something a different way or why they were treated a certain way. Like I mentioned earlier, fantasy just allows one to let their mind roam free and untamed. It reminds me of nostalgia.
Enjoying something that does that for you creates a feeling that is called nostalgia. Nostalgia brings us now busy college students a longing for the simplistic times. To be completely honest I feel that there is nothing wrong with that. Of course, as long as this longing does not consume us but instead motivates us to continue to work hard because simpler times will be ahead.
Social Media: Good or Bad?
This week’s table talk discussed the TED talk, which was titled “Quitting Social Media”. In the video, the speaker explained the three excuses people say in his response to quit social media. First, people said that social media was fundamental technology, in which he explained that technically it includes fundamental technology but can not be defined as that. He said that social media was a form of entertainment and only addictive, because of attention engineers who promote products that cater to the individuals interests. I actually agree with this statement, because social media is extremely addictive because it creates a sense of euphoria, in which people can distract themselves from their current circumstances. Secondly, was that people said it was vital to success in the 21st century, because social media helps building a brand and if you don’t have it people won’t know who you are. He explained that people that develop, “real skills and have a repertoire of deep work” will be searched for by employers. I felt this was kind of condescending. I understand that the speaker is a professor and that takes a lot of work to get to where he is. However, a lot of people use social media to entertain people with their personalities or other forms of videos such as pranks, or a discussion on topics. Thirdly, people said that social media is harmless and fun, that they may miss out. He explained that distracting ourself with social media, fragments our thinking and concentration which can cause a permanent decline. College students seem the most affected by social media, because it can cause physiological and psychological problems. Such as isolation, anxiety, and depression because of the portrayal of perfection on social media. This was enlightening because, it explains why it is hard to difficult things when we have stimuli that allows us to distract ourselves.
Transracialism
At this week’s table talk GRF Sam brought up the topic of someone assuming the race of one different than their own by their own context of what they believe this race looks or acts. This relates to the controversy of Rachael Dolezal, many years ago in which she as a white woman decided to appear and identify in what she idealized a black woman. In the articles we read and discussed, many talked about how the only way transracialism could be a concept is if it had the same constructs as gender. However, race has more of deeper and more sensitive undertone in society. This is due to many races/ethnicties being discriminated and going through experiences that others have not because of the color of their skin. Rachael Dolezal claims she meant no harm in her portrayal and life as a black woman, however, the reason people are mostly offended because she would never know what it actually meant to be a black woman. This is in terms of double jeopardy in the workplace, in which they may be paid less than other genders and races because they are who they are. As well as the perception of their personalities, in which they are seen as angry, aggressive, woman when in fact they are built to be strong because of what they go through. This is something Rachael Dolezal, did not understand and why she was scrutinized so badly.
Resume/CV Workshop Building
GRF Seema had a lot of extensive knowledge when it came to sharing it with us in the workshop. However, I do wish she could have shared her resume with us at maybe different levels of her education just to be able to observe her evolution. She described the resume building as a snapshot of yourself, because employers will only scan the resume for about ten seconds to see what you may offer to the able. When employers are scanning they seem to look for: position qualifications, academic achievement, and leadership positions held as well. There were some DONTs for resume/cv building, for example, using two columns to convey information is too confusing of a format to read. Another example, was using different colored or types of fonts which can make your resume/cv look unprofessional.
Also, she gave as advice on other aspects when applying to positions. You have to make sure to have people that can spend time and vouch for you. You also want a person with the highest position possible to write your recommendation letter for you. Be short, concise, and to the point in your resume/cv. Lastly, understand there kind of person you are and protect that.