Author Archives: esk92

Implications of Organoid use

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I left last weeks Rose Cafe presentation and discussion led by the GRF Shiv with the understanding that organoids are essentially mini organs engineered in vitro. These can be used to develop and test treatments and therapies including those for some of the most pressing current health problems such as different types of cancer and addiction. While this discussion was interesting, after the discussion I was still curious and interested in broader ethical implications of this biotechnology: would organoid use for developing new treatments or more efficiently produce existing treatments raise the cost of these drugs or lower cost? What are some potential consequences or externalities, either positive or negative of this technology? I also appreciated that the speaker spoke a bit about his academic/ career trajectory and motivation for pursuing engineering graduate studies here before going to med school.

 

Mid Semester Reminder

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I am glad that I went to last week’s Rose Cafe that featured Cornell men’s tennis coach, Silviu Tanasoiu. During the Cafe, Coach Tanasoiu spoke about the process of recruiting players, his relationship with players as both coach and mentor, and the story of one tennis player. Before hearing him speak, I had never really considered how instrumental varsity sports coaches are in the lives of players. It seems like the tennis players have a lot of added support and guidance, beyond guidance in the sport, by being part of the team.

Additionally, Coach Tanasoiu shared his perspective on student-athlete life at Cornell by discussing the story of Bernardo, a tennis player who entered Cornell and faced some initial academic setbacks but ultimately ended his college career with many accomplishments. This story of “transformation,” as the coach described it, emphasized that persistence and hard work are critical for overcoming challenges. Though this message is simple and straightforward, I enjoyed hearing this story especially at this point in the semester.

Environmental Awareness

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During last Wednesday’s Rose Cafe, Andy Zepp, who works for the Finger Lakes Land Trust, described his work and role in protecting the Finger-lake region’s environment and promoting local tourism and recreation in nature. Before attending this cafe, I was not familiar with the work of land trusts as entities which purchase land for conservation purposes. Thus, it was informative to hear him describe his role in the local community.

Specifically,  he pointed out the environmental hazard that salt could pose to the organisms that live in Cayuga Lake. This was after one person from the audience broached the subject of run-off salt entering the water system after being used excessively for melting ice on roadways during the winter. Andy noted, for example, that much of the pollutants from Wegman’s parking lot have easy access to flow into the Cayuga. I remembered that previously, during the Rose Cafe discussion on environmental planning and architecture, the speaker described the future Greenstar Market’s parking lot design which will be configured to minimize its impact of runoff into the surrounding ecosystem.

Although I am not particularly interested in both environmental design nor the nuances of land trust work, seeing the connections between these two presentations increased my appreciation for the work being done to try to mitigate the negative human impact of development on our natural environment, which I believe is important.

Practical Designs

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This past Wednesday I attended the Rose Cafe featuring Noah Demarest, who currently works as a architecture in Ithaca and graduated from the College of Human Ecology in Design and Environmental Analysis. I thought his approach toward the presentation, of having a slide show of designs an recent developments in Ithaca, was appropriate for this topic as we were able to see his work and visions for future buildings. I liked the design for the new Green Star which I believe he noted is anticipated to arise in the space currently occupied by the old Cornell Press building.

However, because he did not really come with a concrete or structured presentation in mind, he relied on students to ask good questions to spur dialogue. Two of my favorite questions from this cafe led him to comment more specifically about the environmental impact that the Green Star build might have on the surrounding ecosystem. He noted that the design team takes precautionary measures to try to minimize and contain runoff. Another student asked about the physical accessibility of the designs that were being presented, which  led Demarest to comment and explain that many of the places on Cornell’s campus are technically considered inaccessible for people who require wheelchair assistance. I think that theses questions enhanced the conversation as they emphasized how important proper building design and layout are, beyond their appearance, for maximizing human functional benefits and minimizing environmental damage.

Persistence

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Friday evening’s Flora Film was “Forrest Gump”, the classic Tom Hanks movie which chronicles Forest’s adventures through notable, historical 20th century events including presidential assassinations, civil rights campaigns and war. Considering the last time I saw this movie, almost five years ago, I have a different appreciation for the movie now.

On one level, the seemingly seamless transition between events with accompanying music is quite impressive. Yet as the semester picks up with successes and road bumps, the overarching themes from the movie provide salient reminders of the importance of having a mindset for persevering. For example, Forest explains his mother’s statement “stupid is what stupid does”; he also explains her saying that “you have to put the past behind you before you can move on”; lastly, he is seen in a recurrent state of running. Taking all of these statements and symbols together, the overarching theme from the movie seems to be that human disposition and behavior in the face of adversity or predicaments defines one’s character. Thus, Forests incessant ability to charge forward in the face of adversity proves to be a much more valuable character trait compared to the slight learning impairment and physical disability he inherited from birth.

Insights into Healthcare Systems

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The NPR article entitled “When A Tattoo Means Life Or Death. Literally” by Rebecca Hersher was short, but an accessible introduction to the potential complications of end of life care and making end of life decisions, particularly when a patient’s wishes might not be clear. During the Rose Table Talk discussion of this article , we hit on the most salient, and fairly obvious, points of the article. These points including the tenuous legal position healthcare providers could be in if they do not follow certain guidelines properly  as well as the pain and burden of watching a loved one suffer and being responsible (or not) for carrying out his or her end of life wishes, if available.

Nonetheless, the initial conversation on this specific topic did not really excite novel or surprising ideas or discourse, but it evolved into talking about other matters of healthcare. For example, one international student shared insight into the healthcare system of his country and another participant spoke about other systemic healthcare differences in her home country. This aspect of the Table Talk, where participants share personal stories or knowledge instead of just their opinion about an article, has enriched every one of these discussions that I have attended so far.

Judge Miller’s Return

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Last semester I attended the Rose Cafe with Judge Miller and was impressed by his stories and the insight he offered into his work. Thus, I did not hesitate to return to hear him speak during this week’s Cafe.

Although some of the major themes he addressed previously–including not only judging a person based on one or two poor actions or characteristics– were invoked again during this iteration, he also provided another interesting  summation of what he views as the two major problems in America: the lack of universal health care and universal access to quality education. I appreciated that he spoke to the connection such structural inequities that people face as a result of the lack of education and healthcare and the justice system. For instance, he pointed out that some people willingly spending money on incarcerating individuals who might have made better decisions had they been given stronger educational opportunities as children for success outside of crime. Yet some of those people who willingly funnel money into the criminal justice system might also be opposed to increasing funding to education or supporting universal health care which would equip those traditionally disadvantaged people to lead healthier lives with more potential for positive growth.

Similarly, I thought his explanation and discussion of “restorative justice” were interesting. He explained that this meant making case decisions with the hopes of empowering victims and helping those who committed the crime learn from and grow out of their actions to strengthen the community.

I left this Rose Cafe with a deeper appreciation for the role judges have in exerting their influence and power to not simply feed into what I see as a flawed prison system.