Author Archives: mjd389

Pros and Cons of Social Media

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On Monday, I went to the table talk to join GRF Sara to discuss the use of social media. The talk was inspired by a TedTalk by Cal Newport, who does not use social media. In the video, Dr. Newport was attempting to crown himself as a better man than social media users because he does not feel the urge to use these applications. Dr. Newport only considered the negative aspects of social media, when in reality there are many beneficial things that individuals can gain from social media platforms.

In my experience using social media, I have found that it has done an exceptional job of keeping me up to date with personal relationships as well as global news. I will say, however, that Dr. Newport is probably right, and that I could probably be more productive without social media. Just today, I have found myself constantly being distracted by social media when trying to study. I do blame myself for this, however, rather than the actual applications, as it would be just as easy to be distracted by television.

At the end of the discussion, we discussed how social media provides a platform for anonymous cyber bullying. To me, this is the biggest problem that social media presents. Many people feel unbreakable and powerful because they can hide behind a computer screen and bully other individuals. This has caused a lot of depression and even suicide among young teens in recent years. Additionally, privacy has become a huge concern regarding social media due to the latest Mark Zuckerberg scandal. In all honesty, I have known that my data probably has been unsafe for years, and it has not really bothered me all that much. In conclusion, I think that Dr. Newport did not consider the benefits that social media has to offer, and while it can be distracting, it provides entertainment, connections, and happiness to billions of people.

Does Transracialism Mean Anything

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A few years ago, Rachel Dolezal, former president of the NAACP, was exposed as a white woman after years of posing as an African-American woman. Nevertheless, it was revealed by her parents that she was really just a white woman that used blackface and changed her hair to appear African-American. This controversy sparked the debate of “transracialism” and if it was possible to identify as a race other than the one given at birth.

On Monday, I sat down with GRF Sam to talk about the idea of transracialism and how it compares to transgenderism. Many people at the table talk agreed that while many people may feel as if they resonate heavily with a particular culture, it is unnecessary to change appearance to mimic their cultural appearance. From what I understand, transgender individuals do not live comfortably in their born gender, so a change is necessary to enjoy life. Nobody naturally feels uncomfortable in his or her own race, even if a person may consider themselves to fit in with another culture.

Additionally, there have been many celebrities and individuals that I know that have come out as transgender and altered their lives accordingly. I have never heard of another individual besides Rachel Dolezal to consider him or herself transracial. I hear that there is a documentary about her family and life coming to Netflix, and I will enjoy watching it, even though I do not think her story makes any sense.

Exploring Bike Life

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At our table talk on Monday, we talked a bit about the history of city bike systems in the United States. Unfortunately, while bikes are great for the environment and health, bike systems have failed to ever gain much traction in the United States. Part of this is due to cities being so large and horizontally constructed that a car is just too much of a necessity. Additionally, it is now economically friendly to have a car in most cities, or just use Uber or public transportation.

I enjoy biking when it is nice outside, but I typically use my own bike. I have never actually used a city bike system, but I think it would be an interesting and fun thing to do if I wanted to explore some part of a city on a nice day. I do not think that Cornell is the optimal place to use a bike sharing system for a few reasons. First, the design of the campus would make biking very difficult, as it would be very physically demanding to bike up the slope from west campus to central campus. Additionally, starting as early as October, Ithaca becomes very cold and icy. It would not be safe to bike in icy road conditions. I also think that many people enjoy walking up and down the slope with others for conversational purposes, which would be disallowed by biking. I want to eventually try a bike system one day, just not at Cornell.

Dealing with Cultural Appropriation

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Monday night, I sat down with Sam and some other students to talk about the problem that is cultural appropriation. We first talked about famous rock and roll musician Elvis Presley and how he borrowed a lot of his sound from black culture and reaped all the benefits when the country did not allow black people to be heard on the radio. We also talked about a sculptor’s piece of art that was thought to be an honor, but was really a rip-off of Native American history. The sculptor stopped constructing the painting as complaints occurred, and made the wood available to be burned.

We then talked about where the line is drawn when it comes to what is and is not appropriate. Some things we agreed were very obvious, such as Halloween costumes. We often see people dress up as Native Americans, which is a very clear sign of cultural appropriation and should not be tolerated. However, as a group, there were some things that we just did not know how to clarify. For example, someone brought up hair braiding, and how her white friend from home started braiding her hair. She agreed that this was not a big deal, but when she thought about her whole white community from home doing it, she realized how bad it could be.

I think cultural appropriation is a very important thing to acknowledge to make sure every culture is respected. Cultural appropriation can never be good, regardless of the intention.

How to Build

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Last Wednesday, I was fortunate enough to listen to local architect Noah Demarest talk about some projects that he is working on in the area. One of my best friends from my hometown is an architect and always explains how much work he has, but has never told me about the projects. I never considered how hard it would be to build in Ithaca, but Noah informed us of the strict Ithaca zone building codes. One major obstacle is complying with the power lines. Ithaca has power lines nearly everywhere, unlike some cities that have them underground or architecture reasons.

During the talk, Noah answered a lot of great questions from students. One question that I thought was interesting asked Noah about potential runoff from rain that would flow directly into the local stream. He explained that all of the little aspects of design and architecture are covered by law and that the issue has been addressed. Additionally, I liked how Noah explained the legal background behind building accessible housing for handicapped individuals. Noah mentioned that he was working on creating a more modern feel in collegetown and redesigning the buildings to house more students. This spoke to me because I do not want to live in collegetown due to the appearance and location, but I would certainly consider it if a new complex was developed.

Sleep Factor

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During our table talk on Monday, we talked about how common it is for college students to fail to get adequate sleep every night. According to Dr. Maas, college students should be getting 9 hours of sleep a night. Previously, I had always heard that each person’s sleep cycle was different, and quality of sleep depended most on REM cycles. I was surprised at how much sleep he said was required, as I can often sleep for far fewer than 9 hours and go about my day without being tired.

Since arriving to Cornell, I actually haven’t been so stressed out about monitoring my sleep schedule. In high school, the 7:30 AM start time, paired with daily late-night rehearsals and practices, sleep was scarce for me, and I only got 5 to 6 hours on average. At Cornell, I’ve been fortunate enough to start my days at 10 Am and sometimes even later, allowing me to sleep for 7 to 8 hours. However, when I do not sleep, I force myself to push through the day, as I do not like taking naps in the afternoon.

I thought some of the correlations and comparisons from the study were interesting. There is a high correlation between lack of sleep and being overweight. Additionally, 80,000 people fall asleep at the wheel each day, but this has never happened to me. In fact, driving helps to make me more alert of my surroundings.

 

An Evening In Court (Sort Of)

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Last Wednesday evening I had the pleasure of hearing local Judge and Cornell alumnus Scott Miller talk about his experience on the job. While I find myself very interested in the judicial system, I had never before had the opportunity to talk with a judge. Fortunately, Judge Miller had some tremendous insight on how to correct problems facing America and did a tremendous job answering questions from students.

Judge Miller explained that he viewed the lack of health care and the education system as the two biggest problems in America. He believes that education would keep kids out of prisons and ironically, if the country just put a bit more money into the education system for young people, it would save a lot of money that the government spends to imprison them later. I agree with this statement, as I have seen many kids from my area who dropped out of school end up in trouble. Judge Miller also talked about adopting Canada’s healthcare system.

Fortunately, I was able to ask Judge Miller about his opinion of the Larry Nassar court hearing and the judge’s behavior. In my opinion, I found her behavior to be somewhat excessive, but I could not find myself willing to side with Mr. Nassar in anyway, so I accepted it. Judge Miller had a much different viewpoint, which I respected and found very interesting. He believes that judges should understand their role in the court and not abuse power. Judge Miller explained how hard sentencing someone to prison is and how he is never happy to do it. I look forward to hearing from more people involved in the legal system of the United States to explore my interest in law.