Life

THE ELEPHANT IN THE ROOM | An Alternative to Paying for Textbooks at Cornell

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Here is a secret I have never shared with anyone: I haven’t paid for textbooks since sophomore year. I’m a senior this year. If you are taking four or five classes a semester, it’s more than likely that each of those classes has at least three required books. With the cost of textbooks ranging from $20 to $200, the bill for books alone piles up. After getting fed up with paying up to $500 a semester for books I never used again after the semester was over, I devised a plan on how I could spend as little as possible on books.

Life

SOUND OFF | The Bioethics of Biomedical Research

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Biomedical research and engineering, genetics, biotech — these are all disciplines rising in popularity among research, academics and scientists, and with a similar goal in mind: they emphasize the use of multi-disciplinary teams to ensure quick “bench-to-bed” results which translate basic scientific research to the medical community and then to the patient. Yet these rising disciplines are gaining ground at such a fast pace that many scientists and physicians have begun to neglect an important aspect of translational research: the native and marginalized populations around the globe that are heavily involved in the medical research, yet rarely reap its benefits. The most illuminating examples of excruciating difficult ethical questions can be seen in the emerging study of the human gut microbiome. Researchers now believe  that this microbiome, composed of millions of diverse bacteria in the human gut, plays an integral but not yet fully understood role in human health. It may hold the key to understanding  a wide variety of chronic diseases, among them allergies, asthma, inflammatory bowel disease, and most directly, obesity.

Life

AKABAS | A Definitive Ranking of Fruits

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Fruit has been on everyone’s mind throughout history. According to the Bible, the only reason humans even have the mental capacity to think about fruit was because Adam ate a fruit. During the Dutch Renaissance, painters literally just painted bowls of fruit, which was the 1600s equivalent of Instagramming your food. In the present day, nearly everyone I told about this article had strong feelings; people like fruit and are surprisingly opinionated about fruit. So to clear things up once and for all, I’ve generated a definitive ranking of fruits.

Life

LEPORELLO DAYDREAMS | On Being Derpy

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If you’re anything like me, you’ve probably had your share of derpy moments with those awkward and often embarrassing times when your face turns red and you let out a nervous chuckle.  If you were anything like me during middle school… well, let’s just say that those moments did not make the sixth grade very pleasant. The most recent example of this awkwardness happened on a trip to the grocery store with my roommate.  While he paid for our breakfast items, I decided I’d pick up a deck of playing cards. So, I walked up to the cashier—a friendly, cute looking gal—and armed with my best smile and confident charm, I placed the card pack on the counter and said, “Just this today.”  She smiled at me and said, “Alright, credit card?” For a moment, my brain fritzed out and screamed at me, “No cash?

Business

AGORA | The Amazon Problem

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It is hard to think of an aspect of our material lives that Amazon has not touched. Amazon has become such a ubiquitous and practically tangible presence despite being based entirely online. A brick-and-mortar store might tear down what has made Amazon so successful: its adaptability. Founder Jeff Bezos originally contemplated naming the firm “Relentless,” a name which hints, albeit somewhat sinisterly, at its tenacity, and its drive into untapped markets. First, Bezos wanted Amazon to be the world’s biggest bookstore.

Life

Grace’s Grove | A New Card Game: Fish

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A new card game has been going around lately, invented by our very own Cornellian, Kevin Zhang 21’. The game Fish is a mix between Go Fish and Kemps, except it is much more difficult. My friend group and I have been obsessed with this game this past month, and gladly sacrifice way too much of our studying time to play Fish. This game requires top-notch memorization and observation skills, and is great for building teamwork: my friends and I have definitely developed psychic mind-reading powers from playing so much. A basic rundown of how to play:

There are six players total. Every other player is on the same team (three people on each team.)
There are two half-suits for each shape (clubs, diamonds, hearts, spades) consisting of the numbers 2-7 and 9-A, for a total of eight half-suits.

Life

EMEM ELEMENT | Why “Happiness” May be Making Us Unhappy

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According to the World Happiness Report, Denmark, after Norway took the crown, is listed as the second happiest place in the world. Hearing this, it is easy for one to flee to the Nordic countries in hopes of getting a taste of what this “happiness” feels like. What are the Nordic — specifically Danish — people so happy about? What makes them happy? But more so — what does happiness even mean?

Life

OUTSIDE THE MAINSTREAM | The NCAA is Anything but Abnormal

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This week, many people criticized the NCAA for its treatment of college basketball players. LeBron James called the NCAA “corrupt.” Stan Van Gundy, the coach of the Charlotte Hornets, remarked that they there were the “worst organization” and labeled their actions as “racist.” This criticism emerged after a report revealed that dozens of players had been paid and given loans as compensation for their play. This violated NCAA policy, which does not permit players to receive any compensation outside of athletic scholarship and stipends. These NBA players and coaches who voiced their criticisms believe the system unfairly benefits administrators and universities, since the NCAA and the colleges obtain a gigantic revenue stream from college sports, especially basketball and football. These sports have a huge concentration of black players, often from poorer backgrounds, who are robbed of fair payment.

Life

COFFEE THOUGHTS | So, Where Now?

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For those who still haven’t quite mentally prepared themselves for adulthood yet (read: me), this could be quite a jostling thought: where exactly is home now? Prior to coming to Cornell, I was so caught up in the frenzy of excitement and eagerness to explore the newfound limits of college and independence that I never stopped to consider the consequences of the transition: once I moved out, would my definition of “home” change? Sure, home is where my family is, but even my trips to California during breaks are merely “visits” now. Many times I’ve caught myself telling my friends “I’m going home now!” when I’m really about to trek back to North. Have I begun to think of my dingy little dorm, and even Cornell, as my home?

Life

An Apple a Day | Red Light for Blue Light: How Technology May Contribute to Your Lack of Sleep

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Sleep deprivation: it is a problem that students across the nation complain about almost daily. Personally, I can’t get through a conversation with someone without the words “I’m so tired” coming up, not to mention the slew of other complaints of work and extracurriculars contributing to the issue. It seems to all of us students that sleep deprivation is almost a way of life; we are lucky to be getting even moderate amounts of sleep daily. While many are quick to blame their course load, extracurriculars or social life for the epidemic, the issue may just lie in our hands—literally. According to many researchers, smartphones are to blame for many issues related to low sleep quality and lack of sleep.