Saturday, April 30, 2016

A Box Full of Italian Food! :P

Ok I wrote this article months ago, but for some reason I have never published it.

Now, all this food is gone, and I miss it so much just by looking back at this post!

--

YESSS. My box has arrived! This is a box of Italian goodies that my mom (love you woman) sent me from home. Here is what I found inside…

TUNA. I don’t know why, but my mother packed 12 pounds of canned tuna in my box. Actually I just asked her why, and she replied that canned tuna lasts for years… Perhaps she heard of El nino coming soon? It’s true that Mediterranean tuna in olive oil, especially the brand I ate while growing up, is way way more delicious than that sucky Chicken of the Sea in water, but 12 pounds!!! Well, I know how to enrich my pasta, salads, and sandwiches for the next 27 years! Lol :)

Extra virgin olive oil. This is simply because it would cost much more to buy the same quality Mediterranean olive oil in the U.S. As we can learn on authoritynutrition.com, “Real “extra virgin” olive oil is 100% natural and very high in antioxidants. Many of the lower quality olive oils have been processed and adulterated with cheaper oils.” So she threw a 1-liter can in the box!

Prosciutto. This is a big one! Here is a funny fact: “prosciutto” is just the Italian word that we use to describe a thin cut of a pork’s behind, so it includes what Americans call “prosciutto” and also what Americans call “ham;” however, we call the ham “prosciutto cotto,” which means “cooked.” I don’t mean to be offensive to Hillshire Farm or anyone, but Italian pork cuts are way better, too. It’s much more delicate, softer, not wet, and definitely more tasty. 

Parmiggiano Reggiano and Grana Padano. 
Check the difference in the amount of ingredients!
These are two types of cheese that Americans refer to as “Parmesan cheese.” They are very similar and both come from central-northern Italy, but they are produced with slightly different techniques. For instance, Parmiggiano is produced from cows eating exclusively grass and healthy stuff and is 100% natural, so it is of better quality and softer. Grana Padano is usually lighter but harder so some people prefer it. It is also cheaper so it is usually preferred to use on pasta, while Parmiggiano is preferred when eaten by itself of with some Prosciutto or salame. 

Gocciole.
This is the best part. In fact, this morning I had the best breakfast I could possibly ask for. Probably (definitely) not as fancy as salmon, not as tasty as Eggs Benedict, not as delicious as Nutella pancakes, but these biscuits taste like home to me.




I have been dunking these chocolate chip biscuits in warm milk ever since I stopped using a baby bottle! Gocciole have been there for me every day for most of my life, and when they weren't (because my dad ate them at night) I would get so angry and I had to eat those other biscuits for breakfast which my sister loves so much… Throughout high school, I have had thousands of Gocciole and I would never had stopped if I didn't have to move to America. As you can understand, I literally love these biscuits, and I keep insisting on calling them biscuits and not cookies because they are very different from what Americans think of as a chocolate chip cookie. Eating Gocciole for breakfast this morning was like going back in time to when I was still in Italy, and it felt really good! 

In the box I could also find two of my shirts that I forgot at home and a new pair of fancy shoes!


That box made my day!

A presto,

- Fede

Friday, April 29, 2016

Why The Penny Must Die, by Sebastian Rothstein

Why The Penny Must Die

This is an article by Sebastian Rothstein, President of the Economic Club of Santa Barbara, of which I am the Events Chair. 

You are encouraged to read this article on the ECSB Journal, of which I am an editor. (click here)

I think it is very interesting and also very true, so I felt like sharing it on my blog. 

After months of acting like a scavenger, you’ve finally filled up the jar which sits so elegantly on the table; the very same table where you have been studying arithmetic the entire semester before you and your friends could finally take off for summer break. The jar, which radiates a holy bronze aura, has ensured that you will have a summer break filled with joy; now, you can go down to the local candy shop every Saturday to pick up enough candy to make you sick after shoving down all that sugar in a matter of hours (but oh man was it worth it!). The jar, you may ask, what was in it? The jar was filled with pennies.

If you were born before the 1990s, this story may bring back some childhood memories. However, this is an experience which today's kids will never know. To spend $20 with pennies, which is roughly the amount one has to spend to buy 2 bags of chips, 2 litres of Coca-Cola, and 3 chocolate bar (or one barrel of oil, but that’s an argument for another day), one would have to spend 2000 pennies, which weighs approximately 11 pounds (you’d need a large jar for that).

So then, why should we get rid of the penny?

They cost more to make than they are worth.
To make one penny, it costs approximately 1.8 cents. Two forces conspired to make this the case, inflation and the rising price of metals. The United States Mint admitted that, “There are no alternative metal compositions that reduce the manufacturing unit cost of the penny below its face value.” Thus, unless they were to be made out of plastic, the penny will always cost more to produce than they are worth; yet, the U.S. Mint continues to manufacture 4 billion pennies each year. The U.S. even made melting down coins illegal as people realized that they could make a profit from the raw materials from the penny and the nickel.

The opportunity cost is too damn high.
There is a joke which goes something along these lines: Two economists walk down the road and they see a twenty dollar bill lying on the side-walk. One of them asks “is that a twenty dollar bill?” Then the other one answers “It can’t be, because someone would have picked it up already,” and they keep walking. The joke is supposed to portray the fact that there is no resources just lying around because someone would already have picked it up. However, had one-hundred pennies been lying on the street, the joke would probably sound something like this: Two economists walk down the road and they see a hundred pennies lying on the side-walk. One of them asks “is that hundred pennies just lying there?” Then the other one answers “most likely, since it’s not worth the opportunity cost to pick them up,” and they keep walking. Pennies are, quite literally, so worthless that picking them up is not even worth it. Actually, they are worth a lot less than nothing, as they cost as much as $1 billion a year in productivity cost. It’s estimated that the time we spend fiddling with pennies when we pay for goods adds, on average, 2 seconds for every cash transaction.

They don’t facilitate trade.
The reason why we have money is so that they can facilitate trade of goods and services so that we don’t have to barter like savages. However, the penny fails horrendously at this task. The usual places where you would use coins, such as vending machines, parking meters, and washing machines, do not accept pennies. In fact, no machine that sell goods or services accept pennies. Furthermore, since it’s nearly impossible to calculate the sales tax in your head, no one can get their pennies ready when they reach the cashier; resulting in an opportunity cost for you and everyone in the line. Businesses are even allowed under law to refuse pennies. Moreover, only ⅓ of all the pennies produced even circulates in the economy. 2% of the people in a  Gallup survey even admitted to throwing their pennies in the thrash. Currently, the only thing you can do with a penny is to throw it into a fountain while making a wish; given the penny’s current face-value, the only wish that would only be granted is if you wished to see what a penny looks like under water.

Are there any upsides to having the penny?

The penny lobby “America For Common Cents” (Oh my Lord what a bad play on words) argue that without the penny, prices would rise and charitable contributions will fall. The fact that they believe that citizens would not contribute to charity if not through something which is basically worthless is rather cynical; regardless, the statement is not true whatsoever. Countries like New Zealand and Canada removed their penny and did not see prices rise or charitable contributions fall. Not even Sweden, which removed their 0.5 Krona (50 öre), saw any significant change in prices or charitable contributions. At the time when Sweden removed the 50 öre, it was worth approximately 5 cents - maybe we should look into getting rid of more than just the penny.

But we love Abraham Lincoln
Well, who doesn’t? But at the end of the day, Lincoln would probably wonder what his face was doing at a coin which is worthless. Furthermore, we already have his face and his monument on the $5 bill; you know, the thing that is worth 500 times more than a penny.

Conclusion:
Ultimately, removing the penny will not do a whole lot for the economy. We will still have rampantly stacking debt, we will still have people in poverty, and we will still have crime; but removing the penny will still be a step in the right direction. Removing the penny would ultimately have the same consequences as the removal of the half-penny did. The half-penny was discontinued in 1857 when the U.S realized it was worth too little; however, when the half-penny was removed, it had more purchasing power than today’s dime.
With all the facts at hand, it’s time that we do the right thing. It’s time we kill the penny.

Thursday, April 28, 2016

Sudden and acute back pain kinda ruined my day

You know what is not a good idea? What I did this morning.
When I woke up I was excited about my day, so I didn't feel tired at all, even though it was only 7 am and I didn't get a really good night sleep. I got out of bed, and feeling a little cold I decided to do a few slow deep squats to warm up my muscles. Then I walked toward the bathroom to take a shower, which is usually the first thing I do every morning, but after a few steps I dropped to the floor instead and did 20 push ups. I felt pumped, so I picked up the dumbbell and started counting 1, 2, 3, 4… and so on. I realized I actually had a lot of time before Peter the cameraman would have come to film me at 8am… So I thought I could squeeze in a quick workout before my shower. 20 minutes later, I stopped the workout and jumped in the shower. 
My day continued pretty regularly. Ok, it was actually a very particular and unique morning, but I had no issues related to the workout… Until 2:30pm. I was sitting down reading stuff on my laptop after finishing my lunch, when I realized that my back muscles were spasming. I literally could not move my back without feeling pain! I walked very stiffly to the Health Center, where they told me they couldn't help me but I could call in tomorrow morning at 8am to make an appointment… Useless. 
I took some ibuprofen and I walked away; walking was painful so I laid down on the grass outside the cafeteria and fell asleep. When I woke up, I still felt back pain, so I was tempted to go straight home or to a doctor. However, I skipped last week’s meeting with the leadership of the Economic Club of Santa Barbara, and I didn't feel like skipping  again. So I went. As it turns out, we are organizing another event, for the third week in a row. 
This event, differently from the other two won’t be on American Inequality; instead, this event will be an opportunity to discuss important issues related to the future of our country. Congressional candidate Justin Fareed will come out to talk about education, equal opportunity, unemployment in the economy, and the other issues our generation is faced with. Justin is running for Congress to reform the institution, to get it working again for the American people, and to solve long-range issues that affect this and future generations. He believes that Congress needs to be held accountable instead of kicking the can down the road to the next generation. As usual, food and refreshments will be provided during the event. According to some internal source, we’re gonna serve Cotsco wraps, which are really good! :)
The event will be held at Santa Barbara City College, in Room: PS 101, on May 4th (Wednesday) 5:30pm. As always, you're all invited to participate or just come check it out!
But let’s get back to my story… I felt so bad about my back! I decided to skip my class (which runs from 6 pm to 9 pm) and I went home instead. On the way home, I stopped at Albertsson’s to grab Icy&Hot patches and an electrolytes drink, and since I was right there I grabbed two slices of pizza from Cotsco! By that time, I had ingested 400mg of ibuprofen already, so my back was feeling better. 
I talked to my insurance and chiropractors are covered up to $50 a visit, and only up to 3 visits per year… Hopefully tomorrow morning I will feel better. I was just very upset about my back suddenly hurting like that, because there was apparently no reason… Then I realized that this morning’s intense workout with no warm up and no cool down may have been a reason. Also, I had an intense work out yesterday, too. I probably need to take it easy on my workouts! Tonight I will stay in and rest. Tomorrow is a big day! I will find out about UC Berkeley’s admission decision!
WISH ME GOOD LUCK!
A presto,

- Fede

A totally different morning!

This morning was WAAAYYYY different than any other morning in my life.
First of all I had trouble sleeping all night because tomorrow I am going to find out whether I have been accepted to the Haas School of Business at UC Berkley or not. I kept waking up, only to look at the time on my phone and realize it was early, then try to go back to sleep… Finally, at 7am, the alarm went off. I took a shower, had breakfast, and then… 
And then a pretty big truck pulled over in front of my house and a small film-making crew came out of it. SBCC is currently filming a virtual tour of the school and student life. Since I am a student blogger, I work in the Marketing department, and the Marketing Communications Specialist (aka my boss) Melanie thought I would be a good candidate to help out with this video. In fact, I think it’s pretty exciting to participate in the creation of a virtual tour for SBCC, which is such a wonderful school, that I love so much and will miss after I transfer.
Peter, the cameraman who is handling the project, showed up to my house around 8:15am. He asked me a few questions about myself, and then we started filming. He had me do a few of those things that a person would do while getting ready for school, grabbing a cereal box from the closet, putting my shoes on, packing my backpack. Particularly, we repeated the action of putting my laptop and water bottle inside of my backpack and then zip it closed several times and from different angles. 
Peter on my couch, ready to film
Apparently, they want to have a few shots about students getting ready for school and commuting to school, which will be at the beginning of the final video. That’s way they came to my house this morning!
So I told them that the way I commute is I carpool with my friend Alyssa. She comes pick me up around 8:30am, but today she came a little later. Peter took a shot of me opening the door of my house, walking out, and waving at Alyssa as I walked toward the car. Then he took a shot of me opening the car door and getting in the car: it was funny and weird at the same time, but also pretty cool.
Then something unexpected happened. He jumped in the car, and wanted to ride with us to school. It was kind of an awkward situation because the car was pretty messy and we also had to go pick up another friend, Kate, to carpool with us. Peter kind of squeezed in the back seat with his huge camera and he asked us to talk and look at each other. It’s cool because the camera only records the video but not the sound, so we were just talking nonsense at the beginning. Once we got more accustomed to the fact that a person was filming us, we actually started talking about things that made sense.
When we got to Kate’s house, she was right outside waiting for us. The car stops, and Peter opens the door and jumps out the car to let Kate get in. Her face expression was priceless, she was so shocked! She had no idea any of this would happen, so she was a little confused but also excited, as we told her what was going on. Her comment was: “I would have dressed better if you guys had told me!” Alyssa and I were sorry but we thought it was hilarious. 
We kept talking normally throughout the ride to school, a part for one specific time when Peter asked me to turn around and talk to Kate, who was sitting in the back seat; he instructed me to “say anything…” so, I said something in Italian and they were all confused and laughed. 
When we got to school, Peter followed us on our way to class and it was still a little weird but really cool. We were just walking casually and a guy with a big camera was following us. All the students were looking at us wondering what was going on. When we got to class, or— to be precise— to the Math Lab where I work as a tutor (yes, I was late to work) Peter thanked us and said goodbye. It was a very particular and funny way to start the morning. 
Hopefully, the rest of the day will be great too!
A Presto,

- Fede

Wednesday, April 27, 2016

Let's talk about Globalization... (PART 2/2)

This is the second part of my paper on Globalization. I argue that human beings are naturally tribal-- they make groups and stick with them. Therefore, while globalization exists certainly on the surface, it will never be achieved on a deeper and complete level.
 For PART 1, click here.

...What could be a clearer and more genuine representation of this assumption than kids forming cliques all the time? Children don’t act by hidden agenda, they are innocent and act purely, naturally. Their actions and behaviors depend solely on their natural instinct. Intelligibly, when a few kids form a little group and get to the point to exclude other peers, they don’t do so to intentionally harm the excluded, nor are they trying to study their the emotional response. Children do so because they are tribal. They do so because they feel comforted by each other’s similarities, just as they don’t feel comfortable with each other’s differences. They do so because they are able to recognize which other children are similar to themselves. And they can recognize these similarities because they are embedded into the roots of their tribes’ history.

As a matter of fact, being part of a group makes us feel important as an integrative element of a reality, of something larger and bigger than ourselves, while we run away from the dark mystery and the fear of ever being left alone. This natural behavior, described by social psychology as the “Need to Belong Theory,” takes up a central position in the emblematic pyramid portraying a figurative representation of Abraham Masolw’s hierarchy of needs (Cherry, Kendra). Maslow was an American psychologist and a professor of psychology at different institutions of higher education, including Columbia University. His studies have demonstrated that forming groups, or “tribes,” of people similar to each other is a hallmark impressed in the DNA and in the nature of all women and men. These groups, eventually, lead to further development of more and more particular traits and characteristics— distinctive of that “tribe” (Encyclopædia Britannica). As a result, similar people become attached to the attributes and customs that make them unique, reason why they are not willing to give up their identity.

In one sense, individual identity arises ipso facto from a cultural and national identity. While cultures are formed by the interconnection and exchange of similar traits by geographically neighboring individuals, nations are based on their sentiments of nationalism. Nationalism is the firm opposition of the individual to shift the boundary of his nation, underlining and making bold the net distinction between his culture and another. On the same line of thought, the actions and beliefs of the individual depend on who he is, while who he is depends on the actions and beliefs performed by who lives around him. Therefore, preserving the traits of the community becomes a priority, and this has a negative effect on the process of globalization (Schouls, Timothy).

Of course, on the other hand, the word “Globalization” is itself controversial. It is becoming nothing more than the cliché of our time (Global Transformations). In one sense, it is indeed a new concept introduced after the Second World War, when the first corporations made their appearance in the global economy. This nuance in its meaning distinctively describes a specific process in which local barriers have been broken down to create one planetary market. That being the case, the current level of globalization is a direct result of the significant development in the transportation and telecommunication systems, and relies on the liberalization of financial markets. In this sense, we are in a time of globalization surely more than any generation of the past, and certainly much less than any generation of the future (Ritze, George, and Zeynep Atalay).

Under a different perspective, however, globalization can be considered as a natural process due to human thirst for discovery. From this point of view, it is indeed nothing new. Humans have come to know each other through conflicts, wars, treaties, and many discoveries (SUNY Levin). In the Classical period, age of the expansion of the Roman Empire, we can recognize an ancient example of “globalization.” At the beginning of the 2nd century AD, almost two millennia ago, when America and Oceania hadn’t been discovered yet, the Roman Empire reached its peak, extending for a vast part of the known and developed world at the time (UNRV History). The Empire, flourished around the Mediterranean Sea, or, as they liked to call it, Mare Nostrum (“Our Sea,”) expanded from Rome, in Italy, to all Western Europe, North Africa, and part of Western Asia and Arabian Peninsula. While today the people of these countries are different in every aspect of life, including the divergences in their cultural, social, political, and economic regulations and values, 2,000 years ago they were united under one rule. They were all expected to speak the same language and worship the same God(s); the central importance of the family and the indistinct love for Rome was undiscussed among all Romans; the faith to the same leader was guaranteed; and commerce between locations today part of different continents happened regularly and actually represented a vital resource of the Empire’s economy (Encyclopædia Britannica).

Once we realize this, how can we still talk about globalization? In one sense, we are indeed far less “globalized” than the Roman Empire 2,000 years ago, in spite of all the technological advantages that we can benefit from. This demonstrates that globalization has its roots in the history of humanity, and that really the creation of an interconnected society is nothing new, while the future existence of a ‘global village’ is in fact less foreseeable today than ever.

Unless an external force, like an improbable sudden alien invasion, were to threaten the entire globe’s population, a genuine global village would not have a chance to be constituted. Being able to admit and recognize human limits is important for the constant progression of our species. We are now in front of a natural human limit, which would accordingly require a natural catastrophe to be overcome. In the hope that no catastrophe occurs, we will continue to be tribal as commanded by nature, and globalization will not take place in the entirety of its essence.

After some analytical reasoning, we have reached the conclusion that globalization develops on at least two different and separate lines of thought: one mainly economic, and one social. Under an economic perspective, the phenomenon of globalization refers to the “shrinking of the world,” meant as the achievement of technological advances in communication systems, transportation, and financial markets. As traveling the world becomes easier, the interaction between peoples from different countries brings about a significant cultural exchange. As a result, one of the consequences of a “smaller” world could potentially be a better understanding of different cultures in the future; however, this hypothetical enhanced understanding will never be able to grow into true acceptance, because the human being is inevitably naturally and instinctively tribal. The traits at the root of an individual’s existence will never be swapped for someone else’s different beliefs. As a support to this theory, crucial disagreements separate today the countries of the world from simple topics such as the measurement or date systems, to much more complex divergences such as religion, political views, and languages. In addition, as we have learned from Dr. Maslow, every human psychologically needs to feel part of a group of similar people. Enlarging this cluster to the whole world population substantially would imply the belonging to the only one group existent, which practically translates into belonging to no group. Clearly, humans are not prepared for this. Humans by nature, are tribal. And wether we like it or not, these tribes will keep us from forming a global, united society.


Works Cited

Cherry, Kendra. "What Is the Need To Belong?" About Education. Psychology.about, n.d. Web. 29 Aug. 2014.
David Held, Anthony McGrew, David Goldblatt and Johnatan Perraton. "Global Transformations." What Is Globalization? Polity.co.uk, 1999. Web. 05 Sept. 2014.
"Moore's Law." Moores Law. MemeBridge, n.d. Web. 29 Aug. 2014.
Ritze, George, and Zeynep Atalay. "Is Civilization Civilazing, Destructive, or Feeble? A Critique of Five Key Debates in the Social Sciences Literature." Readings in Globalization: Key Concepts and Major Debates. Chichester, West Sussex, U.K.: Wiley-Blackwell, 2010. 4-7. Print.
The Editors of UNRV History. "Roman Empire Population." Roman Empire Population. UNRV History, n.d. Web. 04 Sept. 2014.
Rowlett, Russ. "Units: The Metric System in the U. S." Units: The Metric System in the U. S. University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, 8 Aug. 2000. Web. 29 Aug. 2014.
Schouls, Timothy A. "Identity Politics and Pluralist Theory." Shifting Boundaries: Aboriginal Identity, Pluralist Theory, and the Politics of Self-government. Vancouver: UBC, 2003. 8. Print.
Stief, Colin. "Read Up on the Positives and Negatives of Globalization." About Education. Geography.about, n.d. Web. 29 Aug. 2014.
The Editors of Encyclopædia Britannica. "Abraham H. Maslow (American Psychologist)." Encyclopedia Britannica Online. Encyclopedia Britannica, n.d. Web. 29 Aug. 2014.
The Editors of Encyclopædia Britannica. "The Expansion of Rome." Encyclopedia Britannica Online. Encyclopedia Britannica, n.d. Web. 04 Sept. 2014.
The Editors of SUNY Levin. "What Is Globalization?" Globalization101. State University of New York: Levin Institute, n.d. Web. 29 Aug. 2014.

Tuesday, April 26, 2016

Just a bunch of art, and my friend's bday

As we approach the end of the semester, many projects come up as “due soon…” In my art class, the professor has been kind of confused about the syllabus throughout the semester, and now it turns out we have a lot of assignments that are due. We have a quiz on Thursday, 2 essays, 2 project responses, and an artistic/creative project due, in addition to a final exam and another in class quiz. In other words, it is going to be a very artistic weekend... 
Statue of a Kouros (Archaic)
I am going to write one essay about the different stages of Greek art, and analyze some of the sculptures and artistic representations from each of the three periods. 
Specifically, the Archaic period is characterized by emotionless and often rigid poses; a common practice of Archaic Greek sculpture is the Kouros. The figure portrayed is not a particular person, but an idealized youth. The figure is emotionless and still, both Archaic traits. 
Satyr Pouring Wine (Classical)
The Archaic period eventually gave way to the idealized beauty and blossoming realism of Classical art. For example. the "Satyr Pouring Wine" is a Classical statue that has evolved into a more naturalistic pose, while retaining the idealized beauty of the Archaic sculptures. The face is more realistic and begins to show traces of emotion. 
Aphrodite and Eros (Hellenistic)
Finally, the Hellenistic period is characterized by a distinct naturalism, emotion, and dynamism. For example, the Aphrodite and Eros is much more detailed than the works prior. Idealized beauty is still prominent, but it is displayed more dynamically through the "transparency" and "weight" of the marble. 
The second essay will be about Roman art, and I will focus on a compare and contrast of Roman and Greek sculpture. I found the Roman art to be the most interesting part of the class, mostly because all that art is from Italy just like me. 
Augustus of Primaporta (Roman)
Today I also got back my Philosophy midterm, and I was happy (and a little surprised) to notice I earned a 92 on it! That was very good, as I didn't think I prepared that well, but sometimes you can just figure out what the correct answer is by knowing the basics and using some logic. The best score in the class was a 93, which means I did a really good job earning one of the highest scores in the class.
At the beginning of my Philosophy lecture I made an announcement in front of the class to advertise the second part of the Economic Club of Santa Barbara’s event on America Inequality. This event, featuring congressional candidate William Ostrander, focused on Wealth Inequality, and tried to offer an explanation of how this issue affects the economy at large and all of us as a result. This sounded very interesting to me, but unfortunately I was not able to attend, because I had to prepare for my business presentation at 5:30pm. 
If there is one thing that I have learned from my Entrepreneurship class, is to work in a high-stress environment and improvise. For instance, most of the time I find myself memorizing a speech right before I give it, leaving very little time for practice. For example, today’s speech was 8 minutes long, and there was a problem with WiFi at school, so I had to give the speech presenting from my laptop instead of using a projector and a clicker. Nonetheless, I did a very good job and I also got some good insights from my professor. 
This type of work, however, gave me a bad headache. From around 2pm to 5:30, I was memorizing the speech, which was over 1,200 words long, and I repeated it so many times. By 5 o’ clock, I had a headache and a sore throat. I never knew speaking could be so tiring!
After school, I sprinted to catch the bus to IV, and then I went out to the restaurant with my friend Adam to celebrate his 23rd birthday. We went to Chilly’s and ordered two fat prime-rib burritos and they were delicious. I told the host that it was Adam’s birthday, and after dinner all the waiters came to our table singing happy birthday, and brought Adam a ball of ice-cream with chocolate on top, and a nice candle on it.
It was a long day but it was very nice. 
Tomorrow is going to be another full day! 
A presto,

- Fede

Monday, April 25, 2016

Having a great time!

Job & Internship Fair on Wednesday
So last week was very hard, with a presentation on Tuesday, several events on Wednesday, and two midterms on Thursday. With the help of much caffeine, I was able to handle it all, and I believe I did a good job in my exams. 
The International Day event organized by the Ambassadors was fun and pretty. The patio outside the cafeteria was decorated with many colorful flags from different countries, my friend Vasu was playing his great chill-out music like always (he is a DJ), and we had free food available for our guests. I tried some Korean BBQ and some Turkish sweets and I was impressed. They both were delicious! 
International Day! on Wednesday
Later that day, I stayed up studying at the UCSB library until 3am to prepare for my midterms. To do that, I drank a Rockstar Energy Drink, and after finding out that energy drinks contain less caffeine than coffee, I was all disappointed and I bought a small coffee, too. That was not such a good idea! I wasn't able to fall asleep until 4am… So I got about 3 and a half hours of sleep, but surprisingly I woke up feeling rested. 
I know staying up late at night is not healthy, but sometimes it is necessary. In fact, I think I did a pretty good job in both my Philosophy and my Macroeconomics exams, and I was proud of myself. 
So it was a good week after all. What was even better was the weekend…
On Friday I found out I have been accepted into the Business Economics Program at UCLA. I am extremely happy, but I want to keep it kind of low key until next Friday, when I will hear from the Haas School of Business at UC Berkeley. I wish they would just release their decision on the same day, so I would know how to feel… Very said, very happy, or half happy half not. But now I am just very happy about UCLA but extremely curious about UC Berkeley! Oh well, I will find out soon. 
Beautiful Santa Barbara
Later on Friday I went to the UCSB soccer fields with some friends, and we played against another team. One thing I noticed was that there were two girls in the other team and they were really good. In the country I am from, most girls do not like soccer at all. In Italy I played soccer for eight years as I grew up, and in that time span I have only seen one girl wearing a soccer jersey on the field. I know that in the United States girls are way more into sports, and I thought it was very cool that we were all playing together. I think that’s how it should be!
On Saturday morning I participated in the Ambassadors-sponsored SBCC semi-annual soccer tournament, and although out team lost, I had a lot of fun. We didn't expect to win anyway, as we are not actual soccer players and we mostly play for fun. Some of the team were very good, including the SBCC soccer team, which participated in the tournament. 
My friend and I
After this event, I stayed with Lorenzo and Gianluca, two Italian friends of mine who played in the soccer tournament in the same team as me. We went to their house and we cooked a delicious pasta with salmon and whip cream / cream cheese. I thought that was very Italian of us— and I really enjoyed it. 
Then I went home to my roommate Mikey and we spent the afternoon at a fun party with some other friends and a bunch of other people. If you are a prospective student of SBCC (or if you are a current student) you should know that Santa Barbara and Isla Vista offer many opportunities to have fun and enjoy your college experience. The community is in fact well known for its beautiful landscapes, for its friendly and young population, and for the abundance of parties in the weekend.
Best way to start the week!
Sunday is usually homework-intense. However, after taking all my midterms last week, this Sunday I didn't have a lot of homework, so I had some time to rest. I went to the library around 6pm, and stayed there until 10, when my friend Alyssa came pick me up and we went to In n’ Out for a burger, and we enjoyed our midnight snack in front of our favorite Netflix show, How To Get Away With Murder. 
Now I am ready for a new, challenging week. The semester is almost over, so I want to make the best out of these few remaining weeks. 
A presto, 

- Fede

Sunday, April 24, 2016

American Inequality 2.0 -- ECSB

Last week The Economic Club of Santa Barbara (ECSB) held an event on American Inequality featuring Dr. Cynthia Benelli as a guest speaker. Cindy is my Intro to Macroeconomics professor, and she is really friendly and fair. She is also clear and engaging, which makes her lectures very interesting. 
After the first successful event, ECSB has organized another discussion— American Inequality 2.0. This event will be presented by congressional candidate William Ostrander. He will speak about wealth inequality and how we can fight to make our society as a whole better off. The SBCC for Bernie Sanders club will be there, too, and there will be an organic vegan buffet for everyone to enjoy while listening. 
Questions and discussion will be encouraged, like always. This sounds like a great opportunity to discuss an interesting topic and gain a broader understanding of an important and current issue. We at the ECSB hope to see you Tuesday April 26 at 4:30pm in EBS 301. For more info, visit our Facebook event page, or the ECSB Facebook page. 
Organizing this kind of events is very exciting. Not only do I get to organize interesting lectures for students who share my passion for Economics and are interested in deepening their understanding of economic issues, but I also get to gain valuable skills and experience by working in a team. 
Developing teamwork skills is in fact of outmost importance for anyone who cares about their future. Both those aspiring to be leaders and those who make the best followers should have great teamwork skills for the team to work at its best. When you work in a team, you learn to respect deadlines, because other people count on you getting your work done in time. You also learn to do your best work for the same reason, which improves your working ability overall. 
When you work in a team you develop listening and communication skills, including putting your ideas into words, expressing your feelings or ideas in an open yet non-threatening way, and even sensing how others feel based on non-verbal communication. 
If your teammates are serious and care about your work, you will also get precious constructive criticism, which is a good lesson to learn. In fact, I have a feeling most people can’t accept negative feedback, because they interpret it as being in the wrong. Instead, working in a team will teach you to have an open mind and understand that the way you look at the world is not necessarily the way everyone sees it. So you learn more about yourself, and about your strengths and weaknesses. Finally, if you care about your work, you have an incentive to do your best, which is good practice for the day you will work in an organization.
Working in the leadership of the ECSB I get to work on all these skills and many more. I would recommend anyone get involved into similar experiences!

For all of you interested in Economics, see you Tuesday at our event!
A presto,

- Fede

Friday, April 22, 2016

Let's talk about globalization... (PART 1/2)

Moore’s Law states that the number of transistors in a CPU doubles approximately every two years (Moore’s Law). What this means, is that computing systems become 100% faster every 24 months. This conjecture, proved fairly accurate since its introduction in 1970, is right at the base of today’s “globalized” world. In fact, such fast-paced growth in technology has made it possible for our generation to dispose of the means to communicate instantaneously with anybody on Earth, obliterating geographical barriers. In the 21st century, the use of the Internet makes it easy to connect to people and services located hundreds of miles away. Consequently, it is now possible to shop online, hold a virtual meeting with professors from international institutions, or participate in a video conference to discuss about environmental regulations or commerce. Economically speaking, thus, globalization is indeed an absolute reality, that is shaping our financial systems and our lives (Stief, Colin).

On the other hand, however, meant as the formation of a global village and the consequent demolition of cultural and social as well as economic and political boundaries, globalization isn’t a phenomenon likely to become real anytime soon. It would, for instance, describe a utopian world, without conflicts or disputes, in which people have forgone their beliefs and forgot about their sometimes millenary history to embrace an impoverished and impure brotherhood. The reality, for better or for worse, is that the human being is tribal, wary, and obstinate in its faith. Capitalist societies and communist regimes will never find an agreement and Muslims or Christians will never give up the beliefs professed by their religion. No need to say that Arabic countries and America will never find peace and those fifty stars and those thirteen stripes will always mean Home and Union to the American people, and, analogously, never to the Greek or the Taiwanese.

Let’s just be real, we are not ready to give up our identities, neither as single individuals nor as a whole. How could we claim the opposite when, for instance, the Imperial System is still in use? Although the so named International System of Units has been recognized to be more efficient and accurate, indeed becoming “international,” a few countries in the world, including one in Africa and one in Asia, are still using an obsolete system of measurement, and this is perfectly fine. The people of these countries have been exposed to the Metric system, and do, generally, recognize its advantages. The “problem” is at the base. These citizens have grown up with their system, which is now an integral part of them, of their tribe. It characterizes and describes them, and they do not want to forget it. Nothing, nor an action from the government, as happened in the U.S. with the Metric Conversion Act of 1975, or ‘globalization’ can make them change their mind (Rowlett, Russ). Taking the example of the United States of America, home of diversity and union, if the greatest power in the world is not ready to set apart a measurement system, or at least start to learn one that is universally recognized, then how could we expect its people to embrace and accept a radically different way of thinking and perceiving reality within the same shared culture? And noticeably, the aforesaid kind of rejection to “globalize” occurs around other issues as critical as the conversion to the Celsius temperature scale, the 24-hour clock system, the MDY to DMY date system, or using Monday as the first day of the week. It would just be unreal, eventually ridiculous, to believe or to hope that such elements of globalization could ever happen anytime soon in the future of human history.


 The truth is that human beings naturally develop in “tribes,” or groups of individuals who share similar attributes, such as race or nationality, and values, such as religion, political views, or favorite football team. Inevitably, members of the same group subscribe an allegiance that conveys loyalty and respect and ensures a position of superiority over any other individual who is not a member. What could be a clearer and more genuine representation of this assumption than kids forming cliques all the time? Children don’t act by hidden agenda, they are innocent and act purely, naturally. Their actions and behaviors depend solely on their natural instinct. Intelligibly, when a few kids form a little group and get to the point to exclude other peers, they don’t do so to intentionally harm the excluded, nor are they trying to study their the emotional response. Children do so because they are tribal. They do so because they feel comforted by each other’s similarities, just as they don’t feel comfortable with each other’s differences. They do so because they are able to recognize which other children are similar to themselves. And they can recognize these similarities because they are embedded into the roots of their tribes’ history...

To Be Continued!