A busy week coming my way

A very busy week is approaching!

Tomorrow I will be at school at 7:42am, the earliest I have ever been. I have never attended an 8am class before (thank Lord) and in all honesty I was not planning on it. Living in IV and not owning a car, I either get to school by bus or I carpool with friends. Unfortunately, finding friends to carpool with at 7:30 am is a challenge I don’t even want to try… So— according to Google Maps— I will have to leave my house at 7:01am in order to catch the bus to school… Fabulous!

Oh yeah, you might be wondering why do I need to be at school that early! The reason is that the Political Science / Economics department at SBCC is looking to hire a new Economics professor to teach at SBCC. Political Science professor Andrea Haupt has contacted the leaders of the Economic Club of Santa Barbara to ask we participate in the process. As we were informed, the Poli Sci/Econ department has invited a number candidates for the position of Economics professor. Each of these job candidates is teaching a class this week. Two of these classes are Prof. Barr's 8:00 am classes on Monday, April 18, and Wednesday, April 20 (in IDC 215). As these early classes are held at, let's say, not the most popular times, Prof. Haput asked for our help to try and make sure these lectures are well attended. (For example, there will be a Q&A session and it is critical that active and informed students are present). Prof. Haupt is willing to offer extra credit for attendance to students who are enrolled in one of her classes, however she also pointed out that this is a very important matter, and whoever kindly takes the time to attend should know that they would be serving the department and future SBCC students well. As she added on a final note, it is also a privilege to be ask to partake in the hiring process, which is why all the leaders of the Economics club are gladly going to accept the invite. We would also like to extend this invite to any other interested student at SBCC.

After attending the 8am lecture, I will go to my Physical Geography Lab class, and we’ll probably discuss our field trip at the Water Treatment Plant, an experience that I am sure the most of us (students) just want to forget and leave behind! 

I am going to spend the rest of the afternoon (as well as the rest of of every afternoon during that week, as well as right now as I type) at the UCSB library, to prepare for midterms in all of my classes, all together in the same week! (how nice)

Even Wednesday, which is usually the day when I get to relax a little and catch up on homework, will be a very busy day this week! 11am to 2pm, two events will be going on on campus. 

One is the Summer and General Job & Internship Fair, which will take place at the Friendship Plaza outside the cafeteria. I have decided that this Summer I will not travel back to Europe, because I want to find a summer job or internship here in the United States and then move to whatever city I will transfer to. 

The second event is the SBCC Gradfest, which celebrates SBCC students about to graduate with special graduation package deals, grad cap decorating, alumni gift giveaways, music, and grad image professional photography. Since I am going to graduate next month, and since my parents are flying over to Santa Barbara to come see me, I believe I probably will want to attend this event, too. 

Most importantly, 3:30 to 5:00pm the Economics Club of Santa Barbara will host another event (you can check the Facebook event page by clicking here), in the classroom PS-101. This event will be about American inequality, with UCSB and SBCC Economics Professor Dr. Cynthia Benelli as our speaker and special guest. The lecture will feature some of the defining challenges to the American dream and to the American people. Social mobility is decreasing, and the corporate fatcats are getting fatter and fatter. So, we believe it's time we had a talk about it. 

Feel free to invite your friends and join us in a profound discussion on the inequality that distresses our society in so many ways; we all hope to see you there.

A presto,

- Fede

Worst field trip ever!

The way this week started on Monday morning is pretty remarkable. In fact, I needed some time before writing about it. 

Like every Monday, class starts a 9:30am: it’s my Physical Geography Lab. Usually, we study the earth through hands-on exercises and experiments, and sometime we also go on field trips to experience first-hand what we study in class. For example, we went on a hike to study rocks, we went to the beach to study waves and currents, and last Monday, don't ask me why, we went to the Santa Barbara Water Treatment Plant— aka the place where all the poop and waste of Santa Barbara ends up, in order to be treated and sent out to the ocean. 

I am (not) sorry I didn't take many pictures, but I promise you are not missing out. It was a horrible, VERY SMELLY spectacle. 

Anyway, a few fun facts include that 140 years ago, when the Santa Barbra population was only about 5 or 10 thousand, people would poop straight in the creek, and there was no problem with that. Around the 1900s, as the population increased, people started getting sick, so they built a channel to separate waste from the cleaner water in the creek. Well, imagine an open channel full of waste going down State Street… Not optimal! Following stricter regulations from the government, the Water Treatment Plant was built to solve the issue. 

As technology improves exponentially, and as the drought problem becomes more and more severe, a look into the future opens the doors to a process called reverse osmosis— an initiative vulgarly known as “Toilet-To-Tap.” As the name suggests, impressive technological advancement will soon allow us to filter the water from our waste and remove 100% of impurities, bacteria, and minerals, and obtain a very pure H2O. That is cleaner water than the water bottled at a spring source 6,000 feet above sea level. Although the idea of drinking water that once was full of poop is appalling and disgusting, it seems like this may be the way to go in order to face the shortage of water resulting from the California drought.

At the Water Treatment Plant, the physical process starts with screening to remove larger objects. For example, a human torso was once found in the waste… sick! Then, the flow is slowed down in a grit chamber, and all the grit is gathered and separated from the rest. Grit refers to corn, seeds, egg shells, sands, clays, and all the inorganic materials that cannot be “digested” by the bacteria in our guts or the ones in the treatment plant. In the sedimentation tank, solids settle out and are pumped away, while oils float to the top and are skimmed off. Next comes a biological treatment in which microorganisms convert non-settled solids to settleable solids. These organisms break down organic material with aeration and agitation, allowing the solids to settle out. Bacteria-containing waste is recirculated back to the aeration basin to increase the rate of organic decomposition, as the bacteria break down the material in the wastewater. Lastly, nitrogen, phosphorus and carbon are removed, and the wastewater is treated with chlorine and other disinfecting chemicals. This allows the water to be clean enough to be safely sent into the ocean.

Listening and taking notes was tough. Most of us where mostly worrying about the possibility of classmates throwing up on each other! The smell was pervasive and disgusting! So, here’s the takeaway and my tip for you: ERTH 141/GEO 101 (it goes by both names) and the corresponding LAB is a very interesting class, that teaches you about realities about our world that you may not think about on a daily basis. You will learn about how and why we have continents, earthquakes, mountains and beaches, winds, waves, and so on. So I would recommend taking this class. The lab is also very interesting, especially because the field trips are usually very enjoyable— featuring beautiful views and great snapchat stories builders! However, when it comes the day to go on a field trip to the Santa Barbara Water Treatment Plant, do yourself a favor and DON’T GO! You can find most of the information online, and you will breath clean air for 3 more hours than if you did go!

Don’t say I didn't warn you!

A presto,

- Fede

Spring Break in Cancun, PART 2

As I mentioned in the last post, I went to Mexico for Spring Break 2016, in a group of about a dozen friends, of which I had only met about half. 

A picture from the interminable wait at
Houston Airport, waiting for the layover.

I arrived in Cancun on Friday morning, with a different flight than all the other friends, because I had been added to the group in a second moment and I bought a different plane ticket. 

As soon as I arrived, I did my best not to get ripped off: that was my only concern. After refusing a few offers to take me to my hotel for U.S. $90, $60, $50, and $30, I found an airport shuttle that would take me to the Casa Magna Marriott Hotel for $14. I thought that was fair enough, and they even gave me a receipt, which was more than I expected! On the shuttle, I met two German girls my age who were working in LA. I was hoping they would go to my hotel, too— but they had reserved a different one… We still exchanged numbers and had a chance to go out together; they were very friendly, as most of the people I met in Cancun! 

As a side note, if you were planning to go to Mexico, you may want to know that phones don't really work. You can buy a Mexican SIM card, but if you connect to the wifi of your hotel, you'll be able to communicate through WhatsApp, iMessage, or app whatever you prefer. 

I arrived to my hotel around 1:30pm, and although I only got 3 or 4 hours of very poor-quality sleep the night before, I was not tired anymore. 

My friends were scheduled to arrive 12 hours later than me, so I had some time for myself. I spent some of it at the swimming pool, waiting for the hotel room to be ready, and then I fell asleep for a few hours on my bed. 

After dinner, I met with Siddhan, a friend of Yassin’s who already was in Cancun; he was staying at a different hotel. We decided to wait for everybody to arrive, but after greeting them, we went out! 

Buses are very cheap ($10 pesos, or about US 70 cents, and just as fast as a cab— they go VERY fast!) so we got on one. Two minutes went bye, and Siddhan realized his phone was not in his pocket anymore. Ahhh karma... He had just finished bragging about having an exclusive phone that one can only get through having the right connections... We got out of the bus, ran back to the bus stop, and the phone was gone. We will never know if he left in on the bus or if somebody found it and stole it at the bus stop, but one thing is certain: he was without a phone for the rest of the week.

That was a good start! haha. We jumped on a new bus, and this one was crazy. The music was very loud, with a remarkable bass to a type of music that alternated between House and Mariachi! The lighting was white/purple, the doors would never close, and a 12-year old kid was smoking a cigarette while sticking out of the door and inciting pedestrian to jump on the bus, which would stop anywhere, completely disregarding the existence of bus stops. No tickets, no receipts, or nothing. Whoever jumped on the bus would give the driver 10 pesos, and he would pocket the money. As you can tell from this story, the bus ride was an experience in itself. 

We got the the party area around 1:30am. This is usually referred to as “the strip” although its actual name is the Hotel Zone, or Zona Hotelera. Needless to say, Cancun’s nightlife is formidable, but also expensive!

Overall, Cancun was really fun! You get to relax, play beach volleyball, and take a break from school and work! As you can see from the pictures, the ocean is a wonderful light blue color, even when the weather is cloudy, and the temperature is always great, between 83 and 86 degrees Fahrenheit.

This was a great experience, where I had a lot of fun while getting an amazing opportunity to make new friends. Two weeks later, I am still seeing these friends every day, especially Yassin! So, I am very happy I took this opportunity.

A presto,

- Fede

Developing Country? More Sweatshops! -- By Sebastian Rothstein

Developing Country? More Sweatshops!

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. 

It is safe to say that American's way of living in terms of material products is remarkably associated with the trade relations between the United States and Asia. Chances are that the clothes you wear, the toys you give to your kids, and the device you're reading this from, was produced somewhere in Asia. Trade with major developing nations like China and Indonesia is ostensibly vital for America's own continued economic prosperity, since US's overall manufacturing investments in developing nations are in tens of billions of dollars and huge numbers of plants there operate on a contract basis with American companies. Nevertheless, majority of Americans are unfamiliar that their appetite for consumerism incite a profoundly controversial industry, and just as foreign-manufactured goods are often more than meets the eye, the sweatshop debate is highly convoluted.

The actual definition of what a sweatshop conveys remain wide-ranged. It's describing any plant which have domineering overseers, abhorrent working conditions, and extensive hours with minimal pay. The term is also frequently used as a synonym for a factory that employs child labor. Many already developed nations has at some point preoccupied sweatshop production facilities on a large scale, and a major segment of the world’s remaining sweatshops are located in Asia. As the Western world advance its long-standing custom of fostering what many would equate to slave labor, an ethical examination of these business proceedings becomes exceedingly important.

The strident labor conditions associated with it are often frowned upon by the average person in the developed world. Approximately a decade ago, a movement to boycott sweatshops became an eminent force on social medias, with protests urging that large U.S. corporations withhold trading goods that came from extraneous, hazardous, underage and under-paid labor. MIT graduate Jonah Peretti attempted to order a pair of shoes from Nike; he chose to have the word “sweatshop” embroidered on them. Unfortunately, he ended up not getting the shoes he requested.

It seems obvious as to why sweatshops would be frowned upon. However, is this revulsion of sweatshops justified? Furthermore, is it a rational response? "My concern is not that there are too many sweatshops,” said Economist Jeffrey Sachs, “but that there are too few." Sachs and other advocates of free trade and the global movement of capital cite the economic theory of comparative advantage, which states that international trade will, in the long run, make all parties better off. When asked about the working condition in sweatshops, advocates expresses that although wages and working conditions seem to be inferior by the standards of developed nations, they are actually superior to what the people in developing countries had before. If jobs in such factories did in-fact not improve their workers' standard of living, those workers would not have taken the jobs when they emerged. Raveena Aulkah, a journalist for Mail Online News, went undercover as a sweatshop worker and documented her experience. Though working conditions were not optimal the families could now afford "goats, schooling, and clothing for their families.”

In conclusion, the quarrel about sweatshop labor is emblematic of the ethical challenges the Western world and Asia has to confront, emphasized by the need to negotiate incompatibilities between the relative costs and advantages that result from their interactions, and more broadly, between the practical and normative perspectives on such issues. Humans are the fundamental components that establish and give meaning to nations and economies. Even as U.S.-Asia relations aim at advancing overall economic progress, it's crucial that ones moral obligation is taken into account. Whether that moral obligation be protesting against sweatshops, or advocating for them, it's crucial that one analyzes the problem at hand in a rational manner.

Citations:

               Myerson, Allen R. "In Principle, a Case For More 'Sweatshops'" The New York Times. The New York Times, 21 June 1997. Web. 11 Dec. 2015.

              Reporter, Daily Mail. "My Life as a Sweatshop Worker: Undercover Reporter Tells of Crushing Hours and Terrible Pay in Bangladeshi Clothes Factory Where She Worked for Girl Boss Aged Just NINE." Mail Online. Associated Newspapers, 12 Oct. 2013. Web. 11 Dec. 2015.

Let's talk about Spring Break, Part 1

Let’s talk about Spring Break! 

Spring break is long gone (it was two weeks ago) but I haven't taken the time to talk about it yet. That’s probably because talking about my Spring Break is a daunting task: there are so many things to talk about!

Let me start by telling you I went to Mexico, for the first time in my life. 

About two weeks prior to the break, I was surveying potential customers (SBCC students) about my product for my Enterprise-Launch class. There I see my friend Bob, a Dutch guy who is very good friends with Bram— another Dutch guy who used to be my roommate. When Bram left California at the end of last Spring semester to go back home, Bob came here in Santa Barbara, and Bram made sure that Bob and I would meet each other at the beginning of the Fall. Bob and I have been friends for 6 over months, but I hadn't seen him in a while. 

We started talking to catch up, and then he took the time to answer my questions about my business start-up. Then he suggested I survey his friends too, who were now sitting nearby. That’s how I met Yassin, Fares, Deniz, Jasmine, and many other very nice people, a very friendly and diverse group of friends. 

Apparently, they liked me just as much as I liked them. After I surveyed them, they invited me to hang out together at a party in the weekend, and the following week Yassin invited me to join the group for Spring break. A group of 11 friends, they had reserved three rooms with 4 bed spaces each at the Marriott Hotel in Cancun, Mexico. They found a good deal, but they also needed one more friend to come along. 

Well I had no plans for Spring break and I had never been to Mexico. So I decided to accept their invite. All I had to do was purchasing a plane ticket and pay my friend for the room, which he had already paid in full. Pretty easy! 

So on Thursday, March 24 I went to school with my carry-on suitcase full of clothes and my backpack full of airplane stuff and food (lots, LOTS of food) and I left right after class. 

Actually 12:36, local time ;)

My friend Alyssa gave me a ride to the SB Airbus station, where I took the bus to LAX airport. LA traffic was terrible, and I almost missed my flight. On the plane to Houston I met two guys who were also international students from Europe at SBCC, and we all landed in Texas at 1am. My flight to Cancun was scheduled to depart at 9:15am, and my new friends’ next flight— to Panama— was at 8:10am. In other words, we had a lot of time to kill. 

At first, I was tempted to go to my own gate and look for a comfortable armchair or some place to fall asleep. However, because I wanted to be nice, I decided to stay with my two new friends. They had checked their luggage and were unsure whether they would go straight to Panama or whether they should have picked them up in Houston and checked them again to Panama. Instead of just looking at the sticker that they were given when they checked their luggage, they decided to go to the baggage claim area and wait there. After hanging out there for about an hour, we decided to go back, but we were not allowed to! Apparently, when you go to the baggage claim part of the airport, you are actually out of the airport, and if you want to go back in, you need to go through the security check again. Too bad, the airport was close from 2am to 5am, so we had to wait there for a few hours. 

It was an adventure. 

I talked to one lady who worked at the airport, and she was extremely nice. She said that different terminals open at different times, but she only knew about the terminal she works in… So I asked a security officer, and I found out that terminal A opened at 4.

We took the train, got to the new gate, slept a little bit, and then went through security. In these circumstances, the massive food supply in my backpack turned out to be really helpful, especially the dark chocolate! 

After that, we sat for 10 minutes on those armchairs that give massages, and then fell asleep on them for about an hour. Woke up, ate more food, and then split up. My plain left on time, and around midday (local time), as I walked out of the airport, I was invested by a wave of humid tropical heat and a bunch of high pitch voices asking me “Taxi? Bus? Vamonos!” 

To Be Continued…

A presto,

- Fede

The Beach Volleyball Club is back, with a new leader!

May 16, 2014: The Day I fell in love with SBCC

On my tour of Santa Barbara City College— a Friday afternoon at the beginning of May 2014, I learned that SBCC offers the  opportunity to not only join several interesting clubs, but also to start your very own club. 

On my first semester, in the midst of a heavy 18-unit load, the ambition to do well, and the excitement for being enrolled in a college that is located literally on the beach, I decided to start the SBCC Beach Volleyball Club, of which I have been President for 3 semesters. I founded the club as a way to meet new people, to challenge my leadership skills, and most importantly to force myself to make time to go to the beach, have fun, and be physically active.

LOL! A picture of me tabling on my first semester,
together with my friend, housemate, and club
vice-president: Nate! 

During the first semester, I struggled a lot to find an advisor for the club. In fact, if you're interested to start your own club, you should know that you will need a member of the SBCC faculty to represent the club as an advisor. This is often very hard to achieve, because professors are already busy with their own jobs and life; this is especially tough to achieve when your club is a sports club, because in that case the advisor is supposed to actually attend every meeting. If he/she doesn’t, he/she could get in trouble should one of the club members get hurt while playing.

A flyer for our club's first meeting, in Fall 2015

The second semester was more successful, as we had 3 advisors, and at least one of them was always available to come out and play, oversee, and teach us volleyball skills. 

Last Fall the club grew in size and we were able to host a few events, such as a welcome volleyball party with music and refreshments, an Hawaiian-themed beach volleyball party, and a larger, PTK-sponsored charity tournament toward the end of the semester. 

Finally, at the beginning of this semester I decided I was not going to start the club. Simply put, I believed it was not worth the effort of finding an advisor, which would have been really hard after I had already “used” 5 of them (3 on the second semester and 1 on each of the other two semesters). In addition, considered I moved to Isla Vista, commuting to Santa Barbara would have been too much of a commitment. 

As I said, the club had grown in size to a very nice group of people! :)

However, I was sad about not renewing the club, as I would have liked passing it on to someone else instead of letting it die. After all, it was a big part of my college experience here at SBCC. Fortunately enough, my friend Grace was trying to start a volleyball club this semester, and the Office of Student Life told her that she could take over my original club if I agreed to it. I was happy to pass the SBCC Beach Volleyball Club along, and this afternoon was the club’s first meeting. Grace decided to change the location from West Beach to East Beach, which is a little further to get to, but has better volleyball courts.

We all had a great time, and I got to make some new friends, too! 

I would encourage anyone to check out the club, and also to try and start your own club that reflects your own interests while you are at SBCC. All it takes is one signature from a faculty member, and 15 signatures from SBCC students...

Good luck!

A preset,

-Fede

Cal Haas Interview.

About a week ago I received an email from UC Berkeley Haas School of Business, probably my #1 transfer university choice. The email said that I had been selected for a virtual interview. 

Usually, the self-reported academic record, resume, essays and additional comments given as part of the written application are enough to give the Admissions Committee the full picture of a student's experience and aspirations. However in some cases, questions may arise during the application review process that are not addressed in the written application and warrant an interview. Basically, the addition of interviews enhances Haas Admissions’ comprehensive review process. Students who are invited for interviews are usually applicants who demonstrated strength in one aspect of the application and weakness in others or applicants who are on the cusp of being admitted or denied. In other words, if you are selected for an interview, you know that you have a real shot to get in, because you are among those 150 students who are very competitive, out of the 1800+ that apply every year, but only 90 will make it in.

I scheduled my interview for Wednesday at 4:30pm. I reserved a Study Group Room at the UCSB Library, taking advantage of the fact that UCSB students are currently on Spring Break and therefore nobody is really around. I sat in there for hours, reading about the school and reading over my application, but I wasn't too worried. That is something about me, that until it actually is the critical moment, I do not stress out at all. 

I realize there are important moments that should get me worried, but until it’s the time, I don't think about the importance of these moments, and I don't really feel stressed... Even the day before I left Italy to come study in the United States, I wasn't feeling like it. I just felt like I was gonna take a plane to go spend the weekend in Rome and come back a few days later. It wasn't until it was actually the time to say goodbye to friends and family that I really started to feel the pressure and realizing what was happening to me…

But let’s get back to this Wednesday…: interview. 

Around 3:30pm I started feeling the pressure. I just wanted it to happen. Then it finally  was 4:30. I opened Skype, took a deep breath, and clicked on the little camera icon, next to that “Haas Undergraduate Admissions” contact card.

After just two “beeps” Richard picked up my video call. I could not stop smiling, but I thought smiling never hurts, so I didn't try to stop. I was so happy to finally be in front of my destiny, and extremely glad Richard was a friendly and happy interviewer. He greeted me with a big smile and he introduced himself. He told me that he was an alum of Haas, serving as a volunteer, and he did not read over my application, then he asked me to introduce myself and to tell him why do I want to go to Haas.

Then, it was my turn. 

I told him how happy I was to meet him, and that I had been looking forward to that moment. I explained I am an international student from Italy, and that I want to go to Haas to build the strongest foundation for my future and reach for the American dream. He seemed to like the answer. 

His next questions included:

• What are you passionate about?
• What is something that you are involved in right now, that is very important to you?
• Tell me about a time when you received negative feedback, and what was your response?
• Tell me about how you impact your community.
• Define Leadership. What does being a leader mean to you?

This was my favorite one. I took 10-15 seconds, in complete silence, to think about his question. Then I said: “okay.” And he smiled. Then I started: “I believe there is a difference between being a leader, and being a great leader. A leader is somebody who is able to gather a team of people, motivate them to work toward a common goal, and achieve it through an effective management of resources, and by handing out tasks and responsibilities. A great leader, on the other hand, is the one who is able to empower the members of his or her team, and turn those followers into leaders themselves. He will be on the same level as his teammates, and will understand that even he can learn from every one of his teammates; in fact I believe that the best leader is also the best follower, because he will be able to learn and understand what the team really needs in order to work at its best potential and achieve ambitious goals;” then I explained to him what experiences taught me what I had just told him. To use Richards word, this answer was fantastic! I was happy with my answer and I was very excited. 

At the end of the interview, we had a chance to chat a little about his experience and the business that he has launched. Overall, I think it was a successful interview and I hope so with all my heart! In 36 days, I will know whether that 23 minute interview go me into Haas, in which case I would be starting a new life up in the Bay Area. How exciting!!

Wish me good luck! :)

A presto, 

-Fede