FEBRUARY 23 2018

EST. 1999

OBERLIN’S STUDENT CULTURE MAGAZINE READ ONLINE AT THEOBERLINGRAPE.COM

FEBRUARY 23, 2018 Contributing Writers

Editors-in-Chief Jake Berstein Luke Fortney Content Editors

Production Editors

Brian Smith Juan Contreras Devin McMahon Molly Bryson

Ella Causer Hannah Berk Gabe Schneier Leora Swerdlow

Managing Editor Eddy Tumbokon Web Editor Ezra Goss

Photo Editor Em Webster

Copy Editors Olive Sherman Benjamin Silverman Keerthi Sridharan Rian Szende

On Budget Cuts

Indivisible Oberlin College Megan Grabill Angie Vaaler Malaya Nordyke PJ McCormick Anna Polacek Emory McCool Nell Beck Sylvie Florman Bhairavi Mehara Ben Povman Julia Halm Charles Rinhart-Jones

A letter from the editor at the Cox Administrative building.

When the 2008 financial crisis struck the world, like every other small liberal arts college, Oberlin College was hit hard. Our $750 million endowment shrunk by almost 15% in just four months, overall philanthropic donations to Oberlin dropped significantly, and society began questioning the value of a liberal arts education. As the dust settled, our president at the time, Marvin Krislov, penned an impassioned letter to the Oberlin College community in the alumni magazine. In it, Krislov spoke to the hardships of previous generations, and in defense of Oberlin’s core values. He discussed the steps being taken to reduce the operating costs of the College: freezing wage increases for Oberlin’s faculty, administration and staff, cutting down staff hours, and reducing overall travel expenses. The administration started making plans, forming committees, and inviting suggestions from students, parents and alumni.

Ten years later, where are we? Where have those plans, committees and suggestions brought us? I can give you

a hint: not very far. On the 28th of this month, President Ambar, in her first year, is going to talk to students about the state of our finances and the impending budget cuts that her and her team have forecasted. She’s also going to talk about how over the last ten years, we have taken too much from our endowment, that we’ve spent money on short term fixes over long term ones, and that enrollment across the board is down. She’s going to explain that there are going to be some pretty serious cuts to things students care about like dining halls and living spaces. Most importantly, though, she’s going to ask something of students—to think long term. Longer than the four years that we’re paying for.

But President Ambar knew this coming into the job. She knew that she was going to have to make tough decisions that had been left to her by her predecessor. She knew that she was taking charge of what some might call “a sinking ship”.

There is a trend receiving a lot of attention in the corporate world, referred to as the “glass cliff.” We’ve all heard of the glass ceiling—the idea

that women can’t get beyond a certain point within the leadership hierarchy of organizations as they come against an invisible and insidious barrier of sexism and the patriarchy. The glass cliff, in conjunction, is the phenomenon of women and specifically women of color being hired as CEOs of failing firms.

The reasons for this trend are still being debated. Some attribute it to the fact that a typical male CEO candidate at a failing firm, knowing that there will likely be other opportunities, can afford to pass up the offer, leaving more openings for women and people of color. Others find evidence that the glass cliff phenomenon is emblematic of gendered stereotypes about men and women that suggest that women might be better leaders in times of trouble. It’s a mommy complex! When a firm is in trouble, it cries out for the help of mommy; it’s less of a suicide mission than a rescue mission.

But why is this phenomenon called a “glass cliff”? Because these nontraditional (read: nonwhite and/ or non-male) leaders are coming in at a severe disadvantage. If progress isn’t

made, or if an unforeseen problem arises, it pushes these new leaders closer to the edge of the cliff, and they tend to be blamed, fired, and replaced.

So here is my warning. Soon you’ll all be hearing from President Ambar about the coming budget cuts. After that, you’ll be hearing the outcry of people mad that their corner of Oberlin is being hurt by these cuts. You’ll hear from students who are angry that some of their housing and dining options are being slashed, you’ll hear from faculty who are upset that the school is freezing their wage increases, and you’ll hear from staff members who are concerned about their job safety and the rising cost of their insurance. No one is going to be happy because no one likes budget cuts. But, when we look around and ask who to blame, we should do so with the understanding that Ambar has walked into a school that was already struggling. We should decide if our commitment to Oberlin ends at graduation.

Jake Berstein Editor-In-Chief

FRONT AND BACK COVER BY MATT LEVINE.

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THE GRAPE

The Grape Staff Peep the spring 2018 roster

Eddy Tumbokon (he/them) Devin McMahon, (she/her) Hannah Berk (she/her) Managing Editor Features Editor Features Layout Editor

Brian Smith (he/him) Opinions Editor

Ella Causer (she/her) Opinions Layout Editor

Luke Fortney (he/him) Editor-In-Chief

Molly Bryson (she/her) Gabe Schneier (he/him) Arts & Culture Editor Arts & Culture Layout Editor

Juan Contreras (he/him) Leora Swerdlow (she/her) Bad Habits Editor Bad Habits Layout Editor

Keerthi Sridharan (she/they) Olive Sherman (she/her) Rian Szende, (they/them) Em Webster (they/them) Copy Editor Copy Editor Copy Editor Photo Editor

Ian Feather (he/him) Staff Writer

Gio Donovan (he/they) Staff Writer

Leah Treidler (she/they) Staff Writer

Jake Berstein (he/him) Editor-In-Chief

Sam Schuman (he/him) Staff Writer

Ben Silverman (he/him) Copy Editor

Ezra Goss (he/him) Web Editor

Hal Sundt (he/him) Faculty Advisor

Stand Up Against Gun Violence Tell Rob Portman to go fuck himself

BY INDIVISIBLE OBERLIN COLLEGE CONTRIBUTING WRITER Tragically, 17 children were killed in Parkland, Florida this month. This horrific school shooting reminds us of the violence that has been terrorizing America for far too long.

Even though most Americans support moderate gun control measures, a well-organized minority of gun rights activists have convinced the Republican party to accept their radically laissez-faire approach to gun ownership. Americans own more guns per capita than residents of any other country, and the innocent are paying the price. Homicide rates in the U.S. are about 25 times higher than rates in other high income country. This disparity largely exists because most of these countries have stronger gun control measures than America.

This is to say two things. Firstly, gun violence is a uniquely American issue. Secondly, there are verified measures we can take to reduce gun violence.

It will be difficult to respond to all of the causes at play in this crisis, but it can be done. A variety of gun control legislation has appeared, and then stalled, within Congress. In fact, certain Republicans and Democrats have come together to propose bipartisan gun control legislation aimed

at strengthening the U.S. background check system. Yet, the majority of Congressional Republicans refuse to compromises their stance. We must force our elected officials to act.

These call scripts can be utilized every day until that happens. Keep these scripts in a place you can find them. Call every day. Remind your elected officials over and over again that they must take action.

And when the time comes, vote those who refuse to act out of office.

Notes on calling 1. Elected officials only care about hearing from their constituents, or people who are registered to vote in the area that member of Congress represents. If you are not registered to vote in Ohio, adapt these call scripts for your actual member of Congress. If your district is only represented by Democrats, call them and thank them for voting in favor of gun control;

the support encourages them to stay strong on gun control when running for reelection. If you aren’t registered to vote, get registered.

2. Always be respectful; the staffer, no matter what their views are, isn’t responsible for the representative’s vote.

3. If you want more call scripts on other topics, go to 5calls.org For Senator Portman Ohio Sen. Portman (Republican) has a close relationship with the NRA, and thus opposes most gun control measures.

However, he has expressed support for a recent gun control measure proposed by Republican Sen. John Cornyn, aiming to improve the U.S. background check system. But he must be convinced to do more.

Script: Hello, my name is (your name) and I am a constituent from Oberlin, Ohio, zip code 44074. In the wake of the most recent mass shooting in Florida, I urge Sen. Rob Portman to vote in favor of legislation that would require a background check for individuals attempting to buy guns from private sellers. There are not enough precautions taken to prevent gun violence in this country, and bipartisan gun control measures must be enacted. Thank

you for your time answering the phones.

For Congressman Jordan Our Congressman, Rep. Jim Jordan (Republican), is a hardline 2nd amendment supporter.

When given the chance, Rep. Jordan votes to loosen gun control measures, not expand them. As moderate gun control measures gain favor with some leading Republicans, Rep. Jordan must be convinced to support these bipartisan efforts.

Script: Hello, my name is (your name) and I am a constituent from Oberlin, Ohio, zip code 44074. In the wake of the most recent mass shooting in Florida, I urge Rep. Jim Jordan to vote in favor of legislation that would strengthen the National Instant Criminal Background Check System, such as the bill recently proposed by Sen. John Cornyn. There are not enough precautions taken to prevent gun violence in this country, and bipartisan gun control measures must be enacted. Thank you for your time answering the phones.

EMMA GONZALEZ, A SENIOR AT MARJORY STONEMAN DOUGLAS HIGH SCHOOL, ADDRESSED A GUN CONTROL RALLY IN FORT LAUDERDALE, FLORIDA, DAYS AFTER THE GUNMAN ENTERED HER SCHOOL IN NEARBY PARKLAND AND KILLED 17 PEOPLE.

Rob Portman’s DC Office: (202) - 224 - 3353 Rob Portman’s Cincinnati Office: (513) - 684 - 3265 Rob Portman’s Cleveland Office: (216) - 522 - 7095 Rob Portman’s Columbus Office: (614) - 469 - 6774

Rob Portman’s Toledo Office: (419) - 259 - 3895 Jim Jordan’s DC Office: (202) - 225 - 2676 Jim Jordan’s Lima Office: (419) - 999 - 6455 Jim Jordan’s Norwalk Office: (419) - 663 - 1426

Indivisible is a national movement dedicated to holding our elected officials accountable. Indivisible believes that by utilizing our power as constituents, we can push our elected officials to stand up to the Trump administration’s authoritarian agenda.

Find out more about Indivisible by going to https://www.indivisible.org/ guide/summary/ If you want to get involved with Indivisible, email us at Indivisibleoberlin@ gmail.com and like ‘Indivisible Oberlin College’ on Facebook.

Students, Faculty Express Doubt Over Future Of Creative Writing Program

BY SAM SCHUMAN STAFF WRITER “He just didn’t show up one day.” That’s how Lee Khoury said his friends learned that their creative writing professor Bernard Matambo had resigned last November following accusations of sexual misconduct towards students. The popular professor’s sudden resignation came as a shock to many students and faculty, but it wasn’t the first time Khoury had been surprised by a departure in the department.

The first-year English and intended creative writing major had enrolled in Oberlin expecting to study with Shane McCrae, a well-known poet on the creative writing faculty who left Oberlin over the summer to accept a teaching position at Columbia University. “I thought I was going to have a resident poet here in Shane McCrae that I was going to be able to work with for four years and develop my voice,” said Khoury.

Since the departures of McCrae and Matambo, the core faculty of the creative writing department, which has about 80 majors, has dwindled to only three professors: Dan Chaon, Kazim Ali, and Sylvia Watanabe. Chaon is retiring at the end of the semester, and Watanabe is expected to retire at the end of next year.

The prospect of having only one core faculty member by Fall 2019 has rattled

students, especially those who were attracted to the College because of its creative writing program.

Kate Fishman, a first-year intended English and creative writing major, chose to attend Oberlin in part because of its strong creative writing program. This semester, Fishman, who is taking the major gateway course CRWR 201: Poetry/ Prose Workshop, is less confident in the department. “It’s hard to continue to call something a strong department if the staff is changing so much and if there’s not a consistent availability of certain classes and certain resources,” she said.

Dan Chaon, Delaney Professor of Creative Writing, echoed some of Fishman’s concerns, saying “right now, there’s very few people who can do advising, there’s very few people who know the curriculum very well.”

He went on to add: “They’re [students] coming here for the

ALISON BECHDEL, OBERLIN ALUM AND WELL KNOWN GRAPHIC NOVELIST

faculty, and for the small classes, and if they’re not getting that, then what are you paying for?”

Uncertainty in the department has already begun to impact students’ academic plans. Chaon said that several students have left the major in response to recent faculty departures, and at least one student left Oberlin College entirely.

Tim Elgren, Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, acknowledged the urgent need to hire new professors in the department, saying “We need to get [creative writing] staff in place. If we start that right now, we can potentially have people in place by the Fall,” later adding “We’ll certainly have visitors in place [in the Fall].”

Currently, the College Faculty Council, which Elgren Chairs, is in the process of allocating faculty positions for the department.

“At this point everything de-

pends upon what the deans and council decide about allocating positions.” said DeSales Harrison, Creative Writing Program Director and Associate Professor of English, in an email to The Grape. “CRWR has received assurances that two positions will be forthcoming, but those positions are still in the approval process, and we are all in the same boat of waiting to hear the results.”

Not every vacant position in the department will be filled.

Said Elgren: “…having those four lines open are four lines that we can look at, but open lines across the department aren’t all going to be replaced.”

He did not rule out new faculty in the future, saying “I think we start slowly, and with a goal of getting back to [a] fully staffed program that also may include more faculty as we continue to think about areas of growth.”

Citing successful faculty searches in the past year, El-

gren was confident that the College would be able to attract strong faculty, saying “The market right now is going to be extraordinary for young, talented writers because there are so few jobs out there that we’re going to be able to get some really great people.”

In addition to three core faculty members, the department is currently supplemented by three visiting professors, as well as professors from other departments with backgrounds in creative writing. Desales Harrison and Lynn Powell, director of Oberlin Writers in the Schools, are also affiliated with and teach courses in the department.

English professor David Walker is teaching the department’s upper-level playwriting workshop this semester. Next semester, there may not be a playwriting workshop. “Playwriting is done. As far as I know there will be no more playwriting,” said Chaon, who is retiring at the

end of the semester to turn his novel Ill Will into a television miniseries and work on a new two-book deal with publisher Henry Holt & Co. Chaon was unsure about the continuation of other courses as well, saying “I teach screenwriting and comics, and I don’t think there’s anybody that’s gonna be doing that anymore, once I leave…they may hire somebody that does, I don’t know.”

Elgren told The Grape he envisions creative writing instruction expanding outside of the department, saying “I see structuring beyond the department.

I see… taking what is creative writing and growing around its edges.”

The administration remains adamant that despite the department’s smaller faculty, the program will not be absorbed by another department. “I can’t imagine us not having a creative writing major.” said Elgren, lat-

er adding that the department “will be rebuilt and continue to be a very strong program…”

“I don’t have any sort of panicky illusion that the department is melting away.” Said Harrison in an email to the Oberlin Review last November.

Even so, some students aren’t entirely convinced. “It’s just a feeling…because it’s so small, and because it’s getting smaller… I think that might be a primary source of that insecurity.”

Said Khoury.

Chaon was also unsure about the department’s future, saying “If they don’t hire enough faculty to run a program, what are the other options?” Chaon said he would like to see six tenured professors in the program, along with two or three visiting professors.

This semester, the department is offering 15 courses excluding private readings and capstone seminars, up from 13 during the Spring 2017 semester.

As the college continues to handle a $5-million deficit, Creative Writing won’t be the only department to lose faculty positions. “Ultimately we’ll be cutting faculty lines as part of this budget conversation. That’s not a creative writing question, it’s a bigger question…” Elgren said.

In November the College offered its second buyout in two years, this time open only to faculty.

Elgren said he believed the strength of the College’s current faculty will prevent recent changes from affecting the amount of applications the college receives or its yield, saying “I think we’ve got great people here…there’s still programmatic richness there.”

Earlier this month, the Office of Admissions and Financial Aid projected that Oberlin “will meet its targeted admission rate for the class of 2022.”

Current creative writing ma-

jors could be affected by new changes to the department’s capstone project, which according to Chaon will shift from a semester-long individual project to a traditional upper-level seminar.

Said Elgren: “I don’t know what changes they’re [the Creative writing Faculty] making but the faculty that are leaving are probably not the people that will be directing those changes.”

Another concern is that the smaller department will make already-selective courses even harder to get in to. “[The selectivity is] hard on the students, it’s hard on the professors to hear people who are super upset…it’s shitty. I’ve been long confused about why the college doesn’t do something about it.” said Chaon.

Until the CFC reaches a decision about positions allocations, students and faculty can only speculate as to what

the Creative Writing program will look like in the Fall. Said Chaion: “It’s a wait-and-see, and it’s getting late…next Fall is not that far away, and I have no idea who’s teaching in the fall, nor does anybody else, as far as I know.”

Despite the uncertainty, the program’s current faculty and mission are still held in high regard.

“I’m leaving behind some colleagues that I really admire and like, and I think that the students would benefit from working with those people,” said Chaon. “I just don’t know what the future is.”

Said Khoury: “I think most of us are in this because we love it [creative writing] and not in this because we were attracted to department because of the faculty.”

Contact staff writer Sam Schuman at sschuman@oberlin.edu.

Major Car Accidents Around Oberlin Cause Distress

BY MEGAN GRABILL CONTRIBUTING WRITER On February 8th, 2018, Kyle J. Gutierrez was struck and killed by an unidentified vehicle on North Main Street, in the heart of Oberlin’s campus. For many students, this was just the latest report, official or unofficial, of an altercation with a car in Oberlin. Despite the town’s size and relative isolation, students have run-ins with cars surprisingly often.

Sophie Macaulay ‘21 was struck by a car turning onto Woodland from West Lorain as she crossed the street with her friend Emory McCool ‘21. Luckily, both pedestrians were unharmed, but she recalled feeling frustrated at the driver’s response to the accident. “We were on the ground on the concrete and she rolled down the window and was like, “Are you guys okay?”, and then [she] zipped off, so we didn’t get her plate or anything. It’s so funny because I thought she was asking if we were injured and she took that as an okay to leave.” Macaulay and McCool reported the accident to both the Oberlin Police and Safety and Security, but without the license plate number, the driver has proven hard to

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find. “They said they would check security cameras, but a couple days later we called and they were still looking into it and we never heard back from them.” Macaulay remembers.

Another student, Natalie Hawthorne ‘19, also reported feeling dissatisfied with how her accident was handled. She collided with a car STUDENTS STAND AT THE INTERSECTION OF WEST COLLEGE AND SOUTH PROFESOR. during move-in week last PHOTO BY EM WEBSTER. year as she biked towards South Hall. “I didn’t call the why Oberlin presents some unique chal- driving, regardless of foot traffic. police or anything, because I didn’t real- lenges for a town of its size. “Our campus Of course, students aren’t the only ly know if that’s what you’re supposed to is separated by roadways… several of people living in Oberlin. Permanent do. But then he was a professor and [he] them are state routes”. This presents two residents of the town frequently conasked me to pay $500 to fix the damage challenges: first, the speed limit is high- tend with both pedestrian and vehicular on his car from my bike hitting his car. er than the speed limits on other roads, traffic. I reached out to Maureen Simen, But we were both breaking traffic rules, making it more difficult for motorists to the America Reads coordinator at Oberso it was a complicated thing, and I just react to pedestrian and bike traffic. Sec- lin and a resident of the town for seven felt kinda taken advantage of by a person ond, it makes it much more difficult for years, to get her perspective. In town, who knew more about what to do in that Oberlin to install “official crosswalks”; she said, both townspeople and students kind of situation.” that is, crosswalks where motorists are alike tend to jaywalk. On campus, stuMike Martinsen, director of Safety and legally obligated to stop. Without an of- dents tend to take more risks, but she Security, had some interesting insight on ficial crosswalk, many cars will keep on was quick not to assign blame to any one

THE GRAPE

party and to emphasize the importance of understanding alternate perspectives. “We all make excuses for why we do these things or allow them in others.

Worse though is when forget that we do the same things we judge others for because we all suffer from ‘perspective amnesia’. When we’re in the car, we’re judging the pedestrians; when we’re pedestrians, we’re judging the drivers,” she said.

And finally, what should a student do in the event of an accident? Martinsen believes that the first priority should be

the student’s health. “If you’ve ever been involved in a car accident, you might know that you might feel okay because of the adrenaline… very often the next day, you’re in pain… so definitely report it to the police, and seek medical attention, and let someone know what happened to you so they can watch you as well,” he said, adding that it’s important to get the license plate, make, and model of the vehicle, especially if it looks like the driver is about to leave the scene.

Both Martinsen and Simen were also careful to reiterate the importance of

practicing traffic safety, with Martinsen emphasizing the importance of being aware of your own visibility and minimizing distractions from cell phones or headphones. Simen’s advice was similar: “Please wear a helmet. Put lights or reflectors on your bikes. Get good boots so you can stay on the sidewalks in winter. There will always be people who are going to see students’ behavior as worse than that of those who live in town.

Change or awareness should come from a sense of self-care”.

PLS

MO

Sex Talk: The Sensual Triad

VE

BY ANGIE VAALER CONTRIBUTING WRITER Welcome to Sex Talk, a column in which Sexual Information Center staffers give the low-down on all things sex. I’m Angie, a staffer at the SIC, and I’m here to let you know about a lil thing called ~the sensual triad~.

Communication, Relaxation, and Lubrication. The sensual traid. The coolest thing about this diagram is that it’s all about pleasure, which is pretty radical. Sex ed rarely teaches us how to make things feel good, and learning about pleasure from porn and pop culture can be misleading. Centering communication and prioritizing relaxation and lubrication can make sex safer and

feeeeeel better.

First thing’s first: sex can be a lot of different things to a lot of different people!

The sensual triad is a simple three-part framework that ensures the sex you’re having is enjoyable for everyone involved.

The three parts of the sensual triad are: Communication: This aspect of the triad is important for both consent and pleasure. Clear communication about what each partner wants and how they want it is vital to good, consensual sex.

Phrases like, “Would you like to do ____ or _____?” or “What would feel good for you right now?” are good ways

to check in with a partner.

Relaxation: Relaxation helps our brain release endorphins that are specific to sexual pleasure. It also helps certain muscles in the body receive touch!

Lubrication: This part of the triad refers to any lubrication, whether it’s made by our bodies (pre-cum, vaginal mucus, cervical mucus) or synthetically made (water-based, silicone-based, or hybrid).

Both types of lube help sex along by decreasing friction. This is especially important when pleasuring body parts with delicate tissue, like the genitals. When friction occurs without lubrication, tiny little cuts, called microtears, can form,

causing pain and increasing one’s risk of STI transmission. Lube can also make sex last longer, if that’s what everyone’s down for!

If you have any topic suggestions, email us at sic@oberlin.edu or visit us in Wilder 203. The SIC provides at-cost safer sex supplies, gender affirming products, peer support and comprehensive education to the Oberlin student body and broader community. Visit our facebook page @ facebook.com/oberlin.sic. <3 The SIC Adapted from SEXCO Reader 2018.

Nexus Offers Oberlin City Council $100,000 To Violate Its Own Laws

BY IAN FEATHER STAFF WRITER Note: this article was submitted prior to the February 20th City Council meeting, where the settlement offer from Enbridge Inc. was discussed for the second time.

Since 2014, Enbridge Inc. has had plans to construct a 255-mile pipeline that would transport fracked natural gas from eastern Ohio, through Michigan, and into Canada. Locally, the so-called NEXUS pipeline is routed to go through the southern part of Oberlin, potentially putting dozens of residences on Reserve Avenue, the Oberlin Fire Department, and Splash Zone all at physical and financial risk if the pipeline is successfully constructed.

Before February 7th, two Ohio communities remained united in opposing

the plans of Enbridge to force a pipeline through their respective public lands.

Oberlin was one, and the nearby city of Green was the other. On the night of February 7th, however, the Green City Council voted 4-3 to accept a $7.5 million settlement from Enbridge Inc., allowing construction in that community to go forward.

Oberlin remains as the only city, town, or village along the entire proposed 255mile route of the NEXUS pipeline in opposition to the impending construction.

However, the city has its own settlement offer from Enbridge Inc.--in this case for a much smaller amount of $100,000.

Now, the Oberlin City Council must decide whether or not it will follow the decision of Green and wave a white flag of surrender, a decision that would ex-

plicitly violate its own Community Bill of Rights and Obligations (CBRO).

On the evening of February 5th, City Council had their first hearing on the ordinance pertaining to the settlement.

While four of the six council members at the meeting were in favor of voting immediately on the ordinance, doing so would have required a unanimous vote.

Therefore, two more hearings will follow before a final decision on the settlement is made.

At the meeting, all of the councilmembers who indicated that they would vote in favor of the settlement proposal (Bryan Burgess, Kristin Peterson, Ronnie Rimbert, and Kelley Singleton) expressed that they were doing so not as a show of support for the NEXUS project, but rather because they believe con-

struction of the pipeline within Oberlin is inevitable, with or without the settlement. In their minds, it would be better to accept the $100,000 from Enbridge Inc., rather than not gain any money and otherwise experience the same result.

To council members Heather Adelman and Linda Slocum and all but one of the almost two dozen members of the public who made comments, however, this point of view was either disagreeable, not relevant to the larger symbolic significance of the vote, or both.

Oberlin College third-year and member of Students for Energy Justice (SEJ), Alex Chuang (they/them/theirs), was one of several Oberlin College students to make public comments during the meeting in opposition to the settlement offer. Like many other members of the

FEBRUARY 23, 2018

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public who spoke in opposition to the pipeline, Chuang recognized the long odds currently faced by Oberlin in this battle. Nonetheless, they expressed their belief that any financial harm that can be done to Enbridge through Oberlin’s resistance, such as further delaying construction, will contribute to the larger battle against both the fossil fuel industry and powerful multinational corporations. “We’re talking about something much bigger than NEXUS, much bigger than Oberlin [...] it’s about a global struggle against fossil fuels and climate change,” they said at the meeting. This sentiment reflects the fact that the NEXUS pipeline project does not exist in a vacuum--one only has to look at other Enbridge Inc. pipeline projects to see this.

Enbridge Inc. is responsible for the planned Line 3 replacement project, which would double the oil-transporting capacity of the existing Line 3 pipeline that runs from Alberta, Canada, to Wisconsin. In addition to environmental activists, this project has also faced intense opposition from indigenous rights activists; according to Honor the Earth, an indigenous environmental justice non-profit, the construction of the pipeline would explicitly violate the treaty rights of several different indigenous groups, threatening their land, water, and air. Furthermore, according to the Polaris Institute, a research non-profit,

Enbridge Inc. pipelines have been responsible for more than 800 spills between 1999 and 2010. The most notable of these spills happened in 2010 in Michigan, when over 1 million gallons of oil spilled into the Kalamazoo River.

The previously mentioned 2013 ordinance establishing a Community Bill of Rights and Obligations (CBRO) served as an important legal precedent used at the council meeting against accepting the settlement offer. The CBRO, passed

upon it. Nonetheless, the opportunity for official input by the public has been limited to the three-minute-each comments that Oberlin residents were allowed to make at the meeting regarding the settlement, which is also the case for every other ordinance that comes before the City Council.

Yet another type of position voiced in opposition to the settlement by the public during the February 5th City Council meeting pertained to the monetary

“WE’RE TALKING ABOUT SOMETHING MUCH BIGGER THAN NEXUS, MUCH BIGGER THAN OBERLIN [...] IT’S ABOUT A GLOBAL STRUGGLE AGAINST FOSSIL FUELS AND CLIMATE CHANGE” into city law in 2013 with over 70% of the vote of Oberlin residents, has the purpose of “prohibiting gas and oil extraction and related activities,” as well as “subordinating the privileges bestowed on certain corporations to the rights and governance of the people.” To even the untrained legal eye, it would seem that such language would dictate that the City Council vote unanimously against the settlement offer from Enbridge Inc., or at least let the Oberlin public vote

aspect of the settlement offer. Community member Matt Adelman (he/him/ his) used part of his three minutes to cite the fact that the annual budget for Oberlin is approximately $36.2 million, and thus the $100,000 settlement offer represented a very small fraction of this sum. He described the settlement offer as being akin to “if you had $362 in your pocket, somebody offering you $1 for the safety, health, and wellbeing of your friends.”

For clarification, the large difference in settlement offers between Oberlin and Green can likely be explained by the fact that Enbridge Inc. needs several linear miles of the land within Green’s municipal limits, and only around 50-100 feet of Oberlin’s in order to construct the NEXUS pipeline. Nonetheless, Adelman was correct in pointing out just how small of a fraction $100,000 is in comparison to the total annual budget of Oberlin. Furthermore, none of the councilmembers who expressed a desire to vote in favor of the settlement expressed a distinct need for the money within the community, nor any ideas for what the money could be used for.

The Oberlin City Council will soon be forced to decide what type of role the community will play going forward, at least from a legal point of view--both as it pertains to the larger resistance movement against the NEXUS pipeline, as well as its centuries-old legacy as a fearless, sometimes solitary fighter of injustice.

Construction of the NEXUS pipeline in Michigan; mid-January, 2018. Taken from a weekly summary report by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission Environment Compliance Monitoring Program.

Contact staff writer Ian Feather at ifeather@oberlin.edu.

CONSTRUCTION OF THE NEXUS PIPELINE IN MICHIGAN; MID-JANUARY, 2018.

TAKEN FROM A WEEKLY SUMMARY REPORT BY THE FEDERAL ENERGY REGULATORY COMMISSION ENVIRONMENT COMPLIANCE MONITORING PROGRAM.

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THE GRAPE

Cause for Applause

With special guest Khalid Taylor, Student Life Program Coordinator

BY LUKE FORTNEY EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Khalid Taylor (OC ‘17) is the Multicultural Resource Center’s newest Student Life Program Coordinator and The Grape’s first guest in a series of student (graduate) spotlights—and, according to the research I conducted before our interview, he's also an aquarius.

Although I don’t know much about astrology, a Google search of ‘Aquarius facts’ tells me that they’re “affectionate, independent, and charming.”

When I met Khalid in his office in the MRC last Wednesday, I was reminded of what I already knew to be true: that he’s no exception.

Obviously you’re still involved with student life on campus, but you’re seeing it from another perspective: from behind the desk.

What is that like for you?

It was initially really difficult in that I felt stuck between two worlds, if that makes sense. A lot of my friends were still here and I would like to hang out with them, but as a staff member developing a professional relationship with them, I recognized that I couldn’t hang out with them in the same ways.

It felt weird to be a staff member but not necessarily feel like it immediately, especially because the position of the Student Life Program Coordinator is very student-oriented. Most of my job is not necessarily being friends with students, but being friendly, cooperative, collaborative and engaged with them.

That was definitely a lonely process at first, because Oberlin is small. Most of the young population is student-based. It took quite some time to find other staff and faculty that wanted to

hang out and not just at meetings or not just over dinner.

Part of what I did to address that was start a staff and faculty a capella group.

That was really powerful, because I realized that I was missing my creative outlets from the year before, like the Obertones and capoeira. The MRC is not a job that ends to be quite honest, unless you draw the boundaries.

Having a 10-6 job that didn’t end was tiring and I didn’t feel too inspired to do independent creative expression outside of that.

How have you worked to redefine the relationships that you have with current students?

Because of the identity that I bring to this job, part of what I’m here to do is support my friends. I have made a lot of friends at Oberlin over the course of my time here. I’m here to support everyone, but I care so much about the people here.

It’s never really been a question of whether or not I can be present, it’s about changing the spaces in which I’m present with them. I invite people to the MRC more. I’m not really trying to go to people’s houses

folks and I take on a lot of what other people take on.

As someone whose job it is to specifically hold communities, it’s a lot of work and labor.

The friends that I’m closest to, we just had conversations about it. We talked about where I was at and how I could be present for them. Something that I see in the POC community generally and what I hope to see more of is having folks support you in what you’re trying to do. My friends who understood really just wanted to see me succeed and were willing to negotiate my relationship in a different form.

And also, we go out to dinner.

I have money now. I’ve always worked for the money that I’ve had and so it feels good to not

struggle, I mean it. There were points when I did not think was not going to make it through this place. For that reason, I am a really good fit to help people who are in the same struggle.

It’s showing people that you can actually make it through as someone who is not jaded and who cares and cares passionately. Someone who is imperfect, but who is still doing their thing,

ONE OF MY CLOSE FRIENDS USED TO SAY THAT YOU DON’T GIVE BACK TO YOUR COMMUNITY, YOU TAKE THEM WITH YOU WHEREVER YOU GO. I FEEL LIKE I’M ABLE TO DO THAT. or attend parties. Not only is it unprofessional, but it puts my position at risk with underage drinking.

At the end of the day, I also need more time to myself now.

Something I learned in my time at Oberlin, and especially now, is that I care a lot about other

worry about financial security. I can help my friends out in that way too.

One of my close friends used to say that you don’t give back to your community, you take them with you wherever you go. I feel like I’m able to do that. When I tell people I understand the

and coming from places where people don’t really get out of the spaces they come from.

You said it’s not about giving back to your community, but about taking them with you. Where are you taking them?

Generally on campus there’s a desire to heal. I think that there have been a lot of traumatic experiences that have happened over the last couple of years that some people have been for and some people haven’t, but that everyone feels the reverberations of.

There’s also been the loss of a lot of people recently with faculty and staff members leaving.

Certain communities have been feeling not necessarily lost, but confused and frustrated. I personally identify as a healer and I tend to give that energy wherever I go. Sometimes words come out of my face and I don’t feel like they’re coming from me, but they tend to be the right words.

Also, I’m specifically trying to support men of color. In my time, I recognize that’s something I didn’t get as much of.

A lot of the work that I’ve

FEBRUARY 23, 2018

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done in this job has been to support black men in particular, but I hope to expand that to be men of color generally. I hope to bring the communities that I work with and care for to a place of peace and a place of self-awareness, to a place of empowerment to do what it is that they hope to accomplish.

You’re talking about the ex-

It’s funny you ask because I have a meeting later today for a theme hall that was approved by res-ed. It’s called the ‘Brotherhood Hall.’ It’s going to be in A House. It’s specifically for black men but welcome to all men of color. We will be talking a little bit more about what that looks like, but I met with some current students on campus that wanted to see it happen.

necessary. I identify as black, latinx, and queer and those are the communities that I feel most helpful with right now, but that is definitely not to say I don’t want to help the other communities. I just am figuring out how to do that better. As I grow to do that better, I hope to be able to help bring Oberlin’s communities together more.

When we collect our resourc-

I’VE HAD A LOT OF EXPERIENCE NATURALLY TAKING CARE OF OTHER FOLKS BUT HAVE DEFINITELY FOUND MYSELF AT OBERLIN BEING A FOUNTAIN THAT HAS RUN DRY. MANY, MANY TIMES. perience of black men on this campus. What has that experience been like for you at Oberlin?

Identifying as an Afro-Latinx queer man, there aren’t a lot of people who look like me on this campus, and the people who do are kind of spread out. It was not always easy to feel comfortable being all the parts of myself at the same time in certain spaces. When I was struggling being in the conservatory and being in the sciences, I didn’t feel like there were many people I could talk to about my experience or where I come from and how that has impacted how I perceive things.

Men in particular can struggle with reaching out and accepting help because it is not seen as masculine or manly. Coupled with coming from a place that is about survival or is about making sure that you have yours, it’s also a matter of pride. You don’t want to be seen as weak, or as incompetent or incapable.

There were a lot of points when I struggled alone and was stoic about it. I see that happen a lot here. I’d like to change the general stigma about expressing yourself as a man.

Do you have any ideas about how you’re going to do this outside of being an example and a resource?

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I’m hoping to create a living and learning community for men of color to engage with each other and feel supported by each other. Not just in small clusters of three or four folks but rather in a large community.

The theme hall is going to start next fall. In the meantime, I’ve done two programs specifically around black men. Last semester, there was something called “Black Boy Joy,” talking about blackness, masculinity, and emotional freedom to express yourself. I think about 15 men came out to just talk, which is a pretty big number for this campus to be honest.

What has been unexpected about the work that you do, for better or worse?

One thing that’s new this year is there are no longer community-specific coordinators.

There’s no longer a Latinx, Africana, or LGBTQ community coordinator. So moving to that intersectional model as opposed to community-specific or multi-cultural model has been a process for everyone. Both from our end to the communities that we serve.

That’s something that takes time to continue to grow. It’s been a process to understand how to hold space for different communities simultaneously or in different settings and being prepared to help them as

THE GRAPE

es, when we recognize our common struggles, when we recognize our ability to support each other better, we create amazing things from that. The moments in which we’ve done that have been really beautiful, and it

supporting you and how are you keeping this up?

I’ve had a lot of experience naturally taking care of other folks but have definitely found myself at Oberlin being a fountain that has run dry. Many, many times.

In the past, I’ve been so overwhelmed with caring for other folks that I have lost touch with myself and am able to serve no one, including myself. I’ve learned from that mistake (or series of mistakes) and am better able to catch myself now.

Especially in the last couple of weeks, I have grown to love my coworkers in the MRC. I feel like they are my family. I have struggled to actively receive support when I need things in the past. I have felt pretty tired and unsure of if I could do things but I have felt nothing but support and kindness and love and respect

night where I brought barbers to A-House and basically created a barbershop. There was “My Name is My Own,” which is a queer and trans POC speaker series.

And, of course, there was the Winter in Wakanda ball.

Winter in Wakanda was a tremendous success. I’m not trying to brag or boast about it, but that was me. The MRC definitely helped, but that was my vision and it was so beautiful to see somewhere between 200 and 300 folks all looking so good, in their finest, in a space that was positive and black and how people were not upset about that.

People who were not black supported that and I think there’s a beautiful way that we can hold each other, hold space for each other, and celebrate with each other without it being like peo-

WINTER IN WAKANDA WAS A TREMENDOUS SUCCESS. I’M NOT TRYING TO BRAG OR BOAST ABOUT IT, BUT THAT WAS ME... IT WAS SO BEAUTIFUL TO SEE SOMEWHERE BETWEEN 200 AND 300 FOLKS ALL LOOKING SO GOOD, IN THEIR FINEST, IN A SPACE THAT WAS POSITIVE AND BLACK takes a lot of time, organization, sweat, and sometimes even tears. But it’s so worth it.

In your work so far, how have you negotiated supporting folks who have identities different than the ones that you hold?

The most important thing is being present. When people recognize that you see them for who they are from what they’ve shown you, that creates trust and that creates space for people to open up about what they need. It all starts with building the trust first. That’s how communities work. It’s knowing that people have positive intentions and are willing to be present for you and have shown that.

Amid all of this talk of supporting other people, who’s

and empathy and understanding from them. I’m so grateful that we enjoy hanging out so much that we don’t just do it in the space but actively want to hangout outside of here too. All I’ve wanted is to not just work all day, but to be able to have friends that understand what I do during the day.

I’m going to let you go, but I want to make sure that we talk about the Black History Month programming. As Student Life Program Coordinator, what has your role looked like this month?

The large portion of the programs that took place last week were programs that I put together or was directly responsible for. There was an Afro-Latinx panel. There was a samba masterclass. There was a self-care

ple taking up space.

I know the Student Life Program Coordinator is a one-year position. Are you going to be here in the fall?

I’m not done. I’m definitely not done. If everything continues to go well, and as long as I don’t heck up tremendously, I’m pretty sure that I’ll be back to do it again. I really have felt nothing but love and respect and admiration from all of Oberlin, damn near. That’s something that has made me feel validated in the work that I do or feel that I have the space to grow and not be perfect but to bring the best of myself as much as possible.

Contact editor-in-chief Luke Fortney at lfortney@oberlin.edu.

Oberlin Makes An Effort To Implement All-Gender Bathrooms Around Campus Here is a map with the updated bathrooms:

SCIENCE CENTER FIRST AND SECOND BATHROOM

WRIGHT PHYSICS BASEMENT

STEVENSON FIRST FLOOR

CARNEGIE FIRST FLOOR, BOTH BIBBINS ONE EACH ON 1ST AND 3RD FLOORS

HALES BASEMENT SEVERANCE SECOND FLOOR SINGLE-USER

FINNEY FIRST FLOOR AND BASEMENT PETERS BASEMENT AND THIRD FLOOR

KING SECOND FLOOR RICE ALL ARE SINGLE USE

The Season of Love

Oberlin Couples Celebrate V-Day

BY MALAYA NORDYKE CONTRIBUTING WRITER The jury is still out on whether February is cuffing or de-cuffing season, but there is no denying that love is in the air, or at the very least shoved in our faces, on the fateful day of February 14th. So, in the spirit of Valentine’s Day, I’ve decided to examine the Oberlin dating season through the different types of couples found on campus.

The Healthy and Chill: The healthy and chill relationship is described by sophomore Sadie Grant as “oddly comfortable.” Most Healthy and Chill relationships are merely a symptom of still being in the honeymoon period, but there is the occasional H&C relationship that has withstood the test of time.

What they did on Valentine’s Day: made dinner, went to Cleveland, double date The Long Distance: Often short-lived, but when they last it’s pretty impressive.

Whether they started dating in high school, met on a weekend trip to Wesleyan, or had a passionate fling while abroad in Prague, the long distance couple knows how to put in work to make it work, and we’re all cheering them on.

What they did on Valentine’s Day: Facetime sex, Facetime Domino’s date The They Still Go Here?: Picture this: you are walking to your class in King and you see a person that you haven’t seen in a year. You probably thought that they either dropped out or graduated. Wrong!

This person is in a TSGH relationship, which means they spend all their time couped up in a room with their significant

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other, only to emerge for food, bathroom, and (hopefully) class breaks.

What they did on Valentine’s Day: Stayed in their room? Watched a movie? Thought about the outside world? Who knows? Do they even go here?

The It’s Complicated: Pretty self explanatory, and very situational. It’s Complicated relationships are most often a symptom of bad communication and/ or a messy history. It’s tricky, but there’s nothing wrong with that!

Meant to be but not together: As odd as this couple sounds, they’re not too uncommon at Oberlin. This couple generally has a deep connection but no matter how many “talks” they have had they are not officially together. Usually a product of a looming graduation date, inability to be in a relationship, or compulsive need to play it “chill,” this Oberlin couple has a confusing road ahead.

What they did on Valentine’s Day: Planned to go out to dinner…with their entire friend group.

AFTER ALL, VALENTINE’S DAY IS JUST THE EFFING HEGEMONIC IDEAL OF CONSUMERISM AND AMERICA’S (SUCCESSFUL) ATTEMPT AT CAPITALIZING ON LOVE, B*TCH! What they did on Valentine’s Day: ...it’s complicated.

The What are We?: So you have been hooking up for a while but have yet to have the talk. Not knowing what is expected of you or what you can expect from your partner can be super stressful, especially during the season of love. The What Are We is a basic pre-req for almost every other relationship. (Not to be confused for the It’s Complicated -- it’s only complicated because you need to DTR.) What they did on Valentine’s Day: Made cards and stressed about whether or not to give them to each other.

THE GRAPE

The freshman year fling that somehow hasn’t died yet: When you first arrive at college it can feel like there is this pressure to find the one, or at least one of the ones. This, along with the loneliness of freshman year, makes one desperate to make a connection with someone, thus yielding multiple month-long relationships. These relationships could age two different ways: (1) you remain friends, or (2) it’s the hookup that haunts you for the next four years. Living in a one-mile radius from that person “makes Oberlin a minefield,” said a sophomore wishing to remain anonymous: “You can’t go anywhere without worrying you are going to see them.”

What they did on Valentine’s Day: wondered what the other did on Valentine’s day. Listened to the breakup album they wrote about you, just for old times sake.

The couple that everyone thinks is a couple but is not a couple: Can’t people just be friends? This “couple” is really just a set of friends that go to Mudd together, eat meals together, hang out, you know, normal friend things. Most commonly a symptom of first year neverwanting-to-go-anywhere-alone jitters. On this Valentine’s Day, let us remember that there are no relationships more important than with your platonic partners.

What they did on Valentine’s Day: nothing!! They are not a couple.

Not in a couple, just loving yourself: Okay, let’s be real, Oberlin can be an incredibly weird place to forge a relationship. Why? Who knows. But it’s totally cool if you are not with anyone or not interested in being with anyone.

At this time in your life you should be focusing on yourself not looking for validation from someone else! So if you are alone this Valentine’s Day, don’t sweat it. After all, Valentine’s Day is just the effing hegemonic ideal of consumerism and America’s (successful) attempt at capitalizing on love, b*tch!

What they did on Valentine’s Day: loved thyself Contact Contributing Writer Malaya Nordyke at mnordyke@oberlin.edu

The Bachelor of Oberlin

BY PJ MCCORMICK CONTRIBUTING WRITER The Bachelor of Oberlin is a new biweekly column re-capping the most recent episode of the Bachelor (and/ or all Bachelor-adjacent properties ie: The Bachelorette, Bachelor in Paradise, The Bachelor Winter Games, etc.). Reactions to the episode of the week are captured in an informal round-table during a Bachelor screening.

“The Bachelor is an expression of the human experience,” remarked Ben Richman (‘20), in the moments following the screening of Monday’s installment: season 22, episode 7.

Mr. Richman is, of course, not wrong.

Like the human experience, every individual grapples with The Bachelor in their own unique way, taking from it a personalized set of challenges, victories, qualms and insights.

It’s certainly not unusual to have issues with Season 22’s chosen Bachelor, race-car driver and real-

estate agent, Arie Luyendyk, Jr. Simultaneously white-bread and milquetoast, Arie is the almosthandsome son of racetrack royalty set on redeeming himself after having his heart broken by Emily Maynard in the Season 8 Finale of The Bachelorette.

Although his work on developing a signature catchphrase this season has been fruitful -- see “that’s so cool,” and “I love that” -- Arie is perhaps best well known as the “kissing bandit,” a name he earned both from the style he kisses in (sloppy, loud, wet) and the frequency with which he does so (incredibly often).

As one sophomore (who prefers to go unnamed) noted, “The Bachelor is based on a suspension of morals.”

Maybe so! But this recapper would posit that if the Bachelor is structured on the suspension of any one thing, it would be disbelief. With that in mind, episode 7 of season 22 opens with

Arie and the final 6 contestants on a trip in Tuscany, the ideal location for a shot of Arie making out with Becca K while the sun reflects off of her downed wine glass.

As several contestants explicitly acknowledge in the first few minutes of the show, stakes are running high.

A word to the wise: watching The Bachelor with closed captions on is a good idea for viewing in a room full of rowdy friends, but does very little to combat detractors who might argue that the show is a little mindless or repetitive.

Contact contributing writer PJ Mccormick at pjmccormi@oberlin. edu

Girl Fieri Reviews: Blue Sky

BY ANNA POLACEK CONTRIBUTING WRITER As Oberlin students, complaining about our food options can feel like a norm.

Whether it’s the questionable looking meat at Dascomb, or the pretty average “pitza” at Aladdin’s, many of us are left craving some variety. Well, not to worry, my friends, a new food columnist is in town. I’ll be bringing you reviews of Oberlin’s overlooked food options so you can expand your culinary palate. This week I’ll be reviewing Blue Sky Restaurant, the Oberlin staple for when you’re craving an off campus burger.

Although Blue Sky isn’t necessarily in Oberlin, this restaurant is one that everyone seems to know about. How this happened I would like to know (seriously, if anyone has any theories, please reach out). It’s a place all my friends rave about, yet somehow I had never been there myself. As a newly identified food reviewer I was anxious to see what all the fuss was

about. So last Monday night, a couple of friends and I borrowed our friend’s Prius, and made the trek.

For those of you who don’t know, Blue Sky is a quaint little joint situated between Mattress Warehouse and Chipotle in the

and a classic glass display of baked goods.

Once we were seated the waitress handed us two menus — one, a six page menu of a whole host of food options, from burgers to pasta to seafood — the other, a smaller, really great looking menu that offered

ALL WERE OVERWHELMINGLY SUB-PAR, BUT REFRESHINGLY DIFFERENT FROM OUR NIGHTLY CDS ROUTINE. town of Amherst, OH. Upon stepping inside I found myself overwhelmed with a packed house of white haired patrons. I don’t know if it was the bible references on the walls and menus, or that we were the youngest crowd by about 30 years, but its safe to say we felt relatively out of place.

Blue Sky has that tacky diner feel: clouds painted atop blue-sky walls, beige booths,

items such as “liver and onions,” “tapioca pudding,” and “a la carte cottage cheese,” all for insanely reasonable prices. I was fairly disappointed when it was pointed out that this was, in fact, the senior menu.

I don’t know about you guys, but it seems kind of fucked up that they would give the more youthful looking customers the obviously more appetizing menu reserved

for seniors only, as if they were trying to patronize us.

Shortly after we ordered from the lamer of the two menus, our waitress arrived with the first course. This mostly consisted of very brothy chicken soup and watery iceberg salad. Maybe not the highlight of the night, but it feels nice to experience a multiple course meal as if we’ve lived 65+ years and deserve it. Shortly thereafter the main course arrived with PJ and Charlie’s respective hamburgers, Malaya’s chicken parmesan, and my mozzarella sticks.

All were overwhelmingly sub-par, but refreshingly different from our nightly CDS routine. And when my bill came amounting to two dollars and fifty cents, I definitely couldn’t complain.

Contact Columnist Anna Polacek at apolacek@oberlin.edu

FEBRUARY 23, 2018

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“I, Tonya” and the Financial Realities of Being an Olympic Competitor

BY EMORY MCCOOL CONTRIBUTING WRITER “I, Tonya,” a dramatized re-telling of the events surrounding Tonya Harding and Nancy Kerrigan leading up to the 1994 Olympics, is nominated for three awards at this year’s Oscars. Using interviews with Harding, her family, ex-husband, and coach, the film re-examines the events leading up to and following the attack of Nancy Kerrigan, Harding’s teammate and competition. Harding and those close to her were implicated in the attack. Moving away from Kerrigan’s perspective, which was the focus of the story at the time, the film works to evoke sympathy for Harding. It details the struggles of being a working class Olympic athlete, whose single mom worked as a waitress and sewed her daughter’s skating costumes herself because she couldn’t afford to buy them. Nancy Kerrigan is instead neither villainized nor exalted, but is simply portrayed as a young woman who is in the wrong place at the wrong time. The villain, if there must be one, is the American public and a class system that dehumanized and abused Harding by creating her in the “white-trash” archetype.

In light of the 2018 Winter Olympics, we are forced to confront the enormous cost of being an Olympic athlete and the systemic inequality inherently present in the games. According to Money Magazine, Olympic-bound figure skaters can expect to spend anywhere between $35,000$50,000 a year. Given that most top figure skaters begin skating before the age of five years-old and hope to continue into their twenties, training costs could potentially reach $750,000 over a fifteen year career.

Forbes reports that the serious downhill skier might spend as much as $30,000 a year for a spot at a selective training academy, and that those training for the Olympics will most likely spend a decade training at clubs such as these, amounting to a total of $300,000. These cost estimates do not necessarily account for the full opportunity cost as many of them fail to acknowledge the loss of working hours for the families and caregivers of young athletes. Because they must shuttle their kids back and forth from practice, travel to and from meets or races, and coordinate physical therapy and coaching sessions, it

is often impossible for the guardians of a young athlete to work full time jobs. Unlike many nations, the U.S. does very little to support aspiring Olympians at the federal level. Most receive a stipend of about $400 a month, not nearly enough to cover their expenses. Only 10.3% of the United States Olympic Committee’s budget is allocated for direct support of athletes.

Winter Olympic sports tend to be some of the least geographically accessible as well.

There are, for example, two luge tracks in the entire country. One is in Lake Placid, New York, and the other is in Park City, Utah. Unless, as in the case of Olympic luger Tucker West, your family can afford to build a luge track in your home, you either have to already live in Lake Placid or Park City, or move there. There are only six ski-jump facilities in the United States and one is, of course, in Lake Placid.

As a result of the cost and geographical obstacles, Winter Olympians tend to be from the same towns: predominantly a uent and white. Take the town of Norwich, Vermont for example. With a population currently hovering around

3,000, the town has produced three Olympic medalists and has put at least one athlete on the Winter Olympic team every year since 1984. In an article published earlier this month, NPR stated that 40% of Olympic athletes are from just five states: Colorado, California, Minnesota, New York, and Utah. In his article about growing up in Saranac, N.Y., the birthplace of two 2018 Winter Olympic athletes, Shane Ryan names and defines “The Sports Accessibility Principle.” The principle states that the more financially accessible a sport is, the more likely it is that the most decorated athletes are truly the most talented, hardworking, and deserving.

Essentially, sports are made better by greater accessibility, for both athletes and audiences alike. The prejudices that shadowed Tonya Harding’s career are still very much at play in this year’s Olympic games. In 2018, there is still much to be done to make winter Olympic sports accessible to all.

Contact contributing writer Mccool at emccool@oberlin.edu

Emory

Exploring Fragility with Olivia Fountain

BY NELL BECK

CONTRIBUTING WRITER After graduating last spring, Olivia Fountain (’17) has returned to Oberlin as the curatorial assistant in the Allen Museum’s Office of Academic Programs.

“Handle With Care: Embracing Fragility” is a new exhibition in the Education Hallway that Fountain curated herself.

There are five contemporary pieces in the show, including Chuck Close’s Andres (Serrano), a photograph of Andres Serrano, the conceptual artist of Afro-Cuban and Honduran descent, Toni Catany’s Natura Morta, a composite photograph of a family portrait that obscures all of the male members, Racquelin Mendieta’s KalyAni, a collage focusing on a central silhouette, Marsha Brown’s Untitled (Male Nude), a

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photograph in which a gender-ambiguous youth poses behind a pane of glass, and Liliana Porter’s Brancusi, a photograph of a postcard of Constantin Brancusi’s Sculpture for the Blind with a glass bird.

All explore concepts of fragility and its relationship to gender and race.

While fragility is often used to describe a delicate vase or piece of china, “Handle with Care” shows that the term extends beyond that. The viewer is invited to think of it in relation to identity and materiality, and the intersection of the two. Recently, I got to talk with Olivia about the show and her experience curating it.

Grape: How do you define “fragility”?

THE GRAPE

Olivia Fountain: I define fragility, in the show and also in my life, as being vulnerable, breakable or delicate.

Those things all have their own specific meanings, but I think vulnerable is the closest cognate.

G: Why did you choose that theme for the exhibit? Why is it relevant today?

O: I basically knew that I was going to be curating an exhibition at the Allen ever since I got this job, so from the very beginning I had my eye out for things that interested me. I ran through a few different ideas before realizing that it was very important to me to work with modern

and contemporary artists. It refined my search to modern and contemporary works we have, and I came across a sculpture by the artist Louise Bourgeois called Fragile Goddess. The sculpture isn’t in the show but it was the impetus for it.

It’s this bronze - bust is maybe the wrong word - it’s a bronze torso, it doesn’t have legs, it doesn’t have hands, it has stumpy arms and it doesn’t have a head so it’s just this body. It’s sort of like this semantic confusion between the form itself being fragile - it’s this bronze, heavy, ten-inch sculpture that probably isn’t materially fragile - so then what is? The language and the title really got me thinking about the different meanings of fragility in material

fragility versus this other thing.

the wall, there’s one wall.

G: Out of all the five pieces, do you think there’s one specifically that exemplifies fragility the best?

There are also a lot of really interesting nitty-gritty logistics.

You can’t display a work a bunch of times over a short period of time because of light exposure, so there were some pieces that I really wanted that were slated for a show that’s coming up next semester that I just couldn’t use.

It’s so hard to come up with a coherent idea that you’re trying to communicate through visual art that is made by people who are not you. That idea then has to be reflected by the collection but it also has to be reflected by the portion of the collection that hasn’t already been spoken for by other curators. And you plan years and years out, and there were a few pieces that I really wanted but they were like ‘No we’re going to use this three years from now.’ So that was really, really eye-opening.

O: Not really. Something that was difficult for me to sort through as I was working through the conceptual work behind the show is that there are so many different ways to be fragile and so many different people writing and thinking about fragility. It’s deployed in a lot of different ways, it can be an insult, it can be used to describe a very specific identity. I think they all get into fragility in different, funky ways, and as a result it’s really hard to choose the one that encapsulates it the best. And it’s been funny because during publicity for this show the museum has been like “You need to choose one picture to be the thumbnail with this write-up” or for something that’s going to be on the Instagram post and I’m always like “But I want to do them all! They’re all so different!”

G: What did you learn about while creating this exhibit?

Was there anything that really surprised you?

O: Yeah, definitely. I think the most surprising thing was how hard it is to curate a show. I spend a lot of time in museums, I work in museums, I go to them for fun, I see a lot of exhibitions, and it’s easy not to think about the hand of the curator. One of my favorite artists is a man called Fred Wilson who actually did a show at the Allen last year. He does a lot of curatorial work, and his art is the way in which he curates art that he didn’t make, so the final work will be a room and the set-up. He does pieces that call attention to the act of curation and how that’s not neutral, and how museums aren’t blankly putting up paintings on a wall, that there’s a lot going on. So I definitely thought a lot about that and I think it’s really interesting, but then when I was tasked with putting my own idea out there it was really hard! There are especially very hard logistical constraints - space constraints, you know, there are five pieces on

G: That seems very restricting.

O: It is and it isn’t. It is restricting for sure but it also really forces you to think outside the box. The Allen has a huge collection, and I think with museums in general, something like 95% of their stuff is in storage at any given time. And so since there are so many things in our collection it really forced me to be creative and think about how a problem I was trying to solve in a bunch of different ways, even when the most obvious ones were not available to me.

G: What did you study when you were at Oberlin?

O: I was a Classics major at Oberlin. I studied Classic civilizations, and I was an Art History minor.

TG: How has Oberlin shaped your exhibit, and also your view of art as a whole?

OF: I think that my classics background was really helpful in parsing through the art, like that sculpture I was telling you about earlier, “Fragile Goddess,” which I think is pretty directly referencing Greek and Roman sculpture. My classic sensibilities

OLIVIA FOUNTAIN IN THE ALLEN MEMORIAL ART MUSEUM. COURTESY OF THE OBERLIN COLLEGE INSTAGRAM PAGE.

set alarm bells off when I first saw that, and that became the impetus for my whole show.

Also more generally, I was really lucky to take classes with some incredible art historians. Oberlin has an incredible art history department; I recommend taking classes in it. I had a professor, Sarah Hamill, who was really influential in my art historical development and my interests.

The classes I took with her set me on this line of questioning into contemporary art. She was the person who first introduced me to the work of Fred Wilson, and then Fred Wilson did the show here at the Allen last year, which was really, really influential to me. It’s one of the most incredible things I’ve ever seen. There were two shows that he did. The one that I liked better was one called

“Wildfire Test Pit.” He took over the big sculpture room that you see when you walk in and painted the space, and then curated a show based on holdings in the Allen’s collection. He curated the show about Edmonia Lewis, who was a woman of African American and Native American descent who went to Oberlin in the late 1800s and never graduated. She was in one of the first classes of women and also was in one of the first classes of black people to go to the college. She ultimately did not graduate because she was accused of poisoning white classmates. She was acquitted of that accusation but before a trial took place she was beaten really terribly and was like “fuck this I’m leaving Oberlin.” So she left and went to college somewhere else, but then moved to Rome and had this very successful

career as a neoclassical sculptor.

So Fred Wilson’s show was sort of about the memory of Edmonia Lewis and about the way that she is remembered at Oberlin, but also more generally about the way that we talk about art history.

He took out a bunch of plaster casts of classical sculptures and displayed them in the sculpture garden, because when the Allen was first started it was a way to display these pedagogical casts of classical sculptures that students would draw and study anatomy about. So he had a bunch of those out, which were chipped and made of plaster and obviously not real, and juxtaposed them with a bunch of African works in our collection. It was asking these questions about the way that we are asked to view classical sculptures from Greek and Roman antiquity versus

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how we’re asked to view African works in museum spaces, and just thinking about memory and legacy, and it was so good, so interesting.

At the time, I was taking an intro to Greek history class my fall semester, and I mentioned the show to my professor, and she was like, ‘Well if you want, we have a day when we’re going to talk about Greek sculpture, but you can just have it; you can organize the class visit to the Allen.’

So she just handed me the reins in this unprecedented display of trust, and I did it. I thought a lot about teaching with that show, and I think that was a big reason why I applied for this job at the Allen.

the fact that they’re children. So those have been very salient.

One last thing that’s been a hurdle that I’ve been thinking a lot about is that one of the artists in the show is Chuck Close, who’s a very famous, prominent artist who was

O: That’s what I was aiming for, so I’m glad to hear that.

answer is, I don’t know! I don’t have anything lined up just yet. I did a talk about my show [on Tuesday] and have been putting all my energies into that and was like, ‘When it’s done I’ll think about my future,’ and now it’s done! But I hope to do museum education work. I want to be a museum educator. I previously worked at a children’s museum which was really fun, so when I was thinking about what I was going to do after graduation I was thinking about children’s education in museums. And after this job I’ve sort of widened my scope to education for people of all ages but using art in a museum space. But yeah, I don’t know. I have a few ideas. I’d love to keep working in an academic art museum because I loved working with college students here. It allows you to have some pretty high-level conversations about art, and I don’t pretend to know that much more than anyone else who comes into the museum but it’s cool to be able to have these conversations with students who are studying a bunch of different things.

I think, more so than other museums, museum associated with universities or on college campuses bring people who are studying other things in a really in-depth way and you can make these fascinating connections that I think are a little harder to make in bigger museums or museums that aren’t connected with schools. But yeah - we’ll see!

G: What are your plans for the future, once this year is over?

Contact Contributng Writer Nell Beck at nbeck@oberlin.edu

"I’VE BEEN THINKING A LOT ABOUT MUSEUMS AND THE #METOO MOVEMENT, BUT EVEN SEPARATE FROM THE #METOO MOVEMENT, JUST ABOUT HOW AND IF MUSEUMS CAN SHOW ART BY BAD PEOPLE."

But to go back to your earlier question about whether I think [the exhibition] is relevant to issues today - yes, definitely.

I talk a lot about two concepts, which are white fragility and fragile masculinity.

They involve thinking about how this lens of fragility is a negative thing that has been turned onto historic oppressors - white people and men.

accused of sexual harassment by a bunch of women at the end of December, after the show had been finalized. And then later, in the middle of January, four more women came forward. So I’ve been thinking a lot about how to deal with that or what to do with that because, first and foremost: fuck Chuck Close, that’s horrible, that is not acceptable. I thought a lot about what to do about the piece and if I should leave it in the show, and I ultimately did, which is a decision I feel good about.

I also thought about histories of women, especially white women, being seen as too fragile, and overly-delicate and vulnerable, and also the parallel history of black people being seen as not fragile enough. I thought a lot about fairly recent instances of police brutality, such as Trayvon Martin and Tamir Rice, who was twelve when he was killed, and Trayvon Martin was seventeen. There’s this practice of black children being killed and being associated as criminal, without taking into account

I’m still working through it but I think that it’s really important to have these conversations about the role that museums play, the active or inactive role that museums play in conversations about art. I think it’s really easy for museums to talk about separating the art from the artist, which involves showing art by known abusers without really commenting on that. I think that it’s really important to have those conversations and force ourselves to think about them and age with

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them, especially in the context of a teaching museum at the Allen. So what I decided to do is I wrote a new label recontextualizing the piece, and there’s a comment book out for people to leave comments, because I’m still not sure if it was the right thing to do! I can justify my decision from a pedagogical

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standpoint and I hope to talk to as many people as possible about it, but I definitely am open to people saying, ‘No, you’re wrong, this wasn’t the right decision.’ I’ve been thinking a lot about museums and the #MeToo movement, but even separate from the #MeToo movement, just about how and if museums can show art by bad people.

G: Yeah, I mean that part of the exhibit really does strike you, especially along with the theme of fragility. And it really does make you think - and it’s good that you had the little footnote at the end that you wrote to address it - it sparks conversation and forces people to think about that issue.

O: That’s a good question - the short

When did V-Day Become Me-Day?

BY SYLVIE FLORMAN CONTRIBUTING WRITER The realities of Valentine’s Day have long been disputed, and whether you are a true believer in love and the story of St. Valentine, or you’re a sucker for the cupid that was cultivated by mega corporations like Hallmark, it’s indisputable that the celebration of Valentine’s Day relies heavily upon material objects and the commercialization of love.

In my former years, Valentine’s Day entailed waking up to chocolate and a handwritten note from my over-involved parents, and coming home with a bag full of lollipops and sweetarts from the entire third grade classroom.

In High School, sex and dating changed the day, and the holiday was spent overindulging on heart shaped Reese’s cups, while avoiding my APUSH homework and mocking the happy couples that my friends and I weren’t a part of.

Halfway through High School though, like all other conversations and social interactions, confessions of admiration and confirmations of love that were once expressed through expensive chocolate and roses moved onto social media platforms, more specifically, Instagram.

Places like Instagram and Facebook cultivate a culture in which people we’ve met once, or have possibly never met at all, become spectators of our most intimate moments and privy to the inner workings of our relationships and lives, and the day of love is no exception. In fact, perhaps more than any other day of the year, I become acutely aware of just how many of my Instagram followers are seemingly fulfilled by their love

life.

Valentine’s Day Instagrammers have always fallen into categories: The PDAover-sharer, the Instagram shout out to your Mom, and perhaps the most popular genre of post this year– the Valentine’s Day post-to-self.

Seemingly more than any time before, friends, celebrities, and brands boasted about expressing a little “self-love” this past Valentine’s Day. This act, perhaps a declaration of protest against the conventional romantic celebration of the holiday, or a statement against societal expectations and norms of love and relationships, seemed to be the theme of this year’s Valentine’s Day. Valentine’s Day has always faced protest from the lonely and the grumpy.

This year’s protest of the holiday didn’t seem to be about the aches and pains of being single, but rather an attempt to reclaim and redefine the holiday. But, does this holiday really need a reformation? When did V-Day become Me-Day? Self-awareness and self-care can be critical in improving both mental and physical health, and are concepts Oberlin students are familiar with. This year, perhaps more than ever before,

we as Oberlin students, and elsewhere, should participate in a little “me-day” ritual– a year after Trump, a year full of sexual-assault accusations that can be triggering and emotionally taxing, a year in which you might have been constantly at odds with yourself, con-

stantly put in positions where you were made uncomfortable in ways beyond your control, let alone defending your identity and your rights––spending a day celebrating yourself is more than just acceptable, it’s encouraged.

But just like Valentine’s Day itself, self-care has become a social and commercial trend, that was grossly exploited this Valentine’s Day. On February 13th, The New York Times posted an article entitled, Treat Yourself for Valentine’s Day, which listed 10 products to buy this Valentines day, rationalizing,

“there’s little reason not to think of the day as an excuse to buy something nice for yourself.” These suggestions ranged from a $100 bathrobe, to a $600 suitcase. Lavish materialism has become the norm in celebrating Valentine’s Day. This type of article appeared on a variety of sites, from our most trusted news sources to our trashy sources of celebrity gossip, but regardless of the producer, the tone was consistent: treat yourself to something nice, especially if no one else will. Many articles also project feelings of a deep disappointment or depression because you don’t have someone to buy you $50 incense, implying a lack of independence both emotionally and financially, as if one would not or could not buy myself something nice any other day. It is also impossible to ignore the sheer ridiculousness of the NYT article. In suggesting the best way to celebrate Valentine’s day is to spend obscene amounts of money on accessories you haven’t been missing, it implies also that this day is reserved not only for the romantic, but also for the rich. These articles exploit and twist the idea of “self-care” by tapping into our wallets on a day that can be hard when it doesn’t meet social or personal expectations.

So, when we treat ourselves to roses and chocolates it seems we are hardly really engaging in a protest of Valentine’s Day conventions. The flowers and treats that we indulge in are hardly independent impulses, but rather purchases that are manipulated, expected, and encouraged by the companies and

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stores from which we buy them. In fact, we are supporting a commercialization of the self, just as Valentine’s Day has evolved into a commercialization and exploitation of our relationships and love for others.

Especially for young women who have been taught that Valentine’s day is either to celebrate or to sulk, instead of protesting this day of romance, we are feeding into it exactly the way Hallmark hoped we would!

I’m not in any way suggesting that material acts of love on Valentine’s Day, or any other day, are to be avoided. Yummy food and plants are influential to anyones happiness, but as Oberlin students who pride themselves on being critical of big-business agendas and vocal about the exploitation of self, perhaps it is time this holiday moves not away from romance, but away from candy, flowers, and indulgence.

Buy yourself a plant, bake yourself some cookies, you deserve a break, you deserve

something nice, but stop pretending that in buying yourself roses you’ve escaped personal and social expectations and ideals of love, or that buying yourself flowers is equated with self-acceptance and independence. You are not escaping the Valentine’s Day monster, you’re simply feeding it with more money and superficiality.

As we think about the ways we participated in Valentine’s Day this year, we should think about the ways we can engage in love each day by taking a note from our thirdgrade selves. Let’s share a little more love with our friends and a little more love with our families, and remember that self-love does not mean indulgence, and consumerism is not the answer to to loneliness, even in a place as cold and isolated as Oberlin, OH. Contact contributing writer Sylvie Florman at s orman@oberlin.edu

Black History and Pain is Not #thuglife A look at Ratsy's “Master”/“Slave” Instagram post

BY GIO C. DONOVAN STAFF WRITER This month, Black people around the globe remember important people and events in the history of the African diaspora with Black History Month. Last week, on February 9th, Ratsy Jo Kemp (the owner of Ratsy’s Store) posted on her store’s Instagram a picture of two shirts for sale -- in bold black letters across white fabric, one read “Master” and the other “Slave” (The shirts were hanging at the center of the store, on the wall behind the cashier – practically under a spotlight. The post had a handful of hashtags, with some of the most concerning being: #valentinesgift, #loveislove, #beyourself, and (most importantly) #thuglife). Everyday, racist memorabilia and “collectables” depicting harmful messages, blackface, and stereotyped physical features sit in vintage and antique stores across the country. And like H&M’s colossal “coolest monkey in the jungle” sweatshirt, actions like these have a harmful impact–intended or not. And almost (if not equally) as harmful as stocking

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and selling these items, is refusing accountability for the impact and focusing on your own intention.

The store is curated by her and she runs her own Instagram. She’s fully in charge of the narrative of the

... SHE DOESN'T EVEN KNOW WHAT THE IMPLICATIONS OF THE HASHTAG ON THE PICTURE OF THE TWO SHIRTS SAYING "MASTER" AND "SLAVE" COULD BE...

By the time I went to Ratsy’s on February 13th, the shirts were sold.

Ratsy declined to comment. A few hours later, two other Grape staff members went over to talk to her.

She was quick to defend herself and her hashtag choice, saying that “It was nothing to it [#thuglife]. I just copy and paste my hashtags from other things and post them. It wasn’t some sort of weird anything.

‘Cause I actually have #thuglife on almost all of my Valentine’s things.

It was not specific to that at all.”

Ratsy’s as a store is a collection of vintage clothing, accessories, and tchotchkes handpicked by Ratsy.

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store she puts out into the world.

And the most egregious part of this all is that she won’t take ownership of her own actions. She just “thought they were funny” and that “they were sort of a goofy love kind of thing. Nothing more than that.”

In defense of herself, she says she is “just an old lady who posts things on the internet. I’m not trying to be a controversial anything.”

In an email on Wednesday, February 14, Ratsy issued further comments: I would hate for the fact that I wasn't able to chat to make any of

you think that I don't care about how whate er I did affected you.

They had mentioned how upset people were over the shirts and the #thuglife tag, so I took the posts down, since I hadn't in anyway meant to upset anybody. The tags hadn't actually been for that post of the shirts, I explained to them that I cut and paste things from other pictures and hadn't realized that was included, but also hadn't realized that people would be so upset. When I do use #thuglife, it is intended to be ironic.

I hadn't realized that I had that hashtag with the shirts and in no way was trying to make any sort of statement. I'm not even sure what the meaning would be. The shirts were vintage

life and asserts she doesn’t even know what the implications of the hashtag on picture of two shirts saying “Master” and “Slave” could be. By focusing on her intention with the post and language, she’s ignoring the impact they have and putting the blame on the people upset by it for feeling what they feel.

Ratsy is not a unique figure in the Oberlin community. In fact, she’s a reflection of a lot of the student body and what they value. She’s quirky. She’s an advocate even in small ways (like hanging Pride flags throughout her store). Her store is a creation entirely of her own with items ranging from cool condom tins to overalls to photo packets of old family pictures. It is planned out and executed in her own vision. The

RATSY IS NOT A UNIQUE FIGURE IN THE OBERLIN COMMUNITY. IN FACT, SHE’S A REFLECTION OF A LOT OF THE STUDENT BODY AND WHAT THEY VALUE. from the 70s and were often sold at places like Spencer's Gifts. They were intended to be crude, like sadomasochistic. I'm not an expert, but they were just a gag gift for couples... Usually sold around Valentine's Day. I have attached a picture from an ad in the 1970's where you could order the iron on things to make the shirts yourself. They were meant to be funny. As for the #thuglife, although I have used it in the past to be ironic, it seems that many people are misinterpreting it and I will do my best to be more careful in the future.

I have always really enjoyed you college kids and would never do anything on purpose to try to offend you. I try to make sure my store is a safe space for everybody.

Sorry again for any confusion and I feel terrible that anybody was offended by my post. That was not my intention.

A common thread in her comments was an apology for how people felt and not for the actions themselves. She emphasizes the “ironic” usage of #thug-

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store is meant to be fun, out there, and edgy. But overlooking the historical context of the words master and slave (during Black History Month, no less) crosses that line. Using #thuglife as a way to get it trending on social media is ignoring the connotations of “thug life” and who is usually referred to as thugs, while also equating “thugs” to masters and slaves (and let’s be real here: the association is with “slave”). “#beyourself” could be applied to the sadomasochistic uses of master and slave (like Ratsy mentioned herself) but even that in itself is an issue. And much like many members of the Oberlin community, her quirky aesthetic is supposed to excuse her racist (overt or covert, intentional or not) actions.

On Friday, February 16th, Ratsy posted an apology to Instagram, Oberlin Classifieds, and Facebook. She reached out to me via text to ask me to spread this apology. She (again) apologized for how people felt and put the onus on them. She did, however, end with “I love you college kids/customers and want you to know that I work extremely hard to make sure that my store is a safe

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space for everybody” and admit no one told her exactly why they were upset, so she had to make her own assumptions. Well, Ratsy, if you truly do want to make and maintain a safe space, start by educating yourself because it is not on us (especially the black students of Oberlin) to explain to an older, white woman why “master,” “slave” and “#thuglife” are a harmful combination.

And yes, the shirts may have been ref-

erencing “a weird consensual sex thing from the 70’s,” but these words have a much different connotation to many people that is deeply rooted in a history of subjugation and racism that sticks with us still and that we don’t need reminding of in the form of an “ironic” Valentine’s Gift or Instagram post.

Contact staff writer io ono an at gdonovan@oberlin.edu

Oberlin Student Saves Africa A winter term success story

BY BHAIRAVI MEHRA CONTRIBUTING WRITER AFRICA, AFRICA: College senior and Comparative American Studies major Elizabeth Weener singlehandedly solved all of Africa’s problems through Oberlin’s unique Winter Term program, bringing prestige to the school’s long-standing commitment to social justice. Winter Term offers all Oberlin students the opportunity to take up a pathway of individualised study that they would otherwise be unable to do on campus, but Weener made the grueling decision to travel across the world for the Greater Good, even at the cost of enduring several vaccinations and in-flight meals.

The first time Weener learned that Africa was not all wildlife safaris and deserts was when she saw the Kony 2012 video. In fact, Weener believes that this is what opened up the world of social justice to her, eventually leading her to Oberlin. “I can’t believe I was so ignorant about the political crisis and poverty in Africa.” says Weener. “But now I know that I can use my privilege to help support and liberate the oppressed.” Known for disintegrating the Athlete/ Non-Athlete divide in Oberlin, Weener was now ready to take her changemaking aspirations to the global level.

In the short span of four weeks, Weener designed an English curriculum for schools all over Africa, raising the literacy rate to 96%. Now, all future Africans should be eligible to apply to jobs in Anglophone countries. A regular on Oberlin’s ultimate frisbee team, Weener taught the sport to children in mixed all-gender groups. “Already, I see gender roles dissolving.” says Warren Burns, headmaster of the African International School. “Boys and girls have become equal on the frisbee playing field, literally.

Moreover, children stolen by soldiers now know how to say ‘No’ to their captors – to think it was just a matter

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of communication!” It has also been discovered that more and more abducted child soldiers have made their way back home, empowered by the prospect of returning to frisbee.

Weener even went from village to village, connecting with African women and spreading feminist ideology.

She was inspired by the topless regalia worn by unmarried Zulu maidens. “The Western world likes to believe itself to be the most enlightened” says Weener.

“However, the ‘free-the-nipple’ movement began right here in Africa!” Weener began several startups that expose this revolutionary hidden culture to the rest of the world, wherein Zulu maidens perform for tourist audiences. This has become wildly successful, with foreigners flying into Africa from all over the world to watch the young Zulu girls dance in their topless regalia. Furthermore, a passionate member of OSLAM, Weener shared some of her feminist slam poetry in village forums all over Africa. This has inspired the women to come together and quit their socially-enforced domestic expectations of farming and homemaking, instead taking to ultimate frisbee as well.

In a grand conclusion to her project, Weener confronted the notorious Kony. “I called out his privilege and systematic oppression, convincing him to change his ways.” says Weener. “After all, we all share this Earth, a universal humanity. All you need to do is give a shit and educate yourself to make a difference in the world.” Kony has formally stepped down from his dictatorial position, restoring democracy to the African peoples. Fuelled by her current success, Weener informed The Grape that her future endeavours include the liberation of Tibet, the refugee crisis in general, and the appalling abundance of crushed ice in Stevie.

New and Authentic “Spicy Mexicocoa” Now selling at Azariah’s Cafe

BY JUAN CONTRERAS BAD HABITS EDITOR With the return of students for spring semester, Campus Dining Services has launched a new and authentic libation at Azariah’s Cafe in Mudd. Inspired by the exotically foreign land of Mexico, students have begun spreading the deliciously rich and caliente! taste of Spicy Mexicocoa across Oberlin’s campus. Spicy Mexicocoa’s popularity has skyrocketed, and is now the most frequently ordered beverage on campus, beating The Slow Train’s “Dirty Chai” and Decafe’s “Lavender Kombucha”.

So, what makes Spicy Mexicocoa so great you ask?

According to Zurisaday Gutierrez-Avila, an authentic Mexican, the Spicy Mexicocoa “reminds me of the motherland, of the first time I ran away with, ay como se llama--Mauricio de la Rosa! We ran into the forbidden forest of hips and not lies”. Marissa Ramirez, close friend and self-proclaimed “real Mexicana” says, “[it] reminds me of Abuelita’s xocolatl, she uses a recipe passed down from Aztec ruler Moctezuma himself!”

After speaking with students about this wonderful new drink, I had to walk over to Azariah’s and try it myself. Upon walking into Azzies, the smell of carne asada and Mexico City’s smog flooded my nasal passages. I made a beeline to the counter and asked my favorite Azariah’s barista for a large Spicy Mexicocoa. They looked me in the eyes and said, “Oh honey, you aren’t ready for this beverage--its gunna change your life”. I was standing there with drool on my lip, ID card in hand, asI traded some ObieDollars for a ticket to Flavortown.

I took a sip. Then another. Then I swallowed. Then I looked around. I took another sip. I swallowed again. I stood there, letting the delicate balance of flavors settle on my tongue.

Then, I was then kindly asked to move out of the way because I was “holding up the line.”

Article Continued On Next Page

Oberlin Considered Best College in Oberlin Study Finds

BY BEN POVMAN CONTRIBUTING WRITER Oberlin College firmly believes in the potential of the individual. It strives to empower its students and send them out into the world with the tools and ambition to change it. However, Oberlin maintains a controversial place in mainstream America, with some believing it is home to more snowflakes than a 3rd grade classroom in January.

It comes as somewhat of a surprise, then, that a recent study by the Pew Research Center found that Oberlin College is widely considered to be the best higher education institution geographically located in Oberlin, Ohio. The study, which surveyed over 200 adults in Kipton, Pittsfield, and Elyria, asked, “Do you think that Oberlin College is the best College or University located in Oberlin?” With over 93% of respondents answering “I guess,” it is clear that the stereotypes and derogations so commonly placed on this college and the students within do not hold true on the sidewalks of the city street…or at least in the soy fields along State Route 303.

The reasons listed by the study for this astounding achievement include “the ability of the students to stay angry at random administrators for inhuman amounts of time,” “a conservationist attitude toward renovating historical living spaces,” and “the positivity of the student body despite the understanding they will never actually be able to

make a career out of what they are studying.”

Opinions over this news vary. Jaden Smith ‘19, said “This is great! Now I can justify to my parents why they are paying close to $70,000 a year on my study of Linguistic Anthropology in Ancient Babylonia while spending my Saturday nights alone in my room with a bottle of Barefoot Wine and an entire season of Rugrats,” while a second-year who wished to remain anonymous complained, “The only reason I’m even here is because I enjoy complaining about how much I hate this school to my friends back home until they think I’m a masochist, which is my preferred aesthetic. Now that Oberlin is considered an objectively good school I’ll have to find other things to be ironically sad about.”

Notably upset over the study is Oberlin’s lesser known neighbor to the South, Lorain County JVS, the technical school lying just beyond the point on Route 58 that no Obie ever crosses, despite them telling all their friends about all the amazing times they’ve had in Columbus. In response to the study, JVS has announced a 10-year master plan, which includes placing a student representative on the board of administrators, building an entire new facility, and breeding the now-extinct albino squirrels and populating them throughout their campus.

The warm tequila numbed my lips, and I felt the spiciness come through. But where was the spice coming from? It must have been the hot cocoa, or maple syrup, no--it was the milk!

It must have been the milk! Mexican Magia! Either way, the industrially compostable cup the Spicy Mexicocoa was presented in doesn’t do it justice. I will forever feel at home in Azariah’s cafe, surrounded by the comfort and beauty of Mexican culture from 2-11PM Sunday through Friday! Don’t believe in the wonder and magic of this beautiful beverage?

Go to Azariah’s and check it out yourself! Students love drinking it, and staff love making it!

“MILLIE #2” BY PADDY MCCABE

Security Notebook

BY JULIA HALM CONTRIBUTING WRITER Tuesday, February 13th 12:45 pm: Student lifeguard aided in the rescue of a CDS employee who dozed off while testing a new chocolate fountain.

A work order has been filed to repair the flood damage to Stevenson Hall.

3:28 pm: Bystander intervened after fight over last bottle of red glitter broke out at Wilder Desk. Witnesses to the incident were dismissed after making too many puns about the participants being caught “red-handed.”

7:30 pm: Student filed a complaint to the Title IX office citing Galentines as a sexist and discriminatory institution.

4:50 pm: Emergency medical personnel responded to a call after an individual was impaled with a pink PEZ that resembled “Cupid’s arrow.” The victim

Wednesday, February 14th 6:35 am: Reported break-in at the Ben Franklin. Desperation for the last bag of candy hearts in northeast Ohio is the suspected motive.

10:36 am: Safety and Security responded to a complaint of diaperwearing students using Wilder Bowl as an archery range. The Archery Club received an official warning and suspended all Cupid-themed festivities.

sustained a minor heart-shaped bruise and a $250,000 bill from Mercy.

1:15 am: Safety and Security respond, shut down party at 69 S Professor after noise complaint. Fourteen white girls were found outside screaming “OMG, I love you” to everyone prior to being escorted home.

Thursday, February 15th

8:46 pm: Safety and Security responded to reports of riots over Decafe charging $9.95 for an ugly chocolate heart.

11:51 pm: One pair of heart-shaped sunglasses (valued at $7) were found on the floor of the ‘Sco, broken. Foul play is suspected.

2:55 am: Student hospitalized for consuming an entire bottle of Grenadine in the name of Valentines Day cheer.

3:16 am: S&S responds to call from student asking “you up?”

FEBRUARY 23, 2018

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Balut Bussy & Cholula Love talk Romance and other Sh*t CW: EXPLICIT SEXUAL DESCRIPTION *SOME OF OUR LANGUAGE ORIGINATES FROM BLACK QUEER VERNACULAR AND BLACK BALL CULTURE* i i m a sna t an t seem to at h any fish here at oberlin :( what can i do?

Not to be shady but honey, let’s make sure to self-reflect and then look at your options because, in all honesty, there really aren’t a lot of snacks around here anyway.

And the “snack-snacks”, the meals, those are all bae’d up by now. They already have people slipping into those sheets, honey. We are balls deep in winter right now, deep into cuffing season, honey. Like, yes, self-love and all that, but also practically speaking, you might not get every meal you want–but that shouldn’t stop you from getting those calories in, okay??? Just like TWC, the meals will be cancelled every once in a while, but we all still got to eat. And like in other coops (Pyle), the meals still happen but they’re not looking yummy, ya know? But they still happen, cuz a heaux has to eat. Look at me with the metaphors. (Balut Bussy)

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o message first on tinder Honestly, no sis. I never do. But I’m really conceited, so I barely even swipe right on Tinder. I usually get like 10 matches cuz like I hold my right swipes very near and dear to my heart--not everyone gets one. If I match with someone, it’s usually because I am either trying to bang, or I like them as a person, or I think they’re really cute.

So you should message me first because I feel, like, more important. Is that bad? I feel like that’s self-love. People lowkey be using self-love to be shitty people, BUT that’s a whole different advice column, honey. Basically, a right swipe to me is putting the ball in the other person’s court and maybe later in your mouth! If you matched with someone you think is OUT of your league (you know when someone is out of your league), message first. Be daring, because #boldmovesonly. (Cholula Love)

How do I properly douche?

Okay, so if you’re douching on a dime, use a water bottle.

I know that Bussy loves using an old Sriracha bottle, but in case you don’t play with spicy food, use a water bottle!

Basically, you drink it--stay hydrated heaux--and you take the top off and fill it with water (do this in the shower). Try to get the water bottles that are like super environmentally friendly, the really thin ones that have a little top (later you’ll be using a different type of top), and literally stick it in there. Basically, you have to Nicki Minaj squat, you know what I’m talking about right? I’m talking Nicki Minaj “Anaconda” cover art squat. You shove it in ya bootyhole and *gently* push water in, and whilst squatting, gently release the water from your bottom button. If you live in a dorm, try to find the nicest individual restroom and do it in there--you know, for the privacy. But if you live in North, like me, just use the community restroom instead.

Talk your RA into making it into a program, connect with your living spaces! (Cholula Love)

Wilder 110 In Memoriam

Ill Will Is the nearby Goodwill a fraud?

BY BEN POVMAN

By CHARLIE RINEHART-JONES

CONTRIBUTING WRITER

CONTRIBUTING WRITER

Students returning from Winter Term noticed a big change upon their arrival. In an attempt to show that the administration actually caters to student needs, Wilder Hall underwent some minor renovations to make what is likely the least student-union-y student union in North America just the least bit more palatable.

New couches and the promise of a new TV aside, many were amazed by the more open space. But this all came at a cost. Little did they know that by knocking down those walls, they brought about the demise of a space much known and loved in the Oberlin Community. Indeed, Wilder 110, the room previously adjacent to the lobby, is no more.

Wilder got its start as a men’s dorm when first built in 1911, complete with a bowling alley, dining hall, and a “women’s reception area” (God only knows exactly what the women were receiving, but if it’s what I think it is, it’s been a while since I’ve given any). But over the years it’s evolved into the catch-all space that is home to everything under the sun, in typical Oberlin fashion. I mean, in the building marked “Library” is our Geology department, in the building marked “Chemistry” is our Psychology department, and who the hell even knows what the deal is with Rice (for even more fun, ask a Music History prof whose been around for a while where their office was before the jazz building was built).

Wilder 110 has been a staple of the Oberlin community for as long as anyone can remember, being home to meetings of diverse student groups, and so much failed ‘Sco pregaming by first-years looking to evade S&S. It seems like 110 has vanished without any remembrance. Nobody has yet to ask where it went, or expressed any sadness about its disappearance. “The lights took 10 minutes to turn on,” says Katie Wilson, ‘19, who works at the front desk of Wilder. Ethan Aronson, ‘18, who also works at the front desk, said “it’s louder now with the open space, but I think it’s good that we have it.”

That being said, there is certainly a hole in the Oberlin community now that it’s gone, and not just because the holes in the ceiling from old wiring haven’t been fixed yet. 110 was really the only room in Wilder people were able to find without getting lost. So many groups are suffering now that they have to tell people exactly how to get to where they are meeting. It’s just not the same.

So, here’s to Wilder 110. Nobody cares that you are gone, but I’m sure that when the key to the room was taken off the rack at the front desk for the last time, it was just a little bittersweet.

As we all know, Oberlin students have an ethically-dubious love for thriting, between the far reaches of Volunteers of America to the Walmart-adjacent “Goodwill.” I’m here to shatter the way that you all may see this Oberlin cultural icon.

It all started with an innocent trip about 3 months ago, where a couple of friends and I stopped by the Goodwill to see if we could spend a friend’s gift card. I had never actually been to this Goodwill, and was surprised to see that the sign on the front of the store did not have a Goodwill logo. It simply had an array of large blue letters, blue letters I later realized could have been purchased from any large signage manufacturer in the country. I remember walking into the Goodwill, and this is when I became truly skeptical -- there was hardly any mention of the Goodwill brand or logo anywhere in the store.

In New York City, where I am from, these Goodwills have many examples of their brand across the store -from promotional posters on the walls to logos on the tags. I thought it was weird, but I didn’t make much of it while I was perusing the store.

But during our checkout, things got really interesting. My friend with the gift card attempted to check out of the Goodwill. The employee looked him dead in the eyes and told him that the Goodwill did not take Goodwill gift cards.

I was as confused as you are.

What’s a Goodwill?

What’s a gift card?

Why would a Goodwill not accept a Goodwill gift card?

What is really going on here?

Fourth-year Sally Slade had this to say: “I have thought that Goodwill is a money-laundering operation for as long as I can remember.”

I began to wonder if this Goodwill

was hiding something; could it be a money-laundering operation, a secret military lab, Marvin Krislov’s new Oberlin hideout?

I did some further research, by using the locator on the Goodwill website to see if the store was registered as a Goodwill by the larger entity. And to my genuine surprise, it was.

Honestly, I was disappointed.

As the smartest guy writing for the Grape, I genuinely believe I was going to break my first frontpage story. One so engaging and surprising that everyone on campus would be forced to read it. But my quest wasn’t over, I needed to know why this Goodwill was doing such shady things that would make me suspicious in the first place.

And I for one, firmly believe that everyone, regardless of where they purchase their Goodwill gift card should be able to spend it at any of Goodwill’s many locations. “My parents specifically got me a gift card to spend at the Oberlin Goodwill, I am saddened by this news.” - Sadie Grant ‘20. I spoke with an employee at the Oberlin Goodwill for this story, and she told me that she was surprised that the store didn’t even try to run the gift cards. She said that many Goodwill’s have regionalbased business model and that could be the cause of the trouble. She seemed flustered, at one point even saying that she hadn’t even heard of a Goodwill gift card. I thought maybe she was hiding something.

I hung up the phone, but I certainly am not hanging up this case.

But for now, let’s consider this Goodwill at least 75% legitimate.

Contact contributing writer Charlie Rinehart-Jones at crinehar@oberlin.edu.

FEBRUARY 23, 2018

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“MILLIE #1” BY PADDY MCCABE

I Came on a Plane

Introducing a new column entitled “A Dip in Cracker Lake: POC and their Hook-Ups with yt People”

BY ANONYMOUS CONTRIBUTING WRITER

I navigate my life on to do lists. Wake up, eat, sit down, eat, stand up, eat, pass out, eat… you get the picture. What I don’t account for in my life is the effects of alcohol. I recently took a journey on an international plane. If there’s one thing to know about international flights, it’s that they serve complimentary liquid courage (tequila, vodka, rum, it all works the same for me). So I started drinking, and as a result, got friendly with my seat partner, a 21-year-old interrogator named Chad (maybe Brad?) that worked for the US military.

In hindsight, maybe I was a little too friendly considering I didn’t know him, but there’s nothing like being thousands of feet above the ground to quite literally convince you to throw your inhibitions (or panties) out the window. After a splotch of turbulence that had me questioning if I was going to make it to England, I latched myself onto Brad’s beefy arm, figuring I’d go out with a (finger)bang. Thus, tonsil hockey commenced. And, as it turns out, my companion had a little kink.

In all honesty, I think it was an army thing, but somehow his hand found a nice home around my throat. Don’t get me wrong, I am all for experimenting, but my throat was dry from the kissing and the alcohol so I politely excused myself and went to the powder room. As I exited the restroom soldier Jake was waiting for me. My surprise was shortlived once I realized he wanted to hold a business meeting in the back of the plane.

Except the business we were getting down to was in my pants.

To say the least, I’m thankful the majority of the plane was asleep as I got down ‘n’ dirty.

There’s nothing like reaching cloud 9 with the clouds quite literally surrounding you. In

fact, I highly recommend it. What I don’t recommend is doing the nasty with a rando.

Because said rando might try to Snapchat you for a week straight, not get the hint, and then search, find, and message you on Facebook. A little more advice: exercise the block tool and try not to remember the random white man that was playing your vulvar piano every time you step on an airplane. Now the only service I want on airplanes is being bumped up to first class.

New Freshman Dorm to Feature Solid Gold Bathrooms, Paper Towels

BY BEN POVMAN CONTRIBUTING WRITER In an anticipated series of events, Oberlin Res Ed has approved the construction of an entirely new freshman dorm that includes both a solid gold bathroom and paper towels.

“We are always looking for ways to improve standards of living for our first-year students,” noted Rebecca

Burwell, first-year Area Coordinator.

“First-year student satisfaction is key to our bottom line—unlike the rest of us, they need a nurturing, cocooned environment to live in. That’s why we made the decision to include a solid gold bathroom. It was literally a nobrainer; we didn’t think about it.”

The new dorms, which will be built to replace the dilapidated and aging Kahn Hall, have been met with mixed

reactions. “I like the idea of a solid gold bathroom, but I’m not so sure about the paper towels,” remarked Kahn resident and first year student Matt Packer. “I’m worried about the impact it would have on the environment.” Kahn is, after all, an “eco-friendly” dorm that masterfully balances environmental awareness with such amenities as air conditioning, multiple kitchens, and television sets on every floor. Paper towels, on the

other hand, are wasteful and only work when a user has wet hands. “Who has wet hands? They’re weird,” says Packer.

When asked if other plans were in the works to extend such features to nonfirst years, Larson remarked “The rest of the housing units need to step up their sustainability game. Until then, no one else gets gold toilets, and they can forget about the pipe dream that is paper towels.”

"POOL PARTY" BY TOM MORRISON

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