APRIL 13 2018

VOL. 18, NO. 10

APRIL 12, 2018

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

OBERLIN’S STUDENT CULTURE MAGAZINE

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

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

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Gio Donovan (he/they) Staff Writer

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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

FRONT AND BACK COVERS BY LEAH YASSKY

Sankofa Remix’d: Reclaiming my fly and what that means at Oberlin

BY GIO DONOVAN | STAFF WRITER One of the last events of Black History Month this year at Oberlin was the fashion show directed by senior Kiela Nelson. The theme was “Sankofa Remix’d: Reclaiming My Fly” – working with the theme of the month overall: “Sankofa: Go Back and Get It.” Wilder Main was transformed into a runway with a stage. Oberlin’s own SoC-

Black Oberlin community. The night was full of love and appreciation for Black bodies, art, and spirits–starting with everyone wishing SoClayp a happy birthday. The night was a display of Black Excellence and joy rooted in so much cultural and historical significance. The theme of the month alone was one that was full of meaning

THE NIGHT WAS A DISPLAY OF BLACK EXCELLENCE AND JOY ROOTED IN SO MUCH CULTURAL AND HISTORICAL SIGNIFICANCE. alyp DJed, while seniors Yemko Pryor and Andre Cardine MCed the night. There were live performances from on-campus dance groups, poets, singers, and rappers.

A month later, this night is still being talked about in the

for many on campus. Professor of Theater and Africana Studies, Caroline Jackson-Smith, personally loved the concept of Sankofa “because it is really at the heart of Afrocentric thinking and worldview. The idea that we look back to go forward

is just so important for people dispersed in the Diaspora who had truncated histories and were separated from Africa.”

Yemko Pryor was mainly an MC, but behind the scenes she was all about being a “professional goofball” and “energy producer” for the night. She expressed to me that in the context of Oberlin, it’s hard to keep up energy when it feels like you’re underappreciated or a prop. She brought up the importance of the construction of Black education in Oberlin– a topic she’s researching for her Africana Studies Honors thesis–with the institution being so proud to admit people of color but mostly only admitted light-skinned or mixed people. This school was built on the backs of Black students and, for many, it can be tiring to be here with that knowledge.

That’s why reclaiming her fly (the theme of the fashion show) is such an important concept.

She commented that “Reclaiming my fly, reclaiming my time, reclaiming my fucking culture, like my being. It’s reclaiming my soul energy, you know what I mean? And my vibrancy, I think is what fly means. Feeling fly, dressed to impress, radiating all this good energy–inside and out. And so that’s what I feel like my fly really is–reclaiming our crown, our higher selves.”

The night was infused with KIELA NELSON '18, PHOTOGRAPHED BY JELANI MILLER '21

so many Africanisms and was performed in a very Afrocentric way. Jackson-Smith called the night “the ultimate call and response experience.” To her, showing Black bodies of all kinds - “male and female identified bodies and a range in sizes and colors” - was a radical act to be appreciated. “I think that it really showcased our community. And it was just plain fun. It had style. It had a very clear Afrocentric style. It turned everybody loose on their swagger.”

For Pryor, the night was about showcasing the community and a culture that is often underrepresented at Oberlin, but also showing the many variations of Black Art. In her own words,

SEYQUAN MACK ‘20, PHOTOGRAPHED

BY JELANI MILLER ‘21

“not only did you have dance, singing, other performance, a little bit of comedy, and then fashion. I think the biggest thing, too, was that it related back to the theme ‘Sankofa: Go Back and Get

It’ in that we had previous alums that showed their designs (like Umazi).

Umazi was one of the people that started the fashion show thing.”

Sankofa: Remix’d had a very powerful meaning to Cardine too. For Black students on campus, it was a night for their beauty to be showcased in way that puts them in the center–especially for Black first-years just getting to Oberlin.

For him, this campus is full of beautiful

Black people: “Just as a group, we are literally beautiful, gorgeous. And it’s really slept on, honestly, on this campus. This campus really loves to highlight this hipstery vibe, even dirty, aesthetic. I think the fashion show brought this idea that you can actually bring it at this school and these Black kids are actually bringing it right now. I was so for the younger group, the freshmen and sophomores like bringing it. This freshman class looked so good. And I loved the idea of having confidence and feeling yourself.

Especially in a place like Oberlin when it’s easy to fall into this idea of loneliness

or ‘I don’t look good enough’ or you don’t feel yourself as much. We are Black and we are beautiful.” That’s why this night dedicated to showing Black beauty and putting it at the center was so needed in a place like Oberlin.

The night showed how a space (like Wilder Main) could be molded physically, but also atmospherically. Young, Black students got together and collectively made the space an environment to be carefree, Black kids. Yemko said it best: “The energy was just so vibrant. It was just incredible. And we literally just produced that from being in a space to-

gether. You just come together as a community and incredible things can happen. Incredible things can happen just by putting Black people in a space together and being like: create. That’s what it is, just like reclaiming our exuberant energy.”

DEREK MAHONE '21, PHOTOGRAPHED BY DAQUAN WILLIAMS '20

Knocking Down Walls, Literally n ock A look inside wilder renovations

BY MARTIN RABOT | CONTRIBUTING WRITER If you have been to Wilder since the start of the semester, you may have encountered a sign, rested on an easel in the lobby, that reads, “Pardon our Progress.

Great Things are Happening in Wilder.”

Cheesy tagline aside, the sign’s message is very important. The whole scene I have just described to you is set in the newly re-designed lobby of the building.

The walls of a first-floor meeting room, room 110, were knocked out, new furniture was brought in, and carpeting, lighting, and painting were redone. The lobby was redesigned to feel more open and welcoming, with new couch and table space for students to either work, or prepare for meetings. You can often find me sitting in this new space, and I strongly believe that it is a positive move towards Wilder becoming more of a true student union, rather than just a building with offices.

Shozo Kawaguchi, Associate Dean of Community Life, expressed similar sentiments to me when I got a chance to sit down with him and chat about these recent developments. “In terms of building design, Wilder was designed over 100 years ago as a men’s dormitory,” he reminded me. “Only in the 1950’s was it converted into a Student Union.” This original design certainly shows in the current utilization of the space. Aside from WOBC on the third floor, the student lounge on the second floor, and the Sco, Decafe, and the Rathskellar in the basement, Wilder lacked any spaces where students could come together and congregate. Even among those spaces,

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WOBC is a swipe-access only space, while the Sco and the Rathskellar are event oriented, for dancing and eating respectively. Offices like the OSCA financial office and the Dean’s Office, two of the several in Wilder that exist outside the daily lives of most Oberlin students, might be better situated in administrative buildings. In Dean Kawaguchi’s view, the Student Union should function as the living room of a campus.

And even he agrees that the building, as it is, does not fulfil the expectations of that role. Knocking down the walls and

“THE STUDENT UNION IS A SPACE THAT SHOULD REFLECT THE WISHES AND NEEDS OF THE STUDENT BODY.” opening up the lobby was intended to, in Dean Kawaguchi’s view, “give the students more space and vitamin D.” A share of responsibility for these positive changes falls to the Student Union Board, the governing body of the Student Union’s spaces (Wilder and the Hales Annex) and policies. Junior Ian Feather, one of SU Board’s longest serving student members, believes that these changes are necessary to the improvement of Wilder as a physical and social space. “The Student Union has made the

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DRAWINGS BY DEVIN MCMAHON most of Wilder given the constraints of the space,” he said. “If you look at the 110 knockdown, I think that is a reflection of our desire to have the space be better utilized by students. It is reflective of all the conversations we have been having with students, and all the conversations we are having now about future renovations.” Indeed, at the last few meetings of the Board, composed of students, faculty, staff, and Student Union staff, discussions have been taking place surrounding future renovations.

For junior Cole Mantell, the head of SU Board, feedback on the current progressions is essential. “The Wilder lobby expansion was not only something that we signed off on, but something that we advocated for.” But he reminded me that “the Student Union is a space that should reflect the wishes and needs of the student body.” Mantell urges students to come to SU Board meetings and not only give feedback, but participate in discussions about new projects. “The administration is looking to create more communal spaces on campus and they see Wilder as a great option for that.”

While both Feather and Mantell declined to tell me on the record about any projects confirmed or otherwise, these discussions are not happening behind closed doors, and each meeting’s minutes can be found online. (The minutes for meetings where renovations were discussed have not yet been approved and posted) Dean Kawaguchi, Mantell and Feather all spoke with palpable excitement

about the direction Wilder is headed in. Student Union Board is the governing body of the primary space on campus for students to come together for whatever reasons they need to, and they thrive on student feedback.

“I would love for students to feel more comfortable coming and voicing their concerns and comments,” Mantell told me. “I think the Student Union Board should be more visible,” he added. As an outspoken Student Union employee myself, I have spoken to and butted heads with the board on more than one occasion, and I agree that for the amount of power this body has, it is curiously underutilized and unknown. Meetings take place every other Wednesday at noon in Wilder 112, with free catered food. I have always found my voice welcomed and considered at those meetings, and I urge anyone who has ideas about Wilder and the Hales Annex, physical or otherwise to come voice them at these meetings. The Board wants students to take control of these spaces, to keep them reflective of what the student body wants and needs out of such an integral space.

Dean Kawaguchi urged me to remember, on my way out of his office, “that small ideas can go many miles.”

Alumni Spotlight: Sarah Hymanson

Head chef and owner at L.A.’s award winning restaurant Kismet

BY DEVIN MCMAHON FEATURES EDITOR Sara Hymanson is a powerhouse. Since graduating from Oberlin in 2008, she’s worked at New York’s Glasserie, upstate New York’s Blue Hill, and opened Downtown L.A. falafel hotspot Madcapra — all before launching Kismet, her a funky, constantly packed, and absolutely delicious nod to the flavors of the Middle East. She opened the restaurant with cochef Sara Kramer in January 2017 and in just one year had scooped up awards and acclaim: Sara and Sarah were named Eater’s 2017 chefs of the year as well as Food and Wine’s Best New Chefs of 2017. Kismet is a nominee for the reputable 2018 James Beard Foundation Restaurant and Chef Awards’ Best New Restaurant title, made it on the Los Angeles Time’s competitive list of 101 Best Restaurants of The Year, and Bon Appetit Magazine’s 2017 list of best restaurants of the year.

The restaurant’s star dish, and my personal favorite, the Jeweled Crispy Rice, was named the best dish of the year by Los Angeles Magazine.

Despite the grueling hours that the restaurant industry demands, especially at a bustling spot like Kismet, Hymanson sat down with me to chat.

THE GRAPE: Sara, tell me how you went from Oberlin academics to the restaurant world.

SARA HYMANSON: Um, you know, it’s funny because before I started Oberlin I had all these crazy ideas of things that I could do in the world. I was like, ‘I am going to be an experimental performance artist,’ because I did acrobatics when I was younger, ‘I’m going to be a costume designer, i’m gonna do something related to the environment.’ When I arrived at Oberlin, I was interested in South Asian Studies, so I did a self-designed major in South Asian Studies, but I was always really interested in food and I really regret not doing a self designed food studies major. For some reason, being a chef wasn’t a popular career choice at the time, so it wasn’t something that I even entertained until I was… I guess I was at the beginning of my junior year at that point... I had already

taken so many classes I just finished with my major and South Asian Studies. I was actually dating someone and they were like, you’re crazy for not trying to be a chef or working in the food industry when literally all you talk and about all you think about is cooking.

TG: Did you cook in the co-ops?

SH: Yeah, I cooked at Asia House and I actually cleared my schedule and I just cooked all day long for my last meal. And then I also actually cooked two meals for a few semesters and had all my friends there. It was super fun and I would cook all these crazy elaborate meals. [Then,] I took a semester off during college and I did something called the New York Arts program. I convinced them to let me do culinary arts. So I left for a semester and started working in a restaurant when I was a junior and then I stayed working at the restaurant in New York for the summer and then finished my time than Oberlin. I sort of broadened my major at Oberlin and took Arabic and then I wrote about South Asian cuisine. And then I left and went and worked in restaurants.

But I always loved food and loved cooking. For some reason I thought it could be an experimental performance artist, but didn’t think about being a chef until I was 19 or 20. I really think that I could’ve gotten a really great well-rounded education with a focus on the culinary world and agriculture and so many things that I would love to study now.

But at the time I didn’t know and was focused on many other things. I also did a minor in studio art. My best relation-

ships were with studio art professors.

TG: This is a tough question, but what was the greatest thing you learned at Oberlin?

SH: I mean I loved Oberlin so much. I would not be who I am if it wasn’t for Oberlin, it was really mostly about the people. Like many Oberlin students I didn’t have the best time in high school.

I was fine, but I didn’t find my people at all until I got to Oberlin and that was a huge awakening for me to accept that there are really smart, interesting, creative, open, like playful, hard-working young people and that’s just something I didn’t find until I was there. So I think the greatest thing I learned was mostly was definitely related to myself and like an acceptance of myself that came through the Oberlin community.

Sort of like the style of work and play.

Also openness and critical thinking.

TG: Is there something you wish Oberlin had taught you for what we call the “real world” as college students?

SH: It’s funny because I am in an industry where not a lot of people get an education like mine and there are so many smart people that don’t have any education at all. What I’ve learned from, you know, aside from all of my culinary skills that I have worked on over the years, is a knowledge of finances and business that’s something that I have worked really hard to learn over the past few years and I think some amount of knowledge in that area would be really useful. But I blame myself from what I

SARAH HYMANSON’S LOS ANGELES RESTAURANT, KISMET

didn’t get from Oberlin. I blame myself because there are a lot of resources there, but as a young person I just wasn’t prepared to take advantage of them and that was my fault I do wish that I had been more self aware of as a 17 year-old.

TG: Do you have a piece of advice for Oberlin students who are going to be reading this article?

SH: Well, obviously, women, those that are non binary, and people of color -everyone that’s not a straight white man -- have to work twice as hard to get anywhere and that’s just a reality. So work really hard and know your worth.

As we closed our conversation, I filled her in on Oberlin’s financial situation; she gushed about her favorite professor, silkscreener John Pearson, who recently retired; she asked about various professors and whether they were still around; and she made me assure her that Oberlin wasn’t “normie” now but that it was still, in fact, “alternative” as she remembered it. I promised her that we’re still the butt of every liberal snowflake joke and that it doesn’t look like it’s ever going to change.

For Some College Musicians, Musical Resources in Short Supply

BY SAM SCHUMAN STAFF WRITER As a high schooler in Chicago, College sophomore Max Kramer played bass guitar upwards of twenty hours a week.

Sometimes he would perform up to four nights a week. Since coming to Oberlin, Max, a second-year Psychology major, has taken classes in the TIMARA—Technology in Music and Related Arts—department, performed with the Oberlin Improvisational and New Music Collective, worked as a Conservatory Audio engineer, and even enrolled in secondary jazz bass lessons taught by a Conservatory student. But in his four semesters here, he has played bass in only two performances. “It’s hard having music go from such a large part of your life to being reduced to a kind of forced hobby,” he said.

Due to limited resources in both the College and Conservatory, many College of Arts and Sciences students—about a quarter of which are involved with the Conservatory in some capacity—who had devoted much of their pre-Oberlin lives to music have found playing and studying music on campus to be more difficult than they expected.

For Kramer, a significant problem is a lack of access to rehearsal spaces. It’s uncommon for students in the College to use the Conservatory’s ensemble rehearsal spaces in the Bibbins and Kohl buildings, which are primarily used by Conservatory-sponsored ensembles.

As a College student, Kramer is also unable to store his instrument or amplifier in one of the Conservatory’s storage lockers, which are given to music majors before being offered to other students.

Rehearsal space isn’t the only problem facing College musicians. For many, getting access to the Conservatory’s considerable performance resources presents its own challenge.

First-year Lauren Goldsamt chose Oberlin College over a violin performance degree at NYU’s Steinhardt School because she wanted a broader liberal arts education while having access to a music school. “I was looking to explore what I wanted to do…I didn’t think I wanted to be a performer when I grew up.” said Goldsamt. “The musical studies major really attracted me to Oberlin.”

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She plays in the Arts and Science Orchestra and in a string quartet made up of College students that’s coached by a Conservatory faculty member. Because there are so many violinists in the Conservatory, she isn’t able to play in the Oberlin Orchestra or take private lessons from a violin faculty member, even by audition—something that would have been possible if she were majoring in music at a college with a conservatory.

She said, “if you’re looking for a conservatory, you’d be really disappointed being in the College.”

Despite lacking access to these resources, Goldsamt doesn’t regret choosing to major in musical studies at Oberlin, and is satisfied with what she’s had access to.

She said: “If you’re in the College and you search hard enough you’ll find opportunities.”

Another problem facing College players who are not musical studies majors, is the difficulty of registering for Conservatory classes like music theory and aural skills, and Timara classes before they fill up. Conservatory classes give music majors, including musical studies

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majors as well as Conservatory students, priority in enrollment.

Kramer described his unsuccessful attempts to enroll in a lower-level Timara class during his first year. “I remember going to the ‘show up, meet the teacher day’ and there were 50 people lined up outside the door.” He was only able to take classes in Timara after staying on campus and participating in a Timara Winter Term project.

College students who are able to enroll in Conservatory classes and ensembles still risk being treated differently than music majors. “For the College kids it can sometimes feel like being quite the outsider,” Kramer said.

Sometimes the exclusion of College students is peer-based. “I’ve heard a lot of comments of [Conservatory] people saying ‘they’re one of those kids who thinks they should’ve gotten into the Con but they’re really not good enough to be in the Con,’” first-year Timara major Drew Smith said.

Faculty as well as peers may treat College students differently. “We got a speech one time from one of the jazz fac-

ulty members who said it was okay if we let College kids into practice rooms, but we were held responsible if they stole anything or if they disrupted anything…I thought that was kind of antagonistic,” first-year Conservatory student Henry Nelson said.

Students on both sides of the Con/ College divide attribute the separation to different academic focuses and peer groups. “There are a lot of interactions that Timara majors have on a regular basis that College and even non-Timara Con majors aren’t a part of,” said Kramer.

“Once my school day starts, I see no College kids” said Nelson.

Andrea Kayla, Dean of the Conservatory, said that Conservatory students “tend to be with the same people a lot… it can lead to a kind of insulated culture, which is not good.”

Kayla is not unsympathetic to the challenges College students face, saying “It’s a huge concern of mine…thinking about how we can serve College students,” later adding “We [the Conservatory] shouldn’t be the only keeper of music on

students, according to Kayla.

When it comes to practice spaces, the problem is chiefly a logistical one. “We don’t have a lot of rehearsal spaces for bands. We just don’t have that many” said Kalyn. “We can’t promise College students a drum practice room, we don’t have that capacity…but we would never leave a room sitting empty and say ‘you can’t have it because you’re a College kid.’”

Some College students have taken matters into their own hands. For students living on campus who are unable to rehearse in a house, the most commonly used group practice space is the Gear Co-op in Wilder 404.

The Co-op, founded in 2014 with vocal support from Kayla, provides a space

for student bands to practice, and for individual students to use amplifiers and drum kits they wouldn’t otherwise have access to. The Co-op also lends out equipment to students who host shows, often in off-campus houses.

For many College students, it is an invaluable resource. “I can’t say enough about the Gear Coop...The connections I’ve made are so incredibly valuable I wish I had involved myself earlier,” third-year College student Alex Scheitenger told The Grape via Facebook.

WOBC, too, provides opportunities for students to perform, sponsoring several showcases and events every semester.

Past performers have included students from the Conservatory and College, as well as faculty. “I think WOBC’s R&B

showcase is a great example of an event that really blends both [The College and Conservatory] worlds,” Scheitenger, manager of WOBC’s music vault, said.

Beyond seeking support from campus organizations, some students see direct support from the College as the best way to create an environment more conducive to their pursuit of music.

“This doesn’t need to be facilitated by College students going to the Con and telling them they’re snobs…” said Kramer. “We can just point out to the powers-that-be that there are students who are being dissuaded from passions that they love because of the infrastructure around performance...here…it wouldn’t take much.”

MILLIE, WHO LIKES BUGS #6

BY PADDY MCCABE

MILLIE, WHO LIKES BUGS #5

BY PADDY MCCABE

campus…but we are the musical group.

It’s our responsibility to make sure that music lives in the world and at Oberlin -- that means in the College too.”

In the past year the Conservatory has taken measures to increase its accessibility to College students, including an instrument “depot” for students who do not have an instrument on campus, as well as new efforts to make storage lockers available to College students.

College students are also able to audition into most of the Conservatory’s ensembles; however, available spaces are restricted by the number of music majors who must participate in those ensembles in order to graduate.

The Conservatory has also increased the number of courses open to College

COMIC BY ANYA SPECTOR

APRIL 12, 2018

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A Reflection of OUI’s Banquet

BY JOSE BARRERA CONTRIBUTING WRITER On the last Friday evening of March, 2018, there was a banquet hosted by Obies for Undocumented Inclusion (OUI). There was a table full of candies and sweets, a variety of dishes, speeches met with laughter and tears, and many smiles. It was as if the sweets represented our innocence; the variety of food, our diversity; the laughs and tears, that our hearts still worked; and the plentitude of smiles, the satisfaction of having this representation.

It was a space crafted for happiness. If you did not get to attend, I can tell you, it was a night that will live on in people’s hearts.

Fried chicken, Sour Patch Kids, and cool decorations with those shiny pebbles that I used to think were diamonds — simple pleasures that remind us of our shared human experience. At times, current events make it seem that with every two steps forward, we take two steps back; regardless, OUI keeps on moving.

Our country is significantly divided on the topic of immigration, especially as it pertains to undocumented people.

Some believe that immigrants contribute to our societies and economies; others believe immigrants should adhere to a strict legal process; still, others believe that immigrants do not belong on U.S. soil. “The topic of immigration has always historically been polarizing,” says OUI third-year, Jesus Martinez. “Even within immigrants, and more specifically within undocumented communities, there are many opinions on who is ‘worthy’ of citizenship and equal rights.”

OUI is an organization founded by fourth-years Zurisaday ‘Zury’ GutierrezAvila and Eleanor Lindberg, and Della Kurzer-Zlotnick ‘17. The resources OUI provides are diverse; most notably, it

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offers workshops to educate people on immigration issues — one of their main points being that immigration issues are not new, nor are they isolated to the United States.

OUI is led by four students: GutierrezAvila, Lindberg, Martinez, and secondyear Dulce Cedillo. These students devote their time and energy to presenting the issues at hand in this country and beyond.

OUI is committed to their belief that no one is illegal. They are also committed to educating people, while at the same time promoting accountability. “It seems like you only know about what’s wrong with the system when you are affected by it or know someone who is,” says Cedillo, “and that’s why OUI puts a huge emphasis on the allyship trainings we do. People affected by immigration issues shouldn’t be the only ones fighting, especially when there is a limit to the accessibility of basic human rights.” Speaking on the current discourse about undocumented people in the United States, Lindberg says, “The way immigration gets talked about in the U.S. says so much about how fundamental white supremacy is to the way the country functions. A particular kind of discourse that underlines that really strongly for me is the whole idea that our immigration system could be moral and fair if we only deported ‘criminals.’ There are so many issues with that notion, and it’s why I think defending more than just the so-called ‘dreamers’ is so critical. When we look at immigrants who have been labelled ‘criminal’ and thus dehumanized, we start to see how immigration is related to other systems of injustice in the country, such as policing and mass criminalization. Seeing and responding to these connections,

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which are common interests among many movements, helps us to identify what work we really need to do.”

The point here is not to describe what OUI is, but rather why it is. Forms of injustice, such as dehumanizing practices towards people of different “legal” status and rampant misconceptions about immigration, make clear why organizations like OUI are necessary, and why it is essential to support them; they work to provide people with safer spaces.

According to Lindberg, the banquet served as a celebratory evening “to preserve the memory of organizing for

OUI FIGHTS TO MAKE SURE THAT MEMBERS OF THE COMMUNITY ARE TRANSFORMATIVE AND NOT JUST “TSHIRT WEARERS,” undocumented students at Oberlin, and recognize all the people who have worked for this. It was a way to build a community around OUI, which is critical for making sure it remains strong.”

“By the time I graduate I want to capture and secure the interest of new students and faculty, so that these efforts we have worked so hard for don’t go away

so easily. I do wish this group ceases to exist one day, but only because the issues we fight for are gone,” says Cedillo.

“Banquets are always fun,” GutierrezAvila begins. “But in all seriousness, I am all about taking a step back and reflecting and then acting on that reflection. So I think the banquet was really great for OUI to just see like, ‘Wow, there has been so much progress and change and, wow, let’s continue in that direction.’ For me, activism is really draining, especially when you are a first generation, low income person of color, and for me the OUI banquet was a reminder on why I was committed to OUI. Also, celebration can be really reenergizing.”

That sense of community is an integral part of any organization; it’s what keeps the mission alive. At the same time, however, OUI fights to make sure that members of the community are transformative and not just “T-Shirt wearers,” or members who only come for the branding. “A great way to support OUI,” says Martinez, “is to come to us with solutions and initiatives.

I am always being asked ‘What can I do?’ but very rarely has someone said ‘hey, this what I can do to support you.’

Taking the time to think critically about possible obstacles at Oberlin, brushing up on material from an allyship training or reading additional materials, and realizing a leverage point of change is instrumental in aiding any advocacy organization on campus.”

“We really just want to raise awareness of undocumented immigration issues and we want to start raising awareness (after educating ourselves better) about refugees and TPS and asylum. We also want to get other people to fundraise for

the Undocumented Student Scholarship Fund. And I think ideally just opening up the conversation about immigration and the need for an immigration reform.

And also just prepare people to be allies...I think the mission is for people to think about how, within their identities, they fit in immigration... [the topic] doesn’t just have to be ‘undocumented,’ and I want to see more [openness of discourse].

And also, as far as the whole ‘how many undocumented students are on this campus?’ question… It doesn’t matter if it’s 0 or 1000, would a number really change that activism?” says GutierrezAvila.

The OUI Banquet was intended as a celebration for everyone, but especially for the members of OUI who’ve put blood, sweat, tears, and countless hours of work into their ongoing fight for progressiveness and civil rights. OUI celebrates life; they represent themselves and all people who respect life. OUI recognizes that they couldn’t have done this alone, and often credit people like Libni and Caitlyn, who teach an ESL class to Oberlin residents, and students Sadie Keller, Rowan Mahar, and Eilish Spear.

“They came to OUI having concrete ideas on helping expand the Citizenship Classes, OUI’s community service project,

in recruitment, course development, and recognition from president Ambar,” says Martinez.

Overall, the OUI Banquet was a time full of great food, music, and activities that lifted our spirits and energy, while at the same time reminding us that the mission of OUI remains strong. I don’t want to take away from what I got from it by listing out an itinerary, so if you really want to know what’s up in the banquets, then aid OUI by becoming a transformative ally* and motivating your peers to do the same. Everyone has a place to show their support, no matter what kind of privilege they have, what

kind of socioeconomic background they come from, or what their past is. It’s hard, no doubt. That’s why OUI provides workshops, to better assist us in making impactful changes in our societies, and in a responsible, meaningful, intentional, and personable way. There’s no one way to be an activist, and everyone can utilize themselves and skill sets differently.

OUI reminds us, nonetheless, to remain involved in any way we can.

Contact contributing writer Jose Barrera at jbarrera@oberlin.edu

FABB Photographers Reshape Violent Narratives

BY ROSIE RUDAVSKY CONTRIBUTING WRITER On April 6th, Femme Artists Breaking Boundaries (FABB) hosted Eman Mohammed and Cameron Granger for a panel entitled Capturing Resistance. Both guests are photographers, Mohammed a photojournalist, and Granger a photo and video artist. The panel, led by junior Octavia Burgel, a photographer herself, focused on the ways that Mohammed and Granger use their art to tell stories. Eman Mohammed, a Palestinian refugee, was born in Saudi Arabia but educated in Gaza City. After experimenting with other forms of journalism she settled on photography as a way to tell the stories of people living through war and violence, especially in relation to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and violence in Gaza. Cameron Granger, who grew up in Cleveland and is now based in Columbus, channels the comics, drawing, and writing he created about his family and community growing up into the new media of video and photography.

His work deals with Blackness and the American dream, and most recently on the role of education as a flawed tool for mobility.

Mohammed and Granger both use photography to bring untold stories to the fore, in such a way that combats the harm photography can do as a medium.

Burgel shed light on this history of harm, explaining that photography has been used as a tool of colonialism, a way to portray “facts” about other cultures by

representing their differences in biased and detrimental ways.

Mohammed’s approach to wartime photography seeks to undermine this objectification by staying away from violent imagery, and opting instead for the evocative. For example, her photo of a mother holding up the shirt of her recently killed son, eyes closed and solemn, invokes both the violence that she has experienced, but also, and most importantly, her humanity. Mohammed’s use of such imagery, as well as her snapshots of daily life – a child doing homework in a graveyard, a man drinking tea by a fire – serve as necessary contrasts to the photos of bombings, bodies, and blood that overpopulate our screens and daily newsfeeds, and to which we have all but become indifferent. Her photos offer another way to understand tragedies, allowing the audience to view the subjects as individuals and to empathize with them and their daily human experiences. In their composition and empathetic subject matter, Mohammed’s photographs look strikingly like what one might call “art” – but she resists this term, fearing that it will delegitimize the truths she conveys with her photos.

Granger also spoke of the importance of being in control of one’s storytelling.

He described photography as an inherently violent process of “taking the essence of a living, breathing person and

boiling it down to something of your own design”. However, he sees photo and video as mediums through which he can capture his own story, as a way of claiming responsibility. If he doesn’t tell his and his community’s stories, he posed, then someone else might, and might do it in a harmful way. For example, in his exhibition “Grad Party” he uses framed images of Black graduates in their graduation gowns, among them a portrait

of Michael Brown, to expose education’s failure to protect Black people from the police, even while it is viewed as a path toward freedom. Beyond just using his work to disseminate unseen narratives of the inner, familial, and educational lives of Black people, Granger uses his presence in the formal art world to shift the audience of the gallery. He highlighted the gaze that exists within the space of galleries, which are generally attended by affluent,

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(continued) educated white people. He makes a point of bringing friends and family from his home community who do not frequent art galleries in order to create a comfortable atmosphere, where the work is consumed by those it is meant to address.

Both Mohammed’s and Granger’s work contend with extraordinarily relevant issues – those of violence toward Palestinians, and toward Black people in the US. As reported by the New York Times, a protest movement in Gaza has

arisen with as many as 30,000 Gazans gathering at the border in protest of its blockade and in support of a return to their homes within Israeli borders. At least 31 Gazans have been killed in the past two weeks and a thousand injured. Unlike the photographs taken by Eman, most photos of the protests show Gazans in offensive stances, among smoke, fire and bombs.

In addition to the blatant racism displayed by continued police killings of Black people like Saheed Vassell, a mentally ill New Yorker shot and killed

this past week, Granger’s work highlights a Black experience that centers the lives of Black people, showing their successes, struggles, and relationships, rather than depicting explicit violence against Black bodies. Granger and Mohammed address the way these narratives are told by popular media – flipping the script by offering personal and empathetic narratives instead of images of violence for the public to consume.

Burgel, who planned the panel, expressed how affirming it was as an

artist of color herself, to have Mohammed and Granger on stage. She explained, “We as people of color are so used to being questioned and second guessed in our authority… I feel really excited to continue watching how people of color of all backgrounds and in all creative fields reshape and restructure the narrative while commanding and holding space.”

Contact contributing writer Rosie Rudavsky at rrudavsk@oberlin.edu

Cringey Nostalgia And Little Else In Ready Player One

BY SAM SCHUMAN AND KEERTHI SRIDHARAN STAFF WRITER AND COPY EDITOR You wouldn’t know from watching it, but Steven Spielberg directed Ready Player One. The film, based on the book of the same name by Ernest Cline, plays out more like a poorly-written fan-fiction than a blockbuster, replete with predictable “twists,” stale dialogue, and cookie-cutter characters.

The plot centers around Wade Watts (screenname “Parzival,” played by a tepid Tye Sheridan), the quintessential 18-year old gamerboy protagonist who escapes his abusive home life in a Columbus, Ohio slum by logging on to the OASIS, a completely immersive virtual world. In the OASIS, Wade tells the audience, you can be anyone, including and up to a slightly more conventionally attractive version of your real-life self. Wade’s bleach-blond avatar is just one of millions—if not billions—populating the OASIS, which serves as the venue for the vast majority of the films’ grating pop culture references, ranging from 80’s sci-fi/horror to slightly more obscure 80’s sci-fi.

The goal of every player in the OASIS is to find three digital keys left by its creator, the deified Jim Halliday (Mark Rylance).

The first player to obtain all three keys gains control of the OASIS in the real world. The film raises the interesting question of a real-world economy almost entirely linked to a single online game, but never develops the idea beyond ‘virtual cash equals IRL dollars.’ The end result of this is what feels like the first draft of a bad Black Mirror episode, with the head of a vaguely evil corporation serving as the movie’s only real villain. While Nolan Sorrento (Ben Mendelsohn) is a bad-

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guy name if I’ve ever heard one, there’s no real reasoning behind his actions, except maybe just capitalism: he wants to find the keys so that he can win the .5 billion prize money, and ownership of the OASIS itself in order to sell online advertising space.

On that note, there’s no real reasoning for anything that happens in this movie.

Wade declares his feelings for generic love-interest Samantha (Olivia Cooke) sorry, Art3mis - roughly 72 hours after he meets her in movie time, because she’s… pretty? A Kubrick tribute bordering on offensive seems to be included only because the film’s team was able to obtain the rights from Kubrick’s estate. We see the quest for Halliday’s three keys happen within the OASIS while IOI, Sorrento’s company, simultaneously hunts Wade down in the real world, blowing up his aunt in the process. Any of the playful, nostalgic suspense created within the VR universe is stripped away when we realize that Sorrento is willing to kill people over a literal Easter Egg hunt.

If the goal of Ready Player One is to prove that Cline and screenwriter Zack Penn spent a lot of time inside during the 1980’s, it succeeds. Every other line is a reference to some Atari video game or 80’s horror flick; background details include Star Trek insignias and Space Invaders t-shirts, as well as references to Overwatch and Halo, among other figures of modern nerdom. Significant parts of the film’s plot revolve around the characters’ understanding—or lack thereof—of 1980’s pop culture. While the call-backs are sure to delight a very

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specific age demographic of moviegoers, anyone for whom these references weren’t an integral part of their upbringing will be left either confused or cringing.

Credit where credit is due: The film’s visual effects are spectacular. The OASIS is rendered as a bustling world that is, most importantly, a believable vision of what gaming might look like in the near-future. Using full-body physical feedback-enabled suits and Oculus Riftlike headsets, it’s not hard to picture the gamers of tomorrow outfitted in IOImanufactured gear. The excellent visual world building renders the rest of the film all the more disappointing, showing viewers what could have been, had the screenplay possessed any thematic or narrative wherewithal.

Ready Player One’s soundtrack is the clear highlight, with 80’s fan favorites to spare. Well timed Twisted Sister, New Order, and Joan Jett tracks add to the film’s nostalgic atmosphere without feeling nearly as forced as, well, everything else the movie throws at you.

The film’s plodding narrative isn’t done any favors by the cast. Sheridan makes an admirable—even satisfactory— effort but never rises above the generic

everyman; a bland “avatar” for the audience. Olivia Cooke does nothing to separate Samantha/Art3mis from every other manic-pixie-dream-girl of the past 15 years. Even Ben Mendelsohn, who gave a strong performance as villain Orson Krennic in 2016’s Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, doesn’t do much to flesh out the film’s main antagonist beyond an empty corporate suit.

Ready Player One is the movie equivalent of a dab: funny at first. Then you think about it. Then you never want to see it ever again.

Appendix A: Cringiest moments in Ready Player One -Despite what Art3mis claims, Parzival was not one of the three Knights of the -Round Table who searched for the Holy Grail -“She’s hacking your heart to get to your head” -Egg Hunters contracted to “Gunters” -11-year old Asian child’s avatar is a literal ninja -Sorrento’s computer password is written on a post-it note: bo55man69

Fashion, Literature, and Form An Interview with Professor Baudot

BY EMORY MCCOOL CONTRIBUTING WRITER Laura Baudot is an Associate Professor of English at Oberlin College. She earned her BA at Wellesley College and her PhD from Princeton University.

EM: What do you teach and what are your academic interests?

LB: I teach 18th century literature, mainly. My academic interests are in that period, but also the fields of aesthetics, intellectual history, history of science, and visual cultural.

EM: How would you describe your approach to your scholarship and to literary theory in general?

LB: I have tended to do interdisciplinary work, so literary history and relationship to history and science or visual culture.

Lately, I’m really interested in thinking about autobiographical approaches to literary criticism. One of the imperatives of literary criticism is that we historicize and consider the context. I’m experimenting with a way of historicizing that takes into account the individual literary critic’s own personal history and layers that on top of literary analysis.

EM: Which college course most influenced you? Which was your favorite?

LB: The college course that most influenced me was a class on Russian modernism. We started with Chekov and read up through 20th century things like Bely’s St. Petersburg. I mean, obviously I’m not teaching Russian literature, and I didn’t go on to do a PhD in Russian, but for the first time I understood the ways in which stories are about stories. Stories are not just about content, but they’re also about the way they’re told.

My favorite course was a course in Cinema Studies about Film Noir. I really loved taking Geology, too. I felt like it was a science that was historical.

EM: What’s one course that you’ve taught at Oberlin that you really love?

LB: I love teaching 299 [Intro to Advanced Study of Literature] because I can teach outside of my field. Increasingly what I love about it is that the things that we’re reading are about aesthetic experience,

what the nature of our relationship to art is and how our relationship to art becomes a way of thinking about our relationship to other people. The ethical implications of aesthetic experience.

YOU HAVE A LOT OF FREEDOM TO EXPRESS YOURSELF IN YOUR CLOTHES. IT IS A KIND OF LANGUAGE, IT’S AN EMBODIED LANGUAGE. EM: How would you describe your personal style or fashion sense?

LB: I can’t say that I have a fashion personality - like edgy or vintage or eclectic. It’s more about playing a game with trends. So following trends at a distance where I can still exert my own agency. Also when I think about both my outfits and my clothes I think in terms of a gestalt approach. I think about how the parts add up to equal more than just the sum of the parts, how the parts add up to a whole. I know that sounds very abstract; I like playing with proportions, I like layering, I like it to have an architectural quality. And I think about how similar that is to literary form.

EM: Who is your fashion icon?

LB: I’m going to answer that more in terms of a fashion icon not just being someone whose clothes you want to have, but who feeds the longing. So if interest in fashion is partly fueled for that longing for something that can never quite be satisfied or fantasy, I would say that my fashion icon is someone I grew up seeing every summer; she’s a cousin on my French side by marriage and her name is Maryse Gaspard. She was a model for Pierre Cardin and then was in charge of his haute couture. For me, someone who lived in the suburbs and spent the

summer in small towns in France, she was this impossibly glamorous figure who first fed that longing. She’s not someone whose style I could ever copy, but she has an otherworldly fashion quality.

EM: Favorite author? Book?

LB: Again in terms of formative favorite – I’d have to say Proust’s In Search of Lost Time. It was both formative and a book I think about so often. It’s an encyclopedic account of literary sensibility, what it means to go through the world with a literary sensibility. That’s a thing that speaks to me so profoundly. I also love anything that the philosopher and literary historian Charles Taylor writes.

My guilty pleasure read is fashion magazines, for sure. I can’t really read bad writing with pleasure, but I can consume visual guilty pleasures. It’s about the images, about looking at pretty things and novelty. Although I probably kind of like reading self-help, that’s kind of a guilty pleasure.

EM: Favorite fashion trend of the last five years?

LB: I’ve got a lot of those. So white shoes, specifically white sneakers. Jumpsuits.

The new, more relaxed silhouette. Pleated pants. The bodysuit plus baggy pant, so an 80s look. It’s so interesting, you can tell there’s a fatigue with one trend and then you have to go to the other extreme.

EM: Least favorite fashion trend?

LB: I understand it, and sometimes I think I’m a victim of it too, but I think it’s lamentable the ways that we can become slaves to jean fashion trends. Sometimes, and I know this is going to sound conservative, they’re unflattering in ways that mess with the silhouette.

Even if at first I don’t like a trend my eyes adjust, and I start liking it. I might think: “Okay, I’m not going there. I’m just not doing that one.” But then eventually it’ll creep in.

EM: Favorite trend in literary criticism?

LB: I was really relieved when the pendulum swung from ideology critique

back to questions of literary form. It’s probably been happening since the 90s in some form, but there was a real marked increase in discussions of literary form and what literary-ness is. After the extreme of seeing literature as a vehicle for discussing how ideology works, I like reading criticism in the vein that I like writing it: criticism related to intellectual history or history of aesthetics. I’m interested in the cognitive science literary criticism, the joining of forces.

EM: In what way or ways has your style changed over time? Any consistencies?

LB: The thing that I’ve been drawn to since the age of ten are puffed sleeves.

I can’t really get away from them. And belts. I know that this is partly my fashion blind spot, but I just love them. I try to do the puffed sleeve not in a ridiculously girly way, especially in my age and my profession. I may opt for a more avant-garde, architecturally interesting voluminous sleeve. But still, it’s the puffed sleeve. At its heart, it’s the puffed sleeve.

EM: You said in your profession, do you, or have you in the past felt pressure to change your style or to change what you wear on a daily basis?

LB: No. That’s one of the things I love about this job. You have so much, at least I have felt, that you have a lot of freedom to express yourself in your clothes. It is a kind of language, it’s an embodied language. That said, sometimes in the beginning of the semester I try to be less showy in what I wear.

EM: Do you think your style reflects anything about your personality? Your scholarship? If so, what?

LB: I think an interest in form, definitely.

I love thinking about how stories are constructed. Again, how the parts add up to something, how there’s patterning, echoing. I think about how a raw edge on a sleeve might echo the raw edge on a hem. It’s an interest in the craft of putting things together.

Contact Contributing Writer Emory McCool at emccool@oberlin.edu

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ART BY: JOSÉ MANUEL

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THE GRAPE

COMIC BY JOSÉ MANUEL

Experimental Filmmaker Kelly Gallagher Visits Oberlin

BY LUCY KAMINSKY CONTRIBUTING WRITER On February 27th, the Cinema Studies department hosted an event featuring filmmaker Kelly Gallagher. The screening comprised of seven of Gallagher’s short films, each ranging from two to twenty minutes long. Gallagher’s films, which utilize collage and other experimental methods, focus on left revisionist history and the artist’s own personal life. During her introduction, Gallagher described the films as being both “diaristic” and working against systems of “racism, exploitation, capitalism, imperialism, patriarchy, and colonialism”. Gallagher said she was especially influenced by izzy Borden’s Born In Flames, a 1 8 futuristic dystopian film that follows a group of radical feminist rebels in the context of an alternative socialist American government.

Though she never took an animation class, Gallagher now uses the medium in all her films. She uses the term “animation as resurrection” to describe her method of using animation to bring attention to overlooked histories and personal stories.

Gallagher got her BA from Penn State and her MFA at the University of Iowa.

She currently teaches media arts at Antioch College. One of the films shown at the screening was The Herstory of the Female Filmmaker, a documentary about female filmmakers that Gallagher created her senior of college after realizing how little her fellow classmates knew about the history of women in cinema. In Do ou Want to Go for a Drive?, the second film shown at the screening, Gallagher grapples with issues of consent in the context of a

real-life relationship. She continues to examine her life in My Gossip, her newest film, which is about friendship, her best friend, and what they mean to each other.

Some of her other films, such as FROM A TO ACCOMP ICE and More Dangerous Than a Thousand Rioters, are more historically oriented. In FROM A TO ACCOMP ICE, Gallagher revisits the raid at Harper’s Ferry, focusing on the journey of uaker Iowan brothers Barclay and Edwin Coppoc. ucy Parsons, Black female labor organizer and radical activist, is the subject of More Dangerous Than a Thousand Rioters. In this film, Gallagher chronicles Parsons’ involvement in several progressive movements, including a history of political actions that led the Chicago Police Department to call her

“more dangerous than a thousand rioters”.

Currently, Gallagher is working on a digital zine project called “HERE WE ARE: The History of Experimental Cinema”. HERE WE ARE chronicles a history of women, non-binary, trans, and genderqueer filmmakers. Gallagher invites anyone to add names to the list of filmmakers or to create a zine page for the project.

For more information on Kelly Gallagher or to take part in HERE WE ARE, go purpleriot.com Contact Contributing Writer at Lucy Kaminsky at lkamisnk@oberlin.edu

R&B Showcase Works To Make WOBC More Accessible

BY MALAYA NORDYKE CONTRIBUTING WRITER The WOBC R B Showcase was held on February 22, but its mission remains pertinent. The event was held on a Thursday, so as to avoid it turning into a classic Oberlin weekend “party but with live-music in the background” sort of deal. “We wanted it to be a social, fun performance space for Black music. But we really wanted it to be about the music,” said senior Kyle Roach, host and organizer of the event.

The showcase was maybe one of the best-attended house shows I’ve been to, and though it was packed, all eyes and ears were on the performers. With musicians hailing from both the college and the conservatory, the show effortlessly bridged the college-con divide and created a partnership that highlighted student talents from both spheres. The bands were interactive, continuously hyping up the audience and encouraging them to dance to the beat. And when they weren’t performing they were in the audience, listening to and appreciating their fellow musicians. It felt like a genuine celebration of community and music.

About a week after the show, I sat down with Roach, who hosted the show and was one of the three key organizers of the showcase, which had been founded in

01 by WOBC Board member and senior Rayna Holmes. The two established the showcase to provide a space for Black music and musicians. Back in 01 , there wasn’t a performance space on campus that provided the right sense of community that Roach and Holmes envisioned for the showcase. Though the Cat has become a more intimate space for POC to perform since then, Kyle notes that the Sco still has that “institutional feel” that doesn’t quite suit the goals of the R B showcase.

Roach and Holmes recruited Conservatory senior , Ethan Cohen to organize an evening of live music. Cohen helped form the performing bands and book rehearsal spaces for the musicians.

Once formed, the bands collaborated to arrange music from Aaliyah to Chaka Khan.

Oberlin prides itself for its vibrant music scene, but the DI house-show circle can feel especially white-washed. Although the R B Showcase has the WOBC name attached to it, part of its mission is to fight against the inaccessibility of the WOBC community and the general Oberlin music scene. Though the organization has gotten much better at inclusivity, when the showcase launched WOBC felt very much like a “cool-white-dudes club.

One way that WOBC can expand its reach is through events like the R B Showcase. “WOBC is event-driven,” Roach notes. Flagship events like the Coverband Showcase and the Block Party are key ways that WOBC reaches out to the student body.

Kyle hopes that WOBC can expand these traditions to include the R B Showcase to help reinforce that WOBC is a space that celebrates Black music and musicians.

This past February was the first time the R B Showcase had happened in two semesters, and the organizing seniors are working to ensure that this doesn’t happen again. Though the showcase ideally happens once every semester, WOBC hopes to hold another showcase by the end of the year. The

organizers are intent on reaching out to underclassmen to protect the showcase’s institutional memory after they graduate.

The future of the R B showcase and workgroup is promising, but students

from WOBC and beyond must get involved to ensure Oberlin’s accessibility for and celebration of young musicians of color.

Contact contributing writer Malaya Nordyke at mnordyke@oberlin.edu

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A Taste of Parade the Circle

Oberlin’s Big Parade Workshops

BY JOSH BLANKFIELD CONTRIBUTING WRITER Every Saturday of April, Big Parade brings in special guests to run workshops to help students build their floats for the May th parade. This year, these guests include Cleveland-based artists Ian Petroni and Claudio Orso, as well as Director of Parade the Circle, Robin an ear.

Parade the Circle, which is happening on June th this year, is an annual Cleveland Museum of Art event. For an afternoon, University Circle is filled with live music, bright colors, floats, costumes, puppets, and stilt dancers. Over 80,000 people attended last year. Parade the Circle is in its th year and is an exciting companion to Big Parade. While Big Parade has some funding from the school, one can imagine the grandiosity of a parade that has the support of the CMA. ot to mention the CMA’s endowment is the fourth wealthiest art museum in the nation. At the helm of Parade the Circle is Robin an ear. an ear is a sculptor, mask maker, performer, and celebration artist. She has been involved in community art since the late 0s and has traveled the world studying the celebrations of various cultures.

Robin an ear oversaw her first Parade the Circle in 1 0. She also started I Madonnari, a Chalk Festival similar to Oberlin’s summer Chalk Walk. In 1 , she founded Winter ights, a festival of lanterns that happens during the holiday season.

This previous Saturday, an ear led a “dry mache” workshop in Warner Studio . According to an ear, “Dry Mache [is a] technique that enables the creator to create a paper mache object while bridging gaps in structure and creating lighter, more organic forms.” This manner of paper mache is especially useful for parades, as the objects are easier to hold and manage.

The second workshop artist is Ian Petroni. Much of Petroni’s work is inspired from found objects and recycled materials.

“I enjoy the challenge of conceiving of unexpected ways to use found objects,

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and I enjoy surprising the viewer with how something can be used,” he says. Petroni is a “tent rat,” says Sally Slade, Oberlin’s Big Parade director. Petroni can often be found working in the community spaces on his floats and assisting with the builds of others people’s floats. Petroni will be hosting workshops on April 1 th and April 8th, assisting students in their own builds and sharing knowledge from his many parade and installation experiences.

Claudio Orso will be leading workshops on the 1st. An extremely talented Wood Block artist and mask maker, Orso started the Big Parade in 001 . His pieces are featured in art rental, often being among the first to be rented each year. His woodcuts communicate a sense of celebration, exhibiting bold words and many different characters parading around. Orso is also at the head of the Apollo Outreach Initiative, an Oberlin Cinema Studies program that seeks to educate people in the community about how to tell their stories through film. It’s clear that community outreach is central to Orso’s artistic practice. His workshop will be about mask making. “The Mask is your parade face,” says Orso. “Parade has a longstanding tradition for people once a year to go crazy’ and access parts of themselves they normally don’t. I am here to encourage people to bring their inner selves out.”

Parade is at the center of each of these artists’ energy and mentality. It takes a certain enthusiasm and dedication to prepare and create such animated and lifelike pieces to be witnessed by thousands. Recounting his second Big Parade, Claudio’s remembers how he made two hundred masks for every student of Eastwood Elementary so each student could be a part of the parade. “The magic of the parade is that one can put aside their own self-centeredness’ and participate in something larger,” Orso says, “ a shared moment with your community, something way bigger than the sum of its parts.”

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____________________ Brief Interview with Robin VanLear: A Quick 1,2,3 with Robin VanLear How long have you been involved with Oberlin and Oberlin Big Parade?

I have known about the Big Parade since your second year. Unfortunately the only time I have been able to attend was last year since normally the Big Parade falls on the first weekend of our pre-Parade the Circle Public workshops. I taught some workshops for Big Parade participants on a few occasions. They were held at FA A. Sometimes I taught on my own and sometimes with Ian Petroni or izzie Roche. It was through these workshops that I first met Claudio Orso.

In 1 8 I graduated from Art School and moved back to Santa Barbara, where I had been living before I moved to Canada to attend the Emily Carr College of Art. In Santa Barbara they had started a community arts parade called the Summer Solstice Celebration. I became part of the artist team for this event just in its th season. A couple of years later, the director, Michael Gonzalez, was moving to A because of health problems and he asked if I would take over as the event’s artistic director. Already a sculptor and performance artist, I became enamored with the community inclusiveness of Art for Parade (The Solstice Celebration).

This was also a people powered art parade like Parade the Circle with no written words, no live animals and no motorized vehicles (except working animals and

wheelchairs). I directed this Parade until June 1 8 when I moved in August of 1 8 to Cleveland to start Parade the Circle for the Cleveland Museum of Art (in celebration of the museum s th year).

What got you interested in parade in general?

I think this is also answered above. I will add that upon moving to Cleveland I felt it was my responsibility to study the field of celebration art and began traveling to Trinidad Tobago, Brazil, England, Mexico, ew Orleans, anywhere there was a strong tradition in the celebration arts, especially where there was a Parade style format.

Why have you chosen parade as a medium that you work within?

Probably also somewhat answered above.

To add to that, I have always been both a visual and a performance artist. I am a sculptor, costume designer, installation artist, mask maker, etc. Additionally, I am passionate about artist/viewer interaction with the works I create. I enjoy collaborations between professional artists of varying disciplines as well as collaborations between professional artists and community members and avocational artists. Parade allows room for all of these collaborations and interactions. The audience can be huge - 80,000 audience members for Parade the Circle. In Trinidad Tobago, parts of Brazil, and ew Orleans the numbers can reach 100 s of thousands.

Contact contributing writer Josh Blankfield at jblankfi@oberlin.edu.

The Air Bud Quintilogy

Ranked From Worst to Best

BY JOEY SHAPIRO CONTRIBUTING WRITER America loves to watch beloved dogs die. From Marley Me to Where The Red Fern Grows, it seems like we just cannot stop killing man’s best friend on screen in the most heartbreaking ways imaginable. But what about those movies – and hear me out here – in which the dog doesn’t die? What about the ones in which dogs are not passive victims, but heroes, winning sports championships and performing feats of great athletic prowess? The fivepart cinematic saga of Buddy the canine jock is made up exclusively of those films, and, in case you’ve ever lay awake at night wondering how these films stack up against each other, I have constructed a comprehensive list ranking them from worst dog sports film to best dog sports film for your convenience.

trilogy’s appeal. Could a dog learn how to play basketball?

Probably. Football? Sure, why not? Soccer? Hell yeah, brother. But baseball is simply impossible for a dog to play capably, given that they lack the necessary dexterity of an opposable thumb as well as the upper body strength required to swing home runs. Still, it retains some of the simple joys of the original films and for that it swiftly beats out Air Bud: Spikes Back.

tale of a golden retriever beating the odds to become the greatest basketball player that Fernfield, Washington, has ever seen. Is it ultimately a vaguely problematic movie with a decidedly conservative take on class differences? es, it is. Would Buddy the dog vote for Rand Paul if given the chance? Oh, without a doubt. But, most importantly of all, is it a bona fide classic of dog cinema as well as the standard by which all modern dog movies are judged? ou’d better believe it.

3. Air Bud 2: Golden Receiver 1. Air Bud 3: World Pup 5. Air Bud: Spikes Back The worst film in the Air Bud film franchise is also the most unrecognizable; virtually no actors from the original film are present, the humor is both lifeless and talking-parrotbased, and the punctuation of the title makes no sense. To top it off, all of the volleyball stunts are accomplished with trick shots and bad special effects rather than genuine dog-based talent – an uninspired finale to an otherwise brilliant cinematic quintilogy.

ow we are entering prime Bud territory. Air Bud features the same joyful dog acrobatics of film 1 but with an even more complex sport to provide a thrilling new challenge for Buddy. I was skeptical coming into this film that Buddy would be incapable of understanding the nuances of American football – he can certainly “go long” and tackle as well as any of the boys, but does he even know what a blitz is? – but as soon as I saw him in his little jersey and helmet I knew the director had recreated the magic of the first film.

Smackdab in the middle of the Air Bud quintilogy, after the trial-and-error of the first two films but before the disappointing emphasis on implausible dog tricks in films four and five, lies the greatest dog film ever made. So, what edges this one past every other Air Bud film? It could be any number of factors, really. There’s the poignant puppy love between Buddy and the cute retriever-next-door Molly, for one – a romance which leads to the miracle of dog childbirth. There’s the absolute perfection of the premise, which involves Buddy playing soccer, the most intuitive sport a dog could play. There’s the presence of not one, but two actors who played minor roles in Jurassic Park, another memorable animal movie. This is the film where all the pieces fell right into place, and the collision of campy fun, dazzling canine stunts, and well-earned charm makes it by far the most accomplished film in the Air Bud franchise.

Contact contributing writer Joey Shapiro at jshapiro@ oberlin.edu

2. Air Bud 4. Air Bud 4: Seventh Inning Fetch This is the film in which Air Bud finally jumped the shark and lost all believability, which was central to the original

The OG Air Bud film still stands the test of time as a tour de force of animal athleticism. This is the least campy entry in the series, and despite some uncomfy racist and classist tropes, it is for the most part a charming and joyful

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The Case For Residential Art Our Living-Learning Community Needs To Reflect The Students It Houses

BY LARS DREITH CONTRIBUTING WRITER As was aptly described to me by a friend: “East is the most motel-like dorm on campus.” There is little to pay attention to in East’s public spaces beyond the lifeless, fluorescent-bleached stairwells and blank hallways. The aesthetic impact can be summed up into one word: oppressive.

Despite this aesthetic impact as is the case with every dorm on campus East houses creative students with a diverse set of interests. If you walk into nearly any room in East, walls are decorated in ways that reflect the students who live there. Some students drape tapestries; some students collect posters, and many don their walls with string lights.

During my time living in East this year, I went out of my way to use the bathroom on the second-floor of Kensington House. It was one of the few public spaces in the dorm that had character. A character that can be best-described as “saturated with ducks,” as Instagram account decafelids puts it. They were everywhere: taped to the walls, hanging on the underside of soap dispensers, resting on the countertop. ittle rubber ducks, everywhere you looked.

I played no part in putting these rubber ducks up (I swear), nor did I relate to this installation in any substantial way.

Its presence and impact on the space, however, was substantial, and definitely appreciated. I went out of my way to use that bathroom, and I am certain that I was not the only one who did.

This past Winter Term, I visited my friend at MIT. They lived on the fifth floor of the east parallel in East Campus,

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a dorm well-known for its love of pyrotechnics.

This was the first time that I fully appreciated East Campus for the life that it breathes into MIT. East Campus and other dorms like it are the petri dishes of long-lasting traditions strange cultural quirks on MIT’s campus. Much like Greenwich illage, Manhattan in the mid-twentieth century, East Campus draws a unique crowd, and proximity to one another creates an environment where creativity thrives.

MIT is one of few schools in the nation that permits students to paint murals on the walls of their dorms. The purpose of these murals is listed in their Student Handbook: to “allow for creative self-expression” to “create a greater sense of comfort and connection to the dorm” to “foster camaraderie and bolster support networks” to “help sustain lasting culture”. early every space in the halls of East Campus is plastered with murals. Because of this, anyone who enters the hallways of East Campus can sense the innovation and creativity that emanates from it within minutes. It should be noted that not all dorms in MIT permit murals; this way, the accessibility needs of all students are taken into account.

Oberlin currently has no mural policy.

Rather, our mural policy is that there are no murals. In its space, we have the “Temporary Art Installation” policy, which allows students to put up art in public spaces on campus.

As it currently exists, the application process for this resource is flawed. The application is paper, requires signa-

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tures from three different, intimidating administrative bodies on campus, and asks for thorough analyses of life-safety issues without there being a clearly-defined point person.

All of the points listed above serve as deterrents for students taking advantage of this policy. For students hoping to put up a Temporary Art Installation, the steps of printing out the form, describing life-safety implications, and communicating with and stopping by various offices around campus are non-negligible and time-consuming. On top of all this, it can be difficult for an applicant to know exactly which administrators’ signatures they need to obtain, since the application merely provides that a Building Administrator (who is the building administrator?), the Hall Council (what if there is no hall council?), Security (who, exactly, in Safety and Security?), and Facilities Operations (who, exactly, in Facilities Operations?) sign off.

In order to improve this application process for increased accessibility to more students

on campus, I propose that we make four amendments to the existing Temporary Art Installation policy and application: First, we digitize the application. By using an online form, the application can be immediately sent to all of the required signatories. This would remove the bureaucratic barriers on the applicant’s part, encouraging more students to apply. This would also remove some of the ambiguity regarding which administrators signatures the applicant needs to obtain, since the online form could be configured to send the applica-

tion to the appropriate administrators in their respective offices.

Second, we provide an expedited process for art installations in residential buildings. Security and Facilities Operations sign off on art installation applications to ensure that life-safety concerns have been properly considered. If there are designated spaces where life-safety implications have already been considered, students can install art using pre-specified materials and mediums, requiring only the Building Representative and the Hall Council (if applicable) sign off.

Third, the application, whether paper or digital, needs to be reformatted to better reflect why each signatory is included. It needs to made clear to the applicant that Security and Facilities Operations are signing off exclusively re-

garding the life-safety implications and that the Building Representative and Hall Council are signing off regarding aesthetic and cultural value.

Fourth, dorms need to have the option of “indefinite” art installations. These art installations would remain up unless Security or Facilities deemed them a life-safety concern or the Building Representative or Hall Council deemed them archaic. This would allow dorms to shape their own culture over a longer period of time, helping to bring together like-minded, passionate people.

One of the main draws of Oberlin, for me, was the sense of creativity and innovation I encountered on campus when I visited. Through investing in a more thorough art installation policy, Oberlin would be investing in a quality that has definitely drawn many to this school.

WOBC Prank Should be Reminder to Students to Stay Vigilant

BY IAN FEATHER STAFF WRITER On April Fool’s Day, the team at WOBC’s ive From Studio B ( FSB) released a long Facebook post that informed fans that the studio session planned for that afternoon would be their very last. According to the post, this sudden development was due to certain administrative offices being moved from Carnegie and Cox into Wilder, meaning that loud music would interfere with the functions of these new residents of Wilder and thus necessitate the immediate demise of FSB. For a few shrewd students, this supposed news was immediately recognized for what it really was: an April Fool’s Prank. et for many others, including myself, such a tragic turn of events seemed all too believable, especially in light of the ongoing budget fiasco and similar encroachments into Wilder that have already happened.

As President Ambar conveyed in her February speech to students about the financial situation of the College, future budget cuts will primarily be the result of rigorous program reviews that will evaluate the relative costs and benefits of different aspects of the College. While this review process will not focus solely on monetary costs and benefits, the ulti-

mate goal of the process, to save money, dictates that financial considerations will ultimately play a major role. If this is the case, it’s possible, even likely, that certain programs that don’t explicitly

SUCH A TRAGIC TURN OF EVENTS SEEMED ALL TOO BELIEVABLE, ESPECIALLY IN LIGHT OF THE ONGOING BUDGET FIASCO. generate revenue programs that many students value highly will be on the chopping block.

Furthermore, the administration has already begun to encroach upon Wilder, which is officially a Student Union space. ast year, the Office of the Dean of Students, without prior consultation

of the Student Union Board, decided to take Wilder 10 , formerly a prominent meeting space for student organizations, and instead integrate it into their existing, adjacent office space. Admittedly, this may seem fairly inconsequential, as there are many other available meeting rooms in Wilder and the Office of the Dean of Students is likely using Wilder 10 for appropriate purposes. et such an administrative takeover could be setting a dangerous precedent for future decisions regarding supposedly studentcontrolled spaces across campus. If the Office of the Dean of Students didn’t feel the need to consult with anyone before repurposing something that very explicitly belonged to the Student Union, what’s to stop Campus Dining Services from deciding to take control of the Cat in the Cream in order to turn it into a for-profit coffee shop?

My intention in writing this piece was not to be an alarmist; my goal was to show that the FSB April Fools prank was not as far removed from plausible reality as one might imagine. As of now, we can fortunately breathe a sigh of collective relief: as the FSB team made abundantly clear after receiving responses from Oberlin students, parents, and

national platforms like Audiotree alike, the announcement was just a prank. But let’s pretend that it wasn’t. Would we as students have had any recourse in such a situation? And even if we did, would we collectively try to stop such a tragedy from occuring?

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

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Hello Oberlin, The Grape recently published an article titled “Oberlin Student Saves Africa ” aimed to make fun of white saviors that spend Winter Term trying to liberate countries and the people within them.

I approached this article trying to push the author to exaggerate the whiteness of traveling to other countries for “service”, and failed to pay attention to some of the offensive details of the piece. Some of the language and details in this article were insensitive and not in good taste. The article included jokes about child soldiers and Kony, both of which the author was not in a position to write about.

As this was my first issue working with the Grape as the Bad Habits editor, I will try my best to make sure things like this do not happen again. I also hope that people feel comfortable coming to me when they feel Bad Habits, or any Grape content, is insensitive or disrespectful in any way.

Con amor, Juan Contreras Bad Habits Editor

Straight, Cis White Guy Super Excited for Drag Ball This Year cw: homophobia, transphobia, general douchebaggery

BY IAN FEATHER STAFF WRITER After telling everyone in his immediate vicinity that he was “so fucking stoked” for Drag Ball this year, second-year student Chad Smith (he/him) proceeded to ask his friends if any of them had a “molly plug”. ater that afternoon, I had a chance to sit down with Chad in order to more fully understand his excitement for Drag Ball. When I asked him to tell me specifically why he was so excited for the event, traditionally a celebration of queer identity, Smith replied that, for him, it’s just about the opportunity to “get really fucking trashed and dress like a chick.”

Expanding on this extremely nuanced perspective, Smith added that while he’s “definitely not gay,” him and his friend Brad made out at last year’s Drag Ball and they might do so again at this year’s event.

ART BY GABE SCHNEIER

oticing my raised eyebrows, Smith stated very definitively “seriously though, no homo,” and began sweating profusely.

Without my asking, he went on tell me

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about how, even though he watches gay porn from time to time, it’s “not what it sounds like.”

At this point, I decided it was time to change the direction of this interview. I asked Smith about which of the workshops or events he planned to attend in order to be able to purchase a ticket to Drag Ball.

After thinking about this for a few minutes, Smith responded with a “straight” face that he would try to attend something that doesn’t “make him feel guilty for having a lot of privilege”, adding that he’s “just a performative ally, you know?”

To the utter surprise of myself and the entire Grape staff, Smith reported that he is a Gender, Sexuality, and Feminist Studies major.

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

Get Out Me Swamp

A Dip in Cracker Lake: POC and their Hook-Ups with yt People”

BY ANONYMOUS

CONTRIBUTING WRITER

This started the way most great love stories start–a message sent at 11pm on the first day of the semester saying “anyways not to be too forward wanna shmang sometime?”

The second she replied with “maybe ; )” I should’ve been thrown off. Who even uses emoticons like that anymore in 018?

This discussion soon moved from Facebook messenger to iMessage, opening with a strong “hey so i think you’re really quite hot but also i’m worried fucking u will make me feel emotionally empty lol.” I sort of get it. ot everyone is super comfortable with hookup culture and random hookups. But to put that on someone you barely know is a lot. It made me wonder about my own fuckboyish behavior and how it was impacting other people. I tried to emphasize that I only wanted to hook up if she was comfortable with that. She texted me, “u just don’t have to worry bout me that’s the main point like i’m always gonna wanna hunk ur cute and i’m not gonna get too attached or anything so u can hit me ups soon and i’ll explain more and we alcan chill ;)” and for some reason I still decided to roll with this. Even with all my confusion and panic. After all, she called me hot, and I live for external,

superficial validation.

After a while of her trying to explain herself, we decided to just meet in person and talk about this. We sat in the stairwell in my dorm and immediately she started talking about her birthright trip to Israel and how it made her reevaluate her stance on things like hooking up and relationships. She told me about how she views herself as conservative–especially in the context of Oberlin–and that she didn’t feel super free to express those views on campus. But kept coming back to how she wasn’t into just meaningless sex. Which is cool. Do you But I didn’t hit her up for anything deeper than collecting my nut and moving on. Especially if that entails hearing about her “transformative” trip to Israel at 1am. I had an 8: am the next day. It was not the time for this. When she started going on about her scholarship that she doesn’t really need while I’m out here working jobs to barely pay my tuition, I wanted it to end.

But still, I stayed with her. It was like I hadn’t listened to the one thing my mother told me before going to college: no white women. I had a bad feeling about this. Part of me was glad she brought up her awful

(in my opinion) political views so I knew to stay away. But most of me just wanted her to leave so I could go to sleep and rant to my roommate about how wildly unnecessary white women are. When she asked to kiss me, I caved. I messaged her on a mission and I wanted to accomplish at least something. I went to bed thoroughly confused about the whole experience.

Maybe a week later, I messaged her again asking if she wanted to come by. A nice : 0am “u up?” --and she was. She came by and laid in my bed with me, but of course, she started talking. She kept saying that I was easy to idealize and project on because no one knew what was going on in my head. She said my Instagram me was very different from real me, but she

also felt like she didn’t know the real me.

She even said that she’d found me more attractive before she’d gotten to know me.

She even told me about her crush on one of my friends. Maybe if she let me get a word in, she could’ve learned a bit about me. But I’m glad she kept talking. Did I want her knowing more about me? o. Everytime she made a comment, she followed it up by saying that she felt like I misunderstood everything she said and that she “must confuse me.”

What followed was maybe the weirdest am makeout session before she left for home. It never went any further than that.

I decided a : 0am booty call was not worth this and that I need a break from white women.

The Signs as Oberlin Stores and Restaurants

BY ZOE JASPER

CONTRIBUTING WRITER Pisces: Ginko’s Gallery Studio Gemini: Subway Aries: Dave’s Cosmic Subs Capricorn: Watson Hardware Aquarius: Ratsy’s Virgo: The Oberlin Bookstore

Leo: The Feve Libra: Blue Rooster Sagittarius: Swerve Cancer: Bead Paradise Taurus: The ocal Scorpio: upita’s

- SECURITY NOTEBOOK BY CHARLIE REINHART-JONES CONTRIBUTING WRITER Tuesday, April 10th : am: Safety and Security responded to reports of hooligans attempting to roll the Bandstand out of Tappan, into a South practice room.

10:0 am: Safety and Security investigated an incident of Oberlin students attempting to dunk on all touring high school juniors that stand above ’0.

1: 0pm: Safety and Security investigated an unsubstantiated tip that Kim’s was going to begin charging for its rice bowls.

attempting to pry open the doors of Agave. Unsubstantiated reports indicate that students believed it was daylight savings time.

: pm: Six students were detained for attempting to swipe to pay for their goods at Decafe with a meal swipe before the meal period switched from lunch to dinner.

:00am: Safety and Security broke up a fight between the Honor Committee and everyone else.

Safety and Security claiming that drunk underage students had made it past its thorough vetting process.

Thursday, April 12th

Wednesday, April 11th : 0am: Safety and Security responded to reports of actively drunk students

1 : 0pm: Reports flooded into Safety and Security Headquarters that Wilder Bowl is being demolished to build a monster truck arena.

: 0am: Safety and Security investigated a supposed nude gathering on North uad.

11: am: Safety and Security records report sightings of one hundred actual Albino Squirrels, all in a circle drinking Iced ondon Fogs.

11:10pm: The Oberlin ’Sco contacted

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A Review of Oberlin’s Favorite Mirror Selfie Spots

BY ZOE JASPER CONTRIBUTING WRITER

The Azariah’s Microwave Obviously this spot gets props for not being a real mirror. It will definitely set you apart from the simple normies in your feed, but at what cost? Do you really want all the people you hate seeing at Azzies within eyeshot during such a personal process?

I wimped out after anxiously taking just two low quality pictures, but maybe you’re confident enough to stand your ground and achieve the perfect microwave selfie.

A good mirror selfie requires confidence, a carefully curated outfit (or lack thereof ), and experimentation with 80 or so poses before it’s ready to grace your social media. et’s be real though, your mirror selfie is doomed from the start without the right location. I wandered around campus taking selfies, in search of the spot to end all spots: here are my thoughts on four of the most popular.

Wilder First Floor Women’s Bathroom es, this spot is very hyped up, and I believe the hype is well-deserved. ou really can’t beat the 80’s relics that are the glass blocks or the checkered floor. ike the Mudd bathrooms, full length mirror in this bathroom provides limitless possibilities for poses. What really takes the cake for me, however, is the bench where you can sit or quirkily rest your leg. For all of these reasons, the Wilder First Floor Bathroom is my favorite mirror selfie spot on campus. Feel free to prove me wrong and discover an even better place

Peters Second-Floor Women’s Bathroom This bathroom boasts a number of perks. Most important, its natural lighting distinguishes it from the other three spots I tried out. That being said, the quality of your selfie is contingent upon the weather and time of day. The circular mirror also adds to this spot’s charm, but does somewhat limit your posing options. Finally, the plant on the window sill is a nice touch that screams, “I wish I owned a succulent.”

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BINGO BY: JUAN CONTRERAS, IAN FEATHER, KYNDELLE JOHNSON

ART BY: JOSÉ MANUEL