November 20, 1016

The Oberlin Review

NOVEMBER 20, 2015 VOLUME 144, NUMBER 10

Local News Bulletin News briefs from the past week Group Holds Human Trafficking Awareness Fundraiser Project Unbound, a student group that raises awareness of the threat of human trafficking, will hold a Voices Against Human Trafficking fundraiser tonight at 8 p.m. at the Cat in the Cream. The event will include performances, trivia, music and speeches by student activists.

The money collected from this event will be donated to the Human Trafficking Collaborative of Lorain County to support and provide aid in its fight against trafficking in the Lorain County area. According to College sophomore and Project Unbound member Sarah Blum, Toledo, Ohio — less than a hundred miles from Oberlin — has the highest per capita rate of human trafficking in the country.

Students Petition A-House Dining Students in the Afrikan Heritage House are circulating a petition calling for higher quality food and more options at the residence hall’s cafeteria. The students also questioned Bon Appétit’s labor practices and asked that the dining hall utilize the skills of the chefs instead of relying on Bon Appétit recipes. “It is obvious from the food that’s been served over the past two years that there are no Black recipes in Bon Appetit’s approved list of meals, ” the petition states.

Group Covers Trail Costs Oberlin City Council received $5,000 in donations from the Silver Wheels Cycling Club to improve the city’s section of the North Coast Inland Trail. The sizable donation, the largest sum of money the group has ever given, is intended to improve parts of the bike trail where the pavement is decaying and tree roots are posing a threat to cyclists.

ESTABLISHED 1874 oberlinreview.org

ONLINE & IN PRINT

Students Ticketed by State Police at ’Sco Louis Krauss Staff Writer College sophomore Alizah Simon unsuspectingly encountered undercover state police officers outside the ’Sco on Friday night. For carrying a Pabst Blue Ribbon beer, Simon was confronted and ticketed by the two officers for underage drinking.

“I was with my friends, but I was the only one carrying beer,” Simon said. “Two big burly guys in snapback hats were standing along the ramp smoking cigarettes and said, ‘We’re state police, do you have your ID?’” After finding that Simon was 19, the officers flashed their badges and led her up Woodland Street to an unmarked police car, where they issued a ticket and took a sample of her beer as evidence. Simon was one of three students ticketed for underage drinking.

Simon’s friends were initially confused and asked the men to prove they were officers.

“They showed us their gun and handcuffs to prove it, and it was just this long process of going over the implications of being caught underage,” Simon said.

While the punishment for underage drinking can be as severe as six months in prison and a $1,000 fine, first-time offenders are much more likely to receive community service or online classes as punishment.

The officers were from the Ohio

Investigative Unit, a group of exclusively undercover state police officers managed by Agent in Charge Greg Croft. The unit’s operations are based in Cleveland and cover much of the Northeast Ohio area.

“Basically it was a random thing,” Croft said. “My guys were driving through town and noticed youthful people carrying alcohol on the sidewalks. To be honest, we didn’t know there was a bar in there. They did a walkthrough in the bar, didn’t notice any underage drinkers in the bar, but did ticket three students outside.”

While Croft and Dean of Students Eric Estes both stated that no one notified the College prior to the incident, Safety and Security Assistant Director Clif Barnes said they interacted with the state police officers “very briefly.”

According to Barnes, this incident marks the first time in years that undercover police have visited Oberlin.

Since Oberlin is traditionally a laidback campus that generally doesn’t punish or investigate students for underage drinking, Simon said she was very surprised by the incident.

“It felt really arbitrary. It’s a college campus, obviously kids are going to be drinking underage,” Simon said.

“If you’re state police, don’t you have something better to do? The ’Sco always felt like a safe place to be casually drinking, so I’ve been a little on edge all week.”

According to Croft, his team

College senior Shea Renusch drinks a beer outside the ’Sco Thursday. Police ticketed three students for underage drinking last Friday. Benjamin Shepherd, Photo editor

spends much more time investigating areas around Cleveland for illegal drug usage along with underage drinking. He said it was just coincidence they were there.

“Going to Oberlin College is not a priority for me,” Croft said. “I don’t see a crazy underage consumption issue, but that doesn’t mean we won’t be back next month. It’s all either complaint driven or, in this case, random investigation driven.”

Some students, like College senior and Student Senate Liaison Megs Bautista, said that Safety and Security should have done more to prevent the police from investigating students.

“If [the College is] looking to be proactive in student safety, they

Community Funds Scholarship for Undocumented Students Leila Miller After sustained student activism, the College is beginning to develop resources for undocumented students, who often face financial and emotional strain and require more institutional support than those who are documented.

Sophomore Zury Gutierrez-Avila, co-chair of Obies for Undocumented Inclusion, said that the school currently lacks the community support and education for undocumented students to feel comfortable on campus.

“A lot of people see immigration and undocumented issues as hypothetical,” she said. “It’s a very untalked-about issue. There isn’t really a place where undocumented students can go.”

This may be starting to change.

In September, Oberlin announced a partnership with Golden Door Scholars, a nonprofit that provides

financial aid to undocumented undergraduate students with Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals status, a policy that exempts undocumented immigrants who arrived in the United States before age 16 from deportation.

A faculty-sponsored Winter Term this year will focus on researching the resources available for undocumented students at other liberal arts colleges and possible policies for Oberlin.

A crowdfunding campaign organized by students and the Office of Development to fund a scholarship for undocumented students is around $8,000 away from the $50,000 it needs to be endowed. Endowed funds exist in perpetuity.

Responding to rising student activism over the last few years, Julio Reyes, the Latinx community coordinator at the Multicultural Resource Center, has pushed for administrative support for undocumented students.

“They are worried about the constant fear of being detained and

asked for identification,” Reyes said.

“Being at Oberlin offers some kind of safety net, but [the fear] is still there.

Navigating the challenges of college if you’re thinking of your parents being deported adds an extra layer of tension.”

In addition to bringing speakers to campus, Reyes helped facilitate a meeting in October for faculty and staff from the divisions of student life to discuss ways to offer support. According to Reyes, clear access to resources prevents students from having to drop hints about their status in order to receive help.

“It invites people to find different allies, even if they don’t want to disclose their identity or status,” he said.

Undocumented students, regardless of their DACA status, are not eligible for federal financial aid and in many states, including Ohio, may not pay in-state tuition at public universities. Last year, Oberlin changed its admissions policy to consider un-

See page 2

documented students as domestic, rather than international, applicants.

However, in an article by Oberlin Communications staff, administrators held that, in practice, they already had been treating undocumented applicants as domestic students.

According to Vice President and Dean of Admissions and Financial Aid Debra Chermonte, Oberlin, in partnership with Golden Door Scholars, may offer up to two scholarships a year to undocumented students with DACA status, starting with this year’s applicants. Once students are admitted to Golden Door Scholars program, they can apply to one of its partner schools. GDS will provide two scholarships of $7,500 each per year, and Oberlin plans to fully meet demonstrated financial need.

“One of the outcomes as a partner with GDS is to establish a small cohort of undocumented students over See Undocumented, page 4

on the

Smoking Hot The College assessed tobacco ban implementation strategies for this summer.

should’ve stepped up and had S&S officers intervene before the officers showed up, because now they’re wrapped up in all this legal bullshit,” Bautista said. “I find these manipulative and coercive tactics extremely unsettling and deplorable, and my heart goes out to the students affected by such an abuse of power and an abuse of the law.”

Estes noted that incidents like this rarely occur at Oberlin.

“I think the good work of the student and professional staff in the ’Sco hopefully means that any outside law enforcement presence is extremely rare because it only confirms that we are doing things the right way,” Estes said. “Shirley runs a tight ship.”

Shutout The Yeomen moved to 2–0 for their first games of the season.

Britten Brought to Life Oberlin Opera Theater grappled with difficult material in The Rape of Lucretia.

See page 10

INDEX:

Opinions 5

This Week in Oberlin 8

See page 16

Arts 10

Sports 16

WEB

All of the content you see here is also available on our website. Check back for the latest stories and interactive polls.

Visit oberlinreview.org and facebook. com/oberlinreview and follow us on Twitter @oberlinreview and Instagram @ocreview.

News

Page 2

The Oberlin Review, November 20, 2015

Tobacco Ban Enforcement Remains Unclear Jake Berstein As the College inches closer to July 1, 2016, the day the tobacco ban goes into effect, it remains unclear how the ban will play out in practice.

“Exactly how the ban will be enforced is extremely vague,” said Jordan Ecker, College junior and Implementation Committee member. “No one has any concrete idea of how to enforce the ban. Safety and Security have more important things to do and ResEd doesn’t want RAs policing their residents’ behavior.”

According to Ecker, the committee also has yet to determine how they will codify the tobacco ban into the judicial system.

The tobacco ban will affect all property and vehicles owned by the College but will leave Tappan Square as a designated smoking area for two years. The ban will include cigarettes, e-cigarettes, chewing tobacco and any other smokable and non-smokable forms of tobacco. According to Ecker, the College also plans to remove all of the ashtray stands from campus.

The Office of Wellness and the Tobacco-Free Implementation committee cosponsored an informational session on smoking cessation resources on Thursday. Only the Review was in attendance.

At the meeting, the Implementa-

tion Committee emphasized that for this ban to work, the community needs to take ownership. The committee wants the ban to be educational, not punitive. Student Health is offering free counseling, short-term psychiatric treatment and a free quitting starter kit for students. Student Health will also help students come up with a plan to quit.

But if Thursday’s non-meeting is any indication, not every student may be interested in quitting. So far, only four or five students have approached Student Health for help quitting smoking.

The policy was suggested by a committee in 2010 in response to a national trend on college campuses to go tobacco-free. In the spring of 2014, Student Senate voted for the policy, and in the fall it was approved by a general faculty vote. President Krislov then appointed an implementation committee to begin assessing the campus’ readiness to go tobacco-free.

The Committee’s survey found that 16 percent of students already smoke cigarettes coming into their first year.

The percentage of smokers goes up to roughly 20 percent after a few years of being at Oberlin, potentially demonstrating a culture of tobacco use on campus.

The health risks caused by smoking and inhaling second-hand smoke

College sophomore Carlos Armstrong smokes a cigarette in Tappan Square. The public park will become a designated smoking area for students after the College implements the tobacco-free policy on July 1, 2016.

Bryan Rubin, Photo editor

are ample justification for the tobacco ban for some students.

“Basically, I just don’t want to walk through second-hand smoke, and I don’t like the smell,” said College senior Alex Katz, who has repeatedly seen the current 30-foot rule violated. “30 feet seems like an arbitrary number. The problem with smoking is that it doesn’t just stay in

the area, it travels in the air.”

Although he supports the new policy, he added that he doubts that people are going to abide by the rules.

The tobacco ban decision was not unanimous and is being met with opposition from some members of the community. One group that does not endorse the policy is the current Student Senate, in sharp

contrast to the Senate that voted for the measure in 2014.

According to Senate member and College sophomore Joshua Koller, roughly 13 of the 15 Student Senators voted against the ban in the general faculty vote.

Current Student Senators Cyrus See Student, page 4

Council Delays REC Discussion Until Late December Oliver Bok and Tyler Sloan News Editors Oberlin’s City Council decided to table the issue of how to allocate $800,000 in Renewable Energy Credits until late December following weeks of tense debate. At Council’s weekly meeting on Monday, City Council President Scott Broadwell suggested that the group reconvene on the issue during a work session on Dec. 21.

Council members are debating three options for how to spend the RECs. The first option would return 85 percent of the sales to the Sustainable Reserve Fund and 15 percent to ratepayers. Conversely, Council could decide to give 85 percent of the sales to ratepayers and the remainder to the Sustainable Reserve Fund. The third option puts the onus on ratepayers to decide whether to give the money to the fund or keep it.

Households will likely receive $850 in the form of $7-per-month payouts if 85 percent of the funds are returned to them. If Council instead decides to reinvest in the Sustainable Reserve Fund, the money could be used to weatherize homes and make them more energyefficient — an improvement that some believe will save ratepayers the most money in the long term.

The Sustainable Reserve Fund provides grants and leverages other funding sources for community-based, utility-related, environmentally friendly initiatives that use or promote

green energy in some capacity. In the past, grants from the Fund have been used to insulate low-income homes, perform a local wind study, assist in developing a local biodiesel fuel station and support other green energy and energy efficiency programs.

Representatives from the Public Utility Commission — a five-person City Council advisory body that addresses concerns about public and private maintenance, operation and improvement of the public utilities — have voiced support for returning 85 percent of the sales to the Sustainable Reserve Fund In a letter to the editor, PUC representative and Oberlin resident Tony Mealy cautioned against moving 85 percent of the REC sales to the Sustainable Reserve Fund (“RECs Best Used

by Returning Utility to Customers,” The Oberlin Review, Oct. 30).

“There will be approximately $2.5 million in proceeds to the electric utility by the end of 2016,” Mealy wrote. “There will also be over $310,000 in the underutilized Sustainable Reserve Fund, which will continue to add $20,000 each year from Oberlin College. Based on these figures and the recommendation of the OMLPS director, the Public Utility Commission chairman and this member, 85 percent or $2.125 million should be returned to the electric utility customers.”

Still, many residents are hesitant about pursuing this option because it would allocate 25 percent of the REC money, or $530,000, to the College. The potential rebate to the College is a

The Oberlin Review — Established 1874 —

Volume 144, 140, Number 10 2

(ISSN 297–256)

November 20, 2015

Published by the students of Oberlin College every Friday during the fall and spring semesters, except holidays and examination periods.

Advertising rates: $18 per column inch. Second-class postage paid at Oberlin, Ohio.

Entered as second-class matter at the Oberlin, Ohio post office April 2, 1911.

POSTMASTER SEND CHANGES TO: Wilder Box 90, Oberlin, Ohio 44074-1081.

Office of Publication: Burton Basement, Oberlin, Ohio 44074.

Phone: (440) 775-8123 Fax: (440) 775-6733 On theOn web: thehttp://www.oberlinreview.org web: oberlinreview.org

sensitive issue for some community members because of the existing tension between the two entities. The College’s nonprofit status exempts it from paying property taxes despite it owning vast amounts of land in town.

How the Council will ultimately fall on the issue largely depends on its interpretation of Ordinance No. 07-39 AC CMS. The legislation potentially mandates that REC sales go back to the Sustainable Reserve Fund.

“My reading of that ordinance indicates that all proceeds from REC sales be deposited in the Sustainable Reserve Fund,” said Bryan Burgess, City Council member. He added that if the sales do not go to the Sustainable Reserve Fund, the decision should be made by ordinance, not by motion.

This term’s incumbents might not make a decision until next term’s Council takes hold.

While the conversation has been delayed until late December, some council members said that meeting could prove irrelevant if newly elected members disagree with the decision.

“We may wait until the first of [2016] before we actually act on the RECs,” said Ronnie Rimbert, City Council member. “Why are we going to have a work session if we’re not going to have the new Council people involved in that work session? That seems a little odd to me, because they’re going to have be involved at some point.”

Broadwell said that the suggestion to hold a working session in December was intended to give the Council more time to discuss the issue.

Julian Liv Combe Ring Madeline Allegra Kirkland Stocker Managing editor Samantha Vida Weisblum Link News editors Rosemary Oliver Boeglin Bok Alex Tyler Howard Sloan Opinions editor Will Kiley Rubenstein Petersen This Week Weekeditor editor Zoë Hannah Strassman Berk Arts editors Louise Kara Edwards Brooks Georgia Danny Evans Horn Sports editors Sarena Quinn Malsin Hull Madeleine Randy O’Meara Ollie Layout manager editors Talia Tiffany Rodwin Fung Layout editors Abby Ben Garfinkel Carlstad Alanna Alexa Sandoval Corey Photo editors NathalieOlivia Hawthorne Gericke Photo editors Brannon Rockwell-Charland Bryan Rubin Online editor Alanna Ben Shepherd Bennett Editors-in-chief Editors-in-Chief

Maureen CurtisCoffey Cook Savi Sedlacek Caley Watnick Reshard el-Shair Cyrus Eosphoros Sophia Bamert Hazel Galloway Stephanie Bonner Victoria Albacete Emma Eisenberg Ryanne TaylorBerry Field KiraHamilton Findling Katherine Annelise Julia Giseburt Hubay Tracey Knott Auden Granger Noah Morris Jennifer Jimenez Anna Peckham Sami Mericle Silvia Sheffield JuliaDrew Peterson Wise AnneJoe Buckwalter Camper Natalie Rathgeber Joseph Dilworth James Ben Steger Kuntz

Business manager Business manager Ads manager Ads manager Online editor Production Production manager manager Production staff Production staff

Distributors Distributors

The proposal to meet next month was passed in a 6 to 1 decision, with Council member Kristin Peterson dissenting. Peterson did not run for reelection this term.

“I don’t know what we’re going to do, but this Council can vote, and if the new Council comes in and they don’t agree, there may be another vote,” Peterson said.

Broadwell added that he did not have a firm stance on when Council should make its final decision.

“I’m not advocating for us to deal with it on the 21st, I’m not advocating for us to deal with it in 2016,” Broadwell said. “I’m just saying we have some options here.”

Some Council members cautioned that residents’ utility bills will increase next year, and that the hike should be taken into consideration when making a decision about RECs. Outgoing City Manager Eric Norenberg said that the average resident cost increase is projected to be 13.7 percent from 2015 to 2016, and that the average retail electric grid — all customer classifications — is expected to be 15.5 percent.

Rimbert added that this information is vital when it comes to public consideration of how to handle the REC money.

“I think what’s important with this whole conversation is the fact that it’s out on the table that we’re going to see a 20 percent rate hike,” Rimbert said. “Before, the public didn’t know that — now it’s out there.”

Corrections

Corrections: The Review is not aware of any corrections week.

The Review is not awarethis of any corrections at this time. To submit a correction, email The Review strives to print all managingeditor@oberlinreview.org. information as accurately as possible.

If you feel the Review has made an error, please send an e-mail to managingeditor@oberlinreview.org.

News

The Oberlin Review, November 20, 2015

Page 3

Off the Cuff: Tamika Nunley, Assistant Professor of History Tamika Nunley is an assistant professor of History who specializes in the Civil War era, specifically surrounding issues of race, gender and slavery. Nunley joined the faculty this fall after receiving her Ph.D. from the University of Virginia earlier this year. She currently teaches a firstyear seminar called Women Behaving Badly, which explores the reasons and results of women who transgressed societal norms in the 1800s.

Nunley delivered a talk titled “Historicizing the Criminalization of Black Women,” where she presented her research as part of Kuumba Week at Afrikan Heritage House on Tuesday night. She shared her findings on the lives of two enslaved women, Agnes and Katie, in Virginia during the 19th century.

Editor’s Note: This interview discusses sexual assault.

You talked about the impediments to publishing your research in predominately white history journals. What have been the biggest challenges for you both in your actual research and publishing it?

The history profession is a relatively conservative profession if you look at it in relation to other disciplines like American studies, Africana studies, even English literature.

So publishing can be difficult for people who study enslaved people, because there are oftentimes just shards of evidence. There aren’t these well thought-out archives, these sort of intentional archives with these letters and diaries that spell out this particular narrative.

And that’s not to say that those diaries and letters tell the whole truth, but you have a lot more to work with than snippets of information about a particular slave or that sort of thing.

So I find myself often [reading] court records and official documents where documentation is necessary, and it’s in those records that I am able to look into stories.

Then I will go to the news and see if the news is speaking to what’s happening legally, and then I’ll look at personal accounts to see if they had anything to say about what was happening. So it’s sort of like an investigative-reporter-type journey through a lot of different aspects of the archive. I think the issue that I run into is methodologically, do I have enough sources to make the kinds of claims that I want to make? And then, second, people will often question: Is this research objective?

Friday, Nov. 13 2:09 a.m. Safety and Security officers and members of the Oberlin Fire Department responded to a fire alarm at Warner Center. The detector sounded because it was dirty and an electrician replaced it.

8:22 a.m. Safety and Security officers responded to assist an injured student who fell off their bike at Philips gym. The student was transported to Mercy Allen Hospital for treatment.

5:55 p.m. Safety and Security officers responded to a motor vehicle-

There’s this idea that you can somehow be historically objective, which is very interesting because there’s nothing about the archive that is objective. Just because you have this really well thought-out letter or diary does not make it objective. It’s coming from a very particular place — it’s coming from a place that’s informed by the context of the 19th century and the ideas that prevailed during that time. I am less interested in this idea of objectivity and more interested in learning, what do my sources tell me and why don’t we engage in these particular concepts? Why are we unwilling to admit that there were many planters who could violently kill their slaves either on or off the plantation and [have] it be okay?

But when you think about the real experiences of these human beings, there are very real implications for all the punishments that were used to control and to discipline insubordination. So for me, I want to be able to communicate what my sources have to say in journals that are talking about histories that are highly regarded in the historical profession, and that is not always welcomed. We often have to overcompensate, so people who study enslaved women often have to have more than enough sources to be able to make any claim that may assert that they resisted or that the legal system worked against them. In order to make those kinds of claims, there’s an overcompensation that we do as historians in order to make it believable.

I was thinking a lot about having to approach history with a very objective perspective and how that’s the whole idea with journalism, too. But you talked about how The Baltimore Sun and The Alexandria Gazette covered the stories of Agnes and Katie and how they played into the dominant narrative of the time. I was wondering how you feel like the media plays into this narrative still and perpetuates the persecution of Black and Brown bodies, especially women?

Absolutely. I first encountered Agnes’ story through a project that I was working on. I used to work with the Historic Preservation Society, and I was helping to make decisions about how to curate this exhibit, which was for the jail in which she was held. How do we tell this story that’s so violent? People with their children are coming in to view the exhibit. And so I started looking at the news accounts of Agnes. And if I only looked at the newspapers, the only thing that I would take

bicycle accident on South Professor Street. The bicyclist was transported by ambulance to Mercy Allen Hospital for treatment.

Saturday, Nov. 14 12:56 a.m. Safety and Security officers responded to help a student ill from alcohol consumption at Fairchild House. Officers escorted the student to their room.

10:40 a.m. Staff reported a suspicious black vehicle parked in the loading zone near South Hall. Safety and Security officers responded and checked the area, but the vehicle was not located.

11:23 p.m. Safety and Security officers and members of the Oberlin

Tamika Nunley, assistant professor of History

away was that Agnes was malicious, that Agnes was spectacularly violent and that it was very disturbing to the community that she killed her master.

But when I look at the legal record, and then we begin to understand who Gerard Mason was, then we begin to get the full story of what happened to Agnes. Agnes was dealing with a very violent and volatile man who [had] sexually abused her on a regular basis since she was a little girl. This idea that we can sort of just rely on one source is really complicated because the news was interested in a particular narrative. They weren’t interested in finding out the answers. That was an omission, a stark omission, of who Gerard Mason was. So Gerard Mason ends up being victimized in the news, and then Agnes is villianized in the news, and we don’t even see Katie in the news. Katie’s story doesn’t even appear, doesn’t even warrant an editorial treatment.

And so in that way, I think that the news, the press is very comfortable with a particular kind of narrative about enslaved people.

They don’t have the commitment that we [historians] have trying to learn about enslaved women. We’re like, “Well, what else is there? What happened? What does the legal record show us?” Whereas the news was okay with saying that Agnes was particularly malicious, and it serves a purpose in the South because it reinforces this idea that this is why they’re enslaved, because they’re particularly debased and inferior and need to be controlled in this particular way.

Police Department responded to a report of an argument at the Oberlin Inn. Upon arrival, Safety and Security officers were informed that the individuals involved had left the area.

Sunday, Nov. 15 12:20 a.m. Safety and Security officers responded to assist an intoxicated student in the basement restroom of Wilder Hall. The student was transported to Mercy Allen Hospital for treatment at their request.

Monday, Nov. 16 10:35 a.m. Safety and Security officers responded to a report of students who allegedly had con-

At your talk on Tuesday night, an audience member spoke about how her education on slavery wasn’t shocking in the way that it needed to be. You’ve also spoken about changing the narrative around slavery, and I was wondering if you could share a little more about how you try to change it.

One thing that I try to do is to capture the human experience of enslavement, and what I mean by that is that I see them as humans despite the fact that the legal system sees them as chattel. I try to make those distinctions clear in the writing because often times the treatment of slavery becomes about the plantation economy and the political discourses around slavery. And those are all very important bodies of scholarship that help us understand the 19th century, but what I also really value is the work of scholars who are trying to understand what it was like to be a slave. And when we begin to answer those questions, we really begin to understand the violence that was employed to maintain the institution of slavery, that there were specific mechanisms of violence. Violence in terms of ... bloody beatings to rape but also the idea of force and being forced to do anything that the master wanted you to do.

Whether it was “Go fetch a glass of milk for me” or going to pick some cotton or “Have a baby with this person so we can have more slaves,” the force manifested in these multilayered ways. And when we begin to understand that, we begin to really understand the violent underpinnings of slavery and what it took to contain and inspire obedience and submission among hundreds of slaves to a small, white nuclear family. You cannot begin to answer those questions without encountering the details, the shocking details, of what slavery was about. But if we tell the story of slavery as we do in our history books in high school ... with a very simplistic narrative that feels legible and manageable, then somehow it’s okay. We have this very sanitized version of slavery, but if you begin to look into the life of one enslaved person at a time, then you begin to see the multilayered degrees of violence that they experienced. And that’s a very different picture of slavery than what we’re normally used to.

traband in the patio area outside of Burton Hall. Officers confiscated a grinder that contained a substance consistent with marijuana. The item was turned in to the Oberlin Police Department.

Tuesday, Nov. 17 11:00 a.m. A student reported that money was stolen from their wallet while teaching a class in the rock climbing area of Philips gym. The total amount of cash taken was approximately $250.

11:15 a.m. A student reported the theft of their bicycle from the north side of Dascomb Hall.

The bicycle is a green nine-speed

Interview by Tyler Sloan, News editor Photo courtesy of Tamika Nunley The full text of this interview is available at oberlinreview.org

valued at approximately $400.

5:12 p.m. Facilities staff reported vandalism of the wooden fence in the Woodland Street parking lot. There were several broken panels on the south end of the parking lot. A work order was filed for repair.

Wednesday, Nov. 18 12:20 a.m. A student reported leaving a practice room in Robertson Hall for approximately 10 minutes. When they returned to the room, there was a strong odor of an unknown substance. Nothing went missing, and no one was observed in the area.

News

Page 4

The Oberlin Review, November 20, 2015

Community Calls for More Details in Strategic Plan Oliver Bok News Editor Almost all the students at the listening session on Monday had the same overarching question in reaction to the Strategic Plan draft: Where are the specifics?

“This whole document doesn’t say anything; It’s all fluff and clouds,” said Donnay Edmund, College senior. “I didn’t get one concrete thing out of this whole document.”

The Strategic Plan will guide the Board of Trustees’ decision making for the next five to 10 years. The process began at the start of the 201314 school year, and the Strategic Planning Steering Committee — a group of trustees, alumni, students, administrators, faculty and staff — plans to submit a final draft in March.

To College senior Andy Thompson, the plan suffers from a lack of concrete goals and a specific timeline for achieving them.

“If it was like: This is what it’s going to look like by this time, I would be much more willing to believe that any of this isn’t a huge waste of time, because at that point we have something we can hold the school accountable to,” Thompson said.

“But as long as it has these weak-sauce-ass goals, there’s no way to tell the institution it succeeded or failed. The institution can always say it’s ‘working on it.’”

The draft of the plan discusses “increasing diversity on campus” but offers no specific benchmarks in terms of faculty or student diversity, a fact that left many students wanting.

“The language regarding Oberlin’s goals for diversity is very vague,” said Joshua Koller, Student Senator and College sophomore. “I understand that the plan is just supposed to lay things out in a broad way, but leaving it so vague then allows these things to be just kind of forked out to faculty committees where student representation is even worse than it is on the Steering Committee and not really have student views represented.”

In an email to the Review, Professor of Politics

and Steering Committee member Chris Howell wrote that faculty had also raised concerns about the lack of specifics in the plan, especially on diversity.

“My sense of the reaction of those faculty who spoke at the [General Faculty] meeting last week is that several of them found the Strategic Plan vague and lacking in concrete proposals in a number of areas, particularly with regard to its treatment of diversity,” Howell wrote, noting that he was reporting what other faculty members said in the meeting, not his own commentary.

For Edmund, the College should improve diversity by lowering tuition and drawing from underprivileged populations close to home.

“We want 2 percent to 5 percent increase in people of color each year for the next 15 years, and those should come from Lorain, Cleveland, Ohio — Oberlin first,” Edmund said. “And we can’t really do that without having a tuition freeze. … There’s more Black people in Grafton [Correctional Institute] than Oberlin, and that’s never okay.”

While the draft includes language about “slowing the rate of increase in student charges,” many students wanted more specifics about what that would mean. College junior Jeeva Muhil pointed out that the draft does not address living costs, a major financial accessibility issue for many students.

“There’s mention of trying to be more financially accessible in terms of scholarships and tuition, but there’s nothing about living costs, which is a major, major problem for a lot of people who go here. You can get full financial aid in terms of tuition and still have loads of difficult living costs.”

Students also decried the lack of support for students — particularly underrepresented students — and took issue with the Plan’s list of “offices that connect student communities.”

“I have never felt supported by any of these offices, and I don’t think they do much to increase diversity,” said Lisa MacDonald, College senior.

Many students also argued for greater emphasis on the College’s impact on the broader community. College sophomore Aaron Henry said that while the plan mentions integrating students more deeply with the community, it lacks specifics.

“It doesn’t say exactly what’s going to happen,” Henry said. “I want students to have mandatory training to know what area they’re getting into because, if we’re here, we’re four-year temporary citizens of this space, so we need to know what space we’re going into and how we’re affecting it.”

Since the College is a nonprofit and therefore doesn’t pay property taxes, several students said that the institution should make a Payment-inLieu-of-Taxes agreement with the city to compensate the city government on a regular basis for the lack of revenue the College provides. To students such as College senior Lila Bhide, the College’s continued expansion in Oberlin makes this issue very pressing.

Students and faculty members discuss the most recent draft of the Board of Trustees’ Strategic Plan at a listening session on Monday. Students expressed concern over the Strategic Plan’s language, which they called ambiguous and unpromising.

Kellianne Doyle

Undocumented Students Met with Limited Support Continued from page 1 the next several years,” she wrote in an email to the Review, adding that in order to maintain the scholarship, recipients must maintain a 3.0 grade point average, participate in GDS’ mentorship program and attend a career development summit during the summer.

Kacey Grantham, the executive director of Golden Door Scholars, said the South Carolina-based organization aims to promote economic mobility for its scholars.

“We like to partner with the career center of our partners’ schools and try to figure out how to help them find the right job and internship opportunity that will get them to where they want to go after graduation,” she said.

According to Chermonte, all undocumented students can still apply to receive financial aid from Oberlin, but students with DACA status will have priority.

Undocumented students at schools with larger undocumented communities may experience a different atmosphere than that in Oberlin. Northeastern Illinois University has grown to provide more resources for its undocumented students, including a staff member who heads their Undocumented Students Project, ally trainings for students, faculty and staff and “coming out” events where students can publicly reveal their undocumented status.

Several undocumented students from NIU visited Oberlin last year.

Heriberto Bustos, a former president for NIU’s student group for undocumented students, graduated in the spring. He focused on creating a safe space for students to talk about their identity.

“I felt at times that if I didn’t have enough power to change certain policies or resources to pay for tuition, I’d still be there and listen to their stories,” he said.

Busto said the staff members available to undocumented students on campus at NIU are invaluable. “We face a lot of emotional and psychological distress being undocumented — not only for ourselves but for our family,” he said.

Bustos said that during his visit to Oberlin, talking about one’s undocumented status “felt like it was a taboo.” While meeting with Oberlin students, one student admitted to Bustos that she was also undocumented and very scared. “‘Who should I tell? Who should I go to about my situation?’” he recalls her asking. “I told her to keep on going [to Oberlin] even though there aren’t enough resources there.”

He decided to “come out” after realizing the emotional burden

“I know up until this point Oberlin will do these random acts — they built the new fire station and kind of cover Mercy [Allen Hospital] and a lot of stuff like that — and as much as that makes the College look good, it’s really hard if you’re planning a budget and you have no idea if the College is going to decide to be generous that year,” Bhide said.

MacDonald also pointed out that the draft doesn’t mention the College’s non-administrative staff, such as custodial or dining staff.

“We’ve talked about how the College doesn’t value working-class students. It also doesn’t value the working class that actually works here, and I think that teaches a lot of students to not value those people once they leave our doors.”

President Krislov told the Review in October that the committee will revise the draft based on community feedback and release at least one more draft of the Plan before finalizing it in March.

of hiding his status. Friends would invite him to travel abroad, and he would not be able to tell them why he could not go.

“It’s something that I am — why should I have to keep that to myself?” he said. “I just didn’t want this to affect me more than it already was, so I just started talking about it and being more free.”

Brenda Bedolla, a senior at NIU, first publicly revealed her status at a training session for allies of undocumented students.

“I think for many years I was very afraid to disclose my status, and I felt that was because I didn’t feel safe, and if I disclosed my identity, people wouldn’t be able to help me,” she said. “I also realized at that moment that for all these years I was kind of reaping the benefits of the work other activists were doing, and I felt it’s my turn.”

Student activism has driven Oberlin’s support for undocumented students. In October 2013, a coalition of students interrupted a Board of Trustees meeting to present a letter of demands, including a scholarship program for undocumented students. The program received a positive response, and students set up a crowdfunding platform for the scholarship with the Office of Development.

“It was being very persistent and taking direct action,” said Ana Robelo, OC ’15, who led the crowdfunding initiative. “Sometimes [we got] backlash for that, but that’s what has moved us the few steps forward that we have.”

Robelo attended Oberlin’s study away Border Studies Program and attributes her passion for this issue to being a Hispanic immigrant herself and growing up near a large Mexican-American community in Orange County, but she says anyone can become educated.

“If you don’t know people who come from immigrant backgrounds, question why that is; examine what you are exposing yourself to,” she said.

Many NIU and Oberlin students agree that creating a community of support is a work in progress and difficult in a school with few undocumented students.

“Like any other social justice [cause], you’re going to get pushback from people because it’s different, they’re not used to it, and they probably have all these negative misconceptions,” Bedolla said. “But by educating people, you can really make a difference.

If the institution were to demonstrate their support, I think they would attract more undocumented students. You want to go to a place where you know you are going to be treated well, with dignity and respect.”

Student Senators Decry Smoking Ban Continued from page 2 Eosphoros, Kirsten Mojziszek, Daniel Marcelle, Megs Bautista, Jesse Doctor, Anjali Kolachalam and Jack Benson have publicly come forward in opposition to the ban. To them, the ban is an invasion of privacy and autonomy for the student body.

“That’s not something that we think is specific to the tobacco ban,” Koller said. “We are just not in favor of any policy that encroaches upon the autonomy and privacy of any student at the College.”

Koller’s view is common among the student body.

“I think it’s kind of insulting that they think my smoking is going to be solved by counseling,” said Ryanne Berry, College sophomore and Review copy editor.

“Cigarettes are legal and it’s a choice for my body, but I understand also that I am technically affecting other people with my choice for my body.”

College sophomore Charlotte Taylor also questioned the wisdom of the ban. “I feel like a lot of people use cigarettes to do their work,” Taylor said. “I also just wonder what they mean by safe. Obviously smoking is bad for you, but I don’t think they really care about my physical health.”

Many members of the community are concerned that this policy is going to hurt the already weak relationship between the town and the College.

“I don’t go to the College, but I do enjoy the College’s resources, and if [the ban] in any way impedes that, it’s going to make it harder to feel welcome in a lot of ways,” said Jessica Bott, an Oberlin resident and employee at Agave Burrito Bar & Tequilaria who spoke to the Review on her smoking break. Her main concern was with the potential for unequal enforcement of the policy. “I feel like they are going to give a slap on the wrist if you are a College student, … but are we going to get a fine? Are they going to call the cops on us because we are technically trespassing?”

November 20, 2015

Opinions The Oberlin Review

Letters to the Editors

Staff, Faculty of Color Stand with Campus Protesters

An open letter from staff and faculty of color at Oberlin College and Conservatory: To the students at Missouri State, Yale, Ithaca, Claremont McKenna and elsewhere: As you have raised your voices against racism to demand better, we have been overcome by heartbreak and inspiration. It is heartbreaking that in 2015 Black and other students of color still encounter racial insensitivity, invalidation, intimidation and even violence on the campuses that promised to be enlightened and welcoming places of learning for them. Yet it has been inspiring and humbling to witness your courage and unity in confronting not just your campus cultures but also your most powerful officers to demand accountability for all students. It is outrageous that it took putting yourselves and your bodies on the line to compel the changes that we’re now seeing. We extend our respect and solidarity, as you are not just working to improve conditions on your campuses, but to create a better world.

To our Black and other students of color at Oberlin: These events have resonated profoundly for us, as surely they have for you. For many of us, supporting, advocating for and counseling students struggling to find their place in what can be a wearisome racial environment has been a continuous theme in our employment here. We care deeply about your education and success, yet recognize that the culture of elite colleges like Oberlin — what the sociologist Eduardo Bonilla-Silva has called “historically white colleges and universities” — can demand much more of you than it does of itself to be truly diverse and inclusive.

Having once been students ourselves, it is disheartening and painful to realize that, in many areas, so little has changed. That said, we have also been continually inspired by your resolve to speak up, support one another

and work toward a vision of a more just and equitable community. We celebrate your activism as a continuation of longtime struggles.

To the larger Oberlin community: We are proud of our institution’s history and glad that “diversity” is one of our campus’ core values, but let’s not be complacent. Diversity as a goal is empty if it is not informed by an acknowledgment of racism and commitment to ending it, by all of us. Otherwise, recruiting students, staff and faculty of color is meaningless beyond having colorful brochures and web–––––––––––––––––––––––––––

It is heartbreaking that in 2015 Black and other students of color still encounter racial insensitivity, invalidation, intimidation and even violence on the campuses that promised to be enlightened and welcoming places of learning for them.

––––––––––––––––––––––––––– sites. When someone vandalizes the campus with racist graffiti, let’s not simply tell the targeted students to ignore it but take seriously the fear and pain that such incidents produce, understand their cumulative effect when they occur repeatedly and condemn the actions as attacks on the entire community. When students approach us with their experiences of racial alienation, instead of dismissing their stories, let’s consider what actions we can take to change the culture. And let’s make sure that disrespect and invalidation do not remain routine experiences of our minority staff and faculty and acknowledge that the “invisible labor” they perform is itself a symptom of systemic racism.

While the current unrest on campuses arises from ongoing challenges in higher education to promote and achieve diversity, it is also informed by recent developments that have lain

bare the persistence of racial inequality in America. We are in a moment where we can neither afford to deny our failures to achieve equality and justice nor rest in our pursuit of these goals.

– Shelley Lee Associate Professor of History and Comparative American Studies – RaShelle Peck Director and Faculty-in-Residence, Afrikan Heritage House – Pam Brooks Jane and Eric Nord Associate Professor and Chair of Africana Studies – Pablo Mitchell Associate Dean of Faculty Development, Arts & Sciences, and Professor of History – Multicultural Resource Center Community Coordinators – 78 additional signatories as of Nov. 15

Alumni Leaders Support Students’ Call for Diversity, Sensitivity To our friends in the Oberlin community: We are the three officers of the Oberlin Alumni Association and are proud to be part of Oberlin’s long and proud tradition of standing upright and facing issues and challenges related to social justice, racial equality and inclusiveness, broadly defined.

We are proud of the role Oberlin has played in defining the country’s consciousness about these issues, from the early days of admitting African-American students and women on a fully equal basis to more recent struggles over wars, civil rights, gender recognition and a variety of important social questions.

Oberlinians have always, as First Lady Michelle Obama admonished the Class of 2015 to do, run to the conflict, not away from it, to help define an outcome on See Letters, page 6

SUBMISSIONS POLICY The Oberlin Review appreciates and welcomes letters to the editors and column submissions. All submissions are printed at the discretion of the Editorial Board.

All submissions must be received by Wednesday at 4:30 p.m. at opinions@oberlinreview.org or Wilder Box 90 for inclusion in the following Friday’s Review. Letters may not exceed 600 words and columns may not exceed 800 words, except with the consent of the Editorial Board. All submissions must include contact information, with full names, for all signers. All electronic submissions from multiple writers should be carbon-copied to all signers to confirm authorship.

The Review reserves the right to edit all submissions for content, space, spelling, grammar and libel. Editors will work with columnists and contributors to edit pieces and will clear major edits with the authors prior to publication. Editors will contact authors of letters to the editors in the event of edits for anything other than style and grammar. In no case will editors change the opinions expressed in any submission.

The Opinions section strives to serve as a forum for debate. Review staff will occasionally engage in this debate within the pages of the Review. In these cases, the Review will either seek to create dialogue between the columnist and staff member prior to publication or will wait until the next issue to publish the staff member’s response.

The Review will not print advertisements on its Opinions pages. The Review defines an advertisement as any submission that has the main intent of bringing direct monetary gain to the author of a letter to the editors.

Opinions expressed in letters, columns, essays, cartoons or other Opinions pieces do not necessarily reflect those of the staff of the Review.

Page 5

The Oberlin Review Publication of Record for Oberlin College — Established 1874 —

Editors-in-Chief Julian Ring Madeline Stocker Managing Editor Vida Weisblum Opinions Editor Kiley Petersen

REC Reinvestment Upholds Oberlin’s Commitment to Sustainability The most pressing issue facing newly-elected City Council members is the allocation of Renewable Energy Certificates, a benefit of Oberlin’s EPA Green Power Partnership. RECs were originally intended to be reinvested in renewable energy and carbon reduction initiatives for communities to expand their green energy portfolio and abandon fossil fuels as energy sources. In 2007, the city decided to sell RECs to expand sustainable initiatives as part of its involvement with the Clinton Climate Initiative. According to the minutes from the Oct. 19 Council Work Session, City Council expects 2015 REC proceeds to total $776,000, bringing the full sum to $1.76 million. By the end of the 2016 calendar year, the projected net total of REC revenue is $2.5 million.

City Council is considering two options: reinvestment or paying taxpayers back via a rebate on their utility bill. Reinvestment is the better choice in the long term for Oberlin’s sustainability goals — this was the EPA’s original intent in creating RECs, and if the city wishes to have a 75-percent reduction from 2012-level greenhouse gases by 2030 and to be climate positive by 2050, reinvesting REC dollars in the Sustainable Reserve Program is the best option to reach those goals.

The Public Utilities Commission recommends reinvesting 85 percent of REC revenue in SRP, a move that would “provide funding for local, community based, utility-related, environmentalfriendly initiatives demonstrating energy efficiency.” The PUC presents three areas of priority for the city’s reinvestment policy: municipal energy efficiency, expanding the Efficiency Smart program for commercial businesses and residents and investing in community-based initiatives.

City Council is also considering an opposing rebate proposal from Oberlin Municipal Light and Power: partially refunding RECS to taxpayers. Under this proposal, each customer would receive an average of $89 per year for three to five years. This would reduce each resident’s electricity bill about $7 a month for 36 to 60 months. However, these rates wouldn’t last. Once REC credits run out, the rebate would no longer exist. Oberlin College, as a taxpayer, would receive a rebate totaling $250,000, and it is improbable that the College would donate a quarter of a million dollars to the Sustainable Reserve Program when it could keep the funds for its own budget.

This proposal does have its charms — who doesn’t want to save anywhere between $267 and $445 on utilities, even if it’s only for a short amount of time? OMLP even gives concrete numbers, like saving $7 a month, whereas supporters of SRP speak in theoretical terms and concepts — “reinvestment” and “energy efficiency” aren’t terms that imply massive savings to the average Oberlin resident.

But the reality is that weatherization — air sealing, insulating or even replacing fridges or furnaces — could save each household up to $4,000 over a 10-year period. Additionally, reinvestment in SRP would install LED streetlights in public streets and provide rebates for households that pursue energy-efficient improvements. Anything from LED night-lights to occupancy sensors would reduce a household’s utility bills. Other community initiatives funded by SRP include upgrading the Underground Railroad Center, expanding OMPL’s tree-planting project, upgrading public infrastructure for biking and walking and providing some funding for the city’s purchase of hybrid or all-electric vehicles.

While the total cost for these community initiatives cannot be totaled monetarily, any move from fossil fuels and energy inefficiency will be a move in the right direction. The long-term benefits of reinvestment in renewable energy will outweigh any shortterm benefits from OMLP’s rebate proposal.

Editorials are the responsibility of the Review Editorial Board — the Editors-in-Chief, managing editor and Opinions editor — and do not necessarily reflect the views of the staff of the Review.

Opinions

Page 6

The Oberlin Review, November 20, 2015

Content Warnings Fail to Reflect Life After Oberlin Aaron Pressman Columnist I have no objection to professors warning students that some information discussed in their classes may be emotionally challenging or difficult to hear.

In fact, it is part of a professor’s job is to outline the content of a course and distribute that information to students before the add/drop deadline so students can make an informed decision as to whether or not they want to take the class. If a student wishes to drop a course during the add/ drop window, they have the right to do so for whatever reason, including feeling that material covered in class may be emotionally distressing. Students also have the right to speak to professors about the content of classes, and I encourage professors to be very understanding of a student who may be suffering from PTSD when reading or discussing a particularly triggering topic.

However, students’ demands

for trigger warnings on Oberlin’s campus and on many other college campuses throughout the U.S. seldom stop at courteous warnings on syllabi or minor accommodations in class. Some students call for professors to give trigger warnings for a certain list of topics, while others have asked professors to give warnings for every triggering topic before each reading or class session. Requests to skip assignments, classes and even parts of exams that contain content that a student claims to be triggering then accompany these accomodations. “Classroom Ce-nsorship Can Improve Learning Environment,” (The Oberlin Review, Nov. 13, 2015) an opinion piece written by Review Online editor Cyrus Eosphoros even argues that professors should remove potentially triggering content from their class syllabi. Trigger warnings taken to any of these levels not only compromise the educational value of courses but also arbitrarily allow professors or administrators to determine

what content could be triggering.

One of the main purposes of higher education is for students to learn from their classes. Trigger warnings that create coursework exemptions or that require professors to change the content of their courses seriously detract from students’ abilities to receive the education for which they pay.

Extensive trigger warnings also create an environment in which students are overprotected and leave Oberlin unprepared for exposure to sensitive topics that arise after graduation. To further complicate the issue, many students claim to not only be triggered by certain topics but also by dissenting opinions within a topic, preventing a positive and educational flow of ideas. College should not be a time to treat students like children. Professors’ job descriptions do not include acting as nannies to protect students from the dangers of dissent. Instead of facing sensitive topics in a constructive learning environment, trigger warn-

ings ultimately throw students into a world of triggering topics and diverse opinions cold turkey when they encounter life beyond Oberlin.

Students’ calls for trigger warnings on certain topics are also arbitrary. Students who have undergone trauma or have cer–––––––––––––––––––––––––––

Trigger warnings that create coursework exemptions or that require professors to change the content of their courses seriously detract from students’ abilities to receive the education for which they pay.

––––––––––––––––––––––––––– tain mental illnesses may all be triggered by incredibly different stimuli. Any specific word could trigger a different person who

has experienced a different type of trauma, as could any specific action taken by a professor or another student in class. For example, sexual and physical assault survivors may be triggered by any characteristic of their attackers, as well as by any details of the attack, such as by the smell of alcohol if the attacker was drunk or by a specific word uttered by the attacker or related to the attack.

The word “trigger” itself could even be a trigger for a victim of gun violence or for anyone else who associates the word with a traumatic experience. While it is important for professors or classes to be accessible to a student who may be concerned about a particular topic, blanket advance warnings are incredibly arbitrary and promote the idea that certain triggers are more valid than others.

Some students cite mandatory courses for certain majors as an obstacle to simply dropping a See Trigger, page 7

Letters to the Editors cont.

Continued from page 5 any issue of moment that moves a matter forward on a thoughtful and just path.

Now, in this time of increasing recognition of the continuing battle over safety and racial equality on campuses across the county, we must stand upright again.

We are reaching out to you to say that we hear the concerns especially of Black students, faculty and staff, and we share them. Though we are not on campus, we communicate regularly with both student leaders and campus faculty and administrators, and we are aware of the issues and challenges you face, and we stand with you. Like you, we call upon the entire community — students, administrators, faculty and alumni — to join together not only to understand more deeply the roots of the festering problem of racism and to work together — proactively and aggressively — on the search for solutions.

While we cannot be part of the daily work on Oberlin’s campus, we can be — and want to be — part of the overall way forward. To those who face the assault of racism and its ramifications, reach out to us and ask us to help. To those who are taking action — reach out to us and ask us to help. Many among the alumni community have worked tirelessly to address racial injustice and have expertise which we offer as we move forward.

But above all, we want you to know that we stand with you in calling upon the entire community to come together and find a way for Oberlin to stand out in this moment as a leader in higher education as a place that values social justice. We must find a way for our entire community to ensure that our home is one where all of our members are safe, valued, respected and heard. The Alumni Leadership Council will be meeting on campus this weekend, and we look forward to the opportunity to talk with students, especially Black students and students of color, and to look for solutions together to the challenges facing us in this important moment.

– Lorri Olan, OC ’87 – Chuck Spitulnik, OC ’73 – Andy Rowan, OC ’83

Classroom Censorship Does Not Protect Against Real World Experiences To the Editors:

In a feisty essay published in last week’s Review, columnist Cyrus Eosphoros delivers the following ultimatum to Oberlin’s faculty: “If a professor feels like putting their students — over whom they have substantial power — in danger, the least they could do is prove it’s necessary to their course. If hurting people is vital to the professor’s pedagogy, the proof should be obvious” (“Classroom Censorship Can Improve Learning Environment,” Nov. 13, 2015).

I would go considerably further and declare that there is no pedagogical imperative that could ever — under any circumstances — justify putting a student “in danger.” Similarly, any educator who believes that “hurting people” is as essential part of teaching has obviously chosen the wrong profession.

But the more closely you read Mr. Eosphoros’ proposal, the more quickly you realize that he has little or no interest in protecting students from real (objectively recognizable) forms of danger. To the best of my knowledge, sword swallowing and fire eating are no longer part of the Oberlin curriculum. Then again, it’s not beyond the realm of possibility that ExCo might begin offering a course in dumpster diving.

Which is simply another way of saying: No reasonable person would use words like “danger” and “hurt” the way Mr. Eosphoros does. Being asked to read an adaptation of the Antigone myth in a politics class (one of Mr. Eosphoros’ examples of the way a professor might hurt or endanger a student) does not comport with any reasonable person’s (or any reputable dictionary’s) definition of “danger” or “hurt.”

It is only in the parallel universe of institutions like Oberlin that the meanings of such commonplace words are routinely re-defined in Orwellian ways.

But speaking of Orwell, Mr. Eosphoros’ proposal is a “must read” for anyone with even a casual interest in the future

of academic freedom. In this regard, I give him kudos for forthrightness, for candidly speaking his mind, rather than beating around the rhetorical bush.

Most would-be censors try and disguise their draconian proposals in sugar-coated euphemism: Not Mr. Eosphoros, who comes right out and plainly states: “I’d like to make a case for censorship.”

Presumably he would appoint a committee — perhaps one consisting solely of himself — for the express purpose of pre-screening course syllabi, scrutinizing them for any trace of subject matter that might prove potentially dangerous or hurtful.

But if the plot of a Greek myth about the ethical standoff between Antigone and her uncle Creon is a typical example of what Mr. Eosphoros deems potentially “triggering,” then what Greek or Shakespearian tragedy could possibly avoid sparking unpleasant memories, disturbing emotions or unsettling ideas in some member of the Oberlin community?

The idea that educators should attempt to anticipate — and palliate — every variety of subjective response their teaching might elicit is both absurd and unrealistic. It’s also self-deluding. But maybe that’s what Mr. Eosphoros is really proposing: that we redefine education as a comforting mode of self-delusion.

Perhaps the new motto would read: “I feel safe, therefore I am safe.”

In a recent episode of South Park, Cartman, Stan and Kyle set out to transform the entire town into a certifiable “safe space.” But a sinister outside agitator named Mr. Reality keeps foiling their plans by reminding them that “the world isn’t a liberal arts campus.” Eventually, the young zealots conclude that the only way to achieve their goal is to organize a lynch mob and hang Mr. Reality. The episode concludes with the entire populace of South Park applauding wildly as the body of Mr. Reality drops from the gallows and begins to swing, limply, from the end of a rope.

– Roger Copeland Professor of Theater and Dance

Parking Lot Necessary Near Magpie Space To the Editors: The Review’s Nov. 13 article “Concerns over Parking Grow as Magpie Closes” fails to mention that the former RAX Restaurant had seating for 60 customers with a parking lot for 63 cars and a bus stop out front. Compare this with Magpie’s seating for 75 customers, Infinite Monkey Comics & Games’ 12 seats and Cowhaus seating for 30, for a total of over 117 seats with only six on-street public parking spaces in the same footprint or entire area of property previously owned by RAX. This situation becomes acute when you consider Slow Train seats 70 customers, Kim’s Grocery & Carry Out seats 14, and then add Tree Hugger’s Cafe, the Ohio Educational Credit Union, Alumni Offices, Barron Gallery, Credo, The Oberlin Project, Palmentera & Associates, Chiropractor’s Office, OC Office of Community & Government Relations and OMDP law offices.

In addition to the 30-plus employees, there should be at least 250 public parking spaces to accommodate the potential customers, suggesting a total need of at least 280 parking spaces required for this retail block. But there are only 32 on-street public parking spaces available that are not marked reserved at this project.

Location, visibility, accessibility, adequate and convenient parking are critical features for eatery to survive, along with overhead cost factors to be avoided like unrealistically high rents, elevated liability insurance and excessive utility rates for electricity, water, sewer and gas.

All of these regretful aspects seem to be at play along with poor planning and management, and the real concern should be substituting another 75-seat food establishment at this site. The complaint that Oberlin Inn is the culprit is unjustified in that they will have over 240 off-street parking spaces behind the new hotel with over 70 on-street parking spaces on North Main Street when completed. That’s more than 310 nearby parking spaces available to their customers. Go figure, who should be building the parking garage?

Sincerely, – Tony Mealy Oberlin resident

The Oberlin Review, November 20, 2015

Opinions

Page 7

After Paris, Education Remains Critical Paris Attacks Target James O’Leary Contributing Writer A close friend and colleague from Paris sent me a dispatch from her university. She wrote: “I’m just coming out of the Sorbonne, where the French president and members of the government had come to participate in the ‘silent minute’ with us and our students (we lost three students in the attacks, as well as colleagues and students from other universities, so the Sorbonne was chosen as a symbol for the national ceremony). It was so moving to sing the national anthem together, and I was proud of my students for showing up to class, even though we were all crying when we tried to talk, but it’s important to keep teaching.”

Her final phrase — “it’s important to keep teaching” — struck me as peculiar. After all, in light of atrocity and terror, class can seem trivial to many of us. Yet I passionately agree with my Parisian friend.

In the past few years at Oberlin and at other campuses around the country, we have been roiled by terrors that are more regular, and for many, just as horrific as the scenes from Paris. We’ve been shaken by killings of young Black people around the country that defy sense and credulity, perpetrated by the very people who have sworn to protect us; by a justice system that seems either unable or unwilling — if there is a difference — to bring these cases to trial, let alone conviction; by the faces of children who live in poverty without sustenance or shelter despite astounding wealth that parades itself with brazen élan; by a country with the dream of equal pay for equal work, liberty and justice for all and where all men are created equal, still seems to elude us, even after centuries of relatively continual bloodshed.

In universities, students are fed up — a position toward which I and

most other faculty are sympathetic because we all want peace, no matter what political beliefs we may hold individually. What we have is not peace.

The strategy for many students has been to disrupt the academy, to halt class, to stop work until some kind of progress is made. Why should we talk about Joyce, Beethoven, cellular pathways or supply and demand in a world gone mad? Enough is enough.

But I think this particular kind of disruption is counterproductive.

First, although brochures advertising the college celebrate community, there is an equally important

Second, in light of terror at home and abroad, it is important that this work continue. We face not just a physical war, but an ideological war as well, and one that seeks to strangle rational minds with fear. It is important that we take up this war on every front — not just with guns, but with thought. Although the former seems more immediate and effective, the latter is just as vital to any democracy. It is also more fragile.

Free, critical, dangerous thinking is something we do not lament until it is gone.

Finally, even when the subject is ugly, what we do in class celebrates humanity itself — what it has pro–––––––––––––––––––––––––––––– duced, what it has accomplished in adversity, what it has endured, what it envisions for its future. Such celIn the past few years at Oberebration is not merely a vacation lin and at other campuses from the real work to be done: It is around the country, we have part of the work. Why? To many, a been roiled by terrors that are celebration of humanity will sound naïve, but if the fights ever end and more regular, and for many, if the goals are ever achieved, what just as horrific as the scenes kind of world will we have profrom Paris. duced? Will we even know how to –––––––––––––––––––––––––––––– answer the question?

To my colleagues, to my students: aspect to every university that often I suggest we heed my French friend’s strangely remains tacit: the univer- words. I’m not asking that we ignore sity is a place of work. This work the fight for justice, but merely that is inherently progressive, even if it we prepare ourselves to fight it in as aims toward politically conserva- many ways as possible. Even amid tive conclusions. It is, by its very terror, it is important to continue nature, critical and revolutionary, to think freely, openly, critically, questioning the very foundations skillfully and humanely. The goals upon which we interact with every- of class and the goals of justice are thing around us, from voting in an not mutually exclusive, and the paselection to opening iTunes. There is sion we feel about the world should no other place for such unabashed be honed and intensified in our critique. Politics? Business? Reli- learning. In the end, classwork is a gion? None enjoys the protection privilege that we all share proudly, of thought that the university does, even in disagreement; that unites and in any democracy, such freedom us against unreason, even in disis vitally important. I believe it is agreement; that emboldens us totime for us in the university to re- ward mutual understanding, even claim our work, to remind the world in disagreement; that affords us the that we are not embroiled in arcana, freedom to improve and to imagine fiddling while Rome burns. We are a freedom that terror would otherthe ones carrying the torches. wise steal.

Trigger Warnings Detract From Learning Continued from page 6 class that contains content a student finds triggering. However, the courses for a student’s major are likely to be consistent with the subject or field the student wants to pursue after college. The same obstacles will present themselves in a student’s course material as in their chosen profession. Imagine a doctor asking to stop in the middle of surgery because the sight of blood or a gunshot wound became triggering, or a clinical psychologist being unable to perform psychotherapy after discussing mental illness. If courses have content that is incredibly difficult for students to get through, those students always have the option to drop a class or change a major.

The worst thing the school can do, however, is exempt certain students from course assignments or change course material and leave students unprepared for life after graduation, no longer protected by the administration or their professors.

Multiculturalism Josh Ashkinaze Columnist

The Paris terrorist attacks were shocking, but one particular detail was especially surprising: One of the suicide bombers who attacked the Stade de France was a Syrian refugee, according to his passport. The document lay next to him, suspiciously intact, despite the condition of his body. This led some French officials to suspect that the passport was planted by a member of the operation. Furthermore, it’s unlikely that a jihadi carrying out the last action of his life would simply forget that he had his passport on him. If the passport that identified the terrorist as a Syrian refugee was deliberately planted, which it seems to have been, this gives insight into the goal of the act: to shake France’s values of diversity and multiculturalism. At least one of ISIS’ desired responses was xenophobic backlash against refugees and Muslims. This would cement the narrative of the West’s war on Islam.

This becomes more apparent when considering ISIS’ official statement in praise of the attacks.

The organization clearly framed the attack as part of some neo-crusade. The attackers were “a group of believers from the soldiers of the Caliphate” who were sent to “cast terror into the hearts of the crusaders in their very own homeland.” Xenophobia would only cement that narrative.

The conveniently placed passport isn’t the only indication of their desire to generate backlash against Muslims. The attackers did not target the tourist-heavy Champs-Élysées or the conservative left bank, home to government ministries. The six attacks were at La Belle –––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––

If the passport that identified the terrorist as a Syrian refugee was deliberately planted, which it seems to have been, this gives insight into the goal of the act: to shake France’s values of diversity and multiculturalism.

––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––– Equipe Cafe, Boulevard Voltaire, Bataclan Concert Hall, Restaurant Casa Nostra, Le Petit Cambodge restaurant and the Stade de France. The neighborhoods that were attacked were the most ethnically and economically diverse. The French soccer team has long been seen as an example of a multicultural France. The attack was aimed to shake diversity and multiculturalism because in the absence of these values, ISIS’ neo-crusader narrative can flourish.

In the wake of ISIS’ losses and slowdowns, its military invincibility is a tougher sell for prospective recruits.

The supposed animosity of ‘crusaders’ toward Muslims might play a larger rule in its recruitment strategy. To some degree, this goal was accomplished with the antirefugee backlash that is inextricably linked to ethnicity and religion. Poland, for example, swiftly announced it would defect from the EU quota agreement and not accept any migrants. Florida Senator Marco Rubio said, “This is a clash of civilizations ... There is no middle ground on this.” As of Nov. 18, more than half of U.S. governors have refused to allow any Syrian refugees into their states, likely because of the intact Syrian passport.

Indeed, the ‘clash of civilizations’ narrative allows ISIS to appeal to its potential constituency just as much as it allows the GOP to pander to its supporters.

The Charlie Hebdo shooting was, at least superficially, an attack on free speech. People could sensibly react by upholding that positive value. But last week’s attack targeted public places. It’s the very senselessness of the attack, the fact that victims could not be accountable in any conceivable way, that makes it so tragic. And in a void of senselessness and reason, visceral reactions — like xenophobia against refugees — could flourish. But if the goal of this attack was to get France to abandon its values of diversity and multiculturalism and affirm the ISIS vs. crusader narrative, a healthy strategy is to uphold those values. The attacks might seem random. But a central thread linking all of the sites was cultural pluralism. After the Charlie Hebdo attack, people affirmed free speech. After this attack, it’s crucial to hold onto rather than relinquish faith in multiculturalism.

Friday, Nov. 20, 6–8 p.m.

The ’Sco The poets of OSlam will each perform a three-minute poem, duking it out in the biggest slam poetry battle of the year. Go support your fellow Obies as they vie for a chance to compete at the College Unions Poetry Slam Invitational. Tickets $5 in advance at the Wilder desk and $7 at the door.

Friday, Nov. 20, 8–10 p.m.

Cat in the Cream Stop by this fundraiser and educational concert for the Human Trafficking Collaborative of Lorain County put on by Project Unbound.

Lorain County is a massive transit hub for human trafficking. Help spread awareness by attending!

Hide-and-Seek

Saturday, Nov. 21, 8–9:30 p.m.

Warner Concert Hall Don’t want to party this Saturday? Instead, head over to the Conservatory guest recital by bass-bariton Eric Owens and pianist Myra Huang for a relaxing concert.

Upcycle Your Craft: DIY Workshops

Sunday, Nov. 22, 12–3 p.m.

SEED Ventures, 29 S. Main Street Do you have old materials that you don’t know what to do with? Come to this DIY workshop to learn how to make art from reclaimed materials. Register online beforehand at tinyurl.com/RSVPUpcycle.

Thanksgiving!

Thursday, Nov. 26 Your grandparents’ house? Your dorm? DeCafé?

Wherever you decide to spend your Thanksgiving, don’t forget to remind the people close to you why you are grateful for them.

JOHN GOFMAN

Friday, Nov. 20, 12 a.m.

Mudd library Sign up before the event on Friday night and join your classmates in an exciting game of hide-and-seek in Mudd after hours. Just make sure you know where you are going, because you may never be found.

Guest Recital: Eric Owens, Bass-Baritone

us

Fam

Voices Against Human Trafficking

Born in Ohio in 1918, John Gofman graduated from Oberlin in 1939. He did research related to the Manhattan Project in the 1960s, studying the biological effects of low doses of radiation.

He correctly predicted that radiation is more detrimental than the federal government thought at the time, and encouraged doctors to reduce unnecessarily high doses of X-rays. He also arranged a five-year moratorium on the licensing of new nuclear power plants so the correlation between public health and radiation could be further studied.

Information from berkeley.edu

B E R L I N

HENRIETTA SWAN LEAVITT

Layout by Hannah Berk Background Photo and science images courtesy of Creative Commons

Henrietta Swan Leavitt only attended Oberlin for one year in 1885 before continuing on to Radcliffe College, where she graduated in 1892. Shortly after graduating, she became sick and permanently lost her hearing. When she recovered, she became an assistant at Harvard College Observatory, where she helped Edward Pickering measure stellar magnitudes. She was paid $0.30 an hour. In 1912 she made a series of discoveries about the Cephied star type, which has bright-dim cycle periods inversely proportionate to its magnitude. Later, she developed a period-luminosity ratio that astronomers still use today. Leavitt did not get credit for her findings; Pickering did not acknowledge her contributions and she died in 1921 unable to claim the Nobel Prize for which she was later nominated.

Information from famousscientists.org

C I E N T I S T

s

ELISHA GRAY Born in 1835, Elisha Gray attended Oberlin and supported himself by working as a carpenter. In 1976, Gray came up with an idea for what is now known as a telephone. When he went to patent it, he discovered that just two hours earlier, Alexander Graham Bell had patented the same idea. It is still controversial as to who first came up with the idea. One thing is certain: Bell’s first prototype of the telephone did not work, while Gray’s did. To this day, Bell is considered to be the father of the telephone, while Gray remains largely unremembered. Although this was a great blow to Gray, he still went onto invent the telautograph in 1887, which transmuted handwriting into telegraph systems somewhat like the modern day fax machine.

Information from oberlin.edu

THADDEUS CAHILL

Calendar

OSlam Grand Slam

Thaddeus Cahill was born in 1967 and attended the Conservatory, where he studied the physics of music. After attending law school at the George Washington University, he decided to pursue his idea of making music electronically. He called his creation the telharmonium and envisioned it in hotels, restaurants, theaters and houses.

His vision was never implemented, but the idea eventually contributed to the invention of streamed media.

Information from neatorama.com

Friday, Nov. 20, 6–8 p.m.

The ’Sco The poets of OSlam will each perform a three-minute poem, duking it out in the biggest slam poetry battle of the year. Go support your fellow Obies as they vie for a chance to compete at the College Unions Poetry Slam Invitational. Tickets $5 in advance at the Wilder desk and $7 at the door.

Friday, Nov. 20, 8–10 p.m.

Cat in the Cream Stop by this fundraiser and educational concert for the Human Trafficking Collaborative of Lorain County put on by Project Unbound.

Lorain County is a massive transit hub for human trafficking. Help spread awareness by attending!

Hide-and-Seek

Saturday, Nov. 21, 8–9:30 p.m.

Warner Concert Hall Don’t want to party this Saturday? Instead, head over to the Conservatory guest recital by bass-bariton Eric Owens and pianist Myra Huang for a relaxing concert.

Upcycle Your Craft: DIY Workshops

Sunday, Nov. 22, 12–3 p.m.

SEED Ventures, 29 S. Main Street Do you have old materials that you don’t know what to do with? Come to this DIY workshop to learn how to make art from reclaimed materials. Register online beforehand at tinyurl.com/RSVPUpcycle.

Thanksgiving!

Thursday, Nov. 26 Your grandparents’ house? Your dorm? DeCafé?

Wherever you decide to spend your Thanksgiving, don’t forget to remind the people close to you why you are grateful for them.

JOHN GOFMAN

Friday, Nov. 20, 12 a.m.

Mudd library Sign up before the event on Friday night and join your classmates in an exciting game of hide-and-seek in Mudd after hours. Just make sure you know where you are going, because you may never be found.

Guest Recital: Eric Owens, Bass-Baritone

us

Fam

Voices Against Human Trafficking

Born in Ohio in 1918, John Gofman graduated from Oberlin in 1939. He did research related to the Manhattan Project in the 1960s, studying the biological effects of low doses of radiation.

He correctly predicted that radiation is more detrimental than the federal government thought at the time, and encouraged doctors to reduce unnecessarily high doses of X-rays. He also arranged a five-year moratorium on the licensing of new nuclear power plants so the correlation between public health and radiation could be further studied.

Information from berkeley.edu

B E R L I N

HENRIETTA SWAN LEAVITT

Layout by Hannah Berk Background Photo and science images courtesy of Creative Commons

Henrietta Swan Leavitt only attended Oberlin for one year in 1885 before continuing on to Radcliffe College, where she graduated in 1892. Shortly after graduating, she became sick and permanently lost her hearing. When she recovered, she became an assistant at Harvard College Observatory, where she helped Edward Pickering measure stellar magnitudes. She was paid $0.30 an hour. In 1912 she made a series of discoveries about the Cephied star type, which has bright-dim cycle periods inversely proportionate to its magnitude. Later, she developed a period-luminosity ratio that astronomers still use today. Leavitt did not get credit for her findings; Pickering did not acknowledge her contributions and she died in 1921 unable to claim the Nobel Prize for which she was later nominated.

Information from famousscientists.org

C I E N T I S T

s

ELISHA GRAY Born in 1835, Elisha Gray attended Oberlin and supported himself by working as a carpenter. In 1976, Gray came up with an idea for what is now known as a telephone. When he went to patent it, he discovered that just two hours earlier, Alexander Graham Bell had patented the same idea. It is still controversial as to who first came up with the idea. One thing is certain: Bell’s first prototype of the telephone did not work, while Gray’s did. To this day, Bell is considered to be the father of the telephone, while Gray remains largely unremembered. Although this was a great blow to Gray, he still went onto invent the telautograph in 1887, which transmuted handwriting into telegraph systems somewhat like the modern day fax machine.

Information from oberlin.edu

THADDEUS CAHILL

Calendar

OSlam Grand Slam

Thaddeus Cahill was born in 1967 and attended the Conservatory, where he studied the physics of music. After attending law school at the George Washington University, he decided to pursue his idea of making music electronically. He called his creation the telharmonium and envisioned it in hotels, restaurants, theaters and houses.

His vision was never implemented, but the idea eventually contributed to the invention of streamed media.

Information from neatorama.com

Arts The Oberlin Review

Page 10

November 20, 2015

Field Crafts Sensitive Production of Lucretia Louise Edwards Arts Editor Editor’s Note: This article discusses sexual violence and suicide.

At the end of the opera The Rape of Lucretia, which the Oberlin Opera Theater and the Contemporary Music Ensemble presented on Nov. 11, 13, 14 and 15, the Female Chorus kneels by Lucretia’s side and mourns her death; Lucretia has committed suicide after being raped by a Roman prince and soldier Tarquinius. The Male Chorus rests a hand on the Female Chorus’ shoulder in an attempt to console her, but she shrugs it away.

The scene illustrates how Benjamin Britten’s complex opera spans many time periods, putting various related contexts in conversation with one another. While the Female and Male Chorus act as contemporary narrators, the opera retells a story that happened circa 500 BCE. In a faculty presentation and discussion on “Women and the Ancient World” that contextualized the opera, Assistant Professor of Classics Chris Trinacty read an account written by ancient Roman historian Livy. Livy describes how Roman soldiers waiting to lay siege to Ardea boasted about the virtuousness of their wives. Yet when some of the soldiers decided to ride back to Rome in the night to check on their wives, they found that only Lucretia had remained faithful to her husband. “Sextus Tarquinius, inflamed by the beauty and exemplary purity of Lucretia, formed the vile project of effecting her dishonor,” Livy writes.

Anger over Tarquinius’ rape of Lucretia and her subsequent suicide caused a revolution. Director of Opera Theater Productions Jonathon Field describes such political turmoil. “The dynasty of the Tarquinius [was] completely overthrown, and Rome became a democracy,” he said. “It was no longer governed by kings. They got a senate and it really changed things. In a way, out of this horrific incident and destruction of innocence and violence, something good came and kind of laid the foundation of

Western civilization.”

Britten and the librettist Ronald Duncan added another layer of historical context to the opera, first performed in 1946, by using the story of Lucretia as a metaphor to describe “the rape of Europe” during World War II and the destruction caused by the dropping of atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Field further elaborated on why Britten and Duncan likely chose this metaphor for comparing these different forms of violence. “Of all the kinds of violence that human beings perpetuate on each other, rape tends to be the most long lasting because in its violence, if the victim lives, they’re changed forever,” he said.

“Rape is very, very unique, and the composer and librettist probably thought long and hard about using that metaphor and decided it was an appropriate one. They were also talking about the dropping of the bomb on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The librettist wrote about that and how upset he was by that, and he felt that he and Benjamin Britten needed to respond to that.

And if you’ve ever seen photos of Hiroshima and Nagasaki after the bomb dropped, it’s absolutely horrifying.”

Lucretia’s compelling story has been reproduced in many mediums across centuries. William Shakespeare published a long narrative poem in 1594 titled “The Rape of Lucrece,” and several paintings of Lucretia were produced in Renaissance Italy, one of which is housed at the Allen Memorial Art Museum. However, Field notes that opera is a particularly apt medium through which to relay the story because music, combined with the libretto, adds another layer of depth to the work.

“You have music, which is going to heighten the emotionality of any situation,” Field said. “You have a libretto that is quite poetic. … You have music that represents not only the characters but also the states of mind of the characters. …

So I think that gives dimensionality to the title character.”

Conservatory senior Elissa Pfaender, who played the Female Chorus in one of the two casts,

As Lucretia, Conservatory senior Rebecca Printz rests while Tarquinius, played by Conservatory senior Michael Floriano, lurks in a doorway. The Rape of Lucretia, performed Nov. 11, 13, 14 and 15 by Oberlin Opera Theater and the Contemporary Music Ensemble, uses sexual violence against the title character as a metaphor for the destruction of Western Europe during World War II. Courtesy of Yevhen Gulenko

said that Field and the cast worked hard to bring out complexity in the characters and storyline. “I think it was part of my job, my colleagues’ job, to be able to present something like this in a tasteful yet effective way,” she said. “I personally feel like we achieved that, and I hope that others felt that way.”

College senior Micäela Aldridge, who played Lucretia in one of the casts, agreed and said that the accurate portrayal of the story elicited emotional feelings not only from the audience but also from the people involved in the production. “There were a couple acting moments where it wasn’t really acting,” she said. “On Friday night, I was looking at the conductor for a cue, and he just would not look, and he said, ‘I couldn’t even watch it.’ But I guess that’s what I sort of want: to make people uncomfortable. Art should make people uncomfortable, but a productive amount of uncomfortable. … It can’t be something done so dramatically or so romanticized that you don’t really see anything, you don’t see the underlying problem.”

Conservatory junior Ruby

Dibble, who was also cast as the Female Chorus, described how chance circumstances also made the opera more real for her. “It was crazy [on Sunday]. A squirrel crawled into a generator and all the lights went off and we had to perform with the house light up –––––––––––––––––––––––––––

“Of all the kinds of violence that human beings perpetuate on each other, rape tends to be the most long lasting because in its violence, if the victim lives, they’re changed forever.”

Jonathan Field Director, Oberlin Opera Theater ––––––––––––––––––––––––––– and the work lights on the stage,” she said. “It was weird because I felt like, in some ways, it was more powerful because the rape scene was more realistic in a way. It’s not happening with all these pretty

lights and effects.”

However, because the opera felt so realistic, the performers found singing and acting in the opera challenging. “The first act, I was supposed to be very removed emotionally and from a narrator standpoint,” Dibble said. “But as the show went on, my character got more and more attached to Lucretia, and it was just so hard because I couldn’t do anything to stop any of it. I just let myself get really invested in it character-wise, so it was really difficult every time I did it. I would just cry every time.

Despite the difficulty of performing in such an emotional piece, cast members were still able to find messages of female empowerment within the opera. Pfaender said that the Female Chorus lends her voice to Lucretia in the narration of the story. “I definitely think that there is female empowerment in it, that the female chorus in our version stands up for Lucretia, fights for Lucretia, which I think is incredibly moving.” Aldridge also noted that attending the presentaSee Lectures, page 13

McFerrin Melds Jazz with Neo-Soul, Hip-Hop Beats Mary Fischer Almost everyone at Taylor McFerrin’s show last Thursday danced through the night. Warmed up and ready, McFerrin had no difficulty energizing dancers with neo-soul and hip-hop beats. The Brooklyn-based DJ, producer and singersongwriter certainly proved that he does not need to ride on the fame of his father, vocalist and conductor Bobby McFerrin, to achieve success in the future.

If Taylor McFerrin ever grappled with living under his father’s shadow, he definitively stepped out of it with the release of his first album, the Early Riser EP, in June of last year. Released on Flying Lotus’ label Brainfeeder, the album includes collabo-

rations with artists such as Thundercat and Robert Glasper and features vocalists Nai Palm and Emily King. While jazz is unmistakably a big part of the McFerrin sound and shapes many of his tracks, what makes his music stand out is the intriguing infusion of contemporary styles he brings to the genre.

McFerrin opened his set at the ’Sco with two exciting improvisational cuts.

At the end of the second, which led into the Emily King collaboration “Decisions,” he started showing off some of his excellent beat-boxing skills. The song stood in pleasant contrast to the two high-energy opening songs and left a lot of room for King’s voice. McFerrin sought to highlight the talent of his collaborator over his own.

Nonetheless, the attendees seemed captivated by the undeniable beauty of the arrangement that swirled around them.

One of the most memorable tracks on the EP, a collaboration with Thundercat and Glasper titled “Already There” was even more outstanding live and was one of the best tracks of the set. McFerrin briefly touched upon the influence of Thundercat and Glasper in the development of his own sound after the set, when he talked to a few students as they waited for him to sign their copies of his album.

McFerrin then moved toward Early Riser’s calmer tracks. He played “Place in my Heart,” featuring RYAT, a song driven by soft keys and drums. The song leans a little too much on the lower-tempo side

of his music, leaving listeners with relatively little to remember. But while that song saw less success than the others, the energy picked up again with the next two tracks. These songs transitioned from catchy drums to upbeat house music patterns, recapturing the earlier vibe of the set.

The last few songs were particularly pleasing. Many parts of these songs were also improvised. They took surprising twists and turns, merging hip-hop rhythms and funky keyboard melodies.

Whenever the audience seemed to lock into one rhythmic pattern, McFerrin had already moved on to the next one. It was impossible not to dance along with his music’s rhythmic complexity.

Arts

The Oberlin Review, November 20, 2015

Page 11

On the Record with Kyle James Hauser, Singer-Songwriter Kyle James Hauser is a singer-songwriter, banjoist and guitarist currently based in Louisville, KY. Hauser studied songwriting at Berklee College of Music and has performed at such notable events as the Telluride Bluegrass Festival, CMJ Festival in New York and the Toronto International Film Festival.

Hauser’s recently-composed ballet, A Well Worn Path, follows up his two solo albums, 2012’s Oh Oh and 2014’s You a Thousand Times. Hauser visited Oberlin last Thursday to lead a songwriting workshop and give a performance in Fairchild Chapel sponsored by the Oberlin Songwriters. The Review sat down with Hauser to discuss the benefits of a musical education, the difficulties involved in releasing a full-length record and his move to the mountains.

You’ve lived in a lot of places. I’m wondering how your exposure to many regional scenes has formed your musical identity.

That’s a good question. There definitely have been some music communities in the different places I’ve lived that have shaped my playing or my sound. But I don’t think about cities [as] specifically having a sound — I think more about the communities of people that happen to be living there at the time. So, for example, when I lived in Boston from 2003 to 2007, there was kind of an upswing in acoustic music or new acoustic music. [There were] a lot of bands coming out of there like Lake Street Dive and Crooked Still. … So, at that time, I was really engaged in that music.

That’s why I started playing banjo as avidly as I did.

I guess I mostly move around based on community [and] on the people making the music or audiences. There are certain places where audiences are really receptive to one genre over another.

What was the most beneficial part of being at a music school? Was it making connections with other musicians, or actually learning to write songs and navigate the musical world?

I think it’s a blend. It’s hard at this stage of my life — at 30 — to imagine what my musicality would be like had I not gone to Berklee, or [to] music school, period. So, sometimes I maybe take for granted the skills and tools I was given there because they are just so well-integrated in my life.

It’s kind of hard to remember what I was like before music school. Certainly be-

ing in an environment where you’re doing music 24/7 in a conservatory structure — where you’re just doing music and being around people who are masters on their instruments — you’re going to achieve a lot, probably more than you would on your own, or more than most people would on their own. Some people are insanely selfdirected musicians, but I am not. I really thrive in a learning environment. I credit my teachers with giving me a lot of tools, insight and inspiration.

That said, in the long run, I’d say the most valuable thing I got from going to Berklee was the relationships with my colleagues. Being around a lot of people who have committed their lives to music in the way that [Oberlin students] have and seeing them everyday and forming friendships that are outside of the professional world of music [was beneficial]. When you’re out in the big wide world of professional music, it’s not as easy to just meet and hang out with a variety of people. School is a great place to make friends, especially with people who play music styles that you wouldn’t otherwise be hip to. Eight years down the road, I can look across the world and I know all of these really wonderful people who happen to be professional musicians. … They’ll be willing to sit down and have a beer with me, show me around or get me a gig.

What kinds of things did you learn after graduating that you couldn’t have learned in school?

There’s a lot to be said for real-world gigging experience. As many recitals as you can possibly play, you’ll never really get the experience of playing gigs three to seven times a week. … Also, being in school … can be really overwhelming. You’re kind of getting hit on all sides. … You’re doing so much different stuff that it can be hard for you to zero in on what your sound is and what you really want to do.

Right after Berklee, I quit the band I had been touring with and moved into the mountains. I started working in a coffee shop and basically left music alone for a little bit. I just kind of played what I wanted to. That was an important stage for me because I came out of school with all this knowledge, but I didn’t know how to apply it. … I think after college, that’s the time to start saying, “Why did I learn this?” and “Do I want to develop this?” … If so, you can really pour yourself into that.

Singer-songwriter Kyle James Hauser, who performed in Fairchild Chapel Thursday, Nov. 12.

Courtesy of Kyle James Hauser

You were talking about the years following graduation as very formative in figuring out how you wanted to make a career out of music. Is that when you decided you wanted to focus on songwriting?

It was about 2010, 2011 when I recorded and released my first album, but it wasn’t until 2012 that I was really out on my own.

Putting out an album is a monumental effort, especially when you’re trying to do it in a big way. So I really took my time with all of that. … That would have been about five years after graduation that I really started to do my own thing. The funny thing about that is that now, after having done that for a couple years, I’ve transitioned back into playing with a band. … That’s kind of refreshing. I think being able to move back and forth in where your creativity is, [that’s] settling and an important thing.

As a songwriter, do you have a typical day, or is it kind of whatever project you are working on at the time?

Things change. I can tell you what my process is this week, but I can tell you it looks a lot different than it did a year ago or three years ago, and it’ll look different next week and three weeks from now. I’m not a very habitual person; I kind of thrive on change. I will say I am a student of creative

process and so I have, in seasons in my life, tried different techniques like writing a song every day, writing a song every week and writing exercises every day. My goal is not to just land on one [technique] and that’s my life. … My goal is to understand the swings of my writing and be available to it when it’s time to write. … For example, right now I’m basically not writing at all or doing anything to try and write, because after the summer tour [I’m] exhausted creatively, physically and mentally. … Now, I’m just kind of leaving it alone and I’ve discovered that leaving it alone is a really important part of my process. … Lo and behold, in the week or so that I’ve been doing that, I’ve started to get ideas again. … [There’s] a tricky balance in doing this as a career as well as a life’s pursuit. It can rob you of the pure enjoyment of it when you rely on it for your income. You have always looming in the back of your head the fact that if you stop writing or stop practicing or stop trying to get gigs, you won’t get gigs and your career will go nowhere. And you have that power, which is terrifying but also really cool, because it’s all down to you. … I’m still learning about [that process]. …

[It’s] my life’s work trying to figure out how to write the best songs that I can.

Interview by Sam Rueckert, Staff Writer

Concert Packs Stull, Affirms Baroque Music’s Contemporary Relevance Neil McCalmont Spanning well over a century, the beginning of the Baroque era saw the creation of tonality and eventually culminated in the musical masterpieces of composers such as Johann Sebastian Bach and George Frideric Handel. In more recent years, it has provided much of the inspiration behind the ever-growing historical performance movement in music. Unfortunately, some have taken Baroque music in today’s world solely as an inspiration for new compositions or as an art to be studied, rather than reveling in its musical splendor. However, the Oberlin Baroque Orchestra’s performance last Friday confirmed that there is still an endless amount of enjoyment to be found in the genre.

Director Scott Metcalfe conducted the ensemble while also playing the violin, an impressive

feat in itself. Metcalfe is the musical and artistic director of the Blue Heron vocal ensemble and is one of North America’s leading interpreters of 15th, 16th and 17th-century music. He led the orchestra in David H. Stull Recital Hall, which was packed tighter than an orchestra pit performing Richard Wagner’s Ring. Never mind empty seats — there was not an empty space on the floor to be found.

The concert began with Handel’s Concerto Grosso in G major, a piece that was most likely compiled from Handel’s previous works by another musician. This practice was not particularly uncommon for the time, especially considering how often Handel recycled themes from his own works to begin with. The Concerto Grosso genre was one of the most popular in the Baroque era. It pits two groups of instruments against each other: a larg-

er one (usually a string ensemble) and a smaller one. This concerto showcased the talents of the solo flutist, who performed splendidly. The short work as a whole was absolutely delightful, particularly the final movement. The orchestra captured its jubilance elegantly.

Next on the program was a selection of incidental music from Henry Purcell’s The Married Beau, or the Curious Impertinent.

While Purcell is primarily known today only for his opera Dido and Aeneas, he wrote plenty of music for the stage notable for its richness of emotion. After a somber, French-style introduction, the overture ended with a ravishing fugue. As the subject burst forth in different voices, the orchestra’s precision was supported by the vibrant character it added to the piece. Character itself appeared to be a unifying theme in this work, as one could eas-

ily imagine François Couperin or Robert Schumann adding evocative titles to the different movements if either had written the piece.

Afterward, the audience was treated to Arcangelo Corelli’s Concerto Grosso in B-flat major, a well-placed Italian counterweight to the rest of the program.

In Baroque music, different styles of music depend largely on their nationality. For example, JeanPhillippe Rameau’s Hippolyte et Aricie has a distinctly “French” style and sound.

The real heavyweight was the piece by Georg Philipp Telemann — one of the most prolific composers in history — that ended the concert. It was one of his many “Tafelmusik” pieces.

“Tafelmusik,” or “table-music,” is a piece traditionally composed for a dinner or banquet. Such pieces are often characterized as lighter-sounding. The ensemble

performed the work admirably.

There were many fast-paced movements and not a single note was out of place. The light-footed dashing of the strings was full of brevity and spirit. The gigue, a Baroque dance, bordered on a wild frenzy at the end, but there was still a refined quality in their performance. It was truly a wonderful balance.

Baroque music is old — the last pieces written in the style are from almost 300 years ago.

Yet it is truly exhilarating to be caught up in a performance that makes one feel as though the music had been written recently. For Baroque music in particular, this can be a challenge, as performing in a historical context requires that even more time, practice, energy and knowledge be put into the final product. However, the results produced are incredibly gratifying for both audiences and performers.

Arts

Page 12

The Oberlin Review, November 20, 2015

Retro RPG Undertale Humorous, Sincere Avi Vogel Columnist I’d seen notably glowing reviews for Undertale on a number of websites, but I entered the game worried I’d be the next victim of over-hype. Instead, I left having found what might be my new favorite video game.

Undertale, a game created almost single-handedly by Toby Fox and released this fall, offers an outstanding and unique experience. It’s a role-playing game styled after games like Final Fantasy for SNES and the cult classic Earthbound. You play a child who’s fallen into the mysterious Underground, a world full of both friendly and dangerous monsters.

The opening text crawl explains some history of the universe, but it’s your character’s progress that tells you the entire story.

I wish I could badmouth some aspects of this game or say that

some parts aren’t what I want, but that would be a lie. There may be some who say the visuals are overly sparse, but I feel this stylistic choice allows for a world that captures you quietly rather than begging your attention. Some might see certain scenes as grandiose, but these moments never intrude on gameplay and they always have purpose.

The game stands out in a wide variety of ways. For one, you don’t have to murder anyone. To understand why this is so unique, you have to look at every other game released in this style.

In most role-playing games, you progress by killing monsters.

This rewards you with experience that levels you up, making you more powerful. Older RPGs would force you to repeatedly find and vanquish monsters to get to a certain level, which would allow you to fight the next

boss and thereby progress.

For a game to go against that cliché is incredible. To have the choice of either sparing monsters or killing them is refreshingly unique. Both are viable options and both lead you to the end of the game. If you want to kill, there’s a simple mini-game in which you time a slider to deal the most damage. This rewards you with experience and gold like any other game, in the style of standard Japanese roleplaying games. To avoid damage on the monsters’ turns, you use your “Heart” to avoid the shots from the monsters. Some of these monsters have unique attacks, but the game introduces what you have to do in a nonlethal manner before you ever actually have to worry about dodging these attacks.

It’s a great system on its own, but it’s when you decide to spare the monsters that the system

Oberlin Orchestra Balances Kondonassis’ Energetic Solo Colin Roshak Columnist More than a hundred years since its premiere and after countless performances, Igor Stravinsky’s iconic and provocative ballet The Rite of Spring still resonates today.

Conductor Raphael Jiménez and the Oberlin Orchestra transported their audience from Finney Chapel to ancient pagan Russia with their riveting performance last Thursday.

Before delving into Stravinsky’s primordial fantasy, Jiménez first joined forces with Assistant Professor of Harp Yolanda Kondonassis for Alberto Ginastera’s Harp Concerto.

Kondonassis’ musical presence and intensity were not overshadowed by the orchestra. The first movement of the piece was dominated by a syncopated and energetic four-note theme. Kondonassis played with pristine articulation, always maintaining a purity and resonance to her sound. Ginastera’s piece expertly balanced soloistic virtuosity with orchestral accompaniment, yielding a richly colorful sound palette ripe with intriguing rhythms and tonalities.

The first movement sounded like a strange, contorted dream. In the second movement, the dream ascended to a crystalline palace in the sky. The third movement, only vaguely connected in theme and character to the first two, didn’t offer much more than a final, exciting romp. Kondonassis’ playing appeared effortless, and her every motion was planned to the smallest detail. With the final strokes of the harp and the last emphatic chords, the spell was broken, and Kondonassis rose triumphantly.

The standing ovation she received spoke to the profound depth of her performance.

Another magical journey followed Ginastera’s dream world, a much-anticipated journey to the unforgiving Russia portrayed in Stravinsky’s The Rite of Spring. The Oberlin Orchestra was totally en-

gaged and nearly flawless from start to finish. Bassoonist and double-degree junior Tom English began the piece’s eerie and legendary opening solo. His pure, translucent sound filled the hall. This set the scene for the rest of the piece, which portrays a cold and ruthless wasteland just beginning to warm into spring.

The Rite of Spring is based on pagan myths and tells the story of the rituals of spring, including worship of the earth and the sacrifice of a young girl to nature. Stravinsky’s music is wrought with exciting rhythms, resounding power and primal lust. Jiménez’s interpretation breathed so as to fully grasp the music’s fateful tale. Drawing a clear and halcyonic sound from the

starts to show its subtle brilliance.

Instead of simply saying, “I won’t kill you,” you have to go to the “Act” bar and choose the correct sequence of actions to create a situation in which sparing an enemy is possible. The descriptions of these action sequences are often –––––––––––––––––––––––––––

Some might see certain scenes as grandiose, but these moments never intrude on gameplay and they always have a purpose.

––––––––––––––––––––––––––– humorous and are a good indicator of the quality of writing in this game. On my first playthrough, I spared most enemies just to see the excellent writing.

Both in and out of combat, descriptions and dialogue elevate

this unprecedented game to an absolute gem. It rides the line of witty and heartfelt at the right moments, tastefully subverting expectations instead of adhering to them. The way each important character is written gives them a unique voice and, unlike many games in this genre, never makes them feel like caricatures. The ways you further your friendship with certain characters makes for possibly the funniest experiences I’ve ever had in a video game to date. I couldn’t stop laughing for entire encounters.

I’d love to talk about the story in more detail — about its ups and downs and the way it made me laugh, cry and feel beyond what I thought a game could make me feel — but that would spoil everything. Usually when I recommend a game, I know that, more often than not, readers won’t pick it up. This time, do.

News Bulletin: Brian Alegant Named Professor of the Year

–––––––––––––––––––––––––––––

Kondonassis’ playing appeared effortless, and her every motion was planned to the smallest detail. With the final strokes of the harp and the last emphatic chords, the spell was broken, and Kondonassis rose triumphantly. The standing ovation she received spoke to the profound depth of her performance.

––––––––––––––––––––––––––––– orchestra, he conducted with graceful, sweeping motions. Some of the tempi were on the slower side, but the orchestra played with such conviction and dedication to Jiménez’s vision that none of the music’s momentum was lost.

The youthful energy of the performance excited and delighted, even though many listeners were likely familiar with Stravinsky’s masterpiece. The final sacrificial dance buzzed and hypnotized before ending vigorously and definitively.

On Thursday, the Council for the Advancement and Support of Education and the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching named Barker Professor of Music Theory Brian Alegant a U.S. Professor of the Year. Alegant, one of four professors honored out of a pool of 400 nominees for the national category, is the first music professor to win the award in its 35-year history. CASE and CFAT chose the winners based on criteria that included their approach to teaching, relationship with undergraduates and support by colleagues.

Alegant, who received a doctorate in music theory at Eastman School of Music and master’s degrees in music theory and music history at Temple University, has been noted for his unorthodox teaching style.

According to a press release that accompanied the award announcement, Alegant de-emphasizes tests, lectures and top-down assignments, instead giving students the space to choose what music they want to work with and how they will study it.

Text by Danny Evans, Arts editor Photo Courtesy of Tanya Rosen-Jones

Arts

The Oberlin Review, November 20, 2015

Page 13

Feature Photo: Noname Gypsy

Hip-hop artist Fatimah Warner, known by her stage name Noname Gypsy, performs at the ’Sco among supportive fans. The Femme Artists Breaking Boundaries Initiative, which brought Noname Gypsy to Oberlin on Friday, hosted a question and answer session during which she talked about the importance of femme artists in hip-hop, how labels can divide the rap community and the politics of music ownership. She performed later that night with femme rapper Sasha Go Hard, a prominent artist in Chicago’s drill scene.

Noname’s music is characterized by mellow beats and political messages. Audience members were thrilled to hear an old favorite, “Sunday Morning,” and stood on the stage with her singing along. Noname Gypsy has appeared on Chance the Rapper’s mixtape Acid Rap, Mick Jenkins’ The Waters and Wonderkind’s Write Brain, and her slam poetry has gained recognition in competitions. She is currently working on her debut mixtape Telefone.

Text by Louise Edwards, Arts editor Photo by Aaron Cohen, Staff photographer

Lectures Situate Lucretia in Layered Historical Context Continued from page 10 tion at the Allen gave her a new perspective on Lucretia’s suicide. “In the lectures, [Trinacty] talked about how suicide was a form of heroism [in Ancient Rome],” she said.

Aldridge emphasized that even though the story happened hundreds of years ago, it still has significance in modern society. “It’s still very relevant because obviously these things do happen, to put it bluntly,” she said. “It’s still relevant because you see a lot of these issues of rape culture, which plays a huge part. There’s one character Junius, even though he doesn’t play the rapist, [he] basically represents rape culture because he initiates this whole thing. I wouldn’t say it’s a 100 percent feminist work, but it does show the problems of the patriarchy, and these are problems that exist today; I feel like not much has changed in some regards.”

Both the performers who played the title characters visited the Lorain County Rape Crisis Center and talked to counselors to better understand how rape survivors and victims feel and to learn about the psychological harm caused by rape, which informed their performance.

Field also explained that counselors from the Center were also present to support audience members. “We had the Lorain County Rape Crisis Center there at every performance, so that people could take the experience of the opera and either talk to someone or realize that there were outlets and sources for this sort of thing, so that actually it wasn’t just a pretty little opera happening in a theater; it actually had ramifications outside in the community,” he said. “So yes it was historical, yes it was metaphorical, but yes also at a very real level, [sexual violence is] something that goes on.”

Sports

Page 14

IN THE LOCKER ROOM

The Oberlin Review, November 20, 2015

Strength and Conditiong

This week, the Review sat down with Oberlin College’s new Strength and Conditioning Coach Grant Butler to discuss his pre-Oberlin career, working out with Oberlin’s varsity teams and some useful weight lifting tips.

How long have you been a strength and conditioning coach?

This is going to be my sixth year. I started out at Athletic Republic for several years, then I worked at Carthage College — working with the varsity teams for two years — and now I’m here.

How have you enjoyed your time at Oberlin so far?

It’s been good. The community has definitely been interesting to work with, but the athletes have been awesome and bought into what we’ve been doing. It’s been a lot of fun for me and very rewarding in that sense. The people I work with are very supportive of me and supportive of everything that’s going on in the weight room. It’s been a good change from where I’ve been before.

unique challenge that I’ve been presented with here: How do I get all those different groups to work together to get what they need while working around one another?

What is one significant change from Carthage College that you have noticed working at Oberlin?

I had my own weight room at Carthage College. So the main difference here has been working around the community to make sure they get their work in, so that students get their work in, so athletes can get their work in, and so the faculty can get their work in. That’s the

With that in mind, would you say that the limited space at Philips gym has represented the greatest challenge of your job so far?

It’s definitely been the biggest challenge. Every person needs something different and that spectrum is so wide. We have yoga classes that go on in our only plyometric room and at the same time we have a team next door trying to get loud and

Grant Butler, new strength and conditioning coach revved up for their workout. It gets interesting because you get conflicting needs, and then it’s a matter of how people can meet halfway and acknowledge that it’s impossible for anyone to get everything that they need. But there are enough resources available so that everyone can fulfill at least part of their weight room needs.

What common weight lifting mistakes or bad habits do you notice college students making?

Lack of mental preparation is always the biggest one. Be prepared before you go and get into the lift. If you’re not mentally

prepared going into a lift, you’re going to struggle, and you’re not going to be as focused. One thing I notice about students — especially trying to get into the weight room for the first time or [getting] reacquainted to the weight room — is that they go from zero to 100 miles per hour, and they get burned out too quickly and get discouraged. So it’s one of those things where you need to slowly build yourself up to get to where you need to be; you can’t expect to be in peak shape 24/7, 365 days a year. Everything goes through cycles. [Those are] a couple of the biggest things I see from the weight room from an athlete and student perspective.

Cool or Drool: UFC in Awe Post-Rousey KO Continued from page 16 a few months before her bout against the underdog Holm. Rousey also won the Best Female Athlete and Best Fighter awards at ESPN’s Excellence in Sports Performance Yearly Awards, beating out retiring 49–0 boxer Floyd Mayweather for the latter. With the public’s increasing obsession with Rousey and the media framing her as invincible, was it reasonable to expect her reign to last forever? Did it all get to her head?

If there is one thing the public can be certain of, it is that Rousey will be back. This past year she implied that she may need to leave the UFC to allow the other competitors to evolve, as if her talent was so superior that she would humbly retire to spread the wealth. She suggested a career in boxing, with the goal of ultimately retiring with the WWE as her body deteriorates. While Rousey’s confidence is admirable, her latest defeat suggests that it may be misplaced. Fans want to believe that the stern-faced fighter they see on fight night is Rousey’s alter ego, a goliath she unleashes on her opponents every few months — an unstoppable fury that garners knockouts before the fans even have a chance to eat their first slice of pizza.

But the reality is that Rousey is human, not an infallible, laser-eyed fighting golem made for good television. Unfortunately, her postUFC career plans may now be on hold while Holm holds Rousey’s bantamweight belt.

Some famous fans offered some bizarre speculation as to why Rousey lost. Taz,

former Extreme Championship Wrestling heavyweight champion, is convinced that the fight was fixed. “I’m telling you right now, that whole series was [rigged]. And I’m not sure who was in on it and who wasn’t, but I know this much: The ref probably wasn’t in on it, … Rousey was in on it — and again, this is all my opinion,” he said. He went on to say that this sort of ruse is common in the wrestling industry as a way to give big athletes an excuse to take a break or tend to injuries.

While Taz is probably wrong, Rousey’s loss is more likely due to her lack of boxing experience. Holm is an accomplished boxer who held a 33–2 record before she joined UFC more recently, amassing a 10–0 record with her defeat against Rousey. Instead of playing to her strengths — takedowns and arm bars — Rousey chose to kickbox with Holm, perhaps the one form of combat in which she is less learned than Holm. Rousey chased after Holm, insisting on landing three punches rather than settling for one.

The result: She exhausted herself in one round. Whether this was because Rousey wanted to beat Holm at her own sport, or because she unable to execute her game plan in the ring, one thing is clear: Rousey overestimated her kickboxing abilities.

Since Rousey’s shortcomings as a kickboxer have surfaced, Mayweather has uncharacteristically offered to help Rousey improve her boxing. Mayweather said, supposedly to commiserate with his fellow athlete, “People will love you on Friday, and then

Sunday morning, it’s nothing but negative comments and people making jokes, and people making fun about you, which I don’t think is cool.” It is not expected that Rousey will accept Mayweather’s offer due to their former media beef, and while it could be a sign of an improvement in Mayweather’s behavior, it could also be a continuation of his condescending attitude towards Rousey.

Just as people called Rousey the GOAT for two years, many fans and commentators have already begun to call Holm the potential GOAT just 24 hours after the upset.

Overall, Rousey’s performance was a drool. She chose to strike as opposed to being patient, tiring Holm out and taking the fight to the mat, where she excels. Strange theories aside, it seems as if Rousey may have bought in to her superhuman media image as much as her fans did, her overconfident move leaving her vulnerable to her lack of boxing experience. After her concussion test and plastic surgery on her lip, Rousey announced via Instagram, “I’ll be back.” This is a positive sign that she took this loss seriously, and that the euphoric visions she has portrayed of her career of excelling in four sports can be put to rest for the time being. Rousey finally has an opponent who can motivate her to be better and change expectations. As Anderson Silva, the longest consecutive titleholder in UFC history told Rousey after the fight, “To fall makes us stronger to stand up.” The fans will look to Rousey to stand up as she prepares for her biggest test yet: defeating Holm.

What advice would you give to someone with limited weight lifting experience who is looking to start lifting weights?

Definitely start on machines.

Machines are simple; there are less things that can go wrong.

They show you what you should be feeling and how to do an exercise. They’re a good, simple start to gain confidence. And once you begin to gain confidence, you can start to use dumbbells more, maybe even a barbell. So start slow, start easy, work your way up and definitely ask questions; it’s important to pick people’s brains. One of the things that I don’t think people understand is that the strength and conditioning community is a very accepting community. If you have a question, don’t be afraid to ask somebody such as myself or someone else in a weight room [who] looks like they know what they’re doing. People aren’t going to mind taking a couple of seconds to show you something or to give out a piece of advice. It’s very easily to be mistakenly intimidated in the weight room, especially by someone like me who is always very amped up and passionate about what they’re doing. There are a lot of people that mistake my passion for anger.

I’ve been trying to build a relationship with the community, the students and the faculty so they know I’m just another friendly face, and if they have a question, they are comfortable enough to come and ask me about it.

Interview by Randy Ollie, Sports editor Photo by Ben Shepherd, Photo editor

Men’s Basketball Excels in Home Opener, Now 2–0 Continued from page 16 Cavaco said. “We’ve also got to do better at handling defensive pressure when we have a lead.”

With a veteran roster and two impressive wins to start the season, expectations are high for the Yeomen’s season. When asked about his predictions for the season, ––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––

“We are playing more up-tempo than in previous years, and it fits our personnel well.”

Jack Poyle Junior guard –––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––– however, Cavaco resisted getting ahead of himself.

“I know it’s cliché, but I want to see us continue to push up our level of play. If we can play the right way — as we’ve defined it — for extended periods of time, we can be a really good team,” he said.

Oberlin hits the road this weekend as they travel to New York to face off against Houghton College on Friday. Tip-off is set for 7 p.m.

Sports

The Oberlin Review, November 20, 2015

Page 15

— Cross Country —

Editorial: No Morals, No Sports

Arthur Crowned Regional Champ

Continued from page 16

Sarena Malsin Sports Editor

national sports. The World Anti-Doping Agency commission, a regulatory body in the sporting world, recently released a report naming Russia, Argentina, Ukraine, Bolivia, Andorra and Israel as having breached the Agency’s codes, making them “non-compliant.”

Most of the “non-compliant” countries have been so named for not responding to WADA’s requests for information or for using shady, off-market laboratories not officially accredited, but Russia is the only one to have been accused of state-sponsored doping, making athletic dishonesty essentially a government-sanctioned effort instead of the result of foul play by an overly competitive individual.

The report said that the head of the Russian laboratory — whose accreditation has obviously been suspended — destroyed over 1,400 blood and urine samples that would have otherwise violated WADA’s standards. The report also states that Russian regulatory officials were paid to cover up these dishonest practices, and were guilty of extortion to ensure no sensitive information would be released.

Though this scandal is by no means the first of its kind, it has definitely taken sports corruption to a higher, more disturbing level for a number of reasons.

First, it has turned into an international, politicized slight, drawing friendly international sporting rivalries into the political sphere. The Russian government as a whole is being accused, and it’s not just being accused of dishonesty: It’s being accused of marring results from the 2012 London Olympics, specifically from track and field events. This deceit is an insult to perhaps the largest institution of internationalism and cross-cultural unity in the sports world.

Finally, the report also implicated the International Association of Athletics Federations in cover-ups of doping violations. Former British Olympic Athlete Roger Black reflected the thoughts of many when he stated that these accusations, even before they have been confirmed, “undermine everything.” Because they do. Institutions like FIFA, which regulates the most popular sport in the world, are assumed to be corrupt by default, and now Olympic-level organizations are coming under fire. With the addition of nationally supported doping violations, it’s difficult to see a future where sports continue to serve as a unifier and an escape. The foundations of integrity and honest athletic competition on which the international sporting world was built are crumbling at an exponential rate, and people are losing hope. This might be the most depressing result of WADA’s report. Because if no one has faith in the upheld morals in international sports competitions, I don’t see a future where they continue to exist at all.

The cross country team left their mark on the famous LaVern Gibson Championship Cross Country Course at the regional championship this weekend, with five runners earning All-Region honors and senior Geno Arthur becoming the first individual regional champion in program history.

Head Coach Ray Appenheimer saw the Yeomen’s result as a sign of a turning point for their team. “The men’s team is looking like a better team, and they’ve finished the highest ever,” he said. “Their experience was really reflected this weekend.”

The All-Region runners — first-year Linnea Halsten, juniors E.J. Douglass and Emily Curley and seniors Sarel Loewus and Arthur — helped both the Yeomen and Yeowomen to each finish sixth in overall team standings.

Though the Yeowomen are no strangers to high-powered regional performances, the Yeomen’s finish set another program record.

Douglass said that he thought the Yeomen owed their program best to their

sense of focus approaching the race.

“I think each teammate was thinking something different, [but] the overall mentality could be described as focused and ready to compete,” he said.

Arthur tore through the eight-kilometer course in 25 minutes and 13.7 seconds, putting 10 seconds between himself and the second-place finisher Logan Steiner of Allegheny College — an unusually wide margin for such a competitive meet.

According to Arthur, his game plan of maintaining contact with the front runner, originally Steiner, served him well in his regional race.

“For my race, the part I was most proud of was that [Steiner] started to make his move 10 to 15 meters ahead of the pack, then I caught up with him, and I was happy with how I kept with him and moved on from there,” Arthur said.

However, despite his collection of accolades in his Oberlin career and his regional honors, Arthur made sure to emphasize that he and the Yeomen were racing with a team mentality.

“When I finished, my im-

mediate reaction was to look back and see where everyone was, how everyone was doing,” he said. “Our biggest goal going into regionals was succeeding as a team; everyone had the mentality of ‘I’m going to score for the team and make an impact.’”

Next to cross the finish line for the Yeomen was Douglass, his time of 26:06.3 earning him a 31st-place finish.

His teammates senior Joshua Urso, junior Bradley Hamilton and senior co-captain Robert Moreton made up the rest of the Yeomen’s top five finishers, finishing 36th place at 26:13.3, 56th place at 26:31.9 and 68th place at 26:48.9, respectively.

Moreton’s race came as a personal victory, as it capped off a roller coaster of a season muddled with recurring knee injuries.

“We went to Conferences, and I didn’t have nearly as good of a race as I was hoping for,” he said. “Then we went to regionals, and I had one of the best races of my life. The most exciting part of my race happened around the first mile mark. That’s when I knew, based on my position in the pack and how I was feeling, that I was going to have an amazing race.”

The competition also marked a personal achievement for Halsten, as she concluded her regional debut finishing first for the Yeowomen in 20th place, clocking in an impressive time of 22:39.6 on the women’s course. Curley and Loewus finished nearly in tandem following Halsten at 23:01.1 and 23:01.3, taking 34th and 35th place, respectively.

Curley said the location of the race contributed to the meet’s competitive atmosphere. “The atmosphere was really incredible, and the excitement was amplified by being at Terra Haute and having the opportunity to race on such a famous and historic cross country course,” she said.

The LaVern Gibson Championship Cross Country Course in Terre Haute, IN, is known for being one of the only courses in the world built specifically for cross country races.

Arthur and Head Coach Ray Appenheimer are now traveling to Winneconne, WI, for the 2015 NCAA Cross Country Championships. Arthur will compete for a national title on Saturday, Nov. 21.

— Women’s Basketball —

Two Wins Open Yeowomen’s Season Randy Ollie Sports Editor The Yeowomen improved to 2–0 with a dominant 85–57 win over the Thiel College Tomcats Monday night.

The backcourt of senior guard Lindsey Bernhardt and first-year guard Alexandra Stipano combined for 42 total points, blazing the way for Oberlin. Bernhardt finished the game with 26 points, one shy of a career high, as well as going a perfect 8–8 from the charity stripe and chipping in three assists in the victory. Stipano contributed five assists toward the winning effort in her first collegiate road game. Senior guard Caroline Hamilton also had an impressive performance, adding nine points and a careerhigh seven assists in her starting capacity.

The Yeowomen pounced on the Tomcats early, starting the game with a 17–4 run and finishing the first period with a 23–7 lead. Bernhardt said that the Yeowomen’s depth as well as overall skill and conditioning contributed to their early success.

“Our speed, athleticism and scoring ability has allowed us to speed up the pace of our game, which has caused teams to struggle to keep up with us,” Bernhardt said. “We have a deep bench, so fatigue is not an issue for our team, which has allowed us to run teams off the court.”

Stipano also said the Yeowomen’s speedy pace and their game-time readiness factored into Monday night’s victory.

“The team stepped on the court ready to play,” Stipano said. “We pushed the ball up the court and got plenty of open looks from good passes and quick transitions. When we are in the zone like that, it is hard for any team to stop us, especially right out of the gate.”

Oberlin’s success was not limited to the offensive side of the court. The Yeowomen held the Tomcats to 7-of-38 shooting in the first half, heading into the locker room with a comfortable 45–22 lead. Oberlin finished the game holding Thiel to 26 percent shooting and winning the rebounding battle by an impressive 66–38 margin.

Prior to the game against Thiel, the Yeowomen started its season with a commanding 75–44 victory against the Olivet College Comets in Saturday night’s home opener.

Ten different Yeowomen scored in the game, led by a career-high performance

by Hamilton, who scored 19 points in the win, and a game-high 12 rebound effort by sophomore guard Tyler Parlor, who also chipped in seven points in her first collegiate start. Oberlin’s bench came up big, contributing 39 points in the win. Junior forward Eleanor Van Buren led the second

UPCOMI N G H O ME GAMES

Tuesday, November 24

Wednesday, December 2

7 p.m.

7:30 p.m. Men’s basketball vs. Kenyon College at Philips gym

Women’s basketball vs. Baldwin Wallace University at Philips gym

unit with nine points and six rebounds in 16 productive minutes of play.

With last year’s historic season in the rearview mirror, Hamilton said that the Yeo––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––

“We have a deep bench, so fatigue is not an issue for our team, which has allowed us to run teams off the court.”

Lindsey Bernhardt Senior guard –––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––– women hope to accomplish even more during this year’s campaign.

“We do want to be at the top of the conference this season, and we want to host another home playoff game,” Hamilton said.

“We’re all extremely motivated, and we understand the hard work we have to put in every day to achieve that goal. We are just taking it one practice and one game at a time and focusing on getting better and growing.”

When asked about the Yeowomen’s upcoming tournament, Head Coach Kerry Jenkins said that the keys to success were very simple and that the Yeowomen were more than prepared for the upcoming competition.

“We just need to be ourselves and play our game,” he said. “We’ll be fine as long as we do the things that we’ve been working on in practice.”

The Yeowomen head to Albion, MI, on Friday for the Albion Tip-Off Tournament, where they will face Illinois Wesleyan University at 5:30 p.m. and Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology on Saturday at 1 p.m.

Sports The Oberlin Review

Page 16

November 20, 2015

— men’s Basketball —

Yeomen Firing on All Cylinders Harrison Wollman Staff Writer The men’s basketball team kicked off the 2015–2016 campaign with two impressive victories, defeating Kalamazoo College Saturday with a score of 91–81 and Muskingum University on Tuesday to the tune of 102–94. Offensive firepower came at a premium in both contests for the Yeomen, who were red-hot from the court in both games.

In the season opener against the Kalamazoo College Hornets, the Yeomen started the contest engaged in a back-andforth battle that featured 16 lead changes and eight ties. Coming out of the first half up by three, the Yeomen used several offensive bursts to build their lead all the way up to 22 points with 5 minutes, 14 seconds remaining in the second half, which ultimately allowed them to coast to victory.

Oberlin displayed a wellbalanced attack against the Hornets as five different players scored in double figures. The Yeomen were led by NCAC Player of the Week Jack Poyle, who registered his first career double-double with 19 points and 10 rebounds. Junior guard Nathan Cohen also displayed a hot hand with

a career-high 21 points on six of nine shooting from the field. Senior center and Review Sports Editor Randy Ollie added 14 points of his own, complimented by 11 points from junior guard Zach Meyers and a 10-point effort from junior guard Zach Moo Young.

In Tuesday’s home opener against the Muskingum University Fighting Muskies, the Yeomen came out firing on all cylinders, with 15 first-half points from Poyle and a hardnosed defense to head into the locker room up 49–23 at the half. A tough full-court press allowed Muskingum to mount a second-half comeback as a Muskies’ three-pointer with 97 seconds remaining cut the Yeomen’s lead down to eight. However, the Yeomen were able to hold off the frantic Muskies’ comeback with some clutch freethrow shooting — nine of ten down the stretch — to secure the victory.

The Yeomen shot lights out from the court against the Muskies, shooting .625 as a team to go along with a remarkable .538 from behind the arc. Poyle and Cohen were key to the Yeomen’s offensive effort; the duo tore apart the Muskies’ defense for a combined 48-points. Senior forward Matt Walker was impressive down low, netting 14

Sarena Malsin Sports Editor

Senior center and Review Sports Editor Randy Ollie protects the ball from his Muskingum University opponent in the Yeomen’s home opener Tuesday night. The Yeomen’s 102–94 victory over the Fighting Muskies brought them to a promising 2–0 to start their season.

Photo by Brianna Santiago

points on five of six shooting from the floor. Meyers and Ollie both added 10 points for Oberlin in yet another balanced Yeomen effort, where at least five players scored in double digits.

Walker attributed both victories to Oberlin’s lively style of play and good communication.

“In both games, we were able to score by moving the ball and pushing the ball down the court, allowing [ for] easier offense and quicker shots,” Walker said.

“We have also done a pretty decent job in communicat-

ing on the defensive end for multiple possessions, which helps a lot.”

The Yeomen return all five starters and leading scorers from last year’s squad, leaving Oberlin with a seasoned group of veterans and a starting lineup composed entirely of upperclassmen.

The Yeomen also added seven newcomers who look to provide some helpful depth throughout the season. Poyle pointed out that the great chemistry this year’s team has developed separates them from teams of the past.

PL AYE R OF T HE WE E K

Jack Poyle Junior guard Jack Poyle netted 25 points in the Yeomen’s home opener Monday against the Muskingum University Fighting Muskies, shooting an efficient 9–14 on the night and netting nine rebounds. Poyle was recently named NCAC Player of the Week for his performance at Kalamazoo College, scoring 22 points and snagging 10 rebounds, garnering his first career double-double.

The junior captain is currently averaging 23.5 points and 10 rebounds per game, leading the Yeomen in both points and rebounds while shooting 54 percent from beyond the arc. The Yeomen will travel to New York this weekend to take on Houghton College and Alfred State College.

Photo by Brianna Santiago

Doping Ruins Trust

“We are playing more up-tempo than in previous years, and it fits our personnel well,” Poyle said.

Head Coach Isaiah Cavaco, who is entering his ninth season with the Yeomen, said he knows that his team will need to continue to improve in order to get to where they want to be.

“We need to do better at keeping our defensive focus. Late-shot clock situations have given us trouble and so have defensive possessions late in games,” See Men’s, page 14

Rousey’s Sudden Fall From Grace Dan Bisno Columnist “She’s the type of fighter that [will] ... get me frustrated to the point that I’ll make a mistake, and she’ll try to kick me in the head. But it’s not going to go like that,” Ronda Rousey told Jimmy Fallon on the Tonight Show on Oct. 7 in anticipation of her upcoming fight with Holly Holm. As fate would have it, 59 seconds into the second round at Ultimate Fighting Championship 193 this past Saturday, Holm’s foot connected with Rousey’s head for a knockout, the first of Rousey’s career.

What happened to Rousey? One month ago, fans were calling her the Greatest Of All Time, or “GOAT,” of mixed martial arts. Her 12–0 record seemed untouchable, and after five years on the job she had already begun to discuss retirement.

The frequency with which she adds new weapons to her already dominant arsenal is spectacular to watch, and it is difficult not to wonder if she has become complacent in success.

After all, 2015 was no quiet year for Rousey. In addition to defending her title against Cat Zingano and Bethe Correia, Rousey also published her 320-page autobiography, My Fight / Your Fight, just See Cool, page 14

Call me a biased athlete and sports editor, but sports competitions are one of the last bastions of positive and wholesome interaction between countries. They provide this incredible escape for everybody to care about something within a smaller scope than global politics.

They serve as a funnel for visceral energy and national pride — all in an environment influenced by the basic positive values that athletic participation and competition impart on people. They occur on a national stage, so people internalize these values to show respect to their international counterparts and represent their own countries well.

At least, these values are usually internalized. If they aren’t, there are many regulatory bodies in place to nudge athletes and sports teams in the right direction, intending for their mandates to be followed out of the mutual good faith that arises from athletic competition.

But what’s disappointing is that despite the positive and relatively innocent environment for friendly competition the international sports world provides, this opportunity is often squandered by dishonesty and poor sportsmanship.

Ten years ago, baseball was ruled out as an Olympic sport because of the United States’ reluctance to comply with doping tests. Some years after that, Lance Armstrong, formerly an inspirational icon, was outed for using steroids for international cycling races.

The most recent marring of the international sports stage is sending a ripple effect of distrust and implications of guilt. As a result, fans, athletes and everyone else are once again questioning the future of interSee Editorial, page 15