December 11, 2016

The Oberlin Review

DECEMBER 11, 2015 VOLUME 144, NUMBER 12

Local News Bulletin News briefs from the past week Pipeline Battle Heats Up City Council has hired the Law Offices of Carolyn Elefant, a firm based in Washington, D.C., that specializes in issues relating to the energy industry to legally force Spectra Energy to build its NEXUS pipeline outside of city limits.

The natural gas pipeline, if approved, will pass near the Splash Zone and the city’s recreational complex. Spectra filed its request with the Federal Energy Regulators Commission on Nov. 20 and plans to have the pipeline up and running by the end of 2017.

Council Begins Manager Search City Council has begun looking for a consultant to help with the search for a new city executive, the first step in the search process.

The Council wants an outside firm to recommend a salary, advertise for the position and find qualified candidates. The search firm will then help the Council narrow the field down to five candidates, hopefully concluding the search within four months. Finance Director Sal Talarico will serve as interim city manager after current City Manager Eric Norenburg steps down at the end of the year.

College Sends Letter to White House As the United Nations Climate Negotiation in Paris comes to an end, President Krislov released the text of a letter the College sent to the White House on climate change. Before the talks began, the White House requested that the College reiterate “Oberlin’s commitment to climate action.” The letter describes the College’s main goals in terms of environmental sustainability, including the College’s goal for achieving carbon neutrality by 2025 and assisting the city in becoming carbon positive by 2050.

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New Fund Supports Low-Income Students Katherine Kingma Staff Writer A new fund to support students without the means necessary to front certain financial needs, such as fixing broken technology or paying for groceries over break, launched late last week.

Dean of Students Eric Estes sent out an email last Friday announcing the creation of a new $35,000-per-year Student Support Fund that will go toward financing students with specific needs that are not met by other current funds. The fund has provided financial assistance to 10 students over the past week, and will be in place for a minimum of three years.

“The earmarked funds will be more flexible and broadly defined than existing resources in order to prioritize the needs of students from low-income backgrounds,” Estes wrote in an email to the Review.

Students who want financial support from this fund apply directly to Estes.

“The goal is to make requests happen with as little bureaucracy as possible,” he continued in the email. “While all inquiries will be assessed on a case-by-case basis, the typical range of funded requests will be up to $500. Many students also share that often smaller amounts of support can make a huge difference.”

The Student Support Fund is the latest addition in an effort to increase financial accessibility for students, which includes the expansion of both the Endowed Book Fund, which provides aid for books and supplies, and the Emergency Medical Fund, which helps students pay for medical emergencies.

Like these funds, the Student Support Fund

Student Senator and College sophomore Anjali Kolachalam speaks at plenary on Sunday. Senate, Dean of Students Eric Estes and the Board of Trustees have worked together to start a new Student Support Fund for small grants for low-income students.

Benjamin Shepherd, Photo editor

is financed by the Student Support Initiatives Fund, which was launched March 15 of this year by the Board of Trustees and Board Chair Clyde McGregor, who made a $500,000 commitment to get it started.

The Student Support Fund came out of feedback from the student body on how to best use the money donated by McGregor.

“Eric took it upon himself after some of the concerns raised by students during the Trustee Forum,” said Megs Bautista, Student Senate liaison and College fifth-year. “It was kind of this spur-of-the-moment thing in response to what students were interested in and what they were needing. I think it’s really impor-

Students Protest in Wake of A-House Petition Melissa Harris Staff Writer Rather than Sunday dinner, student diners at Afrikan Heritage House were met with protestors blocking the entrances.

According to members of Oberlin’s Black student union, ABUSUA, as well as other students, the protest was their response to Campus Dining Services’ failure to address their concerns outlined in a petition submitted to the College in late November.

A petition protesting both the quality and selection of food options served at Lord-Saunders Dining Hall began circulating on Wednesday, Nov. 18. Students called for CDS to adhere to more traditional meals, including making fried chicken a permanent feature on the Sunday night menu

and providing more vegan and vegetarian options.

“The food quality at Afrikan Heritage House has decreased dramatically,” wrote Kendra Farrakhan, College senior and one of the authors of the petition, in an email to the Review. “Residents and other students have complained in the past through comment cards, etc., but no improvements were made. The protest on Sunday was a response to CDS and Bon Appétit’s dismissive response to our petition. The petition received almost 500 signatures, yet the administrative response shows that they don’t take us seriously.”

The petition also outlines a list of proposed meals, offering authentic food ideas, recommendations on how to properly prepare food and reduce the amount

of cream used in dishes because, as stated in the petition, “Black American food doesn’t have much cream in it.”

While food quality and preparation were major concerns, –––––––––––––––––––––––––––

“The petition received almost 500 signatures, yet the administrative response shows that they don’t take us seriously.”

Kendra Farrakhan Petition author ––––––––––––––––––––––––––– students also called for better treatment of CDS staff, saying that they wanted “a guaranteed

The Search Continues MRC director candidates will finish presentations next week.

See page 4

tant, and it has been a long time coming.”

Senate worked closely with Estes when coming up with the idea for the fund.

“I sent out a Google form to the whole student body for people to give suggestions on what the funding should be used for,” said Anjali Kolachalam, student senator and chair of the Student Support Initiative Fund Working Group. “And a lot of students wanted individual funding for little things. So Eric emailed me and Jeremy Poe and Meg[s] Bautista and was like, ‘Hey, do you think is a good idea?’

And at this point I’m looking through all this nonsense and thinking, ‘Wow, these students aren’t taken care of on campus.’”

Up, Up and Away Track and field began their winter season at Mount Union College Saturday.

Political Punks Perfect Pussy played a rowdy, subversive set Monday.

See page 10

INDEX:

Opinions 5

This Week in Oberlin 8

See page 16

Arts 10

Sports 16

40 hour work week, benefits for part-time workers, personal days, funding for job training and increased wages.”

The students also want to maintain the house’s orientation toward the community and promote greater benevolence and humanity for CDS workers.

“Bon Appétit is owned by Compass Group, which is a huge international organization that has received food violations in numerous countries,” Farrakhan wrote to the Review. “Until you’ve worked [ for] CDS, you don’t realize how rude, condescending and overbearing the managers are.

And you don’t realize how much food gets thrown away. I would like to see Bon Appétit fired and replaced by something other than See Students, page 4

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The Oberlin Review, December 11, 2015

Students Push for Agreement on College Taxes Oliver Bok News Editor The College owns roughly $200 million of property and pays no tax on the majority of it. Some student activists want that fact to change.

Since nonprofits like the College are exempt from property taxes, the College pays no tax on buildings related to education, such as classroom buildings and dorms.

According to Council member Bryan Burgess, the lack of tax revenue coming from the College breeds resentment and adds to the divide between the College and residents.

“Some people in Oberlin have a lot of animosity,” Burgess said. “The college students get all the same services, but they don’t pay.”

According to Council member Kristin Peterson, the College would pay roughly $4.4 million more in property taxes if it weren’t tax exempt. The city’s expected revenue in 2016 is about $9.3 million in total.

Student activists have begun pushing for the College to make a Payment-in-Lieu-ofTaxes agreement with the city. With a PILOT agreement, the College would make up for lost tax revenue by voluntarily contributing money to the city over a specified period of time.

PILOT agreements are somewhat common in cities where large nonprofit organizations own a lot of property, such as Boston and Baltimore.

To College senior and Responsible Investing Organization member Joelle Sostheim, a PILOT agreement would be a good way to alleviate the wealth inequality between the city and the College.

“There’s a pretty obvious divide between the city and the College. I sort of think of it as an invisible wall. And to me, what stands out is the class difference. There’s a lot of really wealthy people in the College, and the city is largely low-income people. … To me, it seems wrong to have that really strong class divide and not do anything about it.”

Burgess and Peterson both agreed to the idea that a PILOT agreement would help bridge the town-gown divide.

However, to Assistant to the President for Community and Government Relations Tita Reed, a PILOT agreement isn’t necessary because the College helps the community in other ways.

“If you look at all of the other ways in which the College and the town work well together and see mutual benefits — whether it’s through the Bonner Center for Service Learning and so many areas of the community, from the schools to the churches, there are Oberlin College students volunteering their time for community service.”

Reed said that the College helped pay for the city’s new firetruck and, through the Green EDGE Fund, the city’s recycling and refuse trucks. Reed also noted that the College kept the Apollo Theatre open and gave money to construct Splash Zone and the Allen Memorial Hospital.

“We give a lot in a lot of ways,” Reed said.

Reed added that while, to her knowledge, the city had never made a formal request for a PILOT agreement, the College would work with the city in the event of a formal request.

“If the city was to formally submit a proposal and want to have that conversation, we would come to the table. We would have to make a decision one way or the other.”

To Burgess, the College’s requirement that most students live on campus has worsened the situation. According to Burgess, most students used to live off campus and contribute to the local economy with rent.

“College students were paying rent to private homeowners who were then paying income taxes off of that rent,” Burgess said.

“So in a roundabout way, the college students were paying taxes.”

Burgess said that this topic had last come up during the recession when the city had to slash budgets to deal with a significant budget shortfall. Oberlin voters subsequently approved a property tax hike, bringing the rate to 2.05 percent to fund the city government in a difficult period.

“The residents of Oberlin have done their part, and now it’s time to reignite that conversation with the student body,” Burgess said.

Burgess suggested that the student body enact a student fee — he suggested $50 a semester — to fund a PILOT agreement. He agreed with Reed that student contributions to the community should be factored in but

disagreed that student volunteerism makes a PILOT agreement unnecessary.

“It’s a service to the community; there are some things you don’t put a dollar value on, and I think it’s for that reason I’d start out talking about something so low as $50 a semester,” Burgess said. “That’s in recognition of all the other contributions that students already make.”

Sostheim said that while the College will probably not be able to compensate the city for every dollar lost through the institution’s property tax exemption, the College could still make a huge difference.

“Obviously it’s not realistic that the school is suddenly going to dish out $4 million a year,” Sostheim said. “But I do think that they would be capable of paying $700,000 to the city every year. I think that’s something that President Krislov could make happen, or a combination of efforts — maybe 10 extra dollars on tuition, a hundred extra dollars on tuition, something like that — in combination with fundraising. It’s only just that we do that.”

Sostheim added that along with pushing for a PILOT agreement, RIO plans to hold “getting to know Oberlin” panels of community members to educate students about the city next semester.

“I hope that students can be passionate about this, because we take up a lot of space in this community, and it’s really important to be aware of where you’re living, especially if it’s only temporary,” Sostheim said.

Group Expands Fossil Fuel Divestment Proposal Sydney Allen The Oberlin Fossil Fuel Divestment group is unsatisfied with the Board of Trustees’ noncommittal response to its divestment proposal and is firing back with an updated list of demands. The group is now calling for the Board to ban future investments and withdraw current holdings from 200 companies, up from the 12 companies identified in the previous proposal.

“Even if [the Board] isn’t invested now, that doesn’t mean anything for future investments,” said Hayden Arp, double-degree junior and co-author of the divestment proposal. “For all we know, with the statement they made, they could have reinvested the day after they sent the email.”

Board of Trustees Chair Clyde McGregor, OC ’74, told the five members of the Fossil Fuel Divestment group in an email on Oct. 27 that the Board does not invest in the 12 companies that they identified. The Board never issued a public statement regarding the group’s request.

Arp and the other four divestment proposal co-authors, College juniors Ellie Lezak and Jasper

Clarkberg, College sophomore Naomi Roswell and Stephen Lezak, OC ’15, selected the 200 companies in accordance with January’s Fossil Free Index — a list comprised by a group that records global greenhouse gas emissions in an attempt “to source and analyze carbon emissions data and to generate research, benchmarks and investment solutions for investors who are attentive to climate risk,” according to its website. The divestment group was frustrated with the Board’s noncommittal response regarding future investments in the original 12 companies.

The new proposal asks the Board to divest Oberlin’s direct endowment holdings from the 200 listed corporations within the next two years and to assure students that it will refrain from future investments in the companies.

“It’s because of the lack of reinvestment statements that this divestment didn’t have any power,” Ellie Lezak said.

At both Trustee forums this semester, students called for more transparency in the Board’s decision-making process, especially in terms of divestment proposals. The Board rejected Students for a Free

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Palestine’s divestment proposal around the same time that it announced its decision about fossil fuel divestment.

According to the College’s Chief Investment Officer Jainen Thayer, divestment proposals are sent directly to the Investment Office.

Thayer and Sandhya Subramanian, general counsel for the College, then review the proposal together to ensure that it is in good form before passing it along to the Board.

“Good form requires divestment proposals to meet the guidelines for submission, have clear requests and give some type of actionable request to Trustees,” Thayer said.

Once the proposal meets this standard, Thayer and Subramanian pass the proposal to the Board of Trustees’ executive committee.

The executive committee is comprised of 12 members: President Marvin Krislov, Board of Trustees Chair Clyde McGregor, Vice Chair Pat Shanks, Audit Chair Chris Canavan, Investment Co-chair Amy Chen, Budget and Finance Chair Tom Cooper, Academic Affairs Chair Lillie Edwards, Capital Planning Chair Michael Karmarck, Compensation Chair Susan Troy, Development and Alumni Affairs

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

Chair Harlan Waksal, Student Affairs Chair Danette Wineberg and Strategic Planning Steering Cochair Diane Yu. The 12 members of the executive committee decide if the proposal will be shared with the rest of the Board, according to Thayer.

At that point, Thayer said his role switches to a facilitator for the trustees, providing “financial and performance-related information that might be requested by the Board of Trustees.”

“I think that it’s fair to say that the first couple of requests that have come through have really been treated with a great deal of care, and I think in some cases it might have been frustrating that there weren’t answers produced sooner,” Thayer said. “I think that it’s important that everyone understands, what I try to stress when I speak to students, is that there is a lot of care that is actually taken in considering these requests. This is not just a simple yes-no answer.”

As a step toward achieving transparency from the Board, the Fossil Fuel Divestment group added an unprecedented request to its divestment proposal, asking the Board to publish a statement 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

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in The Source, the College’s online publication, detailing its decision on the group’s proposal and policies regarding future investments in the named companies.

“A lot of the power of divestment isn’t in the economic impact it has,” Ellie Lezak said. “It’s in the political statement. It’s about the fact that an institution the size and caliber of Oberlin would publically condemn the fossil fuel industry by choosing not to support them financially.”

Lezak added that Oberlin has the opportunity to become one of the first schools with an endowment of its size to divest from the fossil fuel industry, racing schools like Wesleyan University, Middlebury College, Swarthmore College, Carleton College and Reed College, who are also pursuing aggressive divestment programs.

The proposal has received support from students, alumni, professors and Board members alike. Along with the proposal, divestment group members also obtained letters of support from distinguished alumni and faculty members and the College’s Committee on Environmental Sustainability.

Corrections

Corrections:

The Review is not aware of any corrections week. Interim The article “City Councilthis Appoints City Manager” (Dec. 4,, 2015) incorrectly Thethat Review to print all reported Citystrives Manager Eric Norenberg information as accurately as possible. will move to Delaware, Ohio. He will move to If you feelMilford, the Review has made an Delaware . error, please send an e-mail to managingeditor@oberlinreview.org.

The Oberlin Review, December 11, 2015

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Off the Cuff: Thais Francis, Actor, Writer and Producer Thais Francis is an actor, dancer, singer, writer, producer and instrumentalist who recently released a short film called Late Expectations. Originally from Trinidad and Tobago, Francis grew up in suburban Maryland before graduating from the Tisch School of Arts at New York University with an acting degree. Francis has performed at the Historic Warner Theater in Washington, D.C., Radio City Music Hall and Yankee Stadium in New York City. A recipient of the NYU Nia Award for Lorraine Hansberry Arts, Performance, and Media, Francis was named as one of the 25 Top Innovators Under 25 in America by The Root magazine.

The Review sat down with Francis to talk about her latest project, Late Expectations, which was screened at Wilder Hall on Tuesday night with a question and answer session after.

Where did you draw your inspiration for the film?

I drew my inspiration for the film from seeing people meet everybody else’s expectations and denying their own. I really like looking at Instagram and seeing all these perfect filters and stuff, and I was like, “Well, what’s the real story behind that?” I also wanted to show a story of queer love.

Can you talk about what it was like to star, write and produce your own short film?

I co-produced it with two other individuals that were awesome, and they made the process not as hectic as it could have been, but

Friday, Dec. 4 6:19 a.m. Safety and Security officers responded to a report of vandalism in the restroom on the third floor of Wilder Hall. Nail polish was thrown on several walls and doors and graffiti was written on the walls. A work order was filed for clean up.

10:22 a.m. Staff reported nonoffensive graffiti on the walls inside the student elevator at Mudd library. Custodial staff was called to remove the drawing.

Saturday, Dec. 5 2:01 a.m. Safety and Security officers assisted a student ill from alcohol consumption at Zechiel House. An officer spoke with the student, who was able to answer questions and said they would be staying with a friend for the night.

to write and star in it, for me, was just the natural thing to do. I don’t know anything else, I’ve always written and starred in my own work. I’ve done other people’s work too, but this was a natural thing for me right now — to write and star in my stuff. So it’s hectic, it takes a lot of work, but it’s a gratifying feeling when it’s done.

time, sometimes, and we can do things. And that’s something that’s stuck with me. A lot of people came on board when they didn’t have to, and so I remember those things. We remember these things.

What was the first role that you wrote for yourself ?

Well, actually, I wrote a play and I starred as [the protagonist], but I didn’t mean to star as her. I just had to tell this story and needed actors. But this is actually the first role that I have ever written with myself in mind. I was just like, “I’m going to do this.”

Did writing Late Expectations with yourself in mind for the role of India change your writing process at all?

No, no. Because it’s more about telling the story. I think Thais Francis, writer, producer and star of Late Expectations maybe what can happen is like, “Make sure they get me in my Do you see parts of yourself could choose to write or to act, good light,” or “Let me write reflected in your character?

I would probably act. it this way because they can Yeah, in the story she got hear me sing at this point.” But into Brown University, which is What was the most challengit’s like no, if I write a story it what I wanted to do but never ing part about making this has to stay with the character. could do. Her boyfriend has film with a small budget?

And I, as the person and the ac- dreadlocks, which goes along Getting favors and getting tor, have to believe what is be- with the aesthetic of my life. people to do stuff for me for ing told by that person and at free — that was the biggest that time. But I’m not going to Which is your favorite out challenge. But what I’m discovwrite something where she’s an of writing, producing and ering is when people believe opera singer and knows Shake- acting? in the work, they’ll do it. Bespeare sonnets because it has I love acting. That’s what I’m cause as much as we say we’re to be true to something I can here for, to be seen. But I re- busy and we don’t work for free, do because I’m starring in it. ally enjoy writing, too. But if I we’re all human beings with

2:53 a.m. Safety and Security officers assisted a student ill from alcohol and drug consumption at Barrows Hall.

The student was transported to Mercy Allen Hospital for treatment.

Sunday, Dec. 6 1:16 a.m. Safety and Security officers assisted a student having an allergic reaction at Barrows Hall. The student was transported to Mercy Allen Hospital for treatment.

2:26 a.m. Safety and Security officers assisted an intoxicated student at Asia House. The student was transported to Mercy Allen Hospital for treatment.

1:38 a.m. Safety and Security officers and members of the Oberlin Fire Department responded to a fire alarm at Stevenson Dining Hall. A leaking copper line on a large compressor was found to be the cause of the alarm. Facilities Services was contacted for repairs.

9:29 p.m. A student reported a leaking pipe at the west interior basement door of Asia House. Safety and Security officers responded and found that the drain trap was loose from the pipe. Facility Services was contacted for repair.

Monday, Dec. 7 2:39 a.m. Safety and Security officers and members of the Oberlin Fire Department responded to a fire alarm at South Hall. A strong odor of burnt marijuana was detected upon entry to the building.

The resident of the room in question denied smoking at the time of the alarm, but said they were burning a candle.

The student was advised of the College’s smoking policy.

2:00 a.m. Custodial staff reported non-offensive graffiti in the A-level restrooms at Mudd library. Custodial staff was on duty for clean up, and the graffiti was removed.

1:10 p.m. A student reported the theft of their OCID from the locker room at Warner Center. The ID was canceled.

2:25 p.m. A Safety and Security officer observed two individuals smoking on the roof of South Hall. The officer made contact with the students, told them they were not permitted on the roofs of College buildings and reminded them of the College’s smoking policy.

3:05 p.m. A student reported the theft of their bicycle from outside the Conservatory sometime in the past two weeks. The bicycle is a purple and silver Roadmaster, 21 speed. The bicycle was secured with a cable at the time of theft.

4:11 p.m. Safety and Security officers and members of the Oberlin Fire Department responded to a fire alarm in DeCafé at Wilder Hall. Smoke from burnt food triggered the alarm. The area was cleared and the alarm reset.

What’s next for you?

I have a show that’s going up next week, a play called Outcry, based off of the lives of Trayvon Martin, Emmett Till, Amadou Diallo, Sean Bell and Nicole Bell. It’s going up in St. Croix, which is where I’m currently doing an artist residency.

I’m working on a feature. Hopefully next month I’ll be shooting another short that I plan to direct. And writing more films, and doing them, and being an actor, and living life and not succumbing to pressures of societal norms of routine and banality in order to create an income and conundrum for the rest of my life.

What drew you to do the residency in St. Croix?

Well, I got the artist residency, but I love St. Croix. I had never been there prior to the residency, so when I got there was when I fell in love with it.

It’s an untapped place. Tourists know about it, but it’s not the most popular [island]. The beaches are beautiful, there are rain forests, really awesome people. I feel good there. I love it.

Interview by Tyler Sloan, News editor Photo courtesy of Thais Francis

5 p.m. Safety and Security officers and members of the Oberlin Fire Department responded to a fire alarm at a Goldsmith apartment. Smoke from burning sage caused the alarm. The area was cleared, and the alarm reset.

Tuesday, Dec. 8 1:54 p.m. Members of the Oberlin Police Department advised Safety and Security of an abandoned bicycle belonging to the Bike Co-op on East College Street by the Cable Co-op.

A Safety and Security officer responded and the bicycle was transported to the Security Office for pick up by Bike Co-op staff.

6:19 p.m. A Safety and Security officer on patrol observed that the stop sign in the northwest corner of the Stevenson parking lot had been driven over, breaking off the pole below ground level. A maintenance technician responded and repaired the sign.

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Search for MRC Director Continues as Candidates Visit College Xiaoqian Zhu Only three candidates remain in the search for the new director of the Multicultural Resource Center.

The first candidate to visit was Dr. Carmen Phelps, the director of Student Engagement for the Office of Institutional Diversity, Equity, Advocacy and Leadership at Temple University and author of the 2012 book, Visionary Women Writers of Chicago’s Black Arts Movement.

A native of Ferguson, MO, Phelps produces multicultural and social justice programs and advocates for Temple’s student body.

Phelps holds a B.A. and a B.S. in journalism and African-American studies, respectively, from the University of Kansas, Lawrence; an M.A. in English from Chicago State University; and a Ph.D. in literature with a focus on activist writing at George Washington University.

“It’s very important to me that students feel comfortable to share their stories with me and not just because we want them to come together, or I want them to come together and have these kumbaya moments, but because [the students’ experiences] are intended to be used in forming policy,” Phelps said.

The MRC Director Search Committee held the first student listening session for one of the three job candidates on Wednesday. The session included a 15-minute presentation by Phelps, followed by a 75-minute question and answer session open to the audience.

The Search Committee, composed of six administrators, five student representatives and three faculty members, was present at this open forum along with other students.

During her presentation, Phelps focused on prioritizing students’ experiences when discussing her vision for the MRC here at Oberlin.

“There has to be integration between the theoretical and the lived, the academic and the practical,” Phelps said. “Ultimately, we prioritize these living experiences that are going to feed into our ap-

proaches in advancing social justice on this campus.”

Phelps also called upon students in the room to challenge themselves in further advancing social justice on campus.

“There is incredible legacy here at Oberlin, and I fully appreciate that,” Phelps said. “But I just would really like to see that you all begin to challenge yourselves a lot more in these areas, to think about your respective roles in this work for what I identify [as] majority students, allies and advocates, underrepresented groups, students of color, LGBTQIA+ communities, first-gen, socioeconomically disadvantaged students, students with disabilities, international students, etc. You all start to do more when you come to think about [what] your unique experiences and challenges are on this campus.”

Students were invited to ask questions and provide feedback during the session. Isabella Ruston, program associate for the MRC and a College sophomore, said that it is important for an MRC director to build trust and relationships with students, foster a protective environment and also provide support for demands by activists in diverse communities.

“Creating a space where interpersonal relationships can be built — that is accessible to the multiple, intersecting, underrepresented communities — is vital,” Ruston said. “I would want the MRC director to be committed to creating these ‘diverse’ spaces at the same time as supporting [the] radical and political needs that specific communities have voiced for what sounds like has been a long time on this campus.”

College first-year Mackenzie Lew said that the MRC director should be able to communicate well between the students and the administration, as well as be able to support students in many different ways.

“I think being accessible to students is the most important thing,” Lew said. “After going to the listening session, I’m excited to be more involved in what the MRC does but also how it follows its mis-

sion in helping underrepresented students.”

The campus feedback from earlier this semester has been vital to the Search Committee’s decision –––––––––––––––––––––––––––

“Creating a space where interpersonal relationships can be built — that is accessible to the multiple, intersecting, underrepresented communities — is vital.”

Isabella Ruston MRC Program Associate ––––––––––––––––––––––––––– making in arriving at the three selected candidates, according to David Kamitsuka, chair of the Committee and associate dean of the curriculum.

“We spent the first several weeks of the semester listening to students, faculty and staff about their assessment of the MRC and their hopes for its future,” Kamitsuka wrote in an email to the Review. “Ultimately, over 100 students, faculty and staff provided feedback.”

Kamitsuka also said that the feedback received had a direct influence on the job description of the Director of the MRC and Associate Dean of Students position and will continue to guide the selection process.

The other two listening sessions will be held on Friday, Dec. 11 at 4:30 p.m. and Monday, Dec. 14 at 4:30 p.m. at Wilder Hall, Room 101.

Dr. Millicent Carvalho-Grevious, a contract mediator and individualized education program facilitator for the Office of Dispute Resolution at the Pennsylvania Department of Education, will engage in a similar presentation on Friday; Dr. Teresita Levy, an associate professor of Latin American and Puerto Rican Studies at Lehman College and associate director of the Center for Latin American, Caribbean, and Latino Studies at City University of New York, will visit on Monday.

Dr. Carmen Phelps, a Multicultural Resource Center director candidate, speaks to students on Wednesday. Two other candidates, Dr. Millicent Carvalho-Grevious and Dr. Teresita Levy, will visit the College Friday and Monday, respectively.

Briana Santiago, Staff photographer

The Oberlin Review, December 11, 2015

Until Next Time: What’s to Come Next Semester Tyler Sloan News Editor Strategic Plan: College President Marvin Krislov said that a final draft of the Strategic Plan will be published in March.

The Steering Committee released a draft, titled Oberlin College Strategic Plan 2016-2021: Shaping the Future, on Tuesday, Oct. 26, which was met with student concern regarding ambiguous language and future plans.

City Manager: Interim City Manager Sal Talarico will take over for outgoing City Manager Eric Norenberg when he leaves for a new management position in Milford, Delaware on Jan. 1. Talarico will serve as interim manager until the Council selects a permanent replacement by April.

Ta-Nehisi Coates Dinner and Discussion: Author of the nationally acclaimed book Between the World and Me, TaNehisi Coates will host a dinner and discussion on Thursday, Feb. 4 at the Lewis House and Religious Life Center. Coates is a national correspondent for The Atlantic, where he writes about culture, politics and social issues. Between the World and Me was named one of the top 100 books of 2015 by The New York Times.

Multicultural Resource Center: The MRC continues its search for a new director with two candidates visiting campus in the next two weeks. Dean of Students Eric Estes said that a decision will be made shortly after all candidates’ presentations are completed.

Peter B. Lewis Gateway Center and Parking: The Peter B. Lewis Gateway Center is scheduled for completion by this winter, but the issue of parking space is still unresolved. As construction nears completion, City Council and the College continue debating how to address local business owners’ concerns regarding the loss of parking spaces. Local business owners fear that depleting the already scarce public parking downtown will result in decreased patronage and retail.

Renewable Energy Certificates: City Council tabled the discussion about how to allocate almost $800,000 in RECs until Monday, Dec. 21. Council is expected to make a decision early next year on how to invest the funds.

Students Stage Sit-In at Afrikan Heritage House Continued from page 1

that CDS is working to meet the demands stated in the petition, many students are still concerned with the integrity and intention of Afrikan Heritage House’s space.

“We students are concerned about our safety,” said Gloria Lewis, College sophomore. “And so beyond that, it’s about having a safe space. So it’s not just the dining hall. It’s everything. It’s the posts on Yik Yak. It’s the micro-aggressions.”

Beyond the concerns of Afrikan Heritage House, Lewis said that she would like to see more oppression training held by faculty and staff on

an international corporation. I would like to see the chefs have the respect and autonomy to cook the food they love.”

Director of Business Operations and Dining Services Michele Gross, one of the main adminstrators students want to open a dialogue with, responded to the incident this past Sunday.

“We see dining at LordSaunders as critically important and support Black students as they make their voices heard and concerns known,” Gross wrote in an email to the Review. “We –––––––––––––––––––––––– began making initial changes over the past couple of “So it’s not just the weeks. We will be providing dining hall. It’s eva detailed response including specific action steps and erything. ... It’s the a precise timeline that will micro-aggressions.” address each concern in order to assure students that Gloria Lewis we will make this program a College sophomore great dining experience.”

––––––––––––––––––––––– Gross presented initial feedback to the Africana campus. She also expressed community at a meeting on a wish for more Black faculty Thursday at 4:30 p.m. in Lord and administrators to help lounge. While Gross claims meet the students’ demands.

Opinions The Oberlin Review

December 11, 2015

Letters to the Editors

Please Don’t Feed the Pipelines To the Editors:

As someone fully opposed to fossil fuel pipelines, I am thrilled that the city of Oberlin is able to engage the help of such an experienced attorney as Carolyn Elefant in litigating to prevent pipelines (not merely rerouting them). We need all the help that we can get.

What still needs editorial focus is that Oberlin College built a new gas plant — yes, a new fossil gas-burning — when it can be expected to know better.

It is precisely new gas plants — like Oberlin College’s — that “demand” gas from pipelines.

Please don’t feed the pipelines.

Consider Ball State University in Indiana — much less famous than Oberlin and much bigger, with around 21,000 students

— which faces similarly fierce winters. By 2014, it had finished installing a geothermal system on its main campus of 47 buildings and shut down its coal-fired burners.

In 2011, Oberlin College installed a full geothermal heating and cooling system for the Allen Memorial Art Museum. Yet in 2014, Oberlin College built a new gas-burning plant. Oberlin College should not make excuses ( financial, well-intentioned, pseudo-green “transition-fuel short-term” or otherwise) for not outfitting the rest of the campus with renewable, geothermal energy.

– Aliza Weidenbaum Oberlin resident

Elisha Gray Holds Important Place in TIMARA Studio

To the Editors: I was very pleased to see Elisha Gray briefly featured in the Nov. 20, 2015 issue of The Oberlin Review. Indeed, all Obies should know him: an Ohio native, Oberlin student, then Oberlin faculty member and the true inventor of the telephone.

But even more notable, especially to the TIMARA studio, is that he also invented the firstever electro-mechanical musical instrument in 1874. It was called the Musical Telegraph. It had a two-octave keyboard and generated sounds from metal reeds activated by electromagnets. It is now at the Smithsonian. Plans are being made for an on-campus exhibition some time during the next school year.

– Roderic Knight Emeritus Professor of Ethnomusicology

Naked Run Helps Students Face Insecurities CJ Blair Columnist If there’s a better way to relieve the stress of finals than streaking through a library, I have yet to find it. Of all the strange traditions at Oberlin, the Naked Run is not only one of the most outrageous but also one of the most polarizing. This isn’t surprising, but those who say it’s too shocking or ridiculous to try may not realize its emotional benefits. The Naked Run is a rare opportunity for Oberlin students to confront insecurities about their body image, and in doing so, reject thoughts that prevent them from feeling confident.

When I talk about the Naked Run, I’m speaking from experience. Every semester, at 10 p.m. on a night during reading period, over 100 Oberlin students crowd into the second floor of Mudd library to take off their clothes and sprint through the building in a fleshy blur. When I got to Oberlin I told myself that I wouldn’t miss any opportunities, and I considered the Naked Run the ultimate test of this promise. But when I got to the library, ready to prove myself, I was terrified. I imagined people would laugh at my scrawny arms, flat butt and scattered chest hair when they saw me, and I debated dropping out until the last minute. Once I started running, though, all that doubt and panic vanished.

As I pumped my legs through the bound periodicals section, I realized I didn’t care what people thought of me. It’s tempting to say that the Naked Run provides a chance to feel great about your body, but this isn’t exactly true. Some of the

people who do it have excellent bodies, but the vast majority are like me: average-looking humans with imperfections that are easy to obsess over.

The Naked Run doesn’t delude us into thinking our bodies are flawless. Instead, it shows us how many people share the features we get worked up about and reminds us that they’re trivial.

Accepting these flaws unveils all of the other things that we give obsess and fret over, particularly during finals week. When I ran through Mudd library, I wasn’t just accepting the flaws of my body; I was accepting my trouble with romance, organic chemistry and social interaction.

Doing the run didn’t make me think I was good ––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––

The Naked Run doesn’t delude us into thinking our bodies are flawless.

Instead, it shows us how many people share the features we get worked up about and reminds us that they’re trivial.

––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––– at any of these things, but it reminded me how little it mattered that I wasn’t. The Naked Run is a case of such radical exhibition that it becomes an internal experience as well as an external one.

When you run naked for an audience, you’re not just taking off your clothes — you’re removing See Students, 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

Winter Term Committee Must Revise Grant Policy With the end of the semester fast approaching, many students are organizing housing and transportation funds for Winter Term. While some students can afford to front the costs of living and dining for the month of January, many require funding or scholarships to supplement projects that do not receive payment, as per College policy. That’s where the Winter Term Committee comes in. The committee, a group composed of nine faculty and staff members and two students who sit on the Student Finance Committee, awards group and individual grants to approximately 250 students every year.

The committee’s grant allocation budget stays relatively consistent from year to year, totaling around $35,000 with fixed contributions from the College, Conservatory and Student Finance Committee, as well as varying donations from alumni and outside grants. Group grants are generally more common because the deadline for completing them is earlier. These grants also tend to be more expensive, as they often need to accommodate a large number of students or fund international travel.

While these accommodations for low-income students are appreciated, more can be done with funding allocation to ensure that Winter Term projects, here and abroad, are accessible to everyone, regardless of financial status. As with any institution, the committee should adopt a need-sensitive approach to grant funding. For individual applications, there should be a required financial need question, and for group applications, leaders should allot a portion of their budget specifically for financial assistance.

As the number of students applying for Winter Term grants increases, a change in policy becomes even more necessary. As of now, the committee’s policy is to prioritize funding a higher number of projects over allocating larger grants, therefore giving smaller amounts per grant. For Winter Term 2016, there were 25 applications for group grants, totaling 275 student spots. Fiftyseven students applied for individual grants, an increase of seven from last year. While there is an option for individual applicants to give the committee permission to access their financial aid information, this is not an option for group grants. As of now, there is no guarantee that low-income students will receive any more financial assistance than students who can otherwise afford to pay the expenses of their chosen project or internship.

As with any institution, Oberlin students vary in their economic privilege or lack thereof. While students who can afford project expenses have the right to apply for grants, there should be policies in place to ensure that priority goes to low-income students. This is a perfect opportunity for the College to demonstrate that it supports low-income students — a mantra that it proudly wears on its sleeve.

In a perfect world, the question of inadequate funding support would be answered with increased contributions toward the fund, whether it be from the College, Conservatory and SFC’s budgets or alumni donations — something that is improbable, if even possible. Perhaps a way to cycle into a system of more sustained support would be to consolidate a list of funding sources both inside and outside of Oberlin. As of now, funding assistance is scattered across various websites, departments and buildings.

With consolidation, students would be aware of all project funding opportunities applicable to their project.

For a short project lasting only three and half weeks, students shouldn’t be burdened with finding cheap housing and transportation at the cost of losing a competitive internship or group trip abroad. In a job economy where employment is scarce and obtaining a fixed livable wage is even scarcer, increasing opportunities for low-income students is especially vital in creating a foundation for further success.

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, December 11, 2015

Media Outlets Highlight Trump’s Hypocrisy Students Confront Kiley Petersen Opinions Editor I think it’s no surprise to anyone at Oberlin that Donald Trump is, in no particular order, racist, sexist, homophobic, ableist, a xenophobic bigot, a white supremacist, a man with atrocious hair and an absolutely terrible Republican candidate for the 2016 presidency. A list of his actions in the past 177 days since he announced his candidacy reads like a badly-written joke: Ban all Muslims from the U.S.; Mexican immigrants are all drug dealers, criminals and rapists; Megyn Kelly has blood coming out of her “wherever.” One of my favorite tweets about Trump, posted on Nov. 22, is from user @mamasnark and reads: “Basically, Trump is what would happen if the comments section became a human and ran for president.”

In progressive circles, Trump’s candidacy was at first a joke, a political farce that no one on the left took seriously.

Who would vote Donald Trump — in-

famous for his obsession with Obama’s of Stormfront — the most popular white birth certificate and incestous com- supremacist website on the internet — ments about his daughter Ivanka — said that “[Trump is] certainly creating into the office of the most influential person in the world? In more conserva- ––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––– tive circles, however, Trump’s “trolling” In more conservative circles, comments struck gold. Finally, here was someone whose beliefs and morals sus- however, Trump’s “trolling” tained the white supremacy underlying comments struck gold. Fithe patriotic narrative of the American nally, here was someone whose Dream and the Founding Fathers.

Recently, however, Democrats have beliefs and morals sustained realized that “Trump is No Longer a the white supremacy underlyLaughing Matter,” to quote a Dec. 10 New ing the patriotic narrative of York Times article. Scott and Steve Leader, two brothers from Boston, urinated the American Dream and the on and beat a homeless Hispanic man Founding Fathers. on Aug. 19, quoting Trump as inspira––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––– tion for the assault: “Donald Trump was right — all these illegals need to be de- a movement that will continue indepenported,” Scott Leader told police officers. dently of him even if he does fold at some According to a report by Politico, white point. … He has sparked an insurgency supremacist and Neo-Nazi websites have and I don’t think it’s going to go away.” seen spikes in website traffic after Trump With the left’s increasing realization that speaks at political events or offers a comment to the media. Don Black, a founder See Trump, page 7

Free Speech Still in Student Body’s Best Interest Aaron Pressman Columnist On Dec. 4, College junior Jasper Clarkberg wrote a response titled “Non-Black Allies Must Engage With Protest Critics” to my Nov. 6 column in the Review, “Discouraging Dissent Stifles Intellectual Growth.” I appreciate Clarkberg taking the time to respond to such an important issue and would like to rebut some of his concerns.

First off, Clarkberg makes the argument that “nobody is punishing dissenters legally, financially or academically,” and that “Obies are not responsible for actively engaging with minority opinions.”

While I concede that the administration does not usually punish dissenters for protected speech, my argument has nothing to do with legal protections and everything to do with effective education, morality and the best way to create real change. Obies are certainly not legally responsible for engaging with dissent. That would be not only unproductive, but also a serious violation of individual liberties. However, students are educationally responsible for engaging with minority opinions; humans are morally responsible for tolerating and respecting dissent and activists are tactically responsible for engaging with dissent. I elaborate on these arguments with more detail and examples in my original piece.

Clarkberg’s second rebuttal is specifically about the issue of racist opinions. He writes, “If Oberlin’s campus seems unwelcoming to racist opinions, that’s good for a campus that claims to be inclusive for minority racial and ethnic groups.”

This is not a rebuttal to my argument but merely a straw man.

I very clearly outline two separate categories of protected speech.

While both types should be legally protected, I am not expecting students to engage with off-the-wall racist speech that is widely viewed as offensive and lacks any educational value. An individual saying that whites are the superior race would be an example of this. While this type of speech must be legally protected, I am not expecting anyone to engage with or even respect this type of speech.

Instead, I ask Oberlin students to engage with or tolerate the more common form of speech that is not widely considered racist, even if it may be viewed as racist or offensive by some people at this school. An example I cite in my previous article is an individual who does not support the Black Lives Matter movement. While I would vehemently challenge anyone who makes the argument that there is no racism in policing in the United States, students should not attack individuals who hold this belief personally or refuse to engage them in conversation. Instead, they can engage the speaker and try to hold an intellectual discussion or change their viewpoint.

I think Clarkberg is very wrong when he claims the language I used in my original piece — “students dismiss[ing] dissenting views as ‘violent’ so as to avoid having to acknowledge their existence” — is the same thing as simply disagreeing. Students may disagree with many mainstream opinions, and there are many mainstream beliefs I find to be racist or hateful. However, refusing to tolerate the existence of these opinions benefits no one. Fruitful discourse is a much more productive solution than running for a safe space.

Clarkberg’s next argument is that leftist students at Oberlin are often the minority in other places and thus experience this same peer censorship elsewhere. “While it may seem like the radical left is the norm at Oberlin, many leftist students have had the experience of being shut down and disrespected for their beliefs outside of Oberlin,” he writes.

These are my favorite 32 words from Clarkberg’s article, and I want to thank him for outlining the crux of my argument in such

a succinct way. I like this sentence so much that I probably should have included something along these lines in my original piece. For the very reason Clarkberg outlines, radically leftist Oberlin students should understand why respecting the opinions of others is so important. They should understand why peer censorship is terrible for society because they have presumably been on the other side of it.

Clarkberg is right when he says, “this isn’t simply a partisan issue.”

Currently, the left seems to be responsible for most of the ostracizing of opposition on college campuses. Of course, in many parts of the country — particularly outside the realm of colleges — the right is guiltier of shutting out and excluding opposing views. If so many leftist students have had “the experience of being shut down and disrespected for their beliefs outside of Oberlin” and presumably did not like it, why do the same to dissenters when on campus?

At least when being shut down at the Thanksgiving dinner table — an example Clarkberg cites — education and tolerance of others’ opinions are not part of the mission of the Thanksgiving meal. At Oberlin, the radical left is actually shutting down one of the primary purposes of this very institution. It almost seems like Clarkberg is arguing that because life is unfair outside of Oberlin, we should make it even more unfair at Oberlin; this seems to be exactly what many students have done. This is a very naïve approach that has no place in an institution of higher learning.

Finally, Clarkberg reverses his stance mid-article and claims that my argument actually is valid but not for minorities. “I think his complaint could be specifically applied to allies. In terms of racial justice, it is the job of white and non-Black allies to educate and win over their white peers.”

While this is a contradiction to all of his other arguments, I do appreciate that he at least finds my argument applicable to some members of the campus community. I suppose having some of the student body participate in discourse is better than none.

However, only expecting whites to participate in conversation is a terrible idea that only exacerbates an already-existing racial power disparity. I am very surprised that Clarkberg, who frames most of his argument in the context of racial justice, would want whites to continue to speak out more than minority communities and would encourage a campus culture in which most of the educational conversation occurs between whites.

While I believe Clarkberg’s intentions are good, and I appreciate that he at least believes that marginalized people should have a “space to express themselves on their own terms,” holding whites to a higher standard of discourse, thus creating a system where whites receive a more well-rounded education, is a huge step backward for civil rights.

Clarkberg further contradicts himself when he quotes Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and then, two sentences later, argues that white students should be the only ones expected to get involved with debate. Dr. King was very adamant about taking action and fighting against oppression, and Clarkberg is completely misrepresenting a great civil rights leader.

Free speech and fruitful discourse will always be the most productive way to learn and create change. Hiding from scary ideas or asking whites to act as spokespeople for minorities only makes problems worse.

Anxiety Through Public Nudity Continued from page 5

your ability to fixate on anything that induces self-doubt or stress.

For college students, whose minds run rampant with unwanted anxiety, the Naked Run is the best tool I have found for combating these feelings.

This is why it needs to be as accessible as possible. The Naked Run is a time to embrace your appearance, but people may be unwilling to join if they’re afraid their ethnicity or gender identity will make them stick out in the crowd. Similarly, the physical demand of running may be stopping people who might otherwise join.

These aren’t easy concerns to address, but if event coordinators and people who have run before reached out to a wide range of students, it would go a long way toward making the run more inclusive. Also, if there were a time where participants stood naked on the first floor, this would allow those who don’t want to or are unable to run to join as well. The –––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––

For college students, whose minds run rampant with unwanted anxiety, the Naked Run is the best tool I have found for combating these feelings. This is why it needs to be as accessible as possible.

––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––– run already designates the A-level of Mudd as a safe space for people who don’t want to see it, which is a great step toward accommodating people’s preferences. A bit more effort on the part of Naked Run veterans could go a long way to ensuring that anyone who wants to do the run knows about it and that fewer people will feel discouraged from joining.

If these suggestions sound radical, it’s because the circumstances are too. The Naked Run may not be the only answer, but Oberlin students need an opportunity to realize that there’s nothing about themselves to be scared or ashamed of. The Naked Run is a cordial farewell to the thoughts that keep students from feeling confident and liberated, which can drastically change the way they see themselves. I, for one, have never been the same since my first Naked Run. I hope you’ll join me for my third.

Opinions

The Oberlin Review, December 11, 2015

Page 7

U.S. Must Accept China’s Economic Rise Sean Para Columnist The U.S. is no longer in a league of its own among the world powers. The end of the Cold War ushered in a prolonged period of undisputed American hegemony, but the emergence of China as the second-largest economy in the world and an increasingly crucial hub of the global economy — coupled with China’s enormous investment in its military — signals the end of uncontested American dominance. The International Monetary Fund recently made the renminbi, the currency of the People’s Republic of China, an official world reserve currency alongside the American dollar, the Euro, the British pound and the Japanese yen. The emergence of new great powers is a phenomenon that can be seen throughout history. The U.S. should and must accept that its influence on the international stage is waning for the first time since 1991 and deal China into the international system rather than try to oppose or control it.

The beginning of the 20th century presents an analogous situation to the rise of China. By 1900,

Britain was the preeminent world power and had been for the better part of a century. The rising powers, on the other hand, were the U.S. and Germany. Both countries had seen huge economic growth in the past half-century and were seeking to cast a larger shadow on the international stage. However, Germany’s aggressiveness, coupled with the desire of Britain, France and Russia to contain the titan emerging in the heart of Europe led to two disastrous world wars and the collapse of the Eurocentric world system that had dominated since the Age of Exploration. The United States took a different path — it was accepted as a major power by Britain, France and the older European powers. It did not embark on expansionist wars in the same way Germany did; instead, it sat out of World War I until the end and fought the major battles of World War II far from its home territory. The result of these divergent trajectories was that by 1945, the United States and the Soviet Union stood in a league of their own. As the first “superpowers,” they were capable of exercising influence and deploying military force around the world — not only to create a

Trump Campaign Should Not Be Treated as a Joke Continued from page 6 Trump’s politics are violent and not just clowning around, the media is taking a stand against his bigoted campaign — an effort I applaud. On Monday, The Huffington Post reversed their decision to cover Trump’s campaign in the “Entertainment” section of the site, instead moving it back to the “Politics” sphere. Editor-in-chief Arianna Huffington explained that the Post still wouldn’t be treating his campaign like a normal one — they would still point out the obvious and subtle bigotry in his remarks. The Wednesday edition of the New York Daily News showed a front page political cartoon of Trump, comparing his Muslim ban to the xenophobia of Nazi Germany. NBC News journalist Tom Brokaw criticized Trump’s ban, comparing it the internment of Japanese Americans and the genocide of Jewish people by the Nazis. This marks an interesting trend in mass media coverage of political campaigns. While journalists have never refrained from commenting on candidates’ policies or speeches in the opinions section or from drawing a political cartoon, besides the occasional official editorial endorsement, news reporters are supposed to refrain from remarks about candidates. Some people are angry that Trump’s campaign is receiving special treatment from the media — why not present all campaigns fairly and accurately and not worry about personal beliefs toward candidates?

I think that reporting thoroughly, accurately and ethically on Trump requires a full dismantling of his politics — and his politics happen to harm entire groups of people. I also think that Trump’s political campaign is unlike any modern journalists have seen in the U.S. The line is blurred between objectivity and subjectivity in journalism — we can see that through multiple instances comparing how the media reports on Black murders vs. white terrorism. Reporters must hold Trump accountable for his words and actions and call out his xenophobia and bigotry when they find it.

So yes, the 2016 presidential campaign will be reported on much differently than in years past, but that is because the stakes are higher. How the mass media covers Trump and the other candidates could very well change the results of the race.

formal empire, but to direct events in countries all around the world.

Germany, on the other hand, was devastated by having lost two global wars. While there had been a consortium of great powers that –––––––––––––––––––––––––––

The U.S. should and must accept that its influence on the international stage is waning for the first time since 1991 and deal China into the international system rather than try to oppose or control it.

––––––––––––––––––––––––––– dominated global affairs before the world wars, after World War II, the United States and the Soviet Union existed in a league of their own.

China is the first country to attain this level of power since then.

Both the U.S. and China have much to learn from the global drama and power struggle of the 20th century. China should understand that it is not necessary to use force to become a superpower

— economic influence beats out military might over time. It is easier to achieve political dominance through economic heft coupled with the threat of force than aggressive wars of conquest. The U.S. was an influential economic power long before it was a military one, as China is in modern times. The U.S., for its part, must realize that China does not represent a threat to its existence. Instead, it is possible to deal China into the club of preeminent powers, as Great Britain and France did with the U.S. in the early decades of the 20th century.

There can be peaceful coexistence between the U.S. and China.

We live in a very different world than the one our predecessors did a century ago. The global economy is more interconnected than ever.

A war between the U.S. and China is extremely unlikely, given the two countries’ intertwined economies.

Nonetheless, China has become increasingly assertive in East Asia, attempting to create a zone of influence in the South China Sea. It has recently constructed artificial islands to buttress its military claim to the sea region. It has created the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank to counter the

American-led IMF, which has been a central facet of the global financial system since its inception after World War II. These developments are natural as China seeks to assert itself on the global stage and in its region in particular. The U.S. should accept these developments while seeking to retain influence in East Asia by continuing alliances with other countries in the region such as Japan, South Korea and the Philippines. The U.S. has and continues to balance against China. Furthermore, it does not recognize China’s claims or unilateral construction of artificial islands in the South China Sea. It nevertheless recognizes China’s increasingly important position in East Asia and has begrudgingly accepted China’s new development bank. These actions will hopefully prevent China from acting aggressively in East Asia, at the same time muting rather than stoking conflict. Much can be gained by working with China. The two countries can cooperate peacefully on issues such as climate change and seek mutually beneficial economic growth. There is no need for overt conflict between the two powers.

During Reading Period, Students Should Examine, Treat Dangerous Sleep Habits Nina Li Contributing Writer As a student, exams are one of the most important things in my academic career. However, school and tests don’t always go as well as I expect, especially because I suffer from insomnia. At first I didn’t think my sleeping habits were a problem, because they did not affect me much. I’ve had insomnia since high school, and my mom also suffered from insomnia, so I thought it was normal if a person just couldn’t sleep well — which is why I had never tried to find a solution. During my first year at Oberlin, I had a biology final exam and stayed up late preparing and reviewing the materials. I went to bed at almost 2 a.m. Because I was exhausted, I thought it would be very easy to fall asleep, but I was totally wrong. I tossed and turned restlessly all night because I was too nervous. I kept telling myself that I needed to fall asleep as soon as possible, but I just couldn’t.

Without good sleep, I had a headache and felt drowsy during the exam. All the material I reviewed the previous night completely disappeared from my memory. I couldn’t remember how human bodies make proteins, and I couldn’t remember how to spell the word “metabolism.” What a shame for a biology student! Of course, I didn’t do well on my exam. After this incident, I began to wonder why I had this sleep problem and how I could prevent it from happening again.

As we approach the end of this semester, exams and reading period might worsen anxiety as well as sleeping problems like insomnia. In this pre-exam time, it is crucial to educate students on insomnia and sleep problems and provide solutions for how to deal with them. First, ask yourself a few questions: Does it take you more than 30 minutes to fall asleep? Do you wake up during the night and have trouble returning to sleep? Do you wake up earlier than desired? Do you have daytime symptoms such as fatigue, moodiness, sleepiness or reduced energy? Do you get less than seven hours of sleep each night? If you answered “yes” to some or all of these questions, then you may have insomnia.

Stress, illness, emotional or physical discomfort or interferences in normal sleep schedule can all lead to insomnia. Behind those causes are two hormones that control our sleep. Human bodies are like delicate machines, controlled by thousands of molecular signaling pathways.

Our sleeping patterns are also under the control of multiple hormones. The commonly recognized one is cortisol.

Cortisol is usually considered a stress hormone, which is released in response to stressors in the environment. It is

also called the “awakening hormone,” which wakes us from sleep. Excess cortisol from chronic stress lowers our ability to sleep deeply. Inadequate or low-quality sleep then increases cortisol, making it increasingly difficult to deal with stress. Another hormone, which generally occurs in females, is progesterone. Throughout the menstruation cycle, progesterone level is low. Especially near the end of the premenstrual phase, the low progesterone levels have been known to correlate with insomnia as well as other –––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––

Without good sleep, I had a headache and felt drowsy during the exam. All the material I reviewed the previous night completely disappeared from my memory. I couldn’t remember how human bodies make proteins, and I couldn’t remember how to spell the word “metabolism.”

––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––– symptoms such as aggressive behavior, irritability and depressed mood.

Usually, mild insomnia does not require medication.

However, if the lack of sleep makes you feel uncomfortable or unable to function properly, sleep aid products such as melatonin and diphenhydramine can be helpful. These are readily available over the counter at Gibson’s and CVS. If those sleep aid products don’t help, you can go to the Student Health, where you can receive prescriptions and other sleeping advice.

Establishing better sleep habits is also very important.

Here are some tips: Try to go to sleep at the same time each night and get up at the same time each morning, and try not to take long naps during the day, as naps may make you less sleepy at night. Avoid caffeine, nicotine and alcohol late in the day. Get regular exercise but not too close to bedtime. Don’t eat a heavy meal late in the day. Make your bedroom comfortable. Avoid using your bed for anything other than sleep or sex. If you can’t fall asleep and don’t feel drowsy, get up and read or do something that is not overly stimulating until you feel sleepy. If you find yourself lying awake worrying about things, try making a to-do list before you go to bed.

Insomnia is a significant problem, and therefore we should treat it seriously. Sleep tight, and good luck on finals.

helpful resources TECHNOLOGY during finals DOWNLOAD.

Libraries are here to help!

Writing a long paper and need some advice or research help? The librarians are always available by appointment to give advice. Go to the Oberlin library website, and under “Help,” click “Make a Research Appt.”

Don’t have time to meet with a librarian? Hit up the “For Students” section on the library website to get help with cita-

Feel like you are not giving yourself enough of a break?

Download Timeout from the app store; it will schedule breaks for you throughout your busy day.

tions, sources, information or anything you need for success!

It’s finals, and we’re all running out of print money. Add money to your budget using Obie dollars machines in all libraries. Also, don’t forget that you can ask for money refunds on unfair print charges by going to papercut.cc.oberlin.edu.

Are you taking too many breaks? The Isolator app is perfect for you. It makes it so that only the document that you are working on is visible.

Having trouble keeping track of what is due and when?

Use iProcrastinate to create a detailed calendar with reminders and specific folders for each class.

Health & wellness If you are feeling stressed this week (as most of us are), get to Vinyasa Yoga Take time to do those chores that from 12 to 1 p.m. on Dec. 15 and 17 in you never have time for. Clean your Philips gym. room, do your laundry and wash your Want to run but not in the gym? Run dishes. It will take less time than you to the reservoir past the golf course. think, and it’s a perfect study break.

When you get to the second Arb lake, Remember: a tidy room is a tidy mind. keep on going to the right. You will go Open your window and stand in through a pathway in a mini forrest and front of it. Close your eyes and count eventually come to the beautiful resereach exhale, paying attention to your voir. Or just head to the Arb. Sometimes breath and the cold air. Notice if you it’s important to get some air. are getting cold. Take this time to only Don’t have time to get out of your think about what is going on around room but need a quick getaway? Here you, then transition into thinking are somethings you can do at home: about what you need to do in order to succeed in your finals. Make yourself Sometimes it’s helpful to get your a schedule and tape it to your desk as anger and stress out in a place nobody a reminder. This should not take more will ever see: your journal. It doesn’t than five minutes. have to really be a journal, but take 10 minutes to write about everything Put on a quick face mask as a that is whizzing through your head and relaxer. Yogurt is good for more than keeping you up at night and then tear just eating. If you happen to have fat the paper up. Oddly enough, you might free plain yogurt, spread a thin layer feel relieved. on your face as an ultra moisturizer.

Leave it on for 10 to 15 minutes. After washing off, apply your normal, nonyogurt moisturizer.

Finals stressing you out too much to fall asleep? A common technique that is used is curling your toes while in bed. This will distract you from your worried thoughts and hopefully put you right to sleep.

Don’t do homework in your bed!

Your bed should be associated with sleep. If you associate your bed with work, when you get into bed your body will have trouble falling asleep.

Each REM cycle is 90 minutes. Try not to wake up in the middle of one, but if you have to, take a quick 20-minute nap. The ideal napping time is no longer than 20 minutes, because it does not allow your body to get into a deep sleep, but you still wake up feeling refreshed.

Going on social media too much? If you use Google Chrome, download StayFocusd.

It will only let you see certain websites for a small amount of time before blocking you for the day.

Sleep Cycle is an app that tracks you REM cycles and wakes you up when you are in the lightest sleep. If you set your alarm clock for 6:30 a.m., it could wake you up a half hour beforehand if that is close to the end of a cycle.

clip art and photos courtesy of Creative Commons

TO

Calendar ART WALK

Friday, Dec. 11, 7–9 p.m.

Art Building Wander around the art building to gawk at the amazing art students have been working on for the past semester.

It’s free, and there will be snacks!

FRIDAY NIGHT ORGAN PUMP Friday, Dec. 11, 12–1 a.m.

Finney Chapel

Head to the final organ pump of the semester to hear a great performance from organ students in the Conservatory. If you have occasional neck pain, feel free to bring a pillow, but make sure not to fall asleep on the stage.

ART MARKET 2015

Saturday, Dec. 12, 10 a.m.–5 p.m.

Richard D. Baron ’64 Art Gallery Head to the art market to buy awesome supplies from the Art department. This is the only day that these art supplies will be available to the public, so be sure to take advantage of this opportunity!

GROUP SING ALONG

Saturday, December 12, 2–3 p.m.

Lewis House Spend your Saturday afternoon singing with others! The event will feature holiday music from Christmas, Hanukkah and Kwanzaa. It is a walking event, so dress for the outdoors.

HANUKKAH BALL

Saturday, Dec. 12, 7–10 p.m.

Lily McGregor Sky Bar, Kohl Building Celebrating Hanukkah alone this year? Light the menorah with friends this Saturday while enjoying live music and appreciating the sight of peers in formal attire.

MARIMBA CHRISTMAS Monday, Dec. 14, 1–2 p.m.

Conservatory Lounge

Come to this event to celebrate the Christmas spirit and listen to the Oberlin Conservatory percussionists.

Don’t stress, do your best, forget the rest.

helpful resources TECHNOLOGY during finals DOWNLOAD.

Libraries are here to help!

Writing a long paper and need some advice or research help? The librarians are always available by appointment to give advice. Go to the Oberlin library website, and under “Help,” click “Make a Research Appt.”

Don’t have time to meet with a librarian? Hit up the “For Students” section on the library website to get help with cita-

Feel like you are not giving yourself enough of a break?

Download Timeout from the app store; it will schedule breaks for you throughout your busy day.

tions, sources, information or anything you need for success!

It’s finals, and we’re all running out of print money. Add money to your budget using Obie dollars machines in all libraries. Also, don’t forget that you can ask for money refunds on unfair print charges by going to papercut.cc.oberlin.edu.

Are you taking too many breaks? The Isolator app is perfect for you. It makes it so that only the document that you are working on is visible.

Having trouble keeping track of what is due and when?

Use iProcrastinate to create a detailed calendar with reminders and specific folders for each class.

Health & wellness If you are feeling stressed this week (as most of us are), get to Vinyasa Yoga Take time to do those chores that from 12 to 1 p.m. on Dec. 15 and 17 in you never have time for. Clean your Philips gym. room, do your laundry and wash your Want to run but not in the gym? Run dishes. It will take less time than you to the reservoir past the golf course. think, and it’s a perfect study break.

When you get to the second Arb lake, Remember: a tidy room is a tidy mind. keep on going to the right. You will go Open your window and stand in through a pathway in a mini forrest and front of it. Close your eyes and count eventually come to the beautiful resereach exhale, paying attention to your voir. Or just head to the Arb. Sometimes breath and the cold air. Notice if you it’s important to get some air. are getting cold. Take this time to only Don’t have time to get out of your think about what is going on around room but need a quick getaway? Here you, then transition into thinking are somethings you can do at home: about what you need to do in order to succeed in your finals. Make yourself Sometimes it’s helpful to get your a schedule and tape it to your desk as anger and stress out in a place nobody a reminder. This should not take more will ever see: your journal. It doesn’t than five minutes. have to really be a journal, but take 10 minutes to write about everything Put on a quick face mask as a that is whizzing through your head and relaxer. Yogurt is good for more than keeping you up at night and then tear just eating. If you happen to have fat the paper up. Oddly enough, you might free plain yogurt, spread a thin layer feel relieved. on your face as an ultra moisturizer.

Leave it on for 10 to 15 minutes. After washing off, apply your normal, nonyogurt moisturizer.

Finals stressing you out too much to fall asleep? A common technique that is used is curling your toes while in bed. This will distract you from your worried thoughts and hopefully put you right to sleep.

Don’t do homework in your bed!

Your bed should be associated with sleep. If you associate your bed with work, when you get into bed your body will have trouble falling asleep.

Each REM cycle is 90 minutes. Try not to wake up in the middle of one, but if you have to, take a quick 20-minute nap. The ideal napping time is no longer than 20 minutes, because it does not allow your body to get into a deep sleep, but you still wake up feeling refreshed.

Going on social media too much? If you use Google Chrome, download StayFocusd.

It will only let you see certain websites for a small amount of time before blocking you for the day.

Sleep Cycle is an app that tracks you REM cycles and wakes you up when you are in the lightest sleep. If you set your alarm clock for 6:30 a.m., it could wake you up a half hour beforehand if that is close to the end of a cycle.

clip art and photos courtesy of Creative Commons

TO

Calendar ART WALK

Friday, Dec. 11, 7–9 p.m.

Art Building Wander around the art building to gawk at the amazing art students have been working on for the past semester.

It’s free, and there will be snacks!

FRIDAY NIGHT ORGAN PUMP Friday, Dec. 11, 12–1 a.m.

Finney Chapel

Head to the final organ pump of the semester to hear a great performance from organ students in the Conservatory. If you have occasional neck pain, feel free to bring a pillow, but make sure not to fall asleep on the stage.

ART MARKET 2015

Saturday, Dec. 12, 10 a.m.–5 p.m.

Richard D. Baron ’64 Art Gallery Head to the art market to buy awesome supplies from the Art department. This is the only day that these art supplies will be available to the public, so be sure to take advantage of this opportunity!

GROUP SING ALONG

Saturday, December 12, 2–3 p.m.

Lewis House Spend your Saturday afternoon singing with others! The event will feature holiday music from Christmas, Hanukkah and Kwanzaa. It is a walking event, so dress for the outdoors.

HANUKKAH BALL

Saturday, Dec. 12, 7–10 p.m.

Lily McGregor Sky Bar, Kohl Building Celebrating Hanukkah alone this year? Light the menorah with friends this Saturday while enjoying live music and appreciating the sight of peers in formal attire.

MARIMBA CHRISTMAS Monday, Dec. 14, 1–2 p.m.

Conservatory Lounge

Come to this event to celebrate the Christmas spirit and listen to the Oberlin Conservatory percussionists.

Don’t stress, do your best, forget the rest.

Arts The Oberlin Review

Page 10

December 11, 2015

Triple Bill Cohesive Despite Stylistic Differences Danny Evans Arts Editor Perfect Pussy, Fielded and PWR BTTM each appeal to very different audiences.

Perfect Pussy, a punk band from Syracuse, NY, has earned comparisons to everyone from hardcore icons like Earth Crisis to British singer-songwriter Kate Bush; Fielded, the solo project of Lindsay Powell, offers a glitchy interpretation of electronic pop music; and PWR BTTM, who met at Bard College, has risen to prominence recently thanks to irresistible indie-rock songwriting. Clearly, formidable stylistic dissimilarities exist between these three artists, yet they managed to piece together a remarkably cohesive show at the ’Sco on Monday night.

The artists’ common sociopolitical views contributed to this sense of unity, as each act included anti-patriarchal content. By the end of the night, the pairing of a experimental punk outfit with an electronic pop project and a two-piece college rock band did not feel remotely forced. Rather, due to the radical thematic messages each artist presented, Fielded and PWR BTTM seemed like the only musicians that could have done Perfect Pussy’s opening slots justice.

Perfect Pussy’s performance barely reached the 20-minute mark. However, the soundscapes crafted by frontwoman Meredith Graves, guitarist Ray McAndrew, drummer Garrett Koloski, bass guitarist Greg Ambler and keyboardist Shaun Sutkus resulted in a sense of removal from time’s normal flow. Every time the band seemed close to walking off the stage, another surprising musical moment would occur. However, the set never dragged.

This feeling of timelessness came partially from Perfect Pussy’s constant

Syracuse, NY, punk band Perfect Pussy delivers a passionate, experimental performance at the ’Sco Monday night. Frontwoman Meredith Graves, center, provided politically charged vocals that unified her band’s sound.

Clover Linh Tran

dichotomy between two seemingly opposed musical ideas: breakneck punk outbursts and feedback-drenched interludes. The band never let audience members stay comfortable by sticking to memorable grooves or repeating sections within songs. Rather, it challenged listeners by switching from one side of its sound to another whenever a musical idea came close to losing momentum or overstaying its welcome. This stylistic choice was highly effective, and ’Sco-goers appeared absolutely enthralled with the set from front to back.

Graves’ performance deserves special attention. Her staccato howling served as an intense counterpoint to the band’s fuzzy sound. Known for her highly publicized choice to mix her own menstrual blood into 300 special edition LP copies of Perfect Pussy’s 2014 debut full-length, Say Yes to Love, Graves managed to cut through the hazy wall of sound Perfect Pussy forged throughout the show. Her vocals are, in some sense, the centerpiece of Perfect Pussy. Ironic lines like “Support your brothers, disregard survivors, close your heart forever, what

else can you do? / There’s no room in this world for people who hate men” from “IV” are uniquely contemporary and subversive, yet solidly grounded in snarling punk rock tradition. This aspect of Graves’ lyricism perfectly mimicked Perfect Pussy’s musical content, which could perhaps be described as relatively traditional hardcore punk filtered through a layer of abstract, postmodernist noise. Anguished yet emotionally nuanced shouts lent the more punk-influenced segments a certain gravity they See Perfect, page 12

Ristow’s Conducting Reveals Subtleties in Choral Repertoire Neil McCalmont Staff Writer Choral music holds a prominent position in Western music history. From your run-of-themill caroling groups and barbershop quartets to religious choirs, choirs have provided spaces for people to come together and sing.

Last Sunday, both the Oberlin Musical Union and College Choir came together under the baton of director Gregory Ristow, OC ’01, to perform Igor Stravinsky’s Symphony of Psalms and Leonard Bernstein’s Chichester Psalms.

Both works were originally composed for chorus and orchestra, but the Stravinsky was arranged for chorus and two pianos and the Bernstein for chorus, harp, organ and percussion. These less imposing arrangements created a more personal atmosphere with more religious undertones than their grander original instrumentations.

Stravinsky aimed to create a new choral aesthetic with his Symphony of Psalms. As a devout Eastern Orthodox Christian, he sought to instill his belief in re-

straint and dispassion instead of individualism and sentimentality into the work. This is not surprising, as the symphony is a product of the composer’s neoclassical period, during which he harkened back to Renaissance and Baroque styles in his music.

The result is a symphonization of psalms rich with awe and beauty but that steers clear of any hearton-the-sleeve Romanticism. All of the passion is much more internal and cerebral instead. He hoped to create an objective realization of religious music.

The first movement begins with an introductory melody on the piano. While the reduction lacks orchestral timbre, it creates a drier sound which fits the piece much better. The performances of the chorus and the pianists showed that their director, Ristow, had a competent understanding of the piece, and that the conductor got the sound he desired from them. Ristow’s conducting was also well thought out; he balanced technical clarity with emotional understanding. The second movement opens with a double fugue, a technique

from the Baroque era often considered the most difficult or academic way of composing, which begins softly and mysteriously and grows organically into a daringly complex musical entity. Most incredibly, the music becomes a magnificent beast of sound following strict contrapuntal rules, as if a colossal machine –––––––––––––––––––––––––––

The result is a symphonization of psalms rich with awe and beauty but that steers clear of any heart-on-the-sleeve Romanticism. All of the passion is much more internal and cerebral instead.

––––––––––––––––––––––––––– were building and building upon itself. The chorus and accompanying pianists Javier Gonzalez and Joseph Williams captured the entire piece brilliantly, aptly forgoing outward emotion while still conveying a restrained sound.

Bernstein’s Chichester Psalms, on the other hand, strikes at the very core of one’s heart. Intensely personal laments and bombasts fill the piece with surges of emotion along with an overall feeling of longing. The text is in Biblical Hebrew, and the piece is considered — along with his Third Symphony — to be one of Bernstein’s works most influenced by Jewish culture and identity. It is also an infamously difficult work to perform, with numerous tone clusters, rhythmic tricks and range extremities. Though this arrangement lacks the rich sound of the orchestra, it keeps the most important instruments — the harp and percussion — and adds the organ in place of the rest of the orchestra. The harp part is so vital that Bernstein composed it before the rest of the instrumental parts and had it rehearsed especially before the piece’s premiere. The harpist, Conservatory first-year Phoebe Durand, did justice to this extra responsibility marvelously, in conjunction with spot-on playing by Conservatory first-year percussionist Benjamin Craig and a stellar organ perfor-

mance by Conservatory senior Nicholas Capozzoli.

Chichester Psalms begins with a loud bang immediately followed by an urgent sounding chorus.

This erupts into a jubilant song of praise that sounds nothing like stereotypically solemn church music. The chorus struggled a bit with the tone clusters in the first psalm, though, as the audience was occasionally hit with a brick wall of voices. This was the only disappointment of the performance. Noah Underhill sang the boy soprano in the second psalm with wondrous innocence and beauty and was rewarded by vociferous applause after the performance. Psalm 2 (“Why do the nations rage”) sparked sounds of fury and was executed convincingly. The quartet of soloists got to shine more in the latter half of the piece. The final psalm concocted such an exquisite waft of gentle but undeniably impassioned music, due greatly to Ristow’s interpretation, that there is no doubt in this listener’s mind that the audience went home completely transfigured.

Arts

The Oberlin Review, December 11, 2015

Page 11

Actors Impress in Psychological Drama Louise Edwards Arts Editor

late to one another and the power dynamics at play in their relationships.

Syn’s brother Sean Jr. (College senior Johnny Spinkston) flaunts his two psychology degrees and success in his career to establish authority in the argument and to earn validation from his mother, Giselle (College junior Zoe Davidson). Sean Jr.’s wife, Maya (College junior Olivia DeToma), acts as an intruder into the Black family’s household with her superficial politeness and at first overly sugary personality. Yet Giselle caters to Maya’s needs despite her irritating demeanor and rejects Syn, her own daughter, by treating her with hostility. While Syn is equally antagonistic toward her family members, she becomes the target of Sean Jr.’s homophobic comments about her lesbian identity, and her mother matches this hostility with a cold demeanor. On top of these complex family dynamics, an unnerving old man, Bobby (College sophomore Andre Cardine) cuts through the scene to go to the mysterious basement where he lives. In his stellar performance, Cardine effortlessly

transforms into his character, night, which allows the charhunching over and limping acters to have a series of priwhile absent-mindedly sing- vate conversations with each Editor’s Note: This article ing an eerie tune in a raspy other when they come downdiscusses sexual violence and voice. Additionally, through- stairs as a respite from their abuse. out the play, loud and star- restless sleeps. DeToma acts tling bangs are emitted from convincingly shocked when In College senior Preston the basement, and Bobby Giselle astutely notes that Crowder’s play The Monsters makes sure the family memUnderneath, the Warington bers don’t enter the basement –––––––––––––––––––––––––– siblings descend on the famand find out what secrets he Smith gave a compelling ily home in Moore Hills, TN, keeps there. to visit their ailing sister, While these scenes are performance, curling Yari (College junior Calpyso hard to take in, especially tiredly onto the couch Smith). The opening scene with the excessive swearing, yet balancing her physiof the play, which premiered they make Syn and Yari’s reDec. 3–6 at Little Theater, is union all the more touching. cal ailing with powerfilled with a tumult of angry In contrast to the tough re- fully delivered lines. voices as the family quarrels lationships between Syn and ––––––––––––––––––––––––– in the living room of a home her other family members, that is broken, both literally she and Yari embrace each Maya is pregnant and hasn’t and figuratively. The house other and quickly fall into a told her husband. The disitself smells and is in disrewarm conversation reminisc- turbing secrets begin to be expair, but the family members ing about their childhood. posed when it is revealed that clearly also have challenges Smith gave a compelling per- the father of Maya’s baby is acrelating to each other. As formance, curling tiredly onto tually Giselle’s husband. Sean Yari’s younger sister Syn (Colthe couch yet balancing her Jr. reacts by trying to enact a lege sophomore Deja Alexphysical ailing with power- fantasy of sleeping with his ander) says, “I came here for fully delivered lines. Eventu- mother and Giselle threatens my sister and that’s it.” This ally, Syn tucks her older sister Maya with a knife. Davidson extended insult slinging is an into bed, one of the last gentle handled her character’s emooverwhelming yet clever way actions in the rest of the play tional shift well, morphing of introducing the majority and a welcome break from the from an falsely cheery mother of Monster’s characters. Not dark secrets of abuse and vio- to a wife violent with jealousy only does one get a sense of lence that continue to unravel with the help of a few adjusteach character’s personality, throughout. ments — picking up the knife, but they also begin to underIngeniously, much of the smirking slightly and adding stand how the characters reaction takes place on a stormy a desperate tone to her lines.

It seems almost implausible that these disturbing layers of violence could happen all at once in one family until it is revealed that Syn’s father sexually assaulted and abused her as a child. Then the puzzle pieces begin to fall into place, and one realizes that all these acts of violence are connected to Syn’s father’s sexual and emotional abuse of his family. The play demonstrates how abuse impacts not only survivors of abuse, but those surrounding them as well. Even though Syn’s father does not even appear as a character in the play, his actions have an overpowering effect on the characters and ultimately drive the plot line.

It is only after an illumiIn College senior Preston Crowder’s play The Monsters Underneath, Giselle (College junior Zoe Davidson) nating visit from magical argues with her daughter Syn (College sophomore Deja Alexander). The play, which deals with the effects of abuse and subsequent healing processes, premiered at Little Theater Dec. 3–6.

Hayley Drapkin

See Crowder, page 13

Clever Gameplay Hand of Fate’s Focal Point Avi Vogel Columnist There are two cards in front of my small golden game piece, each one representing an upcoming encounter. I don’t have enough food to sustain my character, and my health points are down to 20. This all means I’ll be dead soon unless I get some supplies, even if these encounters don’t end up being especially dangerous. I take a breath and press the ‘A’ button; the card flips over, and I die in 30 seconds. Moments like these, which seem arbitrary and completely luck-based, happen each and every game. It’s learning how to deal with such situations that lends Hand of Fate its charm and makes it such an engrossing game to play.

A game from Defiant Development that received a proper release ––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––

Moments like these, which seem arbitrary and completely luck-based, happen each and every game. It’s learning how to deal with such situations that lends Hand of Fate its charm and makes it such an engrossing game to play.

–––––––––––––––––––––––––––––– in the first half of 2015, Hand of Fate is difficult to pin down. At its base it’s a deck-building card game simulator. However, instead of playing against an enemy in card battles, you actually battle the cards. Some cards are combative — switching the game to third-person combat, complete with counters and combos — while others are stories or scenes with branching paths. This variation is what makes this game so fascinating.

The central concept itself is beyond satisfying. Nearly everything about the game is up to the player, such as what equipment is accesSee Hand, page 12

In Computer Science Community Art Show, Context Makes All the Difference Lya Finston The basement dining room of Harkness House was filled with a charged yet casual excitement last Saturday night when it opened its doors for the Computer Science Community Art Show. The Computer Science Majors’ Committee, which serves to represent and bolster Oberlin’s computer science community, organized the event. The venue’s relaxed atmosphere and variety of interpretations of the show’s interdisciplinary theme made for a highly enjoyable and thought-provoking evening.

The strength of the event as a whole resided not only in the quality of the works on display, but also in the artists’ presentation and description. By offering background information on the technological aspects of their media, artists made the displayed works more accessible to viewers. This promoted each piece’s value beyond simple aesthetics, giving viewers a deeper understanding of what went into its creation in terms of computer science and programming.

College sophomore Simon Ever-Hale, a Math and Computer Science major, works primarily with Processing, a free software and language that allows users to bridge computer

technology and visual art. Its website describes it as something like a “software sketchbook.” Ever-Hale’s unbridled passion for art and the processes behind it were evident in his eager presentation of his work last Saturday.

Ever-Hale created his most evocative work, the first in his “FL2” series of prints, with a physics-based particle system he wrote and a practice known as flocking, in which thousands of particles group into flocks around a single flock. Spring forces attract particles within different flocks to one another while magnetic forces repel them away from each other. Ever-Hale then disrupted this magnetic relationship with one particle moving through the other flocks.

The resulting effect was a golden spiral of radiating, curved lines broken up by more chaotic, wispy strands that resemble hairs or the veins of a leaf. The composition captured organic and abstract beauty, yet was created entirely using technology, making it an immensely intriguing and successful work.

The majority of the artists featured in the show did not share this kind of accessible presentation of their work, however. In fact, many artists did not stay in the areas where their art was displayed, leaving many of the pieces in the

show unexplained. Though aesthetically interesting, the works remained unapproachable overall on account of the artists’ failure to represent their art. When it comes to pub–––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––

The resulting effect was a golden spiral of radiating, curved lines broken up by more chaotic, wispy strands that resemble hairs or the veins of a leaf.

––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––– lic, interdisciplinary events of this type, a significant portion of attendees come from backgrounds and areas of study outside of the Computer Science department. The event organizers should have kept such an audience in mind when planning the art show.

The handful of eagerly descriptive artists at the show last Saturday ensured that the potentially puzzling showcase didn’t confuse people, yet the unmanned tables left evocative work without context.

Arts

Page 12

Perfect Pussy Brings Subversive Themes to ’Sco Continued from page 10 may have lacked on their own, while vocal gestures that bordered on spoken word poetry matched the heavier sections beautifully.

Graves’ lyrics echoed sentiments imparted by PWR BTTM earlier in the night. PWR BTTM, whose fun yet thought-provoking lyrics focus on issues of gender identity and fluid sexuality, got stranded at Oberlin after their rowdy headlining set at the ’Sco last Saturday. The garage rockinfluenced two-piece was then added to the Perfect Pussy bill at the last minute to the visible excitement of audience members. PWR BTTM’s set Monday did not have the same level of unstoppable energy the band exuded last Saturday, but it was still very enjoyable. Frontman Ben Hopkins’ performance on the guitar was admirable, especially on songs like the immensely catchy “Ugly Cherries,” which features shreddy riffs in open-G tuning that wouldn’t sound out of place in a heavy metal track.

Drummer Liv Bruce, who also plays –––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––

Frontman Ben Hopkins’ performance on the guitar was admirable, especially on songs like the immensely catchy “Ugly Cherries,” which features shreddy riffs in open-G tuning that wouldn’t sound out of place in a heavy metal track. Drummer Liv Bruce, who also plays guitar and sings on a few songs, such as “I Wanna Boi,” also performed excellently.

––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––– guitar and sings on a few songs, such as “I Wanna Boi,” also performed excellently.

Second opener Fielded, an electronic solo act with infectious stage presence from Brooklyn, NY, fit the other two artists well. Like Graves, Hopkins and Bruces’ set, Fielded’s music was full of subversive content.

Powell sang lyrics like “And though I love you madly / Baby, I got nothing left” ( from “Madly,” off of her new EP Boy Angel) over rhythmic, experimental beats. Including lyrics and vocal stylings that seemed similar to old-school pop music in such a unique musical context came off as subversive in and of itself.

Powell refused to adhere to assumptions about her music, employing both strange beats and relatively traditional vocals. In this sense, her performance was a sort of microcosm for the show as a whole. PWR BTTM, Fielded and Perfect Pussy all offered the ideas — both musical and ideological — they wanted to. They pushed against expectations set by the very power structures that work to make life difficult for non-male performers to get exposure to this day — and rocked hard at the same time.

The Oberlin Review, December 11, 2015

Feature Photo: Guerrilla Girls Two “broads” of Guerrilla Girls Broadband, a sister organization to the group of women known as Guerrilla Girls, address an audience of largely Studio Art and Art History majors and student activists at a talk in Wilder Hall on Tuesday. Founded in 1985, the Guerrilla Girls’ goal has always been to confront sexism and racism in art, politics and pop culture and to serve as the “conscience of the art world.” The group likens its activism to guerilla warfare. Initially, the members comprised anonymous artists and women with ties to the art world who adopted the names of deceased female artists and wore gorilla masks to conceal their true identities. The organization has sent fake awards to sexist curators and gallery owners, analyzed a year’s work of art journalism in The New York Times and even sent a letter from an imaginary graduate student to uncover incriminating information from .art institutions, such as statistics on unbalanced gender representation of the performers they host. They are perhaps most notable for the iconic fact-filled posters and stickers they have placed in New York museum bathrooms and gift shops.

Text by Vida Weisblum, managing editor Photo by Briana Santiago, Staff photographer

Hand of Fate Suffers from Lack of Balance Continued from page 11 sible over their progression through the deck and the majority of the encounters they’ll come across. On top of this, most cards that you get — when encountered and completed successfully for the first time — unlock more cards.

Although these core concepts are unique and well

thought out, the sub-systems in Hand of Fate demonstrate its lack of polish. Firstly, the graphics are nothing incredible. They look cartoony in a vein similar to many other games in this genre, doing little to differentiate themselves. The combat itself is also very simplistic: You essentially just hit, counter and cast magic. There are a couple of mix-ups in fights, such as

ranged attacks and hits which cannot be countered, but that’s as deep as it goes. Sure, it gets tough, but difficulty does not equate greatness. Also, encounters seem to become more and more reliant on luck as the game goes on.

One last thing to consider is the fact that if you use a controller plugged into your computer, it won’t work all the

time. For me, it cut out control for at least five seconds every minute, which wouldn’t be that ––––––––––––––––––––––––

The graphics are nothing incredible.

They look cartoony in a vein similar to many other games in this genre, doing little to differentiate themselves.

––––––––––––––––––––––––

frustrating if combat didn’t require good timing throughout.

I had to lower the difficulty before finishing the first round of bosses because I couldn’t win with constant controller malfunctions.

Despite all of these complaints, I still find myself enjoying Hand of Fate. I love the card game aesthetic, even if the graphics can’t keep up. Although the game has its downsides, I still can’t help but reA character from Hand of Fate deals to the player. The video game, a trading card simulator with third- turn to this whimsical game of person combat elements, suffers from graphical issues and an overemphasis on luck.

Courtesy of Avi Vogel luck and strategy.

The Oberlin Review, December 11, 2015

Arts

Crossword: Answers to “The Arts in Review 2015”

Crowder’s Dark Play Wrestles with Domestic Abuse Continued from page 11 medicine woman Cora Knight (College senior Sophie Mvurya) and the death of Yari that the family members begin to take back control of their own lives. In her performance, Mvurya carefully created a dreamlike yet authoritative persona. She alluded to the fact that she is a spirit through her words, but filled the space with purposeful steps and a proud attitude. In the end, however, Mvurya’s character can’t save Yari. In such a time of crisis, Syn reaches out to her brother and says, “I’ll be praying for you, Sean Jr.” Warmth and honesty came across in Sean Jr.’s response, as Spinkston navigated the complex emotions of the character well with his body language.

He turns away from Syn toward the door, both acknowledging Syn and making an escape from such a troubled household. The play demonstrates how, in spite of hate, violence and abuse, characters can still begin to find room for love and healing.

Although one might think that all the secrets have been revealed, Crowder saves a final secret for the last scene: Who is Bobby and what is he hiding in the basement? In a final confrontation with Syn, Bobby reveals Yari had gotten pregnant after being sexually abused by her father and had killed her baby, burying it in the basement. While the banging noises coming from the basement may seem confusing in this context, they serve as a metaphorical reminder of the fears and secrets the family is nervous about revealing to each other.

Crowder’s dark play, though difficult to watch, ultimately allows one to become entrenched in the deep psychology of his well-constructed characters and grow with them into a place where selfacceptance is a possibility.

Page 13

Sports

Page 14

The Oberlin Review, December 11, 2015

IN THE LOCKER ROOM

Fencing

This week, the Review sat down with Caleb Anderson, sophomore co-captain of Oberlin’s fencing team, the Flaming Blades, and senior Jonah Glasgold to discuss team development, funny memories and what got them into fencing in the first place.

What has been your favorite moment of the season so far?

Caleb Anderson: Our second tournament at Case Western was probably our favorite one, actually. I think my favorite moment was the very last round.

Jonah Glasgold: Yeah, we haven’t beaten Case Western in a very, very long time, and this tournament was at Case Western. In the last round, we went up against Case Western. When it came down to the last bout, which was the deciding bout to decide whether or not we would win, our best female freshman saber fencer was up, and just kicked the [heck] out of the girl she was up against. It was awesome.

Since fencing is a sport where you compete individually, how do you maintain that team feeling during the season?

CA: We try to do things together as a team outside of practice. We’ll get dinner together after practices, we’ll hang out together afterwards, have our own parties — things like that.

And the way we do it with collegiate tournaments is [that] we’ll fence individually, but we win as a team, and that definitely helps create a team atmosphere.

JG: At collegiate tournaments, it’s kind of a weird setup because you fence everyone else on their team and they fence everyone on your team. You’re definitely winning on your own, but you’re also winning as a team.

JG: On a similar topic, you have to get used to being in a practice situation where you know the fencers you’re fencing and you know what they’re going to do and how to fence against them, and then you jump into a tournament where you have no idea what’s going on in the other person’s head, no idea how they fence, what their style is. You have to adapt. To me, that was the hardest part about competing: adapting to people you don’t know.

CA: And sometimes you’re going to lose to people you should have won against, who you are more skilled than, and sometimes you’re going to beat people based entirely on luck. That’s something that takes getting used to as well.

Caleb Anderson (left) and Jonah Glasgold CA: The school that wins the most bouts will win the round, basically.

Do you have a lot of newcomers this year?

CA: Last year, we had four freshmen join the team, and this year we had, I think, more than 10.

JG: Yeah, we had a ridiculous amount of freshmen join the team this year, and they all had good prior experience, which is something we’re not used to. It’s pretty exciting because we’re finally getting to the point where we can actually compete with the other club teams around the country. It’s really nice.

So do you feel more legitimate as a team this year as compared to past years?

JG: Definitely. We came in

third at Case Western, and the two schools that beat us there were Michigan and Michigan State, which are both huge schools and both draw a lot of athletic talent. We’re a tiny school, and now we can compete with those teams.

Did you fence before you got to Oberlin?

CA: I’ve been fencing for about eight years, pretty much constantly since sixth grade, so joining the fencing team was a pretty clear step when I got here. That prior experience definitely helped push me to running for the captain position as well.

JG: I fenced through middle school, stopped for high school and joined the [Oberlin] team last year. I did have a six-year gap between starting and stop-

ping again, but it’s like riding a bike.

What drew you to fencing in the first place?

CA: I don’t think there’s a single fencer who can honestly tell you that sci-fi, fantasy, Star Wars, Lord of the Rings, wasn’t part of it.

JG: Sci-fi and fantasy play a big role in getting into it. Fencing is a very nerdy sport.

What was the most difficult thing to pick up while learning to fence?

CA: For me, the most difficult thing to get into my mind was the fact that you’re going to lose. You’re going to lose a lot, especially at first, and that’s not necessarily a bad thing. Every bout you lose is an opportunity to learn something and grow.

Okafor Ill-Prepared for Life in the Public Eye Continued from page 16 a while that he was bound for success, but maybe constant reminders of this fact did not prepare him for reality. Perhaps he is bitter that D’angelo Russell was chosen second by the Los Angeles Lakers in the draft. Most analysts expected Okafor to land there. Still, he is younger than half of the student body at Oberlin, and he is in the national spotlight.

Veteran NBA players have offered their support to Okafor. Carmelo Anthony pointed out that, like Okafor, he “had to learn the hard way.” For those who remember Anthony’s early career in Denver, they know that he has now nearly abolished his reputation as a reckless young superstar driving fancy cars and hanging around nightclubs. Kobe Bryant had some advice of his own to offer, saying, “It’s important for him to stay focused and to continue to work on his game, and he’ll be just fine.”

Ultimately, that’s what Okafor has publicly announced he intends to do. While he has apologized and admitted, “It was definitely dumb on my part,” his Twitter feed is also overflowing with positive statements about the future. His last post reads, “I am 100% focused on my responsibility to the League, my teammates and fans.” Unlike many oth-

er young sports stars, like Johnny Manziel, Okafor did not have a reckless reputation in college. He has even retained support from his former college coach, the living legend Mike Krzyzewski. Since the recent events occurred, Krzyzewski has said, “Jah is one of the greatest kids ever. Ever, ever, ever, ever.”

Still, the 76ers’ front office felt obligated to suspend Okafor for two games — although it is worth noting that this changes nothing for a team that is dead last with a mindblowing one win. They released a statement following the suspension, saying, “Jahlil is a very important part of our organization and our future. While we are disappointed with his recent actions, we have faith in him as a valued member of the Sixers.” Per usual, a player’s reckless actions in their personal life go relatively unpunished, but in this case, everyone wants to believe that these actions do not accurately represent Okafor. Instead, fans are idealizing his future, projecting a quick return to the good, basketball-focused kid they remember from his Duke days.

While Okafor is the most recent rookie to garner public attention for his exciting off-field antics, he is part of a larger pattern with the younger players in the professional leagues. NBA Commissioner Adam Silver has previously suggested that players should

be required to play college basketball, or an equivalent form, for two years before they are eligible for the draft, as opposed to the one year currently required. Before the 2006 draft, players could declare for the draft straight out of high school.

Would Okafor’s actions be any different if he had played at Duke for two years? Given the rate at which college basketball is becoming more popular, players at Duke and similar universities are already treated like superstars. They are surrounded by boundless opportunities for drugs, alcohol and other irresponsible behaviors, as well as nearly the same media pressure observed in the professional leagues. The only difference is that they’re not making millions of dollars. But perhaps Silver is right, and an extra year to mature before the big paychecks arrive could save some players trouble or embarrassment.

Overall, we have to give Okafor a “drool.”

Sorry, bud. While his family and friends have supported him throughout his mistakes, and his apologies have the air of upmost sincerity, he will need to prove to the NBA that he can handle the money, fame and responsibility. At only 19 years old, he is bound to be the face on young children’s posters and potentially be the star of the 76ers for years to come.

Good luck, Jahlil — prove Silver wrong!

Any memorable funny moments on the team?

JG: Last year at Case Western, I was horsing around with one of the other guys on the team, and I jumped on his back. I was being an idiot, and I tried to do a backhand spring off of his back and fell flat on my head. And somebody got a picture of the exact moment my head hit the ground.

Is there anything you guys are especially looking forward to for the end of the season?

JG: Being competitive at Club Championships this year.

CA: I want to see every one of our teams place in the top half [of rankings] this year. As a personal goal, I like to see all the fencers on the team improving, and in this past tournament most of our fencers did improve in terms of results. So I’m looking forward to trying to increase our percentage of wins more.

Interview by Sarena Malsin, Sports editor Photo by Bryan Rubin, Photo editor

Track and Field Opens at Mount Union Continued from page 16 with most of the athletes being first-years or sophomores.

Richardson sees the number of rookies as a positive for the program and looks forward to seeing everyone grow into a cohesive team.

“A lot of our team are first- and second-years, which means we have a lot of time to grow together,” Richardson said. “I have already had the pleasure of getting to know them and see them all work hard and prepare themselves for great things. I know the future of OCTF is bright.”

Oberlin looks to build on its early successes in the new year when it starts up the season in earnest.

The Yeomen and Yeowomen will take the holidays off, but return to action on Jan. 8, when Oberlin hosts its annual Dan Kinsey Invitational.

Sports

The Oberlin Review, December 11, 2015

Top 5 Yeo Editorial: No More Moments of 2015 Uneven Ground 5. Ouch, That Stings!

The women’s basketball team earned a tough victory Nov. 24 over the Baldwin Wallace Yellow Jackets. The Yellow Jackets, ranked 25th in the nation, led for most of the contest, and when their lead extended to 10 points in the middle of the third quarter, it looked like the visitors might depart Philips gym with a win. Down by three with a little over a minute to play, junior forward Eleanor Van Buren knocked down a game-tying shot from beyond the arc, leveling the score at 61–61 and sending Philips gym into a frenzy. The Yeowomen then went on to get a crucial defensive stop, and senior captain Lindsey Bernhardt hoisted up a layup in traffic for the go-ahead bucket. The Yeowomen are currently 0–2 in the NCAC and 5–5 overall.

4. Yeomen Outfight Scots The football team broke an eight-game losing streak against the College of Wooster Fighting Scots Oct. 17, leaving John P. Papp Stadium with a 28–23 road victory. Sophomore Christian Flynn had a phenomenal performance in his first career start as quarterback, going 16of-23 and passing for 236 yards and two touchdowns with no interceptions. First-year wide receiver Ryan Gleeson earned seven catches for a career-best 120 yards and one touchdown, and junior wide receiver Justin Cruz added 81 yards on six catches, highlighted by a 30-yard touchdown. The victory was Oberlin’s first win against Wooster since 2003. The Yeomen finished their season 3–6 in the NCAC and 3–7 overall.

3. Heave-ho!

NCAA qualifier Monique Newton started off her sophomore campaign in dramatic fashion.

The Sacramento, CA, native set a new school record Saturday at the University of Mount Union’s Purple Raider Toy Drive Invite, tossing the shot 14.29 meters to win the event and entering the Oberlin record books. Newton was also named North Coast Athletic Conference Player of the Week, capping off her recordbreaking weekend.

2. Head Shot The men’s soccer team defeated the Denison University Big Red Oct. 31 to keep their season alive and earn a spot in the NCAC Tournament for the second time in three years. After a tight first half, the Yeomen headed into intermission with a slim 1–0 lead. However, the Big Red would find the equalizer less than a minute into the second half. Neither side could find a go-ahead goal in regulation or the overtime session, so the match went to a final overtime period before penalties would decide each team’s fate. In the 102nd minute of the second overtime, junior midfielder Adam Chazin-Grey delivered a superb cross to junior midfielder Nick Wertman for the game-winning header.

The Yeomen were ultimately defeated 1–0 by No. 1-ranked Kenyon College in the first round of the NCAC tournament, finishing the season 5–4 in the NCAC and 11–7–1 overall.

1. Catch Me if You Can Senior Geno Arthur paced his way to a NCAC Title Oct. 31, becoming the first male NCAC champion in Oberlin’s cross-country program history. Arthur’s victory was no small feat, as he edged out 2014 champion and conference rival Logan Steiner of Allegheny College with a time of 25 minutes, 0.7 seconds in the men’s 8-kilometer race, besting the competition by eight seconds. Arthur’s record-setting ways would continue at the Great Lakes Regional Championship Nov. 14, where he became the first regional individual champion in program history with a time of 25:13.7 in the 8-kilometer race.

Aruthur’s storied career would come to a close Nov. 21 at the NCAA championships, where he finished 22nd overall among the top runners in the country and registered his second consecutive All-American Finish.

Continued from page 16 nowhere.

Wambach wasn’t the first to speak out, and she won’t be the last. This issue, which has festered as an ongoing annoyance, has officially proven itself to be downright unacceptable at Aloha Field in Honolulu, HI. This was supposed to be the site of the team’s Victory Tour match against Trinidad and Tobago, but the U.S. Women canceled the Dec. 6 game after star midfielder Megan Rapinoe suffered a serious ACL injury training with the team on the field just two days before kickoff.

Soccer isn’t a cushy sport. There’s a lot of contact, and injuries happen all the time — certainly not something to cancel a match over, no matter how important a player you’re losing. This makes it all the more meaningful that the team did make the decision to cancel, being professional athletes accustomed to injuries and keeping in mind the travel, planning and letdown involved for themselves, their crew, their opponents and their fans. The field was just that bad. They couldn’t take it anymore.

Head Coach Jill Ellis made it clear in an interview with Fox Sports that Rapinoe’s injury wasn’t your standard practice fare. “It happened very fast. It was certainly non-contact.

There were plates just off the field and she came off the field on the play. Did she catch one of those? I don’t know,” Ellis said. “Plates”?

That’s not a sport-specific term you’re miss-

Page 15

ing. I have no idea what these mysterious plates lying so close to a professional sports venue are. It’s unclear what they actually are or where they came from but they were clearly posing a safety violation as obstructions too close to the sidelines. Precautions to avoid large, potentially harmful objects in the way of players bouncing on and off the field were even taken for my amateur premier league games — parents were asked to maintain a pre-established distance from sidelines to watch games.

The field’s condition was shameful.

Sources said the field had open seams, was uneven and had gashes filled in with pebbles. Pebbles! Striker Alex Morgan put it bluntly: “The training grounds that we were given and the playing surface of the stadium were horrible.” She was quick to assign blame to the U.S. Soccer Federation, who is charged with checking the safety of fields before they’re used. “We’re put in a very hard position because obviously we want to play in front of these fans and we want to train before the game, but injuries happen when you don’t protect yourself, and when you’re not protected from those higher up from you,” Morgan said.

This criticism is entirely justified. U.S. Soccer Federation President Sunil Gulati issued an apology to the team on Tuesday, admitting that the Federation failed to inspect Aloha Stadium before the Women’s Team’s match, which is a pretty standard and simple safety precaution to take. What was his excuse? He assumed it would be up to par in preparation for the NFL’s Pro Bowl happening in a few months.

This isn’t just a hissy fit that the USWNT threw — and that I’m throwing — about

playing conditions that didn’t suit them.

This is an example of a professional, successful international sports team being overlooked and undervalued for no apparent reason other than gender. It’s true, turf surfaces are both cheaper to maintain and more durable for extended and heavy use, but using cost-cutting measures for one league and not the other is unacceptable and enforces the idea that women’s leagues are less legitimate than men’s. Why should the Women’s National Team, more successful and competitive than the men’s team, still be relegated to embarrassingly unsafe and underprepared fields? The youth of the women’s team as an established institution is no longer an excuse — they’ve more than proven themselves with three World Cup titles under their belt. Why did the organization created to protect them and regulate their playing conditions drop the ball on a safety check because they assumed the NFL would handle it later for a more established and popular men’s league? Why did all qualifying national women’s teams have to play on surfaces inferior to the men’s for the 2015 Women’s World Cup, a competition of equal caliber and significance to men’s World Cups?

Gulati, the U.S. Soccer Federation, FIFA and others have issued apologies left and right, but they’re not answering these questions. It’s a good thing that this game was canceled and that fans were disappointed.

Bringing in a larger, more invested audience to this legacy of imbalance may mean that the USWNT will find the support it needs to set things in the professional soccer world straight — starting with their playing surfaces.

— Women’s Basketball —

Fighting Scots Outlast Yeowomen Harrison Wollman Staff Writer After a hot start to the 20152016 season, the women’s basketball team lost its third straight game on Wednesday night, falling to the College of Wooster Fighting Scots 52–50 at Philips gym.

The losing streak began with the Yeowomen’s Dec. 2 matchup against the Denison University Big Red. The team was unable to recover from a lackluster first period, which ultimately allowed the Big Red to cruise to victory in the remainder of the contest.

Senior guard Caroline Hamilton explained that Denison’s early intensity allowed them to put the game away before the Yeowomen could find a rhythm.

“Denison’s fast start last week happened because they came out playing faster and harder than us,” Hamilton said. “We didn’t match their intensity until the second quarter, and by that time we had already put ourselves in a 21–9 hole. We lost the three remaining quarters by a total of six points.”

Last Saturday’s matchup against the Carnegie Mellon University Tartans followed a somewhat opposite storyline to the previous contest against Denison. After going into the half leading 36–33, the Tartans fought back in the next two periods to win the game by a score of 73–64.

Assistant Coach Casi Donelan explained that the Yeowomen were unable to consistently play their brand of basketball throughout the game. “A few consecutive possessions we got wrapped up in their style of play, and it took us too long to get back to what we do best: defending and knocking down shots,” she said.

Saturday’s game against the Tartans also featured a major personal accomplishment for one of the Yeowomen’s longtime standouts. Senior guard Lindsey Bernhardt netted her 1,000th career point, a feat only seven Yeowomen had achieved before her.

So far, Bernhardt has averaged a team-high 16.3 points per game to go along with 2.7 assists and 2.6 rebounds. Head Coach Kerry Jenkins had nothing but praise for Bernhardt when asked what she brings to the program. “[Lindsey] has a tremendous work ethic and has grown as much as any player that I’ve ever coached. She just scored her 1,000th point this past weekend, and honestly she couldn’t care less. Lindsey has one goal every day: to win,” he said.

In Wednesday’s contest against The College of Wooster, the Yeowomen lacked offensive momentum, as their top scorers in Bernhardt and Hamilton combined to shoot just five of forty, or 12.5 percent, from the floor.

The Yeowomen were instead led by sophomore Tyler Parlor, who finished with her second doubledouble of the season by netting 12 points and grabbing an impressive 13 rebounds. Despite the offensive struggles, the Yeowomen hung tight in the competition,

but struggles with shooting accuracy in the final minute of the game ultimately led to a 52–50 Fighting Scots victory.

The loss drops the Yeowomen to 5–5 overall and 0–2 in conference play, though they still have ample time left in the season to make a comeback. Coming off a season in which they won 10 conference games to clinch the team’s first ever home playoff victory, the Yeowomen are still looking to find their stride with hopes of emulating last year’s recordbreaking success. Coach Jenkins explained that his young team is

still striving to get to where they need to be.

“We are committed and talented, but we are inexperienced, so our development isn’t as quick as I would like it to be at times.

However, we will get to where we need to be. The players want to get better,” he said.

The Yeowomen will look to get back to their winning ways this week when they play the formidable DePauw University Tigers in Greencastle, IN, this Saturday at 3 p.m. They will then take a short break before they challenge Kalamazoo College on Jan. 2.

First-year center Olivia Canning leaps to tip a shot over her opponent from the College of Wooster Fighting Scots. The Yeowomen fell in a close match against the Fighting Scots on Wednesday 52–50, putting them on a three-game losing streak.

Benjamin Shepherd, Photo editor

Sports The Oberlin Review

Page 16

December 11, 2015

— Track and Field —

Oberlin Races Ahead With NCAC Honors Sam Kreisberg The track and field team opened its winter season last Saturday in Alliance, Ohio, competing in the Purple Raider Toy Drive Invite. Oberlin was joined at the invitational by host University of Mount Union, as well as Walsh University and Malone University, both Division II. Oberlin fared well in its first meet of the year, with eight athletes recording top-five finishes, and two of those athletes earning North Coast Athletic Conference Athlete of the Week honors for their performances.

Sophomore Lilah DraftsJohnson took home the Athlete of the Week honors for distance and middle distance, competing in the 500-meter dash and the 1,500-meter relay. She earned second place in the dash with a time of 1 minute, 22.11 seconds, which helped her team finish in 4:17.27 for third place in the relay.

Drafts-Johnson was surprised that this race resulted in a conference award but was not unhappy with the recognition.

“It’s funny to receive NCAC Athlete of the Week, because I feel like I’ve

definitely had a lot faster and more important races that never received the NCAC’s attention,” DraftsJohnson said. “But obviously, no complaints. It’s an honor, especially considering how hard I know my team and the rest of the conference work.”

On the track, three other athletes contributed to Oberlin’s collection of top-five finishes.

Sophomores Annie Goodridge and Rayna Holmes, along with first-year Imani Cook-Gist, rounded out the relay with DraftsJohnson. Saturday marked a collegiate debut for

efforts. Sophomore Monique Newton garnered NCAC Athlete of the Week for field events and broke a record to boot, winning the shot put with a school-record-breaking 14.29-meter throw.

While Newton appreciates the award, she said she is making sure not to get complacent so early in this season’s campaign.

“It’s very humbling to be given this honor so early in the season,” Newton said. “I’ve been working extremely hard, and

this honor shows the hard work is paying off. I just want to keep the momentum going and continue to do well.”

Goodridge added to her hard work in the relay later that day, placing first in the long jump with a 5.20-meter leap and second in the triple jump with a 10.79-meter leap.

Senior Nathan Danko vaulted to a second-place finish in the pole vault with a 4.30-meter spring, while junior Ave Spencer finished third in the same

event with a jump of 3.25 meters.

Another thrower who finished well was sophomore Ana Richardson, who competed in shot put and weight throw. She earned a third-place finish in the shot put with a throw of 12.35 meters and came in second in the weight throw with a 15.18-meter toss.

The team’s roster is currently very young and relatively inexperienced, See Track, page 14

––––––––––––––––––––––

“It’s an honor, especially considering how hard I know my team and the rest of the conference work.”

Lilah Drafts-Johnson Sophomore sprinter –––––––––––––––––––––– Cooks-Gist, who added a fourth-place finish in the 400-meter dash with a time of 1:02.11.

The Yeomen and Yeowomen also dominated field events, with five athletes putting in top-five

Junior Ben Venerdi propels himself over the bar during Oberlin’s spring 2015 season. The Yeomen and Yeowomen started their season strongly at Mount Union College, with sophomores Lilah Drafts-Johnson and Monique Newton earning NCAC Player of the Week honors for their performances.

Courtesy of Jen Danko

Cool or Drool: NBA Rookie PL AYE R O F T H E W E E K Begins Reckless Rampage David Bright Dan Bisno Columnist

First-year David Bright had an impressive weekend swimming for the Yeomen, who traveled to Fredonia, NY, for the Fredonia Blue Devil Invitational. Bright registered the second-fastest time in Oberlin school history in the men’s 100-yard breaststroke on the second day of aquatic competition, clocking in at 58.6 seconds to finish third overall. First-year Jacques Forbes, sophomore Adam Winikoff and junior Nils Gudbranson also helped Bright to finish second in the 200-yard freestyle relay with a time of 1:27.25. Bright capped off the weekend with a top finish for the Yeomen on day three, clocking in at 2:10.29 in the men’s 200-yard breaststroke. The Yeowomen and Yeomen will be back in action at Carr Pool on Friday, Jan. 15, to christen the new year with the first home meet of 2016.

Courtesy of Oberin College Athletics

The NBA season is finally in high gear, and it only took six weeks for a rookie to make a fool of himself.

It’s always a waiting game after the NBA draft: Which soon-to-be rich 19-year-old draftee is going to show the world that, despite having a professional career, he acts his age? The third pick from the 2015 NBA draft to the Philadelphia 76ers Jahlil Okafor answered that call.

After an explosive start to the season — averaging nearly 17 points and eight rebounds per game — it would be unfair to expect Okafor to tuck himself into bed before curfew and stick to mineral water. In fact, Okafor reportedly attempted to purchase alcoholic beverages with a fake ID at a bar, appropriately named Misconduct Tavern, in Center City, Philadelphia. How does an almost seven-foot-tall man who is famous all over Philadelphia expect a bartender not to recognize him?

His face is on billboards! While his representative denies the incident, something seems fishy. Why is he always out at 3 a.m.? Is he watching

the sky to see if the stars are different than the ones in Chicago? Probably not.

We would let Okafor off the hook for the fake ID incident if three other reports had not come out around the same time. First, Okafor admitted to being pulled over for driving at 108 mph on a 45-mph road. Then, in early October, Okafor allegedly attacked an armed heckler in a car outside of an Old City nightclub.

Lastly, TMZ released a video showing Okafor attacking a man in the streets outside of a Boston nightclub on Thanksgiving. According to the Boston Police Department, the victim sustained an injury that had to be treated with stitches.

It all happened so fast for Okafor. Not long ago, he was taking his high school team to the Illinois High School Association class 4A championship and later headed to the National Collegiate Athletic Association tournament championship with Duke University. This same kid was offered a basketball scholarship to DePaul University when he was in eighth grade. Okafor has known for See Okafor, page 14

Turf Wars Sarena Malsin Sports Editor As far as soccer is concerned, turf sucks. Granted, it’s definitely a better surface than the lumpy, rocky, unkempt mini-forests that high school, premier (and even, ahem, college-level) leagues often have as alternative or backup fields. But when it comes to professional soccer, where resources are specially allocated to create beautiful, meticulously trimmed swaths of natural grass that make every step feel like heaven, grass fields leave turf in the dust.

This is for obvious reasons. Turf smells. It makes you question if you’re being cooked alive on hot, sunny days. It gives you killer turf burn that you’re certain must be riddled with disease from those shady tire pieces — nerdles, nubs, niblets, or whatever your preferred terminology may be. For a professional team, it also betrays a sense of amateurism, hearkening back to that high school vibe.

Worst of all, as an unnatural surface liable to be ripped and torn, it’s dangerous for players. These are the issues that the United States Women’s National Team has had to deal with since its conception as a team. The worst part of it is, the whole time they’ve had to deal with turf fields for even their international games, they’ve also had to watch their comically less successful counterparts, the U.S. Men’s National Team, play on grass surfaces.

The turf vs. grass debate has been an issue for the USWNT for some time, with stars like Abby Wambach speaking out against the blatant imbalance that exists between the treatment of men’s and women’s professional soccer leagues by organizations like the U.S. Soccer Federation and FIFA. Wambach filed a legal complaint against FIFA for staging the 2015 Women’s World Cup on turf stadiums, but dropped it once it became clear her efforts were going See Editorial, page 15