The Oberlin Review
OCTOBER 31, 2014 VOLUME 143, NUMBER 6
Local News Bulletin News briefs from the past week Students Selected for Music Criticism Program Four students were chosen to participate in the Rubin Institute for Music Criticism, a program that was founded in an attempt to educate young music journalists on how to write about classical music. Double-degree junior Aaron Wolff, double-degree junior Daniel Hautzinger, College senior Zoë Madonna and double-degree fifth-year Jarrett Hoffman were chosen from a pool of students from all over the world. The institute, started at the Conservatory in January 2012, will award one of the 17 students the $10,000 Rubin Prize in Music Criticism. City Garage To Be Rebuilt After Fire The case for the city’s garage fire was closed this week, but the cause of the fire is still unknown. The Feb. 15 fire at Oberlin’s Public Work Complex destroyed the building, and the city is ruling out the possibility that someone broke into the building to start the fire. Last week, City Council voted to accept an $845,500 bid by Seitz Builders to replace the garage. The cost was largely covered by insurance, with only $30,800 coming out of the city’s budget to install LED lights and a fire suppression system. Students Discuss Future of Financial Accessibility Students gathered at the Cat in the Cream this Thursday to attend the second Oberlin Financial Aid Policy Forum, where they divided into working groups to discuss how to best move forward. Last semester, the College altered the financial aid policy without alerting the students, causing a great amount of concern for students in OSCA and lowincome students. After student protest, the College delayed the implementation of the policy indefinitely.
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Obies ‘Carry That Weight’ on Day of Action Emma Paul and Madeline Stocker Staff Writer and News Editor Trigger warning: This article contains discussion of sexualized and domestic violence. Armed with mattresses, pillows and blankets, several students and faculty members visualized the burden of sexualized violence this past Wednesday and showed their solidarity for survivors by carrying — and sometimes dragging — their bed-related items around campus. The widespread visualization was part of the Carry That Weight Day of Action, a national event in which students, staff and faculty at colleges across the country showed their solidarity with survivors of sexual and domestic violence. The national Day of Action was inspired by the activism of Columbia University student Emma Sulkowicz, who reported her rape to her school’s administration in April 2013, only to find that the administration found the male student she reported “not responsible.” To demonstrate her anger toward the administration and their alleged gross mishandling of the process, Sulkowicz carries her mattress with her everywhere she goes and plans on continuing to do so as long as her rapist is still enrolled at Columbia. The visual
College senior Sophie Meade (left), College juniors Karalyn Grimes and Laura Shriver and others lift a mattress to show their solidarity with survivors of sexual and domestic violence. In line with the national Carry That Weight Day of Action, several students and faculty members carried mattresses, blankets and pillows around campus as a visual demonstration of the burden of being a survivor of sexualized violence. Courtesy of Laura Shriver
demonstration is meant to be a tangible expression of the burden of being a survivor of sexualized violence. “Regardless of your survivorship status, [carrying the weight] is a show of solidarity and an attempt to increase awareness of sexualized violence on college campuses and the ways in which they overlap with systems of oppression and
are ignored,” said College junior Laura Shriver, who participated in wednesday’s demonstration. The term “survivorship status” refers to the fact that not everyone who has suffered from sexualized or domesticated violence feels the “survivor” label appropriate. Some might classify themselves as victims, as victors, or any other number of terms, including those
completely devoid of labels. It also refers to the fact that some students involved in the demonstration were allies in solidarity. In line with the national Day of Action, Shriver and her fellow student activists organized two community meetings that centered on the needs and actions of students See Students, page 4
Students Protest Economist’s Actions, Not Views Madeline Stocker News Editor Those who expected developmentalism to be the only policy deconstructed at Jeffrey Sachs’s convocation Wednesday night were in for a surprise. Sachs, an American economist and former economic advisor to a number of governments worldwide, began the first few words of his convocation speech in front of a relatively large audience of students, faculty, staff and community members, but was soon drowned out by the shouts from a group of students scattered throughout Finney Chapel. “Jeffrey Sachs has spent his life using vulnerable populations in mass economic experiments,” the students proclaimed from their vantage points. Banners denouncing neoliberalism unfurled from both sides of the chapel’s balconies as the students continued to protest the economist, who they claimed “propagat[ed] the death and mass poverty
of millions of people,” and “obliterat[ed] the working class in Bolivia, Poland and Russia.” After completing their demonstration, a call-and-response “mic check” in which several student leaders shouted each phrase and other students resounded the call, the protesters exited the chapel, shouting, “No justice, no peace. Keep Sachs out of international relief,” over Sachs’s request for quiet. According to the students who led the demonstration, the purpose of the protest was to speak out against Sachs’s actions, not views, as well as focus accountability on the College for funding a speaker they accused of promoting a neoliberalist capitalist agenda. In order to achieve their goal, protesters lined the pews with fliers directing attention to some of Sachs’s more controversial tactics, hoping to encourage attendees to think critically about the speaker’s actions before choosing how to perceive the content of his convocation. The economist, who The New York Times
called “the most important economist in the world,” is known to many as the father of shock therapy, a term that refers to the intentional instigation of instability and conflict within a country. This tactic is often achieved by suddenly dropping price and currency controls, withdrawing state subsidies and privatizing publicly owned assets. “These policies pass the cost of economic stabilization onto lower classes, leading to widespread unemployment, low average purchasing power and increased poverty,” read the program that student protesters passed out to audience members. For many, however, the success of these policies cannot be denied. In 1985, Sachs advised the Bolivian government to use shock therapy during a time of heightened hyperinflation and subsequently reduced inflation by 11,375 percent. He has also played a large role in the stabilization of the Polish, See Protesters, page 5
on the Spike!
Green is Gold Construction began on a new sustainable home. See page 2
Interactive Arts The Fourth Wall merged music, dance and theater in an interactive workshop. See page 13
INDEX:
Opinions 6
This Week in Oberlin 8
Sophomore Meredith Leung led the Yeowomen’s recent strong play. See page 15
Arts 11
Sports 16
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