April 24, 2015 by The Oberlin Review

The Oberlin Review

APRIL 24, 2015 VOLUME 143, NUMBER 21

Local News Bulletin News briefs from the past week Olympia Companies to Manage Hotel The College announced that The Olympia Companies will manage the hotel in the currently under-construction Peter B. Lewis Gateway center. earlier this week. The hotel will have 70 guestrooms and suites, as well as a restaurant and conference center. The hotel, designed to use alternative energy and meet the U.S. Green Building Council’s LEED Platinum standards, is expected to be completed and operating by late 2015. Board Grants Tenure to 12 Professors Earlier this week, the Board of Trustees promoted 12 assistant professors to associate professor and granted them tenure. The new associate professors are: Laura Baudot and Natasha Tessone, English; Jack Calcut, Mathematics; Julia Christensen, Art; Janet Fiskio, Environmental Studies; Amy Margaris, Archeological Studies and Anthropology; Mohammad Mahallati, Religion; Greggor Mattson, Sociology; Emer O’Dwyer, History and East Asian Studies; Tracie Paine, Neuroscience; Viplav Saini, Economics; and Claire T. Solomon, Hispanic Studies. “Missing Tooth” Project Pulled A project to make the vacant downtown alley between Ottica Eyecare and Blue Rooster Bakehouse on Main Street — known as the “Missing Tooth” to residents — into a lighted seating area has been rejected by members of the off-street parking board. The parking board did not give any reasons for the rejection. A group of community members and business owners known as “The Outlaws” raised money for the renovation, but were unaware that the entire offstreet parking board, not just the lot owner, had to approve the project.

Students Protest Sommers’ Lecture Emma Paul Staff Writer From her podium in Dye Lecture Hall, Christina Hoff Sommers, an author, former philosophy professor and self-proclaimed “freedom feminist,” attempted, amid protesters and dissenting audience members, to persuade Oberlin students that feminism has become too radicalized. She was invited to campus on Monday night by the Oberlin College Republicans and Libertarians and is the most recent speaker in the Ronald Reagan Lectureship series, which is devoted to bringing views that members of OCRL “believe are underrepresented at Oberlin” to campus. Sommers critiqued the feminist movement in her 1994 book “Who Stole Feminism?” More recently, she has written op-eds for The Daily Beast, The Atlantic and TIME magazine, the most controversial of which focus on Sommers’ opinion that campus sexual assault is exaggerated and rape culture is an invention of gender studies departments. Before Sommers arrived at Dye Lecture Hall, protesters covered the venue with signs criticizing her beliefs and the event. One sign read “Support Survivors,” referring

Christina Hoff Sommers leans over the podium during her lecture. Protesters hung posters at the event venue, listened to the talk with their mouths covered with tape and hosted an alternate event. Nick Farfan

to survivors of sexualized violence. Another sign read “Rape Culture Hall of Fame” with the names of past and present members of OCRL listed below. Inside the auditorium more signs were taped to the handrails along the aisles, and the guidelines for consent as detailed in Oberlin’s

See page 2

Sexual Misconduct Policy were left on every seat along with instructions on how to support survivors of sexualized violence. The lecture hall was nearly full when approximately 15 protesters, their mouths covered with red duct tape, filed in and silently took their seats in the first few rows. More

protesters followed, standing in the only room remaining at the back of the hall. Protesters and other students who opposed the event could not be reached for comment, but they described their opposition in a See OCRL, page 4

Michelle Obama to Speak at Commencement Elizabeth Dobbins News Editor First Lady Michelle Obama is going to speak at commencement on May 25 thanks to a short video showcasing the Ninde Scholars Program. “We’re so excited and proud. I would say overwhelming excitement and pride,” said Katie Hayes, Ninde Scholars Program college access coordinator. Almost two months ago, College senior and Bonner Scholar Patrick Gilfether sat down with Ninde Scholar Morgan Smith and her tutor, College junior Amethyst Carey, to meet and discuss the filming of a short video. Over the next week and a half, Gilfether and several collaborators shot, edited and submitted the video to the Office of the First Lady’s “Near-Peer Mentoring” College Challenge and promptly moved on to the next project. This Tuesday, Gilfether, along with the rest of the student body, was reminded of the video when the Office of the First Lady announced that the project had won the contest, securing First Lady Michelle Obama as a 2015 Commencement speaker alongside previously announced Marian Wright Edelman, founder and president of the Children’s Defense Fund. “I sent it off and felt really good that I made it

for them and didn’t really think much of it; that was a month and a half ago,” Gilfether said. “I was just like, ‘OK, cool. On to the next project that I have to work on.’ And I woke up [Tuesday] and got the news and I was just floored. I really didn’t expect that we were going to win, not because I didn’t think it was good, just that it was Michelle Obama.” Associate Director of Media Production in the Communications Office Zach Christy produced the video, but the project was ultimately studentled with direction by Gilfether and music by double-degree junior Kirk Pearson. Gilfether said he tried to make a competitive video that was both short and, by focusing on only two people, emotionally involving. However, in addition to making a competitive video, Hayes said the organization wanted a video that could provide publicity and communicate the goals of the program even if it didn’t win the contest. “When we first found the contest we thought, ‘Wow, we think Ninde is a really good example of exactly what they’re looking for.’ One thing as a very small organization — we only have three full-time staff people — one thing that we struggle with is to tell our story, and so for us we thought this would be the thing that pushes us to prioritize. … For us we thought, ‘Well, it would be amaz-

10 Points for Oberlin!

$64,224 Students gathered to protest a 4 percent increase in total cost of attendance.

ESTABLISHED 1874 oberlinreview.org

ONLINE & IN PRINT

Hilarious Heist Obertones collaborate with Koreo for its final spring performance. See page 11

INDEX:

Opinions 5

This Week in Oberlin 8

Quidditch hosts firstever home game.

See page 15

Arts 10

Sports 16

ing if we won, but worst case scenario we come out of it with a video that helps us tell our story and helps us recruit future scholars and tutors and share with donors.’” The Ninde Scholars peer tutor program is an application-based program for talented seventh through twelfth graders in the Oberlin school district, particularly individuals from low-income backgrounds or potential first-generation college students. The organization also provides resources for students who are not Ninde Scholars, such as ACT test prep classes and assistance in filling out FAFSA forms. Hayes said the program is similar to many others in the nation, but also uniquely tailored to the needs of the Oberlin community. She cited Lorain County’s transportation troubles, since public transit was cut in 2009, as an example. Many students would sign up for the ACT but find it difficult to get to the testing location, so the Ninde Program began providing a bus, complete with care packages, to transport students from Oberlin High School to the ACT site. Since the program was started in 2005, a total of 67 students have graduated from the program — 93 percent of whom enrolled in college. Out of See Student, page 4

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Students Protest 4 Percent Tuition Hike Katherine Kingma On Saturday afternoon, College senior Zachery Crowell shouted out to a Wilder Bowl full of sunbathing students to encourage them to participate in a meeting to organize students against the College’s planned four percent increase next year in total cost of attendance. Within the first five minutes, Crowell had five students. Ten minutes later the meeting had thirty. “We are one of the most expensive academic institutions in the entire world and because of this we have much less racial and socioeconomic diversity than we should,” Crowell said at the meeting. “We need to ask ourselves: Is [this] the Oberlin we want to be? I know I want an Oberlin with a diverse student body instead of one that runs the ratrace with other institutions to be prestigious in rankings.” The cost of attending Oberlin — a number that includes tuition, a multi-occupant room, a standard meal plan and additional fees — will rise from $61,788 this year to $64,224 for the 2015-16 school year. The general assembly re-

Council Wins Gun Lawsuit Hannah Jackel-Dewhurst

College senior Zachery Crowell (left) and College senior Khalil Habrih stand in Wilder Bowl to protest the tuition hike. The cost of living for the 2015–16 school year will rise 4 percent, from $61,788 to $64,224. Bryan Rubin

sulted in several proposals to make Oberlin more financially accessible: expand OSCA, make CDS cheaper, shift money away from merit-based financial aid to need-based aid, spend less money on new facilities and spend more money on expanding financial aid.

Toward the end of the meeting, students split up into three groups to organize student action. One group finalized three goals to present to the administration. The demands were: a freeze in tuition until a better financial aid system can be devel-

oped; improved community-college relations, especially in light of land purchases by the College that some students described as gentrification; and better conditions and benefits for Oberlin workers. See Working, page 4

Feature Photo: Poop Campaign

College sophomore Kiran Melnyk marks a tally after pooping in the Adam Joseph Lewis Center. As part of Ecolympics, the person who poops in the AJLC the most — and thus helps provide the most compost for the building’s Living Machine — will win a $25 gift certificate. Taylor Field

Last week a judge ruled in favor of the City Council in a lawsuit over a city ordinance that reiterates a state law banning unlawful possession of firearms in public parks. The decision is significant because it states that municipal governments have the right to file ordinances regulating the use of firearms so long as those ordinances complement state law. The plaintiffs, Brian and Janae Kuzawa, who are not Oberlin residents and were supported by the organization Ohioans for Concealed Carry, argued that municipalities cannot pass ordinances regulating the use of firearms. The court ruled in favor of the ordinance, so if the Kuzawas do not appeal within 30 days, it will remain on the books. The ordinance, as well as state law, also bans a list of weapons — from slingshots to crossbows — from being brought into parks. The ordinance is an amended version of one from the 1970s that, according to Oberlin Law Director Jon Clark, stated that possession of firearms in city parks was illegal. At the time the ordinance was written, it was not in conflict with state law. By the summer of 2013, however, it no longer matched Ohio’s concealed carry laws. The issue was raised, Clark said, when “we [the city of Oberlin] got a call from somebody that said they were coming to town and intended to bring their firearm.” According to Clark, the caller pointed out that the ordinance against firearms in parks conflicted with Ohio’s current gun laws. Following this call, the visitor in question came to Oberlin, firearm in tow, without incident. Following that incident, the Council began discussions to amend the ordinance. During the summer and early fall of 2013, Ohioans for Concealed Carry staged two demonstrations in protest of the ordinance. Gun rights advocates from surrounding areas came to Oberlin openly carrying firearms. The City Council held three reading sessions regarding the ordinance. During one of these sessions, gun-rights protesters, toting their weapons, came and, according to City Council member Bryan Burgess, said that they intended to sue See Oberlin’s, page 4

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April 24, 2015

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Off the Cuff: Rajeev Dhawan, director of Georgia State University’s Economic Forecasting Center Rajeev Dhawan is a professor and the director of the Economic Forecasting Center at the Robinson College of Business at Georgia State University. Dhawan frequently publishes economic forecasts for the metro-Atlanta economy, the regional Southeast economy and the broader U.S. economy. Dhawan has made appearances on CNN, MSNBC and The Bloomberg Report, as well as other TV programs. He is also the author of Firm Size, Financial Intermediation and Business Cycles. He gave a talk on Monday as part of the Economics department’s Danforth-Lewis Speakers Series. What’s your economic forecast for the upcoming year in the U.S.? Basically, my forecast for the year’s economy is continuation of the same old. We’ve been doing about 2.5 percent growth on average for the last couple of years. It’s not going to increase for two reasons. Number one, we have a global slowdown going outside of the U.S. Europe is in a bad shape, in a recession practically. And then the other one on which the world’s economy runs a lot is China and its suppliers. China slowed down in 2012 — they were trying to cure their home price inflation problem — and when they tried to restart it, they were unsuccessful. So you hear reports about China not doing as well, which has implications for the rest of the world. And now with the oil prices down to half the level they were before, all the Middle Eastern oil producing countries have less money to spend. So you’re not going to get any kick from there. Do not depend on any help from our trading partners for another year or so. We have to rely on our own domestic consumption and investment. That’s doing okay. Housing is picking up. Investment is fine — it’s going to suffer a bit because of the low oil prices; all the oil companies over here are cutting back on fracking and everything. So we can maintain the growth, but we just can’t accelerate.

Thursday, April 16 2:37 a.m. Officers assisted a student ill from alcohol consumption in the first floor lounge of Barrows Hall. An ambulance also responded to the call. The student was able to answer a series of questions correctly and was transported to their off-campus address. 7:57 a.m. An officer doing routine building checks observed three cases of unopened beer in plain view on the floor of the Bike Co-op. The beer was confiscated and placed in the security property room. 1:35 p.m. A student reported the theft of an unlocked black,

How do you generally go about the process of making economic forecasts? I read a lot. I read four newspapers a day — print versions, not online. I read online stuff. I talk to executives in the community. I go around making speeches, I talk to people. I talk to you, I talk to a small businessman. That gives me some idea. But ultimately you have to use your basic economic principles to figure it out. What are the components of GDP: consumption, investment, government spending, exports, imports. What’s happening to each component? You have some ideas, then you sit down with an econometric model on a computer and put your assumptions in there, and then you see what comes out. It’s like the secret sauce, you have to be thinking about it. Models can only help so much. They are just a guiding post. They’re like a grand accounting device to keep track of everything, but you have to be the one pulling the levers. So you pull a lever, things will move and the econometric lever will keep track of that. But if you pull the wrong lever, you’re going to get the wrong answer. So the idea is to think over which levers are moving up and down. Do you think 2.5 percent growth is the new normal? Are the decades of 3, 4 percent growth over? That’s a good question. What’s the potential growth rate? In the old ones, you would say 3 or 3.5 [percent]. And there was a good reason: we were building houses at a rate of two million homes per year. What are we doing right now? Less than a million. How can we be at 3.5 when we aren’t building that much housing? My expectation is that we’re going to go up to 1.1, 1.2 [million houses] in the next couple of years, so that’s why 2.5 percent seems reasonable. So you view housing as the sector that drives the rest of the economy? Housing is a big driver. Why do people buy homes? They have a job, they’re making some money. That means jobs are being created. Number two, when some-

single-speed men’s mountain bike with an “X” painted on the front. The bicycle was last seen Sunday, April 12 at 11:30 p.m. near the dumpster in the South Hall parking lot.

Friday, April 17 4:42 p.m. Officers and members of the Oberlin Fire Department responded to a fire alarm at the Union Street apartments. The alarm was set off by a resident smoking marijuana in the apartment. The area was cleared of smoke and the alarm was reset.

Saturday, April 18 1:30 p.m. A student reported the theft of an unlocked bicycle from the pond area at the Conservatory. The bicycle, valued at

assets are too. Servicing the debt is really cheap right now, so I don’t think there is really an issue with the debt. The issue is you may have trouble getting the loan from the bank to buy a mortgage at terms that you were getting 10 years ago. You can’t get those terms now. Credit is tight, it’s not that debt is too high.

Rajeev Dhawan, who is a professor and director of the Economic Forecasting Center at the Robinson College of Business at Georgia State University

body buys a home somebody has to build it. So people get jobs, companies get orders for lumber, materials, steel, other stuff. So that’s why the economic activity depends on what housing is doing—new housing, not just the resale of existing homes. New home building. But the population isn’t really growing, right? The population is growing, unlike the rest of the world. It grows about 2 percent, that’s pretty decent. But for example, the young people these days, the Millennials who are working and have some cash saved up, they prefer to rent rather than buy, and that keeps demand down. Consumer debt is still high. Does that worry you? I think that consumer debt becomes a problem only if your other avenues of income and assets are suffering. For example, right now the income growth is decent, nothing great, but people have made good money on their stock market portfolio. Debt is a function of what your

approximately $100, is a 10-speed blue Torker 510 with a water bottle holder, light and rack on the back. 11:41 p.m. Officers responded to a noise complaint at a Goldsmith apartment, where a loud party was being held. Approximately 20 party attendees were observed leaving the residence. Residents of the apartment cleaned up beer bottles and cans, and officers confiscated several fireworks.

Sunday, April 19 7:15 a.m. An officer on a routine patrol of Talcott Hall observed offensive spray-painted graffiti, which was possibly part of a previous art installation, on various walls in the basement. A work order was filed for cleanup.

When do you think the Federal Reserve will raise interest rates? I think the Fed will very reluctantly, if it has to, start raising the rates sometime later this year. My forecast from the start of this year said not before September and even then gingerly. And they can even delay that. Should they? If they economy is not even maintaining 2.5 [percent GDP], then don’t do it. If the economy starts doing 3 percent, go aggressive. If the economy is doing only 2 [percent], there’s no need to move it. Do you think quantitative easing was a success? Yes. If you’re a homeowner, and you’re still not underwater, a lot of people have refiled two or three times in the last five years. That’s the effect of QE in keeping interest rates low. The trouble right now is that the corporate sector, which has to invest and expand and do things to hire people, they are reluctant. I don’t blame them. They just came off a massive downturn, so they’re a bit shell-shocked. They are gingerly opening their wallets for spending, and remember, our companies have become very multinational, whether you’re Apple, IBM, GM or even GE, a large proportion of your revenues are now coming from sales abroad. This wasn’t that true 15 years ago. So if the rest of the world isn’t doing too well, the companies headquartered over here, even if they build a plant abroad, they need the people over here and they’re not going to expand. For example, Coke has talked about cutting back $3 million in spending. That’s a code word for not hiring.

Monday, April 20 7:46 a.m. An officer on routine patrol of East Hall found that the thermostat near the east entrance of Shipherd wing had been vandalized. The thermostat unit was hanging by wires and the plastic cover was found on the floor broken into pieces. A work order was filed for repair. 7:40 a.m. An officer on routine patrol observed spray-painted graffiti on a dumpster south of Fairchild House. A work order was filed for removal. 4:51 p.m. A student reported the theft of his bookbag from Hall Auditorium, Johnson House or a downtown business. The bag contained a MacBook Pro laptop valued at $1,500, miscellaneous personal items and keys. The student filed a report with the Ober-

Interview by Oliver Bok, News editor Photo courtesy of Rajeev Dhawan

lin Police Department. 5:20 p.m. Officers were requested to assist an ill student on the first floor of Wilder Hall. The student was transported by ambulance to Mercy Allen Hospital for medical treatment.

Tuesday, April 21 1:26 a.m. An anonymous caller reported observing a student who appeared to be intoxicated leaving The Feve. No other information was received. Officers checked the area but the individual could not be located. 4:30 p.m. A student reported the theft of their locked bicycle from either inside or outside of Harkness House. The bike, valued at $400, is a bright turquoise Bianchi with blue tape and a leather saddle.

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The Oberlin Review, April 24, 2015

Working Groups Plan Response to Cost Increase Continued from page 2 The other two groups focused on community outreach and political action. They organized a series of protests, which happened every day this past week from 12:45 p.m. to 1:30 p.m. in front of Wilder Hall. The protests culminated in a rally that included further discussion of goals and a march at 1 p.m. today in Wilder Bowl. In addition, the groups circulated an online petition in support of a tuition freeze. In response to the protests, President Krislov said that the tuition increases were necessary. “Our model is tuition-dependent, and our costs are growing from everything to financial aid to other things,” Krislov said. “The truth is that we try to increase socioeco-

nomic and racial diversity more proportionally on aid than pretty much anybody. … I mean, is there more we can do? Absolutely. But are we completely focused on working on this? Absolutely.” President Krislov also defended financial decisions that allocated funds to facilities and merit-based aid instead of need-based aid. “[The Oberlin Inn and the new athletic complex] are facilities that needed to be replaced. The Inn was at the end of its life, and [the] complex didn’t even have a women’s locker room. … Donations were given specifically for these facilities. We give a lot of financial aid and most of it is need-based aid. Our merit scholarships are mainly for the Conservatory to reduce competition, but that is an ongoing discussion.”

In Memory: John Schroth

John Schroth, the superintendent of Oberlin City Schools, died yesterday morning. Schroth had had a brain tumor removed in February and was originally diagnosed with colon cancer in 2012. Schroth arrived at Oberlin in 2007, working as the director of operations and assistant superintendent before being appointed superintendent in 2011. In total, Schroth worked in public education for almost thirty years. During his tenure, Schroth made plans for a new pre-K–12 campus and strengthened ties between the school district and Oberlin College. “Mr. Schroth’s outstanding collaborative leadership will be greatly missed by the entire Oberlin community,” assistant superintendent Jim Eibel wrote in a press release Thursday. Courtesy of Chronicle Telegram

Students gather in small groups during a meeting last Saturday to plan a response to the rise in tuition. The groups drafted a series of demands that they feel would make the school more financially accessible. Effie Kline-Salamon

OCRL Hosts ‘Freedom Feminist’ Continued from page 1 letter published in the Review last week. “By bringing her to a college campus laden with trauma and sexualized violence and full of victims/survivors, OCRL is choosing to reinforce this climate of denial/ blame/shame that ultimately has real life consequences on the wellbeing of people who have experienced sexualized violence,” they wrote. “We could spend all of our time and energy explaining all of the ways she’s harmful. But why should we?” According to Nick Loucks, a current member of OCRL and 2016–17 president of the club, the group extended the invitation after donors suggested Sommers as a speaker to include in the lectureship series. He said that before the suggestion, some members of OCRL, including Loucks, had not heard of her. “Usually individual members will suggest certain topics or suggest certain speakers,” Loucks said. “This particular suggestion came from a couple of our donors. … We wanted to talk about feminism in general — whether or not it was too radicalized, specifically on this campus.” Loucks declined to name the donors who suggested Sommers. Young America’s Foundation, an organization that aims to bring

Oberlin’s Right to Regulate Firearms Upheld Continued from page 2 the city of Oberlin regardless of whether or not the ordinance was amended. This led to a debate among Council members. While both Burgess and fellow Council member Sharon Soucy said the entire Council agreed that they ought to have the right to keep firearms out of city parks, there was a disagreement about whether or not the ordinance should be amended. Burgess, along with some community groups like God Against Guns, felt that the best course of action would be to not amend the ordinance, despite the conflict with state law. “We have a responsibility to protect our citizens any way we see fit, and I would prefer to stand by my beliefs,” Burgess said. “I knew [refusing to amend the ordinance] would put us in conflict with state law, but I don’t believe in the state law.” Burgess’ approach would have meant a higher risk of losing when Ohioans for Concealed Carry took the issue

to court, which concerned some Council members. Soucy felt that amending the ordinance but keeping it on the books was still taking a stance. “I thought we should get in basic compliance with the state but fight that we did have home rule to make this decision,” Soucy said. The City Council ultimately decided to rewrite the ordinance to complement state law while also expressing its disagreement with the law. The Council also filed a resolution protesting its lack of autonomy regarding firearms in city parks. The current ordinance simply reiterates state law. Still, Ohioans for Concealed Carry contend that municipal governments do not have the right to pass any ordinances that regulate firearms, even if they do not conflict with state law in any way. The plaintiffs still have 30 days to appeal the decision. Soucy sees this as a significant victory for the City Council. “We went to court with a limited issue, and we won, so now that stands as a precedent,” she said.

conservative ideas to students, lists Sommers’ speaker’s fee as $3,000 to $5,000. According to Loucks, OCRL paid a little more than $5,000 in order to cover Sommers’ travel costs. Sommers opened her talk with humor, lightly joking about the many comments left on the event’s Facebook page deriding the OCRL’s decision to invite her to campus. Students’ opposition drew the attention and anger of many of Sommers’ fans unaffiliated with the College on both Facebook and anonymous forums, such as the Gamergate board on 8chan. Many protesters have changed their Facebook profile pictures to black and changed their Facebook names to avoid online recognition and harassment. During her talk, Sommers explained her brand of feminism, called “equity feminism” or “freedom feminism.” She defined this form of feminism as reform-oriented, based on Enlightenment principles of universal suffrage and access to education. She suggested that the only thing holding back Western women is their interest in the humanities and social sciences and lack of interest in STEM fields. After the event, Sommers tweeted, “College feminists gasped in horror when I gave them common sense advice on how to close [the] wage gap. Change your major!” While Sommers declined to

address accusations from her audience of being a “rape denialist,” activists organized a safe space in Wilder Hall during the event to affirm the experiences of survivors of sexualized violence and provide them with support. The alternative event, We’re Still Here, was attended by approximately 35 students and one dog. According to Loucks, the fact that many students focused on Sommers’ comments about rape culture came as a surprise to OCRL members. He acknowledges that OCRL looks to provoke debate when inviting speakers but says the group did not intend to downplay the prevalence of sexualized violence on campuses. “Yes, we do look for reaction when we’re scheduling events, but we didn’t look for this type of reaction,” Loucks said. “What I think is really important to add was that it was never our intention to belittle or minimize the experiences of people subjected to sexualized violence. That wasn’t going to be the topic of the talk, that wasn’t something we even talked about in meetings when were planning this event, and it wasn’t on our agenda at all. So I was really disappointed that some students made it out to be [the topic of the talk]. I think the student reaction is what really brought the conversation in that direction.”

Student Video Wins FLOTUS’ Contest Continued from page 1 the 2006 to 2009 high school graduates in the program, 41.3 percent had earned a bachelor’s and 10.3 percent had earned an associate’s degree as of fall 2014. This percent falls far above the 11 percent national average for low-income and first-generation students. In recent years, the program has grown to its current 43 Ninde Scholars and 22 Oberlin College tutors. Director of the Education Outreach Programs Susan Pavlus emphasized that the Ninde Scholars Program is a town-gown collaboration between the College and local organizations including the Oberlin City School District, the Community Foundation of Lorain County and the Lorain County Urban League. “All of those partners work together in order to support this program in some way,” Pavlus said. “Without those partners working together, this program is not possible. Without the support of the community, this program is not possible.”

April 24, 2015

Opinions The Oberlin Review

Letters to the Editors Free Speech Not Equivalent to Violence To the Editors: I was appalled by last week’s letter to the editor, titled “In Response to Sommers’ Talk: A Love Letter to Ourselves” (The Oberlin Review, April 17, 2015). Published three days in advance of Christina Hoff Sommers’ public lecture at Oberlin, it read in part: “By bringing her to a college campus laden with trauma and sexualized violence and full of victims/survivors, the Oberlin College Republicans and Libertarians is choosing to reinforce this climate of denial/blame/ shame that ultimately has real life consequences on the wellbeing of people who have experienced sexualized violence.” Presumably, the signatories to this letter would have preferred that OCRL rescind their invitation to Ms. Sommers. That — I’m pleased to report — did not happen. The sponsors of this event did not surrender to intimidation. But when it comes to words that might offend a victim of rape, nothing Ms. Sommers said Monday evening can compare with the following sentence in last Friday’s letter: “Her talk is happening, so let’s pull together in the face of this violence and make our own space to support each other.” What I find highly objectionable about this statement is its irresponsible use of the word “violence.” Anyone who conflates the distinction between constitutionally protected speech and rape or other forms of sexual violence is doing a tremendous disservice to those who have experienced the unspeakable horror of sexual assault. Sincerely, – Roger Copeland Professor of Theater and Dance

Identity Does Not Define Experiences To the Editors: My name is Taiyo Scanlon-

Kimura. I take he, him and his. I am a mixed-race Japanese American. I am cisgender and heterosexual; I am from Ohio and a strictly middle-class background. (I received a federal Pell Grant one year and not others because my family is right on the cusp of certain federal guidelines.) My father is an immigrant with no college degree, while my mother has a Master’s degree. (You might be surprised at who makes more money.) I am the oldest and only son of four children. I am graduating in May and have gained tremendously from my Oberlin education. This introduction is meant to highlight both my social privileges and challenges. (These are in fact relative terms, which means some elements of my identity have simultaneously advantaged me and been used to discriminate against me.) Asian Americans (particularly Midwestern ones and Ohio students in general) make up a fraction of Oberlin’s student body, while students of Chinese, Japanese, Korean and Indian descents are disproportionately represented, relative to their national populations, in American college campuses. In this country, people generally refer to me as part Asian, whereas in Japan I am overwhelmingly thought of as White. I will graduate from Oberlin with roughly $35,000 in loans (higher than the national average), yet statistics indicate I am better positioned to find a good job and start a family than my peers on this campus who come from low-income backgrounds. There are many layers to my life story. I straddle the boundary between majority and minority, sometimes enjoying the benefits of one while enduring the hardships of the other. In this sense, I am not unique. People have complex backgrounds. Oberlin students, in their passionate support for a cause, tend to overlook the fine print of other people’s narratives. I write this letter in hopes that my peers, in their pursuits to change the world, take a hard look at their judgments of others. Too many of my friends, while seeking to dismantle larger systems of oppression, end

up oppressing other individuals in their daily interactions. Just when you think you have someone all figured out, check yourself; you might be missing the most important part of who they are. (They might not feel they can fully express themselves for fear of your judgment.) White people, Black people, Asian people, Latino people, LGBTQ people, non-gender binary people, people with disabilities; all people are capable of discriminating against others and vice versa. Ignorance, however, does not discriminate. What happens when wellintentioned Oberlin students put on blinders to the diverse people around them, when they seek echo chambers rather than spaces to debate, to be uncomfortable, to learn from another person’s lived experiences? They get trapped in their own minds. They start to believe that might is right when it’s behind the “right” values, that they know better. They tell others to educate themselves. “Educate yourself.” I heard this phrase a lot regarding Mudd being lit up blue for Autism Acceptance Week. People I see every day were clamoring for the truth behind Autism Speaks to be shouted from the heavens, that true supporters of autism knew better about such falsities. I say to those people: Did you attend any events at Autism Acceptance Week, which was primarily organized by a senior who identifies as high on the autism spectrum? Because I went to a screening last week with two other people in the audience. (One left halfway through the film.) Dye Lecture Hall was overflowing with people for Christina Hoff Sommers (in large part because of the controversy whipped up prior to her arrival), yet it was virtually empty for the screening of Adam. That’s a damn shame. Are our communities so insular and intentional that they leave others in the dust? By definition, don’t communities include certain people and exclude others? This isn’t inherently a bad thing; those who are oppressed on the common facSee Letters, page 6

SUBMISSIONS POLICY The Oberlin Review appreciates and welcomes letters to the editors and column submissions. All submissions are printed at the discretion of the Editorial Board. All submissions must be received by Wednesday at 4:30 p.m. at opinions@oberlinreview.org or Wilder Box 90 for inclusion in the following Friday’s Review. Letters may not exceed 600 words and columns may not exceed 800 words, except with the consent of the Editorial Board. All submissions must include contact information, with full names, for all signers. All electronic submissions from multiple writers should be carbon-copied to all signers to confirm authorship. The Review reserves the right to edit all submissions for content, space, spelling, grammar and libel. Editors will work with columnists and contributors to edit pieces and will clear major edits with the authors prior to publication. Editors will contact authors of letters to the editors in the event of edits for anything other than style and grammar. In no case will editors change the opinions expressed in any submission. The Opinions section strives to serve as a forum for debate. Review staff will occasionally engage in this debate within the pages of the Review. In these cases, the Review will either seek to create dialogue between the columnist and staff member prior to publication or will wait until the next issue to publish the staff member’s response. The Review will not print advertisements on its Opinions pages. The Review defines an advertisement as any submission that has the main intent of bringing direct monetary gain to the author of a letter to the editors. Opinions expressed in letters, columns, essays, cartoons or other Opinions pieces do not necessarily reflect those of the staff of the Review.

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

Editors-in-Chief Julia Herbst Rose Stoloff Managing Editor Taylor Field Opinions Editor Kiley Petersen

Post-Graduation Plans Draw Unnecessary Judgment With the announcement that Michelle Obama will speak at this year’s Commencement, graduation is looking more exciting. But for those of us in the class of 2015, any excitement about accepting a diploma is compounded with anxiety about what comes next. And that’s more than just a question we’re asking ourselves. Parents, aunts, uncles, cousins, friends, professors — they all want to know: “What are you doing after graduation?” While this question is usually motivated by well-meaning curiosity or support, the answer is often an opening for commentary, judgment and unsolicited advice. Students typically respond with one of three answers: either no idea, a half-formed plan of where they’ll live or what field they’re interested in or, on the rare occasion, a set-in-stone plan of action. Not one of these options, however, is free from judgment. Even if you have committed to a job or to graduate school, the people around you question your early commitment to something so specific. If you don’t have a plan next year, you open yourself up to a spread of anxiety-inducing questions. For the adults who ask these questions, this usually seems to come from a kind-hearted and genuine place; the intent is not to incite panic, but unfortunately, that’s often the consequence. Once you’re beyond graduation, with a steady career, it’s easy to reflect back on this moment as full of limitless potential. Nostalgic minds are quick to forget the shared sense of abject panic. The failing economy and limited job market also make this quite a different world to graduate into than previous generations have experienced. In this pivotal moment, the rest of our lives feel predicated on our impending next step. For the past four or five years, we’ve moved from place to place but always within familiar territory. Now, for the first time, many of us don’t know where we’ll be living or what we’ll be doing in one month. While we had a similar moment of transformation after high school graduation, the continuation of school, even in a different state or country, offered the comfort of a familiar institution. Even when we were making college decisions, it felt like our whole futures rode on that one choice. And whatever you were considering or deciding, every adult in your life had an opinion or a kind morsel of advice. For most of us, though, we’re launching into an unknown job market, and many of us find ourselves unprepared to commit to a direction for the rest of our lives. And that’s okay. Our first year in college, many of us had no idea what we would end up majoring in, and it took us a while to find our niche at Oberlin. Our first year out of Oberlin will be our real-world freshman year. It is vastly unlikely that any decision we make will drastically alter our life paths. According to a 2012 Forbes article, while workers on average stay in a job for 4.4 years, Millennials report that they plan to stay in one job for fewer than three years (“Job Hopping Is the ‘New Normal’ for Millennials: Three Ways to Prevent a Human Resource Nightmare,” Forbes, Aug. 4, 2012). In an article published this February, the majority of Millennials surveyed reported that they believed job hopping was good for their career (“Is Job Hopping Losing Its Bad Rap?,” Entrepreneur, Feb. 1, 2015). This suggests that any decisions we make are likely impermanent; a majority of people change careers in their life, and we’re doing it more and more often. In 2014, Review columnist Aidan Apel wrote a column warning that Oberlin is the worst return on investment (“Oberlin College Ranked U.S.’s Worst Return on Investment,” The Oberlin Review, March 11, 2014). Some of that is to be expected: Most of us didn’t come here to get a high-paying job working on Wall Street. Liberal See Editorial, page 6 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

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Letters to the Editors, Cont. Continued from page 5 tors of race, sexual orientation and class should have spaces they can call their own, spaces that are safe. But not every space can be, should be or ever will be a safe space. If you’re always in a safe space, you cannot challenge the oppressive paradigms that create the need for that safe space. In addition, how can you support others who battle discrimination if you’re always in your safe space? Successful agents of change build bridges and personally connect with other people. You won’t accomplish that by telling me what to think, nor the other way around. I won’t accomplish that by rejecting your opinions out –––––––––––––––––––––––––––

What happens when well-intentioned Oberlin students put on blinders to the diverse people around them, when they seek echo chambers rather than spaces to debate, to be uncomfortable, to learn from another person’s lived experiences? They get trapped in their own minds. They start to believe that might is right when it’s behind the “right” values, that they know better. ––––––––––––––––––––––––––– of hand. We should always ask ourselves, “Is this a lecture or a conversation? Can we hear each other and listen?” Ask yourself, “Why do I advocate? Because I believe I’m right? Why do they advocate? Because they believe they’re right? What if neither of us are wrong?” When you start to think outside the standard checkboxes of identity, when you stop thinking in absolute terms, when you actively shatter your assumptions about other people, you create bonds of deeper understanding, avenues of communication that realize social progress. Advocacy is so much more effective if you understand who your audience is and how they receive you. In short, you have to listen before you speak. If you want to change the world, you first need to know how to change one person’s mind. – Taiyo Scanlon-Kimura College senior

Alum Comments on National Security Panel To the Editors:

I attended the Navigating National Security symposium at the Apollo and read the interviews with five of the panelists in last week’s Review (“Off the Cuff: Navigating National Security: Intelligence Gathering in the Information Age,” The Oberlin Review, April 17, 2015), and it seems to me that there are a few questions that didn’t get asked, especially re: Edward Snowden. I was surprised that none of the panelists seems to have seen the movie Citizen Four, which features, if memory serves me, James Clapper, director of National Intelligence, stating under oath in at least two congressional inquiries that there was no bulk collection of American data going on. Question one: Given the above, wasn’t Edward Snowden justified in thinking that whistleblower laws and oversight panels were not protection enough? Most of the panelists held up Daniel Ellsberg as having leaked information in the proper way, i.e. he was ready to go to jail for what he had done. Question two: Willingness to force exile for the rest of your life is not courageous, is not accepting consequences? Question three: Jennifer Sims, did you know that bulk collection of American data was going on? – Cynthia Stewart, OC ’73, and Oberlin resident

Liberal Professors Promote Anti-Right Propaganda To the Editors: The controversy surrounding the appearance by speaker Christina Hoff Sommers brought to mind a relatively old (1991) quote from a well-known liberal attorney, author and professor named Alan Dershowitz, who back then was so disturbed by the lack of respect for free speech in certain liberal circles he’s on record as saying: “Political correctness is the most serious issue on college campuses. We are tolerating, and teaching, intolerance and hypocrisy” ( James Warren, “Drawing Laughs,” Chicago Tribune, April 14, 1991). Things didn’t change much from 1991 by 2005. Indeed, the intolerance of the ever-so-trendy “politically correct” crowd just seemed to have gotten worse (power may have gone to their

heads). That motivated a libertarian syndicated columnist named Nat Hentoff to pen a piece titled “College no place for closed minds” (Chicago Sun-Times, Sept. 15, 2005). Some of the points he made: 1) Even some mainstream educational groups (which Hentoff lists) expressed concern about the widespread intolerance and hostility on many college campuses towards conservative speakers, ideas and values; 2) Liberal college professors outnumbered conservative professors by a 5 to 1 ratio; 3) In some classrooms on various college campuses “conservative students are intimidated into silence, ignored or occasionally ridiculed” by narrow-minded liberals; and 4) “indoctrination — instead of free inquiry — … characterizes much of higher education.” According to an article in Washington Monthly magazine, “62.2 percent of professors selfidentify as liberal, compared to 19.7 as conservative … 9.4 percent of faculty members say they’re ‘extremely liberal’” (“Tenured Moderates,” Washington Monthly, Jan. 2010). And according to an article in The New York Times, “It’s certainly true that professors are a liberal lot. … [A]bout half of the professors identified as liberal, as compared to just one in five Americans overall. … [Among academic] social scientists, for example, there were 10 Democrats for every Republican. … There’s no doubt that in terms of overall curricular content and campus culture, most colleges and universities do skew more to the left than to the right” (“The Indoctrination Myth,” The New York Times, March 3, 2012). Closed-minded, intolerant, ignorant liberal bigots who believe it’s okay to discriminate against conservatives exist, and many of them are unfortunately found on college campuses where they are using their teaching positions to try to insinuate their questionable values into their students. Hopefully students are aware of all the one-sided, liberal propaganda they are manipulatively being exposed to. But I fear they are not. It would be nice to see students pushing for intellectual diversity on their campuses, and maybe even affirmative action for hiring a true minority on college campuses: conservative teachers. Until that happens, liberal college professors will feel free to continue to try to take advantage of their students, to indoctrinate them instead of educate them. That needs to change. – Wayne Lela Concerned citizen

Editorial: Anxiety Builds as Future Looms Continued from page 5 arts degrees prioritize learning, not necessarily immediate employment. When well-meaning adults about post-graduation plans, the fear that emerges and the panic that fills our eyes comes from asking ourselves the real

question: “Are we ready to decide what we want to do for the rest of our lives?” The answer is no, we’re not. What we do next is not a profound determination of our life course. It’s time to take the pressure off, tone the judgment down and choose something that’s fulfilling, for now.

The Oberlin Review, April 24, 2015

Boycotts Result in Obsolete Forms of Activism Cyrus Eosphoros Columnist This is the third and final part in a series on consumption-centered activism in the U.S. The previous two entries in this series were about the pitfalls of boycotts as they happen today: how the idea of boycotting the entire state of Indiana punishes authorities via publicity and actual Indiana residents — especially poor and queer people — via real-life deprivation, while boycotts focused on multinational corporations either succeed as a PR smear or fail to make a dent in their profits large enough to justify layoffs. Despite this, boycotts are still one of the first tactics activists, who are high-profile enough to have their suggestions matter, promote. So why do we keep thinking they’re a good idea, even when proven otherwise? As far as I can tell, part of the problem is that they’re deeply embedded in the identity of American activism. The iconic success is still the Montgomery Bus Boycott — safe, successful and as non-confrontational as talking about a social movement can be. There are two models people are referencing when they talk about boycotts succeeding. The first and overwhelmingly likely one is an idealized model that can be traced back to popular conceptions of the Civil Rights era. The second is an idealized version of how we’re seeing modern boycotts operate. It’s an active desire for the model we’re seeing on a week-to-week basis: the idea of a boycott gets wide traction, crowds of people swear they’re going to participate, and companies and other entities react as soon as it makes a major news story. That first way of thinking is utterly obsolete. The second is deceptive. I’ll go further than that: holding to either seriously can only, over time, be actively harmful. Why? Two easy answers: multinational corporations and GoFundMe. Instead of reacting to the drawn-out effects of a boycott, people are reacting to the threat of it, or the high-profile news stories a couple days in. This is appealingly immediate gratification, and certainly looks like we’re achieving a lot in a short period of time. So what’s the issue? We’re teaching ourselves to react to boycotts instead of following through on sustained protest. Which would be fine, if we were just getting what we wanted. Instead, this immediate response makes it easier to accept surface-level change and platitudes, as well as incentivizing shooting for much smaller goals and then celebrating them anyway. That is, when the “boycott” succeeds. The huge amount of news coverage that makes the threat of a boycott meaningful can also kill the initiative before it begins. Unless people are seeking to boycott a completely unsympathetic opponent, some group is going to want to defend the attempted boycott’s target. These supporters, too, will be reacting to the publicized threat, not the economic follow-through that hasn’t happened yet. This means that businesses we see suffering high-profile backlash for whatever blunder or bigotry got them in the news will also be receiving a wave of supporters. That group will try to compensate by immediately throwing their money at the business they’re supporting, before a boycott could even have any effect. GoFundMe has become almost synonymous with this, with the now-infamous Memories Pizza as the most recent example to be known nationwide. Even when the businesses themselves don’t capitalize on their new fame to raise funds, some supporter will open an account for them. And a completely unsympathetic opponent is likely to be one of the faceless multinational corporations that can largely shrug off the hit to everything but their PR. The damage on that level is superficial even when it looks like it hurts. At best, you win some policy changes and an impressive press release. At worst, it means — well, nothing, but more realistically all the bad reputation will result in is slightly more enthusiastic versions of PR campaigns that were already in the works. What other options do we have, if we’re looking at a political situation from the point of view of people who have some money to throw around but not much else? Whether we’re viewing from a distance or just as people who aren’t in a position to throw in with the people who are managing to physically protest or agitate full-time, what can we do? My opinion at least is very, very strong: Support people on strike. Currently, low-income workers are constrained by not having the options boycotters do: They can’t vote with their wallets, even for their own sake, because they’re still beholden to the forces they’re fighting. People who are directly affected can’t afford to leave their jobs or strike or even spend too much time organizing. People who have money to act with have the missing piece affected workers lack, though they can’t always directly engage in protest. Can you imagine if, instead of talking past each other, these two groups combined resources? Think of the potential for crowdfunded strike pay, picking up where our current systems leave off. Want to make a difference to individual people — as workers, in terms of money — who are up against something larger than them? Think of what we’d be able to do if people could actually afford to keep fighting.

Opinions

The Oberlin Review, April 24, 2015

Temp Workers Need Student Support Max Berclaz Contributing Writer Following the name and mission of last year’s Defending Oberlin Financial Accessibility protests, students are once again facing off against the College’s plans to make Oberlin a less economically just institution. While the majority of the movement has focused on combating the upcoming $2,500 raise in tuition and pushing for a tuition freeze, organizing has also focused on fighting anti-blackness, racism and the exploitation of workers at Oberlin. Here I want to specifically draw attention to the College’s treatment of temporary workers, and how a movement for economic justice must be in solidarity with workers’ struggles. Essentially, temp workers have next to no rights at Oberlin College. There are no official handbooks, no codes of conduct and certainly no procedures for collective bargaining available to the workers to defend their interests. If the College wants to fire a temp worker, all they have to do is send a “Denial of Return” notice to the staffing agency, effectively banning the worker from ever returning to work at CDS. No reason needs to be provided for this, and no severance pay or unemployment benefits come with the firing. While an appeal process exists, workers often are not even told about this and the process is really little more than the worker asking management for their job back. Despite performing work no different than that of student or permanent

workers, temporary workers are not even considered workers, but rather labeled by the College as “guests.” What this does is make temp workers a disposable workforce, subject to the arbitrary decisions of those above them and impeded in organizing for their own interests. Because of how easily they could be “denied return,” workers are unable to speak out for fear of being fired. Even if they retain their jobs, they can still be discriminated against and denied rights granted to other workers. For –––––––––––––––––––––––––––

Despite performing work no different than student or permanent workers, temporary workers are not even considered workers, but rather labeled by the College as “guests.” ––––––––––––––––––––––––––– example, two years ago the Director of Business Operations and Dining Services Michelle Gross decided that temp workers would no longer be allowed to eat on their shifts, though the same rules did not apply to student workers. Working with temp workers last December, the Student Labor Action Coalition started a petition against this and obtained more than a thousand signatures, winning temp workers the right to eat. Yet even now the workers are not allowed to eat on their breaks; instead they

have to get the food at the beginning of their shift, put it in a hot box and wait four hours until they clock out to be allowed to eat it. Temp workers at Oberlin are still denied rights that are readily available to students. There are five staffing agencies that provide CDS with temp workers. Each one is paid $12 per hour for each worker, of which the worker only receives $8.10, or the minimum wage required by the State of Ohio. The overall system is managed by Bon Appétit, the same company that overcharges us on unwieldy meal plans. Bon Appétit is also a subsidiary of the largest food service corporation in the world, Compass Group, which has contracts in prisons, military bases and offshore oil rigs. To put it simply, we have here a company that takes advantage of students as a captive market, exploits workers and profits from imprisonment, war and environmental destruction. Students must use their protected position to support temp workers in ending discriminatory policies and preventing unjust firings. Those of us who work in CDS should get to know our co-workers and find out what they want to see changed at this College. In turn, worker support is essential to the success of a student movement. It seems like year after year we fight the same battle, just trying to hold on to what we already have. Solidarity between students, workers and the town is essential to any attempt to actually win ground, and support for temp workers is a key aspect of that.

Clinton’s Benefits Outweigh Her Problems Kiley Petersen Opinions Editor In case you live under a rock, Hillary Clinton is running for President of the United States. After Clinton announced her bid for the Oval Office on April 12, Jada Pinkett Smith, the successful actress, musical artist, businesswoman and mother of three kids — two with their own social-media empires, Willow, Jaden and the oft-forgotten Trey — discussed her feelings on Clinton in a thoughtful Facebook post. On April 18, Pinkett Smith discussed her apprehensions about voting for a white woman for President. “Her announcement conjured many old hurts and scars,” she wrote. “Hillary’s announcement reminded me that the relationship between black and white women on the political platform has been deeply complicated, disappointing and painful. The only question I have been asking myself is if I’m suppose[d] to vote for Hillary because she is a woman; will she take us to the mountaintop with her or will women of color once again be left out and left behind?” Pinkett Smith referenced

the Suffrage Movement of the early 20th century, when Northern abolitionist white women leading protests excluded Black women from the vote because they did not want to estrange Southern white women from supporting the cause. Pinkett Smith echoes a lot of my feelings on Clinton. On one hand, I’m beyond ecstatic that there’s finally a woman with a chance of winning the presidency. (Let’s be real, Palin was never a contender.) On the other hand, I’m as far from a fan of Clinton as possible. But, honestly, I will probably still vote for her because that’s how elections work. Assuming the Republican party will support a white man as their nominee to capitalize on all of the people disgusted by a woman running for president, Clinton is going to be the best option. However, Clinton is 67, white, cisgender, straight, a graduate of Yale Law School and married to former President Bill Clinton. While there will never be a perfect president who is a diverse representative of the American people with regard to race, gender and class, we can do a lot better than Clinton,

whose beneficial political connections have gotten her to where she is now. And not only is Clinton’s feminism specific to white women, it’s also a brand of feminism that is a generation too old. Additionally, her stance on immigration is a departure from typical Democratic values. In a CNN interview on Tuesday with Christiane Amanpour about undocumented children, Clinton said, “They should be sent back [across the border] as soon as it can be determined who [the] responsible adults in their families are, because there are concerns about whether all of them can be sent back, but I think all of them that can be should be reunited with their families. … We have to send a clear message: Just because your child gets across the border, that doesn’t mean the child gets to stay.” Maybe this is some kind of weird political strategy to attract moderates or right-wings that Clinton has alienated because of her gender. If so, I’m not impressed with her campaign manager. This is basically a repeat of the anti-abolitionist suffrage movement, but nearly a century later.

Basically what I really want is for the whole Pinkett Smith family to run for President at once, and then guide this country to fulfill the pro-Black, feminist, anti-classist and radically free potential ––––––––––––––––––––––

And not only is Clinton’s feminism specific to white women, it’s also a brand of feminism that is a generation too old. –––––––––––––––––––––– that we claim to foster as a nation. If Clinton clinches the presidency in 2016, maybe some major changes will occur, but maybe not. I’m still going to vote for her, and unless better candidates magically crop up, I hope you do too, because it’s time we had a woman in the Oval Office. Just be aware of her politics and drawbacks, and continue political activism on the local, state and national level. Most importantly, vote. Wear those little voting stickers with pride, because not everyone in the U.S. is able to. (Pinkett Smiths for President 2020.)

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Trigger Warnings Fail to Serve Intended Purpose CJ Blair Columnist Last Friday night, I was lucky enough to see the Oberlin Theater Department’s production of The Caucasian Chalk Circle. I was blown away at how the actors, musicians and stage crew modernized Brecht’s complex, meandering play and injected it with as much energy as such a difficult script could allow. I was less impressed by the playbill I received when I walked into the theater. Taking up nearly an entire single-spaced page was a list of potential trigger warnings, all of which were repeated verbally before the show began. My feelings about the trigger warnings have been mounting in intensity all year, and this performance made me realize I had to express them. One of the most paradoxical aspects of Oberlin is that its emphatically liberal students go out of their way to be as outrageous as possible, but have to do so without stepping on landmines, wary of offending anyone. Just think about it. Oberlin doesn’t just have a cooperative dining system; it has one where most meals are dominated by discussions about accessibility and consideration of all members, with little to no room to socialize. Similarly, Drag Ball isn’t an open event but an expensive, ticketed occasion that requires students to attend a workshop and strain their already-tight pockets in order to attend. Don’t take this to mean I’m disparaging conscientiousness. I’m merely suggesting that, while students think they have the best intentions in doing these things, these initiatives become not only pedantic but detrimental to achieving their intended goal. Oberlin’s reputation as a radically leftist institution doesn’t bode well with suggestions that it calm its politics. But if our goal is promoting awareness and sensibility that simply isn’t seen in the world, it’s in our best interest to be sure we’re doing so in a way that can practically be applied to the real world. I understand that events like the pre-Drag Ball workshops are attempts at embracing non-traditional identities, but they might actually do the opposite. Addressing a specific orientation or identity and holding it above the rest is like putting a caged elephant on display and always talking about it but telling people not to look. Oberlin fails to normalize these identities, and when the student body — composed mostly of cisgender white women — endlessly advocates for their relevance, the only thing that benefits is the conscience of those students. The most direct manifestations of this dilemma are the trigger warnings that preview potentially upsetting content presented in and outside of the classroom. The playbill for Caucasian Chalk Circle warned audiences of incest, violence, rape, language and other content that I don’t think was even present in the show. A similar warning accompanies documentary footage in my Modern South Asia class. But where do you draw the line? Of course, certain content tends to shock many viewers, but it’s all but impossible to know what every parent is scared of their child seeing or whether a particular scene will trigger an unwanted memory in a viewer. If not everyone can be accounted for, as Oberlin tries to ensure, then are we actually perpetuating the cycle of ostracizing and alienation that we try so hard to prevent? In a way, Oberlin students are so far away from being Puritans that they’ve almost come full circle and become Puritans themselves. We really hate how everyone around us casts off the things we love as strange and deviant, so we flocked to this college hoping to escape that. We want to have fun, but an expectation of consideration and mindfulness for “good liberals” is encroaching on our ability to do so and making us realize how hard it is to be mindful of everyone. There’s no denying that Oberlin students have big hearts and want to include everyone whenever they can. But maybe quiet acceptance, rather than the silent disdain seen in the outside world, is the better path to that goal. Maybe an embrace of all the sex, drugs and violence of R-rated content will allow the artistic, rather than provocative, intentions of such content to shine through. Maybe the path to normalizing that which has been deemed abnormal is the acceptance that such identities and content shouldn’t be glorified but smoothly integrated into a world insistent on keeping them irrelevant.

T h e O be r lin R e v ie w i s s e e k i n g a new This Week editor for next semester.

floats under contruction for this year’s parade Preparations for the day of the parade are picking up at the open-air parade space located behind Student Health, packed with the debris and treasures of 13 years of Big Parade in Oberlin. Organizers stressed the openness of the parade, which can be joined by all who assemble near Prospect Elementary on the morning of Saturday, May 2. The Big Parade coincides with Oberlin’s annual Folk Fest, which brings musicians and groups for performances throughout the day in Tappan Square as Big Parade festivities travel down College Street and around the block. Although the Parade was founded by College students, it has always been a joint effort between students and community members.

Contact thisweek@oberlinreview. org for details! Applications must be submitted by Wednesday, April 29.

2007

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FLOATS FROM YEARS PAST Photos courtesy of James Peake

2003

Hazel Galloway

2007

Hazel Galloway

2009

Top right: A mask constructed for this year’s parade out of chicken wire, coaxial cable and foam, and designed to be worn as a backpack. Above left: College seniors Rose Benjamin and Rachel Budker and Emily Brennan, OC ’14, work on their float designed to resemble a giant, three-dimensional geode.

2003 2009

Above right: A scarecrow in the process of being modified to be worn in the parade this year. Left: A float under construction by Taylor Stanton, who graduated in December of this year. The finished float is intended to function as a miniature carousel. Stilt walkers in the 2007 Big Parade

CALENDAR Avengers Screening Friday, April 24, 8 p.m. Wilder Bowl Fans of the superhero film series, The Avengers, will have a chance to brush up on the plot before the May 1 premiere of Avengers 2: Age of Ultron. In the event of rain, the screening will be moved to Dye Lecture Hall.

Flutocracy’s Last Big Show Friday, April 24, 9–10:30 p.m. Cat in the Cream Acclaimed for shows like Flute Loops and its Halloween Concert, Oberlin’s only flute-led quintet will be playing its last-ever feature show this Friday. The concert will feature original tunes, old favorites and a new D’Angelo cover.

This Week editor: Hazel Galloway; Contributing writer: Olivia Konuk Juegos al Aire Libre (Outdoor Games) Saturday, April 25, 12–2 p.m. South Bowl Residents of La Casa Hispánica are hosting a spring celebration in South Bowl this weekend with casual soccer games and volleyball open to all, regardless of experience. Snacks and refreshments will be provided.

Wizards and Witches Faire Saturday, April 25, 1–4 p.m. Wilder Bowl The Oberlin Harry Potter Alliance is celebrating spring with a festival in Wilder Bowl featuring food and activities such as butterbeer tasting and Quidditch. Proceeds from the festival will go to the BARKA Foundation and the Summer Stars summer camp.

Hair Recycling Monday, April 27, 2–5 p.m. Wilder Bowl As part of Ecolympics, student stylists will be offering free haircuts Monday in Wilder Bowl. All cut hair will be donated to the Hair for Oil Spills Fund, which uses hair to absorb oil in areas threatened by spills.

2009 Girls in Motion Performance Monday, April 27, 7–9 p.m. Cat in the Cream Girls in Motion is an afterschool program in which college student mentors engage elementary and middle school-aged girls in dance and movement. Their annual spring performance will be open to all at the Cat in the Cream.

Cowspiracy: The Sustainability Secret Tuesday, April 28, 7:30–9 p.m. Oberlin Public Library In Cowspiracy, filmmaker Kip Andersen investigates modern practices in animal agriculture, which is portrayed as the most destructive industry facing the planet. The screening is free and open to the public.

T h e O be r lin R e v ie w i s s e e k i n g a new This Week editor for next semester.

Contact thisweek@oberlinreview. org for details! Applications must be submitted by Wednesday, April 29.

2007

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FLOATS FROM YEARS PAST Photos courtesy of James Peake

2003

Hazel Galloway

2007

Hazel Galloway

2009

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Arts The Oberlin Review

April 24, 2015

Rock Hall Ceremony Centers on Hackneyed Acts Danny Evans Arts Editor I know of only one event in the world where Green Day, Miley Cyrus, Karen O, Beck, Ringo Starr and Stevie Wonder could feasibly share the stage to play a Beatles song: the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony. The ceremony, which took place in Cleveland last Saturday, fell flat despite featuring a number of on-stage collaborations as jaw-dropping as this one. It focused solely on aggrandizing the already oft-awarded rock music establishment and did nothing to recognize artists who tend to fly under the radar of mainstream critics. This year, the Hall of Fame Induction Committee honored Bill Withers, Joan Jett and the Blackhearts, Stevie Ray Vaugahn and Double Trouble, the “5” Royales, the Paul Butterfield Blues Band and Lou Reed in addition to Green Day and Starr. Each of these acts has received countless accolades in the past, many of them from the Hall of Fame. The Rock Hall solidified its reputation for disinterest in innovation by ignoring a number of less establishmentapproved artists, like N.W.A. and Kraftwerk, who received nomination nods earlier this year. I knew from the moment I found out that I’d be attending the ceremony that it wouldn’t exactly be up my alley, but I would have never expected it to be so aggressively boring.

The tedious nature of the induction ceremony itself did little to diminish the air of stuffiness and monotony that awarding such unsurprising acts created. A portion of the ceremony was dedicated to each inductee. Generally lifeless speeches, which often came close to the 10-minute mark in length, took up most of the time devoted to each of the performers. Occasionally, the speeches verged on being downright offensive in addition to being dull. Miley Cyrus’ induction speech for Joan Jett included a painfully unfunny, arguably problematic story about Jett’s experiences in Israel, among other mishaps. Certain speeches did stand above the others, though. Patti Smith, a longtime friend and collaborator of Lou Reed, and Laurie Anderson, Reed’s widow, both gave excellent speeches in remembrance of the late Velvet Underground frontman. Both imbued their speeches with genuine emotion and intriguing stories about Reed, contrasting the humdrum quality of nearly every other speech of the night. We had to sit through close to an hour of inductees and family members rambling before finally getting to the musical portion of each induction. This mind-numbing format only added to the sense that the Hall of Fame only exists for the rock establishment to pat itself on the back; the music took a secondary role to self-congratulation. The musical performances paired with each in-

duction were mostly disappointing anyway, especially considering the monumental waiting time before each one. John Mayer, Gary Clark Jr. and several other acclaimed guitarists performed in honor of Stevie Ray Vaughan after a lackadaisical induction speech for Vaughan by Mayer. These theoretically seminal guitarists mimicked the –––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––

This mind-numbing format only added to the sense that the Hall of Fame only exists for the rock establishment to pat itself on the back; the music took a secondary role to self-congratulation. ––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––– character of the ceremony as a whole: They came off as self-absorbed and completely uninterested in originality, offering irritatingly long blues solos that did nothing to differentiate them from a million other Vaughan-worshipping shredders. Nearly every musical section made me cringe at least as hard as the Vaughan tribute did. Strained vocals and technical issues plagued Ringo Starr’s nostalgia-obsessed set, which boasted a Paul McCartney collaboration that shocked exactly zero

people. Green Day sounded muddy and exhausted in a set of past hits. However, like the speeches associated with it, the musical performances included alongside Lou Reed’s induction shined. Beck’s and the Yeah Yeah Yeahs’ renditions of classic Reed tunes like “Vicious” and “Satellite of Love” displayed the potential of the induction ceremony, paying tribute to Reed in a unique, less conceited manner. The ceremony frustrated me as both a fan and a musician. I couldn’t help but wonder, “Why honor these artists yet again?” The Hall of Fame has, at this point, set a precedent for doing two things rock should never do: repeating itself and failing to surprise. Starr was being inducted for the second time at this year’s ceremony, and every other Beatle has already been inducted twice; Eric Clapton has been inducted three times. Meanwhile, bands like Thin Lizzy, the Smiths and the Replacements, all of whom have been heavily campaigned for by fans, haven’t even been inducted once. I know that I, at least, don’t take the Rock Hall inductions seriously anymore, after years of watching the committee promote canonized artists and honor the same people over and over again. The induction committee will have to reconsider their preoccupation with a limited pool of relatively homogenous artists if they want their ceremony to remain relevant and influential.

Caucasian Chalk Circle Succeeds with High-Energy Production Claire Murchison Five years ago, I sat in a circle with 12 other aspiring actors and read “Flight to the Northern Mountains,” a scene excerpted from German playwright Bertolt Brecht’s renowned play The Caucasian Chalk Circle. We had specially selected this piece for its action and suspense, and our reading was to be imbued with these themes in mind. The moments before the reading were filled with restless anticipation. Ultimately, we felt we had butchered the scene. In an attempt to preserve what little remaining confidence we had in our acting abilities, we chalked our failure up to Brecht’s unusual modernist writing style and vowed to never speak of Brecht again. I had kept my word up until five days ago, when I sat in the audience of Oberlin College Theater’s performance of The Caucasian Chalk Circle. I had never experienced so much shame before that night; the show was incredible. Directed by Oberlin professor Heather Anderson Boll, an actress in her own right, Brecht’s A cluster of actors gather around College senior Julia Melfi in The Caucasian Chalk Circle. The Oberlin Theater department premiered the famous play by play came to life beautifully. Any German playwright Bertolt Brecht Thursday night. Courtesy of John Seyfried reader of Brecht can enjoy his dialogue: It is witty and clever, States. Since its debut, Chalk ruler, the damsel in distress, the of the action on the stage.” The fall in love with characters or be sharp and biting, while simulta- Circle has been hailed as Brecht’s honest peasant and many others Theater department seemed to swept away by a beautiful set. neously sweet and tender. Any masterpiece and is also one of the spill out onto the stage. have taken this piece of advice The show’s aesthetic was stark reader also knows how tedious most popular German plays of all Brecht introduced and in- to heart. Every aspect of the play and unflinchingly clear. Brecht his script is and how tiresome it time. The didactic story follows tended the play to serve as epic was deconstructed and trans- wanted his story to be heard and can be without adequate anima- the journey of a peasant girl who theater. He once stated that parent for the audience to see. understood. On the stage of Hall tion. Boll and the students behind rescues the baby of powerful rul- the “play should not cause the The stage was open so that no Auditorium, that is all the audithis ingenious creation gave a ers. As a parable, the story is high- spectator to identify emotion- curtains obscured props or off- ence received. performance that demanded the ly reminiscent of folktales such as ally with the characters or action stage actors from view, costumes The 13-person cast was unusuaudience’s attention. “The Boy who Cried Wolf ” and before him or her, but should were minimal and gender roles ally and incredibly strong, across Brecht wrote Chalk Circle in “Goldilocks and the Three Bears.” instead provoke rational self- were blurred. This production 1944 while living in the United Archetypes such as the corrupt reflection and a critical view also made it hard for viewers to See Cast, page 13

Arts

The Oberlin Review, April 24, 2015

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Obertones, Koreo Pull Heist to Remember Keara Scallan Last Saturday night in Finney Chapel, the Obertones brought the audience to their feet with their talented vocals and slick footwork. For their annual spring a cappella concert, the Obertones collaborated with Koreo, Oberlin’s hip-hop dance troupe, in a performance titled The Great Finney Heist. The show included a skit in which the Obertones searched for the treasure that the late Charles G. Finney had hidden within the building. I arrived fully prepared for hijinks and excellent music. The Obertones hooked the crowd with palpable energy. As soon as the group arrived on stage, people began to cheer. The strong rapport between the Obertones and their audience was impressive to see. Their mash-up of Backstreet Boys hits was particularly popular, with Koreo members dancing in their seats on the second floor balconies and a few people from the audience singing along. Their songs were interspersed within the skit, which was narrated by Conservatory first-year Billy Krager and College junior Sam White, both of whom adopted clever ac- The Obertones strike poses during a rousing performance. Their show, The Great Finney Heist, included elements of theater and comedy not often found in cents and quipped about Finney’s a cappella performances. Sarah Herdrich secrets. Meanwhile, the rest of the Obertones crept through the shad- Obertones had to crack the puzzle junior Colin Seikel. Unfortunately, stage soon after the performative tones closed with Marvin Gaye’s ows and pretended to search for shielding it: the unbeatable Bop It. I Finney had eaten the hidden trea- respite, sweeping in after the first “Let’s Get It On,” which left many gold. Although the skit added an was impressed with how they man- sure in order to stay alive, only to few lyrics of the Obertones’ cover audience members wanting more. interesting dimension to the set, it aged to revive the childhood game, die rather abruptly on stage min- of Bell Biv Devoe’s “Poison” began. Overall, I enjoyed their heist and was a bit choppy when they segued with College senior Noah Guthman utes after leaving the vault. Seikel’s Their sweet moves combined with am happy to note that their final into songs. However, their music performing the role with consid- acting brought a lot of laughter the Obertones’ snappy beatbox- performance was one to remember. was certainly worth the occasional erable skill. Once the vault was from the audience, and the skit it- ing made their final performance It was yet another great reminder awkwardness. opened, the secret of Finney Chapel self was a welcome reprieve for the enjoyable. After covers of Nat King as to why the Obertones are such a Upon discovering a vault that was revealed in the form of Charles performers, who were likely tired. Cole’s “Around the World” and Jimi staple of Oberlin’s a cappella scene. contained Finney’s treasure, the G. Finney, brought to life by College Koreo performers arrived on Hendrix’s “Foxy Lady,” the Ober-

Attendance Increases for Student Chamber Concerts Jeremy Reynolds Staff Writer Conservatory students participating in this semester’s chamber music program will perform a series of four concerts this Saturday and Sunday at 4:30 p.m. and 8:00 p.m. in Stull Recital Hall. “The way we do it now is two doubleheaders, kind of like baseball,” said Associate Professor of Viola and Chamber Music Michael Strauss in a recent interview with the Review about the upcoming Chamber Music Showcases. Strauss took over the chamber music program two years ago from Visiting Teacher of Chamber Music Kirsten Docter, and has since made several adjustments to the program to suit the needs of students. “The first year I was here, there wasn’t really an accentuation on performing chamber music,” Strauss said. “This isn’t necessarily wrong. It’s just that, in surveying and talking with a lot of the students, they felt insecure about playing their entire piece.” In order to address these concerns, Strauss

helped to organize the Chamber Music Showcases, which take place close to the end of each semester, ever since the fall of 2014. In addition to providing a space for students to perform for their coaches and peers, Strauss said “[the Showcases] give a higher profile to the program.” Prior to the Showcases, many groups performed in the divisional recitals that take place throughout the semester, but that was often challenging because of scheduling difficulties. “It wasn’t really realistic to have people perform in the beginning or middle of the semester in the divisionals, because of course they weren’t ready yet,” Strauss said. “And then what would happen at the end of the semester — the very last divisional — would be that everybody would sign up at once, and it would turn into a six-hour concert. These were called chamber music marathons.” Strauss said that he researched chamber music programs at other conservatories around the country before deciding to implement the Chamber Music Showcases last year. He bor-

rowed the idea of the showcase from Chamber Music America. “Without making performance a requirement, it seemed like the best thing to do would be to do what they do at Chamber Music America, which is showcases,” he said. Even though students are not required to perform in the Showcases to receive credit, Strauss encourages students to play. “I want people to perform because this is a Conservatory,” he said. “I think if you are getting a performance degree and you are studying chamber music, it’s good to get out there and perform.” He urges students to perform entire works at their own shows, since there is often not room in the Showcases for complete pieces. “I encourage everybody to set up their own concerts as well. It gives the students an entrepreneurial try, which is great,” Strauss said. Perhaps the greatest benefit to the “doubleheader” Showcases is their reduced length. “We never want these concerts to go over two hours,” he said. “And they don’t.” Arguably because of their shorter length, the concerts have enjoyed increased attendance. “There is a way

to quantify success, and that’s with attendance. And instead of between four and eight people per concert, we’re getting between 40 and 80 people per concert,” Strauss said. According to Strauss, “the chamber music program wasn’t really getting a fair shake as far as people being heard for honors recitals and opportunities. So this is another way for the faculty to hear everybody and to make an assessment of who would be a good representative of the chamber music program.” Those who play this weekend will be considered for both the Commencement recitals in May and the Orientation recital in August, though there is a final round of competition after the weekend. This weekend, students will perform from a diverse repertoire, encompassing composers from Mozart to Muczynski, Bach to Brahms. All four concerts, though under two hours, will be full length. “I put programming thought into what flows the best,” Strauss said. “I think it’s gone from something that was a little bit of a surprise the first semester to something that students really look forward to.”

Delayed Walking Dead Game Release Detracts From Seamless Play Avi Vogel Imagine that you’ve been trapped in a camp and, not having been able to loot much in the town over, you have only four items of food that you can divvy up between your parties. Do you share the food with your enemies, hoping that they’ll be more cooperative later on, or do you reward the individuals who have been more integral in your journey up until now? Do you

let yourself starve to feed the children, or do you let them stay hungry so that you’ll have the energy to help the group when trouble inevitably strikes? This is one of the many scenes that Telltale Games’ The Walking Dead: Season One presents to players. The game, based on Robert Kirkman’s eponymous comic book, takes place in a post-apocalyptic world taken over by zombies. Instead of coming in a complete

package, each of the game’s five volumes will be released at a different date. Though it is an interesting approach, I don’t believe this strategy is working as well as they might have hoped. While television show episodes are released weekly, building suspense without losing intensity over the course of a few days, video game episodes cannot sustain consumers’ interest when release dates are separated by many months. I didn’t deal

with this wait time; I waited until all of the episodes had been released so that I could experience all of the episodes seamlessly. This is how the game should be played, because it allows the narrative to continue intensifying rather than burning out between episodes. Pinning The Walking Dead to a single genre would be doing it a disservice. If I had to narrow it down, I would categorize it as an adventure

game that explores interactive fiction. Split into two distinct play styles, The Walking Dead blends simple objectfinding and interactive actions with a robust choice system using dialogue options that the player can select. Regarding the former style of gameplay, the controls are simple. The player guides a main character of their choice to simple point-and-click See Walking, page 12

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Feature Photos: Student Dance Showcase

The Oberlin Review, April 24, 2015

Blackout Poetry Enters Classroom Vida Weisblum Arts Editor

In the top photo, College senior Noa Fleischacker (left), College junior Luke Burns, College first-year Rachel Ford, College first-year Isabel Levey-Swain and College senior Silvia Sheffield work together to form an impromptu composition. In the bottom photo, aerialist and College sophomore Katharine Geber gracefully suspends herself during a breathtaking trapeze dance performance. The Showcase, held last Friday and Saturday evenings at 8 p.m. in Warner Main Space, included performances from a variety of student dance groups as well as student soloists. Among the night’s popular array of acts were the Rust Belt Rappers, Koreo and Vibe dance groups, whose high energy invigorated the crowd. College sophomore Leah Newman organized the show alongside College junior Alana Reibstein, since longtime show host Silvia Sheffield officially retired from the role this semester. Sheffield still made a welcome appearance in the show, both in her own comedic yet tragic solo and as a part of her improv ExCo’s short number. Text by Vida Weisblum, Arts editor Photos by Effie Kline-Salamon, Photo editor

Walking Dead Game Provides Unique Experience Continued from page 11 puzzles and then to their solutions. Surprises in executing these solutions keeps the game from getting stale. For example, opening a door, a zombie will burst through, and you’ll have to grapple it with welltimed button presses. These moments make for interesting gameplay that doesn’t interfere with the game’s main goal, but at the end of the day it seems they are only included in order to make the experience fit more easily into standard videogame structure. The moments that truly stand out are the smaller, more impressively written dialogue scenes, which constitute the other half of the game. Whenever a player talks to a character in the game, they are presented with dialogue options and a short window of time in which to decide what to say. Every word can elicit a drastically different reaction from computer-controlled characters. They will not only respond but

also remember what you have done and respond accordingly at a later point. There are also scripted sequences where, no matter how hard the player tries, a predetermined action will take place. At one point, tragedy struck one of my favorite companions, and I was forced to accept the consequences. In a later playthrough, even when I chose completely different options, the same thing still happened. The end of the game serves only to make players second-guess their actions, which, in my case, made me more frustrated than guilty. Although not perfect, this is a game that successfully delivers on the promise of good interactive fiction. Each piece seems important, and every choice seems to shape the way the game world develops. If you’re willing to look past the simple controls and see the well-paced story, you will be able to experience a truly unique experience, which is rare in the world of video games.

If you like poetry and you like Pinterest, chances are you might have caught a glimpse of blackout poetry floating around on the internet. Blackout poetry refers to a form of poetry supposedly created by Newspaper Blackout creator Austin Kleon, in which poets black out words on a pre-existing page of literature — newspaper or otherwise — with marker or Sharpie, leaving only select words intact to create new meaning. Kleon, who is a New York Times bestselling author of three books including Newspaper Blackout, has spoken at organizations such as TEDx, Google and Pixar and considers himself both an artist and a poet. This trendy new poetic form is perhaps more of a visual art form than a literary one, though it also resembles concrete poetry because it relies heavily on spacing and overall aesthetics. Regardless of how one might categorize blackout poetry as an art form, its accessibility is breathing new life into poetry and visual art. Kleon’s genius isn’t necessarily in his choice of words but rather in how easy and simple his idea is. Anyone can make a blackout poem as long as they have a printed page of words and a black Sharpie. Many people are creating their own blackout poems. Even The New York Times has set up a platform for creative minds to try out this new technique of producing poetry and art. Although Kleon might be making blackout poetry viral on the internet, he is definitely not its true originator. His book came out just five years ago, long after artist Tom Phillips first developed the idea. Phillips is the author of A Humument, a painted copy of a Victorian novel titled A Human Document, which is similar to blackout poetry in style, though certainly not in all black. Phillips has served as a curator, installation artist and even committee chairman for the Royal Academy of Arts. He has created a multitude of paintings, drawings, textiles, sculptures, artists books and collages. However, A Humument, published in 1970, is Phillips’ most notable accomplishment and is a landmark within the contemporary art and poetry landscape at large. It has also made its way into Oberlin’s curriculum, namely in an English class taught by Jeffrey Pence. What differentiates Phillips’ work from Kleon’s is aesthetic. Blackout poetry is built for the internet, built to be viral — and I might go so far as to call it kitschy, maybe even intentionally kitschy. After all, Kleon maintains a firm presence on Tumblr and Instagram. Philip’s work, while conceptually similar, is unarguably gorgeous. The intricacy of his art –––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––

What differentiates Phillips’ work from Kleon’s is aesthetic. Blackout poetry is built for the internet, to be built viral — and I might go as far as to call it kitschy, maybe even intentionally kitschy. ––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––– serves to compliment the simplicity of the poems he creates from just a few words. Each page is unique and stunning to look at. These two individuals aren’t the only two to make poetry out of prose, but I think they demonstrate the range of possibilities that exist in doing so. That two ways of making poetry can be so similar at the core yet serve completely different functions is what makes the crossroads between language and art such a fascinating place.

The Oberlin Review, April 24, 2015

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On the Record with Tom Knific, Jazz Bassist Tom Knific is a bassist, composer and professor of double bass and jazz guitar at Western Michigan University. His four albums, Home Bass, Siena, Lines of Influence and The Muse, have all received critical acclaim. Knific visited Oberlin last week to teach a masterclass and perform alongside the Performance and Improvisation Ensemble at the Cat in the Cream. The Review sat down with Knific to talk about his passion for jazz, as well as some of the projects he’s worked on. What brings you to Oberlin? Friendship, music and shared passions. I was ecstatic to be invited to work with

the Performance and Improvisation program, as well as with bass and jazz students. I am a big fan of the merging of styles, and the PI initiative speaks to me on many levels. As my career is a merger of classical, jazz, as well as other styles, I have always been on a mission to find and encourage like-minded musicians. It has been distinctly fulfilling to have Oberlin students arrange and perform my music with unique orchestrations. I find it mesmerizing to have my bass anthem, “Home Bass,” performed on oud, for instance. You’ve had an illustrious career. What got you interested in music; and what

got you into jazz in particular? I think music chose me. It always felt that way. I had a very musical environment early on. My father was a bassist and my older brother a drummer. Both were very influential, and where would any of us be without the right mentor at the right time? I was blessed with many from an early age — circa third grade! The sound of jazz always sparked me. Before I could appreciate the subtleties, I loved the energy and had a strong intuition regarding the depth of the music. I had early influences from friends like Jamey Haddad, [professor of Advanced Improvisation and Percussion at Oberlin], who is ultimately responsible for my residency at Oberlin. I could happily do an interview on all the wonderful people who have shaped my life musically. It is remarkable to say most of these people continue to be an important part of my life, which says something about the nature of the relationships. What does the landscape of modern jazz look like? What direction is jazz headed in? It was a pleasure to discuss this in a class today. I always describe jazz as perhaps the first world music. It seems jazz is being influenced by music of the world in an ever greater capacity. The practitioners seem to be enveloping a wider and greater spectrum of influences that way. It’s terrifically exciting. It is obvious that the compositional aspect is evolving to the point that the similarities between some jazz and contemporary music are greater than the dissimilarities, and many jazz artists are mining 20th-century compositions and reinventing them to the benefit of both styles. Can you tell us a little bit about the Western Jazz Quartet? The Western Jazz Quartet is the faculty jazz ensemble of Western Michigan University. I took over the director-

Tom Knific, professor of double bass and jazz guitar at Western Michigan University

ship of it in 1990 with a vision that it could be a dynamic and creative touring and recording entity. With six CDs of original music and five continents covered, I think we may have accomplished that. We had Billy Hart on faculty at the early juncture. He appears on three of the CDs and instigated some of our most memorable tours. The longevity of the ensemble inevitably led to new members [replacing] recent retirements. The new incarnation is imbued with a remarkable energy and creative spirit, as evidenced on last year’s release, Free Fall. We just received word of a Chamber Music America residency grant, so next year should be as busy as ever. Anything you’d like to add? Originally from Cleveland, Ohio, my association with many of the Oberlin jazz faculty is lifelong. This includes many founding members of the program, to the current artist teachers who are at the helm. We are performing a work here I wrote for Peter Dominguez in the early 1990s. I mentioned Jamey Haddad and Billy Hart; Paul Samuels and Kip Reed I would almost qualify as childhood friends. [I also have] new friends [at Oberlin], including Scott Dixon and Derek Zadinsky. Tracy Rowell, who was one of my very first bass students at The Interlochen Arts Academy, is here. My son, John Knific, is the Entrepreneurin-Residence at Oberlin, working with the Office of Creativity and Leadership — it’s the circle of life. Interview by Jake Frankenfield Photo courtesy of oberlin.edu

Cast Tackles Brecht with Clear Aesthetic Continued from page 10 the board. Oftentimes productions consist of a few strong actors, many mediocre actors and a few stragglers. This cast contained no weak links. Each actor tried their hand at playing multiple characters as well, which added a driving force to the plot and brought a unique type of energy to the stage. This pulsating, ever-present energy kept audience members on the edge of their seats, saturated every aspect of the play and served as the solid foundation the actors used to enhance their performances. The play seemed to be driven by some unknown force. The actors played up their strengths in addition to Brecht’s dialogue and stage directions to create a perfect storm. They used their diaphragms to drive out lines, called upon natural instincts for comedic timing and made their faces expressive and readable for the audience. Every single aspect of this performance was strong and committed. Watching it was incredibly satisfying, similar to the feeling one gets after finally completing a tough puzzle. Oberlin College Theater’s performance of Chalk Circle will not be easily forgotten, and I anticipate the rise of Brecht at Oberlin in the near future.

Sports

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The Oberlin Review, April 24, 2015

IN THE LOCKER ROOM

Rhinos Rugby

This week, the Review sat down with members of the women’s and trans rugby team, the Rhinos, senior Kanti Keislar, first-year Carmen Wolcott and junior Kaïa Austin, to discuss the unique culture of the rugby team, why they enjoy the sport and their favorite team traditions. How’s the season going so far? Kanti Keislar: I think that the tournament that we had this weekend was the best we’ve played all semester. We had a disadvantage compared to a lot of the other teams because we are the only team in the conference right now that doesn’t have an official coach. I think that our performance as a team has been really good considering that. Kaïa Austin: It’s always a little hard getting started in the spring because we’re stuck in the field house, and we’re a club sport, so we have that midnight to 1:30 a.m. slot, and when it’s negative 10 degrees out or worse, getting people to go to that practice is tough. Also, we’re inside on the turf field where you can’t really take as much contact as you would outside because tackling onto a turf field can be pretty dangerous and painful. So we are so glad to finally be outside. This is only our second week outside, but it’s already making a huge difference. Also, this is our offseason, so we are playing sevens, so it’s much more intense and concentrated than when we play with 15 people. Carmen Wolcott: Awesome. I haven’t been playing this semester, but I’ve been watching from the sidelines, and we’re playing really well. We’re not winning the games, but we’re playing really well. Can you talk about the culture of the Rhinos rugby team? KK: We have a pretty unique team culture. I think that, talking to some of the players who have been around longer, the team has changed a lot in the

Kaïa Austin (left), Carmen Wolcott and Kanti Keislar last few years. Part of our team culture now is actively talking about our team culture. We’ve had so many discussions this year about various things that we’ve decided are important to talk about because they shape people’s experiences on the team. KA: I think the Rhinos represent different things for different people. People have very different experiences with the team. Some people join the Rhinos because they want to play rugby — I love the sport of rugby — and the reputation of the Rhinos as more of a social group can sometimes mask that we’re all really into the sport. At the same time, there are a lot of people who find the Rhinos to be sort of a family. It’s a family that has its problems, but it also tries to be really supportive and create a comfortable environment where people can hang out and be themselves with other people they love. CW: We’re a sports team, and we all love the sport, but we are in some way a family also. Families have some issues, but we are working really hard to figure things out. What do you like about play-

ing rugby? KK: Sometimes it’s hard for me to separate what I like about playing rugby from what I enjoy about playing rugby with this team. I don’t know that I’ll feel the same way about rugby when I graduate and if I join another team. What I’ve enjoyed the most is the learning process, and that has been shaped a lot by the team. I don’t think I’d feel the same way if I had been formally coached. KA: I like that it’s both an individual and a team sport. When you’re on the pitch, everything you do matters because you could be the person to make the breakaway and score a try if you put that extra energy and sprint through, but at the same time, it is absolutely a team sport, and when you are making a breakaway, you need someone in support of you in case you get tackled. Then they can finish it and score that try for you. One of my favorite things is when two people collectively make a try together. For me, I’m in the scrum, so it’s more about making tackles and playing awesome defense. I also love walking onto the pitch on a Saturday morning when the sun’s out and we have glitter on our faces, and

it’s like, “We’re here, we’re ready, and we’re about to tackle some people into the mud.” CW: I really like the power it gives me. I walk on that field, and I know that I can take down any of the other people on that field, and I’m going to if I have to. That just lights a fire inside of me. Do you feel like you’re in good physical shape because you practice and play all the time? KK: This is something I’ve been thinking about recently because I did come from a varsity sport. When I dropped that sport, I was the most “in shape” I’ve ever been, and I’m not that “in shape” now. When I stopped working out as much, I had this thought that I was meeting this standard, but that’s arbitrary, and I didn’t work out that way because I wanted to, I worked out that way for the sport that I played. Now, when I work out for rugby, I know whatever I want to do with that will be fine. KA: That’s not the focus. When you’re on the pitch playing a game, you think your fitness matters so much, but we also accept everyone and everyone comes to rugby with a dif-

ferent background. While some people are coming from varsity sports, a lot of people aren’t, and rugby tries to be really inclusive, which means not emphasizing arbitrary, unhelpful standards. A team can function with people who are good at a lot of different things, but I do definitely feel great by the end of the season. At the beginning of every practice we run a mile, and usually a couple weeks in, I’m like, “Yes, my legs feel great!” CW: I don’t really like the term “in shape,” especially when used for rugby. One of my favorite things about rugby as a sport is that anybody can play it, regardless of their size or their shape. Saying “in shape” makes it feel like we have to conform to a certain shape, but I definitely feel like my body can do a lot more, and I feel a lot more confident about my body than before I joined the team. What are some of your team’s traditions? KK: We have a couple copies of this book called Rhinoceros Success, and before every game, we read a couple passages from it. It’s about how to succeed, but it uses rhinoceros language. It’s brilliant. My favorite line from it is, “Dreams are only dreams unless you become a rhinoceros and charge them down.” KA: I like that when someone scores a try for the first time, we call them a rugby queen or whatever they want to be called, and there is a specific song that we sing, and they run around the pitch with some degree of clothing on or off their body. CW: I really like socializing. I know it’s a common rugby thing, but I really like socializing with the other teams after the games. I think that’s such a cool thing about this sport. It really builds camaraderie among teams. Interview by Nate Levinson, Sports editor Photo by Briana Santiago

Editorial: U.S. Women’s Soccer Set for Success Continued from page 16 178 goals against 35 different countries — 11 of which were against Sweden — and has become an unstoppable weapon for the U.S. team’s offense. In 2011, Wambach paved the way for her teammates to get to the World Cup Final against Japan. Although the Japanese Women’s National

Team ultimately defeated the U.S., the better team certainly did not come out on top. But this time around, Wambach’s offensive tact will be further complemented by younger players like Alex Morgan and Sydney Leroux, leaving little room for an unanticipated upset. Morgan entered the World Cup stage for the first time on the U.S. Women’s Na-

Home Games This Week Friday, April 24

1 p.m. and 3:30 p.m. – Baseball vs. Hiram College at Dill Field

Sunday, April 26

1 p.m. and 3 p.m. – Softball vs. Franciscan University at Culhane Field

tional Team four years ago and has proved herself to be one of the most valuable attackers in the game right now. In the 2011 Germany World Cup, Morgan came off the bench for five of six games and accompanied Wambach as one of two players to score in both the semifinal and championship games. She also became the first player in U.S. women’s soccer history to tally a goal and assist in the World Cup Final. In recent years, Morgan hasn’t been found anywhere near her former position at left bench. In 2012, she had one of the best scoring years in U.S. history with 28 goals and 21 assists, leading the team’s statistics in both categories. Her goal total puts her near the top players in U.S. women’s soccer history; her 2012 assist total is second only to the legendary Mia Hamm. This year, Morgan is one of two players who has started in all seven games so far. Morgan and Leroux started their pro-

fessional campaigns together on the U-20 national team, and have since blossomed together on the senior international stage. Last year alone, Leroux scored nine goals against familiar teams like Canada, Russia, Japan, Mexico and others. Like Morgan, Leroux initially added depth from the bench, but has recently earned significantly more playing time. To say Leroux will be a much-needed relief asset this summer is an understatement. Of course, this trio will be accompanied by an extremely talented supporting cast including my personal favorite, Christie Rampone, in addition to Megan Rapinoe, Carli Lloyd and Lauren Holiday. Star goalkeeper Hope Solo was also recently cleared to participate in the 2015 World Cup following domestic assault charges last summer. With the star-studded roster ready for the trip to Canada, victory seems inevitable for the United States Women’s National Team.

Sports

The Oberlin Review, April 24, 2015

Page 15

Rising Popularity of Quidditch Hits Oberlin Tyler Sloan Sports Editor The quidditch team was officially named a club sport at Oberlin this semester in a move reflecting the growing number of participants on campus. The roster now has upwards of 20 people, practices up to four times a week and participates in regional competitions. As a member of the national organization U.S. Quidditch, Oberlin’s chapter functions as an all-gender-inclusive team.

The program’s initiation started off rocky. Sometimes there were not enough players to field a full team of seven, there was limited funding to attend events and Oberlin’s team only held intra-team scrimmages at first because it was not ready to play other schools. Fast-forward a few years, and the quidditch team now has a full-fledged budget and travels to events as far away as West Virginia. College senior Ethan Schmitt has seen the team through this evolution, including

when the club completely ceased to exist for two years. “Quidditch at Oberlin was started by a group of upperclassmen when I was a freshman three years ago,” said Schmitt, who has been with the team since its inception in 2011. “They decided it would be really fun, and they thought, ‘Well, we’re nerds, so why don’t we have a quidditch team?’ It was really popular right off the bat. There was a bit of a bumpy road for about two years, but this year it has really come in

The quidditch team poses for a celebratory photo after defeating Ashland University in its first-ever home game at the Austin E. Knowlton Athletic Complex last Friday. Quidditch officially became a club sport earlier this semester. Courtesy of Manon Hume

Give the DivaCup a Chance Isabel Hulkower Columnist This is a weekly coumn devoted to discussing issues related to wellness at Oberlin College. You don’t have to go deep into Oberlin’s reproductive justice scene to hear cries of the wonders of the DivaCup. There are dozens, if not hundreds, of people all over this campus who have basked in its many benefits and now want to spread word to the uninitiated. However, this little piece of silicone has a lot to it, and using one can be tricky on many different levels. “What even is a DivaCup?” you might ask. It’s the most mainstream brand of menstrual cup, a bell-shaped item that sits inside the vagina to catch menstrual fluid during your period. They’re made of medical-grade silicone, which forms a seal with the vaginal walls so that it doesn’t leak. DivaCups come in two sizes: a smaller one and a larger one for those who are over 30 or have given birth — yes, the future is scary. DivaCups first came to my attention at summer camp when I was 15 and a counselor gave me a zine about alternative menstrual products. Sandwiched between handsewn pads and specially treated sea sponges was the DivaCup, a shining beacon of nonconformity in my homogenous world of tampons. It was this original sense of morbid curiosity that drew me in. That first encounter struck me as a bizarrely exciting opportunity to make a change to something I’d long seen as monotonous. This somewhat countercultural little product is attractive simply because it has the capacity to change the routine and shake up the drudgery of menstruation. Aside from novelty, it’s also a great product. Consolidating a constantly fluctuating arsenal of pads into one reusable cup feels pretty incredible, allowing users to never worry about whether they have enough tampons to make it through a cycle. DivaCups are also extremely cost-effective and a sound environmental choice because you are opting for a sustainable product in our culture of disposability. Lastly, it’s pretty cool to send your

period money to a company owned by women instead of the huge corporations that are peddling tampons full of chemicals and bleach. However, cups aren’t a miracle product. A long list of grievances includes the unfortunate reality that they can be difficult to use. There is a long and fairly distressing adjustment period where anxiety surrounding proper use can be pretty debilitating, and if they’re not inserted 100 percent correctly every time, you’re susceptible to extremely intense leak malfunctions. From my very informal polling, friends have said it can take up to six months before you truly feel comfortable using one, which for many ends up being prohibitively long. Also, once one of my friends picked it up and started playing with it, and I didn’t have the heart to edify him. Oberlin’s campus is also especially hostile toward DivaCup use. The ideal place to use a cup is in a single-use bathroom so you can wash it off before reinserting it, but our campus is nearly devoid of such things, inspiring DivaCup users to congregate on the first floor of Mudd to exploit its structural advantages. It can be weird or embarrassing to wash a DivaCup in a public restroom, and those who live in dorms are forced to navigate that. The name “DivaCup” is also pretty stupid. The company’s website says the cup received the name because people who menstruate “are taking center stage in their menstrual health,” but in reality it just seems like misguided use of a euphemism. The major cup provider in England is called “Mooncup,” which is a lot swankier and doesn’t force the image of a “diva” onto low-key folks who just love the environment. Regardless of this negativity, for a huge number of users, the benefits outweigh the costs, and DivaCups have unquestionably changed their day-today lives for the better. Should you pick up a DivaCup? If you’re feeling ready to shake it up and can front the $29.99 to get one from the SIC, then go for it. Keep in mind that a dorm is probably the worst place on earth to get accustomed to using one, so maybe consider holding off and trying it out over the summer. You might love it, or maybe it will just renew your lifelong commitment to conventional products. Either way, good times are ahead.

force.” For those who have ever read the Harry Potter series or seen the movies, imagining a real-life reenactment of the magical sport can be difficult, if not altogether impossible. But in reality, the game is fairly straightforward and involves all the same positions as it does at Hogwarts — including the golden snitch, played by a neutral person who tries to avoid both team’s seekers. College firstyear Rachel Dan said that quidditch can be strenuous and that all positions require a high level of fitness. “People outside of quidditch see it as that silly nerd sport that people who can’t play sports do because they don’t know how to be athletic,” said Dan, who joined the quidditch team last semester after her friend suggested she attend practice. “But really, they’d be extremely surprised how physically demanding it can be and how much strategy is involved. It’s like basketball and rugby had a baby, made it ten times harder and added dodgeball.” Despite the “nerd” reputation that quidditch has, many members of the team insisted on the aggressive nature of the contact sport. Although no one will be plummeting hundreds of feet toward the ground off their broom-

stick necessitating a Hermione Granger-style rescue, there is still plenty of room for injury — especially as athletes try to run with a broomstick between their legs. College sophomore Maya Martin dismissed the idea of quidditch being less demanding than other sports. “It’s a full-contact sport,” Martin said. “People think we’re a bunch of nerds trying to play sports, but really, we practice at least three times a week for an hour and a half, and there’s lots of tackling.” Overall, many members of the team expressed that playing quidditch has provided a sense of belonging and family. Martin explained that many people on the team often felt uncomfortable when participating in sports, but quidditch has provided a productive and safe outlet. “There’s this feeling that everyone takes you seriously as an athlete and as a player,” Martin said. “As someone who hasn’t done a lot sports previously, that’s been something that has been hard for me in the past. Whenever I do want to play sports, people are like, ‘You’re female presenting, or you’re not very athletic, so we’re not going to take you seriously, which isn’t true when you play quidditch.”

Men’s Tennis to Playoffs Continued from page 16 The Drougas brothers went head to head at No. 2 doubles, with Will and his partner besting Michael and Paik in an exciting 9–7 match. Despite the tough loss, Drougas was pleased to have the opportunity to play his brother before Will graduates this spring. “Playing against my brother was a cool experience,” Drougas said. “[We both] have perspective when it comes to tennis, so that made the match fun rather than contentious. He is a great player, and Case Western is a great team.” Drougas went on to say that he is proud of how the team played on Sunday. “It was a really fun match, and our whole team competed really well. I think that match will definitely help us going into conference,” he said. The Yeomen head into the conference tournament ranked 13th in the ITA Central Region, their highest ranking in recent history and an increase from No. 20 in the preseason regional rankings. The doubles team of Louis and Zeliger hold the No. 13 spot in the region. For Ishida, that recognition is a sign that the Yeomen are finally reaching their full potential. “We have improved from 25 in the region at the end of last year to 13 [this year],” he said. “We can’t look into those numbers too closely, but it really shows our improvement. The teams that we are now associated with are very good. Our team is committed to reaching full potential, and that is what we can control.” Paik, ranked No. 24 in the region in singles, feels the team is poised to take on fourth-seed Wabash in the conference playoffs as they look to avenge an early season 5–4 loss to the Little Giants. “Our home opener against Wabash definitely woke us all up and left us all wanting to play them again immediately to rectify the loss, so now’s our shot,” Paik said. Paik also said that Oberlin will need to bring a lot of energy from the start against Wabash, as in the NCAC tournament teams play until decision, meaning that the first team to win five matches wins the match. “We know we need to go into doubles with a lot of energy and then carry the momentum from doubles into singles,” he said. “We all just need to be prepared to do whatever’s necessary to get our five team points.” Refusing to focus on that early-season loss, Ishida said that he is encouraging his players only to look forward. “We have to forget about the last time we played them,” he said. “[Both teams have] played a lot of tennis since then, and this will be a different match for sure. I feel good about the matchup.” After a long, grueling season, Ishida is looking forward to the team’s hard work coming to fruition in the conference tournament. “Overall it’s been a great season, and we have yet to play our best tennis,” he said. “We are looking to put it all together this weekend.” The Yeomen will travel to Gambier, Ohio this Friday to battle the Little Giants in the first round of the NCAC tournament, hosted by Kenyon College.

Sports The Oberlin Review

Page 16

April 24, 2015

— Men’s Tennis —

Red, Yeomen Beat Gators, Head to Playoffs White and Jackie McDermott

The men’s tennis team bested conference rival the Allegheny College Gators 7–2 last Saturday to clinch the fifth seed in the upcoming North Conference Athletic Conference tournament. The Yeomen sent senior captain Soren Zeliger off with the program’s first win over Allegheny in 10 years on his Senior Day. The team, which fell to the Case Western Reserve University Spartans the next day, finished the regular season at 11–9 with a 2–1 record in the NCAC. The atmosphere was lively at the Don Hunsinger Courts on Saturday as the men’s match got off to a close start with Oberlin winning the doubles matches 2–1. Zeliger and junior Callan Louis fell in a tough 8–4 loss at first-flight doubles, but the pairing of first-year Michael Drougas and sophomore Ian Paik picked them up, winning 8–2, before sophomores Billy Lennon and Abraham Davis won 8–5 to give the Yeomen that 2–1 advantage. In singles action, Paik, Drougas and Louis earned close victories

in the first three singles spots, and Lennon, whom Head Coach Eric Ishida recently moved into the starting lineup, bested his Allegheny opponent 6–2, 6–2 in the sixth flight. First-year Manickam Manickam was the last of the Yeomen on court, and, with all of his teammates cheering him on, ground out a second set tiebreak win 6–4, 7–6 (6–3). Ishida said that the decisive win over Allegheny represented a big step forward for the team “Beating Allegheny was a big deal for the program,” he said. “We had not beaten them in 10 years. Last year they beat us twice badly — this year is different, and we made that point.” Paik also said the win over Allegheny was special because it came on Senior Day. “Allegheny is always going to be a very important match for our team, but [it was] especially [important] this year with it being our final home match against a team we had not beaten in 10 years on Senior Day for our one senior, Soren,” he said. “Winning against

Gold

Tyler Sloan Sports Editor

Sophomore Ian Paik prepares to return a shot in a game against the Allegheny College Gators last Saturday at the Don Hunsinger Courts. The Yeomen defeated the Gators 7–2 en route to the North Coast Athletic Conference Championships this weekend in Gambier, Ohio. Courtesy of OC Athletics

Allegheny also ensured we would all get a second chance at [ fourth seed] Wabash in the four versus five match [of the NCAC tournament].” The foundation for the men’s team’s recent success was laid in March, as the Yeomen pieced together a six-match win streak that included a big 7–2 win over The College of Wooster. Following the win over Allegheny, the final match of the season

was on Sunday, April 19 against Case Western. The match pitted two siblings against each other, as Drougas’ older brother Will is a senior on the Case Western squad. The Yeomen suffered an 8–1 loss, but it was the younger Drougas who earned the Yeomen’s lone point, winning at No. 2 singles 4–6, 6–3, 6–2. See Men’s, page 15

— Women’s Lacrosse —

Denison Big Red Spoils Senior Day for Yeowomen Randy Ollie The women’s lacrosse team celebrated its Senior Day while playing the Denison University Big Red at the Austin E. Knowlton Athletic Complex last Saturday. The Yeowomen took an early lead and hung tight for most of the first half, but Denison pulled away soon after to clinch a 15–8 victory over Oberlin. The Big Red entered the contest ranked No. 3 in the North Coast Athletic Conference, their roster boasting midfielder Whitney Powell, who has the most assists in the confer-

ence. The Yeowomen kept it competitive, though, with juniors Suzanna Doak and Grace Barlow combining for the first score of the game. With the first goal, Barlow tallied her 39th goal of the season, and later added one more to bring her total to 40 goals. Following the solid efforts of Doak and Barlow, the team headed into halftime tied at five, but the close game didn’t last long. The Big Red dominated after the break and outscored the Yeowomen 10–3 in the second half. Head Coach Lynda McCandlish said that her team definitely had

scoring opportunities, but the efforts might have come too late. “There were a few offensive possessions that we didn’t capitalize on, which in turn gave them opportunities to go and score on goal,” McCandlish said. Denison began the second frame with three unanswered goals. Sophomore attacker Sara Phister responded by finding the back of the net at 19 minutes, 41 seconds. The Big Red refused to stand on their 8–6 lead, however, and added five unanswered goals to take a comfortable 13–6 advantage and put the

Senior co-captain Bronwen Schumacher takes on a Denison University Big Red defender last Saturday at the Austin E. Knowlton Athletic Complex. Schumacher, co-captain Kate Hanick and classmate Jodi Helsel were all honored in the team’s Senior Day ceremony prior to the game. Evan Davies

game out of reach for the Yeowomen. First-year midfielder Natalie Rauchie scored Oberlin’s seventh goal with just under seven minutes remaining, and Phister eventually collected the final goal of the contest and her second of the game about five minutes later. Unfortunately, their scoring efforts came too late. With the Senior Day loss behind them, the Yeowomen quickly turned their attention to their two remaining NCAC games against the Allegheny College Gators and the Kenyon College Ladies. Sophomore goalie Alexa L’Insalata, who had seven saves in the game against Denison, expressed confidence in the team’s ability to play well in those remaining games. “I have the utmost faith in this team and believe in the amazing skills and level of intensity that each and every player is capable of,” she said. “This week will be nothing short of exciting.” In spite of the fact that the loss pushed the Yeowomen back into a fourth place tie with Kenyon in the NCAC, Barlow still expects big things from this team. “While it may seem as though our record is showing us stumbling right now, the truth is we haven’t even

peaked yet,” she said. “We’re poised to do so at the exact time we need to in order to make our postseason goals a reality.” The team’s playoff chances took another hit Wednesday night when they lost 11–10 to the Gators on a goal with five seconds left in regulation. The loss moved the team’s conference record to 3–4 and pushed them into a fifth place tie with Allegheny in the NCAC. They will now need a win against Kenyon this Saturday to have a chance at making the playoffs. Should the Yeowomen make the playoffs, Hanick is confident the team will be able to make the necessary adjustments to be successful, no matter who they play. “Everyone has been completely invested in reaching our NCAC goal,” she said. “We’ve taken it a game at a time and have focused on altering our playing style to break down each team we’re against. We have the knowledge and talent to do so and that’s a pretty incredible thing, something I’ve never witnessed before in my four years on the team.” The team will play for its playoff fate this Saturday at 1 p.m. in Gambier, Ohio, against the Kenyon College Ladies.

The countdown to the 2015 FIFA Women’s World Cup in Canada this summer has officially begun. With a little over a month until the festivities begin, analysts have started to embark on a series of lengthy commentaries that will consume sports media from now until early July. Every World Cup comes with a “group of death,” a term reserved for the bracket with the most top-ranking teams from around the world. Unsurprisingly, the FIFA No. 2-ranked United States Women’s National Team has, yet again, been selected for this group. Last time around in 2011, the team saw serious competition from Brazil and Sweden. This summer, the United States will face Sweden again, along with Australia and Nigeria in Group D. This year’s event also comes with a number of unprecedented elements that will inevitably alter the playing field. 2015 marks the first time in World Cup history that the women’s tournament will play host to 24 teams instead of the standard 16. The additions will allow for a six-group tournament, versus past years, which only had four. Welcome newcomers to this World Cup will include teams from Côte d’Ivoire, China PR and Thailand, among others. But not to worry, there is only room for one champion, and that champion will be the U.S. Women’s National Team. The United States will return key veterans like Abby Wambach, who alone gives the team an edge. Wambach has scored See Editorial, page 14