September 16, 2016

The Oberlin Review

SEPTEMBER 16, 2016 VOLUME 145, NUMBER 3

Local News Bulletin News briefs from the past week Students Elect New Senators Students elected six new student senators in an election that ended last Friday.

The new senators include Ramsha Babar, Kameron Dunbar, Brendan Eprile, Ben Jennings, Matt Kornberg and Meg Parker. Three student senators — Jesse Docter, Josh Koller and Kirsten Mojziszek — were reelected. Since senators serve two-semester terms, six senators — Austin Feuer, Gabriel Hitchcock, Ailing Cao, Deborah Johnson, Jeremy Poe and Thobeka Mnisi — returned to the Senate without a vote. Student Senate internally elected Poe and Mnisi to serve as Senate Liaisons for the semester.

City Applies for Road Funds The city of Oberlin and the Lorain County Engineer’s Office jointly filed an application for funds from the Ohio Public Works Commission for a road-resurfacing project on Oberlin Road. The project seeks to resurface Oberlin Road from East College Street to Russia Road, beyond the city limits. The project would cost $1.1 million, with the OPWC providing $1 million, almost $100,000 coming from the county and only $18,881 coming from the city.

Skating Club Wins 8th Title The Country Skateland Skating Club, based out of the Country Skateland roller skating rink in Oberlin, won its eighth straight national title. The Quad Squad consists of 12 female skaters between the ages of 8 and 15. To win the Junior Precision Team title, they had to travel to the USA Roller Sports National Championships in Lincoln, NE, and perform a four-minute routine.

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Trustees to Consider Philips Gym Expansion Louis Krauss News Editor The Board of Trustees will decide whether to approve the long-planned expansions to Philips gym at meetings taking place Oct. 6–8. The additions include renovating Robert Carr Pool and building a health and wellness center to house a new weight room, cardio facility, yoga room and general class-meeting space.

According to Delta Lodge Athletics Director Natalie Winkelfoos, a pool renovation has been needed for several years. Winkelfoos said she thinks an additional building will help serve a larger and broader audience.

“An expansion of the facility will help grow our programming and provide us with more space that enables us to serve a diverse group of users,” Winkelfoos wrote in an email to the Review.

While both Winkelfoos and Vice President for Finance and Administration Mike Frandsen declined to say how much the expansion would cost, the Oberlin News-Tribune reported Aug. 30 it would be approximately $15 million.

Since last December, administrators have attempted to reduce renovation expenses by cutting back on improvements to the gym’s exterior along Woodland Street and decreasing office space. If the plan is approved, the wellness center will be built south of the current gym and demolish two campus-owned houses in order to make room.

While Winkelfoos said she believes the addition will help make the space more comfortable for all visitors, some students argued Philips gym has a negative environment that will not improve with a few renovations.

College senior and Student Health Working Group member Dana Kurzer-Yashin said she is uncertain if improving facilities will fix the social aspect of the gym’s issues.

“There’s a real culture around Philips gym; people don’t feel entitled to that space,” Kurzer-Yashin said. “If they expand the gym, I’m afraid it will be more of the same people utilizing those resources, and the same people feeling like they aren’t welcome in that space."

In several meetings last year, Kurzer-Yashin met with Athletic department administrators and asked them to incorporate hours each week reserved for women and transgen-

See Philips, page 2

An aerial view of Philips gym and the surrounding area. The red box roughly delineates the location of the gym's planned expansion.

Photo by Rick Yu, Photo editor

Report Unpacks Campus Climate on Disability Sydney Allen Production Editor Confusion, resentment, frustration, inadequate understanding and a passionate desire for change — these are some of the terms the Working Group on Disability and Access used to describe the current campus climate on disability.

The working group released its preliminary report via email on Aug. 31 in one of its first steps toward addressing accommodation, access and inclusion on campus.

Elizabeth Hamilton, chair of the German Language and Literatures department and Section 504/ADA coordinator, spearheaded the project and hopes that it can begin deconstructing barriers of access that impede many students, faculty and staff

from participating in everyday life at Oberlin.

“This has been a labor of love,” Hamilton said. “It has been so exciting, and the energy is positive and constructive even as we are talking about things that have frustrated people and made some people unhappy. The energy is so good because we really feel like we are creating the fabric of a campus that can handle these barriers, that can mitigate them, that can make our College and Conservatory more accessible.”

Eighteen percent of the 994 community members who responded to a January 2016 survey identified as having a disability and 23 percent of responders identified as having a mental illness. Sixty-nine percent of these responders said they have never disclosed their disability with or

without formal documentation to anyone on campus, including the Office of Disability Services, Human Resources, a supervisor, advisor, faculty member, dean or any peers.

The report touches on a wide range of issues, from the amount of time and money it takes for students to get accommodation for their disabilities to the enormous stigma still attached to disabilities within the community. Other issues include due-date and attendance policies and the definition of what it means to have a disability.

College sophomore Auden Granger discussed the campus climate toward disability and the misconceptions that are often created as a result.

“Accommodations are certainly one facet of being a disabled student, but disability is

Microburst, Macro Problems A storm knocked down several power lines and left thousands of residents without power.

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der people. Although Winkelfoos and other Athletics staff said they would begin holding gym hours for women and transgender people only on Sundays after normal hours, these hours were cancelled without Kurzer-Yashin being notified. Administrators later told her the plan would be possible upon completion of the expansion.

“Basically, they were worried if they gave time to women and trans folks, that then Black men and Black women would want to have their own time slots, and that too many

High Aspirations Field hockey is ready to find its stride.

Director's Cut Cinema Studies struggles with limited staff.

See page 16

See page 10

INDEX:

Opinions 5

This Week in Oberlin 8

Arts 10

Sports 16

also an identity category and a facet of diversity,” Granger said.

“For the most part, Oberlin doesn’t necessarily seem to recognize that. Disability is still a really stigmatized topic in larger society and one that’s sort of expected to be dealt with privately and secretly, and it makes a lot of people really uncomfortable when you talk about it, even at Oberlin.”

Hamilton also emphasized the change in dialogue that is necessary to fully give students and community members a voice.

“We’re not just talking about building one ramp or putting Braille on one spot where there hasn’t been Braille before,” Hamilton said. “Disability presents itself in very different ways at See Working, page 4

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The Oberlin Review, September 16, 2016

Microburst Winds Knock Out Power Lines, Trees Eliza Guinn Staff Writer More than 3,000 Oberlin residents lost power Saturday afternoon as a result of a microburst — a particularly severe storm characterized by winds up to 100 mph. Microbursts are similar to tornados, but differ in the winds and rain that push downward, collapsing trees rather than uprooting them up like a tornado would.

Following the storm, the city dispatched the Oberlin Fire Department and workers for Oberlin Municipal Light and Power System to clear the roads of fallen trees and repair the downed power lines that caused the power outage. Interim City Manager Sal Talarico said that his main concern was making sure workers were safe when dealing with fallen power lines.

“The areas chosen for restoring service were prioritized by the ability to safely access the lines and overhead service,” Talarico wrote in an email to the Review. “Our main priority was to make sure line-workers could operate safely. I am happy to report there were no injuries from the storm or subsequent cleanup and power restoration.”

While some areas had power restored shortly after the storm ended on Saturday, most remained without electricity until late Sunday night.

The city’s power is split into eight 12-kilovolt circuits and two 4-kilovolt circuits stationed at the power plant on South Professor Street. The storm shut down five of the 12-kilovolt circuits, and both of the four-kilovolt circuits, leaving only the three 12-kilovolt circuits that were unaffected to maintain power in the north-central region of the town and College.

The Oberlin Fire Department spent most of its time responding to fallen trees, some of which were ripped from the ground and blocked roads. According to Assistant Fire Chief Susan Hiesser, while falling branches caused minor damage to a number of houses, she did not hear of any cases with serious damage.

Jeff Baumann, director of Public Works for the city of Oberlin, said numerous power lines in the city had been brought down by the storm, which had winds from 70 to 80 mph — almost hurricane strength. The most-affected areas in town were Westwood Cemetery and the Oberlin Golf Club, where winds reached up to 82 mph.

Throughout the week, the city of Oberlin has kept a notice on its website that reads, “All power has been restored to the community — If you are still experiencing an outage, please contact OMLPS. … The City will be picking up brush throughout the week due to storm damage.”

Unlike major cities that have utility workers and vehicles that can be deployed, OMLPS director Steve Dupee said Oberlin’s smaller community-owned electric department takes longer to mobilize. Because of that, receiving help from nearby communities played a big role in getting power back in a reasonable amount of time.

According to the Oberlin News-Tri-

bune, nine utility workers from Bowling Green, Orrville and Wellington assisted in restoring power. Talarico made sure to thank the outside help in his email.

“To Wellington, Bowling Green and Orrville, I want to express once again my gratitude for your help,” he wrote.

According to Baumann, the towns

are inclined to help each other in such an event due to a mutual aid agreement they share. According to Hiesser, Wellington sent at least two electrical crews to help with the cleanup. Along with the other towns, the Amherstbased tree cleanup company EcoTree helped in removing fallen trees due to a contract they have with OMLPS.

Several trees drape the house at 70 North Pleasant Street Saturday. The microburst knocked down several power lines and left over 3,000 Oberlin residents without power.

Photo by Hazel Galloway, Web Manager

Philips Expansion Reopens Safe-Space Hours Consversation Continued from page 1 would want to reserve the rooms,” Kurzer-Yashin said. “So, because of that, they thought if this expansion happens there will be enough space to reserve time for groups.”

Double-degree senior and Student Senate Liaison Jeremy Poe agreed that an expansion would not resolve student issues, and said that the issue with the gym is not its space, but rather, a lack of rules.

“Why don’t we have a code of con–––––––––––––––––––––––––––­— “If they expand the gym, I’m afraid it will be more of the same people utilizing those resources, and the same people feeling like they aren’t welcome in that space."

Dana Kurzer-Yashin Student Health Working Group Member –––––––––––––––––––––––––––— duct in the gym?” Poe said. “To me, it seems pretty simple to say 'You’re not allowed to touch people in the gym.'

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September 16, 2016

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Right now, to the best of my knowledge, there’s no mechanism for that.”

While Poe acknowledged that the real concern is that the weight room is inadequate for most of the varsity teams’ needs, he believes the money for this project could go to more important causes, like moving the Student Health Center.

“You’ve got ideas like a smoothie bar, a new weight room, but you need staff for those,” Poe said. “It doesn’t bother me, but there are better ways to spend this money. If you move Student Health Services on campus, you get far more bang for your buck, but the problem is then you don’t have an athletics facility that compares to Kenyon. I think that’s really the driving factor. You talk to anyone who visits Kenyon and they’ll tell you how incredible the facilities are. Maybe I’m just someone who thinks athletics facilities are not as big a driver for recruiting students as administrators do.”

According to Frandsen, if the Board of Trustees passes the expansion in October, the construction will be completed by late spring or summer 2018.

Corrections: In "Implementation Committees Address Corrections Strategic Plan," (Sept. 9, 2016), Vice President Finance and Administration Thefor Review is not aware of Mike Frandsen was incorrectly any corrections this week.called the finance director. Biggs Professor of Natural Science Bosch fromto the Mathematics TheBob Review strives print all department, Bill Barlow,asco-chairs informationnot as accurately possible.the Resource Management Implementation If you feel the Review has made an Team.error, In "Oberlin Pro-Tips," (Sept.to2, 2016) please send an e-mail S&S was wrongfully described as being managingeditor@oberlinreview.org. able to "drive you pretty much anywhere on campus." This is not its policy.

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Off the Cuff: Michele Norris, Author and Former NPR Host Michele Norris is an Emmy and Peabody Award-winning journalist who spent nine years as the host of All Things Considered, NPR’s longest-running program.

After graduating from the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis, Norris began working as a print journalist at the Chicago Tribune, Los Angeles Times and The Washington Post. Norris then accepted a job at ABC News, where she worked for 10 years. Norris was NPR’s first African-American female host, and was awarded Journalist of the Year by the National Association of Black Journalists in 2009. At this year’s opening convocation Wednesday, Norris discussed the Race Card Project, which looks to start more conversations on race in the U.S. by having people submit cards to her that distill their thoughts and concerns about race into six-word sentences or phrases.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

You’ve spent significant time as a journalist in all three fields of newspaper, television and radio. What was your journey like from papers to NPR? My mom would tell you I started as a journalist when I was a kid in elementary school. I would write stories about the neighbors and sell them to them. It’s kind of like extortion because a little girl in pigtails knocks on the door and says, “I have a story about you! Would you like to buy it?” So, I mean, who’s going to say no to that? But after college, I started in print, and I’m really glad I did because it was the basis for everything that came after it.

I really learned to wrestle stories down to the ground as a print journalist.

You learn how to write features in a certain way, much different than any other medium. I went into television because I was offered a job. I had never done television, and I went straight to network

And then how did the NPR gig come about?

I got a call nine years ago that there were two hosts retiring at the same time, so they had two spots they needed replaced. Somehow my name worked its way into their job search. So as soon as I got the call, I thought, “I’ve got to figure out how to do this and get that job,” because I had grown up listening [to NPR].

Minnesota was one of the first states to adopt the morning edition of All Things Considered. I always listened to public radio, had great respect for it and loved that you could play to all fields and do serious news, but that there were also moments of whimsy and joy. You could do cultural reporting, and I was fortunate that I landed it.

Was it hard to transition from newspapers to TV to NPR? Did you enjoy one form of reporting over the other?

Every transition was hard. Hosting is very different than reporting. You’re carrying the show, doing interviews, playing the role of a managing editor to decide what’s on the news. I loved the idea of it having longer pieces. Television at that point, the pieces were getting shorter and shorter, and I was doing feature segments at that point on ABC. They went from six minutes, to four minutes, to two. I worked on a feature called Closer Look, and by the end it felt essentially like a passing glance. So on NPR, getting to do a six-minute interview with somebody, you’re really able to get into the weeds and really help understand

lice Department also responded because of Oberlin residents in attendance who refused to leave.

Thursday, Sept. 8 1:36 p.m. A resident of South Hall reported that an unknown person entered their unlocked room during the night and took approximately $60 from a pair of shorts that was later found in the hallway.

Friday, Sept. 9 2:46 a.m. A resident of South Hall reported two unknown individuals taking money from their room. The individuals were identified, arrested and charged as a result of the theft.

11:14 p.m. Safety and Security officers responded to an unauthorized party complaint at a village house on Woodland Street and dispersed approximately 80 students. Members of the Oberlin Po-

knew that our core audience was largely white and older and that if we are broadcasters, we need to broaden our agenda and our appeal. That challenge is still there. It’s interesting you mention music, because NPR Music has overtaken Rolling Stone as the place to premiere music. But even so, it does lean heavily toward more alternative music, and they struggle to capture a hip-hop audience and its nuances. It’s interesting to talk about a changing America and changing the audience, because it’s something that NPR has struggled with and continues to struggle with, as they should.

You should not get comfortable when you think you’re reaching that audience.

America is always changing, so you have to keep improving.

television, which was very unusual. I decided to do it because Don Graham at The Washington Post gave me a good offer and said, “If you hate television, or it turns out they hate you, which is always possible on TV, just come back to the Post. So go and try it out.”

Saturday, Sept. 10 1:19 a.m. Safety and Security officers assisted an intoxicated person in the fourth-floor bathroom of Noah Hall. They asked the individual a series of questions, which were answered correctly, and walked the student to their room.

6:34 p.m. Safety and Security officers and members of the Oberlin Fire Department responded to assess fumes at Firelands Apartment Building. They found a generator powering a unit in the basement emitting fumes and ensured that the area was safe.

11:15 p.m. Safety and Security officers responded to an unauthorized party complaint at a village house on Woodland Street. The officers dispersed approximately 40 students from the house.

Michele Norris, nationally acclaimed journalist

something. Taking an issue like the financial crisis, we’re going to help you understand what caused the economy to unravel. So I loved that as a reporter you could bring your full curiosity to work everyday. You could do a seven-minute piece on Jaco Pastorius, someone I love.

So I could tell listeners that this is a man who changed the way of interpreting the bass. So for a seven-minute piece, I got to call Herbie Hancock, Marcus Miller and Pat Metheny and just said, “Help me understand how this man changed music,” because I knew there were people out there who would really dig this. So NPR was one of the few places I could do that.

One of the issues NPR faces is that their listening audience is oftentimes the older white demographic, and if there is music it’s usually classical, jazz or some soft alternative genre.

When you got there did you face any challenges with trying to change somehow to appeal to a younger and more diverse audience?

I don’t know if there were challenges, but there was recognition of that. We

11:31 p.m. Safety and Security officers responded to an unauthorized party at a village house on Goldsmith Street and dispersed approximately 40 people. They observed numerous beer cans in the common space and a vaporizer containing a substance consistent with marijuana residue. The vaporizer was confiscated and turned over to the Oberlin Police Department.

11:51 p.m. Officers responded to an unauthorized party complaint at a Goldsmith apartment and dispersed approximately 100 people from the party.

Monday, Sept. 12 3:53 p.m. A student reported the theft of a card carrier from the weight room at Philips gym. The carrier contained a driver’s license and additional miscellaneous cards.

4:42 p.m. Officers responded to a report of an older individual in Wilder Bowl taking pictures of students as they walked. The officers located the individ-

Can you envision NPR in the future incorporating louder and brasher shows that deviate from its current format?

If you think about it, it’s more than it used to be, but maybe not enough for your ear. I remember one time somebody snuck some Nate Dogg music into one of the transitions between shows. And I remember I tweeted out, “I detected a subtle nod of the head from Robert Siegel.” It was a joke because it really wasn’t his genre, but that’s OK. But there’s also a time for things. So a news broadcast is very different than a Tiny Desk concert, which is different than a podcast like Code Switch. So if you have a full offering of programming, you’re going to hit people in different ways, and each of those shows will have a different kind of tempo. So when you’re doing a weekend show, by definition, it’s going to be a little looser. Whereas a news program that is reporting on war and pestilence, the pendulum is not going to swing in the same way.

Interview by Louis Krauss, News editor Photo courtesy of Michele Norris

ual, who denied taking pictures. A short time later, the individual left the area.

10:56 p.m. Officers responded to a report of students smoking marijuana on the east side of South Hall. The officers identified the students, who admitted to smoking marijuana.

Tuesday, Sept. 13 2:22 p.m. While conducting a walkthrough of a village housing unit, staff reported a water bong, grinder and pipe in plain view. The items were confiscated and turned over to the Oberlin Police Department.

Wednesday, Sept. 14 6:09 p.m. A student reported the theft of a cell phone and satchel from a carrel on the second floor of Mudd library. The student had left the items unattended for a short period of time.

Officers checked the area and found nothing.

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The Oberlin Review, September 16, 2016

Clinton Campaign Volunteers Flock to Oberlin Office Jack Brewster The Clinton campaign has established a new Oberlin hub in an effort to ramp up the campaign’s ground game in northeast Ohio during the final weeks before the general election.

On Thursday, Clinton’s Ohio team hosted a party to inaugurate the opening of its Oberlin office, which is located on South Main Street in the basement of the FirstMerit Bank Building.

“We are opening our 54th office in Ohio this week,” Hillary for America Ohio Communications Director Harrell Kirstein said.

“But we know there is a lot of work to do in communities like Oberlin and all across the state and we’re taking nothing for granted …

This will certainly be an important location.”

The office will function as a local campaign center for staff and volunteers, will be used to launch phone banks and canvases and will serve as a location for Clinton surrogates to give speeches.

On Thursday night, Democratic Congressional candidate Janet Garrett, College sophomore Hayley Drapkin and Campus Organizer for the Clinton Campaign Jalal Ansari — among others — gave speeches to an audience of roughly 50 people.

By opening up the office in Oberlin, they hope to get the College involved in the campaign as well. In the days leading up to Nov. 8, Clinton’s team will host a number of events on campus to get more students registered to vote, according to a campaign spokesperson.

“This is something that we’ve been working really hard at in Oberlin and every community across Ohio,” Kirstein said. “We’re registering people to vote. We want to make sure their voice is heard during the days of early voting and on Nov. 8. We’ve got a ton of community leaders who have gotten involved.”

Donald Trump’s campaign believes the opening of the Oberlin office shows the weakness of Clinton as a candidate. Lorain County — and particularly the city of Oberlin — has been a lock for the Democratic Party in past presidential elections.

Both campaigns also have offices in

College sophomore Saul Kester poses for a photo at the Clinton office opening on Thursday. The Clinton campaign uses the office as a hub for volunteers to phone bank and canvass.

Photo by Bryan Rubin, Photo editor

the city of Lorain, just over 13 miles from Oberlin.

“I think it shows the trouble she’s in,” Lorain County Chairman for the Trump campaign David J. Moore said regarding the opening of the Oberlin office. “Northeast Ohio is predominately a Democrat stronghold, so usually they don’t open up campaign centers … She must be hurting.

Oberlin is the last place she would need a campaign office.”

Clinton’s campaign, however, asserts that the opening of the office is not due to a lack of support in the area. Instead, they feel that offices are necessary — even in strongholds like Oberlin — to serve as epicenters for volunteers in Oberlin and surrounding towns.

“We find that in communities where we have a lot of really great support, like we do

in Oberlin, are fantastic places to open offices because it gives all of our volunteers

sponse to Moore’s comments. “It's been our plan throughout the summer to get folks on –––––––––––––––––––––––––––———— the ground working with our local supporters and people who know the communities best because this election is so critically "Northeast Ohio is predominately important.” a Democrat stronghold so usuAccording to Ansari, the Oberlin comally they don't open up campaign munity has exceeded expectations for the Clinton campaign. centers ... She must be hurting.

“Every time we have events I get too many Oberlin is the last place she people. I get so many people who want to would need a campaign office." volunteer,” Ansari said. “We're finding new places to put them. We have so much poDavid J. Moore tential to do so much. We've registered hunLorain County Chairman for the Trump dreds of students, we've called thousands of Campaign people and soon we're gonna start knocking –––––––––––––––––––––––––––———— on doors. There's so much to do and Oberlin is the best place to do it." a local place to work,” Kirstein said in re-

Working Group Underscores Need for Accessibility Continued from page 1 different times. And so what we want to build is the capacity to enlarge access, so it’s not a huge production when someone says, ‘Hey, I need this in large print.

Hey, I need you to repeat that. Hey, I need the lights to be dimmed.

I need less noise. I need to walk around a little bit more. I need a break.’”

The group has made some progress since its inception, including the creation of Student Accessibility Advocates through the Office of Disability Services, the creation of the peer mentor services and many upcoming presentations about disability and access.

The group also issued a recommendation that the administration form a permanent advisory committee to work on disabilityrelated issues.

Double-degree senior Rebecca Klein discussed her positive experience as a working group leader.

“I not only met more people interested in disability and accessibility on campus, but I was also able to engage in one of the most productive dialogues about acces-

sibility that I've had at Oberlin,” Klein said.

To Hamilton, the conversation sparked by the report served an end in itself.

“Because stigma is so prevalent, just having the conversation was a huge sign of progress — that people will talk, that people will tell their stories, that people want to feel a little less alone, that people want to feel a little less misunderstood, that they could feel a lot more respected,” Hamilton said.

Despite the dialogue, some physical accessibility concerns persist. A longstanding student concern is the inaccessibility of Student Health Services and the Counseling Center, which are located so far west they are practically off campus. In the last few years, student activists have argued for Student Health to move to a more central location.

“Why would you create unnecessary burdens for students to receive medical care?” asked double-degree senior and Student Senate Liaison Jeremy Poe asked.

“That just doesn't make sense to me. And the argument that we don't have the money [to move Student Health] I think is more

so we don't have enough money the way our priorities are laid out right now. And I think that calls for a reassessment of priorities.”

Given the distance to Student Health Services, students have often asked Safety and Security for rides. And though Safety and Security can give students rides under certain circumstances, its policy makes it clear that they are an emergency-only option.

"We really started addressing finding alternatives to publicize last spring semester when our requests reached a high of 86 requests in an eight-hour time period," wrote Marjorie Burton, director of Safety and Security, in an email to the Review. “We can't sustain filling this kind of demand and need to retreat to our baseline, department-wide, as there are already other resources for transportation.”

Burton pointed out that other services for transporting students — such as the Student Shuttle and the Oberlin Connector Transit Service — already exist. However, the Student Shuttle begins at 9 p.m., much too late for many who need rides to CVS, Student Health Services or the Counseling Center.

Opinions The Oberlin Review

September 16, 2016

Letters to the Editors

College Hearings Defy Due Process To the Editors:

Innocent until proven guilty.

It’s typically the first thing anyone learns in this country about our legal system. That you are presumed to be innocent until you are found guilty in a court of law. In every court in the nation from Nome, AL, to Key West, FL, it’s the law of the land.

Then why isn’t it in Oberlin?

First, a background. If you are found to be accused of a violation of the Oberlin Campus Student Code of Conduct, you will be brought before a panel of your peers, like you would be if you violated state or federal law.

You are allowed to face your accuser and discuss the facts of the case, like you would be if you violated state or federal law. However once the deliberations happen, innocent until proven guilty becomes innocent until probably or maybe guilty.

Everywhere in the country, in order to be found guilty of a crime the accused has to be found guilty “beyond a reasonable doubt.” In layman’s terms, if you’re on trial, there cannot be a sliver of a doubt that you committed that crime or violation. It is not enough that the accused probably committed the crime for them to be found guilty.

At Oberlin the standard is far less.

In an Oberlin judicial hearing the accused just has to be found guilty by a mere “preponderance of the evidence,” which is legal speak for 50.1 percent of the evidence pointing towards guilt. Which raises the question, why does Oberlin, typically a pinnacle of upper-level education in this country, divert from the national benchmark?

The truth is that no one seems to know.

The administration didn’t respond to my request for comment, and there is no justification for the rule available online. That needs to change.

When dealing with suspending or expelling a student the student should be afforded the rights that would be afforded to them in any other court of law.

Instead of waiting every other year to revise the Judicial Charter, the General Faculty and the Student Life Committee should act at their next meeting to protect the due process and civil rights of all students.

Voltaire said, “It is better to risk saving a guilty person than to condemn an innocent one.”

Shouldn’t Obies have these rights too?

– Duncan Reid College first-year

Johnson-Weld Ticket Offers Experienced Leadership To the Editors: For loyal Democrats and Republicans, there appear to be cruel choices to be made this fall, especially in the presidential race. Each of the major-party nominees is deeply flawed, and in a variety of ways.

Do not assume for a minute, however, that voters will have only these two choices. There is an actual alternative at hand: the Libertarians.

As your readers may know, former New Mexico two-term Governor Gary Johnson is the Libertarian nominee for president. Former Massachusetts Governor Bill Weld, who also served two terms, is his vice-presidential nominee. Each of

them has more elected executive experience than either Donald Trump or Hillary Clinton. In fact, even if you combined their experience, the team of former governors still has more. Neither Johnson nor Weld is an unreasonable person (ask the people who have elected them into office). Happily, neither of them has an explosive, impulsive personality or a squeam-inducing carelessness or lack of character.

It is obvious that the traditional two parties have failed us. Their failure has characterized our politics since even before Speaker Newt Gingrich’s “Contract With America” and the gridlock that followed, or the ever-creeping Nanny State under Presidents Clinton, Bush and Obama. In considering the Libertarians, voters will have to remember that the old coalitions and the old accommodations, demonstrably, simply do not work for us anymore. The Republican coalitions that have given rise to a social platform meaner and more discriminatory, while Democrats have continued a foreign policy of regime change and have also grown the size of government at an unsustainable rate.

A radical approach is needed, and it needs to be honest and for the people it serves. Voters do not have to pick the lesser of two evils again this November.

As the Governors Johnson and Weld say in a recent campaign ad, “Give us one term, America, and if after four years, you decide you don’t like peace, prosperity and freedom, you can always vote a Trump or Hillary back into office again.”

– Brandon Bobbitt Oberlin resident

Over-Militarization Causes Gun Violence Chloe Vassot Contributing Writer Gun control measures have historically been enforced by racist laws that have been used to explicitly discriminate against marginalized people, as Josh Ashkinaze pointed out in his Sept. 9 Review article “Progressives Should Oppose Gun Control.” He calls it “deeply ironic” that “progressives” support a movement with such a past, but his proposed solutions of wariness, the creation of federal gun registry and use of “smart gun” technology are inadequate and obscure

the reality of homicidal gun use in the U.S. Being wary of the methods by which laws are implemented is logical and necessary due to the reality of police brutality, but caution should not hinder efforts to create real and substantive anti-gun legislation, as Ashkinaze suggests. In lieu of waiting for people to give up their guns out of the goodness of their hearts, real effort must be made to lessen the sheer amount of deadly weapons in our society. My fear is not that some angry person will steal someone else’s See Gun, page 6

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

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

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

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

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

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

Page 5

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

Editors-in-Chief Tyler Sloan Vida Weisblum Managing Editor Kiley Petersen Opinions Editor Sami Mericle

Students Must Re-examine Role of Presidency Marvin Krislov announced Sept. 6 that he will be stepping down as president of the College, effective June 30, 2017. The news has received mixed reactions from students, many of whom hope that a new president might allow the College to reaffirm its commitment to progressive activism and accessibility to all students.

College sophomore Kameron Dunbar wrote for the Review last week on the qualities he hopes the next president will embody: “They must maneuver strategically while maintaining a level of ethics and decorum essential to running an institution heavily rooted in a commitment to social justice. … Oberlin’s next president should look like, think like and reflect the values of a changing America, a changing narrative of higher education and a reconceptualization of how a liberal arts education must function in 2016” (“Next Oberlin President Must Promote Unity,” Sept. 9, 2016).

Throughout his nearly 10-year tenure at Oberlin, Krislov has solely weathered much of the blame for aspects of the school that students find unappealing. For instance, following the police killings of Tamir Rice, Eric Garner and Michael Brown in 2014, Black Lives Matter activists on campus directed a petition to President Krislov asking him to suspend the standard grading system for students of color who were processing and protesting police brutality. Following a meeting with Krislov, Kiki Acey, OC ’16, reported the president saying that he did not have the power to enact such a decision.

“Who is this invisible person that can make these decisions?” asked B.J. Tindal, OC ’16, as quoted in a Review article Dec. 14, 2014 (“Students Hold Emergency Convocation, Demand Institutional Support”).

Who does make these decisions? As the figurehead at the helm of the institution, Krislov’s power as president may seem greater than it actually is. According to the College’s Charter and Bylaws, the president’s main duties include preparing the budget, presiding over General Faculty meetings, supervising all departments and making recommendations to the Board of Trustees.

Fundraising is another essential part of the job. In a 2011 American Council of Education survey, university and college presidents across the country named fundraising and budgets as two of their top four duties, along with community relations and strategic planning. This emphasis on finances has led to a trend of hiring corporate executives as presidents. The same ACE study found that 20 percent of college presidents came to their job from outside of academia.

While the president does have powers of oversight, planning and agenda setting, the main body in charge of the College’s operations is the Board of Trustees. The approximately 34-member board must approve all major planning and financial decisions. The president is an ex officio member of the board, but only gets one vote on all issues. The board leaves most of the day-to-day decisions of running the College up to the administration and General Faculty — the two other governing spheres of the College — but retains the right to intervene as it deems necessary. The president does not even have the power to appoint his own assistants without an election from the board.

Most curriculum and academic hiring decisions are made by faculty committees.

That’s not to say that the president is powerless. While Krislov may not have been able to unilaterally discard the standard grading system at the end of 2014, he could have endorsed the See Editorial, page 7

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

Opinions

Page 6

The Oberlin Review, September 16, 2016

Gun Reform Required Continued from page 5 legally owned gun and hurt someone; my fear is that someone who legally owns a gun will get angry and hurt someone. This fear is not unfounded. Ownership does not require the ability to use a gun safely or with diligence and thought, and a gun registry won’t fix this.

We need to make laws that aren’t racist, and we need to change how those laws are implemented. The people who will disproportionately fire at and kill people of color — the police — are not the people who can be expected to make sure these laws do not disproportionately affect people of color and other vulnerable groups. Those affected by intimate partner violence have been statistically less likely to be killed by guns when background checks on gun purchases work effectively. But to be blocked by a background check, the purchaser has to already be recognized as an abuser by the system in place. And seeing as if there is a gun in the house, a woman is more than five times as likely to be killed in an event of domestic violence, what is

the justification for allowing guns to be so prevalent in homes in the first place?

Ashkinaze notes that minorities are discriminatorily targeted by law enforcement in gun control enforcement. However, the response to this should not be to give up on all attempts of gun control, but to question how our system operates and change its faults. Why does our police force need guns? Why is it so militarized in the first place, and does that send an inaccurate message to the public that the U.S. is dangerous enough to warrant owning your own personal arsenal?

Gun control for civilians and law enforcement is necessary and urgently needed. Quite simply, more people die by guns in the U.S. because we have more guns at every level of society.

So I will continue to support gun control, radical gun restriction, or better yet, the ultimate ideal of a completely gun-free society. We need new methods to control guns, that is undeniably true — but “progressives” should not give up on the ideal of gun control any time soon.

Jacob Maximillian Baron

Abortion Access Event Celebrates Triumph in Face of Adversity Julia Peterson Production Editor Editor’s Note: This article contains language pertaining to abortion rights and personal stories from people who have received abortions.

It’s hard to be optimistic about abortion access. Clinics are constantly at risk of being defunded and jump through numerous hoops to survive. Distance, cost, stigma and legally mandated misinformation all pose barriers to patients. Watching new access-denying laws appear as fast as they are struck down can feel like watching a heartbreaking game of legislative whack-a-mole with profound consequences for all those who seek access to their legal right.

Few people hold neutral positions on abortion, and abortion rights organizations like All Access are fighting an ugly PR battle against labels like ‘baby killer.’

However, the narrative is not entirely bleak.

As those who braved the torrential rain and the inevitable protesters to attend Saturday night’s All Access concert in Cleveland — one of many such events around the country — were reminded, the fight for legal abortion access

should also be celebrated.

The event interspersed moving personal narratives about abortion with brilliant comedic and musical pieces, including performances

by Leslie Jones, Teyana Taylor and Sia. For Mallory McMaster, who works in an abortion clinic, it is critical to have events like All Access that are celebratory and optimistic. With the focus so often on legislative and judicial failures, it’s important to highlight reproductive health movements and their broadranging support and many successes.

“The most important takeaway is that we’re bringing such a large group of people together,” McMaster said. “People young and old, people from all across the gender spectrum, all across the country and even internationally. I want [people] to know that we may be outnumbered in the legislature, but we are definitely not outnumbered on the ground. This is a great moment for the movement, and we’re moving in the right direction.”

Comedy Central’s Jessica Williams, who hosted the event, agreed, emphasizing how important it is to recognize the triumphs along with the ongoing battles.

“The theme for tonight is so, so simple,” she

said. “We are going to celebrate our successes and build our movement to ensure abortion access for all, which the last time I checked — five seconds ago — has been a legal right for 43 years, upheld by the Supreme Court of these United States of America. And yet, it is still not available to all of us, depending on who we are, where we live, how much money we make and how much bullcrap we can put up with.”

This is a sentiment especially resonant with many young people nationwide, who are statistically more likely to hold more progressive views than older generations, and for whom an unplanned pregnancy could disrupt college or career prospects or exacerbate difficult financial or emotional situations.

One storyteller at the event, Renee Bracey Sherman, shared what telling her own abortion story has meant to her.

“Everybody loves somebody who has had an abortion,” she said. “You might just not know it yet. … The most beautiful thing about sharing my abortion story is that somebody always shares theirs back. I refuse to be ashamed. I refuse to wear the veil of stigma. I had an abortion and it was the best decision for me.”

McMaster reflected on her work and on the

negativity that often surrounds the discourse on abortion access, which inspired her to get involved with All Access.

“It seemed like a great way to celebrate what we do for a change, rather than always being on the defensive,” she said. “We want to be proud of the care we’re giving our patients in the community and give people who had had an abortion something to celebrate.”

College sophomore Devin McMahon, the Oberlin liaison for All Access, described planning the event and the anticipation of seeing it all come together.

“I was so pleasantly surprised,” she said. “I watched it almost not happen because a lot of performers couldn’t take a stand on this issue, which was depressing to say the least. And it ended up being so incredible. … It was so much fun, very moving, very inspiring, ... and I hope it happens more than just once. I think it was a really important event, especially in the same city that the RNC was held in just this summer.”

One of the night’s more spectacular highlights was a speech by former Nevada State Assemblywoman Lucy Flores. She spoke about See All, page 7

Dakota Access Pipeline Protests Mirror Oberlin’s Anti-Pipeline Campaign CJ Blair Contributing Writer The federal government’s request to halt the construction of the Dakota Access Pipeline was met by cheers from the thousands of Native people gathered in protest at Standing Rock last Friday. This order, however, coming on the heels of a ruling that dismissed the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe’s anti-pipeline injunction, was surely met with equal skepticism. The nearly two-year battle against the Dakota Access Pipeline is far from over.

Yet the crisis at Standing Rock has placed the anti-pipeline movement on the national stage, and its direct action approach to environmental justice provides an invaluable template for similar campaigns across the country, including the pipeline project currently facing opposition in Oberlin.

While this moment may seem like the fever pitch of protests against the Dakota Access Pipeline, this is merely the most recent in a series of clashes between the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe and Energy Transfer Partners, the company building the pipeline from North Dakota to Illinois. While the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers approved the project for completion in July, the tribe immediately opposed this action, claiming that neither the danger posed to residents nor the possible destruction of historic artifacts had been duly considered. The Sioux Nation argued that the pipeline would destroy sacred burial sites and runs dangerously close to Standing Rock’s primary water source. The tribe sued the Army Corps, and a flood of protesters formed a massive camp in Standing Rock, facing police dogs and pepper spray as they fought around the clock for their home and health.

Despite the momentum that the Standing Rock protests have gained, the public still tends to see environmental and social justice causes as separate and sometimes even at odds with each other. Though environmentalism looks to the future, it is not without the sting of immediacy that excites many social issues. While everyone will one day feel the effects of careless land management and rampant pollution, the smaller steps leading up to that day will single out very specific communities.

From the 1921 Blair Mountain face-off between coal miners and strikebreakers in Kentucky to the dumping of PCBs in Warren County, NC, the fossil fuel industry has a historic affinity for targeting people they expect to be incapable of resistance.

The concept of environmental racism is as old as environmentalism itself, and Standing Rock is only the

most publicized modern illustration of this. In Oberlin, for example, the NEXUS Pipeline — slated to carry natural gas from Ohio to Ontario — is expected to pass through the south side of town, where the majority of Oberlin’s people of color reside.

While the people along the NEXUS route may not be as uniquely disenfranchised as the Sioux Nation, the routes of both pipelines cut chillingly close to communities of color or low economic standing, serving as a testament to the industry’s malice.

Projects like the Dakota Access Pipeline epitomize the disdain for human welfare inherent in pipeline infrastructure. This trademark behavior by energy corporations has led Standing Rock to its current position, one that Oberlin may soon join: direct action and civil disobedience.

Standing Rock has made it clear that peaceful protest is not a thought-

less tactic to grab attention, but a means of elevating people above a system that has no place for them.

Though the order from the Obama administration may be temporary, it is a testament to the movement’s power that Washington intervened at all, and this new development has certainly blurred the future of the pipeline.

With the construction of NEXUS on the horizon, communities across Ohio will be asked whether they intend to sit idly or embrace direct action to fight for their health and wellbeing. Direct action takes a multitude of forms — from blocking machinery to grassroots organizing — all of which will require determination and careful planning. Should Oberlin and other Ohio communities choose to act, I hope we can muster a fraction of the power summoned at Standing Rock.

Opinions

The Oberlin Review, September 16, 2016

Page 7

Restorative Justice Requires Rehabilitation Nick Bassman Contributing Writer Content warning: This op-ed contains discussion of sexual assault.

To Judge Aaron Persky: This is not the first open letter or protest you’ve received on this topic, and it won’t be the last.

Convicted rapist Brock Turner was released from prison Sept.

2 after serving three months of the six-month sentence you gave him. He was in prison for the length of a summer break and has returned to his family home in Dayton, Ohio.

During the sentencing in June, you expressed the opinion that Brock Turner “will not be a danger to others.” It’s impressive to me that you trust a man who sexually assaulted an unconscious woman behind a dumpster. The basis of your faith is unclear. Of course, your shared affiliation as Stanford athletes has not gone unnoticed.

You also cited your fear that “a prison sentence would have a severe impact on him.” In other words, you are concerned about Brock Turner’s future. I get it; you may be vested with authority over other people’s fates, but at least you have compassion, right?

Well, I, too, am concerned about Brock Turner’s future. As in, I’m concerned for every person he meets. I’m concerned that he lives here in Ohio. I’m concerned that Brock Turner already served the sentence you gave him — served, in the past tense. Timeout over. Doesn’t it feel soon, even to you?

As a survivor of sexual assault myself, there is a part of me that would relish seeing Brock Turner rot. It would be vindicating to see him serve the prosecutors’ recommended six years; surely he deserves life without parole. And this would absolutely be more palatable to me than the sick joke of a sentence you gave him.

But I am also sickened by our culture of vengeance, by our collective desire to see the suffering of those we’ve deemed evil. Prison functions in our society as the primary conduit for this sadistic urge toward vengeance — one that often outstrips the violence of those we’ve imprisoned and also manifests in undeniably racist ways. And while it would be fair to see Brock Turner subjected to the same standard, I too wonder what good the rampant abuses of prison life would do for this violent and ignorant man.

Restorative justice demands a lot of faith in other people’s potential for redemption. Maybe even Brock Turner’s.

So I believe the proper sentence for Brock Turner would have been the recommended six years in prison — and the course load for a bachelor’s and master’s degree in gender studies.

Make Brock Turner learn about patriarchy and rape culture. Make him listen to the voic-

es of survivors. Make him read the searing letter from the woman he assaulted each morning before he starts class and each night before he goes to sleep.

Make him read three books a week, make him truly reflect, make him write dozens of essays.

Don’t let him believe his story is ––––––––––––––––––––––––––

I believe the proper sentence for Brock Turner would have been the recommended six years in prison — and the course load for a bachelor’s and master’s degree in gender studies.

–––––––––––––––––––––––––– the tragedy of the dangers of alcohol and “promiscuity” — make him understand his own culpability as a rapist. Call him out every single time he tries to use his

new vocabulary to equivocate.

Make sure he gets it. Make sure he has an intersectional understanding of the white privilege and class dynamics that have given him unchecked power his whole life, the same privileges that almost let him walk free after three months in prison. Make him sit at a prison desk until he has written a brilliant thesis on rape culture in America, backed by six years of research and personal experience. Make absolutely sure that, when he leaves his six-year sentence, he is prepared to live the rest of his life with genuine empathy.

You see, Judge Persky, I’ve gathered that you’re concerned about the future of Brock Turner. I take that to mean that you want him to help others instead of hurting them, that you want him to be a productive member of society, that you want him to learn from his mistakes.

So do I.

University of Chicago Balances Free Speech, Trigger Warnings Jack Derwin Contributing Writer As the training ground for students on the brink of entering full adulthood, the values of higher education are often the subject of scrutiny and controversy. One such controversy was prompted by a University of Chicago welcome letter sent to the university’s incoming first-years on Aug. 24 this year. The letter stated that the school does not sanction safe spaces or trigger warnings and will not stand for the intellectual losses that can come with both.

Colleges and universities are institutions of learning, discovery and growth.

To achieve those three goals, institutions cannot shield their students from opinions and ideas contrary to their own. In the letter, the university demonstrated a theoretically strong and admirable position. In reality, however, that position is not strictly enforced on the school’s campus, which is ultimately for the best of its students.

A safe space is an area where members

of a certain marginalized group can temporarily step away from widespread climates of discrimination and entitlement.

In recent years, these spaces have gained traction at American universities and have become very controversial along the way.

The common argument against safe spaces is that they detract from scholarly freedom if certain views and ideas are left –––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––

Colleges and universities are institutions of learning, discovery and growth. To achieve those three goals, institutions cannot shield their students from opinions and ideas contrary to their own.

––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––– unexpressed in favor of maintaining students’ comfort. This argument is valid; in order to learn, students must be exposed to opinions contrary to their own. An environment of completely like-minded people

is not one prepared to achieve progress, although it will certainly be one populated by extremely comfortable people. Such an environment is one the University of Chicago hopes to avoid, and its welcome letter gets this point across very effectively.

This is not to say safe spaces and trigger warnings shouldn’t exist at all. Probably the most common use of both does not interfere with intellectual growth, and instead prevents people from unnecessarily being put in situations that may provoke traumatic memories or cause similar issues. Such an example would be a professor alerting a class that a reading contains direct reference to sexual assault, giving any victims of such assault in the class the chance to avoid or mentally prepare themselves for that reading if they so desire.

Generally, such warnings are not harmful to intellectual growth. In fact, despite the university’s letter, many professors at University of Chicago often use them in their classes. The university actually has its fair share of safe spaces, and according to Sophie Downes, a UChicago student featured in The New York Times, Dean John

All Access Concert Champions Right to Abortion Continued from page 6 having an abortion when she was 16, explaining in moving detail how she grew up seeing the impact teen motherhood had on her sisters’ lives and those of others in her community.

“As much as I loved my sisters, nieces and nephews, I saw how they struggled,” she said. “I saw how they worked so hard every day and couldn’t afford food and couldn’t afford healthcare. I saw how it was normal to get pregnant and immediately apply for public assistance,” she said. “That’s how you feed your kids. … And I myself only knew struggle for my entire life, and I didn’t want to keep putting myself or my kids through that. … And I did one of the hardest things that I had ever done in my life, and I went to my dad and explained to him that I wanted to give myself a chance. … but I needed the money to do it. And I don’t know how he did it, but my dad did what he always

did and figured out how to get me the $200 I needed.”

Flores’ story was a call to action.

Her message is especially important here in Ohio, where earlier this month a proposal to amend the state’s constitution to classify abortion as aggravated murder was brought to Ohio’s attorney general, Republican Mike DeWine. The proposal could be brought to the ballot as early as 2017.

However, laws like this are not exclusive to Ohio. During one of the breaks between speakers and performances, Jessica Williams took a straw poll of the audience to see how many people were aware that every single state in the U.S. currently has laws in place to make abortions more difficult to obtain.

“Can y’all guess how many states have some form of abortion access restriction on the books?” she asked.

“I hear 50 — like, literally every single person in this room said 50. Now I don’t know about you, but I am so sick and

tired of being told that because I have a [vagina], I’m supposed to put up with inconveniences of any kind.”

Williams also pointed out that Medicaid is already banned from using federal funds to cover abortion and that 87 percent of the United States’ counties have no abortion provider, to the disproportionate detriment of low-income women who might not be able to arrange or afford long-distance transportation.

“If you live in one of those [counties], you might as well be living in the 1950s,” she said. “Now do you see why we had to put together this big-ass event to shout this out? In this country, where abortion is a legal right and many people feel like it’s settled law, one in four low-income women who seek abortions cannot get one and are forced to carry their pregnancy to term. … A right in theory is not a right at all unless we all join together and demand that our rights be carried out.”

Ellison, who penned the welcome letter, is formally considered a “safe-space ally” by the school’s LGBTQ Student Life Office.

This reveals an important contrast between the message UChicago outwardly sends and its true practices. Despite the hypocrisy, the university appears to strike an effective balance between the two sides of the issue, as intellectual freedom is generally protected, but those who desire trigger warnings can in most — or ideally all — cases be accommodated. Some with ties to the university believe the letter and firm stance are simply posturing to maintain the favor of donors and alumni, and that the realities on campus reflect the actual opinions of faculty.

While many students would likely appreciate the public support of the university, the proper execution of trigger warnings on the individual level is what truly matters. Surprisingly, UChicago’s awkward approach could potentially be a very effective solution to the issue, perhaps fitting for a matter of such controversy and nuance.

Editorial: Students Lose

by Scapegoating Krislov Continued from page 5 plan — which, as the activists pointed out, he refused to do. His support would have gone a long way in persuading the General Faculty and Board of Trustees.

Those who use Krislov as a scapegoat for the College’s many problems — tuition costs, enrollment, student health, retention rate and facility upkeep, to name a few — do a disservice to their causes by ignoring the overarching structures that have created and cemented these issues in the first place. While Krislov’s resignation opens up an opportunity for the board to elect a president who embodies Oberlin’s values of diversity and equality, a new president alone will not bring about institutional change.

Student activists must commit to challenging the administration and the board, as well as our future president, on issues of justice, equity and accessibility. When all fingers point to Krislov, too many of the institution’s decision-making bodies are not held accountable for their actions.

Teacher of Jazz Voice

Professor of Politics

Professor of Religion

Recommends: Grace by Natashia Deón Hall says, “It is a trippy, time traveling ghost story set in the last years of slavery that vividly portrays the message of love transcending all.”

Associate Professor of Environmental Studies

Recommends: Friendship and Politics: Essays in Political Thought edited by John von Heyking and Richard Avramenko Mahallati says, “I consider it a must read for students of comparative religion, politics and peace studies.”

Assistant Professor of English

Recommends: Domingos Álvares, African Healing, and the Intellectual History of the Atlantic World by James H. Sweet Offen says, “The book is evocatively written, impeccably researched, and shows the power of thinking differently about the role of African and Afrodescendant peoples in the Atlantic World of the mid-eighteenth century.”

Recommends: Burger’s Daughter by Nadine Gordimer Hirsch says, “[It’s about] Apartheid era South Africa. On another level, a book about why politics is unavoidable.”

Chair and Professor of Psychology

Recommends: Breakfast on Pluto by Patrick McCabe, Nat Turner by Kyle Baker, Abeng by Michelle Cliff, Almanac of the Dead by Leslie Marmon Silko, Herman Melville’s Benito Cereno and Toni Morrison’s Beloved “of course.”

Recommends: H Is for Hawk by Helen Macdonald Darling says, “The most wonderful book I have read in decades. ... it is about a woman training a goshawk. It is equally a story about a woman struggling with depression after her father dies who withdraws from the world and slowly reemerges by reconnecting with people she cares about. ”

Associate Professor of Africana Studies Recommends: The Salt Eaters by Toni Cade Bambara Gadsby says, “This novel reminds me how important self care is, especially in the midst of activist struggle.”

Associate Professor of English Recommends: My Education by Susan Choi Harrison says, “It is at once hilarious and harrowing, and her subtle account of the instabilities of sexual and ethnic identity provides a welcome counterpoint to the more dogmatic positions currently entrenching themselves in the academy.”

Associate Professor of English Recommends: Magic and Loss: The Internet as Art by Virginia Heffernan, PulpHead Essays by John Jeremiah Sullivan and L’humanité perdue: Essai sur le XXe siècle, by Alain Finkielkraut.

Assistant Professor of Creative Writing Recommends: Songs of Enchantment by Ben Okri

professor picks The Films of Daichi Saito Friday, Sept. 16, 7 p.m.

Hallock Auditorium Japanese filmmaker Daichi Saito, cofounder of the experimental and avant-garde film collective Double Negative Collective, will host a screening of his films at the Adam Joseph Lewis Center for Environmental Studies tonight. His works will be shown both digitally and on film. The event is free and open to the public.

Organ Pump Friday, Sept. 16, 11:59 p.m.–1:30 a.m.

Finney Chapel An Oberlin tradition, Organ Pump kicks off tonight. Head to Finney to listen to Conservatory Organ majors captivate audience members sprawled across the chapel’s 108-year-old stage. The event is free and open to the public.

Eid al-adha Celebration Saturday, Sept. 17, 6–8 p.m.

Lewis House and Multifaith Center Celebrate Eid al-Adha, one of the most important festivals of the Islamic year, with food and fun at the Lewis House and Multifaith Center Saturday night. The event is free and open to the public.

RacialEyes: Celebrating the Diversity and Richness of the Asian Diaspora Monday, Sept. 19, 4:30–6 p.m.

King 101 The joint project of Laura Li, OC ’14, and Fulbright scholar Mia Yamashiro, RacialEyes is a play on words alluding to the racialization of Asian eyes. Li will present her study, conducted during her Fulbright.

Discovering Dave: 19th Century Artist and Poet in Slavery Tuesday, Sept. 20, 7–9 p.m.

Hallock Auditorium Savannah Archaelogical Research Program Coordinator George Wingard will host a screening of the awardwinning 2013 documentary Discovering Dave: Spirit Captured in Clay, which he co-produced. Discovering Dave is the story of an ensalved potter in early 19th-century South Carolina, who acquiredthe rare skills of reading and writing. Wingard will answer questions after the film. This event is free and open to the public.

Design and drawings by Vida Weisblum

Guest Recital: Jennifer Torrence, OC ’19 Wednesday, Sept. 21, 8–10 p.m.

David H. Stull Recital Hall Contemporary Oslo-based percussionist Jennifer Torrence returns to Oberlin for a solo show Wednesday night. Torrence is a Fulbright scholar and has stufied at Oberlin Conservatory, University of California, San Diego and the Guildhall School of Music and Drama. The event is free and open to the public.

Teacher of Jazz Voice

Professor of Politics

Professor of Religion

Recommends: Grace by Natashia Deón Hall says, “It is a trippy, time traveling ghost story set in the last years of slavery that vividly portrays the message of love transcending all.”

Associate Professor of Environmental Studies

Recommends: Friendship and Politics: Essays in Political Thought edited by John von Heyking and Richard Avramenko Mahallati says, “I consider it a must read for students of comparative religion, politics and peace studies.”

Assistant Professor of English

Recommends: Domingos Álvares, African Healing, and the Intellectual History of the Atlantic World by James H. Sweet Offen says, “The book is evocatively written, impeccably researched, and shows the power of thinking differently about the role of African and Afrodescendant peoples in the Atlantic World of the mid-eighteenth century.”

Recommends: Burger’s Daughter by Nadine Gordimer Hirsch says, “[It’s about] Apartheid era South Africa. On another level, a book about why politics is unavoidable.”

Chair and Professor of Psychology

Recommends: Breakfast on Pluto by Patrick McCabe, Nat Turner by Kyle Baker, Abeng by Michelle Cliff, Almanac of the Dead by Leslie Marmon Silko, Herman Melville’s Benito Cereno and Toni Morrison’s Beloved “of course.”

Recommends: H Is for Hawk by Helen Macdonald Darling says, “The most wonderful book I have read in decades. ... it is about a woman training a goshawk. It is equally a story about a woman struggling with depression after her father dies who withdraws from the world and slowly reemerges by reconnecting with people she cares about. ”

Associate Professor of Africana Studies Recommends: The Salt Eaters by Toni Cade Bambara Gadsby says, “This novel reminds me how important self care is, especially in the midst of activist struggle.”

Associate Professor of English Recommends: My Education by Susan Choi Harrison says, “It is at once hilarious and harrowing, and her subtle account of the instabilities of sexual and ethnic identity provides a welcome counterpoint to the more dogmatic positions currently entrenching themselves in the academy.”

Associate Professor of English Recommends: Magic and Loss: The Internet as Art by Virginia Heffernan, PulpHead Essays by John Jeremiah Sullivan and L’humanité perdue: Essai sur le XXe siècle, by Alain Finkielkraut.

Assistant Professor of Creative Writing Recommends: Songs of Enchantment by Ben Okri

professor picks The Films of Daichi Saito Friday, Sept. 16, 7 p.m.

Hallock Auditorium Japanese filmmaker Daichi Saito, cofounder of the experimental and avant-garde film collective Double Negative Collective, will host a screening of his films at the Adam Joseph Lewis Center for Environmental Studies tonight. His works will be shown both digitally and on film. The event is free and open to the public.

Organ Pump Friday, Sept. 16, 11:59 p.m.–1:30 a.m.

Finney Chapel An Oberlin tradition, Organ Pump kicks off tonight. Head to Finney to listen to Conservatory Organ majors captivate audience members sprawled across the chapel’s 108-year-old stage. The event is free and open to the public.

Eid al-adha Celebration Saturday, Sept. 17, 6–8 p.m.

Lewis House and Multifaith Center Celebrate Eid al-Adha, one of the most important festivals of the Islamic year, with food and fun at the Lewis House and Multifaith Center Saturday night. The event is free and open to the public.

RacialEyes: Celebrating the Diversity and Richness of the Asian Diaspora Monday, Sept. 19, 4:30–6 p.m.

King 101 The joint project of Laura Li, OC ’14, and Fulbright scholar Mia Yamashiro, RacialEyes is a play on words alluding to the racialization of Asian eyes. Li will present her study, conducted during her Fulbright.

Discovering Dave: 19th Century Artist and Poet in Slavery Tuesday, Sept. 20, 7–9 p.m.

Hallock Auditorium Savannah Archaelogical Research Program Coordinator George Wingard will host a screening of the awardwinning 2013 documentary Discovering Dave: Spirit Captured in Clay, which he co-produced. Discovering Dave is the story of an ensalved potter in early 19th-century South Carolina, who acquiredthe rare skills of reading and writing. Wingard will answer questions after the film. This event is free and open to the public.

Design and drawings by Vida Weisblum

Guest Recital: Jennifer Torrence, OC ’19 Wednesday, Sept. 21, 8–10 p.m.

David H. Stull Recital Hall Contemporary Oslo-based percussionist Jennifer Torrence returns to Oberlin for a solo show Wednesday night. Torrence is a Fulbright scholar and has stufied at Oberlin Conservatory, University of California, San Diego and the Guildhall School of Music and Drama. The event is free and open to the public.

Arts The Oberlin Review

Page 10

September 16, 2016

Program Cuts Leave Film Students with Questions Christian Bolles Arts Editor The Danny DeVito and Rhea Perlman Cinema Studies Center for Media Education and Production stands severely understaffed, support for senior capstones has been pulled and tensions between the Cinema Studies program and the College administration forecast a potentially bleak future for a program that attracts more student interest than it has the resources to maintain. Faced with growing concerns about the program’s ability to meet its students’ needs in the wake of losing the key position of Facilities and Production Coordinator, the department’s professors cut the senior capstone experience.

The decision was met with confusion among majors, exposing the latest — but certainly not the first — issue raised by the program’s understaffing. Over the past 15 years, Cinema Studies professors have waited to no avail for the addition of another tenure-track position, even after increased demands for staff following the Apollo Theatre’s $6 million renovation in 2012. For both professors and students, the possibilities of regular independent film programming and an expanded academic program lay out of reach despite repeated efforts to secure both.

Joey Shapiro, College junior and Cinema Studies major, was unaware of the changes until Aug. 30, when key professors convened a meeting of majors like him. At the meeting, Shapiro said, professors told students that instead of senior capstones, students could register for private readings with professors in the program.

However, each professor can only balance two private readings per semester, meaning that few majors will feasibly be able to complete the project that their academic career has been geared toward.

While all signs seemingly pointed to budget issues, which had been brought up vaguely in the meeting, many majors are still confused over the cause of these changes.

“Well, I think it was mostly the staff aspect,” Shapiro said. “There’s just not a lot of people, and it’s very demanding on a professor to have senior projects every year … But the meeting left us with more questions than answers.”

Those questions concerned what kind of shift had taken place within the Cinema Studies Program itself.

Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences Tim Elgren, who is in charge of funding for academic departments, put to rest any notions of budget cuts. Data shows that the program’s budget has increased by 52 percent since 2011, which largely occurred in the past year. This rise, he said, can be attributed to his past efforts to save money in the face of a College-wide funding drought.

“Being new, there’s a whole bunch of ways in which I can get the kinds of funds to do the things I want to do and initiatives that I want to create in an environment where all our funds are spent,” Elgren said. “So right out of the gate, I started doing this by reallocating things in our budget, and all

the money that I saved I had to give back because of the budget issues.”

The only changes Elgren was aware of in the Cinema Studies program, he said, concerned the removal of certain positions held by Oberlin graduates.

“What we don’t want to do is move into a realm where people lose jobs, so two of the positions that were cut were what we call ‘Presidential Fellows,’” Elgren said. The purpose of these fellowship positions, he explained, was to give graduating students an opportunity to work among professionals in their field and prepare for the working world.

According to Elgren, this intended role was misunderstood by some professors, resulting in these fellows functioning as staff members. “Some departments took those fellows … as additions to staff. They’ve never been additions to staff.”

While there are certainly fellows in the College’s administrative branches, they don’t seem to have ever been a part of the Cinema Studies program. And though Elgren says he understands the program’s potential reliance on the cut positions, he was adamant that the change should not result in the kinds of issues brought up in the recent meeting. He also said that he wasn’t aware such a meeting had taken place, and that the issues raised therein had not been brought to him.

An official statement released by Grace An, director and associate professor of Cinema Studies, addressed the nature of the lost position.

“We’ve had to make adjustments, what with the loss (hopefully temporary) of the Facilities and Production Coordinator position, last occupied

by Sophie Harari,” An wrote.

There is obvious dissonance between Elgren’s description of the “Presidential Fellow” position and the one held by Sophie Harari, OC ’16, though it seems that he and An are talking about the same role. And since Harari had not yet graduated during –––––––––––––––––––––––––––

While there are certainly fellows in the College’s administrative branches, they don’t seem to have ever been a part of the Cinema Studies program.

––––––––––––––––––––––––––– her time in the position, the role cannot have been meant for alumni as Elgren said. It’s a misunderstanding that has, according to Geoff Pingree, professor of Cinema Studies and English, permeated the past few years of the program’s relationship with the administration. He described Harari as an essential member of the Cinema Studies faculty, someone whose ability to manage production equipment and student workshops allowed the professors enough breathing room to give students in the program a fuller experience.

In her statement, An also mentioned that recent pressures from the administration had put added strain

The Danny DeVito and Rhea Perlman Cinema Studies Center for Media Education and Production occupies the space above the Apollo Theatre. The state-of-the-art facility has been understaffed since its construction four years ago.

Photo by Rick Yu, Photo editor

on Cinema Studies professors.

“We’re also stretching our faculty and resources to meet the demand of answering both to ‘the needs of the entire College’ (as deans and important faculty committees put it) and our majors,” she wrote.

Pingree spoke in more detail about these needs, elaborating that each academic department is expected to offer 100-level courses for students who might not want to major in that discipline.

“We’ve felt pressure to do that for a long time, and that stretches us very thin,” Pingree said.

A picture comes together of a program lacking in the faculty it needs to accommodate the ambition of its design. But this isn’t the result, necessarily, of any recent changes — these issues have been present, and mostly unaddressed by the Oberlin community, for the program’s entire lifespan.

In 2001, Pingree was hired into the first full-time Cinema Studies tenuretrack position. Now, 15 years later, there is exactly one other position like his, currently held by Rian BrownOrso, associate professor of Cinema Studies/New Media. This lack of kinesis, Pingree says, can be assigned to the transient nature of faculty committees — if one committee is nearly convinced to add a new tenure-track position to the program, its members could be replaced the following year, losing any momentum gained.

“We’ve thought for years now, ‘This is the year we’ll get it,’” Pingree said, and while acknowledging the tight economy, he added that the program has an unfulfilled need. “We’re perplexed and frustrated that we haven’t gotten the position, that’s fair to say.”

The need for an expanded program is greatly exacerbated by the new Cinema Studies facilities above the Apollo Theatre. In the four years since it was opened, there has been little, if any, progress toward using that facility as initially intended by the Cinema Studies program and the administration alike.

“It just doesn’t make sense,” Pin-

gree said of the Apollo’s renovation project. “You have a campaign, you raise the money, you buy the theater, you renovate it, you get donors, effectively build a beautiful, state-of-theart rocket ship, and then you have no astronauts. I don’t get it.”

The position of Facilities and Production Coordinator seems to have served the purpose of helping to manage those spaces and equipment. But even if that position were to be restored, as it has partially been with a College-provided fund to pay students to perform some of the lost duties, the program would still lack the basic faculty it needs to live up to the renovated Apollo’s promise.

“The College and community would benefit greatly to have someone who was here who programmed cinema,” Pingree said. “There are two screens down there. … You know, that was a decision … We wanted two.”

When the Apollo was still under construction, Pingree was part of a discussion about building a second theater space. Students and Oberlin community members may have bought a ticket at the box office only to be told that their film is to be shown in the screening room, denoted as such by a placard next to the door — in fact, that smaller theater was built for the purpose of showing independent fare. But those looking forward to regular screenings of independent movies are still waiting — the funding for a programmer never came. Pingree himself was the chair of a “very brief ” committee for programming, but the endeavor was eventually stifled due to an external perceived lack of financial viability.

In fact, college-funded independent film programs are cultural touchstones of many schools with vibrant film communities around the world. Cambridge’s Brattle Theatre, Wesleyan’s daily movie program and Doc Films at the University of Chicago, where Pingree attended graduate school, are all examples of successful, nationally-recognized initiatives.

“So, what’s the main thing that’s holding us back?” Pingree asked of

the program in general. “More faculty.

That’s what we don’t have.”

For the time being, it isn’t the end of the world for Cinema Studies majors. Those who aren’t involved in film production will find their experience unaffected by the recent changes, and those who are can work to find time with professors. The greater issue at hand is what is not there, and the shrinking size of the department does not bode well for the possibility of new tenure-track faculty or an independent film programmer. To compensate for the Cinema Studies program’s depleted resources, the Oberlin Film Co-Op has combined with the Independent Film Series to produce their own string of screenings, the first of which will play tonight at 8 p.m. in Tappan Square.

–––––––––––––––––––––––––––

College-funded independent film programs are cultural touchstones of many schools with vibrant film communities around the world.

––––––––––––––––––––––––––– “I’m struck by the initiative and responsibility students are taking to realize their own sense of what the program could be,” An wrote in her statement.

In a financially tight campus environment, the Cinema Studies program is just one arm of the college harmed by new restrictions. Yet the school’s tradition of cinematic engagement, as exemplified by the Apollo Theatre, aches to return unfettered.

Pingree, sitting in a studio at the Danny DeVito and Rhea Perlman Center for Media Education and Production, shook his head. “Be happy for what we have and wish we had more,” he said. And reflecting on the words of Shapiro and other members of Oberlin’s film community, the sentiment couldn’t ring more true.

The Oberlin Review, September 16, 2016

Arts

Page 11

On the Record with Sullivan Fortner Jazz pianist Sullivan Fortner Jr., OC ’08, returned to Oberlin this week to perform a concert with his trio Monday night and give a master class to conservatory students Tuesday afternoon. Fortner began studying music at the age of 4 and started performing in churches across his hometown of New Orleans. By age 11, he had won the Cox Cable “Amazing Kids Award.” He attended the New Orleans Center for Creative Arts and graduated valedictorian of his high school class. After completing his undergraduate education at Oberlin, Fortner went on to study at the Manhattan School of Music and has since performed and collaborated with musicians such as Stefon Harris & Blackout, Dee Dee Bridgewater, Roy Hargrove, Cecile McLorin Salvant and Dianne Reeves.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

How did you get started in music?

Well, I started in music when I was about 4 years old. My mom was watching a Jeopardy! show, and when I was about three years old, I was climbing on top of the television banging out rhythms of the songs I heard, and she was tired of me doing that, so she bought me a Fisher-Price piano for that Christmas. And at 4, the Jeopardy! theme song came on, and I picked the song up by ear after like one or two hearings, and she thought something was wrong with me, not because I was able to play the melody back, not just that, but because there [were] some half steps, … and I knew where the half steps were and I left them blank — that scared the living daylights out of her. So she called my cousin, who’s a music teacher, who said, “He’s a musician! Bring him down to the house,” and started from there. … I started playing churches and stuff in New Orleans. Started in jazz when I was about 13. There was a guy who came to the church and was just playing really crazy chords and improvising and playing Bach, and all kinds of stuff on the organ, and I was like, “This guy is a genius!” so he’s like, “You need to go to New Orleans Center for Creative Arts,” so I audition[ed] for New Orleans Center for Creative Arts, and I got started playing jazz.

How did you find your way to Oberlin after that?

First of all, I didn’t know anything about this school. I was gonna go to school for pre-med in New Orleans. I had a full ride to go to school for pre-med, cause I was

valedictorian of my high school, but at the last minute I decided to go to school for music, cause I was like, “Ah, I don’t wanna do this, I’m just doing this cause my dad wants me to do it.” So, Oberlin had a late audition application deadline, so I turned in the application, paid the fee and sent a video tape of my playing, on a keyboard, little keyboard. … It was the only music school I had applied to, and I got in. They gave me a scholarship, and I said, “All right. I’m going to Oberlin.”

As an Oberlin grad, what has been special for you about coming back here to perform this week?

It’s always nerve-wracking to come back home. I consider Oberlin to be a home away from home, … so it’s always fun and kind of nervewracking at the same time because … all these memories start coming back. It’s kind of emotional and it’s kind of like, “Oh, my teachers are listening to me and the classical teachers are here,” — even worse [when you think they’re asking themselves], “Has he gotten better? Has he gotten worse? What’s he been doing with his life? … Does he suck? What happened?” You know, all these different thoughts come to your mind.

How has the Conservatory changed since you were here?

Well, the jazz building is one thing! We used to deal with lots of rats, and you know, like, funny stuff.

But the building’s nice. They redid the Conservatory, by the looks of it, and that looks really nice. Wow, state of the art! Different faculty in the Conservatory. … People have taken on different roles.

Do you think the way the Conservatory is educating its students now is evolving as the music world evolves?

I think that one of the cool things about Oberlin is that it was very liberal in this approach. It never told you what you should or shouldn’t be playing. It was always important for people to write and compose their own music. Oberlin [was] really instrumental in getting me to actually start writing, while learning the fabric. So I think it was a good balance, and I think that tradition continues.

How do you think an Oberlin Conservatory education has influenced your life since you left?

It taught me to learn how to study the music. Because you never stop practicing, you never stop

Dan Casey Adopts New Moniker, Hops Genres Rachel Mead

Sullivan Fortner Jr., pianist, returned to Oberlin in the midst of a successful career to teach a master class Tuesday.

Photo courtesy of Sullivan Fortner

studying, but Oberlin kind of gave me a direction, like “OK, this is how you learn tunes. This is how you learn a piece. This is how you work on ear training. This is how you work on your sight reading. This is how you build.” You know? It gave me the tools, and it gave me some blocks to build. But it didn’t give me all of it. It gave me the foundation of things. A lot of foundational things.

What keeps you playing now?

I was telling the guys in the master class today … [music is] like a drug. You’re chasing that first high.

You’re chasing the high you got the first time — the first time I played music and really enjoyed it. Since then, I’ve been trying to chase that feeling. That’s what keeps me playing music.

Have you ever gotten close?

I’ve gotten close. A few times.

Maybe I felt that way a few times.

What do you really love about performing? What are you trying to convey to your audience?

Oh, that’s a hard question. I’m still on the fence about performing sometimes, because it’s so exposed.

Do you get really bad nerves?

Yeah, but the more and more you do it, the easier it gets. You forget, and a lot of my gigs are side gigs, so I’m not the leader. … I perform to help other people, so that makes me feel better than doing leader gigs.

But I would probably say the best thing about doing leader gigs

is actually seeing the reaction of people, especially when you play your music, you’re like, “Wow they actually like my song!” I’ll go on YouTube and listen to other people play my songs, it’s like, “Wow that’s really cool!” So that’s a cool thing, when you’re able to pass information to other people, especially other musicians. You know, to inspire other people, which is really what it’s about. It’s just about sharing.

What advice do you have for current Oberlin jazz students, as they’re thinking about what they’re going out to do?

You know, you talk about somebody like Gary Bartz who learned jazz on the bandstand. Experience taught him the music and hanging out with other musicians. Just doing it. So, the advice I would give jazz musicians, especially at Oberlin, is any type of opportunity that you get to play, seize it, because the music is not in the classroom, music is in life, in experiences. …

Don’t just get caught in the technicalities of music, but spend time with people who don’t do what you do. Learn about the world. Learn about life, because this is one of the great institutions, because it’s a part of a liberal college also, and everybody has their own set views. … Take all that in as information, not a Bible, but as information. And then you decide your path, and once you decide what your path is, stick to that. Don’t be swayed by society and what other people are telling you.

Interview by Eilish Spear

The music of Dan Casey, an artist defined by his ability to flip genres by adopting new monikers, has appeared online under his own name, but also as Yalls, Steezy Ray Vibes and most recently dd elle. He’ll be appearing at the Cat in the Cream tonight at 8 p.m. under his newest moniker to play a set from his upcoming fulllength album. “I hope you’re into some weird, weird stuff,” he said over the phone.

This show marks Casey’s third performance of his newest generation of material, which he originally posted anonymously online. Casey is known to upload much of his music onto the Internet without his name attached, using some alias. “Every name change is a fresh start with no expectations,” Casey said. “It opens the door for crazy experimentation; I can get into a style and it’s cool to break out of what we’re doing. People have their own ideas of who an artist is, and I feel you can connect more if it could be anyone.” Casey says some of his friends have even rediscovered him online without knowing it. “They had no idea it was me,” Casey said. “It was like I was playing a prank on them.”

Casey hasn’t pranked anyone on purpose, though. His intent is to explore many kinds of music and not feel bound to any one style. His transition from folk to hip hop is memorialized on the nine albums he released as Yalls, which he is no longer so fond of.

Casey claims he won’t make so much music under one name again. Steezy Ray Vibes, one of Casey’s aliases, plays guitar, although the record company that made his Steezy album took issue with the name and released it under Dan Casey instead.

College senior Joseph Farago, who invited Casey to perform at Oberlin, says he’s known about the artist’s work for a couple of years after hearing about him through a friend’s SoundCloud page.

“It’s all kind of electronic, chill wave, glitch stuff,” Farago said.

Casey’s is one of the first shows Farago has booked for the Cat in the Cream. “I invited him because he writes beautiful electronic music that’s pretty low-key and atmospheric,” Farago said. “I thought it would be a good vibe to have at the Cat versus the ‘Sco or another venue which invites a more intense energy.”

See dd elle, page 13

Arts

Page 12

The Oberlin Review, September 16, 2016

Megaphones, Merriment Set Polka Concert Apart Jacob Narin Chardon Polka Band hit the stage at the Cat in the Cream Wednesday with all the blustery spirit of a blaring megaphone. The motley crew of musicians, miscellaneous instruments and multitude of styles created an atmosphere of playful spontaneity that permeated each moment of this group’s unorthodox interpretation of polka music. At the start of the set, audience members might have seen nothing more than a perverse misunderstanding of a cultural hallmark, but by the closing chords it became abundantly clear that this creative strain of polka vibrantly displays the genre’s core theme of celebration in food, drink and the pure joy of music.

The Chardon Polka Band’s style comes with a couple of peculiarities.

First, the group doesn’t care. This manifests itself everywhere from the members’ tendency to down a few beers before walking on stage to synchronized dancing mid-song and even repeatedly advertising the venue’s dollar menu of their own free will. Some parts even included a megaphone. Secondly, they insist that polka is at the heart of what college students want, since their interpretation of it centers around food, beer, the celebration of not doing anything and more beer. According to the band, the whole

show is framed around these four tenets and how they relate to family life, work life and personal life.

The set began with “Tic-Toc Polka.” At first the group was peaceful, but soon it exploded into bombastic glee. Simple chords accented by a banjo and accordion duo laid the foundation for frivolous lyrics about dancing and merriment. Genial harmonies and upbeat rhythms maintained a pleasant atmosphere before the words “We’re not gonna take it” rammed the piece into a –––––––––––––––––––––––––––

Secondly, they insist that polka is at the heart of what college students want, since their interpretation of it centers around food, beer, the celebration of not doing anything and more beer.

––––––––––––––––––––––––––– polka-infused cover of Twisted Sister’s popular song. This spontaneous infusion of popular music is one of the band’s hallmarks. Throughout the night, the works of Bob Marley, Chopin, Van Morrison and John Coltrane all appeared in unpredictable fashion.

The body of the show was mostly

composed of similar pieces that did little to differentiate themselves apart from the band’s synergy and knack for the seemingly random.

The players themselves are not especially technical; their harmonic progression rarely deviates from conventional popular song structure and their lyrics rarely climb above the standard fare of love and everyday life. In most circumstances, such a group would lack interest or charm, but the Chardon Polka Band doesn’t care. The band’s carefree nature creates a sense of impenetrable confidence and bliss that infects one with the kind of smile reserved for guilty pleasures.

The cover of “Mountain Climber Polka” exemplified this confidence, where the band’s banjoist gave his best Frank Ifield impression and yodeled like few banjoists have dared yodel before. Following this, “Who Stole the Kishka” provided a novel fairy-tale of the robbery of a butcher’s shop, complete with man-made wind noises, animal squeals and melodramatic villager reactions to various events.

Even more impressive than these exceptions was the group’s closing number, “Old Style Beer.” Beginning with nostalgic lyrics and a serviceable melody, the piece set expectations low before the group’s banjo player transitioned to an electric guitar and a whistle. Heartfelt an-

The Chardon Polka Band performed at the Cat Wednesday, showcasing a variety of poppy tunes with energetic whimsy.

Photo by Hugh Newcomb

ecdotes interspersed throughout each verse gave context to each member’s history with music and their inspirations. Thus blues, oldstyle country and ’70s rock & roll all made appearances before the nowfabled megaphone was brought out. They then introduced a verse about hardship and struggle before turning to comforting themes of friendship, camaraderie and a love of music. The band insists that “ya don’t need riches to lead a full life,” and in its whimsical world, love, beer and polka are all you need. The moderate success the band has seen in their 12 years together makes this

idea all the more salient — if this group of merry polka aficionados can find peace and satisfaction in life without fame, fortune, a college diploma or virtuosic talent rivaling the greats, why can’t we all?

In some ways, the band’s very survival is more beautiful than its music, and its carefree attitude is a rare find in today’s world. What they lack in technical skill, the Chardon Polka Band more than compensates for with optimism, sincerity, a yodeling banjoist and a glorious synergy that cracked one pleased smile after another.

Pioneers of Indie Rock Avoid Perspective, Expectations Daniel Markus Despite his band’s legacy as one of the most important acts in the history of indie rock, getting Ira Kaplan, lead singer and guitarist of Yo La Tengo, to ruminate on that history isn’t easy. “That asks for a perspective that [we] not only don’t … have, [but] I don’t even think we want,” Kaplan said.

Despite the fact that his band has achieved what most groups only dream of — a contract with indie stalwart Matador Records, 14 albums, several world tours, critical acclaim, a top 40 record (2013’s Fade) and a career spanning over 30 years — it’s the last thing on his mind. “We can frequently forget or pretend to forget that there’s a world around us, and certainly our indie rock legacy [is] the first thing to go,” he said.

Kaplan, who started Yo La Tengo with wife and drummer/vocalist Georgia Hubley in 1984, seems to focus more on the freedom the band has been able to find for it-

self than on legacy and achievement. “One of the things that’s really great about the situation we’re in … is that because there are people who care about our band a lot, which is great, but we’re not so well known that there’s no song tonight that if we don’t do it, people are going to be like, ‘That show sucked,’” Kaplan said.

It’s freedom the band takes great — and sometimes absurd — advantage of, as they did with their 2010 and 2011 Spinning Wheel Tour. To start each show, the band would spin a giant wheel to determine what kind of set they would play. Shows might begin with a set by the band’s lo-fi noise side-project Condo Fucks, bassist James McNew’s solo project Dump or with the band acting out an entire episode of Seinfeld or Judge Judy. Each show contained two sets, and after the spinning wheel portion, the band would play a more conventional set.

“The Spinning Wheel Tour was problem solving. We had done this record as the Con-

Yo La Tengo performed with frontman Ira Kaplan in Finney Chapel Sunday. The famed indie rock group played an understated acoustic set for an enthusiastic audience.

Photo by Juliette Greene, Staff photographer

do Fucks and we kind of wanted to do Condo Fucks shows. But even though we do feel the freedom to do what we want to do when we want to do it, we try to be the kind of band that we would like if we went to see, and I feel like if I went to see Yo La Tengo and we said, ‘Tonight, we’re the Condo Fucks,’ well … if I wanted to go see the Condo Fucks, I would’ve,” Kaplan said. “That felt fair, that we can’t just do that without warning. So our solution was, ‘Well, we won’t know either.’”

A theme emerges in Yo La Tengo’s love of musical freedom and unwillingness to be constrained by expectation. This was evident in their show at Finney Chapel Sunday night. There is a quiet confidence about the band members that is humble but uncompromising. It’s the kind of confidence that comes not from knowing that they’ll dazzle every audience member when they step on stage, but from the knowledge that they don’t have to.

And their show at Finney was good. The band seemed to be at its best on the winding, ambient tunes that featured Hubley on synthesizer instead of drums, but most of the set was comprised of sweet, poppy songs that at times veered slightly toward country.

It was pleasant, and while there were moments of brilliance, such as electric guitarist Dave Schramm’s lap steel playing on a few tunes and Hubley’s singing, the show itself was not one that will go down in timeless history.

Kaplan doesn’t seem to mind. He doesn’t worry much about how his band is remembered, and after 30 years of success, he sees little point in trying to convert non-believers. Doing so would tie down a band that has worked hard to avoid being grounded, making explicit career decisions to avoid getting caught in the grueling cycle of record, tour, repeat. “The freedom to not know what’s coming is a gift,” Kaplan said. Yo La Tengo already has a good thing going and its members know it. Why worry about legacy?

Kaplan’s comfort with limbo is clear when talking about the band’s future as well.

“The spectre of making another record is kind of there right now, and we actually have been working in our rehearsal space with James [McNew] recording us, and it’s kind of like we’re not sure what we’re doing and why we’re doing it,” Kaplan said. “For all we know, we’re making a record right now. We might not be. It’s nice to not necessarily know,” he added.

Speculation as to how their next album will sound — if indeed there is one — is futile. That’s just something that you have to ––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––

There is a quiet confidence about the band members that is humble but uncompomising.

–––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––– move past with Yo La Tengo — you have to meet them wherever they happen to be. As a band, Yo La Tengo is in some ways like a great novel; formed as much by the art itself as by the preconceptions, associations and ideas a reader projects onto it.

Sunday’s was the kind of performance that subtly undermines popular conceptions of what a good show is or is supposed to be.

It wasn’t dazzling, virtuosic, heartbreaking, deeply introspective or immensely inspiring.

But the set touched on all of these things deftly, flitting back and forth between those qualities and many others in a way that lacks comparison. While awe was scarce among the audience, there was something intangibly beautiful about it that many referenced in later conversation.

Yo La Tengo occupies a subtle, liminal space between definitions. The band embraces limbo, chasing whichever whim catches its attention at a given moment.

Following it to that limbo for an evening, though a different musical experience, may prove fruitful for those who are willing to embrace it, while remaining unexciting for those who are not. As for the members of Yo La Tengo, they’re probably happy either way.

Arts

The Oberlin Review, September 16, 2016

Page 13

Star Trek Boldly Went Where Too Few Have Followed Victoria Garber Arts Editor

Sept. 8 marked the 50th anniversary of Gene Roddenberry’s Star Trek: The Original Series’ television release. Spanning seven TV series and 13 feature films, Star Trek has seen plenty of history and made some of its own, advancing social dialogue on race and gender, areas in which Hollywood has struggled to keep up both on and offscreen.

Star Trek was produced by Desilu Productions, a company founded

by Hollywood icons Lucille Ball and her then-husband Desi Arnaz of I Love Lucy. Ball was Desilu’s sole owner — and the first woman to independently run a major film studio — by the time Roddenberry came calling.

Ball’s level of influence in Hollywood was unprecedented for women at the time and uncommon since. She supported Roddenberry’s ideas when they were met with resistance from other industry powerhouses, taking “The Cage” — Star Trek’s original pilot — to NBC when CBS rejected it. When NBC dismissed it in turn, she pushed the network to consider a second pilot, “Where No Man Has Gone Before,” which was ultimately accepted.

Even after NBC ordered a season, Desilu’s own board of directors voted almost unanimously to drop Star Trek and focus on its other projects, including Bruce Geller’s Mission: Impossible. Since Ball’s was the final word, however, production continued. Her position and involvement are notable not only because they mark an important historical first, but also because even half a century later, women have made only incremental progress toward equal representation in the entertainment industry, especially at higher levels.

Today, women hold only a hand-

ful of executive positions at major American studios, individually re-breaking the film industry’s resilient glass ceiling. The numbers of women in creative leadership roles is similarly low. Only around 15 percent of screenplay writers are female, and according to a 2014 study by the Center for the Study of Women in Television and Film, 80 percent of that year’s films had no female writers at all, while 78 percent lacked female editors and more than 90 percent lacked female cinematographers. Women also lag behind their male counterparts in their representation on screen, playing only 12 percent of protagonist roles in top-grossing films and being overall far less likely to have consequential speaking parts than men.

The film industry has acknowledged and publicly attempted to improve on these issues — and others that by people of color face — for decades, with minimal results.

While there are several likely reasons for this, the impact of hiring bias is undeniable. According to the same study, when film projects include more women in positions of authority, women’s employment at all other levels of production tends to jump considerably, which wouldn’t be the case were there simply a shortage of qualified women and people of color interested in pursuing film careers.

While television in the 1960s was typically far less racially inclusive than it is today, minority representation at higher levels within the industry was virtually nonexistent.

Despite this, Star Trek: The Original Series boasted a remarkably diverse cast for the day, including two major characters who in particular defied prominent racial stereotypes — Nyota Uhura (Nichelle Nichols) and Hikaru Sulu (George Takei).

That Takei’s character was given

the role of a trusted, high-ranking officer on a military starship is especially poignant given that Takei himself spent part of his early childhood in a Japanese internment camp during World War II. Sulu’s character challenged perceptions of Asian Americans, including the popular media portrayal of Asians as devious outsiders with poor communication skills. Sulu, by contrast, is a competent, charismatic helmsman eventually given command of his own ship, the U.S.S. Excelsior.

Playing the part of a highly qualified communications officer on the bridge of the U.S.S. Enterprise, Nichols was one of the first African –––––––––––––––––––––––––––

Today, women hold only a handful of executive positions at major American studios, individually re-breaking the film industry’s resilient glass ceiling.

––––––––––––––––––––––––––– Americans on American television in a non-menial role. Nichols was an inspiration to countless individuals, including Whoopi Goldberg, who later starred in Star Trek: The Next Generation. Goldberg once recalled in an interview about her role how ecstatic she was when she first saw Uhura on Star Trek as a child. “I went screaming through the house, ‘Come here, mum, everybody, … there’s a black lady on television and she ain’t no maid!’ I knew right then and there I could be anything I wanted to be.”

Decades before Mae Jemison, the first female African American astronaut — and another prominent Black woman inspired by Uhura — went to space in 1992,

dd elle Marks Casey’s Entrance into World of Electronic Music Continued from page 11 said, “It’s emotional minimal bass music.

I really like messing with space, and doing a lot with very little.” He has always tried to create other worlds out of sound.

This is clear in the electronic landscape created by his song “unrequited” on the EP “u,” which is the only trace of dd elle to be found online. Casey calls it a “whatif-type song” as opposed to a love song, at least in part because he doesn’t usually write music about one person or one thing — instead his songs are inspired by something that he’s feeling strongly in the moment that he writes them.

The last song on the EP, “a note,” captures this moment-to-moment style. It’s a sort of bittersweet song in that the melody and lyrics don’t entirely reflect one another. “A note” was Casey’s first project as dd elle, because “it’s introspective and a little jarring, a bummer of a song, and I didn’t want to put that out as Yalls,” Casey said. His description is apt: “I feel like jumping in front of something / I feel like being destroyed / I feel like taking my final sigh / I feel like leaving a note,” he sings at the beginning of the song over a background of upbeat, electronic per-

cussion, surrounded by ambient, uplifting sounds and happy little bleeps and bloops. It’s therapeutic for him, he says, to make music that draws from how he feels. That’s the reason why he’s perpetually creating and why he has so many simultaneously ongoing projects.

Casey has no formal music education beyond the basics. He can read a staff, and learned the good old EGBDF and FACE mnemonics in second grade.

A bare bones musical education may appear sacrilegious at a school where students can spend four years and a sticker price of nearly a quarter million dollars majoring in Technology in Music and Related Arts (TIMARA). But for Casey, “the best stuff comes when you don’t know anything.”

He doesn’t apply this maxim to every part of his life, though. Casey is now back at school, in his home state of New Jersey, studying computer science so he’ll be able to pay the bills. “Music has been a complete loss, economically — I’ve worked for nothing. The whole point of it is that music is what I want to do in life. Even if no one was listening I’d still make it for sure, I’m just really glad that people are.”

Nichols played an educated, highranking Black woman in a position of authority aboard a starship, not only good at her job, but able to competently perform a number of other tasks on the bridge when needed. Her role was revolutionary even before 1968, when she kissed a white man on national television in the show’s third season.

Though popularly cited as such, the kiss between Uhura and Captain Kirk (William Shatner) was not the first interracial kiss on film, having in fact been preceded by very few in both Britain and the U.S. Regardless, it was still highly controversial and might not have aired at all. At Roddenberry’s and Shatner’s insistence, NBC eventually ordered two versions of the scene: one in which the kiss took place and one in which it didn’t. Having successfully shot the former, Nichols and Shatner deliberately botched every shot of the latter, including one accepted by the director until it was discovered too late during a review of the footage that Shatner had his eyes absurdly crossed, rendering the clip unusable.

It should be noted that in the episode in question, “Plato’s Stepchildren,” the kiss is depicted as nonconsensual, as both parties are being compelled by members of a race of telekinetic aliens encountered on one of the Enterprise’s many adventures. While the lack of consent opens its own uncomfortable can of worms, it may have served to lessen the scandal, particularly in the eyes of a Southern ’60s audience, by removing any passion from the scene while still making a statement. Science fiction provided a vehicle for such a message, allowing the show’s creators to distance their proposition from an intolerant social present while positioning themselves firmly behind a future in which the question of consent

could be of greater concern than race in matters of sexual contact.

The industry has come a long way in 50 years. 21st century reboot films have given both Uhura and Sulu romantic opportunities that would have been societally offlimits in the ’60s, even for Star Trek.

The 2009 movie Star Trek depicts Uhura’s (played by Zoë Saldana) involvement with Spock (Zachary Quinto), beginning at the Starfleet Academy. The drama in their relationship stems not from race but from Spock’s initial fear that as Uhura’s former teacher, his assigning her to the Enterprise will appear improper. In the 2016 movie Star Trek Beyond, Sulu (John Cho) has a husband and child. Original series actor Takei, a married gay man and outspoken LGBTQ rights activist objected, but Simon Pegg, who played Scotty in later films and cowrote Star Trek Beyond defended the decision.

“It’s unfortunate that the screen version of the most inclusive, tolerant universe in science fiction hasn’t featured an LGBT character until now,” he said in a statement.

“We could have introduced a new gay character, but he or she would have been primarily defined by their sexuality, seen as the ‘gay character,’ rather than simply for who they are, and isn’t that tokenism?”

Although the issue of tokenism might have been avoided with the careful introduction of a nuanced character, reliance on token roles to give the impression of diversity remains a legitimate concern.

The relative lack of representative diversity in industries like Hollywood serves as a stark reminder of the work yet to be done, but the increasingly positive reception of characters like Uhura and Sulu stands as testament to just how far we’ve come.

Sports

Page 14

The Oberlin Review, September 16, 2016

In the Locker Room

Football

This week, the Review sat down with first-year quarterback Zach Taylor and first-year kicker Michael Leshchyshyn to discuss their transitions from high school to college football, their excitement for their first home game and what it means to be a part of Yeomen football.

we have on our team. We are guys that won’t quit no matter the score.

ML: I like it when the team comes together, especially after a big play. I notice the big hits on defense. I know Von [Wooding] has gotten a couple of them, and the whole team just gets super hyped up.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

What has been the toughest part about the transition from high school to college football?

Zach Taylor: The toughest part is probably playing against a bigger range of athletes. There are a lot of adults, guys ranging from 18–21 years old, and they hit a little harder than high school players. [In college], you have to stay on top of yourself and you have to make sure you’re at practice on time.

That’s one thing you just have to just roll with as a college athlete.

Michael Leshchyshyn: One transition thing I’ve noticed is that the speed of the game is a lot faster. And especially on special teams — kicking-wise the time from the snap to the hold to the kick needs to be crisp or it’ll get blocked. Like Zach said, you just have to stay on top of yourself. You have to get your stuff done, so there is a lot of responsibility.

Why did you choose to play football at Oberlin?

ZT: It’s a great academic institution, first of all. [Head] Coach [ Jay] Anderson seems to be taking the program into the right place. I could tell here that they are very serious about football and that’s something I like.

Michael Leshchyshyn (left) and Zach Taylor ML: Oberlin is a very academic school, so coming to a school like this is a great opportunity for anyone. Coach Anderson was the main coach who recruited me here, and he was just really straightforward throughout the entire process.

Ryan Gleeson, on the team, he went to my high school and he’s a sophomore here now, and he talked to me about this school and opened up my interest to it.

Is there a player that you model your game after?

ZT: I really like DeShaun Watson from Clemson. He’s recently grown on me. He’s number four as well so that’s pretty cool. I just like his ability to make plays no matter the circumstance.

ML: My favorite kicker in the NFL right now is Justin Tucker. I just like how he hits the ball. He

is really smooth with his steps and he can get a lot of power out of it.

What are your personal goals and team goals?

ZT: Personally, I just want to lead this program to a winning season that we haven’t had in a while. I have four years to do it, but I’m not going to take my time. I’m going to try to win as many games as possible, as soon as possible. But at the same time, we just have to take each game one week at a time.

ML: A goal of mine is to perfect everything I do on special teams to help the team as much as possible. Getting stronger for kickoffs so I can get more touchbacks or staying more consistent on field goals and extra points … will lead to the team, hopefully, winning some games and having a winning season.

What does it mean to you to be a part of Yeomen football?

ZT: It means a lot. I could tell that Coach Anderson really wanted me. He was persistent in the recruiting. It means a lot to be somewhere where you’re valued as a person rather than just another number on the roster that a coach can just replace.

ML: It’s a great opportunity.

A lot of people don’t get to play college football. To have the opportunity to play football and get the education that you want for a better future is a great experience.

What has been your favorite experience on the team thus far?

ZT: The Kalamazoo game was really fun. Granted, we lost, but it was fun. Seeing the team unite after halftime really showed what kind of guys that

This week the Yeomen will host Denison University Saturday at 6 p.m. How excited are you to play your first home game?

ZT: I’m pretty excited. I know we have a great fan base, a lot of support here. I can’t wait to see how it’s going to be and play football in front of my school.

ML: I’m really excited too.

It’s just going to be a new experience. I feel it’ll be like the same kind of feeling in the Kalamazoo game where we were hyped up and excited for a new experience.

Being first-years and having such important roles on the team, how do you keep yourselves composed in pressure situations at this level?

ZT: I try not to worry. I just try to go out and have fun every game. That’s what it’s supposed to be. Football is always fun. But you can’t lose track of the objective, which is to win.

ML: I just trust my steps and try not to overthink what I’m doing because we have been practicing it for a while now. If we just trust our instincts and go with our gut then it’ll work out.

Interview by Darren Zaslau, Sports editor Photo by Rick Yu, Photo editor

— Rugby —

Rugby Rolls Out at Ashland Marissa Maxfield The men’s rugby team is ready to rumble in its first game of the 2016 season at Ashland University tomorrow. The team, nicknamed the Gruffs, is stacked with young athletes drawn to the camaraderie and competition of club rugby.

Gruffs president and College junior Jimmy Fleming explained that a handful of the team’s core members are varsity athletes.

Fleming cited senior varsity cross-country runner Steve Meyer, sophomore varsity swimmer Jacques Forbes and junior former varsity football player Dylan Mehri as contributors to the team’s athleticism.

Leading the Gruffs are two experienced senior captains, forwards captain Joey Velez and junior backs captain Matthew Sarro.

Velez has played rugby for eight years, in addition to his background in football. He plays scrum-half, a position that is roughly comparable to a quarterback, and he works with the forwards during practice.

As a veteran of the game, Velez is the right person to help guide the Gruffs. “Because of his experience, he was the best choice to be

forwards captain,” Fleming said.

Sarro, on the other hand, was a high school wrestler, but said his ability to tackle made his transition to rugby smooth.

Other than Velez and Sarro, most of the team consists of first-years and sophomores with limited rugby experience. The team graduated eight seniors and several key players last spring.

“We [have been] losing a lot of talent and bringing in a lot of new players,” Fleming said. “Last year, we had eight seniors who all had previous experience with the sport, and now we have eight solid new recruits who show up to every practice.”

Fleming and sophomore Sam Paul, who are both certified USA rugby coaches, have shown the rookies the ropes and placed particular emphasis on safety. Fleming pointed out the commonly held misconception that rugby is more dangerous than football and said that tackles are actually less aggressive in rugby.

“It’s not like [a] football [tackle], which is like continuously getting in a car crash,” Fleming said. “In rugby, there’s no blocking and there is only backwards passing, and they also don’t train you to use your body as a weapon.”

The Gruffs compete in the National Small Colleges Rugby Organization and are one of 21 rugby teams in the Great Lakes Division,

which includes teams from Ohio and Michigan. All of Oberlin’s games are in-state and organized through USA Rugby.

While the NSCRO’s other teams kicked off competition last weekend, the Gruffs received a bye in the first round of play, so they will begin their season on the second Saturday of competition in Ashland, OH. The squad has three home games scheduled for –––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––

least 30 players to facilitate inter-squad scrimmages.

“Ideally, we want to reach those numbers, which we plan to do in a lot of positive ways,” Fleming said. “We’d like to reach out to the school more and to the campus community.

We want to become a big enough presence on campus so more people know about the sport and to recruit prospective students.”

Despite a slight decline in numbers this year, Fleming said the Gruffs have come a “It’s not like [a] football long way from where they started.

“Back in 2010, they didn’t have uniforms, [tackle], which is like continuand no one was showing up to practice,” ously getting in a car crash. he said. “We’ve been steadily getting more In rugby, there’s no blocking money from the school and playing more games. We’re also playing more as a team.” and there is only backwards Fleming said friendly competition passing, and they also don’t abounds not only within the team, but also train you to use your body as a among the other small-college rugby teams they face. NSCRO teams make a habit of soweapon.” cializing with each other after games. Gruffs Jimmy Fleming alumnus Dustin French, OC ’16, said the inGruffs President tense but social nature of rugby lends itself to great team bonding.

––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––– “The rugby team is a great place to find the fall, with the first set for Saturday, Oct. 1 friends and a community,” said French, who against Ohio Wesleyan University. joined the team his sophomore year. “To As the season progresses, Fleming said anyone who feels lonely or wants to work the Gruffs hope to keep growing. They play out and challenge themselves, rugby is a “fifteens,” which refers to the number of great outlet. I hope the game and tradition players on the field, so the team needs at continues at Oberlin for a long time.”

Sports

The Oberlin Review, September 16, 2016

America’s Pas- Editorial: time Will Never Protests Power Forget Sept. 11 Positive Change Jack Brewster Columnist It was 15 years ago last Sunday that New York City experienced an event so horrific that it did the impossible — it stopped time in the city that never sleeps. When two commercial airplanes, hijacked by terrorists, were deliberately crashed into the World Trade Center’s iconic towers, New York City, as we knew it, vanished.

A city notorious for high-speed living, hustle and bustle and a seemingly endless supply of human energy became eerily quiet in the days following Sept. 11. Wall Street’s opening bell didn’t toll. Subways didn’t run.

Streets, normally crowded by millions occupied by the push and shove of daily urban life, became unrecognizably empty. And over 10 long and painful days, no professional sports were played in New York.

How ironic, then, to recall that something as simple as a baseball game finally marked New York’s return to normalcy and reasserted the city’s storied resilience.

On Sept. 21, 2001, 10 days after the attacks, New York’s beacon of hope came in the form of a dramatic homerun. That night, the New York Mets matched up against the Atlanta Braves in the city’s first major sporting event since the attacks.

With the Mets down 2–1 in the bottom of the eighth, Mike Piazza — a star catcher and the undeniable soul of a gritty team — stepped up to the plate. There was one runner on base. Braves pitcher Steve Karsay, a native New Yorker himself, was on the mound. His catcher, Javy Lopez, called for a delivery away, but Karsay missed and the ball came across the center of the plate, belt high, a tantalizing opportunity for any hitter and one that Piazza instinctively seized.

He sent the pitch soaring high into the New York night. With one swing of the bat, Piazza gave the Mets the lead, and the crowd the cathartic release that they so desperately craved. Buoyed by the strength of 41,235 fans, the Mets went on to win the game 3–2.

At the time, I was 5 years old and unable to comprehend the significance of such a moment. But as I grew older, Piazza’s homerun became the way I remembered 9/11 and New York’s resilience — albeit with the help of my dad.

In the years following, replays of Piazza’s homerun frequently aired on TV around the anniversary of 9/11. It became a way for my dad and I to talk about 9/11 and eventually came to shape how I view such a complex event. Emotional but serious, clearly still moved by the drama himself, my dad described how important Piazza’s homerun was to repairing New York’s psyche, to bringing back the New York we knew and loved.

“It was as if, during that moment, with that one swing of the bat, everything was okay,” he said. “It was the message that, yes, we will get through this, we will rise again, and that was the glimmer of optimism so many New Yorkers needed at that moment.”

As the memories of 9/11 begin to fade, supplanted in the mind by new atrocities, it is professional sports that have continued to remind us of its singular importance. More than any other institutions, professional sports have continued to honor the victims of 9/11 and, in so doing, remind us of what was lost that day.

Last Sunday, New York Yankees manager Joe Girardi and Yankee relief pitcher Dellin Betances placed a wreath next to the 9/11 Memorial in Monument Park. In a ceremony before the Yankees’ game that day, the mournful sound of bagpipes, so reminiscent of the funerals that followed the attack, rip-

Continued from page 16

Defense pays for its own marketing, like stadium signage, just as any other advertiser would.

But in 2015, a Senate report revealed that delineation has been blurred. The Department of Defense spent a total of $10.4 million on advertising and marketing contracts with professional sports teams between 2012 and 2015. According to the report, 59 percent of those contracts contained money for “paid patriotism.” That means the DOD paid the NFL and other leagues to perform “on-field color guard, enlistment and re-enlistment ceremonies, performances of the national anthem, full-field flag details, ceremonial first pitches and puck drops, and hometown hero and wounded warrior tributes.”

Fans who figured NFL teams put on these displays solely out of their own patriotic fervor assumed wrong. Countless other motivations may have led to the unfurling of a huge flag on the field during pre-game — tradition, desire to appease fans and, perhaps most alarmingly, the need to preserve DOD advertising contracts worth millions of dollars.

When team owners and administrators submit to performing acts of national pride for less-than-patriotic reasons, they rope players into that practice as well. They reinforce the assumption — in very elaborate, in-your-face ways — that sports and traditional expressions of patriotism go hand in hand. This compels most players to cover their hearts, stand up, shut up and just play football.

In a modern sports world, where branding is everything and players risk losing huge endorsement deals over any type of protest, activism is often viewed as too much of a liability. Protests over patriotism are particularly taboo, but when the majority of players in the league are racial minorities who witness and experience daily injustice, how can sponsors expect them to display patriotism without a second thought?

Every once in a while, an athlete emerges who is willing to risk money, fame and being called unpatriotic to protest discrimination. While they enpled through the air. Fire Department of New York veteran Frank Pizzaro was honored, and a massive American flag was unfolded covering the outfield.

At AT&T Stadium in Arlington, TX, the Dallas Cowboys and the New York Giants prepared to battle on the opening day for the 2016 professional football season, but before they began, all listened to former President George W. Bush deliver a message of remembrance and encouragement.

And last Sunday, the New York Mets played the same team they had played on that fateful day back in 2001, the Atlanta Braves. Things were different, of course. Mike Piazza retired long ago and this summer he was inducted into the baseball Hall of Fame. The Mets are battling for a playoff spot and the Braves, no longer a contender, are looking to finish out a miserable season.

Still, before the game, both teams warmed up in FDNY and New York Police Department hats. And after the end of the game, both teams came together to shake hands, just as they had during the game following 9/11.

Fifteen years may have passed, but baseball remembers.

Page 15

dure sometimes career-ending consequences in the moment, hindsight usually allows this athlete’s critiques to be correctly construed as love for country and a desire to use their highprofile status to push America to be better.

When Muhammad Ali protested Vietnam War service, he was disparaged as a draft dodger. When Ali died in June 2016, his protest of the draft was lauded as part of his legacy as one of the great activist athletes of the civil rights era.

Tommie Smith, an Olympic track athlete who later became a track and field coach at Oberlin, protested the national anthem at the 1968 Mexico City Olympics. After medaling in the 200-meter dash, Smith and teammate John Carlos took to the podium in bare feet to symbolize the hardships of minority poverty. They raised black-gloved fists and turned their eyes downward as the flag rose. Smith returned home to intense criticism.

His Olympic career was over. But today, his Black Power salute is the cornerstone of his legacy.

Kaepernick’s similarly fearless attempts to agitate for change have already sparked imitation among his peers. Players from the Kansas City Chiefs, Tennessee Titans, New England Patriots, Miami Dolphins and Denver Broncos have all knelt or raised fists in solidarity with Kaepernick. Several of those players have

continued to show solidarity despite lost endorsement deals. For example, CenturyLink and the Air Academy Federal Credit Union cut ties with Broncos linebacker Brandon Marshall after he protested the anthem.

Still, the 49ers are showing that perhaps the tide is turning against forced patriotism in sports. The 49ers have acknowledged Kaepernick’s first amendment right to do whatever he pleases during the anthem and donated $1 million to a foundation working toward “improving racial and economic inequality and fostering communication and collaboration between law enforcement and the communities they serve,” according to a statement from 49ers Chief Executive Jed York.

Condoning Kaepernick’s actions does not mean patriotism has no place in sports. However, patriotism should never be forced by the government’s hand, and room for different types of displays of patriotism must be granted. After all, Kaepernick’s actions come not from a desire to tear down his homeland but from a genuine belief that protest can bring improvement to a broken system.

Kaepernick protests one of the core symbols of America not because he is unpatriotic. He protests because he expects better from the land that he loves. He knows change is possible.

And until that change comes, he will keep his knee to the ground.

Feature Photo: Women’s Tennis Hosts Invitational

College senior Emma Brezel looks to serve at the Oberlin Invitational last weekend.

The Yeowomen competed against NCAC foes Denison University and The College of Wooster, as well as several Division II teams. The tournament kicked off a four-week fall season for the Yeowomen, who will travel to Kalamazoo, MI, Sept. 30 for the Intercollegiate Tennis Association Central Region Championships.

Text by Jackie McDermott, Sports editor Photo Courtesy of OC Athletics

Sports The Oberlin Review

Page 16

— Field Hockey —

Field Hockey Takes Hits on Road Sydney Allen Production Editor The field hockey team has taken some hard falls. The Yeowomen were shut out 5–0 in their fourth game of the season Tuesday against North Coast Athletic Conference rivals, the Kenyon College Ladies, in Gambier, Ohio.

Despite holding an overall record of 0–4, 0–2 in conference play, Oberlin looks to an upcoming home game for a chance to earn its first win. The Yeowomen will face the Earlham College Quakers Saturday at 11 a.m. and look to avenge a 3–0 loss in 2015.

That loss came as a shock to senior captain midfielder Ariana Enzerink, as Oberlin had maintained a win streak over Earlham for several years prior. Enzerink said she and her teammates can right the ship this Saturday.

“I still think that this season can be really promising for us,” Enzerink said. “I think we’re all really excited about the talent we have on this team and the team chemistry we have.”

The team kicked off its season with a road trip to Newport News, VA, where it played the RandolphMacon College Yellow Jackets and the Christopher Newport University Captains.

According to Enzerink, the team is especially proud of its impressive performance against the Captains,

who are ranked 14th in the nation.

Enzerink said that after floundering for a few minutes at the start of the game, the Yeowomen found a rhythm.

“There was this moment when we all came together. I think that everyone really stepped up.”

Though it didn’t show in the final score, sophomore midfielder Meg Parker said the trip to Virginia highlighted the improvements the team has made since last season.

“We’ve come a long way since last year,” Parker said. “Last year, we had a hard time capitalizing on any opportunities we were given. But this year you can just tell the energy on the field is a lot better, and it feels more like we’re working together.”

In 2015, the Yeowomen struggled with injuries and a roster low in numbers and earned a 1–18 overall record. In order to prevent that fate, during preseason training, the team emphasized the need to get off a lot of shots on goal. However, the squad still struggles with offensive production and is scoreless in the 2016 season thus far.

Despite its inability to get its offense going, Head Coach Tiffany Saunders said the team has remained positive.

“The positivity on the field, no matter what is going on, has been a drastic improvement in the last year,” said Saunders. “The communication is always key in our sport, and so to

see that blossoming no matter what is going on in the score board, it’s really nice to see.”

Saunders brought in two firstyears in the 2016 recruiting class — midfielder Luisa McGarvey from Takoma Park, MD, and forward Libby Royer from Columbus, OH. Both have already received significant playing time.

Parker said she is already excited about their contributions to the team.

“They’re both really impactful players in the midfield. We’re really lucky to have them,” Parker said.

“Libby is extremely fast. She can outrun basically anybody on the field.

And Luisa is really patient and takes

our coaches’ advice really well.”

Enzerink said she sees the addition of these rookies as building blocks for the future. Enzerink and her co-captains — junior midfielder Dillon Sebastian, senior attacker Maureen Coffey and senior goalkeeper Maggie Gossiaux — are focused not so much on short term wins and losses but on creating a foundation for future growth in the program.

“I think we’ve all accepted that we’re going to be the base to something that will be really great in the future,” Enzerink said. “And we’re taking it upon ourselves to take that first step toward a really, really impressive legacy that Oberlin field hockey could be.”

Senior attacker Maureen Coffey prepares for a shot. The Yeowomen look to secure their first win in their home opener against Earlham College Saturday at 11 a.m.

Photo Courtesy of OC Athletics

— Women’s Soccer —

Yeowomen Notch Back-to-Back Victories James Tanford Numerous injuries have not stopped the women’s soccer team from achieving success. After an 8–0 victory over Defiance College Sunday, the Yeowomen are currently 3–2 overall. Having outscored its opponents 18–9, the team is optimistic despite less-than-ideal circumstances.

“We are injured from head to toe,” said first-year goalkeeper Katie Lucey who is currently recovering from a concussion.

But the Yeowomen, propelled by a combination of young talent and veteran leadership, are still optimistic about their chances to improve on last year’s 2–4–2 conference record. They ended last season in sixth place, on the periphery of the North Coast Athletic Conference tournament.

“We haven’t played with our full starting lineup this season,” said sophomore goalkeeper Emma Gordon. “That being said, we can definitely do better than we did last year.”

The team’s plethora of young talent features five first-years receiving significant playing time.

Sammy Clanton has started every game on defense. On the offensive end, midfielder Jackie Brant has already racked up three goals and an assist, and Cat Bent

netted her first goal against Defiance. Izzy Rosenstein has rocketed four shots and played over 130 minutes in three matches. And pre-concussion, Lucey was vying for time in goal.

In addition to the rookies, all of the team’s all-conference performers from last season — junior forward Gwennie Gardiner, –––––––––––––––––––––––––––

“We haven’t played with our full starting lineup this season. That being said, we can definitely do better than we did last year.”

gle to keep the intensity against lesser opponents,” Gordon said.

“If we focus on keeping up the intensity, especially defensively and in terms of goals, we will do well.”

The team is not entirely reliant on youth for success. Almost all of the seniors have received significant playing time this season, and they act as role models and positive influences for the newcomers.

Bent praised the support system of the team, while Lucey

noted that the seniors helped lead the way into “a higher level” of soccer.

“We definitely have the best senior leadership I’ve seen in my time here,” Gardiner said. “It’s been great seeing what the addition of a few key freshman has done.”

Youth, talent, chemistry and positivity — the pieces are there.

The Yeowomen have improved dramatically over the past few years and are ready to make an impact in the 2016 postseason.

Emma Gordon Sophomore Goalkeeper ––––––––––––––––––––––––––– sophomores midfielder Maddi Kimball and goalkeeper Jordyn Morris — have returned for another season. In the team’s last match, over half of the starting lineup were non-seniors.

Despite earning several wins already, the Yeowomen still have some weak spots. With youth comes inconsistency, and this team is no exception to that. “[We] have been playing well against good teams, but strug-

September 16, 2016

Forced Patriotism Fails Jackie McDermott Sports Editor I’m not here to comment on whether or not 49ers Quarterback Colin Kaepernick is a patriot.

Why? Because I’m white.

As Kaepernick puts his knee to the gridiron and closes his eyes during those first trumpeted notes of the national anthem, he contemplates stereotypes, fears, anxieties and obstacles that I could never fathom. He pictures the faces of people that looked like him, splashed onto TV screens as the newest tragic casualties of police brutality.

My America is not the same as Kaepernick’s America. The same goes for so many white fans and journalists calling his gesture everything from disrespectful to a heinous affront to veterans and current service members.

Why are these onlookers so outraged about one football player’s refusal to participate in traditional patriotic rituals?

Patriotism is intertwined with professional sports at a deep, historic and sometimes disturbing level that forces vibrant, visible displays of patriotism into professional competition.

The NFL in particular makes it a priority to perform ceremonies dedicated to the nation’s military.

The league also serves as a prominent vehicle for recruitment advertising for the armed forces. Patriotic ceremonies and recruitment advertising are supposed to be kept completely separate when it comes to funding. Teams are supposed to finance things like on-field color guard out of their own genuine desire to honor their country. The Department of See Editorial, page 15

Senior defender Casey McGuire moves the ball up the pitch. After an 8–0 win over Defiance College on Sept. 11, the Yeowomen have a 3–2 record.

Photo by Kellianne Doyle, Staff Photographer