September 23, 2016 by The Oberlin Review

The Oberlin Review

SEPTEMBER 23, 2016 VOLUME 145, NUMBER 4

Local News Bulletin News briefs from the past week McBride Receives National Humanities Medal Author and musician James McBride, OC ’79, was named a 2015 National Humanities Medalist for “humanizing the complexities of discussing race in America” through his fictional and personal writings, the National Endowment for the Humanities said in a press release. McBride is one of 12 medal recipients from a list that includes notable writers, artists and journalists such as Wynton Marsalis and Terry Gross. McBride accepted the medal from President Obama at a White House ceremony yesterday. Gravesite Punctured During Storm Cleanup A tree cleanup vehicle accidentally punctured an unmarked burial vault during the storm cleanup last week, according to The Chronicle-Telegram. In order to cover the hole, the cemetery placed a steel plate propped up by two pieces of wood on top of the cracked concrete vault. At this point, Interim City Manager Sal Talarico says there is no timetable for when repairs will be made to the grave. The grave sits at the intersection of the “S” and “U” sections of the cemetery. Senate Hosts Wellness Forum Student Senate will host a forum on student wellness Saturday, Sept. 24 from 4:30 to 6 p.m. The forum is focused on student concerns regarding the current location of Student Health Services and the Counseling Center, as well as the planned expansion of Philips gym.

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Student Senate Letter Admonishes ACF Louis Krauss News Editor Igniting conflict with Oberlin Alums for Campus Fairness, which has repeatedly denounced Professor of Rhetoric and Composition Joy Karega for what it considers to be anti-Semitic Facebook posts, Student Senate published a letter Tuesday morning condemning the group’s actions over the past year. The statement’s publication closely coincided with an ACF-led symposium on modern-day anti-Semitism yesterday evening. “When alumni intimidate, marginalize and harass Oberlin students, eventually enough is enough,” said Student Senate Liaison and double-degree senior Jeremy Poe, who drafted the letter on behalf of Senate. The statement, written in consultation with current and former members of ABUSUA and Students for a Free Palestine, argues that ACF fails to take student opinion into account when claiming that Oberlin’s campus contains widespread anti-Semitism. Oberlin J Street U, a student organization that looks to promote peace and social justice in Israel and the Middle East, was originally listed as a consultant on the letter as well, but members later asked that the organization’s name be removed. The group released an official statement on its Facebook page last Tuesday.

College junior Matthew Kornberg raises their hand at last night's Oberlin ACF anti-Semitism symposium at The Hotel at Oberlin. Student Senate released a letter condemning the group earlier in the week. Photo by Sawyer Brooks

“We support much of the letter’s sentiments, and want to affirm our continued discontent with Oberlin ACF’s actions, including the panel this Thursday,” the statement read. “Yet we have concerns about some of the content of the letter and did not feel that it fully represented our perspective.”

Oberlin ACF is a group of alumni that aims to reveal and stop anti-Semitism on campus. The group originally began as a private Facebook group titled “Obies Against BDS” (Boycott Divestment and Sanctions) in December See ACF, page 4

Residents Rally to Reverse City's Zoning Approval Oliver Bok News Editor Thanks to a group of longtime city activists, Oberlin voters will decide the fate of O’Reilly Auto Parts’ Oberlin location next November. The nationwide chain applied to rezone the parcel, located on Route 58 next to O’Reilly’s rivals, Advance Auto Parts, last spring. It received approval from the Planning Commission at that time and from City Council on Aug. 15. But since Oberlin Citizens for Responsible Development submitted 405 signatures to the city government, well above the 259-signature threshold, the referendum attempting to reverse City Council’s approval is highly likely to occur. Unless voters approve the rezoning next fall, construction on the parcel cannot take place. The news is a big relief for Mark Chesler, who led the signature campaign and owns the antique store Anchors Aweigh across the street.

“We got signatures from Kimberly Circle to Kendall, from Groveland to Reamer Place,” Chesler said. Opposition to the rezoning partially arises from concerns that the increased traffic and additional driveway associated with O’Reilly, combined with the 50 mph speed limit, will lead to more accidents. Chesler referred to the intersection as “the accident capital of Oberlin.” But according to Director of Planning and Development Carrie Handy, tales of O’Reilly’s traffic impact are simply not true. “Certain people are saying that the traffic impact would be really great,” Handy said. “It’s not, and we’ve had engineers say that.” Handy stated that the Ohio Department of Transportation reviewed it and found that there wasn’t enough traffic generated to do a traffic impact study. “Peak traffic at O’Reilly is 10 people in an hour — that’s not a lot of traffic at all,” Handy said. However, the estimate of 10 people an hour came from

O’Reilly’s own assessment, based on findings at similar stores. Since the state never conducted a formal traffic study, the actual effects of O’Reilly remain unknown. “The effects are cumulative,” said Planning Commission Vice Chair Peter Crowley, noting that the other side of the street, where further development may take place, is already commercially zoned. “The overall impact is not

Heisman Homecoming

College updates community on carbonneutrality progress.

Heisman Club inducts four new members.

Set Fire to the Rain Art festival comes through despite inclement weather.

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INDEX:

Opinions 5

This Week in Oberlin 8

See City, page 2

The water tower looms over the Laundramat on East Lorain Street. City Council voted to rezone both properties this week. Photo by Rick Yu, Photo editor

Green Machine

See page 2

something the Department of Transportation really takes into account in their impact studies.” The commission could have required a traffic study but opted not to, Crowley said. Rezoning opponents such as Crowley, who voted against the recommendation to rezone last spring, say that city planners from the early 2000s did not want

Arts 10

Sports 16

on the

WEB

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The Oberlin Review, September 23, 2016

College Aims for Carbon Neutrality by 2025 Sydney Allen Production Editor Scattered across the campus, various devices hint at environmental awareness, from the glowing orbs in each dorm that tell students how much energy they use to the composting bins filled to the brim in Stevenson Dining Hall. The Office of Environmental Sustainability hosted a Carbon Neutrality Forum Tuesday to showcase exactly how the College is planning fulfill its goal of carbon neutrality by 2025. To reach the 2025 goal, the College brought in the environmental consulting firm EverGreen Energy to investigate the school’s energy usage and explore cleaner alternatives. Senior Engineer Phil Bourne and Vice President of Public Relations Nina Axelson presented their findings at the forum, but Project Director Michael Ahern was not in attendance. “As we were invited to be part of this effort, it’s really important to us that we were going to find things that were really going to be flexible, be adaptable, knowing that what this campus needs in 2019 may not be what it needs in 2023,” Axelson said. “It has to be a really versatile solution.” This presentation marked the completion of a study designed to assess the campus’ energy assets, current and future energy demands, potential for renewable and efficient technology integration and opportunities for consolidating energy resources within the College and community at large. Ever-Green Energy will make recommendations to the College and Board of Trustees about the most efficient and financially viable options.

Among the group's recommendations is using a landfill gas-recovery system in which the methane gas that is created in landfills is piped to a turbine or engine generator to create electricity. The gas could also be sent to a boiler to produce steam or hot water. By replacing the fossil fuels consumed by the steam plant, landfill gas would reduce the campus carbon usage by 65 percent compared to the 2015-usage profile. The gas recovery system could also reduce annual campus water consumption by approximately 7 million gallons and reduce annual sewer discharge by 3 million gallons. Ever-Green Energy estimates that its top-five recommendations would cost around $9 million while their top-15 recommendations would cost around $16 million. Bourne stressed that the goal would be to finance this as creatively as possible through grants, co-partnering and fundraising. “The goal would be to not hurt any other programs at Oberlin,” Bourne said. “We don’t want to say, ‘implement all of these recommendations at the expense of firing staff or losing funding for clubs.’” Since the city of Oberlin also wants to become carbon neutral by 2050, Ever-Green Energy worked with city officials including Public Works Director Jeff Baumann to gauge if there is room for crossover in sustainability and energy reduction efforts. Environmental Studies Professor Cindy Frantz suggested numerous behavioral changes in addition to expensive structural changes that could make a difference at Oberlin, such as taking shorter showers, turning off

lights in empty rooms, using cold water for washing clothes or eating a vegetarian diet, which has one of the largest environmental impacts. Bridget Flynn, Office of Environmental Studies sustainability coordinator, said that in some ways, the label of becoming carbon neutral means much less than actually trying to reduce emissions on campus. Although it would be possible for a College to buy enough Renewable Energy Credits to claim carbon neutrality while not reducing its emissions, it is trying to go about it the hard way. “It’s possible to go out and buy those and say, ‘OK, we’re carbon neutral,’” Flynn said. “We’re trying to actually reduce our carbon.” In addition to highlighting the areas that the College needs to work on, the forum also lauded

that side of the street to become a strip mall. “We didn’t want any strip development; we wanted to have a very compact — or at least traffic-wise, a very organized — and organic sort of connection to Oberlin, so that we would grow as a community out to that commercial strip. It would not grow into us.” The issue for Crowley is the slow abandonment of the city’s Comprehensive Plan, the long-term document that states how the city plans to use land, which zoned the area for office and institutional — not commercial — uses. “We get enticed by the lure of develop-

ment, especially commercial development that pays taxes,” Crowley said. “That’s our failure there. We need to keep aware of what decisions we made about development, and if we don’t agree with them we have to change the plan, but we can’t just ignore it. It’s basically the expression of what people have decided after a long planning process.” Handy could not recall a single instance of the city rejecting a rezoning request in her three and a half years at Oberlin. Handy pointed out that the Comprehensive Plan is outdated, as the city began working on the current Comprehensive Plan in 2000. The Planning Department is beginning a new Comprehensive Plan process next year, which will include in-

The Oberlin Review — Established 1874 —

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September 23, 2016

Published by the students of Oberlin College every Friday during the fall and spring semesters, except holidays and examination periods. Advertising rates: $18 per column inch. Second-class postage paid at Oberlin, Ohio. Entered as second-class matter at the Oberlin, Ohio post office April 2, 1911. POSTMASTER SEND CHANGES TO: Wilder Box 90, Oberlin, Ohio 44074-1081. Office of Publication: Burton Basement, Oberlin, Ohio 44074. Phone: (440) 775-8123 Fax: (440) 775-6733 On theOn web: thehttp://www.oberlinreview.org web: oberlinreview.org

"It's possible to go out and buy those and say 'OK, we're carbon neutral. We're trying to actually reduce our carbon." Bridget Flynn Office of Environmental Studies sustainability coordinator ––––––––––––––––––––––––––– its emissions by more than 50 percent over the last 10 years and Oberlin’s electricity is almost 100 percent renewable. The event was attended by students, professors and interns

from the Office of Environmental Sustainability. “I was very impressed by how Oberlin is kind of a pilot and a role model for other colleges and communities and that a lot of people are looking to us to see how we’re doing sustainability,” said first-year Olivia Vasquez, who attended the forum. Senior Environmental Studies major Helena Bader agreed. “I was very impressed by the reductions Oberlin has accomplished — I didn’t quite realize that — and I think that a lot of times things take place on this campus, and the student body doesn’t really know about them,” Bader said. The College will begin tracking its yearly emissions and making annual progress reports available to the public through a reporting site called Second Nature.

Environmental Studies Professor Cindy Frantz presents on the College’s efforts to reach carbon neutrality in the Science Center. The College has committed to achieving carbon neutrality by 2025. Photo by Rick Yu, Photo editor

City Divided Over Zoning Changes Continued from page 1

the work that the College has accomplished since establishing the 2025 goal in 2006. According to Flynn, the school has reduced –––––––––––––––––––––––––––

formation from a Housing Study taking place this fall. As old as the plan is, the city is only getting around to implementing parts of it now. The city council voted this week to rezone parts of East Lorain and Orchard Streets to comply with the plan. According to Handy, before the current Comprehensive Plan, all commercial zoning in the city had a “C1” zoning designation, regardless of where in the city that commercial development was located. The current Comprehensive Plan introduced “C2” and “C3” designations for commercial properties outside the downtown district, with the principle difference being the more “suburban” setback requirements — essentially, buildings have to be farther from the curb if they’re not located in the downtown district.

Editors-in-Chief Editors-in-chief Tyler Liv Combe Sloan Allegra Vida Weisblum Kirkland Managing editor Samantha Kiley Petersen Link News editors Rosemary Oliver Boeglin Bok Alex LouisHoward Krauss Opinions editor WillSami Rubenstein Mericle This Week Weekeditor editor Vida Zoë Strassman Weisblum Arts editors Christian Kara Brooks Bolles Victoria Georgia Garber Horn Sports editors Jackie McDermott Quinn Hull Madeleine Darren O’Meara Zazlau Layout editors Abby Tiffany Carlstad Fung Ben Alexa Garfinkel Corey Alanna TaliaSandoval Rodwin Photo editors Anya OliviaSpector Gericke Photo editors Brannon Rockwell-Charland Bryan Rubin Online editor Alanna Bennett Rick Yu

However, a number of locations — such as the laundromat and the water tower — had a “C1” designation, despite the fact that they’re not in the downtown district. The council also voted to rezone a number of houses falsely zoned as commercial. Handy said that having homes zoned as commercial could have catastrophic consequences in the event of a disaster like a house fire, since city ordinances prohibit construction that contradicts the property’s zoning. “All those people on Orchard Street, right now if their house burned down, they can’t rebuild,” Handy said. She also noted that banks and insurance companies often resist financing properties that don’t conform to the zoning.

Business manager Maureen CurtisCoffey Cook Business manager Savi Sedlacek Ads manager Caley Watnick Ads manager Reshard el-Shair Online editor Hazel Galloway Production manager Sophia Bamert Production manager Ryanne Berry Production staff Stephanie Bonner Production staff Auden Granger Emma Eisenberg Taylor Field Julia Peterson Katherine Hamilton Giselle Glaspie Julia Hubay Sydney Allen Tracey Knott AnnaNoah Rubenstein Morris Anna Peckham Courtney Loeb Silvia Sheffield Melissa Harris Drew Wise Kendall Mahavier Distributors Joe Camper Distributors Bryan Rubin Joseph Dilworth James Ben Steger Kuntz

Corrections

Corrections: The Review is not aware of any corrections this week. The article, "Program Cuts Leave Film Students Questions," 16, 2016), The with Review strives to(Sept. print all incorrectly said Sophie Harari, OC '15, information as accurately as possible. 2016. If you feelgraduated the Reviewinhas made an error, please send an e-mail to managingeditor@oberlinreview.org.

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The Oberlin Review, September 23, 2016

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Off the Cuff: William C. Strange, Urban Economist William C. Strange is a professor of real estate and business economics at the Rotman School of Management at the University of Toronto. He is currently the editor of the Journal of Urban Economics. His research has focused on the real estate market, with an emphasis on commercial real estate. Strange served as president of the American Real Estate and Urban Economics Association in 2001. The paper that he presented Thursday was titled “The Vertical City: Rent Gradients and Spatial Structure.” This interview has been edited for length and clarity. I saw that your talk was about the changing in differences in rent between floors of a commercial building — I can fill it in quickly for you. So urban economics is largely about explaining where stuff is. And among the facts that we want to be able to explain are why downtowns have so much stuff there, and then why so much of the country has nothing whatsoever. This paper is doing that kind of urban economics, except we’re doing it within buildings rather than across the city. Most urban economics has treated stuff that happens at any particular street address as being undifferentiated, as if everybody were down on the ground floor. And the reason for that — and it’s not out of any special wickedness or stupidity — the reason is that people just don’t know what happens within buildings. And the reason people don’t know what happens within buildings is that people who own it don’t really want to let the information out, so the tenant stacks, and especially the rents, are held fairly close. We’ve been given a chance to look at some of those things, and so we’re able to explore the differences in use within buildings, which we think of as an interesting urban economics thing. But it also says something about a really big asset market. So commercial real estate — partly because the people who know about it aren’t sharing their information — the commercial real estate market is bigger than the c o r p o ra t e bond market. It’s not as big as the stock mar-

ket, but it’s getting there. It’s not as big as the housing market, but it’s getting there. It’s this really big thing that we don’t know that much about. So you got information from the landlords at these buildings? We got information, the most useful of which was that for a small set of buildings we know who all the tenants are, where they are in the building and how much they’re paying, which is the stuff that’s really hard to get. We get two results. The first result is that there is differentiation at a location, both in what rents are charged and how space gets used. Now if you look back to, say, 1850, the tallest buildings you’d typically see in the city were six-stories tall — the pattern would be very different. So 1850 is before there are commercially developed elevators. … The rents would be decreasing every floor that you go up because the access is worse; the people you see at the top are the people who can’t afford anything better. Nowadays, we know for sure that there is something other than just access going on in this post-elevator world. We do see rents starting to go down as you move above the ground floor — it turns out there’s a premium of around 50 percent at the ground floor — second-, third-, fourth-floor suites are worth a lot less than the ground floor because they don’t have as good access. But as soon as you move above that, you initially start seeing a gentle increase in rents which becomes a secure increase in rents as you get near the top. So the people at the top are paying more than the people at the bottom, even though they are pretty far away from the bottom, and it’s going to cost them to get there. So clearly there’s an amenity that’s attracting those folks. Two possibilities: that it could reflect signaling or reflect perks. The signaling story is: I’m working with a lawyer. I don’t really know if the lawyer is any good. I’m going to use various resources to decide if the lawyer is good. One of them is if the person looks like a good lawyer, with a nice suit, a fancy haircut and they have a really fancy office. Then I’m going to infer that they’re pret-

Friday, Sept. 16 Thursday, Sept. 15 8:43 a.m. Safety and Security officers and members of the Oberlin Fire Department responded to a fire alarm in the basement of Johnson House caused by Water dripping onto the detector. Electricians responded for repair. 1:06 p.m. A Safety and Security officer assisted an injured student on the east side of Bibbins Hallwho fell backward over their bicycle and caught their ankle in the chain, creating a deep laceration. The officer transported the individual to Mercy Allen Hospital for treatment. 1:20 p.m. A student reported the theft of their unlocked bicycle from the north side of Noah Hall. The bicycle is a single-speed Panama Jack Beach Cruiser with a red body and a black seat with a luggage rack. The bike is valued at $150 and was registered at the time.

like what you see in the Silicon Valley. People can do the computer industry better when they’re around a bunch of other people in the computer industry, learning from each other and using the same resources and stuff like that. We find evidence that there’s some of the same kind of stuff operating within buildings in the office sectors that we look at, which is important, both because the asset class is important and because downtowns matter. Preserving downtowns as centers of employment matter for a city’s prosperity and life, and if a downtown is not delivering value to the people who paid to locate there, that’s bad form.

11:00 a.m. A student reported the theft of their phone from a locker in Philips gym. The white iPhone 5S is valued at $200 and is in a black case. 11:55 p.m. A student reported the theft of their backpack, which was left outside of the ’Sco while moving equipment. The backpack contained a MacBook Pro, an iPhone 6 in a dark blue case and a wallet containing credit cards and approximately $50 in cash. The individual responsible for the theft was apprehended through a phone app and charged. The property was returned to the owner.

Saturday, Sept. 17 5:50 p.m. Safety and Security officers and members of the Oberlin Police Department responded to a report of an individual climbing through a first floor window at Afrikan Heritage House. After a student described the indi-

William C. Strange, economics professor

ty profitable, and the fact that they’re profitable means they’ve been delivering good services and maybe I should do business with them. And the fancier office is at the top of the building. And the fancier ones are at the top of the building. In principle, we could look at the corner-office phenomenon literally, but we don’t have the data coded right now in a way that we could do that. So it could be that, it could be perks. People’s offices are really visible badges of social status. By and large, people don’t really know how much money someone makes, but you absolutely know if someone gets a nicer office than you. And that’s one reason why one of the most vicious fights you have at any organization is over who gets the cool office. The idea of agglomeration economies is that there must be some pretty big benefit that cities offer to people because it’s costly — costly in the sense that if you’re in the city, you have a longer commute than otherwise, you probably live in a smaller space than otherwise and you’re probably paying more for it than otherwise. So there must be something you’re getting back, and these ideas of agglomeration economies that go back to the 19th century is sort of

vidual, officers checked the building but were unable to locate anyone fitting the description. 5:02 p.m. Safety and Security officers and members of the Oberlin Fire Department responded to a fire alarm in the basement of Harkness House. The alarm could not be reset and an electrician was called for repair.

Sunday, Sept. 18 12:37 a.m. A Safety and Security officer on patrol observed an unauthorized party at a Village Housing unit on Elmwood Place. They shut down the live band and dispersed approximately 75 people from the house. 2:49 a.m. Safety and Security officers assisted a student ill from alcohol consumption at Burton Hall. An ambulance transported the student to Mercy Allen Hospital for treatment. 11:43 p.m. Safety and Security officers assisted an intoxicated student at South Hall and transported the individual to Mercy Allen Hospital for treatment.

How do you explain the fact that despite the internet allowing people to work remotely, more people are moving to the cities? That’s got to be one of the big things that urban economics has to explain: you can do stuff in little places that you didn’t used to be able to, like if you wanted a really good book, you can have it tomorrow from Amazon if you want. When I was a kid growing up in Eugene, Oregon, or when I was an assistant professor teaching at Bowdoin in Brunswick, Maine, that was just not true. I had to go to a big city to get cool books. Those kinds of things seem to argue for the fundamentals of less traditional, but nice locations. For instance, [Oberlin] is the kind of place that would seem to benefit from that aspect of the internet. But you’re right; at the same time, Toronto is six-million people — half a million more than when I moved there in the early 2000s. And it’s really costly to put so many people in one place. A fifth of Canada lives in Toronto. If you look at the U.S. using satellite data, … 2 percent of the country has been built on. Most of the country is fields and other nonbuilt-on stuff. 80 percent of Americans live in cities on 2 percent of the space. Is that going to persist? That’s just a huge question, socially and for business. Interview by Oliver Bok, News editor Photo courtesy of William Strange

Tuesday, Sept. 20 3:22 p.m. A Safety and Security officer responded to a report of unauthorized entry in Finney Chapel. They found several chairs stacked under the organ loft and no damage to the organ. The report is under investigation. 7:17 p.m. Safety and Security officers and members of the Oberlin Fire Department responded to a fire alarm in the dry room area in the basement of Harkness House. A work order was filed to check the system. 8:16 p.m. A Safety and Security officer assisted an ill employee at the Lord-Saunders kitchen. The individual declined transportation to the hospital. 9:05 p.m. A student reported being verbally harassed by two unknown individuals in a black truck while at the intersection of Lorain and Professor Streets at approximately 6:50 p.m. The report is under investigation.

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The Oberlin Review, September 23, 2016

Course Clusters Program to Begin Next Fall Melissa Harris Production Editor The College plans to incorporate a new concept of course clusters next fall that will allow students to register for a new kind of multidisciplinary courseload. The extension of the Peter B. Lewis Gateway Center along the north side of The Hotel at Oberlin, which remains under construction, will host the classes. The administration has tentatively named the building “Oberlin Center for Convergence” or “StudiOC.” “It’s targeted especially for the earlier [ first and second] years … to identify significant global challenges or cultural themes that don’t fit specifically into any one discipline,” Associate Dean of the Curriculum David Kamitsuka said. Each set of course clusters is designed to cover themes that the administration feels cannot be addressed solely by one department or in one course. Faculty members from different departments will collaborate to combine lecture, service, lab and production to cover subjects that might benefit from cross-disciplilnary studies. Although the logistics and structure of the program remain undecided, Kamitsuka said he already has ideas for potential course-cluster themes. One possibility included a cluster on music and activism, mass incarceration and global food justice, while another was Islam, modern politics, refugee crises and global public health. Next year, students will have the option of enrolling in any of the five planned course clusers, although it remains unclear how the clusters will help fulfill major requirements within specific departments. A $750,000 grant from the Mellon Foundation, dedicated to exploring the concepts of “connected learning,” will go toward the clusters program. Dean Tim Elgren added that the College has allocated around $500,000 to build the facility and hold symposiums that engage the clusters’ students and incoming speakers. Elgren began pitching the clusters program when he arrived at Oberlin in 2014. After meeting with various departments and faculty, he said that many faculty members felt unable to address the cross-disciplinary aspects of certain fields that some subjects merit. “The College was thinking about a conversation of el-

Construction continues on the “Oberlin Center for Convergence.” The administration plans to host a new form of multi-disciplinary courses in the building next fall. Photo by Rick Yu, Photo editor

evating … a liberal education to enhance the major, to expand the impact of what the major really is,” Elgren said. Elgren worked with Vice President for Finance and Administration Mike Frandsen and Dean of the Conservatory Andrea Kalyn to develop a way to provide more cross-department opportunities. In these meetings, the concept of course clusters was born, which Frandsen proposed could be hosted on the second floor of The Hotel at Oberlin. Administrators will meet with the hotel's architects next week to discuss the structure of the studio, which would ideally have three large classrooms with collapsable walls to combine rooms. One of the key technological and structural goals, however, is to develop the “global classroom.”

The global classroom concept would give students a study abroad-like experience while on campus, Elgren said. It would involve video-conferencing technology connecting the cluster classes with other universities, both within the U.S. and abroad. This technology could also allow students to work as TAs for high school classes. Kamitsuka said the administration will have a better idea of its resources and potential course features in about a month. From there, faculty can start to propose ideas and work with academic departments to organize clusters for next year. Elgren added that students can contribute ideas by contacting him directly until the administration establishes an official student-feedback system.

ACF Hosts Panel Following Widespread Criticism Continued from page 1 2015. According to students, the group initially included students, alumni and parents. Student members were quickly removed and blocked from the group after requesting that they have more input and that the group condemn Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territories. After being expelled from the Facebook group, some students received messages from alumni allegedly belittling them for not understanding the situation well enough. Still, some of these students feel as if the online harassment does not parallel the seriousness of the “real issues” ACF has

with understanding the campus. College junior and J Street U CoChair Emily Isaacson, who said she received hurtful messages and voicemails, stressed that the focus should be more on improving the group itself. “I was hurt, but I care much more about the issues that negatively affect campus,” Isaacson said. “Some of the actions by members who sent things to me were disrespectful and hurtful, but I think if I and others from J Street wrote the letter, we would have characterized things a little differently.” Oberlin ACF President Melissa Landa, OC ’86, said this was a “mischaracterization” and that students were removed simply

because the group was figuring out its identity, and ultimately decided to be an alumni-only organization. One of students’ main complaints about ACF is its characterization of the College as widely anti-Semitic despite rarely visiting campus. Instead of gauging the campus climate by spending significant periods of time in Oberlin, the group typically relies on anonymous student reports of anti-Semitism. College junior and Hillel Treasurer Rebecca Primoff said she agrees with Senate's letter and believes anti-Semitism on campus is not as bad as the alumni make it out to be. “I just don’t feel anti-Semitism anywhere in my day-to-day life here,” Primoff said. “If they used their resources to reach out to students instead of making all these claims from afar, it would make a much bigger difference.” When asked whether it bothered her that multiple members of Hillel said they do not support ACF, Landa said, “We don’t need support.” Another point of contention between Oberlin ACF members and students who oppose the group is that relying on anonymous student reports makes it difficult to prove whether antiSemitism is actually prevelant. Landa said she wishes more people who come to her would allow ACF to use their names.

“I had a student write something so powerful, but they told me they didn’t want it published with their name on it, so I had to do it myself. We have several students who have said horrifying things, and they will not put their names out there. It’s not only cause for concern, but it’s pretty much all I need to know about how bad things are there.” Landa and several other ACF members led last night’s symposium, which was originally scheduled at the Local Coffee and Tea, but was moved to The Hotel at Oberlin last minute after Local co-owner Jessa New pulled out of the event. The College also kept its distance from the event by not agreeing to host the symposium on campus. President Marvin Krislov was unavailable for comment. Despite Landa promoting the event as a way to promote peaceful discussion on anti-Semitism, many students were upset about the group's visit. Poe took issue with the group attempting to appear like they were engaging in civil discourse. "ACF building a hate-free campuss through civil discourse is disengenuous because I don't think they have been civil," Poe said. As the event was held at the Hotel, its security laid outside Safety and Security’s jurisdiction. Instead, as rumors spread that

student groups would be protesting the event, two plainclothes Oberlin Police Department officers were assigned to the symposium, standing near the exits as alums delivered speeches. However, after hearing that ACF was possibly planning to film protesters as Landa and others entered the building, Students for a Free Palestine and ABUSUA organizers decided to instead host a community-building event around the fire pit in Tappan Square, adjacent to the event space. Approximately 70 people sat in a circle in Tappan, discussing how to address perceived injustices on campus and how to move forward. College senior and SFP member Natalia Shevin said the event was overall very positive and demonstrates the effectiveness of unpacking issues within the student body. And while some anticipated heated confrontation between ACF and student groups like SFP and ABUSUA, bystanders along College Street instead bore witness to two different places of quiet reflection and conversation. “The discussion shows that students are committed to creating spaces of our own to address issues on our campus, and we do not need outside intervention to facilitate that,” Shevin said. “Conversations about students should involve students.”

September 23, 2016

Opinions The Oberlin Review

Letters to the Editors Oberlin ACF Rebukes Student Senate Letter Editor’s Note: This letter was originally submitted Sept. 20, 2016. To the Editors: The purpose of [Alums for Campus Fairness] is to respond to students who have reported disturbing incidents and incitement on campus. We make no apologies for sharing the incendiary Facebook posts of Professor Karega with the Oberlin administration and are at a loss as to why anyone of good will would feel such communication is unwarranted or illegitimate. We all have a responsibility to condemn racism wherever it appears. We are engaging [with] a real problem on campus with an approach that is consistent with Oberlin’s values as an academic institution: open discussion, civility and mutual respect. Students, faculty and administrators who want to make a positive impact on the controversies at Oberlin — whether or not they believe the accusations of anti-Semitism at Oberlin — are welcome to join us by participating in thoughtful dialogue in our upcoming symposium. We firmly believe that open dialogue and discussion are the best remedy to misunderstanding and prejudice. We know that the Oberlin community is up to the task. The symposium is being held this Thursday at The Hotel at Oberlin (not at The Local) from 6:30–9 p.m., and we look forward to welcoming all who choose to attend. – Melissa Landa, Ph.D. President, Oberlin Alums for Campus Fairness

Committees Allow for More Student Input To the Editors: Students at Oberlin seem to feel that they are in the dark about how the institution functions, and rightly so. There is

very little information readily available for us to answer questions like those posed in last week’s article, “Program Cuts Leave Film Students with Questions,” involving how departments grow and shrink (The Oberlin Review, Sept. 16, 2016). This doesn’t have to be the case. For the third year in a row, I am sitting on the College Educational Plans and Policies Committee, the group charged with, among other things, doing program reviews of every department and program every few years; discussing and making recommendations for other short and long term curricular directions for the College; and most relevantly to the Cinema Studies example of the moment, participating in evaluating requests for adding faculty positions. Eight faculty members, a dean and four students can sit on EPPC. At the moment, there are only two students filling those positions. It’s not hard to get onto a college committee with student seats. The procedure involves emailing Student Senate, filling out a one-page application, attending a five-minute interview with a Senator who knows about as much as you do about the committee they’re appointing you to and then waiting until Sunday, when Senate decides on your merits at plenary. So now, to why Cinema Studies feels spread so thin. There are several ways to answer this question without concerning ourselves with Oberlin’s mysterious budget situation. One of them is that this is the nature of the academy, especially at a small school. Some departments are just going to be too small. At Oberlin, the smallest department currently houses 1.4 Full Time Equivalents’ worth of tenured or tenure-track professor. An FTE represents, at the most basic level, the workload or hours that one professor completes, which at Oberlin is 4.5 courses taught per year. The largest department here has 14 FTE. Even large departments struggle to balance service for the college, like sitting on EPPC,

participating in the First-Year Seminar Program and teaching classes for non-majors, with their responsibilities to offer a well-constructed curriculum and support for majors. Every department at Oberlin can make a case for why they could use another body with a brand new FTE — which is not to say that Cinema Studies doesn’t need more staffing, only that it is not alone. Another explanation for the plight of Cinema Studies is the fact that three out of its five nonvisiting professors inhabit split positions — that is, they owe work to two different departments. This means that while the department has five tenured bodies in it, it has 3.5 FTE and two professors whose commitment to serve as chair, among other onerous tasks, is housed only in one department. Smaller departments, in feeling stretched, face yet another major issue: It takes a lot of time to serve on a committee like EPPC or College Faculty Council, which makes the final decisions on which departments will be allocated new faculty at the end of every year. Some faculty members don’t feel that they can spare time for this institutional service, but turning down the responsibility of serving means that small departments full of younger faculty have no members who have ever read applications for additions to staff, and therefore have little to no guidance on how to write an effective and persuasive application. Students are only at Oberlin for four or five years. Because of this, it is incredibly frustrating to us how slowly the institution moves. Even if a position is allocated to Cinema Studies at the end of this year, the new hire won’t start teaching here until the fall of 2018, by which time half of the current student body will have graduated. But Oberlin is our alma mater, and even if we can’t benefit from the curriculum we help to develop, future students will. – Rachel Mead College senior See Letters, page 7

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

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

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

Rankings Contribute to College Commodification U.S. News & World Report released its annual rankings of 1,374 colleges and universities in the United States on Sept. 13, amplifying the nightmare that is the college-application process. As if the pressure of getting accepted to college in general is not enough, the importance of an institution’s prestige and reputation — factors that carry increasing importance to matriculants in an already bleak job market — adds twofold anxiety. The ranking system does little but exacerbate stress and perpetuates classist and limited views about higher education in the United States. For the second year in a row, Princeton University claimed the list’s top spot. Rounding out the top five were Harvard University, University of Chicago, Yale University and Columbia University tied with Stanford University. In other news, more of the same. No one would argue that these institutions are not exceptional hubs of scholarship and academia. Each of these universities contributes meaningful research in a variety of influential fields and produces students who will move on to do exceptional things for the world. But these prestigious and extremely expensive universities are not the be-all, end-all of higher education, and U.S. News’ rankings only contribute to that myth. The organization says it uses the following formula to rank national universities: “The U.S. News ranking system rests on two pillars. The formula uses quantitative measures that education experts have proposed as reliable indicators of academic quality, and it’s based on U.S. News’ researched view of what matters in education.” But what, according to U.S. News & World Report, really matters in education? Although the organization disclaims, “the host of intangibles that makes up the college experience can’t be measured by a series of data points,” it still attempts to measure those very intangibles that are far too nuanced for a simple list. In attempting to quantify more ambiguous values, rankings tend to erase the value of matching personalities to institutions. What began as an attempt to provide transparency about colleges to students and their families sorting through hundreds of options has since transformed into a dangerous system that propagates the phenomenon that the most desirable schools are also the most selective. College rankings are so controversial that many leading voices in higher education have united to disavow lists altogether. Rankings are “highly pernicious,” Wesleyan University President Michael Roth told The Atlantic earlier this year (“The Commodification of Higher Education,” March 30, 2016). “I think they’ve had a really deleterious effect on higher education as [colleges and universities] try to meet requirements that may not be in the best educational interest of their students. They accentuate the race toward the wealthiest schools.” Of course, the increasing commodification of college — which involves institutions acting more like corporations and students being treated like customers — is not a direct result of these rankings, but they certainly have not alleviated the problem. “Few would argue that the rankings have helped shape a world in which students are seen as consumers, and colleges and universities as commodities,” Alia Wong wrote in the same Atlantic piece. “The rankings are a key reason the higher-education landscape today operates like a marketplace in which institutions compete to convince the best students to buy their product.” If the goal of U.S. News is still to help students navigate the collegeselection process, perhaps the organization should abandon its list altogether. Instead, offer students a school’s full portrait with information about student organizations, internship opportunities, professors’ accessibility and other factors that shape students’ day-to-day experiences.

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.

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Opinions

The Oberlin Review, September 23, 2016

Infamous Police Officer Ends Tainted Career Russell Jaffe Contributing Writer Commissioner Bill Bratton of the New York City Police Department officially retired Sept. 16, in order to “pursue other opportunities” in the private sector. The self-proclaimed “top cop in America” is widely considered to be one of the most influential and controversial officers in policing history, leaving behind an ominous legacy affecting both the future of the justice system and our basic constitutional rights. Now, with the police facing more scrutiny than ever before, the public has finally begun to realize just how far Bratton may have overstepped his bounds. The question that remains is what sort of impact his legacy will leave — and what comes next. Bratton was a strong believer in the widely debated “broken windows” theory, which advocates strict enforcement of minor crimes like loitering and jaywalking in order to create an atmosphere of lawfulness, preventing larger crimes. In practice, however, broken windows policing has become nothing more than an excuse for racial profiling, discrimination against the poor and overcriminalization. For example, in his memoir, Bratton recounts an incident in which he saw a panhandler on a subway. Offended that a needy person would ask for money, Bratton violently lashed out and “gave the guy the heave-ho,” literally tossing the poor man off the train at the first stop. Additionally, Bratton is often hailed as the architect of stop and frisk, a policing technique that allows officers to detain, search and interrogate random pedestrians without a warrant or consent. Unfortunately, these suspects are completely innocent almost nine times out of ten, according to the New York Civil Liberties Union. Even more troubling, stop and frisks disproportionately target minorities, with over 80 percent of suspects being Black or Latinx, according to a 2015 study by the NYCLU. This sort of discrimination consistently stained Bratton’s work and eventually came to a head with the tragic 2014 homicide of Eric Garner by NYPD officers. Bratton stuck by his unethical tactics and fanatically promoted the war on drugs, all while claiming that he did not target based on race. However, his tactics contributed to nation-wide selective enforcement that greatly increases the arrest rate of minorities. According to the NAACP, African Americans are sent to prison 10 times as often as whites in the U.S., despite the fact that five times as many white people ––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––

Bratton stuck by his unethical tactics and fanatically promoted the war on drugs, all while claiming that he did not target based on race. –––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––– were found to use drugs. As a result of uneven enforcement, faulty data is often cited to defend broken windows theory, or to discredit movements like Black Lives Matter that call for increased fairness and accountability among the police. In the past, Bratton’s supporters have often defended his actions by claiming that his methods, regardless of whether or not they were problematic, still helped in overseeing a vast reduction of crime in New York City. Sadly, thanks to his broken windows tactics, the majority of his efforts were focused on non-violent offenses such as marijuana possession and panhandling. He continued to attack these “quality of life” offenses even after a 2015 report was released by Department of Investigation’s NYPD Inspector General Philip Eure, stating that the NYPD Office of Inspector General’s analysis “found no empirical evidence demonstrating a clear and direct link between an increase in summons and misdemeanor arrest activity and a related drop in felony crime.” This data speaks for itself: Bratton may have technically reduced crime, but the city is not necessarily a safer place for it. His retirement thus presents a turning point: Our justice department must make the choice to learn from Bratton’s mistakes or to repeat them. If there is anything in Bratton’s legacy that is actually worth being proud of, it is almost certainly the fact that he has forced the U.S. to seriously think about the standards to which we should hold our police officers. Ultimately, we must ask ourselves whether we want a police force that is lawful, respected and effective or a repeat of Bratton’s ignorant mistakes. Now that he is finally retiring, the sun is rising on a new day for the NYPD. One would hope that this will allow the police to finally move on from outdated methods and ideas to a future where the innocent no longer need to fear the officers appointed to protect them.

Nick Endicott

Student Senate Condemns Oberlin ACF Actions Student Senate originally published this letter in the online version of the Review Tuesday. In the letter’s first edition, J Street U was listed as one of the groups that Senate consulted in drafting the piece. J Street U has since removed its name from the letter, and Senate released the following statement on the matter: “At the request of Rosie Rudavsky, Julie Schreiber and Emily Isaacson — current co-chairs and board member of Oberlin J Street U — Senate has removed ‘Oberlin J Street U’ from the end of its letter. These students are in the unenviable position of having to work with a national organization, and we see no need to exacerbate their difficulties. Senate’s goal has always been to draw the attention of the Oberlin community to the reprehensible actions of the alumni in Oberlin ACF, and we will continue to pursue that goal.” The remainder of the document remains unchanged. Oberlin students, Since late 2015, a group of Oberlin alumni have driven a narrative of rampant anti-Semitism at Oberlin. They created and moderated the secret Facebook page “Obies against [Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions],” and organized an Oberlin Chapter of Alums for Campus Fairness. ACF describes itself as a national network that “organizes alumni to fight the anti-Semitism that is infecting university and college campuses in the guise of anti-Israel activism,” pressuring institutions to provide “comprehensive education, rather than activist propaganda” about Israel and the Middle East while also seeking to provide “a safe and welcoming environment for students and faculty” with a connection to Israel. However, over the last 10 months, the alums in the Oberlin Chapter of ACF have blatantly disregarded students’ wellbeing and perspectives in order to push their chosen narrative. In December 2015, the discussion on “Obies against BDS” centered on writing a letter to the Oberlin administration articulating concerns over BDS and anti-Semitism on campus. When elected student leaders from campus Jewish and pro-Israeli organizations disagreed with and spoke out against the external perception of campus, voicing political disagreement, they were censored and removed from the Facebook group. Some students were even harassed online by alumni moderating the group. “Obies against BDS” sent their letter to the Oberlin administration in early January, simultaneously publishing it online. Student leaders from Oberlin Zionists, J Street U and Hillel wrote an op-ed in response, published in February in Cleveland Jewish News, stating that the

alumni organizing the letter had little interest in student perspective (“Oberlin Students Seek Meaningful Discourse About Israel,” Feb. 23, 2016). Two days after the op-ed appeared in Cleveland Jewish News, The Tower published its first article on Assistant Professor of Rhetoric and Composition Joy Karega’s Facebook posts (“Oberlin Professor Claims Israel Was Behind 9/11, ISIS, Charlie Hebdo Attack,” Feb. 25, 2016). OCACF currently takes credit for uncovering these Facebook posts, which notably came soon after the announcement of BDS-advocate and well-respected University of California, Los Angeles Professor Robin Kelley’s impending visit to Oberlin. The “Obies against BDS” letter contained no concerns about anti-Semitic views being expressed by Oberlin faculty, but Professor Karega’s posts were immediately included in OCACF’s narrative of rampant anti-Semitism. What followed can most accurately be described as a witch-hunt, orchestrated by organizations outside of Oberlin’s campus, that discarded previous concerns about anti-Semitism within the student body for a more readily identifiable target — Professor Karega. Since February, concern for students has been appropriated into OCACF’s narrative. In April, OCACF President Melissa Landa, OC ’86, stated that Professor Karega’s views were publicly shared for months and years, part of a hostile environment that Jewish students face at Oberlin. By July, OCACF, dissatisfied with the slow-paced enquiry into Professor Karega’s postings, sent a letter to Oberlin’s Board of Trustees expressing their concern that Professor Karega’s antiSemitic views were shared with students on Facebook and during her class sessions. The effects of this changing narrative can be seen in the response to Professor Karega being placed on paid leave. In a joint statement, The Jewish Federation of Cleveland, the Cleveland Hillel Foundation, AJC Cleveland and the Anti-Defamation League Cleveland said the paid leave decision “sends an important message about the college’s commitment to seeing that academic freedom is not abused to the detriment of the students.” These organizations also expressed that they “look forward to working with the college in the coming semester to foster a campus climate of openness, acceptance, tolerance and mutual respect where students can learn and thrive.” OCACF fails to demonstrate any concern for students beyond what is politically valuable for them to articulate. These alumni have tirelessly campaigned to create a false image of Oberlin, damage the value of an Oberlin education and then assert that the only appropriate response is that which they have already proposed: working groups dominated by those who See Oberlin, page 7

Opinions

The Oberlin Review, September 23, 2016

Page 7

Only One Candidate Stands for Progress Ziya Smallens Contributing Writer It’s no secret that many Oberlin students voted for Bernie Sanders in the Democratic Primary. Many remain skeptical of Hillary Clinton, citing an inability to trust her. I respect the instincts of my peers, but in today’s media climate, the facts struggle to break through the noise. In scrutinizing Hillary Clinton’s legacy and the state of the Democratic Party, a progressive record rings clear. Donald Trump stands as an affront to every value we aspire to as Americans, Obies, activists and allies. In facing such a threat, the easy answer is to grit your teeth and vote for the candidate who is perceived as the “lesser of two evils.” I could settle for this distinction, but it isn’t the reality of the decision that stands before us.

A vote is not a rubber stamp; it carries so much more than the approbation of some name on a ballot. In the voting booth, you are imprinting your vision for the country, for our collective trajectory. This decision is made under the banner of every last one of us, including the prosperous and the oppressed. In her 30-plus years in the spotlight, Clinton has, at times, advocated for policies that don’t align with my politics. In acknowledging this, I also realize that the political timeline is relative: norms shift, our culture evolves and the electorate wades in new directions. Our candidates evolve along with it. Rather than pinpointing a politician’s particular position at a single point in time, it is far more fruitful to scrutinize the enduring threads of their legacy. With Hillary Clinton, that’s pretty simple: children and families.

Whether as a recent law school graduate at the Children’s Defense Fund, a first lady taking unprecedented steps to establish the Children’s Health Insurance Program or a presidential candidate putting paid family leave at the top of her platform, Hillary Clinton has always served our families first. At each juncture of her career, she has worked to protect this precious demographic. Beyond her personal record, take a glance at the Democratic Party’s platform, where the legacy of Bernie Sanders rages on. From top to bottom, it is the most progressive major party platform in American history. As the standard-bearer of the Democratic Party, Clinton champions the call for debt-free college, an end to Wall Street’s recklessness, comprehensive immigration reform, a living wage, a constitutional amendment overturning Citizens United and an end to mass incarceration.

This isn’t pandering. Studies indicate that parties vote in line with their platforms more than 80 percent of the time. Voting is a moral choice. The presidency is both a personal and political office. It is not enough for you to roll out of bed, grit your teeth and check the box on the ballot. Spend the little time we have left in this election bringing your values to the foreground; embrace your own vision for our country. Find the points of intersection with Hillary Clinton and the Democratic platform, and build from there. Come to the Ohio Democratic Party’s Oberlin office at 5 S. Main Street and ensure that your values are reflected in our Party. We’re working every day and our work is only as resilient as the breadth of our message. With your voice, we stand a more formidable force. We stand stronger together.

Gym Expansion Will Increase Campus Accessibility Dan Lev Contributing Writer After reading Louis Krauss’ article on the possible Philips extension in the Sept. 16 issue of the Review, “Trustees to Consider Philips Gym Expansion,” I wanted to offer my voice as a captain of the Oberlin College men’s soccer team and a former student senator. I believe an extension to Philips gym is worthy of trusteegranted funds because of the impact it would have not only on the Athletics department, but on the Oberlin community as a whole.

Philips was built in the 1970s and, as a result, much of the building is outdated and costly to maintain. For example, one of the main goals of the athletic facility upgrades is a new pool. It is likely that the long-term costs of maintaining an old pool will be more expensive than upgrading it now. Considering our pool is used by the College, local swim teams and the community, it is an essential part of our athletic facilities. From a fiscal perspective, investing College funds now to make the pool cost-efficient seems justified.

Another aspect of the planned extension is an expanded wellness space. With renovations, the current weight room could become more focused on varsity athletics. As a varsity athlete, I am obviously excited and biased in my support for this proposal. However, I think the benefits of such an extension would reach beyond varsity athletics to the campus at large. Through talking with students since Krauss’ article was published, I have come to understand that Philips gym offers an unwelcome atmosphere for many. Currently, varsity ath-

letes dominate the weight room from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m., which may intimidate infrequent users of the weight room. If new facilities were built, I hope that the athletic department would use the new facilities for general use by the campus and community. Further, I ask that the Athletics department make an effort to accommodate the needs of the broader campus community. This may come in the form of reserved hours for women and trans people or increased space and time for athletics classes. I hope this addition helps make Philips more

Letters to the Editors, cont. Continued from page 5

Ohio Voting Has Built-In Safeguards To the Editors: Ohio voters should not be concerned that their ballots will not be counted as the voter intended, because Ohio laws and procedures protect the integrity of the ballot. For the past 10 years, Ohio law has required that every ballot must have a paper record that can be hand-counted and audited. All votes are cast either on (a) an electronic touch-screen machine, such as those used in Lorain County, that has a visible paper record that the voter can check to assure that it records the vote as cast, and that can be hand-counted in a recount or audit, or (b) a paper ballot that can be scanned electronically or counted by hand. For more than six years, based on the settlement of a lawsuit by the League of Women Voters of Ohio, every county board of elections is required to prepare an Election Administration Plan before every general election. The plan details exactly how they have prepared for every aspect of the election from personnel to facilities to supplies to security. These plans are reviewed after each election so that any problems can be corrected before the next election. The plan also allows the public to see how each county has prepared for the election and to recommend changes. In Lorain County, like all counties in Ohio, state law requires that all aspects of elections be administered by a Republican and a Democrat working together — making it one of the most secure systems in the nation. This is most evident on Election Day, when each polling place is staffed by an equal number of Democrat and Republican poll workers. It also applies to the staff of the board of elections, all the way to the director and deputy director having to be of opposite political parties. The board members must be two Republicans and two Democrats. The security of your ballot is assured by this two-by-two requirement, because it means one party cannot “rig” the election if both parties have to sign off on everything. At

the end of Election Day, the bipartisan poll workers count the votes in their polling place, sign the results and post them where the public can read them. Then all the ballots and records are delivered by a Democrat and a Republican together driving them to the board of elections. The ballots and records are stored in a room that is secured with two locks, one held by the director and the other by the deputy director, so no one can have access to the room without the other. This bipartisan procedure is also followed when the official count takes place 10 days after Election Day, when validated provisional ballots and absentee ballots are included in the final tally and when there is any recount or audit. Any Ohio voter who is still concerned about the integrity of the election can call the Lorain County Board of Elections at (440) 326-5900 and volunteer to be a poll worker on Election Day. Go to the training session, then work 15plus hours on Election Day (you will be paid) and observe the protections that are built into the system. Do not allow anyone to discourage you from voting. The deadline for registering for the November election is Oct. 11. Check with the Lorain County BOE or the secretary of state’s website to be sure your registration is up to date with your current address, make sure you know the location of your polling place, or vote by mail or early in-person at the BOE, 1985 North Ridge Rd. East. Remember to take your identification on Election Day. Acceptable forms of required identification are explained on “Voting-1-2-3” cards available at the Oberlin Public Library and at the Secretary of State website: sos.state.oh.us. The League of Women Voters urges every citizen to make your voice heard and vote. – Linda Gates President, League of Women Voters of the Oberlin Area – Alison Ricker Co-President, League of Women Voters of the Oberlin Area – Mary Kirtz Van Nortwick Co-President, League of Women Voters of the Oberlin Area

welcoming for the entire student body and to those who have felt underserved in the past. The College’s finances are tight. The College should not make an expenditure the magnitude of an expansion of this magnitude without proper diligence. That being said, an investment into new athletic facilities is an investment into campus life that will benefit the entire school. I call upon the trustees to approve these plans for the wellness of the College, the city of Oberlin and the future of Oberlin athletics.

Oberlin ACF Disregards Student Input Continued from page 6 agree with them and severe punishment for Professor Karega. OCACF’s approach has only served to hurt students who are going to classes, studying, engaging in difficult political discussions, and organizing in activist groups. The upcoming symposium sponsored by OCACF, titled “Building A Hate-Free Campus Through Civil Discourse,” is a clear representation of their flagrant disregard for students’ interests. This is demonstrated by the fact that student organizations were not involved in the planning or promotion of this symposium, which will be hosted off campus at [The Hotel at Oberlin]. Student Senate does not support the content or approach to this conversation and demands that the response of Oberlin and the community at the very least involve student initiative. The members of OCACF have perfectly exhibited the types of actions that are detrimental to studentled, focused and oriented initiatives, and student life on campus generally. As students, we are the largest and most present stakeholder in the construction of campus climate. In so being, we repudiate the attempt from OCACF to create a fabricated and falsely adversarial campus environment. Oberlin Student Senate condemns OCACF’s surveillance, intimidation, marginalization and harassment of Oberlin students, which we believe has impaired the discourse around anti-Semitism on campus. On behalf of Student Senate, Jeremy Poe Student Senate Liaison 9/19/16 In consultation with current and former student members from Oberlin Students for a Free Palestine ABUSUA

fall festivities ... ...

Brasee’s Corn Maze AND PUMPKIN PATCH

When: Every Friday 4–10 p.m.; Saturday 11 a.m.–10 p.m.; Sunday 11 a.m. until dark Where: 18421 State Route 58 Wellington, OH 44090 Over a decade ago, the Brasees turned their property into an eight-acre corn maze and pumpkin patch. Hayrides take place every weekend, weather permitting, and they also have a straw slide, corn pit, pumpkin bowling and hot chocolate and cider for when it gets cold outside. Tickets are $6. Hayrides cost an additional $2.

Hillcrest Orchards When: Every Saturday and Sunday, 10 a.m.–6 p.m. Where: 50336 Telegraph Road, Amherst, OH 44001 Apple- and pumpkin-picking at Hillcrest Orchards is the perfect fall activity. General admission is $9 per person, with pumpkins priced at 50 cents per pound. A 10 lb. bag of apples is $14 and a 20 lb. bag of apples is $22.

...calendar...

Community & Culture Festival Saturday, Sept. 24, 11 a.m.–1 p.m. Tappan Square

Oberlin’s annual cultural festival is back and even better this fall. In Tappan Square, browse food trucks, enjoy performances, snap pictures in a photobooth and hop on a bouncy castle. Other activities and services will be available to the community, including health screenings and a blood drive.

WOBC Pool Party

Saturday, Sept. 24, 3–5 p.m. Carr Pool Still hanging onto summer? Join the WOBC DJs for their first ever community pool party, free and open to the public. Bonus: There will be a mobile Free Store set up in case you need a suit or a pair of flip-flops.

Oberlin Orchestra Concert Saturday, Sept. 24, 8–10 p.m. Finney Chapel

Raphael Jiménez will conduct this concert featuring Rachmaninoff ’s The Isle of the Dead and Shostakovich’s Symphony No. 5. If you can’t make it to Finney, the event will be streamed live.

Career Center Artwork Submission Deadline Monday, Sept. 26.

Want to show off your masterpiece? Submit your art to Oberlin’s Career Center for a chance to see your work on display in the Advising Atrium. Students may submit up to seven pieces of art — including sculpture or installations — and will be notified by Oct. 10. Further instructions are available on the Career Center webpage.

Amélie Screening

Thursday, Sept. 29, 7:30 p.m. French House Aimez-vous français? Thursday at French House, cozy up with Jean-Pierre Jeunet’s beloved Amélie. Starring the wonderful Audrey Tautou, this 2001 film may make you shed a tear with its award-winning soundtrack and romantic storyline. This event is free to Oberlin students.

Sammy Miller and The Congregation Thursday, Sept. 29, 10 p.m.–1 a.m. The ’Sco

Juilliard grad Sammy Miller and his six-member ensemble The Congregation perform “joyful jazz,” globallyconscious, feel-good music. Tickets are $2 with OCID and $5 without.

C C C C C

C C C C C C C

Mapleside Farm’s Johnny Appleseed Festival

Bloodview Haunted House

When: Saturday, Sept. 24, 10 a.m.–7 p.m. and Sunday, Sept. 25, 10 a.m.–6 p.m.

When: Every Friday and Saturday, 8–12 p.m.; beginning Oct. 2, open Sundays 8–10 p.m.

Where: 294 Pearl Road, Brunswick, OH 44212

Where: 1010 Towpath Trail, Broadview Heights, OH 44147

Mapleside Farm offers one of the largest festivals in Ohio, with a 311-foot superslide, a jump pillow, a corn maze, hayrides, petting zoos and many other activities. Admission is free for the festival and $12 for the Pumpkin Village.

Spooky Ranch

This charity haunted house is run entirely by the volunteer actors and production crew from Legion of Terror. Tickets are $20 Friday and Saturday, then drop down to $15 after 10 p.m. On Sundays, tickets are $10.

Norton Cider Festival

When: Every Friday and Saturday, 7–11:30 p.m. until Halloween; beginning Oct. 9, Thursdays and Sundays 7–9:30 p.m.

When: Friday, Sept. 30, 5–10 p.m.; Saturday, Oct. 1, 11 a.m.–10 p.m.; Sunday, Oct. 2, 12–6 p.m.

Where: 19066 East River Road, Columbia Station, OH 44028

Where: 4060 Columbia Woods Drive, Norton, OH 44203

This haunted house has five different attractions on its grounds: Extreme Nightmares, the Famous Haunted Hayride, the Haunted Barn and two new additions, Bloodslingers Saloon and Monster Visions in 3D. Ticket prices vary from $20–35.

Now on its 28th annual festival, Norton has figured out the formula for a successful weekend. This free festival features a parade, a train ride and activities including an apple-decorating contest and fireworks.

Annual Harvest Festival When: Saturday, Sept. 24 and Sunday, Sept. 25, 11 a.m.–5 p.m. Where: 13305 Pearl Road, Cleveland, OH 44136 Want a little bit of history with your festival? This free festival takes place on the grounds of the historic Strongsville village and features a classic car display, a cow pie lottery, a quilt raffle and a farmer’s market. All proceeds go to the restoration of the eight historic buildings on the site.

Text by Kiley Petersen

Design by Vida Weisblum & Kiley Petersen

fall festivities ... ...

Brasee’s Corn Maze AND PUMPKIN PATCH

...calendar...

Community & Culture Festival Saturday, Sept. 24, 11 a.m.–1 p.m. Tappan Square

WOBC Pool Party

Oberlin Orchestra Concert Saturday, Sept. 24, 8–10 p.m. Finney Chapel

Raphael Jiménez will conduct this concert featuring Rachmaninoff ’s The Isle of the Dead and Shostakovich’s Symphony No. 5. If you can’t make it to Finney, the event will be streamed live.

Career Center Artwork Submission Deadline Monday, Sept. 26.

Amélie Screening

Sammy Miller and The Congregation Thursday, Sept. 29, 10 p.m.–1 a.m. The ’Sco

Juilliard grad Sammy Miller and his six-member ensemble The Congregation perform “joyful jazz,” globallyconscious, feel-good music. Tickets are $2 with OCID and $5 without.

C C C C C

C C C C C C C

Mapleside Farm’s Johnny Appleseed Festival

Bloodview Haunted House

When: Saturday, Sept. 24, 10 a.m.–7 p.m. and Sunday, Sept. 25, 10 a.m.–6 p.m.

When: Every Friday and Saturday, 8–12 p.m.; beginning Oct. 2, open Sundays 8–10 p.m.

Where: 294 Pearl Road, Brunswick, OH 44212

Where: 1010 Towpath Trail, Broadview Heights, OH 44147

Spooky Ranch

Norton Cider Festival

When: Every Friday and Saturday, 7–11:30 p.m. until Halloween; beginning Oct. 9, Thursdays and Sundays 7–9:30 p.m.

When: Friday, Sept. 30, 5–10 p.m.; Saturday, Oct. 1, 11 a.m.–10 p.m.; Sunday, Oct. 2, 12–6 p.m.

Where: 19066 East River Road, Columbia Station, OH 44028

Where: 4060 Columbia Woods Drive, Norton, OH 44203

Text by Kiley Petersen

Design by Vida Weisblum & Kiley Petersen

Arts The Oberlin Review

Page 10

September 23, 2016

Lorain’s FireFish Spectacle Signals Restoration Julia Peterson Production Editor

A giant fish paraded through the center of town, floated down the river and set on fire barely scratches the surface of the display at the second annual FireFish festival, which took place last Saturday. The city of Lorain’s downtown and boardwalk areas were transformed into thoroughfares of public art, with almost every storefront, alley and doorway becoming a display or performance space. The festival lasted from early afternoon until well after dark, ending despite the rain with the much-anticipated burning of the fish under a full moon. FireFish is part of the city of Lorain’s ongoing efforts to revitalize the downtown area, highlight the work of local artists and make the city a center for arts in the region. FireFish community arts liaison Joan Perch spoke about how abandoned spaces in Lorain were being highlighted during the festival. “FireFish is about transformation...creating a festival that really shows what is possible in places that might not think have potential,” Perch said. “Just to the left of us there’s an abandoned parking garage, but [during FireFish] that’s ‘Elegant Decay’ and there’s a performance going on there, and on staircases behind us.” The scope of the transformation was impressive. Artists came from all over the area to present at FireFish, including many groups

from Oberlin College and Conservatory, as well as the town. There was 3-D printing and stand-up comedy. There were aerialists and break dancers and spoken word poets. The Oberlin Children’s Shakespeare Youth Theater presented short scenes from Ham-

–––––––––––––––––––––––––––

Firefish community arts liaison Joan Perch spoke about how abandoned spaces in Lorain were being highlighed during the festival. ––––––––––––––––––––––––––– let and a Conservatory jazz band performed on the main stage. Assistant Professor of Dance Alysia Ramos directed a dance improvisation ensemble. “The director of FireFish contacted us in the spring and asked us to be part of [the festival] in some way,” Ramos said. “We really wanted to be part of it because they’re trying to do some good work in Lorain, to draw people back to Lorain. It’s a nice mission, a nice idea, and I wanted to support that community, which has really suffered, and which [Levin] sees as an opportunity for arts spaces.” A recent estimate published by Cleveland’s NewsNet5 calculated that 60 percent of the buildings in Lorain’s downtown sit empty — but not during FireFish. Every

The community of Lorain gathered for the FireFish festival Saturday, a day-long celebration meant to expand the city’s art scene and jumpstart the local economy. The main event involved marching a giant papier-mâché fish to the river and setting it ablaze. Photo by Julia Peterson

available space is given an exhibition or performative purpose, symbolizing some of the hopes for what the town can be, and in some cases memorializing what it has been. Ki Rodriguez, one of the artists at this year’s festival, created a sound installation titled 81/46 in a building previously used as a storage space. Having grown up in Lorain, Rodriguez was inspired to create this piece by the sounds of the nearby

steel mill, which closed this past summer. “In a weird come-fullcircle series of events, I found this piece being about home, from the soundscapes to the physical production [and] fabrication of steel components,” he wrote in an email to the Review. “I feel that showing in Lorain is the most important juncture of the 81/46 journey. Our industry is gone. ... The downtown area has been desolate since I can remember. It breaks my heart that many historic buildings in such a

prime location are left to waste.” Local artists weren’t the only ones to contribute to the festival. FireFish director James Levin highlighted the cooperation he received from the Coast Guard, the Environmental Protection Agency, the county commissioner and members of Lorain’s struggling business community leading up to the event. “There’s something about … See Lorain, page 12

Framing the Allen: Abstraction Shows Artist Evolution Rachel Mead Columnist

The Allen Memorial Art Museum holds nearly 14,000 objects in its own collections. With the physical limits of its galleries, there is no way to exhibit all of this art. This is the first installation in a bimonthly column in which the Review will be bringing unseen favorites of the AMAM staff to the Arts section. Lending and borrowing artwork, ac-

cording to Andria Derstine, John G. W. Cowles Director of the Allen Memorial Art Museum, is a way for museums to bring greater richness and variety to the viewing public. The AMAM and its curators work to create meaning through the combinations of pieces they own and loan. For example, in the John N. Stern Gallery of the museum, there are usually two Monets and one Mondrian on display. Until Dec. 23, that ratio is backwards: in place of Monet’s early work Garden of the Princess, Louvre is Mondrian’s late work

Abstraction, on loan from the Kimbell Art Museum in Fort Worth, Texas. Dutch painter Piet Mondrian is best known for his De Stijl movement works like Abstraction (1939-1942), which are characterized by white canvases striped with perpendicular black lines, intermittently filled in with primary-colored rectangles. The AMAM’s presentation of the work is special because it is displayed in conjunction with Mondrian’s 1904 work Brabant Farmyard, part of the AMAM’s

permanent collection. This early piece is strikingly different from his later, betterknown style. At first glance, Brabant Farmyard is nearly unrecognizable as the work of Piet Mondrian. Even his signature is abstracted from the first to the second — what begins as a full name scrawled at the bottom of Brabant becomes a concise “PM” within the black matrix of Abstraction. “When I first came to Oberlin as a curator at the Allen in 2006, I remember being shocked that this was a Mondrian,” Derstine said. “Before, I had only associated [the artist] with his later, more abstract works.” However, closer inspection of the two pieces side-by-side reveals clues that the same artist could have created them both. Brabant Farmyard is a landscape oil painting of a Dutch barn in muted primary colors and gray-greens, with two ––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––

At first glance, Brabant Farmyard is nearly unrecognizable as the work of Piet Mondrian. ––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––

Brabant Farmyard, left, and Abstraction, right, are currently on display at the Allen Memorial Art Museum. The latter is on loan from Fort Worth’s Kimbell Art Museum. Photo courtesy of Megan Harding, AMAM

women attending to a pair of cows in the foreground. The piece fits into a niche at the AMAM within the Hague School artists with whom Mondrian studied early in his career. Abstraction, on the other hand, See Mondrian, page 13

The Oberlin Review, September 23, 2016

Arts

Page 11

Wingard Links Archaeology, Storytelling in Discovering Dave Christian Bolles Arts Editor When enslaved master potter David Drake first rendered his signature in clay in early 19thcentury South Carolina, he knew that the product bearing his mark would endure. However, he might not have guessed that nearly 200 years later, his pots would still be on the market. Out of the estimated 60,000 to 80,000 pieces he made during his lifetime, only a small fraction have been discovered. However, those few, known among the archaeological community as “Dave Jars,” have helped scholars piece together the potter’s life. Traveling from master to master over decades, Drake spent most of his life as a slave with master Lewis Miles, a relationship that often worked its way into his art. Now, with the discovery of another pot and a unique vision for how Dave’s story could be told, archaeologist George Wingard and director Mark Albertin set out to put the potter’s legacy to film. Wingard presented the 2013 documentary, titled Discovering

Dave, at a screening in the Adam Joseph Lewis Center For Environmental Studies’ Hallock Auditorium Tuesday night. Identified by the potter’s distinct mark — the name “Dave” written in a flowing hand with the occasional short poem — Wingard sees Dave’s pottery not only as a window into a sole man’s life, but as important artifacts that illustrate a rarely discussed aspect of slavery. “Dave represents so many of the enslaved master craftsmen,” Wingard told the Review. “Brickworkers, ironworkers, carpenters… Their names are lost.” Often, he said, historical narratives of enslaved people in America omit the importance of their crafts — a hole that Dave’s life helps to fill. But our cultural tendency toward commoditization of ‘antiques’ like these pots has made this story a difficult one to tell. “Dave’s pots sell for lots of money,” Wingard said. “[Collectors] saw him as this jar that was worth a lot of money and they could get it and sell it.” As a result, much of Dave’s work has ended up behind glass in muse-

ums, complicating attempts to connect the dots. Fortunately, in conjunction with the Savannah River Archaeological Research Program, Wingard, the program coordinator, excavated a new jar –––––––––––––––––––––––––––

Wingard sees Dave’s pottery not only as a window into a sole man’s life, but as important artifacts that illustrate a rarely discussed aspect of slavery. ––––––––––––––––––––––––––– on land cleared of inhabitants in the 1950s for the purpose of atomic energy research. Once he and Albertin, collaborators on another documentary about the residents who once called the area home, saw the passion some locals had for Dave’s pottery, they decided it was time to bring his story to the rest of the country. From San Diego to Seattle and all the way to the Dixie Film Festival in Georgia, Discovering Dave has reached viewers across the

country. As a non-profit endeavor, screenings are one of the only ways for audiences to see the documentary, in keeping with Wingard and Albertin’s philosophy of education over monetary gain. Wingard has presented Dave’s story everywhere from elementary schools to retirement homes and has succeeded in persuading audiences of all descriptions to engage with the material. “There’s still a lot of mystery to archaeology,” Wingard said. “I mean, you’ve got to have a love for doing it to understand it. … I tend to try to bring as many photos and documents as I can to back up what I’m speaking about, because that’s really going to draw people in.” Though he’d never admit it, Wingard himself is an integral part of presenting this scientific material with an inherently somber tone in a way that audiences will respond to. And the film itself, which he co-wrote, hums with emotional energy in a way historical analyses rarely do. The documentary is a patchwork of period photographs, artwork, reenactments and interviews with Dave scholars, tracing the path of the potter’s life from our first point of contact with him in his earliest pots to the end, where census records have lent insight into his eventual life as a freedman. Presupposing little and basing –––––––––––––––––––––––––––

And the film itself, which he co-wrote, hums with emotional energy in a way historical analyses rarely do. –––––––––––––––––––––––––––

George Wingard, program coordinator at the Savannah River Archaeological Research Program at the AJLC’s Hallock Auditorium Tuesday to screen his 2013 documentary Discovering Dave. The film tells the story of an enslaved potter named David Drake through his masterful engraved jars. Photo by Bryan Rubin, Photo editor

its analysis on the specific ways in which various jar engravings interacted with landmarks in the timeline of slavery, its attempt to reconstruct a life through a few dozen inscriptions might seem overly ambitious. But the reverence with which both the filmmakers and the experts they interview approach their subject — the feeling in the eyes of these

scholars is palpable — combined with surprisingly well-shot reenactments starring a capable actor (Darion McCloud) allows the film to escape the traditional trappings of talking-head documentaries and give the viewer a real feel for Dave’s craftsmanship. Wingard made special reference to one particular inscription shown in the documentary: When Dave’s longtime master Lewis Miles told him that a handle he was sculpting would surely break, the potter responded by engraving beneath it, “LM –––––––––––––––––––––––––––

“There’s still a lot of mystery to archaeology. I mean, you’ve got to have a love for doing it to understand it.” George Wingard Archaeologist ––––––––––––––––––––––––––– says this handle will crack.” Of course, Wingard noted after the credits had rolled, the handle remains intact to this day. These inscriptions are deeply humanizing, ranging from verses wondering where the potter’s family had gone (“I wonder where is all my relations / Friendship to all—and every nation”) to references to his experiences as a slave (“Dave belongs to Mr Miles / wher the oven bakes & the pot biles”). It’s not hard to see why scholars find it so intriguing to piece together Dave’s life, nor why collectors are anxious to procure his wares. After the film, Wingard produced the SRARP’s Dave jar, missing a lid but still wondrously intact. With sweeping motions, he demonstrated how its creator would have dipped it in glaze and set it aside, making note of the drip marks where Dave’s fingers once held the piece. Among a round of eager questions, one audience member asked, “How much is it worth?” In total deadpan, Wingard looked at him and, as clearly as if it were rehearsed, responded, “It’s priceless.”

Page 12

Arts

The Oberlin Review, September 23, 2016

On the Record with Jennifer Torrence Percussionist Jennifer Torrence, OC ’09, is a solo and collaborative performer based in Oslo, Norway, where she is a research fellow at the Norwegian Academy of Music. Torrence specializes in contemporary percussion writing and performance, and her recent projects include writing evening-length solo productions and other percussion pieces with artists such as François Sarhan, Peter Swendsen, Trond Reinholdtsen, Woljtek Blecharz, Johan Jutterström, Carolyn Chen and Anna Mikhailova. She plays with the AJO ensemble and NorthArc Percussion in Norway and is the former principal percussionist of the Artic Philharmonic. She has worked with music legends such as Pierre Boulez and Jonathan Harvey and has premiered Unsuk Chin’s “Doppel Konzert” and Steve Reich’s Pulitzer Prize winning composition “Double Sextet.” Torrence received degrees from Oberlin Conservatory, the University of California San Diego and the Guildhall of Music and Drama and was a Fulbright scholar at the Royal College of Music in London from 2009–10. She returned to Oberlin this week to give a solo recital Wednesday and will perform her and Peter Swendsen’s collaborative work, “What Noises Remain,” Saturday evening at Warner Main Space.

Continued from page 10

This interview has been edited for length and clarity. Your career has been focused around these huge, evening-length pieces. How would you describe them? [I write] for percussion … deliberately looking to expand and include things from the percussion history that include the body and the voice. People have been writing for speaking percussionists and moving percussionists for a long time. … People have been writing for things in the space, moving in the space, using technology to augment the space, … so that it’s closer to, like, a dance production or a theater production, not so much like a recital. … So I don’t know what to call them, but that’s the tricky thing, is that as soon as you call it something, then it’s defined as such, and that’s kind of against the inclusivity that I’m looking toward. Having studied in the U.S. and Europe, what do you think the main differences are between the European music world and the United States’? The European way of working in music is [based on] a totally different funding model. … There is so much money, and … more festivals that can really sustain people. And the festivals are older, too, like Darmstadt has been around forever. … I just experience it as being so steeped in history and in a cultural investment. … [Norway is] a young country and a young cultural society, and they’re just like, “We need art. And so we’re going to put all this oil money in it, because we want that.” And it’s just so different from what we experience here in the U.S., which is just so vibrant and hungry and energetic, but it’s really going upstream, sometimes it can feel like … the American music as we know it really started half a century ago, or longer, with Lou Harrison and John Cage, but it’s a much shorter story. There’s an argument that the competitiveness of the U.S. music scene leads to more innovation, because artists have to really be different to get funding. Do you think that idea has merit? From an entrepreneurial perspective, I think definitely. … There’s an aesthetic choice based around putting bums in chairs, basically, and it happens in all kinds of institutions around the world. Orchestras, internationally — they don’t program for anything except for selling tickets,

Lorain Seeks Renewal Through Art

Jennifer Torrence, OC ‘09, who has taken her passion for percussion around Europe, will perform in “What Noises Remain” Saturday at Warner Main Space. Photo courtesy of Jennifer Torrence

’cause they require so much money to operate. … There are even more things happening across Europe than I can perceive [are] happening across America. It’s hard though, because I don’t live here anymore, so it’s basically just what I see on the internet [that] tells me this. What’s special about the projects you’re doing here in Oberlin this week? [The Wednesday] recital is a series of works, … but they’re short pieces. They’re not this evening-length thing. … What I’ll do on Saturday night with Peter is very special, because it’s a huge piece that’s breathing for the first time, and we’ll have critical eyes on it for the first time, which is so exciting and scary. What direction do you think the percussion world is going in? I think we are moving into a time when percussionists are composing for themselves, not necessarily [creating] works that are idiosyncratic to the instrument, which we’ve had for a long time, especially with marimba pieces and snare drum pieces, but now making series works that are building instruments or have an installation format, which are very different things. Even in a conservatory like this, you have so many musicians who have no idea what percussion ensemble pieces even are, or what’s possible and available, and this is a very musically knowledgeable population. How do you engage the general public in what you do? I have to say that, because right now I’m living in academia, that I don’t really feel that need, whereas if I had an ensemble, it would be totally different. Right now, I feel it’s more of a necessity to find topics within percussion music and music generally that

can communicate across other art forms. And that’s often about aesthetics or performativity or all of these ever academic-looking words, but that these conversations are the important ones to have, rather than engaging the school teachers and so on. What are things you like — or don’t like — about academia? [I like] just being a nerd. Reading books and the experimenting thing, and then just justifying it because that’s what academia is about. What can be frustrating about academia is … [when] you start to go, … “This has nothing to do with anything anymore.” … When do we know when to stop and move on to the next thing? What has been your favorite moment in your musical career? It’s hard because I had so many of those incredibly important lessons, with [Mi Rosen or with Stephen Schick, and I have to say that the ones that always stick out have nothing to do with music … I played a really hard piece, and I’d been practicing forever, and [Rosen] said, “Ok! You can do it. Now you have to get older and change as a person and get married and move to a new place, and all of these life experiences that change how we then play this piece.” And that was so powerful, this idea of patience. And then, similarly, Steve Schick said a very similar [thing about] how to live life and become an artist that had nothing to do with wrist twisting and buzz rolls. Those are the things I always return to as I go through different parts of my performance life. Interview by Eilish Spear, Staff writer

the people here,” he said. “And the fact that I could go up to King Fishery ... out of nowhere and say ‘Hey, you don’t know me, and I’m about to ask you this ... favor. I want you to hook your trawler onto this very heavy barge made out of steel drums and, in the middle of the night, drag it back to the middle of the Black River so that we can burn this thing on it with fireworks.’ And without hesitation, [they] said ‘Oh, yeah.’” The contributions from community members perfectly illustrate not only a shared interest in Lorain’s future, but also how they perceive art as a vital piece of that future. Lorain County Community College President Marcia Ballinger outlined some of her hopes for what the festival can do for the community. “We really see FireFish as being an economic stimulant to the city of Lorain,” she said. “I firmly believe that cultural arts is a driver for the economy, … and so activating the city through performing arts and visual arts and creative arts, I think really shows hope for the future here.” The festival’s titular fish is itself a symbol of healing for the city, representing the health of the waterway so integral to Lorain’s history. “What can represent fresh water more than a fish?” Lavin said. “Something eternal, something that represents an important value of any port city, something that’s iconic and has a surreal quality — I think a fish presents itself in so many different ways. It’s kind of like the Wallace Stevens poem ‘Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackbird’ — there’s eleventeen ways of looking at a fish.” Because Saturday afternoon was rainy, fewer people turned out than anticipated. Despite the fact that it quite literally on the parade rained, the shows went on. When there was concern that the sodden fish might not catch fire, the parade simply moved under a bridge and kept dancing. People clustered around the indoor installations and continued to take in the pop-up shops and exhibits that had been set up all along the covered boardwalk. “The FireFish festival demonstrates the enormous potential that exists for making the arts an integral part of Lorain’s economic future,” Congresswoman Marcy Kaptur wrote in an email to the Review. “Even in the driving rain, people flocked to the Black River’s banks to experience the energy behind FireFish. The enthusiasm, the community spirit — it’s all so inspiring.” At 9 p.m., the crowd gathered on the banks of the Black River to watch the burning of the fish. The cloud cover was thick and gray, threatening to turn a cold drizzle into another full-fledged downpour. The outline of the blue fish was illuminated by a spotlight shining down on the river. Higher up on the grassy banks, dancers performed with flaming props as the steady drum chorus echoed the anticipation in the air. Boats came and went along the small stretch of river. Someone shot firework sparks at the fish, then motored away. Kayaks circled the floating figure. The fish remained stubbornly unburned as the drumming continued, until at long last it caught fire. “The rain stopped and the full moon broke through the sky,” the FireFish festival wrote in a press release. “Torches and pyrotechnics culminated in a herculean effort that resulted in a blaze of fire that lit the FireFish — an inspired lighting. … [This] fire will hopefully engage and inspire the transformation of the once great city of Lorain into a new era of art and creativity.”

Arts

The Oberlin Review, September 23, 2016

Page 13

Overwatch Quenches Summer’s Game Drought Avi Vogel Staff Writer

Over the past few months, the gaming industry has been in the throes of what is widely referred to as the “summer game drought,” a period defined by the release of few to no big-budget games between May and August. This year, though, many gamers didn’t seem to care about the dearth of content, as Overwatch dropped on May 24 and had all of them engrossed. Polished to a sheen, this game released to rave reviews, was embraced equally by the competitive E-sports and casual crowds and, in the wake of its success, continued to add free content for all players. Developed by legendary franchise-giant Blizzard, Overwatch is a team-based first-person hero shooter. In a market that is oversaturated with yearly Call of Duty and Battlefield entries, Blizzard’s first foray into the genre is anything but a cheap clone or ripoff. The game modes are simple, with each match falling into one of three varieties: a point to capture, a payload to be moved or a highly contested midpoint to be conquered. The game lacks some staple game modes of other online shooters, such as Capture the Flag and Team Deathmatch, but their absence is barely felt. Overwatch’s real strengths shine through its playable characters, known as heroes. Sorted into four distinct groups defining their in-game roles — offense,

defense, tank and support — the 22 heroes are fleshed out and different. Offense hero Soldier: 76, for example, is a run-and-gun commando who can stay on the front line with high damage and can also heal anyone in a small range. Another offensive hero, Tracer, who is a focal point of the game’s extensive marketing, darts around erratically, working as a distraction and single-target eliminator to take out support characters who might lurk in the corners of the play area. These are only two of the six heroes in the offense category, and just as much diversity can be found in the other classes. When a team’s hero composition is balanced, with every player effectively filling their role, it feels like a welloiled machine. But such orchestration doesn’t happen all the time. Due to the fickle nature of online play, players will get teammates who don’t care about the team. These users –––––––––––––––––––––––––––

Overwatch’s real strengths shine through its playable characters, known as heroes. ––––––––––––––––––––––––––– are inclined to play the character they want at all costs, sometimes turning the game into a frustrating grind. Considering selfish players abound not only in Quick Play, Overwatch’s more casual option, but also in Competitive

Industry giant Blizzard’s newest game, a juggernaut of an online shooter, pits 22 heroes against each other in a futuristic world fragmented by war. Photo by Christian Bolles, Arts editor

Play, which rewards good play by matching users with similar skill levels, it is frustrating to rely on people who refuse to work together. While positive randomlymatched play experiences are possible, Overwatch is at its best when playing with friends online. Talking out strategies on the fly with a skilled group epitomizes the competitive ebb and flow of high-octane combat that team-based first-person shooters aspire to provide. The diverse cast of characters guarantees that players will find someone who fits their preferred style of play, whether they take to Zenyatta, the robotic monk who boosts damage against enemies

with floating orbs, or Pharah, the jetpack-sporting rocketeer who flies above the field while harassing her foes with powerful missiles. Even though there are no pragmatic upgrades for characters — all items earned are purely cosmetic — the game escapes monotony through the developers’ consistent efforts to make it evolve. A rarity among developers, Blizzard is known for providing outstanding support for its games post-launch, a trait that has bolstered its longevity and popularity. The developer has continued this trend by releasing the first new character, Ana, frequently updating the game with

tweaks to existing mechanics and adding a new map only four months after the release. Beyond that, the team has adopted a unique approach to world-building. Instead of filling the game with lore, Blizzard has been steadily releasing animated shorts online showcasing the game’s heroes. These beautifully animated shorts expand characters’ histories and manage to entertain even those who don’t know much about Overwatch. It’s another way that the game extends beyond its constraints as a shooter to hold a strong presence in the real world — a presence that will continue to grow.

Mondrian Pairing Reveals Breadth of AMAM Collection Continued from page 10

is boldly geometric, seeming to pop out of the wall against its original white wooden frame. The works are part of the same series, a diachronic view of Mondrian’s stylistic development. Even in his early work, the observant viewer can see the geometry in Mondrian’s composition. The roof of the barn, the barn itself and the earth and sky are sliced into quadrangular forms, right angles abounding. Mondrian uses primarily reds, blues and earth tones in this work. Although the colors of Brabant are muddied and dark in comparison with the brightness and clarity of tone in Abstraction, it is clear that he is already defining the palette he became famous for. “[Brabant] does look more solid and modern than the works of his Hague School compatriots, and the sky is almost impressionistic,” Derstine said. The works of these other painters, such as Anton Mauve, Jozef Israëls and Jacob Maris are also in the collection and visible in the AMAM’s online e-museum, but are not currently on display. While their paintings give some contextual clues to Brabant Farmyard, they lean much more heavily toward Realism than Mondrian’s piece. Abstraction draws much more on Mondrian’s beginnings in painting the natural world than it appears. Mondrian intended for his “plastic works” to send an important message about humanity’s relationship with nature. “Observing sea, sky, and stars, I sought to indicate their plastic function through a multiplicity of crossing verticals and horizontals,” he once wrote. “The clarifi-

cation of equilibrium through plastic art is of great importance for humanity. It reveals that although human life in time is doomed to disequilibrium, notwithstanding this, it is based on equilibrium.” The AMAM is extraordinary among its peers partly because of its collections of many early works by well-known artists. These early pieces give museum-goers a long view of an artist’s oeuvre, allowing for a fuller understanding and more complete education of the artist or the development of a school of art. That is why the Kimbell curators came to the AMAM with the request to borrow Garden of the Princess, Louvre, and why Brabant Farmyard is such an important and unique piece in the museum and in Mondrian’s history as an artist. “One of our major goals is to involve faculty and students in the museum,” Derstine said. “That Monet [Garden] is one of our most iconic works and is used by a lot of professors in their classes, so I wanted ––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––

Although the colors of Brabant are muddied and dark in comparison with the brightness and clarity of tone in Abstraction, it is clear that he is already defining the palette he became famous for. –––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––– to get something in return that would contribute to community engagement at the Allen. Ever since I got here, it has been a dream of mine to display a more canoni-

cal Mondrian, and this was the perfect opportunity.” Seeing these two aspects of Piet Mondrian’s painting life, bookends of his career, sitting a foot away from each other

on the same wall is a testament to the potential of museum loaning. For the semester, Oberlin can examine the results of a lifetime of work, pared down to two different yet harmonious pieces.

Sports

Page 14

The Oberlin Review, September 23, 2016

In the Locker Room

Heisman Club

This week, the Review sat down with Sarah Feinberg and Khalil Rivers, newly appointed student members of the Heisman Club board, to discuss the organization’s impact on campus and its desire to serve Oberlin athletics.

financial part is what gets the attention, these people are donating because they love Oberlin athletics.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity. How did you get involved in the Heisman Club? Khalil Rivers: [Delta Lodge Director of Athletics] Natalie [Winkelfoos] had actually recommended me to [Heisman Club board member] Carla [Freyvogel, OC ’79]. Carla said she would like my opinion on what’s happening here, what alumni can do better and what we might need. Sarah Feinberg: I’m a twosport athlete. I’m a sophomore, but I’m on the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee, and I’m one of two public relations officers. So it was a good way to have somebody [on the Club board] connected to SAAC that wouldn’t be leaving next year, because a lot of the SAAC officers are seniors. What will your duties be as Heisman Club student board members? SF: I think the biggest thing that they’re having us do is be the voice for and the connection to students. The Heisman Club [members are] a little disconnected. They were Oberlin athletes. They love Oberlin athletics — that’s why they’re part of it. But many of them also don’t know everything that’s going on right now because they do have some distance from Oberlin, so I think we’re their eyes and ears. What’s your impression of the Heisman Club’s impact

Khalil Rivers (left) and Sarah Feinberg on campus and how it could improve? KR: I think [it has] a big impact. When we report that [sports teams] need new uniforms, new football equipment, I think that’s often where the funds come from. SF: I think athletics are rebooting at Oberlin and I think that the [members of the board] have a huge part in that. Not only are they recreating the image of being an Oberlin athlete, they’re remaking the financial backing that we have as an athletic department at this school. They want to be part of our lives as student-athletes so that when we graduate we’re grateful for the Heisman Club and we want to give back. How do you think you two can

Homecoming Home Games Friday, Sept. 23 5 p.m. 7 p.m.

Field Hockey vs. Ohio Wesleyan University at Knowlton Athletics Complex Volleyball vs. Kenyon College (Senior Day) in Philips gym

Saturday, Sept. 24 12 p.m. 2:30 p.m. 6 p.m.

Men’s Soccer vs. DePauw University at Fred Shults Field Women’s Soccer vs. DePauw University at Fred Shults Field Football vs. Ohio Wesleyan University at Knowlton Athletics Complex

help more students become aware of the Heisman Club’s work and mission? KR: I think just telling the team about what the Heisman Club is, and if the football players think our equipment needs to be updated, they tell me and I’ll go tell the Heisman board — just making sure its presence is known on the football team and among the coaching staff. SF: I think I have a really great opportunity in my connection with SAAC. Once we get our SAAC meetings going regularly, I’d like, at some point in each monthly meeting, to ask if there’s anything people are thinking of to mention to the Heisman Club. I think that [the board] seems like this really big, far away entity. But just from our friends knowing that we’re

on it, people are already more comfortable with it and want to talk about it more. Can you explain in your own words what the Heisman Club does? KR: It’s a group of alumni that are still heavily active, not only in Oberlin’s athletic circle, but just in Oberlin life in general. They gather information and ideas and then create funds for different projects. SF: I think they want to see how they can better the Oberlin athletics alumni network and student life on campus. The Heisman Club is working to make connections with people that aren’t just from the same graduation year. Their common bond is that they love Oberlin athletics. So I think, while the

What about your experience as Oberlin athletes has made you want to serve on the Heisman board? KR: I was very heavily recruited. [Head football] Coach [ Jay] Anderson came directly to my high school and talked to my parents a lot. The coaches are very family-oriented and very active in how they do things. The relationships the coaches have with their players is a big part of why I came here. SF: I definitely had a similar experience with recruiting. [Head women’s basketball] Coach [Kerry] Jenkins was awesome. On my recruiting visit, it was so clear that the team cared about bringing in recruits that would buy into trying to win championships, but also the idea that your team is your family. I think that our Athletic Department allows that camaraderie and fosters it. It’s not put on the back burner. Do you think you’ll stay involved with the Heisman Club and/or Oberlin athletics in general when you graduate? KR: Absolutely. One of my favorite parts about the football team is how involved players are, even after they leave. We’ve already had plenty of alumni come back and watch our games. I definitely want to continue that tradition. SF: I would love to always be a part of Oberlin athletics. Interview by Jackie McDermott, Sports editor Photo by Bryan Rubin, Photo editor

Men’s Soccer to Kick Off Conference Play Continued from page 16 Shults Field tomorrow to face off against the University of Mount Union Purple Raiders. The week ended on a high note as the team registered another win. Although the competition was even during the first half, Oberlin had an offensive edge, outshooting Mount Union ––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––

“We’ve been scoring some great goals this year. … We’re attacking creatively and with composure, and we trust each other in the attacking third. ” Jonah Blume-Kemkes Junior midfielder –––––––––––––––––––––––––––––– 6–1 on-goal. The Yeomen utilized the break at half-time to dominate the second half. While the Purple Raiders were held scoreless in the first half, junior forward Timothy Williams notched his sec-

ond goal of the year just three minutes into the half off a dual assist from BlumeKemkes and Bulucea. “When we recruited Trenton [Bulucea], we knew it was going to take him a little time to get comfortable with the college game,” New said. “But in his sophomore year, he’s been really effective and pretty deadly with his final passes [leading] some really good goals.” Thirteen minutes after Williams’ goal, the Mount Union defense tripped up as junior defenseman Matthew Bach-Lombardo drilled a free kick, which BlumeKemkes readily sent on its path to the net. “I felt pretty great about my goal,” Blume-Kemkes said. “It was off a set piece that we had right outside the box. Matthew did all the hard work, though — he put it right on my foot. All I had to do was tap it in.” While the team has had success on the offensive side of the ball, New knows the team must progress defensively as NCAC matches begin. “We need to make sure we’re sharp defensively and clean up as we prepare for conference,” New said. After a 4–3 win over Baldwin Wallace

University to improve their overall record to 6–1, the Yeomen are hoping to carry their momentum into the first NCAC game against DePauw University Saturday at noon. “The spirits are high,” New said prior to the match. “[Baldwin Wallace] could ––––––––––––––––––––––––––––

“The defense in fron of [Kraemer] has been playing pretty well, but we know as we come up to these conference games that we’re going to rely on Koryn to come up with a couple big saves for us.” Blake New Head Coach –––––––––––––––––––––––––––––– be a bit of a trap, so we don’t want to be thinking past it into this weekend. We’ve got to make sure we don’t overlook this game, and then focus on Saturday.”

The Oberlin Review, September 23, 2016

Sports

Heisman Club Inducts Hall of Famers Jackie McDermott Sports Editor The recently revamped Heisman Club Hall of Fame will add four new members this weekend, inducting a legendary coach and administrator, an All-American swimmer and two of the most decorated track and field athletes in school history. Don Hunsinger, Thomas B. Geiger Jr., OC ’76, Shannon Houlihan, OC ’94, and Toju Omatete, OC ’90, will be honored at the Hall of Fame induction dinner today to kick off Homecoming weekend.

ing the Heisman Club and served on the Hall of Fame selection committee since its inception. His fellow committee members, however, kept his nomination a secret, and when he was named an inductee, Hunsinger said he was speechless. “To be on that wall with the people that have preceded me — it still hasn’t hit home that that’s going to happen,” Hunsinger said. “It’s beyond my wildest imagination that that would ever take place. I think after Friday night I will breathe a sigh of relief that it really is true, that I’m not dreaming this.”

Don Hunsinger From 1970–1972 and 1978–2008, Hunsinger served as a professor, director of athletics and physical education and coached virtually every sport at Oberlin. Once head coach of men’s and women’s tennis, football and baseball and assistant coach of men’s and women’s basketball, Hunsinger’s diverse sporting mind made him a four-time North Coast Athletic Conference Coach of the Year. He won a career total of 435 games. Hunsinger said that his Hall of Fame induction speech today will credit his success to his players — 14 of whom are also in the Hall of Fame — and his colleagues. “I’m going to talk about what a privilege it was to work at such a fine institution and all the wonderful young men and women I got to coach and all the coaches I worked with,” Hunsinger said. Still active in Oberlin athletics, Hunsinger frequents the Oberlin tennis courts which bear his name. The NCAC award that honors an outstanding male student-athlete annually is also named after Hunsinger, one of the founders of the conference. He is also the assistant director of the NCAC tennis tournament and assistant director of the swimming championships. Hunsinger was instrumental in start-

Thomas Geiger Jr. Thomas Geiger Jr. is a former All-American and former school record holder in three events. His endurance in the pool made him one of the standout athletes of the 1970s. Geiger was coached by fellow Heisman Club Hall of Fame member and former Head Swimming and Diving Coach Dick Michaels. Michaels said Geiger’s ability to swim all day distinguished him from other athletes. “I would swim him back-to-back frequently in the 1,000 and the 200 free. So he would swim the 1,000 just fast enough to win it and get out of the pool and sit on the block and wait for everybody else to finish, then come back and win the 200 in the very next event,” Michaels said. Geiger was a Great Lakes Athletic Conference Champion and school record holder in the 500- and 1,000-meter races and also notched a school record in the 1,650-yard event. In the 1,650-yard race, Geiger earned his greatest achievement — a ninth place finish at the NCAA championships and All-America honors. Michaels said the level of swimming in the North Coast Athletic Conference makes Geiger’s achievements even more impressive, as he competed against multi-

ple-time national champion teams such as Denison University and Kenyon College. “In my business we have finite bounds. We have a stopwatch that tells us if you’re good or not. He was an All-American, he was in the top dozen athletes in the country in his events and that proved it. And he was a conference scorer in the top [six] every year in his events in the best Division III swimming conference in the country year after year after year,” Michaels said. After graduating from Oberlin, Geiger married his college sweetheart, Paulette Krestel Geiger, OC ’77. Geiger is now the President of Capital Tire, Inc. a large wholesale tire business in Toledo, Ohio, and a member of the Board of Trustees at Lourdes College. Shannon Houlihan and Toju Omatete The two youngest inductees, Houlihan and Omatete, have more in common than being track and field athletes. Both were outstanding in myriad events and are two of Oberlin’s most decorated track athletes of all time. Heisman Club Hall of Fame committee chair JD Donovan praised Houlihan’s ability to run almost any event. “When she ran, she was kind of a jack-of-all-trades person,” Donovan said. “Whatever event they needed her to run in, she ran it and did very well. So she’s probably one of the more outstanding track athletes of the last couple decades.” Houlihan earned the title of NCAC Indoor Triple Jump Champion four years in a row and earned NCAC Indoor Field Athlete of the Year honors during her senior year. She qualified for the NCAA Championships in the event twice and set an Oberlin record during her first year with a jump of 36 feet, 11 inches — a record that stood until 2016. Houlihan also excelled in the 55-meter hurdles and 4x200-meter relay. Over the course of her career, she earned a total of five NCAC championships and 19 all-conference accolades. In addition to her track accomplishments, Houlihan was a senior captain of the field hockey team. She is now the head track and field coach and a cross country assistant coach at St. Catherine University in St. Paul, MN. Houlihan will be joined in the Hall of Fame by fellow triple jumper Omatete, another high-flying field athlete. “One of his good friends, [a former runner at Denison University], was talking about him at a track meet and said, ‘Oh yeah, I remember him. He ran every event every time I ran against him.’ I’m sure that wasn’t the case but he certainly was a multiple-event runner and very talented.” Omatete’s ability to perform in many events both outdoors and indoors set him apart. He collected 14 All-NCAC honors — seven indoor and seven outdoor — and held school records in field and running events. During his first year, Omatete set the tone for a winning career. He won the NCAC outdoor 400 meter championship in school-record time and won a triple jump NCAC championship, clearing 44’03”. In an Oberlin track career that spanned just three years, he earned school records in the triple jump, the 400 and the 4x400 relay. Omatete is a teacher and academic counselor who most recently worked as GED Coordinator and Instructor at the Latin America Youth Center in Washington, D.C. Additional reporting by Jack Brewster.

Page 15

Editorial: Individuality Ignored in NFL Continued from page 16 proper touchdown dance, he was also fined an additional $6,076 for uniform and equipment violations. During the game against Washington, he wore baby-blue cleats instead of ones in mandated team colors. Once again, Brown had company as Houston Texans wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins was fined the same amount of money for sporting Kanye West’s Adidas Yeezy Boost 350 cleats. The NFL needs to be strict in its enforcement of certain rules and regulations. Enforcing fines for more detrimental offenses — substance abuse and unnecessary roughness calls, such as roughing the passer, horse collar tackles, chop blocks and late hits — is necessary. But the uniform and celebration fines need to stop. Let the players show some personality, I say. Fans love to watch football for the hard-hitting action and competitive play. But the league needs to realize people also tune in for the entertainment factor. When a player scores a touchdown, let him do his 10-second dance. Don’t fine him over $10,000 for expressing himself. After Brown was fined for his dancing and footwear, the media asked him about the repercussions. The money he owed the NFL was “nothing to a boss,” Brown said. Since star players like Brown have such high salaries, a $10,000 fine has little financial impact, failing to disincentivize players for these petty crimes. Throughout the 2015 season, 181 players were fined. Though fines are common, especially for celebrations and uniform and equipment violations, it’s about more than the money to these players. They want to show individuality. Seattle Seahawks safety Earl Thomas is at the forefront of the players’ movement ––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––

The league needs to realize people also tune in for the entertainment factor. When a player scores a touchdown, let him do his 10-second dance. Don’t fine him over $10,000 for expressing himself. –––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––– to exercise their freedom of expression in the league. Last year, Thomas tweeted, “The NFL should take notes from the NBA. Allow us to express our creativity without fining us. Celebrate our players while we R [sic] still living.” The problem is that the NFL struggles with relating to its players. The league has had a particularly difficult time grasping why these players love football or who they are playing for — and I don’t mean the name on the front of their jersey. For example, Pittsburgh Steelers running back DeAngelo Williams was fined $5,787 last year for having “We will find a cure” written across his eye black in support of his mother and four aunts he lost to breast cancer. Is the NFL justified in fining a man playing for the loved ones he lost? The answer is simple: No. In the future, the NFL needs to put itself in the players’ shoes and understand why these million-dollar-making individuals play the game and want to celebrate what makes them unique. Until this happens, personality will be penalized every game.

Page 16

Sports The Oberlin Review

— Cross Country —

Cross Country Jumps to Top-20 Rank Peyton Boughton Rejoining the ranks of the top Division III teams in the nation, the women’s cross country team earned the No. 20 spot in the most recent United States Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association Coaches’ poll. The Yeowomen jumped 15 spots in the rankings since last season, largely due to impressive performances in their first three meets — including a third-place finish in the Yellow Jacket Invitational and a dominant first-place finish at the Bison Invite. The Yeowomen were joined by

men’s cross country when they headed east to compete in the Yellow Jacket Invitational in Rochester, NY, last Saturday. The women recorded a third-place finish in the 6-kilometer race while the men came in 10th in the 8K. “We learned what we need to build on while still putting on a strong performance,” said junior Owen Mittenthal. “We tested ourselves against some strong teams.” Senior captain EJ Douglass’ top-10 finish in the 8K earned him North Coast Athletic Conference Men’s Cross Country Athlete of the Week accolades. His 26 minute, 8 second finish secured sec-

Sophomore Grant Sheely grinds through the 8K. The Dobbs Ferry, NY, native was the second Yeomen finisher at the Yellow Jacket Invitational on Sept. 18, clocking in at 27.31.7. Photo Courtesy of OC Athletics

ond place. In the 6K, sophomore Linnea Halsten worked for a 15th-place finish at 22:41 against 351 competitors. First-years Shannon Wargo and Oona Jung-Beeman logged top-20 finishes as well. The previous weekend, in stifling heat, the women’s cross country team captured first in the 6K while the men won second in the 8K at the Bison Invitational at Bethany College in Bethany, WV. Oberlin beat out runners from 14 other teams, including several Division II squads. Despite encountering unfamiliar competition and challenging terrain in their first time running at Bethany, Head Coach Ray Appenheimer said that the risk taken by his squads paid off. “We chose to go there because it was going to be a challenge … a new course with new competition,” Appenheimer said. “We make no excuses and we want to use all these conditions that may look to other people as an obstacle to be an opportunity for us to be tougher and better.” Halsten had a particularly impressive performance, leading the team in the 6K with a time of 23:41 to place second overall. First-years Marija Crook, JungBeeman and Wargo completed the race in fourth, fifth, and sixth places respectively in the trio’s 6K debut. Senior captain Emily Cur-

ley united the squad early on in the race with her veteran pacing strategy to secure 12th place with a strong kick in the home stretch. Jung-Beeman said the team’s performance at Bethany showcased its dedication to encouraging each other on the course. “If you’re feeling really good [during the race], you can always take someone with you if they’re struggling,” Jung-Beeman said. On the men’s side, Douglass fought for second place in the 8K with a time of 27:31, a mere six seconds behind the first-place finisher. The team’s next three finishers were first-years Duncan Reid, David Brubacher and Taylor William, clearing the finish in 13th, 14th and 17th places overall. Douglass said mental strength propelled the Yeomen to a strong performance. “The workouts we’ve been doing have been a lot of mental focus and working on how to stay engaged during the race — that’s what paid off,” said Douglass. “I was astounded — a lot of the first-years showed this mental focus and toughness that I typically see from veteran runners.” Looking forward, both teams will take a week off before running in the All-Ohio Championships in Cedarville, Ohio next Friday.

— Men’s Soccer —

Yeomen Riding Five-Game Win Streak Marissa Maxfield The Yeomen propelled themselves to a five-game win streak with dominant defense and an aggressive offense after going 1–1 in their opening matches. The team’s most recent victories show the Yeomen are finding their stride as they prepare for their first North Coast Athletic Conference game Saturday. The Yeomen defeated the Grove City College Wolverines for their fourth win of the season Sept. 14. Grove City’s Stephen Betteridge

claimed the first goal on a breakaway just 17 minutes into the game, but Oberlin rebounded when senior forward Sam Weiss struck back 15 minutes later. Weiss dribbled solo into the offensive third, hooking a low shot that the goalkeeper deflected into the net. Weiss again struck 15 minutes later, slotting a ball to the top corner off an assist from sophomore midfielder Trenton Bulucea for his third goal of the season. An Oberlin native, Weiss is currently tied for the team lead in goals and points per game.

Midfielder Jiadi Cheng dribbles past a Heidelberg defender. The Yeomen are riding a five-game win streak entering the conference opener against DePauw University Saturday at noon. Photo by Rick Yu, Photo editor

“We’ve been scoring some great total number of saves to three. goals this year,” junior midfielder Jo“The defense in front of [Kraenah Blume-Kemkes said. “Sam had mer] has been playing pretty well, a screamer against Grove City, and but we know as we come up to these Gideon [Tamir] had an [impressive] conference games that we’re going diving header against Geneva [Col- to rely on Koryn to come up with a lege]. We’re attacking creatively and ––––––––––––––––––––––––––– with composure, and we trust each other in the attacking third.” Less than four minutes after Bulu- “It felt really good to get cea’s first assist, he executed another on the score sheet, espegreat feed, sending senior midfielder cially as a result of such and captain Nick Wertman through good play from the team. for his first goal of the season and 16th career goal, boosting the Oberlin We’ve been playing really lead to 3–1. good soccer and it’s only “It felt really good to get on the been getting better as the score sheet, especially as a result of such good play from the team,” Wert- season has gone on, so we man said. “We’ve been playing really have really great potential good soccer and it’s only been getting going forward.” better as the season has gone on, so we have really great potential going Nick Wertman forward.” With a comfortable two-goal Senior captain and midfielder advantage, the Yeomen continued ––––––––––––––––––––––––––– fending off their opponent, blocking several solid goal attempts. The Wol- couple big saves for us,” Head Coach verines were relentless though, and Blake New said. “Last year, we went to with 10 minutes left, attacker Dale [Grove City] and probably played the Reese found the back of the net to re- worst game we’ve played in the last duce their deficit to 3–2. five years. The guys were hungry for Toward the end of the game, some retribution, so it was nice to get Grove City’s Betteridge and Blake that win, for sure.” Baer both had scoring chances, but The Yeomen returned to the Fred Yeomen goalkeeper Koryn Kraemer had two crucial stops, bringing his See Men’s, page 14

September 23, 2016

NFL Flags Personality Darren Zaslau Sports Editor Until recently, “twerking” and “football” have probably never been used in the same sentence. Thanks to Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver Antonio Brown, they have now. In the team’s 38–16 win over Washington in week one of the 2016 NFL season, Brown gave a performance to remember with both his athletic and dancing abilities. After burning down the sideline past Washington cornerback Bashaud Breeland to catch a 26-yard touchdown pass, Brown showed off his twerking skills in end zone in celebration of his second touchdown reception of the game. Unfortunately for Brown, his moves cost him a steep $9,115 in fines. To add insult to injury, the Steelers were also penalized 15 yards on the ensuing point-after-touchdown for unsportsmanlike conduct. Brown is not the sole victim in the NFL’s pursuit of curtailing celebrations in week one. The league fined seven players for celebrations in the first week of play alone, making the NFL $75,961 richer. Although seemingly costly, Brown’s fine was on the cheaper side as three players, including New York Giants wide receivers Odell Beckham Jr. and Victory Cruz, were each fined $12,154 for excessive celebrations as well. We could easily end this discussion by stating that the NFL should err on the side of leniency when issuing celebration fines in order to be less like “Big Brother,” but the issues run deeper than that. Though this is just the beginning of the NFL wrongfully intruding on players’ individuality. Not only was Brown charged $9,115 for his imSee Editorial, page 15