December 7, 2018

The Oberlin Review December 7, 2018

established 1874

Volume 147, Number 11

ExCo Program Turns 50 Yan Jin Saul Kester

ing your communication skills, building your network, and articulating your value.

This new structure marks a change from the initial Career Communities program pitched earlier in the semester. In September, the communities were constructed around Wisr, a networking platform used by the College, and featured an expert advisor with experience in the relevant industry.

Now, the program has mostly moved off Wisr and will focus more on preparatory workshops.

The decision to revamp the program received strong support from President Carmen Ambar as well as students concerned about entering the job market.

“The Career Communities initiative will help students articulate the connections between their academic and co-curricular learning and potential career pathways,” wrote Ambar in an email to the Review. “It will do this by offering faculty and professional mentorship, and by providing timely opportunities for internships and cohort support that draws on the powerful tradition of ‘Obies helping Obies.’

The Career Communities initiative is designed to ensure that students find ways to translate the transformational learning they experienced at Oberlin into careers of leadership, service, and changing the world for good.”

College senior Sadie Keller, a peer advisor in the Career Development Center, expressed similar sentiments,

Oberlin will have its first ever ExCo Showcase on Thursday, Dec. 13 to commemorate the Experimental College program’s 50th anniversary.

The Experimental College was founded in 1968 to supplement Oberlin College’s traditional curriculum, offering atypical courses generally taught by non-professors, and not usually available at institutions of higher education.

“It was a time when Oberlin College was going through a lot of changes, and they were developing a more experimental approach to education,” said Marah Ajilat, College sophomore and ExCo committee member. “That’s also the year they started Winter Term.”

There have been 61 ExCo courses offered this semester, and the program has continued to grow since its founding.

“It started out pretty small,” said Lars GallegosDreith, College junior and co-chair of the ExCo committee. “There were like 12 courses that first semester.”

The program is entirely student-run. The ExCo committee is responsible for reviewing course applications from College students and community members as well as overseeing the grading process. It is one of the few organizations that has a faculty seat on the College Faculty Committee, which gives the committee a role in important administrative decisions.

The program has continued to search for innovative and progressive ways to teach students throughout its 50 years.

“For us in the mid-’80s, ExCo meant staying in touch with Oberlin’s free-thinking past, and keeping the flame alive of the students who had founded it,” wrote William Thomas, OC ’87, cochair of the ExCo committee from 1984 to 1987, in an email to the Review. “We wanted to offer classes outside the normal curriculum, and to broaden the idea of who could be a valuable instructor. Our committee tried to make sure the classes we offered were worth the credit they received, and we [were] very happy to have a full and lively, diverse catalog each semester.”

The ExCo program connects students and teachers by providing a space where Obies can engage with, and learn directly from those with similar interests. “[ExCos are] a creative space where people can learn about things that don’t fit into a traditional classroom setting,” said College sophomore Alex Jensen, ExCo committee member and Steel Pan ExCo instructor.

College junior Rosemary Shin, Beginning Tap ExCo instructor, notes that ExCos can help students grow and become more confident. Those in Shin’s course spend two hours a week learning the fundamentals of tap and later learning to choreograph their own pieces.

“We’ve built this little family,” Shin says.

“At first I see this nervousness in the dancers, but now, they are dancing their own dances that they’ll perform in front of so many people.

They’ve become more confident in their bodies overall. It’s really exciting to see.”

Many ExCo teachers also experience personal growth through the process of designing and leading a course.

“Some people have found that ExCo[s have]

See Career, page 4

See Experimental, page 2

Associate Dean of Students Dana Hamdan explains the Career Communities initiative at an information session Wednesday, Dec. 5 in King Building.

Photo by Ananya Gupta, Managing Editor

New Career Communities Pilot Announced Sydney Allen Editor-in-Chief Roman Broszkowski Senior News Staff Writer Associate Dean of Students and Interim Director of the Career Development Center Dana Hamdan unveiled the pilot for the Career Communities program in a series of four information sessions earlier this week and last.

The program will launch this spring and will allow roughly 120 juniors and seniors to participate in a one-credit, co-curricular course that culminates in a funded summer internship.

“The Career Communities initiative makes it possible for us to address Oberlin’s ‘missing link,’ if you will, for supporting students in making the transition from college to career,” Hamdan wrote in an email to the Review. “The learning goals of the program are to help students (1) understand and articulate the transferable skills they have developed at Oberlin, (2) develop a professional network of mentors and potential employers, [and] (3) explore possible career paths through internships. This aligns with the Career Development Center’s larger strategy of supporting students [as they] prepare for life after Oberlin in educationally and developmentally appropriate ways.”

The info sessions, which ran from Nov. 29 to Dec. 5, pitched the program to students as an opportunity to workshop essential job skills and get direction for career plans. After out-

lining the program’s basic structure, Hamdan answered questions and addressed potential concerns.

Many of those in attendance raised questions around financial accessibility. Hamdan explained that the program includes a guaranteed funded internship for each participant, which the Career Development Center is in the process of securing through parents, alumni, and partnerships with local, national, and international businesses and organizations.

Current offerings include opportunities at Google, CBS Paramount, Columbia Pictures, Princeton Architectural Press, and the Project on Middle East Democracy, to name a few.

The program has four communities — Business, Finance, and Consulting; Non-Profit and the Public Sector; Arts and Creative Professions; and Entrepreneurship and Innovation. Each will accept 30 students. The plan is to roll out five more communities in fall 2019, namely Medical, Public, and Global Health Professions; Science and Technology; Education; Law and Public Policy; and Professions in Music.

Before committing to a summer internship, participants will meet with their communities five times during the spring semester and work with their peers as part of a one-credit, co-curricular module course. The five sessions will cover the following topics, tailored to each community: discovering your path, connecting to your major, course selection, improv-

CONTENTS NEWS

OPINIONS

THIS WEEK

ARTS & CULTURE

SPORTS

02 Student Representatives Reach Out During Constituents’ Week

06 President Trump Doesn’t Cause Hate, Apathy Does

08 International Perspectives: Profiling Six International Students at Oberlin

10 Lizzo, Iglooghost to Make for Memorable Solarity

15 From the Perspective of a Nonbinary Athlete

11 Snail Mail’s Midweek Show Met with Applause

16 Alumni Named for Next Generation Heisman Board

03 Grand Menorah Lighting Unites Oberlin

06 The Tricks to Making Ramen Even More Delicious

The Oberlin Review | December 7, 2018

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Experimental College to Feature Community Work Continued from page 1

helped with their careers. It’s giving them the experience to capitalize on when [they’re] applying for fellowships and grad school,” Ajilat said. “For some students, it has helped them specialize in subjects that are relevant to their major but not offered at the College.”

The ExCo program connects students with similar passions, but it also connects Oberlin students with Oberlin community members.

“It’s open to everyone,” Ajilat said.

“I personally would like to see more interactions between students and community members, because my personal experience with community members has always been positive and I’ve always found that being around the people I met here in town has really grounded me. Being an international student, it’s very easy to not feel in the right place. For me, getting off campus is just heading downtown and having coffee with someone from town.

That’s really nice, and we should really work to bridge [the College and the community] together.”

The ExCo showcase will feature a variety of student work at the Cat in the Cream from 6-7 p.m. on Dec. 13.

The Cryptozoology ExCo, one of the featured courses, will cover the walls of the Cat in the Cream with students’ drawings of their favorite cryptids.

“It proved to be something really cool about Oberlin,” said College junior Adrienne Rozells, instructor of the Cryptozoology ExCo. “Which is that if you have an interest in something, you will find people who will want to support you … even if it’s really niche and unusual.”

The K-Pop Koreography ExCo will perform to the song “Forever Young”

by Blackpink at the showcase.

“We don’t have a K-Pop club on campus, so I see this as an opportunity to hang out with people who like K-Pop, and then, because I have experience in dancing, for those who have no experience in dancing, I can teach them the choreography they like and we can also share our interests,” College junior and ExCo instructor Keyi Feng said.

Although this is the first ExCo showcase, organizers hope to continue the event and open it to more performers in future years.

“I do hope one day that [the showcase] will be not only be limited to people who’ve taken an ExCo that semester, but also [include those

Students in the Beginning Dungeons and Dragons ExCo sit down for a game.

Photo by Maria Turner, Photo Editor

who have] in previous semesters,” Ajilat said. “That way, we can have community members who’ve taken an ExCo to support [the showcase] or staff members. And also, I’m hoping that in the spring semester, we’d have the ExCo showcase closer to the Commencement/reunion weekend.

That way, alumni who are coming back to the campus for the reunion and who have taken ExCos could come and share with everyone. I definitely want it to be a community thing as well.”

Students can register for Spring ExCo’s during the upcoming add/drop period.

Student Representatives Reach Out During Constituents’ Week

Students fill their cups with hot cocoa at the Constituents Week event “Hot Chocolate with Ambar” Monday, Dec. 3 in Wilder Hall.

Photo by Mallika Pandey, Photo Editor

Anisa Curry Vietze Senior Staff Writer Student Senate and the Student Finance Committee collaborated with other student government organizations to arrange this year’s Constituents’ Week from Dec. 3-7. The week-long event was created to build community and to help students better communicate with their

student representatives.

“We tried to mix [Constituents’ Week] with both community-based events and information-based ones,” said College sophomore and Student Senator Caleb Knapp.

Events included campus-wide pajama day and hot chocolate with President Ambar Monday, an informational panel on student government Tuesday,

The Oberlin R eview December 7, 2018 Volume 147, Number 11 (ISSN 297–256) 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.

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Editors-in-Chief

Sydney Allen Nathan Carpenter Managing Editor Ananya Gupta News Editors Gabby Greene

Jenna Gyimesi Opinions Editor Jackie Brant Cont. Opinions Editor Luce Nguyen This Week Editor Mikaela Fishman Arts Editors Kate Fishman

Katie Lucey Sports Editors Alexis Dill

Ify Ezimora Photo Editors Mallika Pandey Maria Turner Senior Staff Writers Carson Dowhan Roman Broszkowski Anisa Curry Vietze Julie Schreiber

a “Committee Cocoa and Krispy Kreme” with the Student Finance Committee Wednesday, a Student Senate Chicken Fry Thursday, and a mixer with the Conservatory Council of Students and Student Senate with live music tonight. “[Four years ago] when I was starting on Senate, Senate wasn’t really an official thing, it existed and people didn’t really take it seriously,” said College

Layout Editors

Anya H. Spector Tori Fisher Lila Michaels Lillian Jones Business Manager Jared Steinberg Ads Manager Jabree Hason Web Manager Mikaela Fishman Production Manager Giselle Glaspie Production Staff Olive Hwang Lior Krancer Leo Lasdun Courtney Loeb Devyn Malouf Katherine MacPhail Madi Mettenburg Annie Schoonover

senior Kirsten Mojziszek, health liaison on Student Senate. “People weren’t doing really hard-hitting work — it was just sort of barely getting by. The past couple semesters it’s been getting more and more legitimate. People who run for Senate aren’t doing it just for a résumé booster; they’re doing it because they have things they want to do on campus, which is amazing. We actually have a passionate body of people, but the perception of Student Senate hadn’t really caught up to that.”

Constituents’ Week was held for the first time last year to get input on the student body’s needs. The information was gathered predominately through student surveys. In contrast, this year, student representatives focused on facilitating dialogue with the student body.

“I think I hear a lot from people that I interact with and my friends that they’re a little unclear about all the things that student government does,” said Meg Parker, College senior and policy manager for the Student Finance Committee.

“The reason that we came up with Constituents’ Week last year was [because] we were trying to think about ways to be more connected to the student body and have more engagement with students.”

Activities this week were mostly organized by and centered around Student Senate and Student Finance Committee, but some events also included the Honor Committee and Conservatory See Constituents’, page 3

Corrections: In “Boba Businesses Open Debate on Campus,” published Nov. 30, College junior Alex Chuang was not properly identified by this first name and College year.

To submit a correction, email managingeditor@ oberlinreview.org.

Grand Menorah Lighting Unites Oberlin

Security Notebook Thursday, Nov. 29, 2018

5:41 p.m. Campus Safety officers were requested to assist a student who struck themself in the head with a piece of ice.

Friday, Nov. 30, 2018

10:45 a.m. Officers were requested to assist an injured student at a Village Housing Unit on Elm Street. The student was transported to Student Health Center and then Mercy Allen Hospital for treatment.

6:19 p.m. Staff reported graffiti in the men’s restroom in the basement of Wilder Hall. The graffiti was removed.

7:33 p.m. Officers and members of the Oberlin Fire Department responded to a fire alarm on the third floor of Dascomb Hall. Smoke from cooking activated the detector. The alarm was reset.

Saturday, Dec. 1, 2018

Students and community members gathered in Wilder Bowl last Sunday night for the Grand Menorah Lighting Ceremony sponsored by Chabad at Oberlin. The event opened with remarks from President Carmen Ambar, followed by an a capella performance by the Obertones. Rabbi Shlomo Elkan lit the menorah and led the crowd in three Hanukkah prayers. The event provided an opportunity for members of the Jewish community and others to celebrate the first night of Hanukkah.

“As an Oberlin student, I’m often really busy with my classes and other commitments and I don’t make practicing religion a priority,” College senior Juliet Flam-Ross said. “But it was a really amazing feeling to be walking into the library to work on a paper and run into a Jewish practice that made me feel like I was home.”

Attendees were encouraged to bring gently used books for Chabad’s People of the Book project, an effort that donates books to incarcerated people in Lorain County.

Text by Gabby Greene, News Editor Photo by Talia Barton

Constituents’ Week Opens Campus Dialogue Continued from page 2

Council of Students. Many student government representatives stressed the importance of communication between officers and students.

“We do our job best when we see more students than we do administrators,” said Patrick Powers, student senator and College sophomore. “I think the way in which student government fails is when we do our weekly meetings and our little working groups and the only people who we interact with are other senators and administrators, because things may happen, but it quickly becomes less and less representative because it’s only the people who are inside of the system making those changes.”

Some students expressed that knowing their student representatives personally has a positive impact on their relationship with student government.

“Face time with student representatives can be really important,” said College senior Abby Bellows. “If I have certain things to say, I know these people and can talk to them. The snacks were also tempting.”

Others were just excited about the fun- and food-filled events — specifically Student Senate’s chicken fry.

“It was good, because I didn’t eat today and then they had chicken fingers, and I was going to eat a really bad DeCafé sandwich but then instead I had chicken fingers,” College first-year Malcom Seymour-Jones said.

Constituents’ Week also offered an The Oberlin Review | December 7, 2018

8:10 a.m. Officers advised an unauthorized person that Philips gym was closed and that they would have to leave. The individual was uncooperative but eventually left the building.

5:45 p.m. A student reported that someone who was not a student stole money from a wallet in a practice room on the first floor of Robertson Hall.

The student approached the individual and demanded the money be returned.

The individual returned the money but couldn’t be located afterwards.

Sunday, Dec. 2, 2018

9:26 a.m. Staff reported a broken window on the third floor of South Hall. The window was boarded up and will be replaced.

2:50 p.m. An officer on patrol observed two individuals skateboarding on the east side of Warner Center. As the officer approached, one individual left the area. The other was identified as a student and was warned about skateboarding on campus.

5:54 p.m. Officers and members of the Oberlin Fire Department responded to a fire alarm at a Union Street Housing Unit. The alarm was activated by steam from cooking. The alarm was reset.

Monday, Dec. 3, 2018

Student representatives open up dialogue with fellow students at the Student Government Constituents’ Week Panel on Tuesday, Dec. 4.

Photo by Maria Turner, Photo Editor

opportunity for student representatives to communicate the dedication and commitment they have to Oberlin and the students they represent.

“It’s not just performative, it’s not just for show, we’re not just doing it for our resumés; we really do want to see institutional change that works in favor of the students,” said College first-year Rebecca Kukushkin, outreach officer for SFC. “Right now a lot of students are frustrated. [As] liaisons between the school the student body and the administration, we really want to do [our] best and [to] work on behalf of the students.”

Although Constituents’ Week offers

students a chance to voice their perspectives, student government representatives emphasized that they want to hear student perspectives all year long.

“I would just reiterate that student government is here to help you in any way possible,” Mojziszek said. “ ... We have these opportunities to raise issues to a higher level because we meet with administrators on the regular. There are ways to make change on this campus, so never feel hopeless. If you want to get something done, I think there’s always a way and an avenue, and we’re here to help facilitate that and raise your voices up.”

8:51 a.m. Staff members reported that a strange note was found on their office door upon arriving for work in the morning. The Oberlin Police Department was contacted about the incident, which is currently under investigation.

6:44 p.m. A student reported the theft of their backpack from under the firstfloor north staircase at Philips gym. The backpack contained a MacBook Pro computer, charger, class notes, wallet, cash, a driver’s license, and textbooks.

A report was also filed with Oberlin Police Department.

10:57 p.m. Officers and members of the Oberlin Fire Department responded to a fire alarm on the third floor of Barrows Hall. The alarm was caused by smoke from burning wood.

Tuesday, Dec. 4, 2018

5:26 a.m. Officers transported an ill student from East Hall to Mercy Allen Hospital.

11:30 a.m. Officers responded to a vehicle accident in the Wilder Hall parking lot. A vehicle backed into the dumpster, causing damage to the rear window and tailgate. No injuries were reported.

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Career Communities Will Launch this Spring Continued from page 2

adding that the program could help students navigate internships and prepare them for the job market.

“Obies naturally help each other; it’s just what we do,” Keller said.

“The career communities feel like a long-needed institutionalized version of these values. My professional experiences have come from help from professors, the Career Center, and fellow peers. My [first] year I just assumed I’d have to figure it out alone. These programs are going to be a huge help for both individual student success and creating a more cohesive community.”

College junior Leo Hochberg heard about the program from a Nov. 14 email from Hamdan, heralded by the much-discussed subject line, “Let’s get this bread.”

“If I wasn’t going abroad I’d apply now ... I’m applying when I get back,” he said. “I think it is a fantastic way to start my career right after Oberlin.”

In addition to providing her approval, President Ambar sent a call to action for parents and alumni to help source potential internships. Several have already responded.

The program was created in part to address student concerns about finding jobs after graduation. In a September interview with the Review, Dean of Students Meredith Raimondo acknowledged that Oberlin has sometimes lagged behind peer institutions when it comes to advising. “[A] review of peer institutions demonstrates that Oberlin is leanly staffed in this area,” Raimondo said.

“At a time when national discourse raises doubt about the value of a college education, Oberlin can play a leadership role by demonstrating how a liberal arts and/or conservatory education are more important now than ever.”

Hamdan explained that the Career Communities, in addition to the Peer Advising Leaders program and the Sophomore Opportunities and Academic Resources pilot program — which launches in February­ — were inspired by similar issues addressed in the College’s 2016 Strategic Plan ansd are part of an effort to offer students better and more cohesive advising.

“Each program is designed to propel students forward in their educational experience,” said Hamdan in an email to the Review. “The first-year Peer Advising Leaders program, the Sophomore Opportunities and Academic Resources program, and the Career Communities initiative for juniors and seniors all fit within Oberlin’s broader ‘connected learning’ initiative of bridging academic and cocurricular educational experiences.”

OFF THE CUFF

Joseph B. Maiville, Evening Circulation

Joseph Maiville, OC ’07, is the evening circulation desk supervisor at Mudd. He first visited Oberlin as a prospective student in spring 2003 and has lived here ever since.

Around Mudd, Maiville is known for his consistent, easygoing presence and love of puns. When off-campus, he is involved in local politics around Lorain County and has dabbled in music as well, fronting a heavy metal band for three years. He credits Oberlin with helping him to discover his passions, and views his job as an opportunity to give back to the community.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

Nathan Carpenter, Editor-in-Chief What are some of your duties or responsibilities as circulation desk supervisor?

I’m primarily responsible for training the student employees that work here. Additionally, I resolve any issues that come up at the desk as part of that. My job is to know everything that the students know, plus how to deal with all of the things I can’t train the students to know. But most of my job is when something doesn’t work exactly the way it’s supposed to in an interaction, I’m there to know how to handle it or figure out how to handle it.

Are you an Oberlin alumnus?

I graduated in ’07, or ’08, or ’09, actually you can pick any one of those years and you’re technically correct.

Why is that?

So my second semester, senior year, I got diverticulosis and it turned into diverticulitis. That’s an intestinal infection, and it very nearly killed me. And I ended up having to take medical incompletes for two of my four classes. They let me walk in ’07.

I was not able to complete my coursework until fall of 2008, so more than a year later.

That just happened for a bunch of different reasons, but primarily I needed to refigure out my finances, because I had to pay for another semester of Oberlin. Then I didn’t actually receive my diploma until Jan. 20, 2009. And correct me if I’m wrong, but I believe that was the same day Barry Obama was inaugurated as president of the United States of America.

Have you stayed in Oberlin since you graduated?

I mean, I never moved anywhere else.

Obviously I’ve been to other places. It’s not like, you know, “I can never leave the city limits, the outside world might get me!”

And you just had a child?

Yes, in April.

How’s that been?

I’ve been working on my dad jokes for like, 20 years, so I was 100 percent prepared for this.

Joseph B. Maiville, OC ’07, poses behind the circulation desk in Mudd library.

Photo by Maria Turner, Photo Editor

What’s your best one?

How long does a dad joke last?

I don’t know.

A paternity. That’s an original. That’s my joke. Like, I worked on that.

People who come to Mudd know that you try these jokes out on students who come by. I’m kind of curious how you built that persona.

I think that’s kind of — I don’t want to say always been me, but I’ve always been a very outgoing, sociable person and I feel like I generally have a good read on social interactions. So if someone is in a very good mood and I think a joke will land, I’ll engage them in that way. Sometimes I take risks, you know, [if ] someone’s in a bad mood and it’s like, well, they’re already in a bad mood, it’s not like I’m gonna make it worse. So I’ll just joke around with them a little bit and see if it sticks. Usually it does. It’s supposed to be a good-faith interaction.

I’m curious also if you have a particular funny story from your time working at Mudd that stands out in your memory.

Does it have to be from my time working at Mudd? I mean, I have tons of great stories.

Shoot!

This is a great story. So, I was in a heavy metal band for three years. I was actually the front man for it. I did all the vocals, and I wrote a lot of the music as well. That’s another thing too; I [was] very, very deep into music growing up, so it was like a lot of that. But, are you familiar with the band Mushroomhead?

No. They’re like industrial metal. If you have ever seen any band ever that is wearing creepy old school World War I gas masks and growling into the microphones, Mushroomhead started that in the ’80s in Cleveland, they’re actually a local Cleve-

Oberlin Community News Bulletin “Elusive Utopia” Authors Host Reading at Ben Franklin Join Ben Franklin & MindFair Books to receive a signed copy of Elusive Utopia: The Struggle for Racial Equality in Oberlin, Ohio, written by Professors Emeriti of History Carol Lasser and Gary Kornblith this Saturday from 2:30–3:30 p.m. Lasser and Kornblith will also read passages from the book, which details the history of race relations at Oberlin from its inception, revealing how the College’s idealistic practices regarding abolition and racial equity changed over time to no longer represent the utopia the College initially sought to be.

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OCOPE Gives Back With Gift Drive Oberlin College Office and Professional Employees is collecting non-perishable food items and new unwrapped toys for children in Lorain County until Tuesday, Dec. 11 for the holiday season. OCOPE is partnering with Oberlin Community Services and Toys for Tots, who will distribute all donations throughout the county. Those interested in donating can bring supplies to any OCOPE board member. For more information, donors should email OCOPE at ocope@oberlin. edu.

land band. But they do a lot of Cleveland shows and they look for Cleveland bands to open for them. And we opened for Mushroomhead. Our band wasn’t quite as edgy as their crowd normally is, but we put on a great show. We got a positive audience response. As we were leaving, one of their fans had a total meltdown at me and accused me of trying to steal their friend’s car. I disengaged from that because it was a weird interaction. He actually followed us back to my car and then snuck up behind me and punched me so hard in the face that my face actually broke in five places. I then drove my guitarist and one of our friends almost all the way back to Oberlin before getting violently ill and starting to lose consciousness. It was my car that we were driving and they took me to the hospital and we found out my face was broken. And did I mention this was six days before my wedding?

So what’d you do about the wedding?

I just Wolverined and healed up super quickly. Actually the plastic surgeon said it was one of the weirdest things that he had ever seen.

Do you still play music?

The guitarist for that band and I were very good friends and he literally just moved away. We had some casual side stuff going on. We weren’t playing gigs, but we’d hang out and play music together. He’s also an Obie. I just like that story because there’s so many bizarre components to it, it doesn’t feel real. ... It just feels like a very Oberlin story. Because, you look at me and you don’t immediately think, ‘ah yes, that guy’s in a heavy metal band.’ You look at me and you’re like, “aww, young Santa Claus.”

Would you be a mall Santa?

Yes. That is a life goal. I will be a mall Santa probably no more than 20 years from now. I’m going to make it to my early 50’s, and I’m gonna be like, “There’s enough gray in here. Let’s do this.”

Community Symposium Highlights Sanctuary Practices in Oberlin Students from the StudiOC learning community “Sanctuary Practices: Race, Refuge, and Immigration in America” will present their research at a symposium on Saturday. A new initiative, StudiOC’s theme-based learning communities are clusters of two or three courses from different academic departments. The symposium, titled, “Sanctuary and Community in Oberlin,” is open to all at the Oberlin Public Library from 1:30–3:30 p.m. and will feature research projects from four student groups tackling topics like asylum law, program housing, community quilting, and narratives of Salvadoran immigrants. The presentation will be followed by a community discussion.

December 7, 2018

OPINIONS

Letter to the Editors

Resolution on the Treatment of Oberlin Employees

This resolution is the product of wide-ranging conversations among the various employee groups on campus. It identifies a set of principles and concrete demands to ensure the fair and humane treatment of all employees, consistent with our values as a college community.

Since the time of its founding, Oberlin College has stood for a commitment to equality and social justice, and identified as a place organized around the principles of learning and labor. These values must be equally applicable to the treatment of its employees and to its educational mission. Oberlin’s employees, faculty, and staff alike, have a deep personal investment in the College, and the greatest long-term commitment to it; we make our lives here. Neither the wider mission of Oberlin College nor challenging financial times can be used to justify or excuse treating its employees without dignity, respect, and fairness. Those employed at Oberlin College are not disposable and should not bear the burden for mismanagement or the consequences of decisions over which they have no control.

For all employees this means: • Job loss should only take place after all alternatives are exhausted.

• Any reduction in jobs should take place through attrition.

• Full consultation with the relevant employee group and its elected representatives should precede any loss of jobs or substantial change to compensation.

• Terminated employees should receive appropriate severance pay and continuation of benefits.

• Remaining employees should not be burdened with substantial additional work as a result of job loss; eliminating

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jobs must be accompanied by eliminating the work done.

• The principle of grandfathering should be applied to any benefit changes that involve long-term financial commitments (such as college tuition for dependents and pension contributions).

• Advance notice (a minimum of three months) of potential job termination should be given and consultation about alternatives short of termination should take place.

• Priority over external candidates and opportunities for training to move into vacant positions should be ensured.

This further means: • Scrupulous respect for tenure • Commitment to AAUP principles and procedures for any faculty terminations • Protection of visiting and non-tenure-track faculty from greater workloads, and commitment to multi-year contracts to allow planning and stability wherever possible • Scrupulous respect for the letter of union contracts • Protection of bargaining unit jobs, including no attempt to replace union positions with non-union ones, either by other internal employees or outsourcing We are committed to the principle of solidarity across employee groups.

We will not allow one employee group to be played off against another, or the poor treatment of one used to justify the protection of another.

An injury to one is an injury to all.

American Association of University Professors Oberlin Chapter, Executive Committee Milton Wyman Chair of the United Auto Workers Oberlin College Oberlin College Office and Professional Employees Executive Board Oberlin Student Labor Action Coalition See Letters, page 7

SUBMISSIONS POLICY

The Oberlin Review appreciates and welcomes letters to the editors and op-ed 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 that week’s issue. Letters may not exceed 600 words and op-eds may not exceed 800 words, except with consent of the Editorial Board.

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The Oberlin Review | December 7, 2018

Volume 147, Number 11

Editorial Board Editors-in-Chief

Sydney Allen

Nathan Carpenter

Managing Editor Ananya Gupta

Opinions Editors

Jackie Brant

Luce Nguyen

International Students Face Challenges Finding Internships, Health Care In this time of financial instability, one of President Carmen Ambar’s charges to the broader Oberlin community has been to consider how Oberlin can boldly step into the future and live out what it means to be a liberal arts college in the 21st century.

Part of that task will be finding ways to increase Oberlin’s global platform. We are fortunate to have a large population of international students who contribute significantly to our community, and while there are programs in place to help international students succeed at Oberlin and beyond, there are still steps this institution can take to further support and facilitate the students’ success.

International students, who compose approximately 13 percent of the student body and have F-1 visas, are classified as “alien authorized to work until (expiration date, if applicable, mm/dd/yyyy)” on U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services documents while obtaining an on-campus job. If you are not a U.S. citizen, non-citizen national, or lawful permanent resident you must identify as an alien entity — a dehumanizing notion that international students and other students with complicated immigration statuses must accept.

With Oberlin’s Career Development Center making serious strides in helping Obies acquire internships and jobs through projects such as the Sophomore Opportunities and Academic Resources program, Career Communities, and alumni and parent outreach, we must also take steps to specifically help international students navigate off-campus internships that often require participants to be U.S. citizens or permanent residents.

Fortunately, Career Communities — Oberlin’s newest internship-placement and career preparation program, is available to international students.

Finding effective health care is another challenge for international students. It is upsetting that international students face the stress and uncertainty of the Trump administration while padded only minimally by Oberlin’s health insurance provider, Academic Health Plans, Inc. While AHP is the only health care provider on campus, many American students are covered by family plans with better packages than those available to international students. While AHP covers several bases, essential services like gynecology are not even mentioned in the Summary of Benefits and Coverage 2018. Dermatology is not mentioned either and adult dental care is not included, must be acquired separately and costs more.

On the employment front, after graduation, students on an F-1 student visa have 90 days before graduation, and a maximum of 60 days after to apply for Optional Practical Training. OPT is the authorization available to international students, post-Oberlin, to work in the U.S. for up to a year in a job related to their degree, with the possibility of a 24-month extension for students in select STEM fields. After these one-to-three years of work eligibility, international students must attain sponsorship by companies that can afford to sponsor an H-1B work visa. Otherwise, they will no longer be qualified to work in the United States on this visa and must find an alternate, less common pathway.

This harsh policy limits international students who are interested in non-profits or smaller companies that simply cannot afford to sponsor their visas. The policy also makes it more difficult for international students to get selected simply because they’re a much larger cost, even to large companies, and therefore must come across as absolutely invaluable compared to other candidates in order to be sponsored.

One of the biggest reasons international students come to U.S. universities is that the country supports, respects, and offers opportunities in fields that students are not offered in their home countries. It therefore seems unfair that international students — who battle financial issues, language barriers, and culture shocks all while thousands of miles away from their families, just to study and work in a field they love — must also become flawless candidates in a highly competitive job market.

Oberlin’s Student Senate has made some efforts to improve communication between departments, career services, and international students regarding employment through their working group titled “Career Readiness and Applied Learning for International Students in Oberlin.” The seven to eight members on this working group, led by College junior and Student Senator Priyanka Sen and in collaboration with the Career Development Center among other organizations, conducted research last semester and are moving forward with action plans and workshops for international students this semester.

Another victory is the clarification that Oberlin — in line with the U.S. government’s list for STEM OPT — is finally promoting Environmental Studies as a STEM major, and has recently added certain types of Economics to the list as well. This recognition allows international students who major in these two fields to apply for OPT extensions. Not only are Environmental Studies and Economics extremely popular majors at Oberlin, but they are also up-and-coming interdisciplinary and profitable fields globally, allowing international students another two years to secure jobs.

It is in this time of great anxiety that Oberlin must show its solidarity with international students. Let’s take up President Ambar’s call to action and lead the way in supporting Oberlin’s international students in finding paths to academic and professional success.

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

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Opi n ions

President Trump Doesn’t Cause Hate, Apathy Does Ilana Foggle Columnist Editor’s note: This article contains mention of gun violence and anti-Semitism.

It’s Hanukkah time (not to be equated to “Jewish Christmas,” by the way). For many Jews, this is a time full of celebration, sufganiyot, latkes, gifts, gelt, and joy.

When I was growing up, Hanukkah was always about family, remembrance, and perseverance. All Jewish people may have different memories about how they celebrated Hanukkah. But, for many, this Hanukkah is different.

On Oct. 27, 2018, a gunman entered the Tree of Life Congregation in Pittsburgh on Shabbat and shot and killed 11 Jews during their time of worship. When I woke up that morning and saw the news, I began to cry.

I cried for my ancestors who survived persecution. I cried for my great, great-grandparents who were shot and killed simply for being Jewish. I cried for my Jewish brothers and sisters in Pittsburgh. I cried for our country.

As I sat there, sobbing, I came to a realization. I was devastated, broken-hearted, angry, and scared, but I was not surprised.

That night, I talked on the phone with a good friend of mine who is also Jewish. As I tried to put words together to express my feelings, he told me, “The fear that we have in the back of our minds each time we go to synagogue just came true.” With the rise of gun violence and hatred in our country, I was not surprised that this atrocious attack occurred. This was the most painful realization.

In the wake of the shooting, I felt heard by the many friends who sent me messages of healing and the millions of people who came together to support the victims.

I cried tears of gratitude after seeing that the Muslim community in both Pittsburgh and around the country had raised hundreds of thousands of dollars for the Pittsburgh Jewish community. I felt hope that, even with all of the hatred and violence in the national discourse, there is even more

love and acceptance.

Even so, I am still fearful, because acts of anti-Semitism, racism, bigotry, and xenophobia are rising at a dramatic rate in our country. In 2017, the Anti-Defamation League reported that acts of anti-Semitism are on the rise nationwide and that there has been an 89 percent increase in acts of anti-Semitism on college campuses.

Since the Pittsburgh massacre, a swastika was painted over a memorial honoring the victims of the Pittsburgh shooting at Duke University. Cornell University discovered three swastikas on their campus.

A menorah belonging to a Pennsylvania State University Jewish fraternity was stolen and vandalized. Numerous anti-Semitic messages were found at a University of Minnesota residence hall. A student at Goucher College was arrested for vandalizing the campus with anti-Semitic and racist graffiti. Hundreds of fliers were discovered on the campuses of University of California, Berkeley; University of California, Davis; Vassar College; and Marist College that blamed Jews for the sexual assault allegations against U.S. Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh.

In October of 2017, anti-Semitic fliers were posted around Oberlin’s campus. In an email to students and faculty following the removal of the fliers, President Ambar and the administration stated that they would not report subsequent similar acts of hatred to the community, to not give perpetrators a microphone. Anti-Semitism is on the rise, and we cannot continue to ignore it. These acts must be reported, so that we do not stay complicit.

For many Jews and non-Jews alike, the Pittsburgh shooting and the subsequent events acted as a wake-up call that anti-Semitism did not die with the Holocaust. It has existed for centuries, and it still exists. So, the question is: Why is anti-Semitism rising now?

As a political columnist, my first instinct is to talk about President Trump’s rhetoric and how his refusal to denounce white supremacy and the alt-right has directly caused the rise in hatred that we are

seeing today in the United States. But President Trump did not create hatred and anti-Semitism — it has always been there. He has simply emboldened and empowered those with hateful rhetoric to be louder. However, anti-Semitic beliefs, like all hateful beliefs, do not exist solely among the alt-right community. They exist within all different communities, demographics, and political ideologies. In order to address the rise in anti-Semitism, we must first address the rise in hatred all around our country.

The Anti-Defamation League created a “Pyramid of Hate” to provide an explanation for how hatred manifests. On the bottom of the pyramid, there are biased attitudes. This includes stereotyping, insensitive remarks, and microaggressions. As you move up the pyramid, there are acts of bias such as bullying, slurs, and name-calling. Then, there is discrimination. Higher up, there is bias-motivated violence, like the shooting that occurred at Pittsburgh.

At the very top of the pyramid, there is genocide.

The “Pyramid of Hate” demonstrates

Diverse Language Offerings Vital Jackie Brant Opinions Editor

During this time of financial crisis at Oberlin, students understandably feel an urgent need to defend their interests against potential budget cuts.

Everyone wants to save programs from being cut, and everyone has programs and classes they want to be added to the Oberlin experience.

A frequent complaint from Oberlin students is about the lack of diverse foreign language options. Problems cited include a drastically underfunded Arabic language program and a lack of any African language or Hindi language programs.

Overall, I agree with the general arguments in favor of adding more foreign languages to the Oberlin curriculum.

These languages are useful for many post-grad careers, and Oberlin does currently offer a disproportionate number of Western languages such as German, French, and Italian.

Furthermore, I believe that as a liberal arts institution, Oberlin has an obligation to

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provide its students with a robust selection of language-focused and cultural classes that will expose students to these languages and cultures and foster a deep respect for them.

However, students sometimes argue that because Oberlin offers several courses in dead languages — including Latin and Ancient Greek — that are ultimately not “useful,” the school should instead offer more “useful” languages, like Arabic, Hindi, and others. Ultimately, this argument is counterproductive to the larger conversation concerning foreign languages.

While it is true that Latin, for example, is a dead language, this does not make it useless or unworthy of study. There are, in fact, many benefits to studying Latin, both academically and professionally. Classics majors — many of whom study Latin or Ancient Greek as a requirement of the major — are some of the highest-scoring majors on the LSAT and statistically perform the highest in law school nationally. They also have better medical school acceptance rates than many

science majors, and have one of the highest averages on the GRE out of any major.

Part of the reason why Latin in particular can be so beneficial is because of its close link to English — a good portion of American law and medical terminology is either written in or derived from Latin. Latin is also extremely helpful in any occupations that involve writing, as it helps students learn English grammar and increase their vocabulary. While Latin may not be spoken anymore, it still has many practical uses for students post-graduation, making it more than a “dead” language.

While studying classics can open students up to many different career opportunities, this is not solely what makes dead languages worthy of study, just as the utility of other foreign languages is not what makes them worthy of study.

Sadly, it seems that many humanities and language departments find themselves defending their areas of study based on how they can give students an edge in the “real world” and

See Languages, page 7

how genocide is built upon the acceptance of the behaviors within each prior level of the pyramid. As we become more and more numb to acts of hatred that occur within our country, we are moving closer and closer to a day when these behaviors will be accepted. The problem isn’t just acts of hatred — hatred will always be there. The problem is our response to it. Anti-Semitism is rising because hate is rising. And hate is rising because apathy is rising. We cannot stay quiet, we cannot stay complicit, and we must speak out against all hateful rhetoric.

This Hanukkah is different. We are mourning. We mourn the 11 lives lost on Oct. 27, 2018. We mourn the millions of lives lost due to hatred of all forms. But we will still celebrate this Hanukkah. We will celebrate the perseverance and resilience of the Jewish people. We will celebrate the millions of non-Jews who have been allies throughout the recent tragedy. We will celebrate the beautiful diversity of this country. And we will celebrate the hope that one day anti-Semitism, hatred, and bigotry of all kinds will no longer exist.

The Tricks to Making Ramen Even More Delicious Carson Li Contributing Writer We need to rethink the way we treat our ramen.

I know it’s cheap — $1.75 per pack on Amazon and in stores — and oftentimes it comes with a plastic bowl. It’s also seemingly easy to make: You boil the water, drop in the noodle patty, then the flavor packet. I grew up eating ramen as one of my favorite foods, and I think it could taste much better if we put more consideration into how we cook it.

I know it sounds ridiculous — you just pour water into a bowl, what’s the point of changing anything? How could there be a difference in taste? Well, even pouring water has science behind it, and can make a huge difference in taste. More importantly, ramen reflects the way Americans tend to treat their food: They don’t take enough care in the process.

If you don’t treat your food with care, the most expensive ingredients will become a cheap dish. But if you care about your food, a $1.75 package of ramen can taste like $17.50. Caring for your food means analyzing the features

of each ingredient — color, texture, and flavor. You think about the whole dish, and then how each ingredient can work like a symphony to create a wonderful meal. Something fatty needs to go with something sour; something dry needs something wet. How many times have you had a dry falafel that literally takes cups of water to swallow? That happens because people don’t analyze each ingredient. Chickpeas are dry, so other ingredients need to compensate for the dryness — for example, you could add some very creamy sauce on the top.

Considering the same symphony and balance of each ingredient could also be applied to even the cheapest foods, like ramen. And I want to show you that even boiling water could make ramen taste different. This is what you need to know to cook a perfect bowl of ramen.

The first step is buying the right brand. At DeCafé or Ben Franklin, there is one brand that you should totally avoid: Simply Asia. It’s not Simply Asia, it’s Barely Asia. I don’t know how this evil business has been running See Give, page 7

Languages Provide Tangible, Give Ramen the Care, Respect it Deserves Intangible Benefits Continued from page 6

Continued from page 6

not on how they can influence the way we view people and cultures.

While utility may be a factor when choosing to learn another language, it’s more important to consider the appreciation and respect for cultures around the world that these languages can unlock. Students who are already in classes that focus on culture and diversity — whether it be Africana Studies, South Asian history, or Arab history courses — would be able to explore cultures more authentically if they were able to take a connected language class.

The rhetoric surrounding foreign languages devalues the very merit of studying them in the first place. During these times of financial difficulty, I understand that the administration is concerned with how financially useful an Oberlin degree can be for graduates. However, the

attitude among students should be different. Students should acknowledge the merits of academic interests, and thus should support one another in advocating for our interests. Aside from being an incorrect claim, arguing that the “uselessness” of dead languages is a reason to add other foreign languages to Oberlin’s curriculum not only devalues the merits of foreign language classes, but also contributes to a more problematic notion that interests should only be pursued if they are deemed useful.

Oberlin should offer dead languages and a diverse range of other languages not simply because of their utility, but because of their intangible value.

It is simply not productive to use the utility of certain languages to make a case against others.

During times of budget cuts, students must support each other’s academic interests rather than cutting them down.

for years, because its ramen is a complete abuse of the name.

After trying it, my friend called it “disgusting.”

The brand you should look for is either a Japanese brand called Maruchan or a Korean brand called Nongshim. My personal favorite is Nongshim, and you can buy it from DeCafé or Kim’s. Nongshim’s ramen noodle is thicker and chewier than Maruchan’s, and the flavor also has more of an umami taste.

These ramen packages have pictures of a ramen bowl with slices of pork, an egg, and sliced scallions on top. Of course, that is definitely not what you are going to get. But, again, as long as you treat it with care, the result will not leave you disappointed.

Think about how tender you want your noodle to be. Just like you cook your pasta to al dente, you want your noodle to be chewy, so don’t boil it for too long. If the recommended cooking time is seven minutes,

consider cooking it for only five minutes, and the residual heat will cook the ramen noodle to perfect al dente.

And now it’s time to think about how strong you want the flavor to be. My personal experience — I average two bags of ramen per week — has taught me that if you pour the whole flavor packet in, you’ll get a very salty noodle soup. So just use two-thirds or half of it.

Another factor that will influence the flavor is the amount of water you use. Look carefully at the instruction — adding too much water will make the ramen noodle watery and flavorless. Many people boil a random amount of water to cook ramen, but here’s the important part: You need much less water than you think your ramen needs. You really only need to boil about 500ml to 550ml of water.

My final reminder is to stir your noodles occasionally to prevent them from sticking

to each other. You can totally enjoy the bowl of ramen now!

For bonus points, you can add other stuff to the soup. Ramen lacks nutrition, so when my mom cooked me ramen when I was young, she always added some spinach and other veggies.

Then she would add a perfectly soft-boiled egg that has a slightly runny yolk.

Caring for your food requires minimum effort to make a huge difference. Packaged ramen can become luxurious as long as you think through the cooking process. We need to change our attitude towards food. In a documentary on Netflix called Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat, food writer and chef Samin Nosrat traveled around the world to explore how mastering the four elements of cooking — salt, fat, acid, and heat — can make every dish taste good. That’s what is absent in America right now: a caring for each ingredient, and a respect for cooking.

Bon appétit.

New Options Provide Better Food Accessibility in Conservatory Amber Scherer Contributing Writer Amber Scherer is a member of the Conservatory Council of Students, an elected body of students that works with College and Conservatory administrations to represent the Conservatory’s student body.

Grab-and-go lunch in the Conservatory began in early October, due to efforts by the Conservatory Council of Students, the Office of the Dean of Students, and Campus Dining Services. The change was a response to student outcry, particularly within the Conservatory, over the lack of lunch options on South Campus. The Conservatory Council of Students conducted a survey, and published the results in the Review, which depicted a student body frustrated by their dining options (“CDS Must Address All Accessibility, Health Concerns,” Sept. 28, 2018).

A number of students reported skipping meals, spending excess money on non-CDS food, and a need for better vegan

and vegetarian options.

The grab-and-go lunch is housed in the McGregor Skybar, an overpass between the Kohl Building and Robertson Hall.

Monday through Friday, students can now use meal swipes, Obie Dollars, and Flex Points to purchase food. CCS recently conducted a follow-up survey among Conservatory students, receiving 40 responses. Fifty percent of respondents eat in the Skybar three to four times per week, and 22 percent of respondents eat meals there Monday through Friday. None reported eating there “Occasionally” or “Never.”

Additionally, 65.6 percent of respondents stated that they spend less money on their meals because of the Skybar. Nearly 100 percent of respondents stated that the addition of the Skybar has improved their dining experience. 97.5 percent of survey participants stated that the Skybar Graband-Go has had a positive impact on the Conservatory. None perceived the change as having a negative or negligible effect.

Where the Skybar grab-and-go elicits more conflicting responses, though, is re-

garding its fulfillment of students’ dietary needs. One student wrote, “There are few vegan and vegetarian options for main dishes — on Oct. 5, the only option was [a peanut butter and jelly sandwich] or a salad with cheese on it.” Nonetheless, 53.1 percent of survey participants reported that the Skybar options fulfilled their nutrition requirements for lunch.

“We are really grateful for the responsiveness of the CDS to the needs of Conservatory students” Associate Dean for Student Academic Affairs Mary K. Gray wrote in an email to the Review. “With the new breakfast and lunch services in the Skybar, we see a space vibrantly transformed into a lively, active, communal area for our students. The food service in the Skybar allows many more students access to food during busy parts of the day but also creates new social opportunities, which is great.”

The Skybar, a previously underutilized space, has now become a social center in the Conservatory. It also fills the vacancy left by the closing of Dascomb Dining Hall

— which closed over this past summer — where Conservatory students primarily ate lunch.

“Dascomb was a place for all of my friends to meet for lunch to just unwind for 30 to 40 minutes in our busy days and just laugh,” Troy Stephenson, a junior Viola major, wrote to the Review. “I do miss the connections associated with Dascomb.”

The Skybar has also provided new social opportunities for students. Music majors often have eclectic schedules, as rehearsals and practices aren’t regularly blocked like College classes, making it difficult for students to make and meet with friends outside of meal times.

Campus Dining Services has made a concerted effort to provide accessible food to Conservatory students. Quotes like “Grab-and-Go at the Skybar is very convenient and a huge time-saver, which is everything when you’re a Con student. Please keep it up and running!” are representative of many statements submitted to CCS in its recent survey, demonstrating its positive impact.

Letters to the Editors (cont.)

Students Should Research Carbon Bill

I read with appreciation Yan Jin’s fine article in last week’s Review about the Citizens’ Climate Lobby’s efforts to address the risks posed by climate change (“CCL Fights For Climate Change Policies” Nov. 30, 2018). The recent U.S. National Climate Assessment and the October report of the U.N. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change underscore the urgent need for government action that deals effectively with this major challenge facing humanity.

As noted in the article, the Energy Innovation and Carbon Dividends Act of 2018 — the bipartisan legislation that CCL has lobbied for — was recently introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives. I hope all members of the Oberlin College community will take time to learn about this legislation. A website that provides full information about the bill, including a detailed FAQ, is available at energyinnovationact.org.

If passed into law, this legislation would put a steadily rising fee on fossil fuels while returning all revenues to American households on an equal basis.

It’s a revenue-neutral, market-based approach that does not rely on top-down regulation, which makes The Oberlin Review | December 7, 2018

it attractive to conservatives. It’s attractive to liberals and progressives as well because it would be effective (allowing the U.S. to do its part in keeping global warming to below 1.5 degrees Celsius) and it would not be harmful to lower-income people. People of all political persuasions can support it because it would have positive effects on the American economy and the health of residents.

It will take time to build the political support that’s needed for the Energy Innovation and Carbon Dividends Act to be passed into law. I urge readers to ask their members of Congress to support this bill and also to join CCL’s nationwide effort to work for its passage.

Ray English Director of Libraries Emeritus

CCL Supports Climate Reform Thank you to Yan Jin for the excellent article on Citizens’ Climate Lobby in the Review last week (“CCL Fights for Climate Change Policies,” Nov. 30, 2018). As noted in the article, CCL’s long-time leg-

islative proposal was introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives last week. The Energy Innovation and Carbon Dividend Act is sponsored by three Democrats — Ted Deutch, John Delaney, and Charlie Crist — and two Republicans — Brian Fitzpatrick and Francis Rooney. It will put a steadily rising fee on carbon emissions (paid by fossil fuel companies) and return the net revenue to American households in the form of equal monthly dividends. The policy will reduce carbon emissions in the U.S. by at least 40 percent in 12 years. The dividend functions progressively, boosting the incomes of low-income people while creating a small loss for those with high incomes. The bill therefore has bipartisan support, effectively reduces carbon emissions, and protects low-income people — ideal qualities!

You can read more at energyinnovationact.org.

I encourage readers to study the bill and ask your members of Congress to support it. You can join the CCL team at citizensclimatelobby.org. The Oberlin chapter of CCL will meet Saturday, Dec. 8 (and every second Saturday of the month) from 1–3 p.m. at the Oberlin Public Library. All are welcome!

John Sabin Group leader, Oberlin chapter Assistant Ohio Coordinator Citizens’ Climate Lobby

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INTERNATIONAL PERSPECTIVES:

Profiling Six International Students at Oberlin Layout and interviews by Mikaela Fishman, This Week Editor. Photos courtesy of interviewees.

This week, I’m sharing perspectives from seven international students at Oberlin. These students are all part of the International Student Organization and were interested in sharing their experiences with the Review. The ISO wrote an email to the Review about its purpose as an organization: “The ISO is an eclectic cultural organization. Our main goal is to foster the creation of a community amongst all international students. To do this, we organize activities that both provide an opportunity for all students to come together and get to know each other and to show the cultures represented at Oberlin to the rest of the campus. We always welcome everyone on campus to our events, with the hopes that all international, dual citizens, third culture kids, American and any other students can enjoy each other’s company and learn something new through their interactions."

Marah Ajilat

• Amman, Jordan • College sophomore • Politics major

So you said in your email that you want to talk more about the general needs of international students on campus.

Marah Ajilat: I think there are a lot of people on this campus who are working really hard to make sure international students are transitioning well … I just want to see more things for international students that are not just focusing on transitioning to college, but also succeeding later on.

We like to think that [Oberlin] is a place where there’s a lot of acceptance and tolerance. [But] I want this to be a reminder that no, we’re not doing everything we can. There are disadvantaged groups on campus, and within those groups there are individuals who are intersectionally disadvantaged — international students. So I find it inaccurate to say that we, the students, are doing the best we can to make everyone’s experience at Oberlin better. The College does this great program where they get students and families [near] campus [to] connect [with international students] … and [my host family] helped me stay really grounded. They’re very, very nice people. They’re the ones who are trying really hard to make sure that, as an international student, I’m having a good time. One of them invited me to decorate the Christmas tree with them because I am not going home this winter. That initiative has not come up among the students. This is an example of the community stepping in when the students fall short of their promise that "we’re doing everything we can."

Why don’t students at Oberlin hear the perspectives of international students?

Anytime I’m not in Oberlin and people pick up on my accent, they’re curious. They want to know where I’m from, and we have this great discussion. I don’t think there’s anything wrong with asking questions. But here at Oberlin, we’ve developed this culture that asking people questions somehow will lead to [someone] being offended. And I understand that identity is something that’s very personal. But guess what: There’s also identity that’s based in the community and not just individual.

Is there anything specific to being an international student that you wish that domestic students knew?

MA: We have experiences just like everyone else.

It would be really a shame if we weren’t able to share that experience because someone is trying not to be impolite, intrusive. Sometimes I like to say things and gauge people’s reactions when I’m trying to figure out that whole cultural barrier. [For example,] I’m Christian; most Arabs are not Christian. Most people assume I’m Muslim because I’m Arab, so it’s always so funny when I break the truth. I was born about 10 minutes away from where Jesus was baptized and from Mount Nebo.… And there are so many stories that so many other students can tell, and it doesn’t hurt to know them. It only does more good than harm.

Anshuman Mor • Mumbai, India • College first-year • Prospective Environmental Studies major

What is Mumbai like?

Anshuman Mor: Mumbai is about 20 million people, a little less than three times the size of New York. So it’s really big. Really crowded. … Part of why I picked [Oberlin] is because I wanted to get away from the big city, so I appreciated being able to go outdoors and having nature around me.

Is there anything that you wish domestic students knew about students from India in general?

AM: Well, I hate when people call me “Native American,” [or when] people call Native Americans “Indians.” … I’d appreciate it if there was a distinction. … Also, I think the flight is definitely worth mentioning. For me, at least, it’s 17 hours.

So it’s a big investment.

How’s the adjustment to CDS food?

AM: I was brought up vegetarian, so I felt like I had to switch to eating meat to take full advantage of everything that’s available. I’ve wanted to try meat for a while, but there’s cultural issues around it in India, like my whole family is vegetarian — my extended family, both sides.

My family looks down upon [eating meat], and I think [India] has the highest percentage of vegetarians in the world. It’s a religious cultural thing; the predominant religion in India is Hinduism, and there are certain parts of Hinduism that don’t allow eating meat.

Are there aspects of academics that feel different to you?

AM: There’s lots of differences in the classroom.

I have issues because sometimes professors use American references while explaining things and I don’t know what they mean. … A lot of the education seems centered around U.S.-related issues rather than global issues. I’m in Environmental Studies, and I have to take an environmental policy class for the major. But it’s only about U.S. politics and environmental studies — so it’s not really helpful or relevant to me but I have to learn [it] anyway.

Katheryne (Kat) Ladouceur

• Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada • College senior • Economics major, East Asian Studies and Politics minors

Where are you from?

Kat Ladouceur: I was born in Sherbrooke, [Canada], and then I lived in Denmark for three years.

Then I lived in Ontario for three years. Then Iowa six years. ... I’ve been in Nova Scotia for seven years. My father is a professor, so it was a lot of not finding tenure and then finding tenure in Nova Scotia. So now we’re settled, thank God. [Halifax is] the capital of Nova Scotia. It [has a] lot of universities, a lot of fun, up-and-coming culture.

As a Canadian student, do you notice any cultural differences?

KL: I think I’m in a lucky position because I lived here for a little bit of time, so I didn’t notice large shifts. I think it’s just a different atmosphere. I come from a very polite background — like I’ll say “pardon” instead of “what?” There’s a lack of edge that I feel [is part of ] the difference from up north to here. Here, we’re lucky. I feel like Oberlin is tight-knit and close, so there is definitely a neighborly feeling. But the overall atmosphere of the U.S. feels just a little sharper.

Did you grow up speaking French?

KL: I did, so I’m bilingual. [When] I started off, I was fully French; I didn’t know English. [In Iowa] I lost a lot of my French. I would be at such a better place with my family that lives in Quebéc if I would’ve just kept [practicing the language].

But it felt like I was forced into making sure that my English was good enough that I would be able to go to university in the States.

Have you found community within the international students here, or more [with] domestic students?

KL: I did find a lot of really cool international students during pre-orientation … [but] then as the semesters progressed … things separated, and I found myself more so sticking with my softball teammates. … I didn’t really [have] a lot of international friends until this year. It’s a little weird because I feel like I have to justify my international-ness. I’m like, "I promise I’m Canadian, I promise I’m not from here." I’ve noticed that I’ve tried to hold onto the international identity, whether that’s through friends or through wardrobe.

Do you think you’ll move back to Canada after you graduate?

KL: Yeah, I am right now looking for a job in the Canadian government because I’d like to be put into embassies across the world as a Canadian diplomat. It was exciting to come here, but I want to go with a sense of purpose and my Canadian-ness.

Yuxin (Miya) Wang

• Shenyang, China • College junior • East Asian Studies major, prospective Musical Studies major

Had you been to the U.S. before you decided to come to school here?

Miya Wang: No, it was my first time here, [so] I was pretty nervous before I came. But I lived in a boarding school for six years, so I’m pretty independent. It turns out to be not that [much of ] a difference. … In my first year and part of my second year, language is still sort of a barrier for me to make friends, talk about what I think.

But I don’t think it’s that much of a big deal now. It’s no problem understanding what the professor is talking about in a lecture. But if the professor’s not pointing at [me], I will not raise my hand and say what I think. Definitely I have a lot of thoughts on the issues we’re talking about; I’m just [thinking], what if I say this wrong? I can picture myself saying the first few sentences correctly, but I don’t know what will happen after that.

I saw that you eat in Pyle. Is this your first year in a co-op?

MW: It’s my first time in a co-op. I really [like being in a] co-op, and the thing that amazes me is not how good the food tastes, but how democratic people [are]. People will ask for everyone’s opinion on everything. I only personally know less than five Chinese friends who dine in co-ops. I would [recommend they all] try a co-op at least for one semester. I feel a lot of people are not familiar with the culture and this foreign environment in general, so they don’t feel [like] exploring around. That was first-year me; I [was] so used to staying in my safe zone. I [didn’t] really want to try anything new, because everything was so new to me.

Especially when I was really new here I [felt] really sensitive. Even if people are just smiling or chattering with others, that would somehow make me feel bad. … Some people may think Chinese students only [spend time] with other Chinese students, [that] they don’t have any American friends. I think that’s a way of defend-

Teague Harvey

ing themselves. I’m afraid of being isolated if I try to join this group of domestic people or something. I feel most Chinese students [would] be really happy if others positively approach them and talk to them.

Raklanna Puangkam

• Chiang Rai, Thailand • College first-year • Prospective Economics and Biology doublemajor

Where are you from and why did you decide to come to school in the U.S.?

Raklanna Puangkam: I just came from Thailand, and I’m the only Thai student here. Since I was young, I wanted to go to school in the United States. In Thailand we don’t have liberal arts, and when students turn 18, they have to choose a major and then [take] the entrance exam. I wasn’t sure what I want to do … I’d rather be in the U.S. in order to enter a liberal arts school and be able to explore many things.

Does that make you feel isolated, being the only Thai student?

RP: At the beginning, yes. That’s because they have so many associations, for example, Korean association or Chinese association, and at the beginning [of the year], all the seniors will invite the international students to come eat dinner together. But then I’m the only one left in the dorm and nobody invites me.

Do you find there to be any sort of difficulty or misunderstanding [between international students and domestic students]?

RP: Most people don’t know where Thailand is, so don’t assume that Thailand is Taiwan. They’re totally different areas. … [Also], during fourth meal they had chicken tenders [and] they have one sauce called “Thai sauce.” And I was like, OK, this isn’t authentic. But it’s good that they actually try. If it’s still there, I’ll probably eat it.

So don’t think that it is actual [Thai] sauce, but it’s good.

How’s the weather at home compared to here?

RP: Oh my God, I complain [about] this to everyone. I got sick almost every week. In Thailand, [the] average is about 80 or 90 degrees Fahrenheit. So this is a big difference for me.

• New Plymouth, New Zealand • College senior • Computer Science and Dance double-major

Why did you decide to go to school in the U.S.?

Teague Harvey: All my extended family is American. I didn’t move to New Zealand until I was about six. I guess [the U.S.] was something I … wanted to connect to. My impression of the American system was that there was a lot more availability for diversity in your education, so of course I ended up at a liberal arts school. Also, I wanted to get out of [New Zealand.] … I grew up in a small town … and I guess I was feeling the island thing. A lot of my friends now are living in Australia or the U.K. Was it weird coming here and [experiencing cold weather in December]?

TH: No, because culturally Christmas is supposed to be snowy. So I always knew that I had it weird and better than everyone. Every Christmas day I’d ever had growing up was [at] the beach. We [would] have a nice brunch, do the presents thing, and then go to the beach.

In college, I know you do circus and dancing — how did you get into that?

TH: So I come in freshman year [after half of a gap year] and I’m ready to do everything. I took three ExCos my first semester and I didn’t miss a single one. I was just ready to go. I took Beginning Swing, Beginning Blues ExCo, [and] Circus ExCo. Actually, circus was part of the reason I came to Oberlin.

I would stress to people that college is a time when you can create your own identity. Freshman [and sophomore] year I struggled a lot. I struggled with my own identity because I suddenly lost my New Zealand national identity, which I didn’t even know was there because I’m an immigrant. So I needed more ways to define myself, and I found it in art, found it in dance, found it in circus. Sometimes I still struggle with that because I’m not … [the] archetypal [Dance major]. It’s just coming to terms with [the fact] that no one fits into boxes very well. I got lucky that Oberlin turned out to be really good for me, but also that I made the most of it.

Calendar

SUNDAY, DEC. 9

SATURDAY, DEC. 8

honoring African heritage.

OCTaiko Fall Final Show

Taiko drumming is an art form that

Kwanzaa Dinner

A dinner celebrating Kwanzaa, a holiday

5:30–7:30 p.m. • Lord-Saunders Dining Hall

began in Japan but grew popular in

MONDAY, DEC. 10

lege Taiko plays in the “kumi daiko”

Audiovisual installations by

the U.S. in the 1970s. Oberlin Col-

(ensemble taiko) tradition, and this is their final show of the semester.

3–4 p.m. • Warner Main Space SATURDAY, DEC. 8

OC Folk Showcase

A performance showcasing the wide variety of student folk musicians and groups on campus.

9–11 p.m. • Tank Hall

TECH 350 Generative Art Installations TIMARA students in the TECH 350 class.

8–10 p.m. • Bibbins Hall Basement WEDNESDAY, DEC. 12

Some Things Cosmic Are These

This collaborative performance between the Dance and TIMARA departments was created by students in a StudiOC cluster. Tickets, which are free, can be acquired through Central Ticketing Services.

10–11 p.m. • Warner Main Space

A r t s & C u ltu r e

December 7, 2018

ARTS & CULTURE established 1874

Volume 147, Number 11

Lizzo, Iglooghost to Make For Memorable Solarity

Aerialists perform at last fall’s Solarity Presents: WASTELAND. The event consistently draws large crowds and features both student and visiting artists.

Photo by Hugh Newcomb, OC ’18

Leo Lasdun Production Editor

Solarity, Oberlin’s take on college rave culture, is returning this semester with an exciting lineup of performers. Tomorrow evening Lizzo, a hip-hop artist who became hugely popular with hit singles such as “Truth

Hurts” and “Good As Hell,” will headline the event. Numerous student DJs will open her performance, including 2NDWIFE x hearteyes and CLENDO. And What!?, a student hip-hop dance group, will also be included in the student performances. DJ and British electronic music producer Iglooghost will perform just before Lizzo.

Solarity is one of the most widely-attended events by students each semester. Lizzo’s appearance is significant for Solarity, as past headliners have consistently been DJs rather than vocal artists, with the exception of Saba last year.

“We’re bringing in the biggest — in terms of name recognition — performer that we’ve ever had,” said Daniel Markus, double-degree fifth-year and Solarity co-chair.

“Solarity has been trending in this direction for a while, but this is by far our biggest splash.”

In the past, Solarity’s acts have mainly featured student DJs and occasionally more well-known DJs as headliners. In 2016, for example, the event featured Metro Boomin, a prominent producer and DJ who has worked with the likes of Kanye West and Drake.

Another important change Solarity will see this semester is a new venue. The event has previously been held in Hales Gymnasium, which isn’t large enough to accommodate student interest in the event. “[Hales] has a low capacity, so it’s a [700-person maximum] room, which means if you want to bring someone really big … not as many Oberlin students are going to have a chance to see that,” Markus said. Hales Gymnasium is also not compliant with the American with Disabilities Act, meaning it isn’t accessible to all students.

This year, Solarity will take place in the Heisman Club Field House, which is ADA-compliant and better suited to host the event, according to Markus. “[Heisman is] so big that people can have a lot of space to get away from the crowd if they want, which is something we hear feedback about a lot. … Having that space on a serious basis is a really big thing for us,” heSee Obies, page 12

College Poets Work with Elementary Students Kate Fishman Arts & Culture Editor Rarely have I smiled so hard as I did at the Cat in the Cream this past week at not one but two fantastic performances by students from local Oberlin schools.

Kids from Prospect Elementary School and Langston Middle School wowed packed houses on Monday and Wednesday — Monday night’s offering was a poetry reading by the middle school students, and Wednesday’s was a dance performance by students from both schools as a culmination of the afterschool program Girls and Boys in Motion. Both of these performances came from the hard work of Oberlin College students in Oberlin schools, and the community support from both the town and the College was palpable as parents and students alike filled the seats.

At the poetry reading, the sixth, seventh, and eighth grade classes of Langston Middle School read poems they’d been working on in their Language Arts classes. Lecturer in Creative Writing Lynn Powell and the College students in her Teaching Imaginative Writing class helped the students write the poems during a series of workshops hosted by Oberlin Writers in the Schools. This work culminated in anthologies for each class, as well as this performance.

Powell, who College junior and Teaching Imaginative Writing student Victoria Liebetrau calls a “poetry superhero,” started a smaller poetry pedagogy program during her early career at Oberlin, between 2004 and 2006.

The program was so successful that

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former President Marvin Krislov asked her to return and expand it. Today, that expansion is known as the WITS program.

“Our WITS work is rewarding and challenging for the same reason — because every day in the classroom everyone is a learner and everyone is a teacher!” Powell wrote in an email to the Review. “That means that when my College students and I go into the middle school to teach, even though we go in as prepared as we can be, we also stay open to what we can learn from the middle school students. Teaching not for the right answers but for authentic conversation and imaginative engagement can be scary for new teachers! But we are all constantly rewarded by having our own imaginations and understandings enlarged by the insights and poetry of the middle schoolers.”

Students were given inventive prompts by both Powell and the student-teachers — and the works they delivered were imaginative indeed.

Students mused upon the idea of an intergalactic exchange student, what would happen if a doodle of a potato came to life, and what it would be like to have a rain-cloud as a pet, among other speculations. Some pondered the ridiculousness of cooking or the oppressiveness of city buildings. Still others contemplated the difficulties of moving and the meaning of love. Many students explored which words sound fun and interesting together.

“I remember middle school being such an awkward, difficult time of life, and creative expression is so necessary to process things that are going on,” Liebetrau wrote in an email to the

Lecturer of Creative Writing and WITS students discuss the

Review. “They’re growing into themselves and discovering who they are at an extreme pace, which is no easy task. It was interesting to see how this change was reflected in their work.

Our students really plunged into the assignments and wrote fantastic pieces; they’re wise beyond their years.”

Similar responses to a period of heavy growth informed the Girls and Boys in Motion dance performance, as Wednesday found the Cat in the Cream bursting with the sound and energy of students in matching shirts — red for Girls in Motion, blue for Boys. That energy carried onto the stage for a performance marking the 15th year of Girls in Motion (the Boys division came later).

Girls from Prospect School kicked things off with an animated interpre-

Photo by Maria Turner, Photo Editor tation of Rachel Platten’s “Fight Song” that had site leader and Girls in Motion Exco co-instructor Ruth Bieber-Stanley tearing up. A College sophomore, Bieber-Stanley first came to Girls in Motion last year at a Dance department interest meeting during orientation. “[Naomi Roswell, OC ’18] described the mission behind the group, which is trying to get middle school girls to be more confident and body positive and fostering communication through dance,” she said. “The mission of the group really appealed to me.”

The Langston girls, with whom Bieber-Stanley works specifically, performed their routine to the song “Growing Pains” by Alessia Cara. AcSee School, page 13

Asia Night Market Continues Beautiful Tradition

Asian cultural organizations on campus came together in the Carnegie Building Root Room to arrange the annual Asia Night Market. The Asian American Alliance, Chinese Student Association, Filipinx-American Student Association, Japanese Student Association, Oberlin Korean Student Association, South Asian Student Association, and Vietnamese Student Association collaborated to display their cultures on Dec. 2. The event was free to enter, and tickets were available at the door as well as at two food panels held on Nov. 29 and 30, “What is Authentic? Investigating Asian Diasporic Food” and “More than a Meal: What Our Food Means to Us.” Along with great food and community, Asia Night Market featured cultural performances including Taiko, Bollywood dancing, and several musical performances.

Text by Ananya Gupta, Managing Editor Photo by Pang Fei Chang

Snail Mail’s Midweek Show Met With Applause

Carson Dowhan Senior Staff Writer

Early-week shows typically aren’t the most popular, but indie rock bands Snail Mail and Why Bonnie might have brought one of the biggest weeknight crowds to the ’Sco this semester. They took the stage to play their new releases on Tuesday night.

Students raved over the performance.

“The way Lindsey Jordan [of Snail Mail] carried herself on stage was not like an artist performing for a group of fans, but [like] she was one of us here performing for peers and just having a good time,” College first-year Eamon McKeon commented the next day. “She talked about things on campus and talked to people in the audience, and making jokes about the tech issues at the beginning of the show.

She was very down to earth and casual.” ’Sco booker and College junior Matt Lavine commented, “We’ve had the idea of getting Snail Mail for awhile. I’m from D.C. so I had that in. I just reached out to their manager back in the summer, so it was pretty far out in advance.”

The show sold well for a Tuesday night — ’Sco employee and College sophomore Will Hagan reported that the total headcount was around 340.

Snail Mail’s success prior to Tuesday night’s performance is nothing short of impressive. Lindsey Jordan released her EP Habit while in high school and signed to Matador Records to release her newest album Lush. Pitchfork raved over its release, writing: “Snail Mail’s striking debut album is emoThe Oberlin Review | December 7, 2018

tionally wise, musically clear, and encompasses the once and future sound of indie rock… Sincerity is Lindsey Jordan’s superpower.” Rolling Stone called her an “indie rock prodigy.” While the Review wasn’t able to confirm an interview time with Jordan’s agent, her opening act had plenty to say.

Why Bonnie is the product of Blair Howerton’s songwriting — a five-piece, eclectic bedroom-pop band hailing from Austin, Texas. The band’s second EP Nightgown was met with positive reviews from The Austin Chronicle, described as a “charming grab-bag” of dream-pop essence. They played the first leg of Snail Mail’s United States tour and rejoined them in Texas in January.

“It’s been really cool so far. The crowds have been huge — way bigger than what we are used to,” said bassist Chance Williams.

“The first night in New York was like 800 to a 1,000 [people], the sound guy told us. And our show in Detroit was really big by our standards,” keyboard player Kendall Powell added.

Guitarist Sam Houdek confirmed that this venue was a departure from the band’s beginnings.

“We played a lot more DIY spots like basements and house shows before this,” he said.

The group is grateful to be joining Snail Mail on tour.

“This is definitely the biggest opportunity we’ve had up to this point — places like Oberlin are more familiar to us,” lead singer Blair Howerton explained.

The night began at 9:30 p.m. with Why Bonnie’s opening set. Howerton’s delicate melodies worked

beautifully with the punchy drums in the back, and the group was tightly coordinated. They preserved the crowd’s energy by moving in and out of slow jams and ended their set with songs from their next album, set to be released next year. Their last two songs were more rock-influenced, and garnered the biggest response from the crowd. Why Bonnie’s sound was lively and grand, contrasted by their thoughtful musical arcs and emotional lyricism.

Their take on the indie pop genre is sure to make an impact with their next release.

Snail Mail was met with a warm welcome, and after a brief interruption of tech issues from monitor volumes, Jordan had the crowd in the palm of her hand. She played songs from the emotionally-mature album Lush and broke into slow guitar solos between verses. Jordan’s definitive live sound of neat electric guitar tones, open tuning, robust drums, and raw vocals sat well in the ’Sco, and felt less “clean” than her studio recordings — in this way, it was more reminiscent of Habit. Though she’s sometimes known as an untouchable prodigy, Jordan’s humanizing performance made her that much more real. Between songs, she even said that she considered going to Oberlin.

While her songs at times felt repetitive — most of them stayed in the same key and tempo, and featured the same vocal climb throughout the night — her consistent delivery and songwriting is unmatched. Jordan is leading the way for women in the indie rock scene, and is making huge strides as a musician at such a young age.

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A r t s & C u lt u r e ON THE RECORD

On the Record with Lauren Elwood, Choreographer Lauren Elwood is a College sophomore from Bangor, Maine, who’s making her Oberlin mainstage debut as choreographer and a dancer in the acclaimed musical Cabaret. Elwood, a Dance and Theater double major, also performed in Oberlin Musical Theater Association’s Heathers last year as a member of the ensemble.

Cabaret is based off a book by Joe Master. The music for the show was written

by John Kander, OC ’51, with lyrics by Fred Ebb. Cabaret centers on the relationship between Cliff Bradshaw, an American author, and Sally Bowles, a singer at the shady Kit Kat Klub. The story narrates the way that their lives change as the Nazis seize control in Germany. Oberlin’s production of Cabaret, directed by Paul Moser and music-directed by Alex Ngo, will be the first show in the new Wurtzel Theater.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

Kate Fishman, Arts & Culture Editor

College sophomore Lauren Elwood choreographed Cabaret, which will be the first show performed in the new Irene & Alan Wurtzel Theater.

Photo courtesy of Lauren Elwood How did you get the gig choreographing Cabaret?

It’s really all about connections. I took my musical theater dance class with [Visiting Assistant Professor of Dance] Holly Handman-Lopez, who’s usually the choreographer for the musicals and the operas and whatnot, but she had a big commitment to the opera this semester, so she was unable to do it. The person who the director would normally go to, [College junior] Casey Labbate, was going abroad this semester in Russia — and Casey was also in my dance class — so they both knew me and knew that I had the potential to do it and that I also really wanted to do it. When Holly told me that Cabaret was happening, I literally fell out of my chair, so they both highly recommended me to the director [and Professor of Theater] Paul Moser.

That’s how I got the job.

What made you so excited to do Cabaret in particular?

I love Kander and Ebb’s shows dearly — that’s one of the reasons — and I just love musicals, is another one, and I love choreographing for musicals. I’ve been doing it since my sophomore year of high school.

That’s usually where my choreographic interests lie, in telling a story through the song. And I love all of [Cabaret’s choreographer Bob] Fosse’s work. He’s my inspiration, and obviously I’m coming from a very different point but I’m very much influenced by his work — and I love Cabaret.

How did you approach choreographing a musical that has such a big history and make it your own?

The director was like, “I don’t want a Fosse knockoff,” and I was like, “I understand.” So I went about doing it by researching the period. I researched the other shows — there’s Fosse, and then [Rob] Marshall is the other big one that we often see in the revival work. I also get a little bit of an idea, or a snippet, or a direction from the director of what he wants the scene to look like. So for Mein Herr he had a … dominatrix, there’s a whip being used.

He wanted a cat and prey [element] to it — we’re all wearing cat ears. “Don’t Tell Mama” is sort of cutesy. So there’s talking to the director, researching it and researching the time period, and then trying to create my own vision.

How has your approach to choreographing changed since high school?

I think it’s probably just gotten stronger over the period. My method has been similar throughout. I research the time period, I look at how other people have done it and also the popular essences — how people see this certain musical, and [I] want to maintain that feel to it while also adding [my]own spin to it. I followed the same steps that I have in the past with this show, but I think I’ve just gotten stronger.

Are there any numbers that gave you trouble?

The waltz gave me trouble. I’ve never been the strongest partner dancer, but I’ve had wonderful help in that my advisor Holly — who’s the love of my life, shoutout — was able to come in and help me. I also have a lovely assistant Emily Newmark, who’s a [College] first-year, who’s so talented. Look out for her. They help me when I need a new direction or am having trouble with a sequence or can’t envision it. So the waltz was the most difficult.

My favorite — the first one that came to my mind — was “Don’t Tell Mama.” I ascribe my own different ideas or images to the numbers, and that one’s like “Betty Boop.” I also ascribe different Britney Spears songs to each of the dance numbers, and that one’s “Oops, I Did It Again.”

It’s really fun and we get to wear hats and gloves and be cutesy — like, “Oh, what did I do this time?” I love that one. I just love all the Kit Kat numbers. I enjoy my own choreography, but “Don’t Tell Mama” would probably be my favorite.

Have you learned anything from working your first mainstage?

Yes. It’s sort of my first professional step into choreography, because previously I’d just done my high school theater stuff or I’d be a dance captain somewhere, or even here I’d created some choreography. But I was in the production meetings, I’d be in constant dialogue with our director about what he wanted. It’s also sort of balancing what the director wants versus what you want, and learning when to be like, “This is where I’m putting my foot down, this is what we need to do,” and when I had to concede or when I had to compromise with him. Learning how to negotiate was a big, big process and learning curve for me for this production, and I’m honestly really thankful for that.

This is a fun final question — do you have any musicals you would love to choreograph?

I have lucked out. I just love everything Fosse — I’d love a second go at Chicago. It was my high school senior musical, and we did Chicago, and I got to choreograph that, which was a dream come true. But I was working with a lot of non-dancers and was truly one of the only dancers there, and so I’d love a second go at that. I know there are other ones. I love 42nd Street — doing a tapping musical would be such a challenge but so much fun … There are some. Just know that there are more. Anything Fosse!

To have my own interpretation of Fosse would be great, and that’s that.

What was your process like week to week? When did it all start?

I researched over the summer — just the show in general. I’m also in the show, so I looked over all the music and whatnot and the story and what I want to convey, and then once we got to the school year the director let me know a couple weeks into the semester what he wanted out of each number. We started with the music so I had time to actually create the dance steps.

Week by week, two or three weeks into the process we started choreography, and he’d let me know when he wanted certain dance numbers done by and I’d choreograph before then and get it done. About two weeks after fall break everything was choreographed, and it was more about cleaning up and refining.

Do you have any favorite numbers?

The Oberlin Theater department’s production of Cabaret will run today and tomorrow at 7:30 p.m. as well as Sunday at 2 p.m. Tickets are currently sold out, but there will be an active waitlist at the door, opening an hour in advance of the show.

Photo Courtesy of Office of Communications

Obies to Rave in Bioluminescence at Saturday’s Solarity Continued from page 10

said.

The event is free for students who show their student ID. Bottles and bags will not be allowed in the performance venue; however, complimentary water bottles will be provided to students. Doors will open at 10 p.m.

Lizzo’s career started in Minneapolis, when she released her first album, Lizzobangers, in 2013. The album received widespread acclaim and brought Lizzo into the hip-hop mainstream.For some students, Lizzo’s involvement is a huge draw for this year’s Solarity.

“I’m super excited for Lizzo! Her music is all about self-love, body positivity, and healing — and I think that those are important things for us to celebrate at Oberlin,” College sophomore Henry Hicks wrote in an email to the Review. “I saw her perform two years ago, and it was honestly one of the most energizing and entertain-

12

ing concerts I’ve been to in a while.”

Lizzo’s performance at Oberlin may even win her some new fans, like College sophomore Tom Decker, who said, “I’ve heard some of her songs, and she’s pretty good. I’ll listen to some more of her songs soon so I can sing along at Solarity.”

In early November, the Student Finance Committee, the group that oversees the student activity fee, sent out an email to the student body announcing their collaboration with Solarity in deciding who would headline this semester’s show. The email included a link to a survey with various options, including Lizzo, Charlie XCX, Flatbush Zombies, and Waka Flocka Flame. Lizzo actually placed third in terms of student responses, however the first two choices were unavailable. Nonetheless, many are buzzing with excitement for her performance.

According to the email, the survey was part of an ongoing effort by SFC to “ sponsor more inclusive pro-

grams” and “accommodate as many participants as possible and meet a demonstrated need.”

Solarity usually takes on a different theme every semester, which adds yet another layer of excitement to the event. In past years, themes have included “Toxicity,” “Atlantis,” and “Wasteland.” This semester, the theme for Solarity is “Bioluminescence.”

“The process of choosing themes is sort of arbitrary,” said Markus. “We basically pitch theme ideas and widdle it down to a group of three to six more concrete ideas.” Elaborate lights and decorations will contribute to the atmosphere of the event.

Solarity is a staple of every Oberlin semester, and is a favorite event of many students. This year, significant changes will hopefully draw even bigger crowds and generate more excitement around the event. Whatever happens, Solarity is sure to be a fun and exuberant experience for all who attend.

Perspectives: Seeing Myself in a 350-Year-Old Portrait Katie Lucey Arts & Culture Editor Wide eyes. An ambiguous look over her right shoulder. Slightly parted lips.

A lone pearl earring. I love art, but I have a rather complicated relationship with Johannes Vermeer’s iconic Girl with a Pearl Earring.

While researching 17th century Dutch art for a project back in high school, I stumbled upon a close-up image of the painting, and was intrigued by the subject’s piercing, yet seemingly apathetic gaze. Tracing the line of her cheek on my computer screen, I saw a resemblance between us. Yet, we would never be the same. Whereas she was quietly confident, I felt insecure about my future. At the time, the mere thought of college overwhelmed me; I had no idea where I would spend the next four critical years of my life. I felt envious towards her — I wished it were I, and not she, forever ingrained in a medium so permanent and everlasting as a portrait.

Unable to contain my jealousy, I read her expression as snide.

A few months later, while searching through the 10-cent rack at my local library, I was faced again with the haunting expression of the painting’s subject on a book’s cover. I had found an old, dog-eared copy of Oberlin class of 1984 alumna Tracy Chevalier’s novel, Girl with a Pearl Earring (1999), and decid-

ed to give it a chance. That night, I sat down and began reading.

I found myself drawn in by the novel’s themes of sacrifice and artistic vision. Although the novel is fiction, Chevalier’s novel paints a vivid image of the girl in the portrait’s life and the world that she navigated. Forced to be subservient to those of a higher class, taught to obey men at all costs, Vermeer’s Girl had none of the opportunities I have. After reading the novel, I again gazed at the painting. I noticed that she no longer looked snide, but rather weary — as if warning me against living my life as she was forced to.

Reading the novel allowed me to transcend time and space, to empathize with an individual, albeit a fictional one, who overcame great odds. The girl, Griet, serves as the lowly help of the artist Johannes Vermeer and his family.

Throughout the novel she is sexually assaulted, verbally abused, and loses a close family member, but eventually finds solace in studying Vermeer’s delicate balance of light and dark in his paintings. She forms a familial bond with her superior, who hires her as his artistic assistant and paint mixer. Art becomes both a means of escape and a vehicle to work through her problems.

In other words, instead of succumbing to the suffocating pain of her life experiences, she chooses to create.

Six years ago this October, when I

COMIC: HOMER IS WHERE THE HEART IS

was 13, I stood knee-deep in rapidly-rising, freezing water as Hurricane Sandy brought over five feet of brackish water into my home. For my family and our neighbors, the consequences of the storm — which largely came as a surprise — have been trying and far-flung.

After not living in my home for nearly a year after Sandy, I returned to my neighborhood to find that it was still in various stages of abandonment and neglect. A few years later, after one of my parents was diagnosed with cancer and underwent several surgeries and aggressive rounds of chemotherapy and radiation, I couldn’t help but feel like the stress from the storm — and all the toxins unearthed from the construction — caused it.

In addition to the physical destruction of Sandy, the storm amplified existing troubles in my family. Last summer, I was out of the house a lot — admittedly because my family situation felt so miserable and hopeless. I found myself extending my work days in New York City by venturing to museums after my internship to escape the noise and stress that characterized my home life.

But Girl with the Pearl Earring shows us that ignoring the problem leads to greater consequences later on. I believe this sentiment, and recently, I’ve tried to face my problems head on with courage and tenacity rather than avoidance. I’ve started to realize that I am in charge of

my future — as if I am holding a paintbrush to an empty canvas.

This column concludes my time as co-editor of the Arts & Culture section of The Oberlin Review. I am incredibly grateful for the hardworking writers that cover the diverse arts scene at Oberlin, and for the editors and staff at the Review that make the incredibly stressful endeavor of publishing a weekly paper wildly fun. Creating a journalistically-sound publication in a time where fake news and social media abound is no small task, and the staff of the Review takes on this challenge with unbeatable grace. In particular, writing and editing for Arts deepened my appreciation for the limitless artistic talent of Oberlin students — even during times of great stress, the art that my fellow students put out into the world constantly serves as a reminder of how beautiful life can be.

Next semester, I will be studying abroad in Amsterdam, a city I’ve always dreamed of visiting and one that is less than an hour away from where Vermeer’s Girl with a Pearl Earring is currently on display. I’m excited for the cultural experiences I’ll have next semester and enormously grateful for the opportunity to travel and live in a new place.

Ultimately, I know that no matter what I’ll do or where I’ll go, I will make sure I visit Vermeer’s Girl and tell her thanks for everything.

Claire Wang Staff Cartoonist

School Dance, Poetry Abound at Cat This Week Continued from page 10

cording to Bieber-Stanley, Girls in Motion focuses on addressing exactly those feelings in middle school girls.

“Something we did a lot of this semester was isolations,” she said. “Because a lot of these girls have started going through puberty and it sucks, but if you’re a person with boobs you get immediately sexualized, even if you’re 12 or 13, which is just terrible. So we do a lot of stuff where you are moving your hips and your butt and your ribs — because I feel like it sort of lessons that stigma around moving those parts of your body. It’s not inherently sexual — our society just makes it like that.”

Of course, acclimating to uninhibited movement can be difficult at first.

“It’s really interesting seeing them do it, because they’re super uncomfortable at first — they’re always like ‘This is so awkward!’” said Bieber-Stanley, “But the mentors always do it too, to try to show them that it’s not awkward, you’re just moving your body.”

It’s important to send kids this message: Expression isn’t awkward, it’s freeing and beautiful. The same was reflected at the poetry reading — the middle school teachers read poetry they’d written, too. Additionally, several College The Oberlin Review | December 7, 2018

students brought their own poems to the classroom. All this deconstructs the notion that poetry is an inaccessible form, making it a fun source of expression like any other.

The emphasis here is not so much on the polished final product, but on expression and enjoyment. Once every group from Girls and Boys in Motion had performed, Chair of Dance and Professor Ann Cooper Albright took to the stage and announced that the performance — which had only taken around 15 minutes — was about to happen again.

“The first time it’s really scary to get up there, but the second time you realize how much fun it is to perform!” she said.

The confidence was even more palpable in the second performance — particularly during the Boys in Motion dance, where some of the smaller kids from Prospect bounced around animatedly, one wearing a Spiderman baseball cap, among lifts and pyramids by the bigger kids.

It is a real joy and privilege for College students to be a part of mentoring community members, and for other students to see the happy faces of parents and friends who are watching the kids perform. Of course, the parents are proud — but what’s really great is seeing the kids be proud, too, in spite of themselves.

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Sp ort s

McLean Sammon, College junior and YeoFit Yoga Instructor IN THE LOCKER ROOM

College junior and volleyball player McLean Sammon has her hands full: She’s a Neuroscience and Psychology double-major with a minor in Dance, and she teaches yoga twice a week in the new Patricia ’63 & Merrill ’61 Shanks Health and Wellness Center. Her classes take place Thursdays and Sundays from 11–11:45 a.m. A committed student, Sammon maintains a high GPA and is looking to begin a research project connecting mindfulness, academics, and athletics. She currently conducts neuropsychology research with Assistant Professor of Psychology Sara Verosky, and next summer she plans to research genetic mosaicism at the University of California, San Diego.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

Maranda Phillips, Staff Writer What led you to begin yoga and later become a certified instructor?

I have been doing yoga since I was 12. My mom would always bring me and it was really fun. I was never really that good at it. I always liked to dance more than do yoga. I was young, so I didn’t really have the connection to my body that I later developed. When I came to Oberlin, I started dancing and had a lot of professors telling me that my next step would be to focus on sensations within my body, to really feel the way my body is moving, as if I’m doing some kind of choreography rather than just going through the motions. Someone suggested that I start doing more yoga, so over Winter Term of my first year I just tried every type of yoga that existed, and was trying to see what kind of yoga I wanted to get really good at. I did vinyasa, I did aerial yoga, which is really cool and uses silks. I did a bunch of smaller, less common types of yoga that have different types of breathing techniques, and I decided that vinyasa would be the most relevant to strengthening my body and stretching at the same time for the purpose of athletics and dance. So then I decided to do the teacher training, which I did over the summer after my freshman year. [The one I did was] a 200-hour program. I had to leave early, so I was doing four hot yoga classes a day to meet my requirements. I was also going to class for three hours twice a week at night to understand the conceptual parts of yoga rather than just the physical parts and also learn techniques of queuing and sequencing.

How did you become a student instructor for YeoFit? Someone reached out. I had taught a yoga class to my team a few times when I got my certification. Then my coach suggested that I should look into doing it for the College or for

[Oberlin College Athletics]. So I talked to some people, and it didn’t really work out the first year, but then as YeoFit was created, they had all this funding to have classes for people to just come in and take. So they asked me to be a part of it. It was very lucky, and I felt really honored to be thought of.

What is your favorite part about being a member of YeoFit, an initiative that has already helped so many people improve their lifestyles?

I think it’s been really nice to see how many different people have been coming to the gym, seeing that people are engaging in athletics and engaging in movement outside of just the varsity teams or just the dance community. I’m getting professors and students I’ve never met before, and so it’s kind of like growing the population of people in the gym, which is so nice since it can get kind of confined sometimes.

You dance, play volleyball, and do yoga. How does yoga benefit you in the other two activities? How do you balance all of these activities while being a student?

It’s definitely difficult. I rush a lot, but that’s great because yoga helps me calm down when I am rushing.

I teach twice a week, and those two hours are kind of like relaxation time.

Even if I’m teaching, I’m still getting into the flow or the movement of the teaching. It’s really nice because my mind isn’t elsewhere. It’s not on my school work, it’s not [on] volleyball — it’s a real break. ... And it helps with volleyball because it helps me stretch and work muscles that really don’t get worked when I’m doing the same type of movement every day, which happens when you’re refining techniques for a sport, because you need to move in a very linear way. You’re

going for a purpose, but in yoga you’re kind of activating muscles and stretching those that have been overworked by the sport. It helps with dance for flexibility and strength reasons. Soft strength is really needed for dance and yoga.

How has yoga changed your life?

Yoga has given me a better sense of my body and breath all the time, and that can be useful in such random ways. On my 19th birthday, I went skydiving, and my best friend was freaking out. She was having a panic attack, couldn’t breathe, and was freaking out because we were in the middle of the sky. The door was open to the plane, and I’m just sitting there practicing my yoga techniques, like breathing, trying to calm down. Just seeing how it could affect me in such a stressful situation in a way that doesn’t have to do with yoga exactly but has to do with the training it can bring is really cool. So that’s kind of a good metaphor for how it affects my life in general.

What would you say to someone who has never tried yoga before?

I think yoga can be kind of intimidating, because it’s a big classroom with mirrors and people who have done it before, and it can be kind of scary to see the difference if you’re coming in as a newbie and being like, “Oh my gosh, I don’t know what I’m doing, and everyone seems like they know what they’re doing!” I think it’s really important to recognize that yoga is a practice. It’s not perfect, everyone is going to be at different levels, and they’re all going to be working on things that they need to.

So when you get into yoga, it’s really important to just acknowledge where you are and not really be judgemental of that ... it’s a mindfulness practice — just acknowledging where you are and what your body is feeling like.

McLean Sammon Photo by Mallika Pandey, Photo Editor

You can grow from there and stick with it, because it gets easier with more practice.

What are your plans for graduation, and will you continue to teach yoga?

I hope I can continue to teach yoga. I think that it’s a really good way to make sure I continue my practice, and it also affects what I plan to do in the future as well. Just because — this is always changing — but right now I’m thinking of going to grad school to pursue a degree in clinical psychology. I actually just wrote a study proposal on the effects of mindfulness training, which involves yoga sometimes, on a mental disorder. My study looks at the effects of mindfulness training on patients with Generalized Anxiety Disorder. There are neural correlates, and you can see that mindfulness actually decreases people’s responses to a burst of stimuli — very arousing stimuli. Since anxiety is characterized by an inability to regulate emotions in response to stimuli, they have less of that response if they’re more mindful. It’s amazing how it all ties in, but using mindfulness training and yoga could also be something I pursue in grad school, when I’m training to be a clinical psychologist. It’s all connected!

Transitioning Away From the Athletic Community Continued from page 16 and focus, rowing really helped me be productive when I was in high school.

I didn’t row my senior year of high school, and I remember struggling to get things done, even though I had way more time to work. Studies have shown that the endorphins and hormones released by regular exercise — specifically dopamine — really help people with ADD and attention difficulties. Rowing in particular requires a lot of concentration while doing a repetitive task. It helped me train my mind to remain focused for longer periods of time, something I lost when I stopped rowing. In addition, the strenuous exercise left me very tired at night, forcing me to get good sleep. Training also made me hungri-

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er, causing me to eat more and, in the spirit of wanting to be as competitive as possible, it also spurred me to eat healthily. Thus, rowing forced me to get good exercise, sleep, and food — all things I now struggle with in college.

Of course, there are also things I’m grateful I don’t have to do since I stopped being an athlete.

The time commitment is an obvious starting point. Indeed, rowing has a little bit more of a time commitment than many other sports. In high school, we had after-school training Monday to Saturday, as well as morning training three times a week. Because most regattas happened on Sundays, during the main season I was spending more than three hours every

day on rowing-related tasks — probably averaging about four hours a day.

Also, unlike other sports, we were always in season. Fall was head-race season, which is a longer race than the standard 2,000-meter, winter was indoor rowing season, which is just as competitive and even more intense than rowing on the water, and then spring was regular race season. In addition, because my high school was in Canada and the water would still be frozen in the spring, we had to use our spring break to drive down to Miami where it was warm, so we could get a head start on our training.

Another thing I don’t miss is rowing’s masochistic culture. Rowers pride themselves on competing in a grueling and painful sport. Howev-

er, this becomes toxic when avoiding pain is seen as antithetical to being a “real rower.” That is why it wasn’t an uncommon sight for people to puke on the ergometer and keep on rowing unfazed, without taking a second to breathe. Most of us looked at our bleeding and callused hands as a source of pride, often comparing scars as way of showing our legitimacy and embodiment of the rowing spirit.

There are many things I miss about being an athlete, and I look back fondly on that part of my high school experience. And I’m still on the journey to find other things to fill the gap left by leaving rowing. Ultimately, I am happy and proud of who I am and the activities that I do now as a non-athlete in Oberlin College.

From the Perspective of Nonbinary Athletes Finding Solace A Battle With No Direction Abby Bellows I used to look at my reflection in windows when I ran by, focusing on my stride — how my legs moved past one another, how my feet landed — but I could never bring myself to look up at the rest of my body, knowing I couldn’t look at my chest without sending myself into a mental spiral. It was already hard enough competing on a women’s varsity athletics team, showering in a women’s locker room, and being included in groups referred to as “ladies” and “women” when I was not a woman and was not comfortable with how my body looked.

Existing in athletic spaces means choosing between a women’s space or a men’s space — there is no space for me. I am a nonbinary trans masculine person who participates in women’s cross country and track and field because there is no gender category that fits me in the sports world, so I must compete according to my sex assigned at birth.

I also never could have predicted how my gender has changed over the course of my college career; the young woman who first came to the cross country team four years ago was happy to have found a group of cool people to run with. In the years since then, I have become more and more grateful for my team as my relationship with competitive running has gotten more and more complicated.

When I was talking to Coach Appenheimer as a high school recruit, one of the first questions he asked me was if I loved running.

My answer was a definitive yes — this was one of the few things I felt confident about as a 17-year-old.

Cross country and track shaped me in a number of ways, including how I understand my gender. Running helped me conceptualize how I see myself not only as an athlete, leader, and friend, but also as a trans person. Without the boundless

support from my teammates and coaches, I would not have had the confidence to come out as trans, let alone freely express my gender.

Coming out is an ongoing process of challenging conversations and respectful corrections between myself and my teammates, my teammates and my coaches, and myself and my coaches.

Our conversations over the years have touched a number of topics, from explaining what it means to me to be nonbinary, to helping my coach understand why I wanted to get top surgery — a gender-affirming procedure in which a person’s breast tissue is removed in order to reduce chest size or achieve an entirely flat-chested appearance — to the safety precautions we would have to take after my surgery.

Thankfully, I have coaches who are willing to have these conversations with me, understanding that happy athletes compete better and that happy people make a better team.

To say that everything is perfect is a myth and a lie. There is always work to be done — ways to improve, and challenges to overcome — but that’s athletics. I cannot express the gratitude, love, and appreciation I feel for my team and my coaches for the work, time, and effort they have put into helping create an environment that legitimately includes me.

However, please do not mistake my gratitude for contentment. The work put in by me, my team, and my coaches is immense and has taken several years; we are in the midst of a process. At this point, we are still working to consistently create an environment where gendered language is not used, where people’s names and pronouns are respected, and where everyone’s questions and concerns are listened to. Our work toward inclusion is like all the other work we do as a team: We work hard, work together, and never let ourselves be satisfied.

Leah Ross I don’t remember exactly when I realized I might be trans. It was a sort of slow collection of micro-epiphanies coalescing into a broader identity. My realization was informed by self-exploration while I was held up by the social rejection of gender variance. I’m not entirely convinced that I was born into the “wrong” body, rather that I was born into the wrong society.

As a result, my body and my understanding of it has morphed throughout the years. It bends and shifts as my landscapes and environment have altered. My perception of femaleness is constantly rearranging itself. I’m not completely opposed to my body, but like an ill-fitting dress, the problem isn’t necessarily the design, it’s the way people view you in it. I want the dress tailored, certain fabric taken away, maybe some other small details added. And while Oberlin has provided a near-perfect atmosphere to explore my identity, the nuances of my identity start to break down when I enter the realm of collegiate basketball.

I’m a member of the women’s basketball team. It’s a team that I absolutely adore. Last year was my first at Oberlin; we went on to win the conference championship for the first time in program history. The program’s intensity hasn’t wavered in my second year, as we look to repeat.

What has changed in that time are my pronouns and my understanding of my sex and gender. As I prepared for another grueling season, both physically and mentally, I was acutely aware that I had to prepare myself for persistent misgendering. For two hours a day, six days a week, for five months, I anticipated a wide range of people would participate in misgendering me.

Roughly two months into the season, I have yet to be disproven. To members of the coaching staff, athletic trainers, equipment room employees, referees, and opposing teams, my pronouns are she/her/hers and I am a woman. To be exceptionally clear, most of these people have been open and willing to get better at using they/them pronouns; it’s simply a process that takes a long time. But the toll is significant, and maintaining a sense of self is hard work. If a film session or practice is particularly riddled with she/her, I will say they/them over and over again in my head until it feels sufficient.

Some days, I don’t have enough mental energy to combat the misgendering and I succumb to being a woman. I have yet to find an effec-

tive strategy, one that refuses to concede the existence of my gender while simultaneously acknowledging the importance of team over individual. Honestly, I’m scared that with the passage of time, the latter will overwhelm the former. For now, I resign myself to being a member of the “women’s” basketball team, trusting that my teammates and I will make enough space for my trans identity.

On a larger scale, my identity is complicated not just by Oberlin-specific interactions but by the sport itself. Basketball is male-dominated, and relies heavily on biology to create deep fissures between men and women. Sexism within the sport has conflated inability to perform certain movements with a fundamental lack of skill.

Subsequently, the female body is assumed to be inferior, a replica of the male body that fell short.

In my case, it constructs my body as inescapably female, which directly challenges my self-perception in which I fight to see my anatomy as a combination of female and male. This contradiction creates a dynamic that is inconsistent with my understanding of identity. I’ve experienced repeated instances of blatant sexism and misogyny in basketball, which has led me to develop a sense of pride and resiliency as a woman in sports over the years. Because womanhood, in this case, has been forcibly assigned to me, it intermingles awkwardly with my transness. To be read as a woman in sports ­— and to identify as such to a certain extent — and read as trans outside of it is to be endlessly confused. And so as I traverse the worlds between athletics and greater Oberlin, my body is perpetually in flux.

It wavers in and out of femaleness, seen and unseen, trans and cis.

I feel pressure to provide a tangible solution, but frankly, I’m at a bit of a loss. The reality of the situation is that the public existence of non-binary/trans athletes in sports is so new that the system has no idea how to handle it. We unapologetically disrupt the sexist architecture that demands a separation of bodies. The institution of sports has no incentive to deconstruct this power dynamic, leaving non-binary/trans athletes to wander aimlessly in the middle.

With this in mind, I’m inclined to let time work its magic. As general attitudes toward non-binary/trans people improve, hopefully athletics will follow suit. And yet, I’m not entirely convinced the inclusion of non-binary/trans athletes in collegiate sports is a waiting game. But for me, as of right now, it’s a battle with no direction.

Women’s Basketball Gets New Bling

Members of the 2018 North Coast Athletic Conference Championship women’s basketball team were honored with a ring ceremony during intermission of the men’s basketball game Wednesday, which followed the Yeowomen’s first conference victory of the season. They beat the Kenyon College Ladies 51–47.

The Yeowomen had an exceptional season last year, earning a 21–8 record overall and a 13–3 record in conference play. The team’s two most productive players, senior captains Alex Stipano and Liv Canning, are ready to guide the young squad to a repeat. Canning currently leads the team with 98 points and 10 steals, and Stipano, who is nursing an elbow injury, is second on the team with 54 points and eight steals.

Text by Alexis Dill, Sports Editor Photo by Mallika Pandey, Photo Editor

The Oberlin Review | December 7, 2018

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SPORTS established 1874

December 7, 2018

Volume 147, Number 11

Last week, John W. Heisman Club President Carla White-Freyvogel, OC ’79, announced the appointment of five alumni to the Next Generation Board: Monique Newton, OC ’18 women’s track and field; Jackie McDermott, OC ’18 women’s tennis; Blaise Dolcemaschio, ’OC 16 baseball; Federico Consuegra, OC ’18 football; and Molly Powers, OC ’16 volleyball.

Photos courtesy of OC Athletics

Alumni Named for Next Generation Heisman Board Ify Ezimora Sports Editor

The John W. Heisman Club’s recently-announced Next Generation Board sets the foundation for a commitment to engaging with and prioritizing the voices of current students and recent grads in athletics.

The board, in its creation, consists of recent Oberlin College graduates: 2018 grads Monique Newton, Federico Consuegra, and Jackie McDermott; and 2016 grads Blaise Dolcemaschio and Molly Powers. These five athlete alumni were hand-picked by Associate Vice President for Athletics Advancement and Delta Lodge Director of Athletics & Physical Education Natalie Winkelfoos, Associate Director of Leadership Annual Giving Lisa Thuer, Senior Associate Director of Athletics Creg Jantz, and Heisman Club President Carla Freyvogel for their demonstrated commitment to and genuine love for Oberlin athletics.

The Heisman Club was created in 1978 by alumni as a way to honor former Oberlin Football Head Coach John William Heisman. The goal was to strengthen the intercollegiate athletics program.

Following the 10-year endowment of the football team by the club, they decided to restructure, moving from just fundraising to providing a greater range of services, and shifting purview of the club from the Development Office to the Department of Athletics and Physical Education.

The club currently supports the College by funding athletic initiatives and wellness programming, supporting Oberlin College Athletics, providing the Delta Lodge Director of Athletics & Physical Education financial autonomy

to better serve students, and highlighting the achievement of student-athletes and stakeholders. After a recent reflective analysis of the Heisman Club’s older demographic and its struggle to harness more youthful donors, the Next Generation Board was created to inform the Heisman Club on how to better engage younger alumni.

The new board members boast a number of achievements in their sports and academic fields, both during and after their time at Oberlin.

Powers was a member and captain of the women’s volleyball team and was named Freshman Athlete of the Year in 2012. She was also involved with the Student Athlete Advisory Committee and currently works as a research analyst in the Public Health Department at the National Opinion Research Center at the University of Chicago. She provides technical assistance to clients and grantees, analyzes data, conducts literature reviews, and drafts deliverables for clients. Additionally, Powers is studying part-time toward her Master of Public Health at George Washington University.

“While the Heisman Club members are excited to have these new voices take charge in representing the brand, the Next Generation Board members seem even more excited to take this charge,” Powers said. “While my official volleyball career is over, being a member of the board has provided me with an opportunity to continue to grow my relationship with Oberlin College Athletics.”

Newton, who holds laureates as a two-time National Champion and eighttime All American, currently works in Pittsburgh as a Coro Fellow in the Coro Fellowship in Public Affairs and intends to matriculate into a Ph.D. program next

fall, views the board as her way of staying engaged with Oberlin Athletics.

“I think with the Heisman Club, the tendency is you graduate and then you don’t really do much for the 10-year period after you graduate,” she said. “And then as you get older, you start to engage more with the board and be more active.

That doesn’t have to be the case, and it’s possible to engage with [people earlier].

That’s another reason I was like, ‘You guys need help with this — I can help.’”

For some, being a member of the new board feels like coming full circle.

“Being an Oberlin athlete meant that, during college, I received not just a fantastic intellectual education, but also an education in fitness, teamwork, perseverance, and all of the other tools and lessons that come from being a college athlete, which I’ll carry with me for the rest of my life,” McDermott said. “I’m very grateful to have the chance to hopefully give something back to the Heisman Club by being a Next Generation Board member. ” McDermott was senior captain of the Women’s Tennis Team and team MVP with over 100 career wins. She also served as Sports Editor for the Review and was a member of SAAC during her time at Oberlin.

Regardless of their personal reasons for joining the board, one clear connection between the five is their love for sports and the institution they went to.

“To put it simply — I love Oberlin and Oberlin Athletics,” McDermott said. “I would be thrilled and honored to be continually involved with Oberlin for the rest of my life.”

On a similar note, Consuegra, who played football and was heavily involved in the Oberlin Student Finance and In-

vestment Club at Oberlin shared, “For me, being a part of the Next Generation Board is about maintaining my connection to Oberlin and giving back to an institution that affected me so profoundly.

Oberlin helped forge me into the person I have become.”

Currently, the Next Generation Board is working on proposals, engagement, and reassessing the effectiveness of past forms of communication to alumni. In the long term, the board will act as a stepping stone for alumni slated to be Heisman Club members. The board members will be incorporating their own experiences to better inform this analysis. By marketing their youth and connection to alumni from their own graduating classes, the Next Generation Board members will be able to make the Heisman Club more visible to younger alumni and market the club through social media.

Dolcemaschio, who was the starting catcher and senior captain of the baseball team, currently works in a position from which he can leverage experience to better develop the Heisman Club’s social media presence. He is a freelancer in the entertainment industry where he works in the production, art, talent, and director departments. He works on anything from reality television to commercials, documentaries, music videos, scripted and live television, as well as various sporting events.

While the board is still new and some of the more formal aspects of it — such as turnover and member addition — have yet to be institutionalized and agreed upon, there are high hopes from both the Heisman Club and the Next Generation Board for engagement with younger alumni moving forward.

Reflections of a Former Student Athlete Rower Christian Ikeokwu

In high school, I competed as a member of the rowing team. Unfortunately, as Oberlin doesn’t have a rowing team, I’ve retired my unisuit and taken up life as a non-athlete. Through that process, I’ve been surprised by which aspects of being an athlete I miss and which I don’t.

The most striking thing I miss is the team dynamic. Your teammates see you at your lowest, when you’ve given up and are puking on the floor. But they’re also there to share your greatest triumphs and accomplishments. Going through those moments with others causes you to form a unique bond.

There’s also the bond formed just by spending large amounts of time together. Rowing, as a team sport, demonstrates this clearly. You have the pow-

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er to single handedly slow down the whole boat, and one person can’t carry the whole team to victory. As such, everyone must rely on and trust each other to work hard for the success of the boat. As a result, you love every other member of your team because you appreciate them for the efforts they’ve put in to help you win. And they all appreciate you for the effort you’ve put in to help them win. There’s no greater feeling than knowing you’re making a difference in someone’s life. That mutual feeling of appreciation is hard to find in other places.

The other thing I miss about being on a sports team is the competitive spirit athletics instills in you. Being a competitive athlete forces you to always think about how you can improve yourself and your skills. This mentality carries over into other aspects of your life. It shows up as a drive for

self-improvement — you want to do more than rest on your laurels.

Once I stopped being an athlete, I found myself becoming very averse to competition. Oftentimes I don’t apply for fellowships, internships, scholarships, or other opportunities that I was qualified for, just for fear of failure. Being an athlete served as a reminder that I could work to improve myself. It reminded me that I could be competitive. And most of all, it made me comfortable with losing, because you’re undoubtedly going to lose some races in a regatta or have a bad training day. It reminded me that the path to success isn’t a straight line but a series of detours along the way that require constant course correction to keep you on the right path.

As someone who struggles with concentration See Transitioning, page 14