The Oberlin Review
NOVEMBER 18, 2016 VOLUME 145, NUMBER 10
Local News Bulletin News briefs from the past week Talarico Seeks New Job Finance Director and Interim City Manager Sal Talarico interviewed to become the new city manager for Brunswick, Ohio. Talarico applied for the Oberlin city manager position, but City Council chose Rob Hillard, former city manager of Allegan, MI, instead. Talarico is one of four finalists interviewed for the Brunswick position. Brunswick City Council plans to narrow it down to two candidates before conducting another round of interviews. The date of a final decision is unknown. The Brunswick position pays $110,000 to $125,000 a year. College to Eliminate Dean of Studies The College has decided to eliminate the Dean of Studies department. The Dean of Studies department coordinates academic advising and helps faculty members with advising and academic policy concerns. According to Dean of Studies Joyce Babyak, the functions of the office are being restructured to “better integrate advising and enhance connected learning, in line with the Strategic Plan’s recommendations.” The exact way in which the department will be restructured has yet to be determined, Babyak added. College Hosts Symposium A health and wellness symposium celebrating the career of retiring Dance Instructor Deborah Vogel will take place today and tomorrow. The symposium will include seven dance alumni who studied with Vogel over the course of her 27-year career at Oberlin. Vogel is a specialist in neuromuscular education and has taught classes in body re-education, physical wellness for musicians, dance conditioning and somatic studies.
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Students March for a Sanctuary Campus Melissa Harris Production Editor Hundreds of students and community members made their way through Tappan Square Wednesday, calling on the College to become a sanctuary campus and joining a movement of approximately 100 colleges across the country. In effect, becoming a sanctuary campus would protect undocumented students from possible deportation, an issue brought to the forefront with the election of Donald Trump. The movement at Oberlin began with a sanctuary campus petition released last Friday. The drafters of the petition include three Comparative American Studies professors, Shelley Lee, Gina Pérez and Wendy Kozol, two Africana Studies professors, RaShelle Peck and Pam Brooks, and Latinx Student Life Coordinator Julio Reyes. On Monday, they submitted a letter and petition with the signatures of over 2,400 students, staff, faculty, alumni and family members to President Marvin Krislov and other administrators in support of making Oberlin a sanctuary campus. The letter called upon the administration to stand with other higher education institutions in the country to have the College “protect our community members from intimidation, unfair investigation, and deportation.” Zurisaday Gutierrez Avila, a member of Obies for Undocumented Inclusion, highlighted the guidelines for legally protecting undocumented students
Hundreds of students march past Tappan Square as part of the Sanctuary March Wednesday. Around 100 colleges have participated in the movement to protect undocumented students. Photo by Rick Yu, Photo editor
drawn up by sanctuary campus advocacy group Movimiento Cosecha. “[Movimiento Cosecha’s] list of demands is that the College will refuse all voluntary information sharing with [Immigration and Customs Enforcement] … refuse ICE’s physical access to land owned by the College, prohibit campus security from asking
See Sanctuary, page 4
Karega Fired After Split Faculty Recommendations Oliver Bok News Editor The Board of Trustees fired former Rhetoric and Composition Professor Joy Karega Tuesday after nine months of bitter argument and national media attention. Karega’s Facebook posts, which were the crux of the conflict, included claims that Israeli and U.S. intelligence agencies fund the Islamic State and that Israel orchestrated the Charlie Hebdo attack in Paris last year. Karega also shared an image of a member of the Rothschild family, which is Jewish, that said the family owns the media, government and oil. According to an email sent to the College community Tuesday, the board voted to fire Karega for “failing to meet the academic standards that Oberlin requires of its faculty and failing to demonstrate intellectual honesty.” In the email, the board referred to the Statement of Professional Ethics of the American Association of University Professors in its decision. “[The statement] requires faculty members to ‘accept the obligation to exercise critical self-discipline and judgment in using, extending and transmitting knowledge’ and to ‘practice intellectual honesty,’” the email from the Board reads. “Contrary to this obligation, Dr. Karega attacked her colleagues when they challenged inconsistencies in her description of the connection between her postings and her scholarship. She disclaimed all responsibility for her misconduct. And she contin-
ues to blame Oberlin and its faculty committees for undertaking a shared governance review process.” According to the board, the majority of the General Faculty Council decided that Karega’s posts “could not be justified as part of her scholarship and had ‘irreparably impaired [her] ability to perform her duties as a scholar, a teacher, and a member of the community.’” Karega said that the announcement of her dismissal came as no surprise and that board members and faculty “prejudged” her before the review process even began. “The intention on day one was my dismissal,” Karega said. “I’ve been very cognizant of that. There are people within the community and outside the community who, for them, that was the goal.” In light of what she views as the College’s “discriminatory and biased approach,” Karega said she intends to file a suit against the College and a complaint with the Equal Opportunity Employment Board. The Professional Conduct Review Committee — a permanent faculty committee that deals with faculty governance cases — recommended a reprimand in June, not suspension or a dismissal, according to Karega. This statement was confirmed by an excerpt from the PCRC report obtained by the Review. “It’s a situation where if at first you don’t succeed, try, try again,” Karega said. “You didn’t get what you wanted from the actual people who conducted the hearing, so let’s take it to the General Faculty Coun-
Yellow Jackets Sting
Gibson's Fallout Bikers and locals flock to support Gibson’s following student protests. See page 4
students about their immigration status and won’t use e-verify — which checks a student’s immigration status — and it’s also going to prohibit housing discrimination based on immigration status,” Avila explained. “And I think more than that, it’s just tak-
Women’s basketball falls to Baldwin Wallace.
Good SPORTS A basement-rock band played the 'Sco Monday. See page 10
INDEX:
Opinions 5
This Week in Oberlin 8
See page 15
Arts 10
Sports 16
cil who, of course, signed the letter and had already judged me and said, ‘Get rid of her’.” Karega also claimed that a majority of GFC did not vote for her dismissal. An excerpt from the GFC report obtained by the Review and verified by someone with access to the report showed that three out of six members of the committee recommended Karega’s dismissal, one recommended a suspension and two recommended a reprimand. The GFC recommendations went to President Krislov, who in turn made a recommendation to the board. Karega also objected to the fact that the board’s decision was partially based on the fact that she had “attacked her colleagues.” “The level of collegiality went out the window when it came to me,” Karega said. “I was put on trial outside of the formal governance process.” To Karega, the College has treated her differently than other professors accused of bias because she is a Black woman. “My problem is that from the beginning of the controversy to the end there have been different standards and different processes applied to me,” Karega said. “I’ve been discriminated against. You can see a clear pattern as to why those differences have happened, and those differences are very much so related to gender, race, religion and politics.” However, Politics and East Asian Studies ProfesSee Trustees, page 2
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The Oberlin Review, November 18, 2016
Committee Picks Firm for President Search Lucy Haskell Away from the spotlight, the Presidential Search Committee has taken the first step in finding a successor for incumbent President Marvin Krislov. The committee will work with Isaacson, Miller as the official firm to conduct the search for Krislov’s replacement. The firm previously assisted the College in the search that led to Krislov’s hiring. “The trustee members of the PSC selected the consulting firm based on their experience, expertise, understanding and knowledge of Oberlin College and Conservatory, and our belief that they will be excellent representatives of the PSC to potential candidates,” Committee Chair Lillie Edwards, OC ’75, wrote in an email to the Review Tuesday. Three representatives from the firm visited Oberlin between Sunday and Wednesday and led four discussions with members of the campus community designed to help the firm create a profile for what the next president should be. The discussions with Isaacson, Miller focused on two questions. First, what does Oberlin want from the next president? Secondly, what characteristics or experiences would show that a candidate could meet those criteria? There was “a lot of talk of personal-
ity characteristics,” Student Senate associate liaison and College sophomore Meg Parker said. “Decisiveness and a willingness to act were common.” Students discussed balancing a variety of qualities that the new president should have, including a background in environmental sustainability, personal beliefs that aligned with campus values and sensitivity to the needs of students, especially members of marginalized groups. “A lot of students want a president who is more accessible,” Parker said. This was another common thread among student comments: a desire for transparency from the administration. There was some frustration at the current perception of the president as “just a URL.” Parker added that an interest in music is another desirable characteristic for a potential president. “Oftentimes, the Conservatory gets overlooked for the needs of the College,” Parker said. The interview process has not yet been finalized, but the Isaacson, Miller representatives explained that it would likely include a biographical interview in which the candidate could present a personal narrative. The committee will adhere toa strict code of confidentiality. “We want somebody who is already very successful and enjoy-
Students participate in one of four sessions led by Isaacson, Miller, the search firm hired to assist in the national search for President Marvin Krislov’s replacement. The Presidential Search Committee had its first full meeting Sunday. Photo by Rick Yu, Photo editor
ing their work,” Edwards explained. The Isaacson, Miller representatives echoed that idea, saying that protecting candidates from backlash in the current positions was vital to cultivating a strong pool for the committee to choose from. Just as tight-lipped, the five representatives from various groups on campus are only allowed to divulge small details about the committee’s activities, responding to the Review’s questions in very general terms.
“The confidentiality standards are robust because we need to protect the privacy of candidates,” said student committee member and doubledegree senior Jeremy Poe. “We don’t want people currently working in other positions to be concerned about their interest in Oberlin becoming public, thereby influencing their immediate personal lives.” Edwards will be in charge of all communications with the campus community and has told the five cam-
pus committee members to direct questions to her. Edwards plans on releasing progress reports throughout the year via email and the presidential search website, which went live on Wednesday. This past Sunday was the committee’s first full meeting and they will not meet again until December, when they will review Isaacson, Miller’s proposed candidate profile, and then begin reviewing candidates.
Trustees Vote to Dismiss Karega Continued from page 1 sor Marc Blecher rejected any suggestion of bias in the governance process as baseless. "There’s no evidence whatsoever that my faculty colleagues, the administration or the board deployed any double standard, especially one based on race or gender,” Blecher wrote in an email to the Review. “The faculty chose those who served on the committees that deliberated on Professor Karega’s case because we know them to be extremely judicious and to have high levels of probity. They are also people who understand racism in all its forms, including its implicit operations, and who are on guard against it in themselves and others." To Melissa Landa, president of the Oberlin chapter of Alums for Campus Fairness, the Board made the correct decision after careful consideration. “Nine months ago, Professor Karega's anti-Semitic postings on social media resulted in national and international outrage,” Landa wrote in an email to the Review. “This was an internal matter and we believe it was handled fairly. Oberlin College is making it clear that bigotry of any kind has no place on its campus.” Emeritus German Professor Sidney
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Rosenfeld, who wrote a letter to the editor criticizing the College’s failure to fire Karega last spring, also praised the decision. “In voting decisively to dismiss Dr. Karega, the trustees helped restore the probity, intellectual values and dignity of Oberlin College,” Rosenfeld wrote in an email to the Review. However, some faculty members have expressed concern that the board incorrectly influenced the governance process. “It sounded to me like the faculty committee was charged with dismissing Professor Karega, and that’s what happened,” English and Africana Studies Professor Gillian Johns said. “But for me, that’s not faculty governance in spirit. That’s the Board of Trustees requiring a certain outcome that the board made sure happen.” The board’s use of the AAUP standards to justify its decision attracted criticism from John K. Wilson, a co-editor of the AAUP’s Academe blog and a researcher on academic freedom. “[The document is] an ideal for faculty, not a disciplinary rule for which anyone can be fired if they are deemed to make a lapse of self-discipline,” Wilson was quoted saying in Inside Higher Ed. Business manager Maureen CurtisCoffey Cook Business manager Savi Sedlacek Ads manager Caley Watnick Ads manager Reshard el-Shair Online editor Hazel Galloway Production manager Sophia Bamert Production manager Ryanne Berry Production staff Stephanie Bonner Production staff Auden Granger Emma Eisenberg Taylor Field Julia Peterson Katherine Hamilton Giselle Glaspie Julia Hubay Sydney Allen Tracey Knott Anna Rubenstein Noah Morris Anna Peckham Courtney Loeb Silvia Sheffield Melissa Harris Drew Wise Kendall Mahavier Distributors Joe Camper Distributors Bryan Rubin Joseph Dilworth James Ben Steger Kuntz
To Student Senator and Rhetoric and Composition minor Kameron Dunbar, in the interest of fairness, the College will have to form clear policies about social media postings. “I think we’re going to have to evaluate what those standards are and how are they fairly, judiciously applied to everyone,” he said. Dunbar took a class with Karega and said she never used anti-Semitic language in his experiences with her. The faculty members on GFC for this case were Music Theory Professor Brian Alegant, English Professor Jennifer Bryan, East Asian Studies and History Professor Suzanne Gay, Religion Professor A.G. Miller, Politics Professor Chris Howell and Musicology Professor Steven Plank. The faculty members on the PCRC for this case were Chemistry Professor Catherine Oertel, Chemistry Professor Manish Mehta, Music Theory Professor Arnie Cox, Geology Professor Karla Hubbard and Music Theory Professor Rebecca Leydon. Both President Marvin Krislov and General Counsel Sandhya Subramanian, on behalf of the board, declined to comment for this article.
Corrections The Review is not aware of Corrections: any corrections this week. The Review is not aware of any corrections Review strivesato print all email at thisThe time. To submit correction, information as accurately as possible. managingeditor@oberlinreview.org. If you feel the Review has made an error, please send an e-mail to managingeditor@oberlinreview.org.
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The Oberlin Review, November 18, 2016
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Off the Cuff: Todd Baker, OC '90, Medical Association CEO Todd Baker, OC ’90, was recently named CEO of the Ohio State Medical Association after working as co-CEO of the organization since 2014. The Ohio State Medical Association lobbies for Ohio doctors in Columbus and helps them cope with changes in the medical industry. Prior to working as co-CEO, Baker was the association’s senior director of professional relations. Baker graduated from Oberlin in 1990 with a degree in Economics and went on to study at the University of Texas at Austin’ s Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs. This interview has been edited for length and clarity. What exactly does the medical association do? The state medical association is the professional association of doctors in Ohio. We’ve been around for 150-plus years. We’re guided by a board of physicians, so there’s a president who’s elected by his or her peer group. We have a governing board who are volunteers who oversee all of our activities, and I’m what would be considered our lead staff person. So I’m the day-to-day chief executive officer of a staff of about 25 people. The biggest thing we do is advocacy. We represent physician’s interests, mainly at the state level in our legislature — a lot of regulatory issues, issues with insurance companies. We do a lot of education, and not in the traditional clinical sense, but more in sort of the policy arena, and then we try to provide tools to help physicians do their daily work. There’s a lot more being asked of physicians today rather [than] just providing care to you, in terms of what they have to report and have to do. So we try to provide some services to go in and help them on a daily basis. My job is to oversee all of those activities, to hire good people and to sort of chart the course on a daily basis and on an annual basis. There’s a lot of strategy, a lot of implementation that I do, but ultimately, I serve at the will of the board. We’re a not-for-profit, we’re considered a trade association. That’s probably the best way to describe it. What kinds of additional things are doctors being asked to do? It’s not just about providing the care; it’s
about providing data on the care and how you report information to a regulator, how you report information to an insurer. There are statistics out there that say physicians now spend 40 to 50 percent of their time on non-patient care. So that is meeting certain regulatory requirements. Best example I can give you: In Ohio, we have a pretty significant issue with opiate addiction. Now the state has a system where before I can prescribe an opiate to a patient, I need to ping the system and see what has that patient gotten recently, and are they doctor shopping? Are they just going from doctor to doctor, they don’t really have a bad back, they’re looking for a fill of Oxycontin or Percocet or whatever it might be. I’m now legally obligated as a physician to check systems before I provide care. Now is that good care? Most people would say yes. Not in all circumstances. There’s a regulatory burden that’s been placed upon me. Before I can do anything, I need to go over here and check that. And in order for me to get paid for the services I provide, I have to document things in much greater detail than I used to have to document. There’s a lot of administrative burden — some would argue necessary and others argue a complete waste — that drives what I have to do. What’s really weird about this system is when we train physicians, we don’t train them on any of that stuff. We want them to be the best, clinically, they can possibly be. So when they go to med school, when they do their residencies, when they do their fellowship, it’s 100-percent clinical. It’s 18 hours a day, learning everything you can possibly learn. Then they get out into the working world and it’s 50 percent of that, 50 percent of everything else, and it’s really strange. There’s not that many industries that do that. If you go be an architect, or you go be an engineer, your training probably at least 90 percent mirrors what your work environment will be. I’m not suggesting we should change the system, but we should give them better preparation for the other 40 to 50 percent they have to do when they get out. President-elect Donald Trump has said he wants to repeal and replace Obamacare. What do you think that means? The reality is we don’t know what it means. People think of Obamacare — or the ACA — as one big bundle, and you can throw the bundle
An unknown suspect vandalized a faculty member’s house early yesterday morning. According to the Chronicle-Telegram, the call to police came in around 3:40 a.m. President Marvin Krislov and various deans sent an email to the student body warning students of the issue, and said that “the outside of [the faculty member's] home was vandalized and a note left behind that included anti-Semitic and threatening language.”
Pull station levers were found activated on both floors. The officers were unable to locate the person(s) responsible and reset the alarms. 11 a.m. Staff reported a work of art on the north lawn of the Art Building to Allen Memorial Art Museum Security. The student responsible explained that the piece needed to be seen for a project. Staff advised the student of policies and liabilities. 11:02 a.m. Staff reported graffiti on the sidewalks on the north and east sides of Peters Hall and filed a work order for removal. 3:54 p.m. An officer conducting a routine check of Langston Hall observed a lower ventilation panel kicked in on a restroom door on the first floor. A work order was filed for repair.
Thursday, Nov. 10
Saturday, Nov. 12
2:05 a.m. While a Safety and Security officer was closing Mudd library, a fire alarm was activated on the second and fourth floors. Members of the Oberlin Fire Department responded.
8:51 p.m. Officers assisted a student who was feeling ill and fainted in Hall Annex. The student was transported to Mercy Allen Hospital for treatment.
Security Advisory
Todd Baker, OC '90, newly appointed CEO of the Ohio State Medical Association
out or you can keep the bundle. The reality is that it’s a bundle made up of many many strands, and you can’t just pick it up and throw it out. The fundamental part of Obamacare was creating additional avenues of coverage. We had lots of people who had no insurance, therefore, they didn’t have an ability to really access the system because it was cost-prohibitive. What Obamacare did was create a couple different pathways to access care because you’re now covered. One pathway was expanding the Medicaid program, which is the program that covers the poor. … For those who weren’t brought in under that, we created this health insurance exchange where I can, with a subsidy, buy individual coverage. I’m going to have access to something. And then the way that they incentivized people to buy it was if you can’t prove that you have coverage, now that everybody has the ability go get it, then you’re going to get penalized from a tax perspective. What that did for Ohio, for an example, was that we added 800,000-plus people who didn’t have coverage before who now have coverage, mostly through the Medicaid expansion. The biggest thing for the ACA is what’s going to happen to those 800,000 people? What kind of coverage are they going to have? Our hospital systems have been built over the last couple years on the Medicaid expansion. They have relied upon the Medicaid expansion to keep their
Sunday, Nov. 13 12 a.m. An officer on patrol observed individuals setting a sign on fire on the south side of Barrows Hall. Additional officers responded and observed a group of about eight individuals running from the area. The fire was extinguished. 12:41 a.m. Officers assisted a student ill from alcohol consumption on the second floor of Barrows Hall. The student was coherent and responsive throughout conversation with officers and declined medical treatment at the time.
Tuesday, Nov. 15 6:34 a.m. Custodial staff reported finding a clock torn from the wall and shattered on the second floor of King Building. 4:19 p.m. An officer on routine patrol observed that a large slate piece shifted out of
economic engine running. So that’s the biggest unknown. There are other provisions of the ACA that I don’t think they’ll touch. Things like insurancedenying for preexisting conditions — that’s one they’re going to keep. Keeping your kids on the policy until they’re 26, they are going to keep those kinds of things. But the fundamental issue of how are we going to cover people if we’re not going to have expanded Medicaid or the exchanges — how are we going to do that? What is going to be the mechanism in the short term to cover people, and then in the long term, what kind of overall system are we going to use? That’s the biggest unknown. Millions of people now have coverage. Are we just going to cut them off? It is not simple. It’s incredibly complex, and I think that they’re scrambling right now. There’s a big difference between what we say we’re going to do and what we do, and even when we say what we’re going to do, it doesn’t really mirror what’s happening. Trump’s going to talk a big game. How much is actually going to get repealed, we’ll see. He’s going to come out with some symbolic stuff out of the gate that may not have a dramatic impact. I imagine Ohio doctors have a variety of opinions on insurance reform? It’s a complete mixed bag. I will tell you there’s a number of doctors who were not for Medicaid expansion. Our organization came out in support. There’s a lot of doctors out there who would say, particularly independent doctors, who would say, “Look, the Medicaid rates — what I get paid to take care of a Medicaid patient — is actually below my cost. It’s the worstpaying insurer. So what Medicaid expansion did for me was increase the number of Medicaid patients I saw at a rate that’s below cost. That makes it really hard for me economically.” The hospitals have a different view because the hospitals are legally required to see everybody that comes through the door, whether you can pay or not. They had all this uncompensated care and that got reimbursed by the federal government a little bit. What the hospitals got was, “Instead of all this uncompensated care coming in, the rate might not be great, but it’s still double or triple what I was getting.” So the hospitals love it. Interview by Oliver Bok, News editor Photo Courtesy of Todd Baker
place on the north side of Harvey House. It appeared the wall was struck hard enough to move the bricks out of place. A work order was filed for repair. 7:55 p.m. Officers responded to a complaint of smoking inside a village housing unit on North Main Street. The officers made contact with the occupant, observed visible smoke in the unit and detected an odor consistent with burnt marijuana. They advised the occupant of College’s smoking policies.
Wednesday, Nov. 16 1:15 a.m. A resident of a village housing unit on College Street reported hearing a window shaking on the first floor and observed an individual looking in the window. Officers responded and checked the area, but could not locate an individual fitting the description. Extra patrols were conducted throughout the night, and the Oberlin Police Department was advised.
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The Oberlin Review, November 18, 2016
Community Clashes Over Gibson's Protests Louis Krauss News Editor Following two days of intense student protest, nearby Ohioans and biker clubs filed into Oberlin Saturday morning to support Gibson’s Bakery. Approximately 80 leather jacket-clad bikers showed up in front of the store, upset that students declared a boycott on the longstanding family-owned grocery store in response to an alleged racial profiling incident involving Gibson’s employee Allyn Gibson and College sophomore Elijah Aladin last week. “Hell yeah, we were upset,” said one 45-year-old biker, who goes by the name Lanesplitter. “We heard about the protests on social media, and we just wanted to support the store.” Minutes earlier, Lanesplitter and several other bikers had painted over a rock in Tappan Square that read “Black Lives Matter” with “All Lives Matter" and “Grafton Strays," the name of the Lorain-based biker group. Several other biker clubs showed up, including members from Hell’s Angels and Celtic Sisters. Aside from bikers, hundreds of nearby locals also came out to support the store as part an organized “Cash Mob” event made on Facebook. Participants bought food at Gibson’s during their visit, with lines snaking all the way to the back of the store. Although locals viewed the event
as supporting the store, many students and faculty were troubled by the counter-protests, which some viewed as a way to intimidate students. Shortly after the protests began last week, an anonymous person created a Facebook page called “Gibson’s Bakery Support Page,” which targeted protest leaders, encouraged “2nd Amendment Patriots” to participate and demanded that Student Senators be expelled for a resolution they passed calling for the College to cease business with the store. The page was taken down a little over a day later. Since these events, students have not held any protests in front of the store. Attempts by the Review to contact protest organizers were unsuccessful, but Student Senator and College sophomore Kameron Dunbar said he believes the refrain of protests is not simply because of safety concerns. “To say that they were scared off by counter-protestors is a misreading of the situation,” Dunbar said. “Oberlin protestors ended the protest on Friday chanting, ‘This runs deeper.’ This issue is deeper than Gibson's, and students are working toward creating an inclusive community.” In light of all the controversy surrounding Gibson’s, many students and faculty members are mulling over how to improve College-town relations. To that end, College sophomore Kai Joy and College junior Alison Cameron
have been holding canvassing training sessions, which have resulted in more than 60 students walking around Oberlin knocking on doors to facilitate discussion of the Gibson's incident and learn about community members' positions. “I was pretty involved in the protest, but it seemed like there was this mentality of hostility developing between townspeople and students, and I was thinking this was a good way to help these issues,” Joy said. According to Cameron, results of the canvassing were mixed — some voiced dissent from students and others were unaware of the incident. Although administrators have taken steps such as reaching out to the Gibson family and temporarily suspending purchases, Dean of Students Meredith Raimondo said it is important that everyone takes the time to analyze the situation and not rush to action. “I’d really like a resolution that works for everyone — students involved in the incident, the store owner, people protesting, everyone,” Raimondo said. “It's not about who wins and loses, but finding solutions that allow everyone to win. Any permanent decision about CDS's order from Gibson's would be premature at this time, as I would not want to take steps that might make finding a good outcome for everyone harder.” Supporters and employees at the
Sanctuary Campus Petition Garners 2,400 Signatures Continued from page 1 ing a stand that the College will do everything they can to protect these individuals within the power that they have.” Although Oberlin has been a sanctuary city since 2009 through the efforts of recently retired History Professor Steve Volk, the petition highlights how making the College a sanctuary campus would underscore the institution’s commitment in supporting “some of the most vulnerable members in our community.” Concerns have risen with Trump’s vows to cut federal funding for sanctuary cities. Lee noted that even though the College has supported undocumented students, becoming a sanctuary campus would be another step toward protecting these vulnerable members of the Oberlin community. “It seemed that while there are good resources as far as funding and mental and moral support go, there seemed to be a lack of legal protection,” Lee said regarding the thought process around the petition. In response to the rising concern of legal protection, Peck turned to a statement written at Pomona College before the election, showing that the sanctuary campus movement existed before the final election results. She shared it with the other Oberlin petition writers. “[After] looking at the Pomona letter and doing more
research, we realized there had been conversations and moves at different colleges and universities — mainly in California — to make this happen,” Pérez said. One of the groups leading the movement on campus is Obies for Undocumented Inclusion, a student group founded in 2015 that advocates for the needs of undocumented students at Oberlin and fundraises for the Undocumented Student Scholarship Fund. Reyes and College students Avila, Eleanor Lindberg and Jesus Martinez published a call to action statement for the College to support undocumented students on Nov. 4. However, with Trump’s election and the faculty and staff ’s petition, OUI decided to further amplify the cause by organizing Wednesday’s march in Wilder Bowl. Beyond the support and action that the students and petition-writing faculty and staff have fostered, there are other students and faculty in support of the sanctuary campus movement. “I care a lot about immigration,” College sophomore Jack Goldberg said as he prepared to march Wednesday. “I worked really hard for Hillary [Clinton] and I was a campaigner for Hillary, so I’m trying not to give up. And I’m trying to keep the motivation from the campaign going.” Assistant Politics Professor Kathryn Miller also expressed support for the movement.
“Community-based acts of defiance will become increasingly important,” Miller wrote in an email to the Review. “Resisting oppression has always involved taking risks. We, as a community, can either choose to be complacent — allowing our immigrant friends, family members, colleagues and community members to face those risks alone — or we can be a community that stands together in active opposition to oppression and resistance in the face of state violence.” Reyes, who noted that support for undocumented students has been in conversation for years now at Oberlin, stressed the need to create resources and conversation around undocumented students. However, he said he believes that the work of OUI and campus support in the wake of Trump’s upcoming presidency will carry the strength that the campus has needed in raising awareness of the undocumented community. “People have been having this conversation since before I got here, … and we haven’t moved fast enough, and we should’ve been prepared for a Trump presidency,” Reyes said. “I’m hopeful. I’ve been in several meetings. I think there’s momentum. I think there’s been a lot of energy going into strategies, about the resources the College already has, about how we’ve been vocal and about what we can do moving forward.”
Members of the biker club Grafton Strays write the group’s name over a Tappan Square rock Saturday morning that had read “Black Lives Matter.” At least three different biker groups, including the Hell’s Angels, came out to support Gibson’s. Photo by Bryan Rubin, Photo editor
store attest that no racial profiling or unfair arrests have taken place, but some students and faculty claim they have also experienced racially insensitive behavior at Gibson’s. This division has underscored much of the conflict. Liam McMillin, a College senior who grew up in Oberlin, recalled that his Black friends did not go to the store specifically because they knew of past incidents of racial profiling involving Allyn Gibson. “I've never had issues there, but I know my African-American friends in high school avoided Gibson’s for a while because they heard of similar incidents,” McMillin said. Some have talked to Allyn and David Gibson since the incident, such as
Tita Reed, special assistant to the president for community and government relations, but she did not comment in detial on what they discussed. “When I was able to have a conversation with David Gibson, he expressed concerns about the reputation of his business,” Reed said in an email to the Review. Still, most have expressed a desire to faciliate open dialogues about these issues to find a resolution that might heal divisions between the College and city. “I just had a good rapport with all the students,” Gibson’s employee Brent Gingery said. “I miss seeing them in here.”
Frandsen: College’s Financial Trajectory Unsustainable Sydney Allen Production Editor The College’s financial situation is unsustainable without substantive cuts, administrators say, and by filling out a survey, College community members will help decide where those cuts will fall. Vice President for Finance and Administration Mike Frandsen said in a research management meeting last Friday that Oberlin’s current financial model is unsustainable, and would leave the College with an increasing deficit in the coming years if the financial system stayed the same. Frandsen’s reports showed a projected deficit of $3.1 million in 2017 that then increases to $5.7 million by 2021. The Resource Management Working Group, an implementation committee for the 2016–2021 Strategic Plan, sent out a survey Tuesday asking students, staff and faculty for their input on what areas the College could save money and what areas students and faculty see as too valuable to cut. “Everything we do here is implicitly for you — it’s for your education,” Frandsen said. “We’re making some decisions about what we think is important in that, and you need to trust us some in our experience in that, but you can also help us some by saying what’s not important, what really wouldn’t make a difference to you if we didn’t have it and can stop doing. And we also need to think about how we can generate new revenue.” The working group also released a 53page document detailing the financial status of the College and has been holding information sessions for specific groups on campus. Seven students attended last Friday’s student information session. Frandsen explained that around 80 percent of the school’s revenue comes from
student tuition, and that two-thirds of the school’s income goes toward employee salaries. Tuition increased by 2.8 percent in 2016, a smaller tuition increase than the 3.9 percent hike of the previous year. While revenue streams are getting smaller, the College is only increasing the amount of spending, both out of the operating budget and the endowment. “The board has directed us to reduce the [endowment] spending,” Frandsen said during a resource-management presentation. “Five percent is pretty typical of institutions, and we’ve been spending six. The projection for investment returns as we look ahead is far lower returns than we’ve had in the past.” In addition to affecting specific departments at the school, these financial challenges could also influence which student initiatives are approved and pushed by the board. College junior Naomi Roswell, one of the student representatives for the working group at Friday’s meeting, said the College’s financial situation could affect how different student endeavors, such as divestment from fossil fuels, are received. “There are constraints that the Board of Trustees feels like they are under that would make divestment very very hard,” Roswell said. “There are a number of other huge things going on on campus, for example, finding a new president. And the amount of time and conversation that has to be devoted to making a decision like divestment is not going to be a priority to the board this year in all likelihood, and anything that has a semblance of the possibility of hurting our endowment funds is not going to be received well.” The survey will close Dec. 2, after which The Resource Management Working Group will begin to analyze it to make recommendations to the Board of Trustees and the General Faculty Comittee about where the College should look to cut funding.
Opinions The Oberlin Review
November 18, 2016
Letters to the Editors Cooperative Eating Offers Solace To the Editors: The events of this past week, both national and local, have unsettled members of the Oberlin community and specifically those of us in the Oberlin Student Cooperative Association. We, as members of the OSCA Board of Directors, support those who fear for their safety and personhood in the wake of these events. We recognize that the recent decisions made on the national level and the local incident of racial profiling are symptomatic of institutionalized oppression. As an organization that considers social justice as central to our mission, we denounce the recent attacks against marginalized communities and offer them our undivided support. In this period of intense activism, the time we take to cook and eat together is vital. Our co-ops become places for self-care, community, organizing and simply being. As we witnessed last week, OSCA has the unique ability to support activists both on the street and in the needed breaks in between. We urge members of OSCA and the wider Oberlin community to create dynamic and intentional spaces that fulfill the needs of our members who occupy these communal spaces: from organizing to selfcare, from collective action to solitary, from cooking to crewing and from lentils to tofu. Impartiality is unacceptable in this political era. We must affirm through our actions and words our support for all marginalized communities in Oberlin and beyond. Over the past week we have watched communities come together in a way that has been both unexpected and extremely comforting. The OSCA officers recently sent our membership an email with some words that hit close to home for us: “Tonight, let’s be tender and soft. Let’s live and love our truths. Let’s hold each other sweetly.” We want to extend this sentiment to everyone in the Oberlin community, and during this tumultuous time, we hold firm onto our commitment to promoting justice,
kindness and love both inside and outside OSCA. We would like to conclude with a quote by Dr. Cornel West, author of Race Matters: “Never forget that justice is what love looks like in public.” In love, solidarity and cooperation, – Members of the OSCA Board of Directors
Local Businesses Fill Community Needs To the Editors: There is a sentiment among certain Oberlinians — both town and college — that it’s OK to steal from Gibson’s Bakery and other stores downtown, so says my 17-year-old Oberlin High School son. My thought is that love and compassion can go a long way toward mending these issues. I call on students and shoppers to develop relationships with workers at local stores. Interact with them as human beings. Look them in the eye as you conduct transactions. Be honest and above-board. I can tell you that, as an Oberlin resident, I have done this and the results are amazing. With some workers, who can be sullen and disinterested, it has taken sometimes years to develop positive relationships, but it has paid off. We greet each other with smiles and take pleasure in our interactions. Most folks respond quickly. I also call on students to respect the businesses that support College students. Gibson’s is a fifth-generation family business; it is over a century old. It is a valued asset to Oberlin — would you rather have only chain businesses with distant owners? Try love. – Lynn Haessly OC ’79
Cohesion Critical for Oberlin Community To the Editors: This has been a difficult week on the Oberlin campus and for
the alumni community, specifically because of the election results and the process itself, the student arrests arising from an incident at Gibson’s and now the dismissal of Dr. Joy Karega. As the Executive Committee of the Alumni Association, and given the quick turnaround required to get this to press, we feel individually compelled to respond to the community. People are divided in their opinions, reactions and feelings, all of which are valid, important and deserve to be heard. The outcomes of existing laws, structures and governance processes do not necessarily yield results with which everyone can feel happy and supportive. We differ. We agree. We struggle. We are deeply troubled. As we deal with these issues individually and as a community, we do not condone disrespectful or threatening behavior of any type and trust that the community will show civility and respect for one another as issues are confronted. We are one Oberlin community and now, more than ever, finding a way toward cohesion is the key to our success. There are and will continue to be multiple viewpoints on the same issue. We believe that authentic dialogue recognizes that being different does not imply being wrong. We condemn any action designed to suppress open expression of opinion, constrain peaceful dialogue or intimidate our students or the community. We support the right of Oberlin students to challenge propositions with which they disagree and to search for meaning. This is at the very core of Oberlin values. – Officers of the Oberlin Alumni Association
Protest Suggests Misplaced Outrage To the Editors: I’ve known the Gibson family for many years and find it very difficult to believe that any of them would engage in the odious pracSee Letters, page 6
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The Oberlin Review Editors-in-Chief Tyler Sloan Vida Weisblum Managing Editor Kiley Petersen Opinions Editor Sami Mericle
Administration Should Back Sanctuary Petition The symbolic solidarity of declaring Oberlin College a sanctuary campus for undocumented students is reason enough for President Marvin Krislov and his administration to take action, but the actual impact that creating such a policy could have is invaluable. Amid a growing national movement for colleges to become sanctuaries in the wake of President-elect Donald Trump’s nomination last week, it is critical that Oberlin take the necessary steps to protect its undocumented students. There are three crucial questions that naturally follow requests to declare Oberlin’s campus a sanctuary: What does it mean to be a sanctuary for undocumented people? What kinds of policies can be enacted? And what are the effects of becoming a sanctuary campus on both the College and city? When addressing the first question, it is important to understand that there is no legal definition of a sanctuary, be it a city or college campus. No single set of policies is employed when local governments claim sanctuary status, but they do express a commitment to protecting undocumented people from the often draconian U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement laws. In doing so, cities and municipalities make the decision to actively combat federal deportation regulations. If the College were to become a sanctuary campus, the administration would make a similar commitment. Despite the lack of universal standards for sanctuary cities, there are shared policies that have the capacity to be enacted at an Oberlin level. Sanctuaries often have policies that restrict local law enforcement’s mandate to assist with federal immigration procedures. For example, if Oberlin became a sanctuary campus, the administration could refuse to release the details of the immigration status of any student, faculty or staff member. Other petitions call for local security — in our case, Safety and Security — to avoid assisting federal officials with raids. The College could also reaffirm its commitment to providing financial support through its undocumented students fund. These concrete actions are vital under a looming Trump administration, as he has already vowed to deport three million people in his first 100 days in office. In addition to these policies, Oberlin College is best situated to assist undocumented students and community members by providing monetary assistance and education as a path to citizenship. The Multicultural Resource Fund has an extensive list of goals for undocumented inclusion that include ally trainings, resource pamphlets, a mentor/advising program and continued efforts to fund the Undocumented Student Scholarship Program. Enacting a sanctuary policy would only strengthen the region’s commitment to protecting undocumented students. The city of Oberlin has been considered a sanctuary since 2009 and the city of Lorain since 2013. But the reason so many have pushed for campuses across the country to become sanctuaries is that Trump has already expressed intentions to punish cities for not abiding by immigration laws by withdrawing federal funding. In Oberlin, the withdrawal of federal funding would have adverse affects on local communities. For example, many of the public schools receive federal funds for free and reduced-price lunch programs. Should the city be cornered into retracting its sanctuary status, there would be all the more reason to make campus itself a sanctuary. In the coming days, we urge the College’s administration to consider the power and profundity in declaring our campus a sanctuary. If Oberlin is as steadfast to upholding its mission of diversity and inclusion as it advertises on admissions pamphlets, administrators will use this opportunity to stand with its undocumented and most vulnerable students in Trump’s America.
Editorials are the responsibility of the Review Editorial Board — the Editors-in-Chief, Managing editor and Opinions editor — and do not necessarily reflect the views of the staff of the Review.
Opinions
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The Oberlin Review, November 18, 2016
Students Must Reject Elitism to Engage Conservatives Tom Cohn Contributing Writer In the wake of the election there have been a chilling number of reports of white supremacist and misogynistic intimidation, harassment and even physical violence by emboldened Trump supporters. Oberlin students, via the Gibson’s boycott and protest, have come into direct contact with people on the other side of the political spectrum who seem similarly emboldened. Take, for example, the creepy and abusive “Gibson’s Bakery Support Page” on Facebook, which was created in opposition to the protest and actively attempted to identify participating students. Gibson’s online supporters also echoed Trump’s authoritarian rhetoric when they referred to the student boycott as “libel and defamation” and encouraged “Second Amendment” people to show up as counter-protesters bearing firearms. We are not yet prepared for the necessary task of effective communication with such people. At times we find ourselves unprepared to address their specific objections. For example, I’ve witnessed students abruptly opting to disengage from conversation or calling on each other to do the same, which may be convenient in the short-term but ultimately reflects our difficulty in articulating a cogent response to the opposition. When protesting police brutality and explaining the importance of the Black Lives Matter movement, for example, we have to expect conservatives to retort with “all lives matter” or even accusations that BLM promotes socalled ‘reverse racism’ and terrorism. The content and delivery of our reply to these arguments have enormous bearing on our ability to discuss injustice and successfully disabuse people of harmful myths circulating in contemporary political discourse. We must now confront these narratives and develop effective responses, which means being empirically oriented. If we aren’t familiar with basic facts on racism, climate change, poverty in the U.S. and many more issues, then we risk the hypocrisy of being as anti-intellectual as we accuse our opponents of being. Equally important is to reject any trace of elitist sentiment among ourselves, recognize we’re not superior to our conservative opponents and approach them with some humility. As Oberlin students, we have an opportunity to provide alternative answers that address the legitimate grievances of Trump supporters in a way the mainstream political left has failed to do. For example, we are in the position to explain that neoliberal restructuring, not illegal immigration, is responsible for low wages and unemployment. Instead of insulting people on the other side of the political spectrum, even though much of what they have been led to believe insults our morals, we must strive
to identify shared values and convey as much compassion as we are capable of. Such an approach has precedent. The Anti-Defamation League’s Global 100 Study asks whether survey respondents “harbor anti-Semitic attitudes” but not whether they are antiSemites. This distinction was emphasized by Anita Gray of the Cleveland ADL during “Social (In)justice and Anti-Semitism: A Community Conversation,” a panel discussion at Oberlin last May. Likewise, many Trump supporters clearly hold racist attitudes, and their bigotry may well be so deeply ingrained that they will never let go of it. Does this make a person a bigot or a racist? Perhaps. But as a practical matter, will saying or implying that they are reduce their prejudice? Or will it merely put them on the defensive and thus reduce their receptivity and openness? We can also learn from the example set by journalist Michele Norris via “The Race Card Project,” which she spoke about at Oberlin this September. Norris found she could facilitate constructive dialogue by inviting people to be candid about their point of view — in this case, their thoughts and experiences regarding race relations in the U.S. In other words, when people felt comfortable enough to open themselves up to vulnerability, they were then more open to being challenged. However, we must be aware of the role of structural oppression, power and privilege in the varying amounts of emotional labor performed by protesters as well as the relative receptivity of our audience. Allies ought to look to people of marginalized groups for when to take and give space in delivering messages to people with –––––––––––––––––––––––––––
Equally important is to reject any trace of elitist sentiment among ourselves, recognize we’re not superior to our conservative opponents and approach them with some humility. ––––––––––––––––––––––––––– differing views, and respectfully but adamantly guide members of the opposition to recognize and overcome the social conditioning that prevents them from first listening to women, LGBTQ people or people of color. Strategic communication and scholarly rigor are not mutually exclusive with speaking truth to power, but rather are prerequisites for effectively reaching other people. The task before us is to identify the empirical basis for progressive policy alternatives and convey them to people who are not only of a different ideological persuasion, but who also, lest we forget, wield a terrifying degree of power.
Dalia Silverstein
Letters to the Editors, Cont. Continued from page 5 tice of racial profiling. I also know that their familyowned business has been hit hard by shoplifters in recent months, and based on newspaper accounts of the Oberlin Police Department’s investigation of this incident, I see no reason to suspect that Allyn Gibson is guilty of anything other than forcefully confronting a shoplifter. Furthermore, the timing of the protest (which began within 48 hours of Tuesday night’s disastrous election returns) suggests a classic case of misplaced outrage. As in: “The realization that Donald J. Trump will become our next President makes me so angry that I need to express my outrage immediately.” I understand (indeed share) these feelings of disbelief, disorientation and anger. But I’m not willing to scapegoat a small, family-owned busi-
ness in order to facilitate my own emotional catharsis. In his anti-war masterpiece Mother Courage, Bertolt Brecht makes one of the most useful distinctions in the entire history of social activism. He distinguishes between “short anger” and “long anger,” which, brought to bear on our current circumstance, means “save your anger for Jan. 20. Don’t squander it prematurely for the sake of your own emotional satisfaction.” Only a “long anger” can do justice to the mind-bending fact that Donald Trump will soon become the 45th president of our nation. Join the worldwide protests Jan. 20 and help expose Trump’s “inauguration” for what it really is: the InHOGuration of a racist, sexist, greedy, needy, thin-skinned, narcissistic PIG. – Roger Copeland Professor of Theater and Dance
Media Dismisses Needs of Trump Voters Ben Silverman Contributing Writer Soon after election night wrapped up, while the U.S. grimaced and closed the book on the last year and a half, The New York Times issued a letter to its readers addressing the shock and confusion left in the wake of Nov. 8. It included a promise to “rededicate” the paper to the mission of reporting on the world honestly. This letter was necessary. The projections by various media and research organizations, with the Times at the forefront, were in consensus about the likelihood of Hillary Clinton’s victory. Columnists and statistical projections in the Times and The Washington Post slammed Trump’s disorganized campaign while the beaten-down, discontented rural counties of the U.S. rumbled underneath. The University of Southern California Dornsife/Los Angeles Times Daybreak poll, one of the most accurate polls of the 2012 presidential election, was frequently deemed an outlier since it leaned Trump through almost the entire race. However, it was among the few major polls to pick up on the trends toward Trump that defined the race. The pollsters did not preselect likely voters from those who voted in past elections, but allowed a randomly
sampled range of citizens to rate from 0 to 100 their likelihood of voting for a candidate, thus representing a greater range of potential voters, albeit with less accuracy. By using this system, the Daybreak poll picked up on the large portion of Trump’s base that sat out the 2012 election, perhaps exactly those working-class voters who surged for Trump after not feeling represented by either Barack Obama or Mitt Romney. More importantly, the poll measured the intense enthusiasm that Trump’s supporters felt for their candidate, a signifier of their more reliable voting patterns. It was this enthusiasm from discontented voters that ended up carrying the race; the hard-working, straight-shooting, Obama-voting, yet culturally rejected citizens of the Rust Belt cemented the significance of their discontentment by showing up in storm on Election Day. By simply respecting each voter’s say about their political convictions, even if it was just expressed as a number from 0 to 100, politicians and activists could have identified and appealed to Trump voters instead of pushing them further to the edges of politics. It was ultimately the inability of the media, Clinton’s campaign and Democrats in general to relate to Trump voters that gave him the
small boost he needed to sweep the rust-belt states. In November’s cover piece of Harper’s Magazine, Thomas Frank analyzed the “establishment” culture of The Washington Post and the allergy to populism found in most major newspapers (“Swat Team,” November 2016). On the culture of mainstream media organizations, Frank wrote, “They are, of course, a comfortable bunch. … When they look around at the comfortable, well-educated folks who work in government, academia, Wall Street, medicine, and Silicon Valley, they see their peers.” Reporters and editors covering Trump were unable to translate the sentiment of the country to readers. Coverage often traded openmindedness and objectivity for an injection of dogma based in the perspective of, for lack of a better term, elites. These journalists hoped that they might better control the message they were sending, for the sake of the country, but those who really needed the message were already past the point of looking to the media for guidance. And who could blame them? There was no way for us to truly feel the toll that life takes on the patriotic, rural citizen surrounded by foreclosed factories and a country that feels more and more strange all the time. But I regret that I hardly tried.
Opinions
The Oberlin Review, November 18, 2016
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Activism Should Cultivate Broader Solidarity Jade Schiff Contributing Writer I was both heartened and worried by the protests outside of Gibson’s over the past few days, a response to the assault and arrest of an African-American student near the store earlier this week. I was heartened because they reflected our students’ and our institution’s fierce commitment to social justice, freedom, equality and human dignity. We all share a responsibility to reaffirm these commitments every day, and I was proud to see our students doing that. I was worried, however, by two things: first, by a sense that these protests were oddly displaced. There is something incongruous about shouting “No justice, no peace! No racist police!” outside a family-owned business that serves the needs not just of white
residents of Oberlin, but of all of them: white, Black, wealthier, poorer, College and city communities, abled, disabled, LGBTQ and all the rest. If we want to protest police racism, why not do so at the police station — which is a greater risk, perhaps, but also sends a clearer message? I can’t help but think that these protests were not exactly, or only, about Gibson’s — they were also about the looming threat to freedom, equality, justice and dignity that Donald Trump’s presidency poses. Racist policing is a real and very present danger. It is also one part of a much larger, malevolent, authoritarian agenda. We must be clear about that, too. The fear and anger that Trump’s victory has rightly ignited threatens to confuse our aims and weaken our efforts. Sowing such confusion is a strategy of the powerful, and one that we must resist.
As a white person, I understand that I will be seen as missing the point, as downplaying racism, as participating in and so reinforcing a white supremacist agenda that has also been emboldened by Trump’s victory. But I am not only white. I am also a Jew and a trans woman, a member of two other communities that may be under attack just as the African-American community is. I am also a person with a chronic illness and worry about my vulnerability to any changes to the Affordable Care Act under a Trump administration. I am untenured and rely on the College for my health insurance. I have pre-existing conditions that would make getting private insurance, should I fail to get tenure, virtually impossible. I say this not for the sake of comparing sufferings — a common, counterproductive and infuriating byprod-
uct of struggles for social justice — but to emphasize the need for truly intersectional solidarity. From this perspective, the protests disturbed me because they threaten to sow division even as they seek to unify us against police racism, and at a time when solidarity is more important than ever. I am not talking about division between those who acknowledge racism and those who don’t — the latter are clearly blind to social reality. I am talking about the fact that these protests — vital as they were — ignored the “town-gown” problem in Oberlin and significantly disadvantaged many groups: Oberlin’s older residents, for example, for whom Gibson’s may be much easier to access than stores further from the center of town; those with limited mobility, for whom access to nearby stores is also a significant issue; those who have cars
but may not be able to afford the gas to drive to other stores, and others too. The Gibson’s protests completely ignored these groups, and they didn’t need to. They missed opportunities for solidarity and so played directly into the hands of an authoritarian president-elect who shows every sign of being hostile to marginalized groups and every intention of “managing” — read: squelching — dissent. We may be facing some very dark times, and we are stronger facing them together. We must cultivate solidarity not only within groups but across them, acknowledging that different populations are vulnerable in different ways — that strategies that are right for some are not right for all. And we must, above all, extend love and compassion to all those under threat in these perilous times.
American Jews Must Confront Trump’s Bigotry Roman Broszkowski Contributing Writer There’s a saying that three Jews have four opinions. If that’s true, then one is that Donald Trump and his tiny hands are worthy of the presidency. Although Jews overwhelmingly rejected Trump’s message of hate on Nov. 8, one in four did not, according to exit polling. Nearly a quarter of our community voted for someone who spewed racism, called for violence, used anti-Semitic imagery and preached xenophobia. This article isn’t about why that happened; it’s about what we, as Jews, will do in our communities over the next four years. Jews are often ignored as a demographic that has much to lose from a Trump presidency. While it is obvious that Trump is racist, misogynistic, anti-Muslim and anti-immigrant, he has consistently deflected accusations that he is anti-Semitic. A common argument from Trump’s defenders and supporters is that since he has a Jewish daughter and son-in-law, he can-
not be prejudiced against Jews. How can a bigot hate his own family? As many LGBTQ and mixed-race people can attest, bigotry is not only common in families, but often pervasive. For every accepting family, there is another that rejects its diversity. Saying that Trump cannot be anti-Jewish because he is related to Jews is like saying Trump would never assault women because he is married to one. Trump has tweeted anti-Semitic memes and played on anti-Jewish stereotypes. In his final campaign ad, Trump blamed globalist elites for the U.S.’s problems while images of famous Jewish Americans flashed before the viewer. Trump recently named Breitbart News Executive Chairman Stephen Bannon as Chief Strategist, a man who didn’t want his children to attend the same school as Jews, according to a court filing by his ex-wife. Trump has also received adoration from alt-righters such as journalist Milo Yiannopoulos and oldfashioned white supremacists like former Ku Klux Klan leader David Duke. Trump’s behavior and that of his allies
should disgust every Jew. It apparently did not, and that is a conversation we must have. The only two age groups that Trump won were 45–64 and 65 and older. This means that it is very likely that your bubbe and zayde helped elect a man who represents a real threat to American Jews. Call them. Talk to them. They miss you. And then remind them that while they might refuse to buy German goods because of the Holocaust, some of Trump’s core supporters don’t think it happened. There’s a lot that needs to be done. We as a community, here at Oberlin and at home, must rededicate ourselves to social justice. Only by doing so can we repudiate Trump every day and remind him that Jews do not stand for his bigotry. Anti-Semitism will not go away if we don’t also fight other forms of oppression, especially those that Trump has encouraged. Trump has focused heavily on Islamophobia and xenophobia in his platform. These areas intersect most on the issue of refugees. Supporting refugees in this coun-
try and providing aid to those still in refugee camps would be a clear message from our community that we will not go along with Trump’s agenda. Jews have historically been refugees, and that experience is ingrained in our generational trauma. Currently, refugees from Central America, Syria, Afghanistan and elsewhere are looking to come to the U.S. We have a moral obligation to help them. The U.S. likes to think of itself as a city on a hill, but instead we should be a city of refuge. So I ask our community to take action on this issue. Make Oberlin a center of asylum where our undocumented peers are safe and our refugee friends are cared for. Please consider joining advocacy groups like Obies for Undocumented Inclusion, donating to the Undocumented Students Scholarship, petitioning the administration to make Oberlin a sanctuary campus or calling your representative to say that you stand for immigration justice. The next four years will be hard. We know how this story can play out. Don’t let it happen.
Democratic Party Must Consider Needs of Trump Voters Amber Scherer Contributing Writer I worked for the Hillary Clinton presidential campaign for several months leading up to the election. It was surprisingly fun work and, as a generally introverted firstyear, a big help to transitioning me to life away from home. But I saw a lot that frustrated and upset me. On one campaign trip, I heard students jeer “Killary!” and “Grab her by the pussy!” at my co-workers. Some campaign workers ignored it; others responded in kind. I heard things from both sides that genuinely frightened me. This is all to say that the vitriol and division of the campaigns were in no way exclusive to the candidates themselves. We view these politicians as so powerful — almost as something more than human — but they’re only as empowered and enabled as we allow them to be. Presidentelect Donald Trump didn’t win only on a divisive platform. Ameri-
can workers are struggling and felt neglected by a government that should have been doing more to help them. Trump seemed, at least, to break that cycle. But the juxtaposition between the anger –––––––––––––––––––––––––––
We view these politicians as so powerful — almost as something more than human — but they’re only as empowered and enabled as we allow them to be. ––––––––––––––––––––––––––– and the hope of Trump’s supporters is what we need to take from this. Both sides were angry. Both sides believed they were right. Both sides voted for highly controversial figures — one of whom, I feel, is unjustly qualified as such. And, interestingly, the two sides are even approximately equal in size; Clinton won the popular vote
by only 0.8 percent, according to CNN. Trump voters are not “other” people who we ought to reject and ignore as, admittedly, we have. Trump’s electorate is massive and, in many ways, mirrors Clinton’s. These voters are afraid, doubtful and deeply frustrated with the lack of progress and change they see in Washington. And before we return to our arguments on whose fault that is, we ought to listen to their reasons. The Democratic Party has the opportunity to revolutionize itself. Its policies are equitable and based in modern science, sociology and economics. They aim to serve working Americans by protecting our equality of opportunity, our identities and our individualities while defending us against corporate wealth. But in this election, the Democratic Party not only overlooked changes in its base, but in the U.S. as a whole. The movement in support of Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders in the primary election indicated that young
Americans are more progressive than their predecessors, and that Americans — left and right — are deeply unhappy about the state of their lives. Democrats need to find a way to respond to that unhappiness, rather than dismiss it. Regardless of the economic and social improvements President Barack Obama instigated over the last eight years, Americans still struggle. We cannot continue to minimize working-class Americans’ misfortunes. Placing Democrats like Sanders and Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren in positions of power would be the start of a change toward a more grounded Democratic Party. Additionally, more weight to the representatives from the overlooked Rust Belt would give frustrated voters a voice. I believe that the Democratic platform better suits the vast majority of Trump’s electorate — particularly disenfranchised workingclass Americans — and if we give
them the chance to speak, we may actually learn whether we possess common ground. We are all human beings and we want and need the same basic things: security, welfare and happiness. Our approaches are vastly different and our worlds have been pushed apart by those differences. But I ask that, in small or large ways, in political or social settings, we find ways to keep differences from acting as a barrier and conversation from turning into dispute. The Democratic Party can become the party of tolerance. Many believed it already was. Yet, half of this country felt poorly represented or threatened by us and we made little effort to make them feel understood. It is possible to listen and disagree. Acknowledging differences and working to find broader resolutions is vitally important not only to the survival of the Democratic Party, but for the well-being of working-class Americans and the health of our democracy.
f o s r e d n o W e Th The Rathskeller Sandwiches from DeCafé are great for those in a hurry, but The Rathskeller is perfect for those who want to enjoy hot food made to order in a warm, restaurant-style atmosphere. Rathskeller is German for “council’s cellar” and is named after restaurants located in the basement of a city hall. Most people don’t know that the Rathskeller accepts Flex Points. In addition, students dining with a professor are able to use a meal swipe.
Wilder Hall serves as the College’s student union and is a central part of life at Oberlin. Most people have seen at least one musical act at the ’Sco, picked up a package in the mail room, or dropped by DeCafé for a smoothie. The next time you swing by Wilder, take a minute to revisit the familiar or discover something new.
Little-Known Rooms Most of Wilder’s rooms are busy spaces for student organization use, but there are some less-trafficked ones. The crafts room (321) has looms and a sewing machine. It’s open for anyone to use — just ask for the key at Wilder Desk. If you’re looking for a quiet place, find the meditation room in Wilder 308. Another meditation room, Wilder 325, can be reserved.
Open Some Doors
WOBC-FM
Get it Done at Wilder Desk
There are many doors in Wilder, and surprisingly, not all of them lead to rooms. Those who have thoroughly explored Wilder might have already opened the door to Wilder 100 to find a secret staircase hiding behind it. It’s accessible from any floor in the building — just look for the rooms with numbers ending in 00.
Most people have bought tickets for ’Sco shows and reserved rooms through the front desk in Wilder, but that’s just a small fraction of what you can do. Here’s a list of some of the many things the monitors at Wilder Desk can help you with:
Oberlin’s own College and Community radio station, located on the 3rd floor of Wilder, broadcasts music and talk shows 24/7. Anyone can call the station at (440) 775-8139 to leave a comment or make a song request. The station also features an extensive archive of vinyl records, cassettes and CDs.
• • • • • •
Purchase tickets for arts performances Rent a bike for up to four hours Borrow a bike pump Purchase stamped envelopes, poster paper, and stationery Reserve any room (except for Wilder Main) for the same day or following day Borrow keys for various student organization spaces
Those who enter Wilder through the building’s main entrance are greeted by the friendly monitors manning the front desk. College junior Hannah Jackel-Dewhurst, one of many student monitors, says regarding the job, “You get to interact with a lot of people, which is really fun. Also, the occasional free food at the desk is a perk.”
CALENDAR Lab Crawl 2016 Friday, Nov. 18, 11:30 a.m.–1:30 p.m. Start in the Science Center, King 120, Carnegie Have you ever been curious about undergraduate research opportunities? The annual Lab Crawl is a great way to learn about student-faculty projects and explore potential research opportunities with faculty members. Academic research isn’t limited to the sciences — this event features lab stations in visual art, TIMARA and mathematics among other fields, ensuring something for all interests.
Gift of Lights (Grand Opening Weekend) Friday, Nov. 18 to Sunday, Nov. 20, 5–10 p.m. Victory Park Ohio 7777 Victory Lane, North Ridgeville
OMTA Presents: Fly By Night Thursday, Nov. 17 through Sunday, Nov. 20, 8–10 p.m. Wilder Main
Annual 5K Turkey Trot Saturday, Nov. 19, 9:30 a.m. Cross Country Course (North Intramural Fields)
Add some light to your holidays! Gift of Lights is a one-mile long drive-through holiday light display featuring static and animated light designs, open this weekend through January 1, 2017. Featuring sixty acres of over one million individual lights, Gift of Lights is one of Northeast Ohio’s must-see holiday attractions. Admission price for an individual car is $15 this weekend.
In this musical set in the 1960s, a sweetnatured sandwich maker’s mundane life is intersected by two entrancing sisters. Set against a starry backdrop and an inventive musical score tinged with rock and roll, Fly By Night is a whimsical ode to young love and finding hope amid darkness. Tickets are available at Wilder Desk for $3 in advance and $5 the day of the performance.
Participate in the annual 5K Turkey Trot for a chance to win a part of your Thanksgiving dinner! Registration is open to all Oberlin students, employees and families and will still be open on the day of the race. Intercollegiate athletes are eligible to participate but disqualified from winning prizes. Prizes will be awarded not to those who finish first, but to those who finish closest to their estimated time.
Oberlin Holiday Bazaar Saturday, Nov. 19, 10 a.m.–3 p.m. The Hotel at Oberlin, Ballroom The holiday season is quickly approaching — get your gift shopping done at this Saturday’s festive Holiday Bazaar at the Hotel at Oberlin. The event will feature more than 30 holiday gift vendors and photo opportunities with Santa and characters from Frozen. The Holiday Bazaar is part of a series of events sponsored by Oberlin Business Partnership, who also contribute to events in town like the Chalk Walk, Summer Concert Series and Easter Egg Hunt.
Guest Lecture: “A New Reconstruction of Chopin’s Last Mazurka” Monday, Nov. 21, 4–4:45 p.m. Bibbins Hall 325 (Conservatory) 19th-century composer Frédéric Chopin wrote about 50 mazurkas — pieces based on traditional Polish folk dances. Kingsley Day, a Chicago-based composer and performer, will present a reconstruction of Chopin’s last mazurka in his lecture. Day’s reconstructed version has been praised by distinguished Chopin authority Jeffrey Kallberg as “the best published edition that I have seen.”
f o s r e d n o W e Th The Rathskeller Sandwiches from DeCafé are great for those in a hurry, but The Rathskeller is perfect for those who want to enjoy hot food made to order in a warm, restaurant-style atmosphere. Rathskeller is German for “council’s cellar” and is named after restaurants located in the basement of a city hall. Most people don’t know that the Rathskeller accepts Flex Points. In addition, students dining with a professor are able to use a meal swipe.
Wilder Hall serves as the College’s student union and is a central part of life at Oberlin. Most people have seen at least one musical act at the ’Sco, picked up a package in the mail room, or dropped by DeCafé for a smoothie. The next time you swing by Wilder, take a minute to revisit the familiar or discover something new.
Little-Known Rooms Most of Wilder’s rooms are busy spaces for student organization use, but there are some less-trafficked ones. The crafts room (321) has looms and a sewing machine. It’s open for anyone to use — just ask for the key at Wilder Desk. If you’re looking for a quiet place, find the meditation room in Wilder 308. Another meditation room, Wilder 325, can be reserved.
Open Some Doors
WOBC-FM
Get it Done at Wilder Desk
There are many doors in Wilder, and surprisingly, not all of them lead to rooms. Those who have thoroughly explored Wilder might have already opened the door to Wilder 100 to find a secret staircase hiding behind it. It’s accessible from any floor in the building — just look for the rooms with numbers ending in 00.
Most people have bought tickets for ’Sco shows and reserved rooms through the front desk in Wilder, but that’s just a small fraction of what you can do. Here’s a list of some of the many things the monitors at Wilder Desk can help you with:
Oberlin’s own College and Community radio station, located on the 3rd floor of Wilder, broadcasts music and talk shows 24/7. Anyone can call the station at (440) 775-8139 to leave a comment or make a song request. The station also features an extensive archive of vinyl records, cassettes and CDs.
• • • • • •
Purchase tickets for arts performances Rent a bike for up to four hours Borrow a bike pump Purchase stamped envelopes, poster paper, and stationery Reserve any room (except for Wilder Main) for the same day or following day Borrow keys for various student organization spaces
Those who enter Wilder through the building’s main entrance are greeted by the friendly monitors manning the front desk. College junior Hannah Jackel-Dewhurst, one of many student monitors, says regarding the job, “You get to interact with a lot of people, which is really fun. Also, the occasional free food at the desk is a perk.”
CALENDAR Lab Crawl 2016 Friday, Nov. 18, 11:30 a.m.–1:30 p.m. Start in the Science Center, King 120, Carnegie Have you ever been curious about undergraduate research opportunities? The annual Lab Crawl is a great way to learn about student-faculty projects and explore potential research opportunities with faculty members. Academic research isn’t limited to the sciences — this event features lab stations in visual art, TIMARA and mathematics among other fields, ensuring something for all interests.
Gift of Lights (Grand Opening Weekend) Friday, Nov. 18 to Sunday, Nov. 20, 5–10 p.m. Victory Park Ohio 7777 Victory Lane, North Ridgeville
OMTA Presents: Fly By Night Thursday, Nov. 17 through Sunday, Nov. 20, 8–10 p.m. Wilder Main
Annual 5K Turkey Trot Saturday, Nov. 19, 9:30 a.m. Cross Country Course (North Intramural Fields)
Add some light to your holidays! Gift of Lights is a one-mile long drive-through holiday light display featuring static and animated light designs, open this weekend through January 1, 2017. Featuring sixty acres of over one million individual lights, Gift of Lights is one of Northeast Ohio’s must-see holiday attractions. Admission price for an individual car is $15 this weekend.
In this musical set in the 1960s, a sweetnatured sandwich maker’s mundane life is intersected by two entrancing sisters. Set against a starry backdrop and an inventive musical score tinged with rock and roll, Fly By Night is a whimsical ode to young love and finding hope amid darkness. Tickets are available at Wilder Desk for $3 in advance and $5 the day of the performance.
Participate in the annual 5K Turkey Trot for a chance to win a part of your Thanksgiving dinner! Registration is open to all Oberlin students, employees and families and will still be open on the day of the race. Intercollegiate athletes are eligible to participate but disqualified from winning prizes. Prizes will be awarded not to those who finish first, but to those who finish closest to their estimated time.
Oberlin Holiday Bazaar Saturday, Nov. 19, 10 a.m.–3 p.m. The Hotel at Oberlin, Ballroom The holiday season is quickly approaching — get your gift shopping done at this Saturday’s festive Holiday Bazaar at the Hotel at Oberlin. The event will feature more than 30 holiday gift vendors and photo opportunities with Santa and characters from Frozen. The Holiday Bazaar is part of a series of events sponsored by Oberlin Business Partnership, who also contribute to events in town like the Chalk Walk, Summer Concert Series and Easter Egg Hunt.
Guest Lecture: “A New Reconstruction of Chopin’s Last Mazurka” Monday, Nov. 21, 4–4:45 p.m. Bibbins Hall 325 (Conservatory) 19th-century composer Frédéric Chopin wrote about 50 mazurkas — pieces based on traditional Polish folk dances. Kingsley Day, a Chicago-based composer and performer, will present a reconstruction of Chopin’s last mazurka in his lecture. Day’s reconstructed version has been praised by distinguished Chopin authority Jeffrey Kallberg as “the best published edition that I have seen.”
Arts The Oberlin Review
Page 10
November 18, 2016
SPORTS’ Sco Set Taps Into Graduation Anxiety Samantha Spaccasi Oberlin loves SPORTS, as evidenced by the large number of students who attended the basement-rock group’s free show Monday night and the cacophonous applause it received when upon taking to the ’Sco stage. “I love Oberlin,” SPORTS bassist Catherine Dwyer said. “We have a lot of friends here.” “The food is good here, too,” drummer Jack Washburn added. “It’s like a metropolis compared to Gambier.” The show marked the finale of SPORTS’ latest tour, which included a stop at its members’ alma mater, Kenyon College. Guitarist and vocalist Carmen Perry and Dwyer now live in Philadelphia. Perry writes most of the band’s music, including many of the songs on its sophomore record, All of Something. Released last year under Father/Daughter Records, the album contains several powerpop gems outlining the fears and anxieties experienced by those approaching graduation. “I wrote most of the songs [on the album] my senior year of college, which was from 2014–2015,” Perry said. “A lot of them dealt with coming to terms with school ending after being there for your entire life. They’re about not having a plan, which is scary.” The band members have graduated, moved away from Gambier
and hold day jobs, but the lyrical content of the songs they perform hasn’t changed. “I feel like I’m writing about the same stuff [since moving to Philadelphia],” Perry said. The group played the majority of All of Something in front of a delighted audience Monday night. Smiling students bopped along to sounds of energetic drumming and punchy guitars, and particularly seemed to relish the disjointed, more experimental lead guitar hooks. Perry’s strong voice brought out the clarity of the the band’s cohesive sound. The band members’ friendship was also evident on stage; they looked like they were having a blast, feeding off the positive energy the audience gave them. The relationship between the band and its audience is something its members cherish. This bond is reflected not only in the band’s interactions with its audiences, but in its performance philosophy as well. “We really want to make sure that people who come to see us feel safe and [ feel] like someone cares about them,” Perry said. SPORTS has also spoken out against the lack of diversity in different regions’ DIY music scenes. In a post on the band’s Facebook page in July, members wrote about “support[ing] marginalized people in music, not just tokenizing them.”
Kenyon alumni perform together as the basement rock band SPORTS. The group concluded its tour at the ’Sco Monday night with songs from its sophomore record All of Something. Photo by Bryan Rubin, Photo editor
“In Philadelphia, there’s always going to be a band with a girl on the bill,” Dwyer said. “There always is.” Dwyer’s comments are informed not only by experience in an industry whose claims of diversity are widely criticized for tokenism and reports of very physical audiences in certain genres, but also by situations SPORTS has directly experienced. In Cleveland, the band appeared at a music festival that Dwyer described
as being “95 percent dudes” and “pretty rowdy and crowded.” She recounted times at shows where she had been elbowed in the head. Though some people often associate punk shows with rowdiness, to Dwyer, getting pushed around “doesn’t seem that punk.” “[Events like that] don’t make us feel safe,” Perry added. “Obviously, we want people to have fun, but we want people to take care of each other,” Dwyer said. “We want them to jump
around, but not land on people.” The students at the show were respectful of SPORTS’ preferences, as they danced and sang along but were also cognizant of the space they occupied. The performance ended on a high note, to loud applause following the final number. In keeping with its trademark friendliness, the band stayed to talk after the performance, closing out their tour on a warm note.
In Owlboy Owl-in-Training Otus Fails Then Flies Avi Vogel Staff Writer Learning from failure is what makes a hero. This idea is ingrained in Owlboy, an independent platformer game released Nov. 1 by D-Pad Studio. Using a hi-bit pixel-art style, Owlboy follows Otus — a young owl in training — on his adventures through the world. It begins innocuously, with Otus chasing a villain called Troublemaker through the town of Vellie, but quickly picks up from there. Owlboy is visually stunning. The pixelated character sprites are wonderfully articulated, giving both central and side characters identity simply through their design. The world is equally lush and terrifying, with ruins providing sprawling locales for explora-
tion that hide danger behind every corner. Each location is unique but feels congruous within the larger game-world. The finer details granted to every aspect of the world makes the visuals stand out: the swaying of grass, the rushing of water and small specks of snow falling from the sky all feel paradoxically real in the pixelated style and add more depth to an already beautifully realized world. The special attention paid to the visuals is matched by the soundtrack, a mixture of retro-style sounds and orchestral suites that combine to create a grand atmosphere. Exploration of the wide-open sky is accompanied by grand swells, while sneaking through a heavily fortified ship is appropriately scored with tense strings and startling horns. The grandiose score makes the
A young owl named Otus embarks on an airborne adventure in D-Pad Studios’ gorgeous Owlboy. Photo Courtesy of Avi Vogel
sections where the only sounds are that of the wind or footsteps that much more impactful, as the absence of ambience gives an impression of worldly disorder. Together, the visuals and music form a well-realized world. Owlboy truly soars, however, in its controls. In other platformers, the player’s character generally jumps around, moving carefully from platform to platform while taking out enemies. The challenge in these games comes from a necessity for finesse. But that’s not the case with Owlboy, which sidesteps convention by granting the player flight. This isn’t the pseudo-flight seen in Mario titles, nor the clunky wing-flapping of Castlevania: Symphony of the Night, but fully airborne traversal. Movement is vertically inclined, with Otus flying seamlessly from area to area without a need to land. This change in movement flips the platforming genre on its head. D-Pad Studio’s expert handling of this mechanic keeps it from taking the challenge out of the game or becoming a gimmick. The flight doesn’t feel like an overpowered ability, but requires timing and precision to execute. There are moments where you can progress by exploiting the game, but these situations are few and far between. Along with flight, Owlboy’s other prominent mechanic is the companion system. Over the course of the game, Otus gains friends to assist him, each one of them equipped with a unique quirk that dictates how to use them in various situations. There’s little incentive to stick to one companion over another, as it pays to swap between them strategically to adapt to different encounters and puzzles. What’s better is
that these characters are not static — they are incredibly fleshed-out and gifted with well-written dialogue. Over the course of the adventure, you’ll get to know each of them well, especially in Otus’ small cutscenes with them, which elaborate upon the characters’ relationship with both the protagonist and the game-world. Some small gripes aside — a few situations are too harsh, and one companion gained later in the game is superior to the others — what really surprises is the story. One might expect a simple yarn to tie the adventure together, but instead, Owlboy happens to be one of the best narratives in recent memory. Otus’ inability to speak isn’t just an excuse for the prototypical silent protagonist trope; it has real narrative stakes. The game opens with Otus’ repeated attempts to impress his teacher. He fails over and over, trying to be the owl his teacher wants him to be. He is berated for his shortcomings, and has nightmares of what others think. In spite of his struggles, Otus moves on. The plot twists and turns, playing with expectations, but Otus is at the core of this experience, trying his best to save the day. Sometimes he doesn’t. Sometimes your best isn’t good enough. But Otus moves on. The story is equal parts whimsical and serious, saccharine and tragic. Moments build up well, and character arcs develop in brilliant ways. At around seven hours, this adventure was captivating throughout. Owlboy isn’t perfect. There are some problems here and there, and the game can be frustrating at times. But its themes come through vividly, and it has a big heart.
Arts
The Oberlin Review, November 18, 2016
Page 11
Fly By Night Questions Fate, Gender Roles Julia Peterson Production Editor Oberlin Musical Theatre Association’s rendition of the 2014 OffBroadway musical Fly By Night raises questions of cosmic significance and the vicissitudes of fate. The production will take place in Wilder Main Space this weekend. The play’s narrative centers on Harold, a New York City sandwich maker played by College sophomore David Kaus; Daphne, an actress who wants to be a Broadway star, played by College first-year Talia RolandKalb; and Miriam, Daphne’s sister, played by College sophomore Sarah Nathanson. The three become embroiled in a love triangle, but the play is about much more than that. “It’s sort of about that tension, but it’s also partly about Harold’s boss at the deli, who is trying to figure out what he’s all about,” said College junior Han Taub, who directed the production. “It’s partially about this playwright who is trying to put up a new musical with Daphne in it. And it’s also about Harold’s father, who is dealing with the loss of his
wife.” One of Taub’s directorial decisions involved the character of Joey Storms, played by College sophomore Isabel Forden, a playwright who decides to cast Daphne in a leading role and whose gender Taub changed for OMTA’s rendition of the script. “I changed [Joey’s] gender so that one of the relationships in this show becomes queer versus every relationship being straight, because I’m not about that,” Taub said. “I think it will be interesting to see how people react in that light.” “Joey is supposed to be male, but I am playing Joey as female, which is fun, because I fall in love with Daphne,” Forden said. “So there’s some gay love triangle action happening, and that’s really exciting. It’s gay, and it’s fun.” The play jumps backward and forward in time, guided by an omniscient narrator played by College junior Kira Scala, but for the most part it spans the year between Nov. 9, 1964 — the day that Harold’s mother dies suddenly — and Nov. 9, 1965, when the Northeast is plunged into darkness after a safety relay fails at a power plant
in Ontario. Michael Mitnick, one of the creators of the show, spoke about what makes it unique to him. “It’s a little, earnest musical that aims to find moments of truth,” he told the Review in an email. “Some of the themes of the musical are fate [and] free will and the interconnectivity of seemingly disassociated events and symbols.” In this production, the cast finds moments of truth in their explorations of fate, connections and the stars. “[The show] plays a lot into these ideas of mystical themes,” said College first-year Paul Lawrence, who plays Harold’s father, Mr. McClam. “One of the characters is very into astronomy, so there’s a lot of themes about the stars. We end up looking up at the night sky a lot. I think there’s a lot of magic and wonder and also confusion and uncertainty. Because on one hand, you have this idea that anything can happen and that if you trust the unknown your life can become great, but on the other hand you have this idea that the unknown is scary and it can hurt us, and we have no idea what
The cast of OMTA’s Fly by Night, a rock fable depicting the fraught lives of an array of people living in New York City, holds a dress rehearsal in Wilder Main Space Tuesday. Photo by Julia Peterson, Production editor
to expect.” Despite being framed by these weighty questions, Fly By Night is unabashedly campy. The show utilizes a recurring motif of singing about sea turtles and revels in moments like rhyming “awful” and “waffle.” But the whimsicality of some parts of the narrative is never over the top. “It’s a clever show,” Nathanson said. “It’s a little campy, but it’s very sweet, ultimately, and I think that there is more to it than it seems at first glance. … Even though it’s kind of cheesy, I’d say that it’s about finding hope and discovering yourself in a world beset by darkness.” The music of Fly By Night is a narrative itself. Each character enters with a particular theme, rhythm or refrain that is combined with the show’s other music in fascinating and poignant ways. Mr. McClam is constantly singing La Traviata to remember his wife. Miriam has a song that she sings to remember her father — I Trust Stars. Harold is working on composing a song on his mother’s old guitar. When Harold and Miriam meet and he says that “our songs kind of fit together,” he is talking both about the actual melodies and about what they represent to each character — loss, hope, renewal. The hidden complexities unfold to reveal themselves in scene after scene, and continue to do so long after the curtain has fallen. “It’s more than meets the eye,” Nathanson said. “It certainly means more to me now than when I first read the script. … But given time, and now that we’ve gotten it on its feet and in costume and with the lights and the pacing and the pit, it’s special.” The success of the play hinges on the climax of the second act. Were the ending too predictable, the whole thing would be rendered trite. Were it too unexpected, the audience would be left confused. Instead, the resolution is as shocking as it is inevitable. Nobody would guess just how the stars would align to create that moment, but the signs are there all along, the ending foretold from the start. “It’s a story about love, and it’s a story about loss and grief, and it’s also a story about finding your way when it’s not always apparent how to do
that,” Taub said. “[The play is] a fairy tale at its core, I think. For me, that influenced a lot of how I approached it.” The fairy tale aspects of the production are reflected in both the serendipity on which the plot depends and in the gorgeous lighting effects, though the play is also profoundly real in other ways. “I like that the [show] takes place at night,” Lawrence said. “People will come in and they’ll see the show and it’s all about stars, and then they’ll leave, they’ll walk out [under] the night sky and they’ll look up and they’ll think, ‘Wow. I can really see what they’re talking about. I can see the stars and I’m thinking about them now.’” Fly By Night, now more than ever, manages escapism without being out of touch. “I think with a lot of things — especially the election — I’ve definitely felt this feeling of futility,” said College junior Alex Jabbour, who plays deli owner Crabble. “Watching this show represents this lightheartedness to life that can be very hard to see especially now. [The show] takes your mind off of it and sort of reminds you that life is more than just politics. It’s also comedy, emotions, drama, laughter and love.” “I think this is more of a ‘happy fun-times’ show,” Forden said. “It’s not super happy in the end, but it’s got a sort of enlightening, nostalgic energy that I hope people will take away with them.” When asked about how events in the world might have changed the audience experience of the play since it first premiered, playwright Mitnick had a simple message. “I think in dark times, it’s not a bad idea to go to the theatre,” he wrote. One line repeated throughout the play is “Instants, moments, one flickering flame of light.” Fly By Night itself is a delicate balance of humor and hardship, love and loss, ridiculousness and reality, chance and choice. An instant changed or a moment altered and the narrative would fall apart — but OMTA’s production never loses its way.
Villeneuve’Arrival Surpasses Sci-Fi Favorites Christian Bolles Arts Editor Think twice before reading this review. To discover director Denis Villenueve’s Arrival unspoiled, with no impression of its sweeping scale, intimate emotional core and mindblowing final act, is an experience to be cherished. A science fiction thriller with a beating heart, based on the novella Story of Your Life by Ted Chiang, Arrival is a response to the swaggering bravado of its fellows in the celebrity-studded space film vein — Gravity, The Martian and Interstellar, to name just a few. In the film’s boundless grace, Arrival matches its peers in scope, puts their human dramas to shame and provokes more thought than even Nolan’s space odyssey, all while making objective sense, a feat that other highconcept science fiction often struggles with. Arrival hits emotional lows and wondrous highs, always gripping and never pretentious. As far as film experiences go, it’s hard to do better than Villenueve’s modern classic. There’s an ethereal quality to the life of Louise Banks. We’re introduced to the renowned linguist through a heartbreaking
montage detailing the tragically short life of her daughter, whose death sends Louise into a cycle of grief. When 12 monolithic alien craft land on Earth, the world stands still, and Louise is soon swept away by the U.S. government to assist in translating the seemingly indecipherable language of humankind’s newest obsession. But her personal aches never fade, leading to an emotional odyssey that will change the way she fathoms love, loss and time itself. Science fiction films often have trouble translating the intangible wonder of alien contact from text to screen, but Arrival handily sustains the mystique of its strange extraterrestrial creatures throughout. There’s something appealingly primal about these vast, featureless ships suspended above the ground; their smooth outer shells and ridged, shale-like interiors feel like they’ve been cut from the same massive stone. The soundtrack, cinematography and art direction evoke distant landscapes far out of sight, and though the film doesn’t revel in the stars themselves, Arrival suggests the void through pitch-perfect tone in its every frame. Accompanying the distant mystery of
its thick atmosphere is a pervading sense of melancholy, epitomized in Amy Adams’ stellar performance as Louise. Her drawn-out expressions bear all the baggage of lost purpose, her gaze always wandering in the moments when she isn’t steeped in the enigma of her alien subjects’ language. Her scientist companion, played with typical but nuanced amiability by Jeremy Renner, provides a suitable counterbalance to her daring impulses. As in Villenueve’s Sicario, Arrival makes a point to examine the attempts of the heroine’s male peers to second-guess and control her at nearly every turn. And since the film’s focus never wavers from Louise, this patriarchal atmosphere is frequently frustrating to watch, driving home a potent message while making the moments where she successfully runs against the grain that much more satisfying. Above all, Arrival is about liberation, both physical and intellectual, suggesting that our reality is colored entirely by our limited perception. From the beginning, Louise sees past that barrier, allowing her to innovate and triumph despite the social and political forces that threaten to impede her research. For all its potency as sociopolitical com-
mentary, Arrival never strays too far from its latent fascination with language. Anyone with even a passing interest in linguistic structures and calligraphy will be hardpressed not to swoon at the film’s semantic analysis of the aliens’ wonderfully designed written characters, while Louise’s skillful attempts to coax meaningful responses out of her subjects are explained with thoughtful simplicity. Arrival’s ability to ground its lead character with expertise in a fascinating practical discipline exempts it from needing to explain her ultimately pivotal role in the world’s fate by proving just how brilliant she is, making her transition from a college professor to something else entirely consistent and believable. With Villenueve’s prodigious directorial ability at the helm, Arrival succeeds in spinning an unforgettable tale of extraterrestrial contact around a rock-solid emotional core. The best science-fiction feature film of the past few years at least, this is a thriller that enlists both the head and the heart in ways that transcend the medium, ensuring resonance with any viewer willing to engage with its premise.
Arts
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The Oberlin Review, November 18, 2016
Arabic Event Finds Hope Despite National Division James Flemming Oberlin’s Arabic program, which in recent years has made strides toward expansion following a troubled infancy, hosted its third annual Arabic Language Day Tuesday evening. This event is one of several additions Arabic professor Mahmoud Meslat has pushed for since taking over the program in 2014. Other additions include creating opportunities for students to speak Arabic outside of class and, most recently, the hiring of Professor Basem Al-Raba’a. For Meslat, who described the Arabic language as a “soul to soul” experience connecting people of numerous cultures from all across the Middle East and North Africa with a common tongue, events like the Language Day and the Poetry Night on Thursday exist to celebrate Arabic language and culture, as well as the beauty in cross-cultural communication. Such gatherings have also taken on deeper meaning in light of recent events. “The Arabic language, it has nothing to do with politics,” Meslat said. “It’s not about nationalities and authorities. ... It has nothing to do with your religion, ... [or] your color. ... We have diffferent backgrounds, different traditions, but we communicate in language,” Meslat said. After an introduction by Meslat, students of the program delivered presentations on topics ranging from the scope of the Arab and Islamic worlds to the culture and traditions of the region, including its music and significant sites. The Arab world extends from the Mediterranean to the Sahara to the Fertile Crescent. Among its many significant landmarks are the Egyptian pyramids, as well as sites important to Islam such as the Kaaba in Mecca and Mount Arafat, where it is said the first Revelation of the Qur’an was received. Cultural descriptions also included Arab food culture, which contains adoptive favorites of many Americans such as hummus, baklava, stuffed grape leaves and falafel, as well as lesser-known cultural staples like kibbeh, a fried bulgur wheat and meat pastry of which Aleppo, Syria, alone has more than twenty local varieties. The program also included an acoustic rendition of Egyptian pop star Amr Diab’s song “Tamally
Maak”, or “Always With You,” and a collaborative translation of “Zina,” by Algerian group Babylone. Students displayed an impressive level of linguistic competency throughout, especially considering that many of them have yet to complete their first semester of Arabic study. After the presentations came perhaps the most important — and certainly the most anticipated — event of the evening: dinner. Participants and attendees gathered around tables of traditional Arab dishes prepared at home by the Meslat family. The food and friendly conversation enhanced the welcoming atmosphere set by the previous cultural activities. The informal environment was welcoming to everyone in attendance, many of whom were not directly involved with the Arabic program. College senior Sophie Pierson, who studied Arabic while abroad in Cordoba, Spain, reflected that she wished she had the time to continue language study on campus, but that events like this are great for bringing people like her who are still have a personal interest in Arabic language and culture together into one space. “I thought it was very inspiring to see such a large group of students come together and speak Arabic,” she said. “In Spain … we focused more on writing and less on speaking. … I would like to improve now that I have seen a group of college students engage in conversation in Arabic.” College junior Hassan Bin Fahim, an Arabic student who attended the event, found the evening similarly enjoyable. “It was generally a nice, homey environment,” he said. “It was like a mini trip to the Middle East while being at Oberlin, experiencing … Arabic culture first-hand.” The Arab world has been especially relevant in the United States and around the world for many years for more reasons than intellectual curiosity and personal heritage. The increasingly polarized social and political environment of the Middle East is focused largely on acts of violence and prolonged U.S. military interventions, which many believe to be a factor in regional instability. The significance of positive and celebratory Arab cultural events therefore extends past the immediate com-
munity for many students and faculty, especially in the uncertainty following the election of Donald Trump, who has spoken enthusiastically in favor of banning Muslim refugees from entering the country and increasing surveillance of Muslim neighborhoods and mosques. Pierson expressed that her curiosity regarding Arabic, originally due to the number and diversity of Arabic speakers in the world, has been elevated since the election. She emphasized the importance of solidarity and the role language can play in learning about other cultures to prevent irrational misunderstandings and to protect the safety of other Americans. “Learning a language is a concrete and effective way to stand in solidarity with minority and immigrant communities,” she said. “Especially now when we as a country and a world have to embrace the … cooperation that democracy supposedly stands for.” Bin Fahim also expressed in-
creased interest in Arabic study after recent developments. A Muslim from Pakistan, he grew up with Arabic as the language of prayer and the Qur’an. As Arabic is used mainly in religious contexts by most Pakistanis, he decided to –––––––––––––––––––––––––––
“Learing a language is a concrete and effective way to stand in solidarity with minority and immigrant communities.” Sophie Pierson College senior ––––––––––––––––––––––––––– take an elementary class to learn the requisite language skills for more general application. “I think the world is progressing. Arabic is becoming more and more relevant to my experience as a human being in a global world, and … I’d love to continue my
study of Arabic,” he said, also emphasizing the importance of selfdefinition and not “[letting] go of your identity in the face of opposition and fear.” “Yeah, we don’t eat the same food, but we can communicate and learn and introduce ourselves to this new culture through language, and this a lot he said.” Meslat, a native Syrian and permanent U.S. resident, stated that he has faith in the Constitution to protect communities that feel endangered. “[Diversity] makes America great, that’s why we love America,” he said. Meslat is a passionate proponent of Arabic culture, and is inspired by sociopolitical setbacks to do more as he continues his work here. With the probable trajectory of U.S. foreign and domestic policy over at least the next four years, Arabic programs and multicultural community events like these are more important than ever.
Arts
The Oberlin Review, November 18, 2016
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On The Record with Kazim Ali, Associate Professor Oberlin’s own Associate Professor of Creative Writing and Comparative Literature Kazim Ali’s new book Uncle Sharif ’s Life in Music made its official release Tuesday. A poet, novelist, essayist and translator, Ali’s writing has appeared in prestigious publications such as The American Poetry Review, Boston Review, Barrow Street, Jubilat, The Iowa Review and in The Best American Poetry 2007. Ali will read selections from the book Saturday at 5:30 p.m. The Review chatted with Ali to discuss his upcoming projects, fragmented storytelling and dreams of playing the piano. The first thing I have to say is I really like this book design. The book itself ? The cover feels so nice... The matte. The book designer is really good. This is a small press. It’s called Sibling Rivalry [Press] and it’s run by a guy named Bryan Borland and his partner Seth Pennington, and they run it out of their house in Little Rock, Arkansas. It’s part of this small press zeitgeist of the moment. They’re publishing a lot of important writers because what’s happened is that as commercial publishing has been leaving behind poetry and even leaving behind literature, a lot of the small presses are taking it up, so [Sibling Rivalry is] publishing some amazing people, and [Bryan] designed this book cover. And I think it’s one of my most beautiful — like, the appearance of it is so beautiful, and the cover is drawn by a former student of mine, who is also a poet. His name is Kelly McQuain and he’s a professor at a community college in Philadelphia, and he is an artist and I asked him to read the stories and draw it. So if you’ve read it then you know [the scene on the cover] is from the first story, but then the back with all these photographs are from the other different stories, and then the tarot cards are the images of the last novella which is constructed around tarot. It almost appears to be a children’s book of stories, but then after the first story — It gets more experimental. What was your thought process behind putting all of these different stories together? Well, there are seven different stories — six stories and a novella. The novella at the end is about 120 pages. For a long time I tried to get it published as a separate book, but it’s a weird length and I’m not known as a fiction writer. ... But in the end I started to see all the seven pieces, even though they’re formally very separate, I started to see this trajectory about alienation, about romantic love, about desire, personal connection, all the dangerous [things] that can go wrong, especially growing up as a gay person, as a Muslim, you know, in Trump’s America — but even before it was Trump’s America, it was still Trump’s America. I mean, America gave us Trump, you know? ... I just started to get really interested in the fact that none of the stories were in the same style. You have a young adult story; you have sort of this noir, not pornographic because it’s not explicit, but there’s an edginess in how it treats sexuality; and then you have this kind of science fiction-y story; and then this really fragmented lyric experimental story; then you have this epistolary novel which is almost old-fashioned, and then a novella that’s structured after the cards in a tarot deck. So in there I just started to see that in their disparity of style and approach, they actually made a book — made a very postmodern, kind of
even messy, disordered book. It seems like that idea of fragmentation is something that you are drawn to. It’s something I noticed in [your book Wind Instrument] as well. I definitely think Wind Instrument and my previous book Bright Felon, and then the story called “Morning Raga,” all kind of draw from that same impulse of the fragmented utterance. ... [It’s] something that is no longer a broken-off bit of something, it’s not like you’re hearing snapshots of an overheard conversation. You’re hearing a conversation but it’s in these fragments, and that’s like the era of tweets and Facebook statuses ... and the kind of noise of the internet — it’s a new reality. I just published a book through the press I work at that’s called Nightboat Books by this girl [named Brynne Rebele-Henry] who’s [17] and it’s called Fleshgraphs, and it’s written in little status updates. It’s basically about girlhood, but like in this internet age. How does perception of time play into your writing? It does in “Morning Raga,” and that story is in the center of the book, and that’s where the prose breaks apart completely and then kind of comes back together. So you have the first story and the last story — even though the last story is written one chapter for every tarot card, so it’s like a little experimental in that way, it still has the most normative approach to storytelling as the first story, like the bookend to this book. And then all the stories in the middle kind of explode the question of story in different ways, and “Morning Raga” as a middle is where time explodes. It is set during the Iraq war. ... It’s supposed to be set in 2003, this really weird time. Dimitra [is a] professor at a college, and someone sends a letter to the dean of the college reporting him for un-American activities, and that is something that’s based on something that happened to me when I was a professor in 2003, not at Oberlin. So how much of this book is autobiographical? I mean, I’ll draw from my own experience, but plenty is made up or exaggerated or invented. Or they’re stories that I’ve heard. ... I had several uncles whose antics went into Uncle Sharif, but there wasn’t just one Uncle Sharif in all these things happened to him. There’s a lot of music in both Wind Instrument and in your new book. And my [next] book has music too. Are you secretly a musician? I might be, even though I’ve been at Oberlin for ten years and I haven’t signed up for music lessons in the Conservatory. Do you know what my secret desire is? My secret desire is to learn how to play the piano. I actually have big palms, but I have small fingers. ... But the sound of the piano and the feeling of the instrument — I mean, you have these musicians who are drawn to these certain types of instruments for whatever reason. How do you decide whether you want to be a horn player or a string player? It would be really interesting to ask a professor about this, but I believe something in your physical body, in the way your breath moves, the way your bones are — something draws you into a shape musically. Music is an athleticism, it’s a physical athleticism. ... The new novel I didn’t tell you about is called The String Quartet and it’s a novel written in the form of a string quartet. It has four different characters and each
Associate Professor of Creative Writing and Comparative Literature Kazim Ali recently published Uncle Sharif’s Life in Music. Photo Courtesy of Kazim Ali
character has a storyline and they run simultaneously in a staff with clefs — like it’s music, or you’re reading music. Are you going to have someone play it? I want to, yeah. When I do readings from it, I’m going to invite people to do that. What was your writing process like for Uncle Sharif? The novella was not the thing that I wrote first. The story “Sewn,” which is the third story, and that’s the speculative fiction story ... I wrote the year after I graduated from college. So I was 22 when I wrote it. That’s the oldest thing. So that’s finally getting published, are you excited about that? Yes. I kept it around for so long. And then the other stories I wrote along the way. “Morning Raga” I wrote in 2003 when it happened. I wrote “Uncle Sharif ” maybe 2009, I mean I just wrote those over the years. “Fool’s Errand” I started writing in 2006 or 2007 — it took me about five years to write. But this book is 1994 to now, it’s like 22 years of work. It takes a long time to write a book. What is that feeling like to publish, since it’s been such a long time coming? For me it feels great. I tell my students this: If you keep working and you keep working on things, and even if you don’t publish something right away, it doesn’t mean you destroy it or burn it. It doesn’t mean it’s not good. You just keep going, and then eventually what you’ve done comes through. So I feel glad that it’s out there in the world, and I have a little bit of anxiety because a lot of these stories are really personal, you know? There is a lot of myself in the young boy from “Uncle Sharif ’s Life in Music,” and the young man from “Fool’s Errand,” you know? There is a lot of autobiographical stuff in there.
And there’s a lot of me in Alex, who’s the hero of “Screwdriver” and “Correspondence,” so even though a lot is fictionalized, there is still a lot of the spirit that’s drawn from my experience. It’s a vulnerable thing to put your work out there. As a poet I feel the reverse. In fiction you can make things up, but for me fiction feels very real, and fiction feels very close to my reality. In fact, fiction is where I tell the most truth. I think if I were a “fiction writer” I might feel like I have access to everything, I can make up anything I want, nobody’s gonna think this has anything to do with me. But because I’m a poet and I’m so used to exposing myself, I just obsess about what [I am] exposing about myself here. Do you really see the book as a work of fiction, in the sense that you’re used to writing a lot of poetry and there’s a lot of poetic influence in there? Well my publisher Byron keeps saying it’s poetry, that he edited it as though it were poetry. You know, my relationship to genre is complicated. I write poetry, I write fiction, I write essays and I also write books that cannot be categorized. ... Wind Instrument — what do you say that is? To say it’s anything is going to diminish a certain approach to the book. In some ways a genre stands between the reader and the writer. I always talk about the relationship between genre and gender — that this is a reading practice. It’s something a reader brings to a text. With gender, the observer brings to the body ideas about performance. What is the body shaped like, what does it look like, how does it behave, what is its body language, does it have hair, is it hairless? This is how we determine what gender is ... and sometimes I feel about genre the same way. Interview conducted by Vida Weisblum, Editor-in-Chief
Sports
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The Oberlin Review, November 18, 2016
In the Locker Room
Men’s Basketball
This week, the Review sat down with men’s basketball senior Scott Miller and sophomore Eli SilvermanLloyd to discuss the upcoming season, differences in playing style and team goals.
ES: The coaches were a big part in my coming here. Coach [Tim] McCrory is very personable and friendly and easy to get along with. That is even before we step on the court. Same with Head Coach [Isaiah] Cavaco. He is very good at letting me know what I need to improve upon and work on in the offseason. I feel really comfortable talking to him. Our relationship is great, and he, as a coach, is great.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity. Describe the excitement for your first game of the season against The College of Wooster. Scott Miller: It’s our first conference game, and it’s also the best opponent. They’re probably our biggest rival over the past few years. They’ve ended my season almost every year. It’ll be nice to get some revenge for the first game of the year. Eli Silverman-Lloyd: We are the underdogs, but our team and our system are so much different from last year. We are really going to be able to surprise them in a lot of ways, and I think we have a good chance. How much different is the team’s playing style this year compared to last year? SM: Well, we lost two of the tallest guys [Randy Ollie and Matt Walker] on the team. We didn’t bring in much height, necessarily. We are all very versatile, so we are playing a lot smaller and [will] be playing a lot more guys. ES: Faster tempo. Up-tempo. Pressing full court.
Scott Miller (left) and Eli Silverman-Lloyd How has the team’s preseason training prepared you for the season? SM: We have seven first-years. It’s been interesting having five seniors and no juniors. It’s been interesting to see how the first-years have assimilated, and it’s been a pretty good experience so far. ES: Practices have been good. We are trying to simulate in practice what we are trying to do in games. We want to make the other teams feel hectic and crazy to force a lot of turnovers. We have pretty good chemistry between guys, not much tension.
What have the dynamics been like between the upperclassmen and lowerclassmen and how has this impacted leadership? SM: I think our leadership role is to lead by example. I think that a lot of the sophomores were kind of thrown into a lot of the leadership last year. We all treat each other as equals. Everyone listens to each other. There is a lot of respect and support. ES: Sophomores don’t really get treated as underclassmen, so it’s this mutual, shared leadership that works pretty well. The first-years are still underclassmen in a lot of ways because they haven’t quite played
under the system yet, but even some of our first-years can be our leaders in many ways. It’s helpful to the team. How has your relationship grown with the coaching staff? SM: One of the main reasons I chose Oberlin, besides the academics and the team, was the coaches. Over my four years, they’ve helped me grow. From seeing me freshman year until now, a lot of the credit goes to them and the basketball experience they put me in. It’s rare to have a coach that you can shoot with before practice, after practice. It’s rare to have that relationship, and we are pretty lucky to have them as coaches.
What are your team and individual goals for this season? SM: Our team goal is to increase our win total. We want to finish in the top half of the conference this year, which I definitely think is doable. So hosting a playoff game would be really cool. Individually, since we are playing so many guys, I just want to fit in and contribute as much as I can to winning. I need to be as efficient as I can from behind the arc since shooting threes is a big part of our game. ES: Definitely finishing within the top four in the conference, because we underachieved last year. Individually, I’m going to have to shoot well like everyone else. Just try to help play a team game on both ends of the floor, offense and defense. Interview by Jackie McDermott, Sports editor Photo By Bryan Rubin, Photo editor
Editorial: Playoff Should Include Top-Six Teams Continued from page 16 would be irate. How can a 42–36 loss to Clemson Oct. 1 be the only reason to keep the Cardinals out of the playoffs? Obviously, this is one of the many difficult questions facing the CFP selection committee in the following weeks. But if the field is expanded to six teams, such controversies will be eliminated. It looks like Louisville’s season may shape up like the Texas Christian University Horned Frogs’ did when they were left out of the playoff field in 2014. A disappointed TCU Head Coach Gary Patterson made a public statement saying he believes that the CFP should expand to six teams. “To me, it makes no sense to have four playoff spots and then have five [power] conferences,” he said in an interview with ESPN. “This way gives everybody a chance to have their champion or their best team be a part of the playoff.” Unfortunately, counter-arguments against an expanded playoff field have drowned out these concerns. Some say that the field should remain at four teams because adding additional spots would force teams to play more games in the playoffs, increasing the risk of injury for players. Others think that conference championship games would be meaningless if a team could make the
playoffs without winning a conference title. While many college football analysts have taken a firm stance on this controversy, so has the NCAA. With the CFP contract going through the 2025 season, Atlantic Coast Conference Commissioner John Swofford said he doesn’t expect the playoff field to expand anytime soon. “I don’t want to say never,” he said in an interview during ACC Media Days, “but I don’t think we’ll see it during the remaining years of the contract.” Given the low television ratings of the CFP last year, the NCAA has nothing to lose in expanding the playoff field. Last year’s Orange Bowl, the CFP semifinal faceoff of Clemson and Oklahoma, received much worse television ratings and 44.5 percent fewer viewers than the 2015 Rose Bowl. The other CFP semifinal game, the Cotton Bowl, which featured No. 2 Alabama and No. 3 Michigan State, experienced similar issues. The Cotton Bowl’s viewership was 10 million lower than the 2015 Sugar Bowl. Therefore, expanding the CFP is a no-brainer. For increased competition, equal opportunity and presumed better television ratings, increasing the playoff field to six teams is not just an option, but also a necessity to preserve fan interest in college football for years to come.
Sports
The Oberlin Review, November 18, 2016
Page 15
—Women’s basketball—
Yeowomen Fall in Season Opener to Baldwin Wallace
First-year point guard Sarah Thompson looks to make a play in Oberlin’s season opener on Tuesday. The rookieladen Yeowomen fell to Baldwin Wallace University 70–41, but will be back in action against the Hiram College Terriers in Hiram, Ohio, tomorrow. Photo Courtesy of OC Athletics
Julie Schreiber Women’s basketball endured a tough loss in its season opener, falling 70–41 to the Baldwin Wallace University Yellow Jackets Tuesday. This disappointing start was somewhat of a letdown after the Yeowomen’s highest preseason ranking ever, sitting at fourth place in the North Coast Athletic Conference coaches’ poll. The squad was particularly disappointed in the loss given that Oberlin earned a tight win
last year over Baldwin Wallace, squeezing by at 63–61 in one of the “closest matches this team has ever played,” according to Head Coach Kerry Jenkins. “Our intensity just didn’t match theirs,” Jenkins said. “It caught us off guard. This game was a great way for our team to understand that we really have to earn it.” Oberlin held the lead for the majority of the opening quarter, but the Yellow Jackets managed to take advantage of Oberlin’s turn-
overs and surge the scoreboard. “We didn’t play as well as we knew we could have, and Baldwin Wallace capitalized on a lot of our mistakes and turnovers,” said senior forward Eleanor Van Buren. “But this first game is not representative of our team and our season. We have so much potential and we all have really high expectations for our team this year.” The game showcased solid performances from the sophomores, with center Olivia Canning posting the fourth double-
double of her career and guard Alex Stipano netting eight points. The Yeowomen also grabbed 35 rebounds, compared to the Yellow Jackets’ 30. Underclassmen will play a pivotal role for Oberlin this season, with a first-year class that makes up roughly half of the team’s roster. Sophomore forward Sarah Feinberg said they have already brought about a positive change on the team. “The team feels overall stronger this year,” Feinberg said. “There’s more support and more bodies.” The Yeowomen are led by a trio of junior captains: forward Abby Andrews, forward Anna Moore and guard Tyler Parlor. Jenkins said these veterans have set an example by improving throughout their three years at Oberlin. “They have all truly embraced the process of improving through this program. … They believe in what we’re doing and what the team is trying to accomplish. They set great examples for their teammates and also have tremendous respect from their teammates,” he said. Oberlin’s fourth-place ranking in the NCAC preseason coaches’ poll reinforces the team’s goal of competing with the best-ranked teams in the conference, including rivals like the Denison University Big Red and the DePauw University Tigers. After losing to Denison decisively in the opening half of the season last year,
Cool or Drool: Romo’s Days in Dallas Numbered Dan Bisno Columnist Editor’s Note: This article contains references to domestic violence. Many of the 32 teams in the NFL are struggling to fill the quarterback position. While teams like the San Francisco 49ers and Cleveland Browns cycle through their assortment of sub-par passers and NFL busts like Tim Tebow, who moved on to pursue a career in baseball, the Cowboys are mischievously stockpiling quarterbacks in Dallas. Since week one of the NFL season, rookie quarterback Dak Prescott has led the Dallas Cowboys to an NFC-leading 8–1 start, while famed backups Tony Romo and Mark Sanchez remain benched. Many Cowboys fans had high hopes for Romo this season, but he was sidelined after fracturing his vertebrae at the end of the NFL preseason. This follows Romo’s 2015 campaign in which he missed seven games due to a broken collarbone. Last year, he had no competition coming back from that injury and reclaimed his job as quarterback in week 11. After all, his team had lost all eight games in his absence. He had enjoyed the highest passer rating in the NFL in 2014 and was considered among the league’s most consistent veteran quarterbacks. But job security in the NFL is a fragile concept — only players like Tom Brady or J.J. Watt can really say those words with confidence. Apparently, Romo doesn’t fit into that category. Prescott’s eclipsing of Romo is not as peculiar as it seems. Sure, he is a rookie who was selected in the fourth round of the 2016 NFL Draft, but Prescott dominated in college. He holds every passing record at Mississippi State, where he started under center for three seasons. When Prescott stepped in for Romo at the end of 2016 preseason, he performed better than expected and gained momentum quickly. This might
remind some fans of Colin Kaepernick replacing former first-overall pick Alex Smith for the 49ers in 2011 following Smith’s minor injury. But even when Smith was playable again, Head Coach Jim Harbaugh stuck with Kaepernick due to the momentum. It led to an NFC Championship appearance in 2011 and a Super Bowl appearance in 2012. Imagine that story for Dallas this season. The Cowboys’ success cannot be attributed to Prescott alone. Tyron Smith, Ronald Learly, Travis Frederick, Zack Martin and Doug Free — the most dominant offensive line in the NFL — deserve the most credit for protecting Prescott. You could put Tebow behind those five goliath-sized men and he would pass for 3,500 yards and 25 touchdowns — maybe. They’re the same five that blocked the pathway for former Cowboys running back Demarco Murray’s league-leading 1,845 rushing yards with Dallas in 2014. In 2016, they’re poised to repeat that with rookie Ezekiel Elliott, who leads the league with 1,005 yards on the ground and 1,255 all-purpose yards. Let me reiterate that: he’s a rookie. With Elliott tearing up the ground game in Dallas, any opposing defense has to respect the run before they crash the pocket to tackle Prescott. A distraction like Elliott is rare, but his season may soon come to an end. In July, Elliott was accused of domestic violence in Ohio. While he was not charged, his accuser posted graphic photos of her bruises online, creating much suspicion about Elliott. While that story has faded from the media, a new story is beginning to surface with the same woman regarding a February incident in Florida. Limited information is available, but according to many media reports this past week, Elliott has earned the nickname “Public Enemy No. 1” among NFL investigators. After the terrible handling of the Ray Rice domestic violence case in Baltimore, the league has made it clear that there will be no mistakes in Elliott’s case, and a first offense violation could result
in a six-game suspension for violating the NFL’s personal conduct policy. Despite potential impending sanctions against Elliot, the Dallas front office is going to ride its two young prospects, Elliot and Prescott, as high up the ladder of success as they’ll go now that Romo is out of the picture. At 36 years old, Romo has limited options. There is a lot of suspicion that he may land in Denver, where the Broncos were able to win the Super Bowl last year with a 40-plus-year-old Peyton Manning. Denver’s powerhouse defense with Romo’s experience would be a significant upgrade from current rookie quarterback Trevor Siemian’s average performance this year. At least, the Cowboys will have to do something about Romo’s six-year, $108-million contract, or he will be the most expensive backup in the league. More than anything, Romo should be commended for his professionalism throughout this emotional rollercoaster. Who would have thought that a 23-year-old fourth-round draft pick could push Romo out of Dallas? But with an 8–1 record, Prescott earned it. Despite continued support for Prescott, Romo held a press conference last Wednesday where he read a prepared speech to make his position clear. “It’s a dark place — probably the darkest it’s ever been,” he admitted to the media. As a player who has worked his entire career to play on a team like Dallas’, he is entitled to those emotions. More importantly, Romo confirmed, “[Prescott] has earned the right to be our quarterback. Dak knows I have his back.” Unlike many players, Romo put the team before his own personal agenda. He continues to exemplify the leadership and professionalism that has been a foundation of his player reputation. For this spirit, he earns a “cool,” as the Cowboys continue to dominate the NFL with their $108-million quarterback smiling on the bench.
Oberlin demonstrated improvement by playing Denison to the buzzer before losing in a 45–44 heartbreaker the week before the NCAC tournament. Oberlin’s losses to DePauw were much more decisive — 63–45 in the first game and 69–40 in the second. But it was the Allegheny College Gators that eventually ended Oberlin’s season in the quarterfinals of the NCAC tournament, defeating Oberlin 58–50. Feinberg said that the team was motivated by last year’s NCAC losses. “Denison and DePauw are definitely the hardest teams in our conference to beat and we’re all ready to challenge them,” she said. The Yeowomen will also face tough competition outside of conference competition. Jenkins scheduled 10 non-conference games, including an upcoming trip to Angola, IN, to take on Trine University this Tuesday. First the Yeowomen will open up conference play against the Hiram College Terriers on the road at 2 p.m. tomorrow. Last year, the Yeowomen and Terriers split both games. On Feb. 13, Oberlin fell to Hiram 53–50 after being outscored 18–9 in the fourth quarter. Jenkins said that the Yeowomen must be particularly wary of the Terriers and other rivals this season. “Everyone is anticipating our successes,” Jenkins said. “We’re no longer the hunters. This year, we’re the hunted.”
Cross Country Concludes 2016 Season Continued from page 16 We did really well throughout the season,” senior captain Nick Care said. “We didn’t get to run our Ateam at conference or regionals this year, but we still did really well.” Gliding in after the first-years was Care, concluding his cross country career with a time of 28:05.1. Sophomore Dylan Caban followed him, crossing the finish line at 28:27.8, while firstyear Duncan Reid clocked in at 28:37.6, landing him 191st place. Though the results weren’t desirable for the team, Douglass said he believes this season was still positive for the Yeomen. “Overall, it went very well,” Douglass said. “It was still a team with not a lot of experience, but I think they stepped up, and there was great improvement across the board. Everyone ran really good races, and I was really proud to see that.” After a few weeks of recovery, most members of the men and women’s cross country teams will begin training for the indoor track and field season. Both teams will race in the Case Western Reserve University Spartan Holiday Classic in Cleveland Dec. 3.
Sports The Oberlin Review
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November 18, 2016
— Cross Country —
Halsten Heads to NCAA Championships Sydney Allen Production Editor After recording a ninth-place finish at the Great Lakes Regional Championships last Saturday, sophomore Linnea Halsten will represent Oberlin at the NCAA Cross Country Championships in Louisville, KY, tomorrow. Halsten, a Madison, WI, native, finished the 6k race in 21 minutes, 27.2 seconds to earn an at-large bid, while the women’s team ended its season finishing in sixth place among the 31-team field. “We didn’t perform like we really wanted to; we wanted to go to nationals as a team and that just didn’t happen,” Halsten said. “It’s a long season and times don’t always consistently go down; sometimes they go up as the season drags on.” Even though the whole team did not end up reaching their goal of making it to the NCAA Championships, Halsten had a recordbreaking season and her impressive performance during regionals earned her all-region honors. This will be Halsten’s career debut at nationals, and although her team won’t be out on the course with her, she attributes her success to
them. “I think we pushed each other really well, and I’m really happy with my season,” she said. “Our team is so great at supporting each other. It’s a really great, supportive atmosphere.” The rest of the Yeowomen filed in over a minute after Halsten, coming in as a pack with junior Sarah Urso leading with a time of 23:02.2, a career best that landed her 41st place. A trio of first-years followed her across the finish line with Oona Jung-Beeman at 23:03.1, Marija Crook at 23:05.1 and Shannon Wargo at 23:13.4. Senior Emily Curley closed off the race, finishing in 75th place at 23:46.4 before sophomore Vanessa Lochirco clocked in at 23:58.5 for an 86th-place finish. For the Yeomen, the season wrapped up with no runners heading to nationals. This was particularly difficult for Senior Captain EJ Douglass, who had been hoping to advance individually after a hard-fought season. Leading the Yeomen in the 8k with a time of 25:26.8 and climbing to 23rd place nationally, Douglass earned allregion honors from the NCAA. “I was a bit disappointed to see it end earlier then planned,” Dou-
Darren Zaslau Sports Editor
Sophomore Linnea Halsten races at the Great Lakes Regional Championships, where she recorded a 21 minute, 27.2 second finish in the 6k last Saturday. Her ninth-place finish earned her a spot at the NCAA Cross Country Championships in Louisville, KY, tomorrow. Photo Courtesy of OC Athletics
glass said. “But looking back, I’m glad that I had the opportunity to do my best this year. “ Following Douglass was a trio of first-years, Will Taylor, Ju-
lian Guerrieri and Elliott Bailey, clocking in at 27:14.3, 27:59.4 and 28:01.6, respectively. “We had a really good start. See Cross Country, page 15
— Swimming —
Yeowomen Beat Bears, Lin Notches Top-10 Finish Alex McNicoll In a milestone day for several Oberlin swimmers and divers at Ohio Northern University last Saturday, the Yeowomen defeated the Polar Bears 130–100, while the Yeomen fell 149–77. Despite splitting the meet, Head Coach Andrew Brabson said he was encouraged by the progression he saw from both the men’s and women’s teams. “Overall, I was really pleased with how the teams did,” Brabson said. “We had a lot of season bests, a lot of improvement with some of the technical aspects we’re working on. So to see those implemented into the meet was great.” On the women’s side, senior swimmer Maddie Prangley had a career race that earned her North Coast Athletic Conference Swimmer of the Week honors. Logging a total of 29 points in the 130– 100 victory, Prangley posted winning times in three different events. Her effort was highlighted by a 5 minute, 12.27 second finish in the 500-yard freestyle, which moved her into 18th place nationally and ninth in the NCAC. The Fairfield, CT, native also won the 200-free in a time of 2:00.45 while guiding the 200-free relay to a first place finish at 1:46.06. Leading the Yeomen’s successes was first-year swimmer Michael Lin who had several personal bests at the meet, making school history in two different events. His time of 1:59.73 in the 200yard individual medley and his time of 55.40 in the 100-yard backstroke placed him in Oberlin’s top-10 all-time finishes in his respective events. The divers also saw success Saturday, as firstyear Katja Zoner and senior diver Jean-Paul Gilbert both took home first-place honors in the 1-meter and 3-meter dives. While Gilbert dove unopposed, Zoner’s 200.78 point and 196.80 point finishes bested both of the Polar Bears’ divers. “It was a good week to throw in some new dives with a higher degree of difficulty,” Zoner
Expansion Necessary for CFP
First-year Michael Lin swims the butterfly leg of the 200-yard individual medley. Lin logged one of the top-10 fastest times in school history with his 1 minute, 59.73 second finish in Oberlin’s meet against the Ohio Northern University Polar Bears last Saturday. Photo Courtesy of OC Athletics
said. “That past week I had learned back one-anda-halves on the one meter and front two-and-ahalves on the three meter, so I put both of those in the meet.” This list of successes is not unfamiliar to Brabson. In his four years as head coach, the swimming and diving teams have broken 22 school records while leading the Yeowomen to a school-best fourth-place finish in the NCAC Championship. These achievements have not gone unnoticed — he also won the NCAC Women’s Swimming Coach of the Year Award in 2015. Despite the accolades, Brabson said he stays focused on day-to-day improvements. “It’s all about building from each performance,” he said. “The goal for this week is to really keep that workload — keep working hard in the weight room and the pool.”
As the teams prepare to finish the first half of their season, the Yeomen and Yeowomen will set their sights on the Fredonia Invitational, taking place Dec. 2–4 in Fredonia, NY. The event marks Oberlin’s first invitational of the season in preparation for the NCAC Championship in February. Brabson said he believes the teams must continue to build on their current performances in order to have success. “This team is very hard-working, and I’ve seen a lot of their hard work already paying off,” Brabson said. “The goal is to build from that, keep moving forward, keep that positive momentum going and to do our first real conference-type test in our mid-season invite.” Oberlin will take to the pool in a key NCAC test tomorrow versus the Wittenberg University Tigers in Springfield, Ohio.
History was made in college football last Saturday. For the first time since 1985, three of the top four teams in the nation all lost in the same week. With No. 2 Michigan losing to Iowa, No. 3 Clemson dropping a thriller at home to Pittsburgh and No. 4 Washington falling to USC, the College Football Playoff experienced a mindboggling shake-up. Top-ranked Alabama is currently the only undefeated team in the nation, boasting a perfect 10–0 record in the always-competitive Southeastern Conference. Having outscored its opponents 412–122, Alabama represents the only lock for making the College Football Playoff. As for the other three teams looking to complete the playoff field, predicting the nation’s top-four teams is nearly impossible given the inconsistencies that occurred this past weekend. Since at least three of the top-four teams in the CFP will have at least one loss, the playoff field should expand to six teams in order to include various other deserving, one-loss teams and to create more competition. Seven of the current top-10 teams in the AP poll have one loss or less, creating a challenge for the CFP selection committee in picking the best four teams. If the season ended today, according to CFP rankings, No. 1 Alabama, No. 2 Ohio State, No. 3 Michigan and No. 4 Clemson would represent the playoff field as the top four teams in the nation. In that scenario, if I were Bobby Petrino, head coach of the fifth-ranked Louisville Cardinals who would be one spot out of the playoff, I See Editorial, page 14