November 4, 2016

The Oberlin Review

NOVEMBER 4, 2016 VOLUME 145, NUMBER 8

Local News Bulletin News briefs from the past week City Polling Areas and Voter Requirements As Election Day approaches, students and city residents will need to figure out which of three voting centers they have been assigned to. Depending on the address, Oberlin residents will vote at Philips gym, Kendal at Oberlin or Zion Community Development. To check which polling station you are assigned to, online search engines such as the state of Ohio’s Voter Lookup can provide information.

In addition to being at least 18 years old and registered in Ohio, voters must provide valid identification from the federal government or the state of Ohio or prove their current residence with a utility bill or a bank statement. To prove residence, students who live on campus can use the utility bills that were sent to student mailboxes. Voters can also fill out a provisional ballot, but they must prove their identity to the Board of Elections within seven days of the election.

Alternatively, voters can cast ballots early in person at the Lorain County Board of Elections as late as Monday in Lorain. Early voting only requires an address and the last four digits of a social security number.

Raimondo Chosen as Permanent Vice President and Dean After acting as the interim Vice President and Dean of Students, Meredith Raimondo has been chosen to fill the position full time. Raimondo worked as a Comparative American Studies professor and as the Title IX coordinator before former Dean Eric Estes’ departure at the end of last semester.

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College to Reduce Assistant Positions Oliver Bok News Editor At the end of 2016, 32 administrative assistants who took a buyout will no longer work for the College — and no one, including the administrative assistants themselves, is completely certain of what will happen next.

According to the Oberlin College Office and Professional Employees Vice President and Interlibrary Loan Supervisor Diane Lee, that uncertainty has led to anger.

“Our problem is that we've been asking ‘What's the plan for handling these vacancies?’” Lee said.

“We've been asking since April. We've gotten absolutely no answers. Some people have already left.”

OCOPE members and administrative assistants are frustrated that the administration won’t communicate its plans.

“They're not being very transparent,” Politics department administrative assistant Tracy Tucker said.

Last spring, the College offered a year’s salary to faculty and staff who retired early. To qualify, employees had to be 52 or over, have worked at the College for at least 10 years and have their age and length of employment at the College total over 75 years.

The Voluntary Separation Incentive Program was originally intended to save the College money by replacing older faculty and staff with younger, lower paid employees. In this way, the College expects to save between $2.5 million and $3.5 million each year.

However, according to Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences Tim Elgren, the administration decided to use the VSIP as an opportunity to re-

History department administrative assistant Kathy King works behind a bouquet of flowers bought by faculty to show support for her and Religion department administrative assistant Brenda Hall. Administrative assistants have recently had to fill out questionnaires on the work that they do since the College plans to restructure positions.

Photo by Bryan Rubin, Photo editor

structure positions after the College’s financial situation deteriorated over the summer.

“The financial picture changed this summer,” Elgren said. “It's no longer that we might consider not hiring. Now we're thinking about which of the positions we're thinking of filling.”

According to Elgren, an unexpectedly large number of students who had committed to coming to Oberlin backed out over the summer, leading to a budget shortfall and a need to cut spending in all divisions.

Tucker questioned whether cutting administrative assistants was the best place to find savings.

“If we're in such financial crisis, who made

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Faculty, Students Select Search Comittee Finalists Louis Krauss News Editor Following a slew of elections and interviews, the top three candidates for each of the five remaining spots on the Presidential Search Committee have been chosen. This committee, tasked with finding Oberlin’s next president, gives one representative spot each to students, College faculty, Conservatory faculty, administrative staff and alumni. Now that nominees for each group have been finalized, the committee’s six trustees will hold interviews with candidates beginning tomorrow to determine the one finalist for each spot. The two candidates from each group who aren’t selected to the committee will still participate in next semester’s interviews with presidential candidates.

Many nominees said they were pleased to be chosen as candidates, but stressed the importance of taking the job seriously and that it

would be a challenge to find someone who can sufficiently represent various communities and concerns on campus. College faculty nominee and Religion Professor A.G. Miller said that he wants to make sure that he lives up to the expectations of those who voted for him.

“I take it very seriously, as I assume we all three [College faculty nominees] do,” Miller said. “Our colleagues put their faith in us, so hopefully we can adjudicate that trust as best we can.”

Miller was one of three College faculty finalists, along with Politics Professor Chris Howell and English Professor Jennifer Bryan.

Both Bryan and Howell declined to comment in-depth on their being nominated.

Aside from respecting the overall concerns of College faculty, Miller said he is aware of the many different views and values that need to be considered when selecting the president.

“You have to represent a lot of different traditions, interests, financial needs, faculty, students, alumni — so I mean it’s an awesome job, but you have to take all of that into consideration,” Miller said.

For students, three finalists — double-degree senior Jeremy Poe and College juniors Naomi Roswell and Monique Newton — were chosen by Student Senate over the weekend after interviewing the eight self-nominated applicants.

Now only a few days away from finalizing the committee, questions still loom about how much of a time commitment the job will entail. Both Miller and Roswell mentioned this as a concern, given their already busy schedules.

“I think whoever gets the position will do a great job, but I think it’s going to be a lot of time,” Roswell said. “The interesting part, when you actually interview candidates, will be in the spring, and that’s something all three of us get to do.

Swimming for Speed

Cyberlin The College will partner with Pioneer Academics to offer online classes starting summer 2017.

those budgetary mistakes that have gotten us to this point?” Tucker asked. “They’re looking at cutting or combining or eliminating or whatever they are calling it some of the people that are the lowest paid group of campus workers and have more connection with students. There's other areas that they could look at to reduce costs.”

According to Elgren, out of the seven administrative assistants for academic departments in the College who took the buyout, the College will find permanent replacements for three-and-a-half positions. Next semester, the College will use temporary

First-years clock in top times at recent swim meet.

Alter-Soprano Opera Theater performs an unusual double-bill.

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INDEX:

Opinions 5

This Week in Oberlin 8

See page 15

Arts 10

Sports 16

The main position requires literally reading hundreds of resumes and cover letters, and that seems less fun.”

Roswell questioned whether the time commitment is really worth the benefits of being the final representative, and has already received significant attention from faculty asking her to push their agendas.

“In the three days I’ve known I was nominated, I’ve had so many faculty tell me, ‘Naomi, make sure you bring up X, Y and Z,’” Roswell said. “If that’s going to keep happening in every interaction I have, that’s going to be rough.”

Still, Student Senate was satisfied with the three students they chose and felt they could each make their presence felt as the only student in committee meetings.

“Even though we know the trustees are committed, the student will still have to get their ideas heard, See Search, page 4

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The Oberlin Review, November 4, 2016

College Goes Global with Online Courses Melissa Harris Production Editor The College is going digital and entering the world of online education as part of a bid to raise revenue, increase research opportunities for faculty and heighten international exposure.

The College will partner with Pioneer Academics to provide online college-level educational programs and research mentor partnerships with professors for high school students.

Through Pioneer, a start-up that aims to expand educational accessibility with technology, students taking these online courses will be able to access Oberlin’s online library resources, receive college credits and have an opportunity to work with college professors as they pursue research projects.

Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences Timothy Elgren, who is heading the effort for this online program, said he is enthusiastic about its benefits after participating in Pioneer’s pilot research program as a mentor for three students while on faculty at Hamilton College.

Since Elgren came to Oberlin three years ago, he has continued his involvement with Pioneer by acting as a voluntary advisor for the program and working to have Oberlin faculty mentor high school students starting next summer.

“This is something that really Tim brought to Oberlin. He had been involved with [it] at Hamilton,” President Marvin Krislov said. “I thought it was a great opportunity both to give us an opportunity to meet students who might be interested in Oberlin eventually, and it’s also an opportunity for if faculty and staff want to participate in the educational process. And I met the people — they seem really committed to doing quality work.”

Krislov also noted that the program will help the College raise revenue in a time of tight budgets.

“One of the things that we're trying to do as

part of the Strategic Plan … is think of alternative ways to make money,” Krislov said. “And so, for instance, the hotel is going to provide some additional business, we hope. And that so far seems to be working. It's a modest program, but [online classes] can provide alternative revenue, too."

According to Elgren, the College has already earned $120,000 from the contract with Pioneer, which will pay the College a fee for every student in its program.

Elgren also spoke about the two-way benefits of the program, which in his view will make the College more visible in the world and expose high school students to college-level academic experiences.

“For Oberlin to partner in this way, we do two things,” Elgren said. “We get incredible national and international global exposure to the resources we have available as a higher education institution, but also exposure to our vision of how to reach out to the world, and using this platform and enabling a platform that allows students from around the world to think about how to study at the highest level and how Oberlin can help in this pursuit.”

Pioneer has drawn faculty members from 26 other prominent colleges and universities, including Brown University, Pomona College and Vassar College. It has also expanded on the international front, granting research access to students from countries including China, South Korea, Brazil, Russia, Rwanda and India, among others. Although Pioneer has worked with faculty mentors and students from various places already, Oberlin is hoping to have its faculty become involved by next summer, according to Elgren.

However, as Pioneer functions in a network of partnerships with other universities and colleges, participating in Pioneer will not be required for Oberlin faculty members.

“I don't anticipate that this will have any

negative or positive implications … as the Pioneer program will not add to or detract from faculty's regular teaching responsibilities,” professor of Comparative American Studies and department chair Wendy Kozol wrote in an email to the Review. “Moreover, while Oberlin College will function in an administrative capacity, faculty from colleges around the country, not just Oberlin can apply; therefore the College is under no obligation to have any of its faculty commit to teaching in this program.”

The program would be a one-on-one to oneon-four 10-week research experience for students who apply through Pioneer, conducted through mentored video conferencing online.

Pioneer’s programs range in cost from $0–6355 per student, but the company has granted needbased financial aid to 20 percent of participating students in the past.

Elgren said that in order for people to access Oberlin’s library and its research tools, they would need to be Oberlin students. As a result, Oberlin is offering half of a college credit to students participating in research through Pioneer.

Elgren further explained the benefits for faculty members, as Pioneer offers research grants to professors who participate as mentors. He said that this could be important in the humanities, arts and social science fields, which tend to have fewer grants available.

As a faculty mentor at Hamilton, Elgren said that he was able to help his students with their college applications. After the program ends, the faculty mentor writes an official evaluation letter, assessing the overall work of the students and their college readiness. His students ended up attending Princeton, Carnegie Mellon and Claremont McKenna.

A screenshot of the Pioneer Academics online classes software. The College will participate in the program starting summer 2017.

Photo Courtesy of Pioneer Academics

Administrative Assistants Voice Concerns Over Job Restructuring Continued from page 1 workers for all seven positions.

Tucker criticized the fact that staff members who took the buyout have to leave at the end of 2016, even though faculty members who took the buyout will continue to teach until the end of the academic year.

"The AA’s are very dedicated. A few of the academic AA’s taking the VSIP, asked if they could leave at the end of the academic year. They were told no. They didn’t want to do that to their departments.”

Elgren agreed that the timing wasn’t ideal, but said that regardless of when the AA’s stopped working, it would have caused disruption.

Elgren stated that the rigid nature of collective bargaining made restructuring now the right move.

“The VSIP — we're pursuing it for savings,” Elgren said. “The reorganization — we're pursing because the window is open with the collective bargaining unit. It's one of the few opportunities we have to restructure.”

To Tucker and Lee, a serious danger in eliminating administrative assistant positions is

making faculty do administrative work, taking time away from their core responsibilities.

“Faculty have been brought on to teach and do research,” Tucker said. “They don’t want to do our work and be faced with grievances. The administrative assistants are the ones who do the other bulk of the work. We're the ones that keep this place going.”

Lee emphasized the personal connection that administrative assistants bring by pointing to her own experience working with students over her career.

“I'm still friends with a lot of those students.

I'm friends with parents of some of those students,” Lee said. “We talk regularly — when they come back into town we have lunch, we go out to dinner. These students were part of my family for a long time.”

Tucker also pointed out that administrative assistants are often the first point of contact for prospective students.

If work currently performed by administrative assistants gets shifted to faculty, the union plans to file grievances, the official process for resolving disputes between the union and the College as stipulated in the OCOPE contract.

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“We have to protect our bargaining unit work,” Tucker said.

Elgren emphasized the legitimacy of union procedures and stated that he didn’t believe the relationship between the union and the administration had to be adversarial.

“They oftentimes file, and that's their right, it's their absolute right to file. But we also have a right on our end to restructure.”

The administration has yet to determine the details of who will do the work of the unreplaced administrative assistants. To help make that decision, the administration has sent out a questionnaire to figure out exactly what administrative assistants currently do.

“We want to understand the scope of everybody's work, the location and how many departments and programs they serve, and then we'll think about where the resources are needed,” Elgren said.

Elgren has formed a task force consisting of OCOPE leaders, faculty and administrators to help decide how the work should be restructured.

Restructuring is happening in divisions across the College, not just in academic

Editors-in-Chief Editors-in-chief Tyler Liv Combe Sloan

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departments.

According to Dean of Students Meredith Raimondo, the buyout provides a way to reassess the way College employees operate without laying anyone off.

“I can tell you what I've told the administrative support staff in this division, that no one’s job will be eliminated at this point as a result of the VSIP, ” Raimondo said. “We might reconfigure things, but people will still have their jobs."

Raimondo said that the restructuring was important for helping keeping tuition down.

“Not all of these positions will be replaced and that is important to the College's commitment not to continue to raise tuition at the same rate."

While Raimondo isn’t responsible for managing administrative assistants as Dean of Students, she emphasized the importance of the role that they play.

“In many of these offices, they're the first person a student interacts with. For many students they're friends and mentors. So I'm really hoping we can move through this in a way that recognizes the value and importance of these key people at the College.”

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Corrections: Corrections

The Review simultaneously ran an article, The Review is not aware of “Philips Expansion Debate Continues,” anyeditorial, corrections thisRenovations week. and an “Gym Necessary,” in the sports section in the Theissue, Review strives to print all ediOct. 28 both written

by Sports information as accurately possible. tor Jackie McDermott.

The as Review strives If you feelholistic, the Review has made an to produce unbiased journalism please send an e-mail to anderror, this editorial decision contradicted managingeditor@oberlinreview.org. our commitment to this standard.

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Off the Cuff: Anthony Ocampo, Ph.D., Sociologist Anthony Ocampo, Ph.D., is a sociologist who focuses on immigration, race and LGBTQ issues.

He is the Assistant Professor of Sociology at California State Polytechnic University, Pomona, and is a Ford Foundation Fellow. He wrote The Latinos of Asia: How Filipino Americans Break the Rules of Race, which examines the complexity of Filipino racial identity. These studies highlight how Filipino-American identities can change depending on the communities they live in and the groups they associate with. His book was recently featured on NPR’s Morning Edition. Ocampo is currently researching LGBTQ relationships within Filipino-American communities. At Oberlin’s Filipinx American Heritage Month Banquet on Saturday, Ocampo delivered the keynote speech.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

What kind of work do you do as a sociologist?

As a sociologist, I focus on immigration, race and ethnicity, gender and sexuality; specifically, I do my research on Filipino Americans, Latinos and Asian Americans in Los Angeles.

How have your own experiences as a Filipino American informed your research and writing of The Latinos of Asia?

My personal experience is a huge influence on number one, why I wrote the book, and number two, the way I approach the book.

Growing up in Los Angeles in a Filipino and Latino neighborhood, one of the things that I was always accustomed to was firsthand seeing these overlaps between Filipino- and MexicanAmerican cultures in terms of religion, family dynamics, last names and everyday words in Tagalog and Spanish.

What was interesting about this is that when I got older, I remember leaving LA and going to Stanford, and people would describe me as Asian. Something about that label didn’t sit with me well because in my mind, Asian

Thursday, Oct. 27 12:31 a.m. Safety and Security officers assisted an intoxicated student at Barrows Hall.

The student declined medical treatment at the time. The student’s roommate said they would be in the room for the remainder of the night and would call if necessary.

1:04 a.m. Officers and members of the Oberlin Fire Department responded to a fire alarm at East Hall and smelled smoke coming from a room on the third floor. Officers found a grinder, glass pipe, what appeared to be residue from marijuana in plain view and a removed smoke detector head. The officers turned the items over to the Oberlin Police Department, contacted an electrician for repair of the smoke detector and reset the alarm.

Saturday, Oct. 29 2:01 a.m. Officers and members of the Oberlin Fire Department responded to a fire

meant East Asian — Chinese, Japanese, Korean. But Filipinos were always something different. I wanted to explore that idea a little bit further because I felt like even though Filipinos were labeled as Asians, people didn’t treat them as Asians. Like, a lot of my family members are mistaken as Latino, or I thought that Filipinos blended with Latinos in ways that were qualitatively different than other Asian groups. That’s another reason I wanted to pursue sociology, so I could understand what was going on.

Do you find that there are any barriers, racially or otherwise, as a scholar of color?

Yes, at every twist and turn as a scholar of color you always have to prove the merit of why you study what you study. So whenever I study Filipinos I can’t just be like, I study it because I feel like it. Whereas, if you study Europe, if you study Western societies, people say, “That’s prestigious, I can understand why you’d want to study France or Italy or England.” When it comes to studying Filipinos or other people of color people always think, “Oh you’re just navel-gazing; you just want to study yourself.”

They treat it like you can’t learn anything from studying the experiences of racial minorities in the U.S. So in that sense it’s been a challenge because it’s annoying to always have to prove yourself to audiences who can’t see the merit of your work.

In addition, as a person of color, you don’t always have the same role models in any arena, not just academia. In any profession, you’re really pressed to find role models of color. If you want to become an actor, the only people you have to look up to as a Filipino, there’s not many. If you want to be a doctor — my mom has worked at a hospital for over 20 years and they’ve never had a Filipino-American resident come into their department, which is incredible because a lot of Filipinos are interested in health. In academia, it’s the same thing. I’ve been lucky in the sense that I’ve met FilipinoAmerican role models in academia. But still, there’s not a lot of people who look like you, so it subconsciously makes you think, are you supposed to be here? So you have to really have a

alarm at a Goldsmith apartment. Upon arrival, they detected thick smoke and a strong odor of marijuana. The fire department used a thermal imaging device to locate a box containing a vaporizer that was still warm to touch. Officers turned a box containing baggies with a green leafy substance consistent with marijuana and a grinder over to the Oberlin Police Department.

2:46 a.m. Officers assisted a student ill from alcohol consumption and marijuana on the second floor of Barrows Hall. The student was transported to Mercy Allen Hospital for treatment.

11:13 p.m. Officers received a report of seven to ten students who pulled a crosswalk sign from the ground near Zechiel House and continued walking southbound on Woodland Street. An officer checked the area and was unable to locate the individuals or the sign. The Oberlin Police Department was notified.

11:13 p.m. Officers responded to a noise complaint on the third floor of Barrows Hall.

Upon contact with the occupant, the officers found an unauthorized party in the room. The attendees were asked to leave, and alcohol was confiscated and disposed of.

Anthony Ocampo, Ph.D., Filipino and LGBTQ Sociologist

rational amount of self-belief to push through.

What other projects are you currently working on?

Right now, I’m working on a queer version of The Latinos of Asia, so I’m working on a book about Filipino gay men, lesbians, transgender men and women, and trying to look at the ways in which sexual identity affects Filipinos’ ability to start a family, to create a home, and the ways in which Filipinos negotiate what it means to be queer or what it means to be gay and what it means to be Filipino. It’s also about the struggles that come with that, the struggles of gaining acceptance from their parents and from their friends and family.

And it doesn’t just look at LGBT Filipino folks as victims, but it also looks the really incredible, creative strategies Filipinos have used to build community, form friendships, find love. It’s been such a rewarding experience because I’ve been able to meet these people who are such resilient characters and I’ve gotten to hear their stories. I’m probably even more excited to write up this book because there are so many queer kids out there who feel that they’re alone, so I’m hoping I can write something so they can see that there’s a light at the end of the tunnel.

11:58 p.m. Officers assisted an injured student when the front-porch banister collapsed at a South Professor Street house. The student was transported to Mercy Allen Hospital for treatment.

11:58 p.m. Officers observed a large, unauthorized party taking place at a village house on South Professor Street. The students were dispersed and the live band stopped playing.

Sunday, Oct. 30 1:05 a.m. Officers transported a student ill from alcohol consumption to their village house on North Pleasant Street.

2:04 p.m. A student reported the theft of their jacket and wallet from a bench on the second floor of Philips gym by the cardio machines. Officers checked the interior and exterior of the building but could not locate the items. Members of the Oberlin Police Department also responded.

Monday, Oct. 31 10:49 a.m. Officers met with Residential

What other sociological pursuits do you want to look into after what you’ve learned from your research so far?

I have several lifetimes’ worth of research studies that I want to do. I am fascinated at the ways in which Filipinos are perceived, whether people view them as Latino or Asian and if that affects their labor market outcomes.

If someone applies for a job and if their name is John Rodriguez, are they going to be seen differently from someone who is named John Chua, even if they’re the same exact person?

So I’d love to do psychology experiments that look at whether Filipinos’ job prospects are affected by things like last name. I would love to do a project on Filipino dating patterns to see if the way Filipinos are perceived affects who’s willing to date them or not. I think that’s really interesting, both in heterosexual and same-sex relationships.

I once did a study where I worked as a balikbayan box deliveryman. So I spent many months picking up boxes from Filipino immigrants in LA and then in the Philippines. I actually delivered them to their loved ones, and that was a really cool project to see the ways in which sending balikbayan boxes creates emotional bonds between families who are separated. It was really fascinating, so that’s one of the projects I want to write up.

I trip out at Filipino YouTube stars — these phenomenal artists that do covers on YouTube like Morrisette, Darren Espanto or even Arnel Pineda, the guy who was the Journey singer. I’m so curious about the way Filipinos in the Philippines see entertainment and singing as a way of upward mobility — like Charice Pempengco, for example — and what that means in terms of the way people in the Philippines are able to capitalize on the fact that they have familiarity with American culture. There are so many studies I want to do, but only so little time to do them.

Interview by Melissa Harris, Production Editor Photo courtesy of Anthony Christian Ocampo

Education staff at a village housing unit on South Professor Street. In plain view, staff located a pill bottle containing a green leafy substance consistent with marijuana, a metal grinder and a pipe in plain view. The items were confiscated and turned over to the Oberlin Police Department.

Tuesday, Nov. 1 12:43 p.m. Officers assisted a student who fell down steps at Stevenson Dining Hall, injuring their neck. The student was transported to Mercy Allen Hospital for treatment.

6:24 p.m. Officers responded to a bicycle accident on North Professor Street. The student was traveling south when the bike lock engaged the brake, causing the student to fall off the bike. The student was transported to Mercy Allen Hospital for treatment.

4:16 a.m. Officers responded to a motor vehicle accident on West Lorain Street. The driver swerved to dodge a deer and struck a tree at the southwest corner of Lorain and Professor Streets. Members of the Oberlin Police and Oberlin Fire Departments also responded. No injuries were reported.

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The Oberlin Review, November 4, 2016

Alvin Rosenfeld Warns of Modern Anti-Semitism in Talk Alvin Rosenfeld, an English and Jewish Studies professor at Indiana University, delivered a talk in Dye Lecture Hall Monday about how anti-Semitism manifests in today’s world. The talk, titled “The Longest Hatred Renewed,” examined various contributors to the issue, such as anti-Zionism, which Rosenfeld said is just a “camouflage term” to hide modern-day anti-Semitism and a way to accept older forms of bigotry.

“It has become the most dangerous form of antiSemitism in our time. Sometimes accompanied by a radical vision of a world liberated from the Jews, it is a totalist view of anti-Semitism,” Rosenfeld said. “It’s a potent force that shows up in street-level views of antiSemitism, often by people who claim to have progressive views.”

Rosenfeld also discussed his concerns in regards to certain current Muslim leaders who he said often denounce Jewish people, as well as examples of antiSemitism from various parts of the world. Around 70 visitors attended the event, including a large number of Kendall residents and several students in Halloween costumes.

Text by Louis Krauss, News editor Photo by Rick Yu, Photo editor

Hillard Brings Decades of Experience to Manager Post Lucy Haskell Contributing Writer After almost 10 months and two rounds of recruitment, City Council unanimously approved the appointment of Rob Hillard as Oberlin city manager last Thursday.

Pending contract negotiations, Mr. Hillard will come to Oberlin with more than two decades of experience in local government in Allegan, MI and Yellow Springs, Ohio.

Oberlin City Council Vice President Linda Slocum cited his experience in Ohio, particularly his time working in Yellow Springs, the home of liberal arts school Antioch College, as a factor that gave Hillard an edge.

“I think [Oberlin] will be a good fit for him and the council did too,” Slocum said.

Hillard’s appointment follows 10 months of interim leadership from fi-

nance director Sal Talarico. Hillard made a 10-minute presentation to the council on a topic of his choosing and went through an hour-long interview before being approved. There is no word on how long council negotiations will take before the post can be made official.

Hillard left his previous position in Allegan in July, after serving as city manager for 10 years. The Allegan City Council approved his resignation with two dissenting votes.

According to Allegan Mayor Nancy Ingalsbee, who has known Hillard since 2003, his resignation was not surprising considering how long he had stayed in Allegan.

“When you have been somewhere for 10 years in this job I think the challenges were just gone,” Ingalsbee said. “He felt it was time to leave, and we understood that.”

Ingalsbee was complimentary of Hillard’s work in Allegan.

“He was not sitting in his office all the time, he was out meeting people, going to events,” she added.

She specifically mentioned his community engagement and foresight. Before the recession hit, Hillard secured grant funding to install a state-of-the-art water-treatment plant and upgrades to the sewer system.

Hillard said that his experience with grant applications qualified him for the position here in Oberlin.

Both of the cities Hillard worked for previously share similarities with Oberlin.

Allegan, like Oberlin, has a single major employer: the over-the-counter pharmacuetical company Perrigo. After serving as village manager in Yellow Springs and working with Antioch College, Hillard said he thinks he is well prepared to handle the

challenges of working in a college town.

“They interact with the community, it appears, similarly to what Oberlin College does with the city of Oberlin,” Hillard said.

“Colleges can be very dynamic from an administrative perspective, as well as from a student interaction perspective.”

Hillard added that he believed his collaborative style of leadership is a good fit for Oberlin. Pending the completion of contract negotiations, Hillard said he is excited to become part of the Oberlin community, noting the city’s emphasis on environmental sustainability and the Climate Action Plan.

“The dynamic Oberlin offers is tremendous,” Hillard said. “Oberlin has really stressed environmental sustainability as a core belief, so I believe that in itself allows it to stand out, and I am excited to implement the plans in partnership with the city council.”

Search Committee Finalists Chosen Continued from page 1 so that’s an important skill to have and something I think all three do very well,” Student Senate Liaison and College junior Thobeka Mnisi said.

One issue that remains unclear is what specific confidentiality rules exist in regards to the committee’s selection results and announcements. The list of nominees for each group was only emailed to the people within that group, meaning students did not receive faculty nominee results and vice versa.

For Poe, this instance of confidentiality was more of a non-issue, considering that the backbone of the search committee is still the trustees and that revealing nominees earlier could lead to unproductive denouncing of the final selection.

“I disagree with confidentiality in strategic planning and policy making, but when it comes to hiring individuals, frankly, it’s the board’s job to hire the president,” Poe said. “I don’t have a problem with the confidentiality here because you don’t want that second-guessing and vilifying.”

Following the selection of the five representatives next week, only committee members will know about what takes place in their meetings, but that doesn’t mean outsiders cannot get their con-

cerns heard. Student Senator and College sophomore Kameron Dunbar said that despite the confidentiality, Student Senate will still help prepare the student representative to make their voice heard when they need to strongly advocate for something.

“There will be confidentiality standards, as there should be, but within those confines I still imagine Senate being able to offer assistance in advocacy,” Dunbar said. “Sometimes to get a point across, you need a little extra push. Senate can be that push.”

Student and faculty nominees will have interviews tomorrow to determine their final representatives. It remains unclear whether the administrative staff have selected their nominees yet. According to East Asian Studies Administrative Assistant Amy Redden, on Thursday she had yet to receive an email saying who their final three nominees were.

After final committee members are chosen next week, a tentative timeline sent to faculty indicates that they will hopefully finish reviewing presidential candidate profiles between December and February, and that interviews with candidates and a final selection will be completed by the end of April.

Opinions The Oberlin Review

November 4, 2016

Letters to the Editors Obamacare Needs Clinton’s Reforms To the Editors: As decent as Barack Obama was, most white Americans did not vote for him even though they had two chances — first in 2008 and again in 2012. The reason that they did not vote for the first black president was, arguably, possibly due more to their disagreement with his policies than with the fact that he was black.

Hillary Clinton, the first female to be a major party’s top nominee for the presidency, may get close to 90 percent of the black vote. Her policies are much closer to Obama’s than to Donald Trump’s. But they are quite different. On the one hand, she definitely intends to support the concept of Obamacare, that rather unbelievable notion that all Americans should have access to good medical care regardless of income.

But she will change it significantly, and those changes will make the Affordable Care Act a lot better.

It would be cruel and unusual punishment inflicted upon those 20 million covered under the Affordable Care Act to take away their medical insurance, returning the country to 45 million uninsured fellow citizens. Clinton is deeply committed to expanding subsidies to offset rising premium costs, and she will strain every nerve to get the other 25 million the insurance coverage they desperately need.

Obamacare was never thought of as or intended to be a perfect, more than 1,000-page document. Instead, it is a first serious attempt to heal our nation of the ugly scars of a shameful past, during which times it was acceptable to subjugate many so that a few could grow wealthier and more powerful. Though she worked tirelessly during President Bill Clinton’s first term to get medical care for all Americans, Hillary Clinton came up short. She’s wiser and more determined than ever to see that Obamacare undergoes all the modifications, improvements and revisions to make it the crowning success of a united and caring nation.

Trump, on the other hand, will surely destroy Obamacare. But he has not spelled out exactly what the replacement will be, if anything.

He contents himself by saying that he will repeal and replace Obamacare, not with another 1,000-page

program, guaranteeing that all the good parts of the current plan will remain intact with the much-needed improvements but possibly with the same void that previously existed, with those 45 million left out in the cold.

Obamacare has some obvious problems, but most Americans know that it is far better than what existed previously. Clinton will never throw the baby out with the bathwater, but Trump has made it clear that he will do just that.

Trump will have to struggle just to get 15 percent of the black vote.

This is due almost entirely to the fact that blacks do not believe his policies will help them, and most experts agree. Clinton has to continue to make the case that blacks, Native Americans, Hispanics, angry white middle-aged males and others have numerous common strands that should unite them around her policies, not his.

She’s devoted her entire life seeking to improve the lot of poor people while Trump has spent his life making billions. Admittedly, Clinton is rich, though she might be worth no more than $20 million. But Trump, if we accept his self-proclaimed worth of $10 billion, is 500 times richer than she. Neither may understand the pain the poor have. But Clinton, once middle class, is probably 500 times closer to understanding it than Trump, who was born a millionaire and is now a multibillionaire seized by a paroxysm of self-importance to become the world’s first, unheardof trillionaire at the expense of our great nation. Celebrate this day.

– Booker C. Peek Emeritus Professor of Africana Studies

College Must Protect Academic Freedom To the Editors: I recently learned of Assistant Professor of Rhetoric and Composition Joy Karega being put on leave of absence.

Oberlin is renowned for its tradition of intellectual inquiry, free thought, rigorous debate and exchange of ideas.

I call on Oberlin College to protect the College’s adherence and commitment to the values of aca-

demic freedom, free speech and intellectual inquiry.

I urge Oberlin to deliberate this matter with rational discourse, integrity and fairness.

One doesn’t have to necessarily agree or disagree with some of the Facebook contents that Professor Karega posted.

Discussions of different social and political issues are vital to the Oberlin College community, including topics such as divestment from corporations doing business with Israel, criticism of Israeli government policy regarding Gaza, the West Bank and Palestinians.

Discussions of these issues should not elicit labeling people as being “anti-Semitic” if their views happen to differ from ours.

Would we label individuals such as Professor Noam Chomsky of MIT and Rabbi Michael Lerner as being “anti-Semitic” for their views regarding the Israeli-Palestinian conflict?

Professor Chomsky, condemning the Israeli military operations in Gaza, stated in 2014, “It’s a shameful moment for the U.S. media when it insists on being subservient to the grotesque propaganda agencies of a violent, aggressive state, Israel.” Rabbi Lerner has also condemned Israeli actions and occupation in the West Bank and Gaza.

President Krislov stated in an article on The Source on March 1, 2016, “I believe, as the American Association of University Professors says, that academic freedom is ‘the indispensable quality of institutions of higher education’ because it encourages free inquiry, promotes the expansion of knowledge and creates an environment in which learning and research can flourish.”

He continued, “Cultivating academic freedom can be difficult and at times painful for any college community. … This freedom enables Oberlin faculty and students to think deeply about and to engage in frank, open discussions of ideas that some may find deeply offensive.”

We send our warmest and best wishes to everyone at Oberlin College and to the townspeople of Oberlin.

Our family is forever deeply grateful to Oberlin.

– Anh Lê Parent of an Oberlin alumnus See Letters, page 6

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

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

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

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

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

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

Page 5

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

Republican Legislation Undermines Voting Rights The U.S. Supreme Court rejected a final plea from the Ohio Democratic Party and the Northeast Ohio Coalition for the Homeless on Monday for a stay on voting provisions that disproportionately disenfranchise low-income, racial minority and disabled voters. The laws, created by the state’s Republican-led legislature in 2014, come into effect for the first time in a presidential election this year.

The legislation permits zero wiggle room for otherwise inconsequential mistakes, allowing battleground counties to discard provisional ballots if a voter fails to fill out the form perfectly. Disqualifying errors include writing a birthdate or Social Security number incorrectly, omitting a middle name or zip code or signing in cursive in the “print name” box. A stay would have allowed municipalities to count votes regardless of these minor infractions, but the Supreme Court denied it without explanation. The laws also shorten the window for early voting, eliminating the period known as “Golden Week” when people could simultaneously register to vote and cast their ballot.

The combination of an abbreviated early voting period and additional barriers to completing provisional ballots is nothing short of Republicans’ continued, concerted effort to disqualify low-income people and communities of color in Ohio’s left-leaning counties like Cuyahoga, Franklin and Lucas — the consequences of which could be especially devastating during this crucial election.

Federal court documents show that the Ohio elections board rejected nearly 12 percent of provisional and absentee ballots in 2014 and 2015 for technical errors. The counties with the highest number of discarded ballots, uncoincidentally, tended to have larger populations of Black and Latinx voters than their whiter, more conservative counterparts throughout the state.

In Cuyahoga, Ohio’s largest county, the population is over 30-percent Black, and approximately 4,000 votes were discarded there for technical errors in 2014. This statistic is especially troubling with a Donald Trump presidency on the line, since voter turnout is already anticipated to be lower than it was in 2012, when it was the lowest in precincts where President Barack Obama was the most popular.

Counties in more rural areas with higher percentages of white voters do not face similar issues. Alice Ollstein, OC ’10, reported for ThinkProgress: “Officials from Meigs County, whose population is more than 97 percent white, testified that they counted ballots from residents that had incorrect birth dates, and even those that had no name or address at all. In Wyandot County, which is nearly 98 percent white, officials approved ballots without a valid street address, city or zip code, a wrong or missing birth date or a misspelled name.”

Civil rights lawyers have already drawn the comparison between Ohio’s newest voting laws to literacy tests employed by states during the Jim Crow era to prevent people of color and poor white people from voting. This parallel rings devastatingly true and underscores the unconstitutional nature of the conservative legislation, which is a thinly veiled attempt to deter blue voters in arguably the most critical election of our lifetime.

Ohio State Senator Bill Coley, lead sponsor of one of the bills, told Reuters, “We aren’t trying to disallow their ballot, we are trying to make sure that every ballot that is cast was cast by an actual registered voter, and you are cutting down on opportunities for shenanigans.”

This rhetoric perpetuates a false narrative that voter fraud is a widespread issue in an attempt to thwart low-income and minority people — two demographics that predominantly swing left — from voting. This strategy is reflected in conservative legislation that has passed not only in Ohio, but on a national scale. The Brennan Center for Justice at New York University School of Law’s 2007 report, “The Truth About Voter Fraud,” by Justin Levitt, offers a haunting prediction of how the dangers of propagating the myth that voter fraud is rampant undermines the core of our democracy.

“Perhaps because these stories are dramatic, voter fraud makes a popular scapegoat,” Levitt writes. “In the aftermath of a close election, losing candidates are often quick to blame voter fraud for the results. Legislators cite voter fraud as justification for various new restrictions on the exercise of the franchise. And pundits trot out the same few anecdotes time and again as proof that a wave of fraud is imminent.”

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

Opinions

Page 6

The Oberlin Review, November 4, 2016

Textbook Prices Reduce Course Accessibility Sami Mericle Opinions Editor When I decided not to buy the 9th edition of Quantitative Chemical Analysis this semester, I saved money but bought myself more hassle. Unwilling to buy the book used from Amazon for $146 or rent it from the bookstore for around $90, I purchased the 8th edition, hoping it would be similar enough to use. I was wrong.

Students are familiar with this trick: Publishers make minor changes to a textbook from edition to edition, leaving the content mostly unchanged but reordering chapters and problems. When a professor assigns readings by page range or problems by number, the former edition is useless, forcing students to buy the most recent version for prices that often exceed $200. This poses a serious accessibility issue for the many students who cannot afford to spend so much on a book they will only use for a few months.

Professors often announce required materials at the beginning of the semester with no mention of the cost or alternatives, assuming that all students will be able to acquire their own copies.

Estimates show that college students typically spend between $500 to $1,200 a year on textbooks. According to NBC’s analysis of data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, textbook prices have risen over 1,000 percent since 1977. This is triple the rate of inflation and even outmatches rates of increasing prices in the healthcare and housing markets.

These prices are possible because the textbook industry is different from other markets in that the basic economic forces of free choice and competition don’t act quite as they should. If I need to pick up toilet paper, for instance, I will go to the store and explore my options, probably buying whatever is cheapest, regardless of quality. Now, let’s imagine that it’s my roommate’s turn to buy toilet paper for the house. Not having to pay for it myself, I demand that she pick up lush, expensive twoply. In fact, I tell her, if she buys single-ply I’m going to lock her out of

our bathroom. She can use the bathroom in the dorm across the street for the rest of the semester.

A similar force governs the textbook industry in that a few people, namely professors, are making decisions about what others should buy.

I have no doubt that Oberlin professors make this decision with the utmost concern for my education, if not for my wallet. After all, what’s a couple hundred dollars when tuition plus room and board is over $60,000? But this does nothing to drive down the price of textbooks.

Particularly for specialized, upperlevel classes, publishers can hike up prices as much as they want when their book is preferred in the field.

Additionally, competition is limited because 80 percent of the market is controlled by only five publishing companies.

Just as I would never actually lock my roommate out of our bathroom for buying low-grade toilet paper, I know that my professors don’t want to make their classes inaccessible to students without the textbook.

But the barriers are significant. I am thankful that the Science Library has a current copy of Quantitative Chemical Analysis on reserve. However, many of my classmates apparently also decided not to buy the book, since it is checked out roughly half the time I need it.

There are ways that both the College and faculty can help students avoid onerous textbook prices. Multiple copies of popular textbooks could be purchased for Mudd library as well as the Science Library.

Science books tend to be the most expensive and therefore the ones students are least likely to acquire themselves, but currently they’re all kept in the Science Library, which closes earlier and opens later than Mudd. While it was undoubtedly time-consuming for them, some of my favorite professors have provided page and problem numbers for both the current edition and the previous.

Even better are professors who scan the necessary pages and post them on Blackboard. It’s time that colleges stop enabling publishers that exploit students who already shoulder an undue financial burden.

Brian Tom

Letters to the Editors, Cont.

Continued from page 5

Alumni Can Provide Support for Students To the Editors: Did you know that every current student is an Oberlin alumnus already? It’s true. By merely attending Oberlin for a single semester, you are officially a member of the alumni community (check out Section 2 of the Alumni Association Bylaws). And since you are a member of the alumni community, you have as much of a stake as anyone in Oberlin’s reputation in the world beyond it. The “alumni” label, when used on social media, or in letters to the editors for the Review, describes a broad community of diverse thought, because not all groups with “alum” in their names really represent all of the alumni community.

Here’s another thing about the Oberlin alumni community. You have agency in it. What do you want our community to be like?

What parts of Oberlin do you want to take with you as you head out for your Winter Term? What parts of Oberlin should we export from Ohio? These are all questions that face us individually and collectively.

Everything you’re doing right now, curricular or extracurricular, is building bonds to and establishing some part of our billowing community. Everything that we alumni are doing, in some way, connects to this community too.

Whether the thread connecting us to Oberlin is on campus, connected securely from afar or barely holding onto the smallest purchase in the education section of a resume, what we do and how we connect relates to our community. Our community exists because we connect to each other, discuss issues and act together. It is a broad community, and no one part speaks for the whole. Additionally, it means that some parts are a little hidden and hard to find. Some parts exist beyond the campus. It should not be a surprise, since the community has over 40,000 individuals spread across the globe.

How can we connect to these off-campus parts of the alumni community? There’s Switchboard, where you can find a job, an internship or a ride to Cleveland.

There’s the Career Center and the Alumni Office, where you can get in touch with an alumnus doing something that you are interested in, or who came from your major or who once had their classes canceled because of the Kent State shootings. There are the regional

clubs, where alumni are currently connecting to each other in their home-away-from-Oberlin.

We alumni are eminently interested in helping you however we can. There are over 20,000 of us on LinkedIn. I’ve deleted my Facebook account, but I hear there are some folks on that too. A lot of us prefer phone calls to impersonal emails.

We may not be able to help you directly in every instance or with every problem, but we can probably point you to someone who can.

If you ever want to talk about employment discrimination law or environmental law, look me up.

If you ever need something in D.C. from the D.C. regional club, look me up. If you want to hear about starting a group on campus, about navigating the administrative processes or about a good Somali restaurant in Lakewood (Kifaya’s Kitchen), look me up. My email is will.yon@gmail.com. Contact me about whatever.

Sometimes alumni are out of view from the campus, but the alumni community is still out there. Remember, too, that you are already part of it. So take heart, learn something fascinating today and connect with an alumnus. Oh, and vote next week!

– William Yon OC ’10

Donald Trump’s “Rigged” Election Rhetoric Guarantees Fallout, Violence Nick Bassman Contributing Writer Hopewell Missionary Baptist Church in Greenville, MS, was set aflame Tuesday night, the brick exterior spray-painted white with the words “Vote Trump.” This is not the first hate crime committed in Trump’s name, and as the election approaches, I fear it will not be the last.

Voter intimidation is inherent to Republican Presidential Nominee Donald Trump’s electoral strategy. Trump has called for his supporters to closely monitor polling places to counteract supposed voter fraud, a statistically insignificant issue. Regardless of whether Trump and his surrogates are truly worried about voter fraud, this rhetoric acts as a dogwhistle, calling upon the most fearful members of Trump’s constituency to racially profile fellow voters. The thought of hypervigilant Trump supporters patrolling voting places on Election Day could be enough to intimidate some potential voters into staying home.

With Clinton’s chance of victory estimated by The New York Times at 86 percent as of yesterday, some writers have made melodramatic declarations that Trump will be swept from the national stage on Nov. 8. But Trump’s rise did not happen in a vacuum, and he will not disappear into a vacuum. Even if he concedes when he loses — if he loses — the culture of authoritarian chauvinism and nativist prejudice that produced this fascist will be alive and raging.

Moreover, I am skeptical about Clinton’s 86-percent chance of victory. Polls are not votes. Probability does not take into account the lump of fear in the stomach of a Clinton supporter living in Greenville.

If Trump wins, his most bigoted supporters will feel validated and may not wait to act upon their sense of empowerment. This is consistent with recent nativist waves in other countries. Following the Brexit referendum, hate crimes in England and Wales rose by 58 percent in the final week of July compared to that same week the previous year, and were

still up 41 percent in August, according to figures reported by the Home Office.

The LGBTQ anti-violence charity Galop reported that homophobic attacks rose 147 percent in the three months following Brexit in the UK. Similar correlations have been noted this year with the success of far right parties and anti-Semitic hate crimes in Germany, the Netherlands and other European nations. In the U.S., California State University San Bernardino researchers found a 78-percent rise in hate crimes against Muslims in 2015, corresponding with Trump’s rise — making it the worst year for anti-Muslim hate crimes since 2001 in the wake of 9/11.

If Trump loses, those same supporters will decry the “rigged” election and may take violent action against marginalized people in their communities, perceiving them as responsible for stealing the election. According to an Oct. 26 poll conducted by USA Today and Suffolk University, over 40 percent of Trump supporters have said that they won’t recognize the legitimacy of Clinton as presi-

dent if she prevails. Furthermore, 51 percent of likely voters are concerned about the possibility of violence on Election Day. Before, during and after the election, I implore you to consider what resources you may have available to protect the rights and personal safety of people in your community.

Can you offer transportation to polling places for early voting or on Election Day? Can you accompany people to the polls?

If you are working to “get out the vote,” are you taking into account that there are people who are actively attempting to suppress marginalized voters?

If Trump supporters use election results as justification for violence against people of color, queer people and religious minorities, can you offer transportation or monetary support to those in compromising situations? Can you offer a place to stay? Can you offer emotional support to your peers?

In light of what could transpire on Nov. 8 and beyond, know that voting, while vital, is the least you can do.

Opinions

The Oberlin Review, November 4, 2016

Page 7

Student Input Valuable in Presidential Search Kameron Dunbar Conributing Writer This op-ed is part of the Review’s Student Senate column. In an effort to increase communication and transparency, Student Senators will provide personal perspectives on recent campus and community events.

Senate Liaison Thobeka Mnisi and I submitted a letter to Vice President, General Counsel and Secretary of the College Sandhya Subramanian on Monday. In it, we announced our three student nominees to the Presidential Search Committee. The selected candidate will have the privilege of representing student interests broadly throughout the process of selecting Oberlin’s next president.

Senate looked for several

qualities in selecting the top three candidates. For starters, we wanted someone who had experience with and knowledge of the complex institutional realities of the College. Oberlin isn’t broke, but the administration is facing looming financial challenges, including limited endowment growth while working toward capital project planning and efforts to diversify campus while still meeting identified financial need. There are certain traditions that breathe life into Oberlin’s existence, and we wanted students who understand this. Among a plethora of other qualifications, Senate also looked for students who had experience working with folks from various constituencies around the College, including work with the administration, student organizations and the

Conservatory.

Personally, I looked for someone who would be keen to address some of the national shifts happening in higher education that I find in conflict with the philosophy of a liberal arts education. Oberlin is not a trade school, yet some small liberal arts colleges are shifting means of education from academic exploration to job preparation.

This presidential search is extremely important to me. I’ve seen in various institutions the good that can come from strong leadership in the executive office.

Oberlin’s president has the opportunity to take a historically outstanding institution to the next level. Earlier this year, I submitted a letter to the Review articulating my wishes for our next president (“Next Oberlin President Must

Promote Unity,” Sept. 9, 2016).

As one of three students on the Alumni Leadership Council, I had the pleasure of being involved in the PSC nomination process from two strong constituencies: the alumni and students. I couldn’t speak more highly of the nominees from either group.

Senate hopes to amplify student perspectives in this search.

While some students believe that the Board of Trustees doesn’t care about what students think throughout this process, I have faith that the committee will make an effort to seek out and consider student views. I have worked with Presidential Search Committee Chair and Trustee Lillie Edwards, OC ’75, since the fall of my first year. She’s a committed and esteemed academic who holds highly the spirit of Oberlin

College and the values that make us such a unique institution. She has also made abundantly clear her desire to work with Senate and the greater student body throughout the search process to solicit honest and influential feedback from students.

If nothing else, I find it prudent to make it clear that our job as students in the search process does not end with the nominations to the committee. Our voices matter, and we must let them be heard. Attending listening sessions, providing feedback and other conventional ways of expressing our ideas may seem tiring at times and worthless at others. However, it’s imperative that we keep our spirits strong and continue to do the unsexy work that makes Oberlin a better place for us all.

Humanity’s Survival Dependent on Mars Exploration Russell Jaffe Columnist Elon Musk — the founder and CEO of Tesla Motors and private aerospace company SpaceX — conducted a question and answer session on Reddit Oct. 23 to discuss his plan to begin a permanent, selfsufficient colonization of Mars in as little as eight years. Using the largest rocket ever designed, Musk hopes to send up to one million people on a trip to the red planet through a series of 10,000 flights.

With scouting missions to test the rockets beforehand and establish necessary infrastructure, such as refueling stations on Mars, a full trip for the volunteers could take as little as 80 days. With increasing environmental degradation here on Earth, expansion is increasingly necessary. The colonization of Mars is not merely a matter of exploration; it is a crucial step toward the salvation of our planet and our species.

Even though countless questions — such as the source of funding for these plans and their feasibility — still remain unanswered, NASA has publicly praised Musk’s ambition to confront one of the most important challenges of this generation, saying it “applauds all those who want to take the next giant leap — and advance the journey to Mars.”

“Either [humanity is] going to become multiplanetary, or it’s going to remain confined to one planet and eventually there’s going to be an extinction event,” Musk said.

In fact, 70 percent of biologists believe that we are currently in the midst of the sixth mass extinction event — the fifth one being the asteroid that ended the age of dinosaurs. Every day that humanity remains confined to a planet we keep degrading, we risk becoming the next species doomed to extinction. When asked whether humanity has any chance of survival, journalist Elizabeth Kolbert simply

wrote, “You wouldn’t want to find out.”

This generation marks the turning point at which human practices must evolve before environmental change becomes irreversible. This September, global carbon dioxide levels officially exceeded 400 parts per million, a tipping point that climate scientists explain is irreversible in the coming decades.

Of course, with so much of Musk’s plan still shrouded in mystery, there are many who doubt that colonization of Mars is even possible. After all, how could a spacecraft shield itself from the copious amounts of radiation that it would face over the course of its journey? How could a Mars colony become self-sufficient without constant support from Earth?

There are valid reasons why nobody has gone to Mars before, and as a result, it is easy to see Musk’s plan as foolhardy. However, even if this were the case, even if all of Musk’s work is just a pipe dream that will never amount to anything more than

blueprints and a nice speech, his vision of reaching the stars will still help humanity by advancing science that will be useful here on Earth.

Historically, investment in space exploration has accelerated technology in other sectors as well. Job opportunities in mathematics and the sciences spiked during the Space Race. More recently, NASA has contributed some of the most important research in robotics, artificial limbs and computer technology. For example, the publicly available “NASA Visualization Explorer” allows ordinary people to learn about climate change and watch satellite data in real time. In fact, NASA’s water purification systems paired with Musk’s newly publicized solar panel design may prove to be vital tools in saving the environment on Earth. Whether we remain on Earth or make it to Mars, Musk should be commended for his ambitious plan to advance humanity.

Rosenfeld Anti-Semitism Lecture Unproductive, Misinformative Josh Koller Contributing Writer I’ve been taught to honor, admire and respect educators across the board, but due to Dr. Alvin H. Rosenfeld’s propensity for denying facts and vilifying groups of people, I feel that I cannot extend him the usual respect. Dr. Rosenfeld, professor of Jewish Studies and English at Indiana University, Bloomington, came to campus Monday to lecture on contemporary manifestations of anti-Semitism, which had the potential to be productive, informative and important. Regretfully, the lecture did not address the nuances of anti-Semitism but instead perpetuated hateful, vilifying, racist sentiments and accusations.

Dr. Rosenfeld made many assertions that were not only highly offensive but blatantly false. The first of Dr. Rosenfeld’s falsehoods was, “There is no such thing as Palestinian oppression.” Whether it is because of a personal bias or an intentional rejection of facts, Dr. Rosenfeld decided to ignore a well-documented history of individuals being evicted, detained, killed and treated in manners that clearly violate basic human rights. According to the Human Rights Watch World Report 2016, 10,854 Palestinians were wounded in the West Bank alone in 2015.

The 50 Israeli military excursions into Gaza resulted in 21 Palestinians being killed. Dr. Rosenfeld also denied that there is any crisis of food or clean drinking water

in Gaza, imploring Oberlin students to believe that Palestinians “are all eating, and they are fine.”

Once again, Dr. Rosenfeld chose to ignore well-documented issues with water quality, problems with water being properly distributed, water pollution and infrastructural damage as reported in a 2009 Amnesty Report “Troubled Waters.”

Dr. Rosenfeld also claimed that Israel is the only state in the world that is denied recognition of its statehood. This claim completely discounts Palestine itself, recognized as a “nonmember observer state” of the United Nations, as well as states like Somaliland, Tibet and others actively struggling against larger nations to gain recognition.

Dr. Rosenfeld’s statements reflect a tendency to disregard factual information that does not support his agenda, a deplorable trait in a professor at an institute of higher education. Dr. Rosenfeld’s message was one of denial, falsehoods and hate directed toward Muslim peoples. In his speech, Dr. Rosenfeld shared several highly anti-Semitic quotes from Muslim extremists in an attempt to show that most Muslims hate Jews. I could just have easily shared quotes from Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump, Senator Ted Cruz and Westboro Baptist Church Minister Fred Phelps to assert the claim that most Americans are raging bigots. However, I know better than to make assumptions about

an entire group of people based off of the words of a few. It appears Dr. Rosenfeld does not.

I personally extend my support and allyship to anyone belonging to communities that Dr. Rosenfeld vilified and demonized. I know the vast majority of Oberlin students, who are intelligent, empathetic, critical thinkers, do not condone his hateful sentiments.

I am left questioning Dr. Rosenfeld’s professionalism and professorial ability, and I am shocked by his apparent lack of empathy.

I hope in the future, Oberlin College and its students can successfully create a space where antiSemitism can be explored in a space that is free of the hate and disrespect that Dr. Rosenfeld expressed on our campus.

Microanatomy of the Monodelphis domestica Prostate Julie Watiker and Olivia Shin, Biology Advisor: Yolanda Cruz Shin and Watiker conducted research on Monodelphis domestic, commonly known as the South American grey short-tailed opossum. They looked for the probasin protein in rat and opossum proteins with immunohistochemistry, a type of protein-specific staining. Probasin is found in many mammalian prostates, so it serves a good reference for understanding the opossum prostate.

Shin and Watiker found that probasin is produced in a donut-like ring in the dark prostate of the opossum; however, in rat prostates, probasin was not distributed in the same ring shape. Their research this summer not only broadened understanding of how rats and opossums differ, but also provided valuable information toward understanding when marsupials and other animals diverged evolutionarily in terms of their male reproductive systems.

Summer Science Research Spotlight

This summer, many of your peers worked hard in the lab or out in the field in the name of scientific discovery and presented their findings at the Celebration of Undergraduate Research this past weekend. Read on to discover a small selection of students’ research projects across many different disciplines within the sciences.

Morphology, Biomarkers and Dynamic Behavior of Repopulated Microglia Adam Lazere, Biology Advisor: Dr. Wai Wong Microglia are important cells in the Central Nervous System (CNS) that surround neurons, providing them with insulation and support. They function as the resident immune cells of the CNS, acting as the first responders to inflammation. Even though responding to inflammation causes their numbers to decrease, microglia rapidly repopulate after being depleted. However, the mechanisms with which microglia repopulate are not entirely clear. Lazere studied populations of microglia in mice retinae that had been chemically depleted, observing the morphology and behavior of these microglia at several time points before and after depopulation. He found that microglia are able to re-establish a functional population within two months of depopulation. In addition, he found that though not all microglia were fully mature with regards to behavior, other microglia worked to pick up the slack created by immature microglia.

Mingled Metamorphism: Computational Modelling of an Oxidized Franciscan BlueschistEclogite and Implications for Metamorphic Evolutionary Models

Pathways of Metal Cation Exchange in Indium Phosphide

Reconstructing the Evolutionary History of a Gypsum Endemic Plant Lineage

Molly Steimle, Chemistry Advisor: Brandi Cossairt

Emma Rast, Biology/Environmental Studies Advisor: Michael Moore Nerisyrenia is a genus of 11 herbaceous flowering plants in the mustard family, all endemic to the Chihuahuan Desert. Most species of Nerisyrenia are gypsophiles — which mean they live exclusively on gypsum substrate — and occur in separate non-overlapping geographical areas. Through genetic sequencing, Rast generated the first comprehensive species-level estimate of Nerisyrenia phylogeny, or a diagram of inferred evolutionary relationships among the genus. While most species seem to be descended from a common ancestor, N. camporum is interspersed among the phylogeny, suggesting widespread gene flow between N. camporum and other species of Nerisyrenia. The data suggests that species of Nerisyrenia, though descended from a common ancestor, rapidly evolved to become distinct species.

Steimle’s research aimed to understand how cation exchange occurs in different materials on the nanoscale. Because the materials being examined were sensitive to air, Steimle used a variety of air-free techniques including a Schlenk line and controlled atmosphere glovebox to look at indium phosphide clusters, specifically the impact of the exchange of metal cations as indium phosphide is changed by chemical reactions. They used a variety of techniques to measure and characterize the structure and properties of indium phosphide as it moved through reactions, in order to follow the mechanistic pathway of cation exchange throughout these reactions. The data showed that cation exchange occurred in indium phosphide nanocrystals when excess cadmium was added at room temperature.

Andrea Goltz, Geology Advisor: Zeb Page Blueschist-eclogite is a type of rock containing some blue bands (blue rocks with certain minerals are called blueschists) and some green bands (similarly, green rocks with certain minerals are called eclogites). Blueschist-eclogite is unique because of these two distinct physical characteristics.

Although intergrown eclogite and blueschist assemblages have been well studied, their origin remains uncertain.

Goltz studied blueschist-eclogite from the Franciscan Complex in California, an ancient subduction zone. The research involved whether or not the rock formed the way it did because of small differences in composition within the rock or because the blueschist actually formed at a different pressure and temperature point than the eclogite. Using X-Ray Fluorescence Spectroscopy and thermodynamic modeling to investigate those two hypotheses, Goltz found that the blueschist does represent a different pressure and temperature point than does the eclogite and also has a different composition.

Graph Credit: Jenny Stein, University of Washington

Calendar

Layout and content by Andrea Wang

Oberlin Obliviators Quidditch Tournament Saturday, Nov. 5, 9 a.m.–2 p.m.

North Fields

Talk: Oberlin Itches, So I Scratch: A Private 50 Year Fight With My College Saturday, Nov. 5, 8–9 p.m.

Carnegie Building, Root Room

OCTaiko: Parents Weekend Workshop and Performance Saturday, Nov. 5, 4:30–5:30 p.m.

Science Center Atrium

Join the Oberlin Obliviators on the pitch for a day of wizarding sportsmanship at this Saturday’s Quidditch tournament. While the Quidditch in Harry Potter is played on flying broomsticks, Muggle Quidditch is restricted to the ground. The event features local Quidditch teams and is open to die-hard Harry Potter fans and Muggles alike.

Robert Krulwich OC ’69, co-host of the Peabody Award-winning program Radiolab, is the featured speaker at this year’s annual dinner hosted by The Friends of The Library, which provides financial support for library collections as well as special programs.

Join the members of OCTaiko for a special Parents Weekend performance. They will play a short set followed by a workshop session for parents and students to learn about taiko, a form of Japanese drum performance.

OCTaiko aims to share an understanding and appreciation of taiko as a traditional and contemporary art form, and has various performances throughout the year.

Frank Lloyd Wright Open House Sunday, Nov. 6, 12–5 p.m.

Weltzhimer/Johnson House

Election Night Viewing Tuesday, Nov. 8, 8–10:30 p.m.

Azariah’s Café

Film Screening: La Région Centrale Friday, Nov. 11, 7–10 p.m.

AJLC, Hallock Auditorium

Join Allen Memorial Art Museum staff for guided tours of Oberlin’s Frank Lloyd Wright House. Designed in 1947 by American architect Frank Lloyd Wright, the Weltzhimer/Johnson House is a distinct example of Wright’s Usonian style of modern architecture. Admission is $5 for adults and is free for college students and children under 18. This is the last tour and presentation session before the house closes for the winter.

The thrill of electoral politics has surged through the Oberlin community through its ups and downs, following front-runners Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump. The tumult of this year’s presidential race comes to a close Tuesday, when the final results will be announced on election night. Celebrate the victory, or mourn the loss, of your preferred candidate over Azariah’s cookies and coffee.

Released in 1971, La Région Centrale is an experimental film by Canadian director Michael Snow. The film was shot over a period of 24 hours using a pre-programmed robot arm and features barren landscapes of northern Canada. Continuously changing views of the landscape are layered with a minimal soundtrack that consists only of the mechanical sounds of the controls, creating a captivating, spatially disorienting experience.

Microanatomy of the Monodelphis domestica Prostate Julie Watiker and Olivia Shin, Biology Advisor: Yolanda Cruz Shin and Watiker conducted research on Monodelphis domestic, commonly known as the South American grey short-tailed opossum. They looked for the probasin protein in rat and opossum proteins with immunohistochemistry, a type of protein-specific staining. Probasin is found in many mammalian prostates, so it serves a good reference for understanding the opossum prostate.

Shin and Watiker found that probasin is produced in a donut-like ring in the dark prostate of the opossum; however, in rat prostates, probasin was not distributed in the same ring shape. Their research this summer not only broadened understanding of how rats and opossums differ, but also provided valuable information toward understanding when marsupials and other animals diverged evolutionarily in terms of their male reproductive systems.

Summer Science Research Spotlight

This summer, many of your peers worked hard in the lab or out in the field in the name of scientific discovery and presented their findings at the Celebration of Undergraduate Research this past weekend. Read on to discover a small selection of students’ research projects across many different disciplines within the sciences.

Morphology, Biomarkers and Dynamic Behavior of Repopulated Microglia Adam Lazere, Biology Advisor: Dr. Wai Wong Microglia are important cells in the Central Nervous System (CNS) that surround neurons, providing them with insulation and support. They function as the resident immune cells of the CNS, acting as the first responders to inflammation. Even though responding to inflammation causes their numbers to decrease, microglia rapidly repopulate after being depleted. However, the mechanisms with which microglia repopulate are not entirely clear. Lazere studied populations of microglia in mice retinae that had been chemically depleted, observing the morphology and behavior of these microglia at several time points before and after depopulation. He found that microglia are able to re-establish a functional population within two months of depopulation. In addition, he found that though not all microglia were fully mature with regards to behavior, other microglia worked to pick up the slack created by immature microglia.

Mingled Metamorphism: Computational Modelling of an Oxidized Franciscan BlueschistEclogite and Implications for Metamorphic Evolutionary Models

Pathways of Metal Cation Exchange in Indium Phosphide

Reconstructing the Evolutionary History of a Gypsum Endemic Plant Lineage

Molly Steimle, Chemistry Advisor: Brandi Cossairt

Emma Rast, Biology/Environmental Studies Advisor: Michael Moore Nerisyrenia is a genus of 11 herbaceous flowering plants in the mustard family, all endemic to the Chihuahuan Desert. Most species of Nerisyrenia are gypsophiles — which mean they live exclusively on gypsum substrate — and occur in separate non-overlapping geographical areas. Through genetic sequencing, Rast generated the first comprehensive species-level estimate of Nerisyrenia phylogeny, or a diagram of inferred evolutionary relationships among the genus. While most species seem to be descended from a common ancestor, N. camporum is interspersed among the phylogeny, suggesting widespread gene flow between N. camporum and other species of Nerisyrenia. The data suggests that species of Nerisyrenia, though descended from a common ancestor, rapidly evolved to become distinct species.

Steimle’s research aimed to understand how cation exchange occurs in different materials on the nanoscale. Because the materials being examined were sensitive to air, Steimle used a variety of air-free techniques including a Schlenk line and controlled atmosphere glovebox to look at indium phosphide clusters, specifically the impact of the exchange of metal cations as indium phosphide is changed by chemical reactions. They used a variety of techniques to measure and characterize the structure and properties of indium phosphide as it moved through reactions, in order to follow the mechanistic pathway of cation exchange throughout these reactions. The data showed that cation exchange occurred in indium phosphide nanocrystals when excess cadmium was added at room temperature.

Andrea Goltz, Geology Advisor: Zeb Page Blueschist-eclogite is a type of rock containing some blue bands (blue rocks with certain minerals are called blueschists) and some green bands (similarly, green rocks with certain minerals are called eclogites). Blueschist-eclogite is unique because of these two distinct physical characteristics.

Although intergrown eclogite and blueschist assemblages have been well studied, their origin remains uncertain.

Goltz studied blueschist-eclogite from the Franciscan Complex in California, an ancient subduction zone. The research involved whether or not the rock formed the way it did because of small differences in composition within the rock or because the blueschist actually formed at a different pressure and temperature point than the eclogite. Using X-Ray Fluorescence Spectroscopy and thermodynamic modeling to investigate those two hypotheses, Goltz found that the blueschist does represent a different pressure and temperature point than does the eclogite and also has a different composition.

Graph Credit: Jenny Stein, University of Washington

Calendar

Layout and content by Andrea Wang

Oberlin Obliviators Quidditch Tournament Saturday, Nov. 5, 9 a.m.–2 p.m.

North Fields

Talk: Oberlin Itches, So I Scratch: A Private 50 Year Fight With My College Saturday, Nov. 5, 8–9 p.m.

Carnegie Building, Root Room

OCTaiko: Parents Weekend Workshop and Performance Saturday, Nov. 5, 4:30–5:30 p.m.

Science Center Atrium

Join the Oberlin Obliviators on the pitch for a day of wizarding sportsmanship at this Saturday’s Quidditch tournament. While the Quidditch in Harry Potter is played on flying broomsticks, Muggle Quidditch is restricted to the ground. The event features local Quidditch teams and is open to die-hard Harry Potter fans and Muggles alike.

Robert Krulwich OC ’69, co-host of the Peabody Award-winning program Radiolab, is the featured speaker at this year’s annual dinner hosted by The Friends of The Library, which provides financial support for library collections as well as special programs.

Join the members of OCTaiko for a special Parents Weekend performance. They will play a short set followed by a workshop session for parents and students to learn about taiko, a form of Japanese drum performance.

OCTaiko aims to share an understanding and appreciation of taiko as a traditional and contemporary art form, and has various performances throughout the year.

Frank Lloyd Wright Open House Sunday, Nov. 6, 12–5 p.m.

Weltzhimer/Johnson House

Election Night Viewing Tuesday, Nov. 8, 8–10:30 p.m.

Azariah’s Café

Film Screening: La Région Centrale Friday, Nov. 11, 7–10 p.m.

AJLC, Hallock Auditorium

Join Allen Memorial Art Museum staff for guided tours of Oberlin’s Frank Lloyd Wright House. Designed in 1947 by American architect Frank Lloyd Wright, the Weltzhimer/Johnson House is a distinct example of Wright’s Usonian style of modern architecture. Admission is $5 for adults and is free for college students and children under 18. This is the last tour and presentation session before the house closes for the winter.

The thrill of electoral politics has surged through the Oberlin community through its ups and downs, following front-runners Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump. The tumult of this year’s presidential race comes to a close Tuesday, when the final results will be announced on election night. Celebrate the victory, or mourn the loss, of your preferred candidate over Azariah’s cookies and coffee.

Released in 1971, La Région Centrale is an experimental film by Canadian director Michael Snow. The film was shot over a period of 24 hours using a pre-programmed robot arm and features barren landscapes of northern Canada. Continuously changing views of the landscape are layered with a minimal soundtrack that consists only of the mechanical sounds of the controls, creating a captivating, spatially disorienting experience.

Arts The Oberlin Review

Page 10

November 4, 2016

In Absurdist Operas, Field Reckons With Gender Roles Samantha Spaccasi Audiences can expect temperamental divas, babies coming out of ovens, stage moms and balloons from The Oberlin Opera Theater’s double-billed staging of Gaetano Donizetti’s Viva la mamma and Francis Poulenc’s Les Mamelles de Tirésias. The shows provide an evening filled with farcical and absurdist humor that confronts and contrasts historical and modern perceptions of gender roles, playing today and tomorrow at 8 p.m., with a 2 p.m. matinee Sunday. Both pieces will be performed in English.

The pairing of operas begins with Donizetti’s Viva la mamma. In the piece, a small-town Italian opera company’s attempt at a world premiere goes awry as the mother of the second soprano hijacks the performance. “Everything falls apart,” said Conservatory junior Vanessa Croome, who plays lead soprano in Donizetti’s opera.

Director and Associate Professor of Opera Theater Jonathan Field spoke to Viva la mamma’s uniqueness.

“Expect a backstage view of an opera production and eccentric characters that are only focused on themselves,” Field said. Perhaps the character that best fits that description is the titular Mamma — written for baritone, the role is alternately played by double-degree senior Jeremy Harr and Conservatory junior Cory McGee.

Field describes the character as the “prototypical stage mom.”

Throughout the piece, the mother of the second soprano insists on giving all the best arias to her daughter. She becomes overly involved, eventually deciding that she wants to be in the show herself, –––––––––––––––––––––––––––

The shows provide an evening filled with farcical and absurdist humor that confronts and contrasts historical and modern perceptions of gender roles.

––––––––––––––––––––––––––– which leads to a heated duet between herself and the lead soprano, played by Croome.

“It’s my favorite part of the whole show,” Croome said. “For the whole show, Mamma Agata has been trying to keep it together, and she just loses it. It gets very physical.”

The man-in-dress idea that connects Viva la mamma and Les Mamelles is one that carries with it significant social baggage, as men are represented playing women in farcical ways.

Harr, one of the actors playing Mamma, said that he considers this as he plays the role.

“It’s easy to oversimplify [Viva la mamma] as one big ‘man-in-dress’

The Oberlin Opera Theater in collaboration with The Oberlin Orchestra presents a double-billed production of Viva la mamma and Les Mamelles de Tirésias, two unconventional operas connected by their shared thematic exploration of gender roles and expression.

Photo Courtesy of Communications

joke, but the comedy really comes from the behavior of Mamma Agata and the other characters,” Harr wrote in an email to the Review.

He acknowledged that at the time the opera was written, the idea of a man acting like a woman was considered ridiculous. “In a modern setting, however, we want to question traditional assumptions of gendered behavior,” he said.

Croome echoed Harr’s sentiment that the hilarity of the show comes

from the characters’ behavior rather than the operas’ explorations of gender and gender roles becoming a punch line in themselves.

“It’s like [Viva la mamma] is being performed in Las Vegas,” Croome said, because the characters are “extreme caricatures” of performers. Croome plays the stereotypical prima donna, Corilla. “She thinks she’s very good, but she’s not. She’s really full of herself.”

Both Croome and conductor Ra-

phael Jiménez emphasized Viva la mamma’s inherent humor, and they certainly got the laughter they expected in their first performance Wednesday night.

Following Viva la mamma is Poulenc’s Les Mamelles de Tirésias, which Field described as “a very strange piece. … It’s more surrealist than the election.”

Les Mamelles was originally See Oberlin, page 13

Halloween Burlesque Treats Audience, Bodies with Respect Julia Peterson Production Editor The Oberlin Burlesque Halloween-themed performance was a treat — quite literally, since the show opened with the audience being pelted by candy. The team took the stage in front of a packed ’Sco at 10 p.m. Monday to deliver a performance that both capitalized on the evening’s spooky theme and celebrated the multiplicity of body expression.

According to College junior Russell Jaffe, who danced in Monday’s show, the variety of acts on display is at the core of burlesque.

“I’d say that [burlesque is] a seductive dance in a really specific art style that’s one part cabaret, two parts seduction, a dash of variance and maybe a ... touch of stripping,” Jaffe said.

College sophomore Katya Bouazza-Salva, who also appeared on stage, expanded on the variety of music that can be interpreted in burlesque.

“It doesn’t necessarily have to be the theme of cabaret,” she said. “A lot of people do songs to hip hop or rock ’n’ roll.”

For Bouazza-Salva, performing in burlesque shows has been a meaningful experience.

“I think that … people think about stripping as very degrading,” she said. “For me, burlesque is the opposite. I used to be very self-conscious about my body, and burlesque has helped me not be that as much. ... To get up on that stage and take off your clothes in front of all those people takes a lot, and I think it forced me to be comfortable with myself. For me, burlesque is empowerment.”

Oberlin Burlesque has been a chartered

organization of the College for two years now.

Team president and founding member Jackie Meger, a graduate student of the Conservatory pursuing a Masters in Music Teaching, spoke to the Review about what burlesque means for her and her aspirations for the team.

“My attachment to burlesque is very personal. ... I did not come into college with a good body image, and it took a lot of work to feel confident in myself,” she wrote in an email to the Review. “After having danced in a few shows, my confidence in my body and my personality have both been strengthened. As ––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––

“I think that … people think about stripping as very degrading. For me, burlesque is the opposite.”

Katya Bouazza-Salva College sophomore –––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––– the president of the organization, my goal is to help anybody and everybody feel the same way about sharing their bodies and ideas with their fellow students — with pride, confidence and a feeling of support.”

That support was clear at the ’Sco Monday night, as the audience, encouraged by the MC at the beginning of the show, clapped and cheered along to every number.

“I always get nervous before a show,” Bouazza-Salva said. “I always feel like I have to work out ... because I don’t want people to see my stomach or I don’t want people to think my legs are weird. But when you’re in the show and you take that first piece of clothing off and

you hear the audience [cheering], it gives you a rush. You think, ‘Who cares about the way I look? People are liking this. I look sexy as f---.’

It doesn’t matter if I’m not a Victoria’s Secret model. I can still rock it as much as they can.”

Though people may hold stigmatized notions of what burlesque is or is supposed to be, for Oberlin’s team, it is all about empowerment and celebration.

“Burlesque is sexy without being about sex,” Jaffe said. “It allows you to express your body in whatever way you want, as much or as little as you want, and you’re the one who’s in control of it. No one is telling you what to do or expecting it from you. You get to choose.

Frankly, that’s something society could take a lesson from.”

Bodily expression took many forms in Monday’s show. Alongside stripping, which is what burlesque is better known for in the wider community, the performance also included dancing, singing and a tumbling act.

“Our shows have acts of all kinds, decided by each group,” Meger wrote in an email to the Review. “Comedy, serious acts, solos, groups, singing, dancing, acting, improvisation — you name it — we’ve got it all. There is no level of nudity required, but students can choose to go as nude as the school allows. … There are also many acts where there is just one costume, and nothing is getting added ... or removed.”

Many of the show’s numbers also took advantage of the Halloween theme. The show opened to the theme from The Addams Family and featured Ghostbusters, devils and gravestones, as well as other themed numbers.

While every number was the result of much planning and rehearsal, for Meger, the most meaningful part of the show was the mutual support that she felt from all her team

members.

“Before the show, in the dressing room, during the show, after the show — it was all love,” she wrote in an email to the Review. “We are all rooting for each other, working togeth––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––

Though people may hold stigmatized notions of what burlesque is or is supposed to be, for Oberlin’s team, it is all about empowerment and celebration.

–––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––– er and finding ways to make the organization better and stronger with every show. … [I] improvised my dancing solo, which I had never done before. And just like the rest of the show, I got unending support.”

Meger’s experience is in line with the show’s mission statement, which focuses on building a space for safe expression and growth.

“Oberlin Burlesque is a judgment-free and all-gender dance and performance group dedicated to body positivity and self-love,” it reads.

Meger also recognizes the importance of financial accessibility for team members.

“Our shows and organization have never required members to pay for anything, including their costumes,” she wrote. “There is a lot of closet sharing — people will ask their friends for stuff, trade clothes, or take from my personal costume stash. ... Starting this year, we also have a budget from the [Student FiSee At Burlesque, page 12

Arts

The Oberlin Review, November 4, 2016

Page 11

Residency Program Adds New Focus on Songwriting Eilish Spear Staff Writer Aoife O’Donovan arrived in Oberlin this week to lead a Conservatory songwriting masterclass Monday as part of the American Roots residency program, wrapping up her stay with a show at the Cat in the Cream Tuesday.

Songwriting is a relatively recent addition to the masterclass program. However, as Dean of the Conservatory of Music Andrea Kalyn was eager to point out, the program represents a rich integration of media integral to the field of music.

“Songwriting has a long and vibrant tradition at Oberlin and — as Bob Dylan’s recent [Nobel Prize] in Literature underscores — is a natural area of focus as we

explore new modes for connecting [and] learning across disciplines,” Kalyn said.

Educated at New England Conservatory, Irish-American folk singer O’Donovan has been performing for nearly her whole life, first making waves with her progressive bluegrass band Crooked Still. She has performed with artists such as Yo-Yo Ma, Chris Thile and Sara Watkins, as well as with Garrison Keillor on A Prairie Home Companion, and has released two full-length solo albums and a live album with her current trio. She has also appeared on numerous other albums from across the folk spectrum.

In 2013, actor-comedian Ed Helms, OC ’96, established the Oberlin American Roots residency program that sponsored

O’Donovan’s visit. Since its creation, the fund has brought in artists working with a range of genres, most notably sponsoring several extended residencies –––––––––––––––––––––––––––

However, as Dean of the Conservatory of Music Andrea Kalyn was eager to point out, the program represents a rich integration of media integral to the field of music.

––––––––––––––––––––––––––– with the acclaimed folk band the Punch Brothers. O’Donovan traveled to Oberlin last year as a

Aoife O’Donovan’s trio performs at the Cat in the Cream Tuesday night as part of the American Roots residency program. Ed Helms established the program in 2013.

Photo by Bryan Rubin, Photo Editor

supporting member of the Punch Brothers but returned this year with members of Crooked Still.

“We’re delighted to welcome Aoife back to Oberlin as part of the American Roots residency program,” Kalyn said, “both to work with student songwriters across campus and to share her own artistic voice and perspective.”

For O’Donovan, assuming authority on something as subjective as the quality of a work of art — particularly a song — is a nebulous prospect.

“There’s really no way to tell a room full of students what the perfect song is,” she said during her Tuesday night performance, “but [ Joni Mitchell’s] You Turn Me On, I’m a Radio is, for me, in the top five of perfect songs.”

Six students performed original work in the master class, which O’Donovan quickly turned into more of a workshop than a formal class setting. She told all the performers to sing twice, once without giving their peers any context and again after workshopping the piece and showing the audience the lyrics. “[It’s important] to have an environment with people that we trust [to] give their opinions and take them or leave them,” O’Donovan said.

She also highlighted the importance of constructive criticism and the ability to both give and receive it.

“I’m really glad you guys are willing to say things [that you don’t like] about each others’ work. … It’s really important, especially in anything creative, to have a space to be able to say, ‘I actually didn’t like that.’”

Considering the discomfort most people feel at the prospect

of exposing their most deeply personal artistic expressions to scrutiny, openness to criticism can be a very vulnerable experience.

“You have to be very brave to write really personal, icky things,” O’Donovan said. O’Donovan’s show itself was a simple affair with only the trio on stage.

O’Donovan, singer and guitarist Anthony da Costa and drummer Steven Nistor played songs from their latest live album Man in a Neon Coat, O’Donovan’s January 2016 album In the Magic Hour, songs from her first solo album Fossils and a few classic folk covers. The music’s simplicity came as a breath of fresh air in an increasingly choreographed industry.

During the show, O’Donovan once again demonstrated her preference for open informality, breaking a personal stage rule in –––––––––––––––––––––––––––

She told all the performers to sing twice, once without giving their peers any context and again after workshopping the piece and showing the audience the lyrics.

––––––––––––––––––––––––––– order to assure her audience she wouldn’t keep them too long.

“There are two things I’ve promised to never talk about on stage: the election and sports,” she said, “but I’ll make an exception to promise to let you go in time to see the end of the game tonight.

Although, if you’re at a folk music concert on a Tuesday night, you might not actually care.”

Complex Questions Drive Choreography at Intimate Fall Forward Vida Weisblum Editor-in-Chief Tonight commences Fall Forward, the Dance department’s premiere production that takes place every November. In past iterations, Fall Forward has boasted lengthy setlists with large group pieces, but this year, under Professor Carter McAdams’ direction, the show will include smaller works by just seven choreographers and will run for two consecutive nights rather than the typical three. Despite its shorter runtime compared to past shows — 45 minutes without intermission — the presented material will showcase an extensive breadth of styles composed by a talented roster of artists.

“Last year, many of Oberlin’s student dancers and choreographers graduated, and because of that, there isn’t as much new material in the department presently,” said College sophomore Tyus Southern, who will debut his original solo The Death of Jonathan Kebe this evening. “While that does upset me a bit, I think that the show’s length this year makes [Fall Forward] very accessible for students who have maybe never been to a dance performance.”

According to a Dance department press release, personal and complex questions drove choreography throughout.

Some pieces examine concepts of relationships. A contemporary solo by College junior Isabel Levey-Swain that explores notions of family is accompanied by music created by College senior Alex Wilder, including text from conversations between the choreographer and

her grandparents. College junior Rachel Ford dances with her hands tied in like carrying water / in my hands, part of a reprise of her earlier dance amid spindles and edges, in which her dancers are bound to each other with stretchy red fabric.

“Often, I think of dance as a physical metaphor,” Ford said. “We all have things that bind us, whether to ourselves, to others, to the world, to problems, to places. We all all have connections and relationships to those connections. I am exploring facets of these conenctions and figuring out what they mean to me and to my dancers.”

In The Death of Jonathan Kebe, Southern dances with an imaginary character as he reckons with the death of a community member.

“My dance is about how the living struggle to relate to the dead, but it’s not what I’d call a sentimental piece; it’s very much anchored in the living world,” Southern told the Review.

“The concept was something I had been playing with for a few weeks, but during a particularly tumultuous period of personal issues, I choreographed about 85 percent of the piece over a two-hour span of time. I find it’s easier for me to create in solitude.”

The rehearsal process for some other pieces wasn’t quite as curtailed. College sophomore Sophia Attebery spent four hours in the studio every week for her trio Tricus, which explores the trope of “crazy” women and femininity.

She first began developing the project this past summer after partaking in a Gaga dance intensive at Mark Morris Dance Group, a renowned Brooklyn-based company led by the

highly influential choreographer of the same name. There, her experience watching a group of women perform a Batsheva piece called The Hole became the impetus for Tricus.

“These women were putting their entire heart into the movement and it was so fast and strong that at the end of the piece, their ––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––

“My dance is about how the living struggle to relate to the dead, but it’s not what I’d call a sentimental piece; it’s very much anchored in the living world.”

Tyus Southern Student Choreographer and Dancer –––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––– faces were bright red and their hair had fallen out of their buns,” Attebery wrote in an email.

“I thought to myself that these ladies looked absolutely crazy in the best way possible. Right when the piece ended all of the women started fixing their hair back to place. Then they would perform the piece again and fix their hair again right after. I thought it was a really funny juxtaposition of crazy effort and trying to look pretty again. From there I decided I wanted to expand on the idea of ‘craziness’ and how it correlates with effort, especially for women.”

Attebery has been developing movement for Tricus since her arrival to campus this fall

and auditioned dancers around three weeks into the school year. Though Attebery herself will unexpectedly perform in Tricus at Fall Forward because one of her dancers recently suffered a concussion, this change has not posed a problem. “That added some excitement to the piece last minute,” she said. Next week, Attebery will begin to adapt Tricus for the screen along with some 19 dancers.

College junior Marquis Junior uses stylistic music in his piece Summertime as a reminder of how he first came to dance. According to a press release, the piece draws from the ’90s generation, harnessing a “block party” vibe, while also influenced by ’80s music, the African diaspora and his peers.

College senior Leah Newman’s trifold piece, sections of which weave throughout the setlist, draws on narrative to produce a thoughtful commentary on the physical and mental effects of strength training. Newman will make use of tangible handheld weights in this dance piece with aspects of performance art.

As they prepare to take the stage for their first audience of the weekend, the choreographers will have McAdams, who will leave faculty this winter, to thank for his work on the production.

“Carter is very focused on creating a community of dancers to promote the show in its entirety,” said College first-year Nina Harris, who is both a Fall Forward dancer and Dance department publicity representative. “He believes that the show is strongest when all the pieces come together.”

Page 12

Arts

The Oberlin Review, November 4, 2016

Spanish House Celebrates Día de Muertos

At Burlesque Show, Art Subverts Stigma Continued from page 10

Spanish House hosted an event Wednesday celebrating Día de Muertos, a Latin American holiday that remains an integral part of Latinx culture worldwide. The evening included sugar skull-making and altar decoration. Sugar skulls are a staple of Día de Muertos celebrations.

The altars decorated Wednesday evening were adorned with flowers, food and drink in honor of deceased loved ones. Some altars were dedicated to the memory of the victims of June’s Orlando Pulse shooting, many of whom were members of the Latinx community. These memorials are now on display at Langston Hall’s Latinx Hall and the Multicultural Resource Center.

Text by Christian Bolles, Arts editor Photo by Rick Yu, Photo editor

nance Committee] for costumes and makeup, and that is incredibly exciting!”

There are no experience requirements for joining the team, Meger emphasized.

“None of us have had any burlesque training, and very few of us have had dance training,” she wrote. “Everything is also done ‘inhouse,’ meaning that we choreograph our own dances without bringing in an outside person. … There are no experience requirements, and no restrictions on becoming a member.”

Jaffe stressed the idea of empowerment, which seems to be the ethos of the burlesque team, reflecting on their hope that people will perceive their performance positively. “[Burlesque is] definitely worth a shot,” they said. “I feel like a lot of people have a preconceived idea of it — that it’s just classy stripping — and it’s really not. In my dance [in Monday’s performance], I don’t even take off my clothes. It’s more about empowerment.

So people should give it a chance before they judge it.”

For Bouazza-Salva, one exciting aspect of Monday’s performance was how much interest it generated among audience members to become more involved with the team.

“I had a lot of first-years come up to me [after the show] so they can join the next show,” she said. “That made me really happy. I think it would be good if everybody tried it once in their life, to be honest.”

Arts

The Oberlin Review, November 4, 2016

Page 13

Oxenfree’s Nostalgic Ghost Story Avoids Cliché Avi Vogel Staff Writer Oxenfree is a difficult game to classify. Night School Studio’s most recent title, consisting mostly of wandering around and interacting with both people and the environment as the story slowly unravels, doesn’t fall squarely into any one genre. You play as Alex, a high schooler who is bringing her new stepbrother Jonas to an island party.

When only five people show up and Alex’s antique radio starts finding strange signals, things quickly take a turn for the supernatural.

This ostensibly trope-filled story might suggest that Oxenfree is at odds with its intended audience.

Most walking simulator games tend toward looser narratives, focusing more on the landscape than the player-character itself. However, Oxenfree flips this paradigm. Borrowing heavily from ’80s teen horror flicks and cerebral thrillers, the game aims to pay homage to those classics. Were the narrative to venture too far toward its source material, the story would seem derivative, and if it leaned toward parody, Oxenfree would fail to capture its self-aware yet serious aesthetic.

The game walks this line perfectly. While each of the characters borrows from last-generation teenage stereotypes — the prototypical “mean girl,” the burnout, the mysterious new kid, the cool one and the quirky one (Alex, incidentally) — the four-hour narrative makes a point to let each of these characters fall away from their respective

archetypes. Each becomes sympathetic, irritating, sincere and terrified in turns, displaying a wide range of emotions that showcases Night School’s writing chops.

Oxenfree’s unrelenting focus on character interaction necessitates a script that feels real. Other games starring teenagers have struggled to avoid falling into cliché dialogue rife with angst, but Oxenfree’s charac ters are believable. They attempt to keep themselves safe from the island’s pervasive, terrifying influence, which laces every conversation with tension. The characters’ feelings are always tangible, and when clichés are used, they serve a purpose, setting the stage for later subversion of those same clichés. And the dialogue system is as unique as the writing itself, implemented with nuance rather than the usual good, evil and neutral options available in most games. Above all, the flexibility of the dialogue options contributes to a sense of realism, making Oxenfree one of the finest examples in recent memory of game writing done well.

Accompanying the excellent script is a haunting soundtrack.

Reminiscent of ’80s synth and oldschool horror ambience, Oxenfree’s score elevates the tone of the game perfectly. Each part of the island has its own music that accents its mood, and every otherworldly encounter brings a new track to the table. Never obtrusive, Oxenfree’s music is interwoven skillfully with the narrative and setting, proving that a game’s score can be just as integral to the experience as the nar-

Oxenfree, Night School Studio’s latest independent release, is an old-school ’80s-style horror thriller with a strong emotional foundation and a focus on dialogue.

Photo by Avi Vogel

rative or visual aesthetic.

In terms of visuals, Oxenfree distinguishes itself from the pack once again. The characters are rendered in 2.5D, colored with a simple pastel palette. The backgrounds, in contrast, are all two-dimensional and look like paintings, making each environment feel vibrant and unique while enriching the game’s exploration aspects.

The dialogue, art and music together form an immersive experience, but the simplicity of the mechanics beneath it all leaves something to be desired. The only kind of puzzle in the game involves Alex’s radio, which has some interesting narrative implications, giving the player access to creepy hidden

anomalies that pull back the layers of the island’s mysteries. The puzzles themselves, though, are repetitive and unchallenging, consisting entirely of tuning the radio to different stations until you hear something.

Later in the game, you’re given access to a better radio that, when tuned, gives clues to collectibles, but this addition is optional and peripheral. Since this represents Oxenfree’s only real trial, the puzzles lack enough substance to constitute any kind of difficulty.

The story, on the other hand, is one that shouldn’t be spoiled. Its twists and turns, measured pacing and final reveal are incredibly satisfying. Depending on Alex’s dialogue and actions, each one of the sup-

porting characters reaches a different end; at the closing credits, the game displays the percentage of other players that received your ending versus the rest, giving a nice sense of scope to the potential outcomes.

And although the journey was spectacular, the ending is hard to parse.

It’s unclear if the game earned its finale, but it’s certainly unexpected, heavy and thought-provoking.

The whole package is excellent, and though the mechanics and overwrought ending might take some deserved flak, at the end of the day, it’s about who you’re with. If you’re looking for a game that focuses on its characters and the ways in which they change, Oxenfree won’t let you down.

Oberlin Opera Theater Double Bill Subverts Historical Message Continued from page 10 written as a play by French poet Guillaume Apollinaire circa World War I; Poulenc later set it to music at the end of the Second World War as a reaction to the destruction of France. The piece tells the story of a woman in Zanzibar who decides that she’s tired of putting up with her husband, and so grows a beard and transforms into a man, eventually setting out to conquer the world as a general.

Her husband winds up turning into a woman in order to “make babies, which becomes a big bother,” Field said.

Though Les Mamelles is the only surrealist opera in existence, narrative surrealism is not the only thing that sets the piece apart.

The piece touches on the pervasive postwar fear that women were disrupting the balance of power. Men — including Apollinaire — worried about women taking tradition-

ally masculine roles. As such, the poet wrote the piece in response to the women’s rights movement.

In a modern day setting, though, Field sees an opportunity to subvert Apollinaire’s original motives and co-opt the piece to portray it from a feminist angle.

“As a feminist piece, it shows the ability and necessity of women to change in the last century,” Field wrote in an email to the Review. “The title character goes through several costume changes to give us an idea of the multiplicity of identities she wants to take on.”

Conservatory senior Olivia Boen, who plays the lead soprano Thérèsa/Tiresias in the Poulenc, would agree the Opera Theater’s representation subverts the original intentions of the piece into a more inclusive narrative, adding that a viewer would be unlikely to gain a comprehensive understand-

ing of Les Mamelles de Tirésias based solely on its plot points.

“It’s best to just sit and absorb and enjoy the piece,” Boen said. “If you try to put the ––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––

Though Les Mamelles is the only surrealist opera in existence, narrative surrealism is not the only thing that sets the piece apart.

–––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––– pieces of the plot together, it will be impossible to figure out. It doesn’t make any sense.”

Even though the music is challenging and the sets are elaborate, the team behind the double-bill has enjoyed the process of putting it all together, including the conductor.

“Even as we deal with the complexities of the music, we are having a great time because the stories are so fun. … [It is] a perfect evening in terms of the entertainment value and the quality of musical work,” Jimenez said.

Boen agreed, elaborating on the show’s musical side.

“The music is hard when you look at the page, but accessible when you hear it,” Boen said. “There [are] waltzes and even some French jazz.”

The performers have enjoyed taking a break from traditional operatic styles, as these two pieces focus less on the music and more on painting its broadly-drawn characters, who seem set to delight in unexpected ways.

“It’s important to keep an open mind,” Croome advised. “[The operas] will surprise people.”

Comic by Ariel Miller

Sports

Page 14

In the Locker Room

The Oberlin Review, November 4, 2016

SAAC Officers

This week, the Review sat down with the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee Communications/Public Relations Officer junior Sandra Kibble and Community Service Officer junior Dana Goldstein to discuss SAAC’s service events thus far, what it has planned for the rest of the year and how the group is working to change the perception of athletes on campus.

a Girl. Last year the coaches were pretty much in charge. It ended up being really successful. There was big turnout. It was really great to offer space and coaching for the community but also for us to get involved in a very hands-on way interacting with people.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

How did you become involved with SAAC? Sandra Kibble: I got involved with SAAC the way I think a lot of people get involved with [it], which is a senior talking you into going. Then I went to one of the meetings and actually really liked it. Last year I was pretty involved with the hype games and then I got elected Communications[/Public Relations] officer this year.

Dana Goldstein: As a firstyear, I didn’t really notice how much interest I took in athletics on campus and being a good representative for athletics and doing good as a community. Jenny Goldsmith, [OC ’15], made that connection for both of us and encouraged us to come. I’m currently the Community Service Officer and I’m really excited to create strong events that the community enjoys.

What has SAAC done so far this year?

SK: The big event that we’ve had already was Homecoming.

That was run by [Communications/Public Relations officer]

Sandra Kibble (left) and Dana Rae Goldstein Sarah Feinberg. We think Homecoming was pretty successful.

I’d say that the most successful game during Homecoming was the Kenyon volleyball game. A lot of people came to that, and I think there was a lot of school spirit, even though our team lost.

The school spirit that was shown in that game is kind of our precedent for the rest of the year now for hype games.

DG: Track or Treat was on Monday. Every team had a table with a fun activity where we give out candy. Each table kind of represented the home of each team and the kids go “door to door.” It was really cute, we loved seeing the kids’ costumes. We got professors’ kids and kids from surrounding neighborhoods. They advertised the event at all the local elementary schools. It was

just a really nice thing we do, even the students had fun.

SK: Also, Buddy Up Tennis is something that SAAC has been continuously doing. It’s been going on for two years. Every Saturday, Oberlin students help children with Down syndrome learn how to play tennis. You don’t have to know how to play tennis to participate. It’s a great way to have fun and be in the community.

DG: We also do Helping Hands in the winter. Every team gets assigned a few kids from Lorain and we receive their wish lists and try our best to get what’s on their lists and give them a really thoughtful gift that they wouldn’t be able to have otherwise. We’re afforded a lot as an athletics department, like clothes, facilities, so it’s the least we can do.

Editorial: Lower Salary Caps Preserve Competition in NBA Continued from page 16 and Kevin McHale. “The Big Three,” with a combined 62,460 points and 30,811 rebounds, led the Celtics to three NBA championships.

Keep in mind that before signing Durant, Golden State had stellar talent not only with Curry but also with Draymond Green and Klay Thompson. Green, the fiery centerpiece of the squad, is one of the league’s best power forwards, averaging nearly 12 points per game last season. Thompson is considered one of the most well-rounded players in the NBA, averaging 22 points per game.

With the addition of Durant, it may seem like the Warriors have a modern version of “The Big Three” plus one, starring Curry, Durant and Thompson, with Green cast in a crucial supporting role.

Durant’s championship-chasing decision to say goodbye to the Oklahoma City Thunder left many fans jarred over the 2016 off-season. Oklahoma City has been Durant’s home for the past eight years. Some fans believe that he gave up hope on the team, while others are still bitter from last year’s Western Conference Finals, in which the Warriors defeated the Thunder in seven tense games.

Regardless of Durant’s motivation for his decision, his move hurt the NBA. According to head NBA oddsmaker Jeff Sherman at the Westgate SuperBook in Las Vegas, the Warriors are a rare “odds-on” favorite to win the NBA championship this season. The team’s odds are at minus-150, or 2–3, meaning they are heavy favorites. As a result, the point-spreads for certain games on Golden State’s schedule will be predicted blowouts. Sherman also believes that when the Warriors host the Brooklyn Nets, who went 21–61 last year, they will hold a never-before seen advantage as 24.5-point favorites.

For the NBA to remain interesting, the salary cap should be set at approximately 60 percent of what it currently is. A $65-million salary cap will still give teams the ability to sign star players but stop general managers from unfairly monopolizing talent.

With a steadily increasing salary cap, you can count me out from watching lopsided professional basketball games. Until the cap in the NBA is lowered, basketball fans in Oakland, CA, will rejoice every year as the Golden State Warriors reign supreme.

What changes is SAAC trying to make this year?

SK: We started the first officer meeting with mission statements from our chairs, [senior] Maureen Coffey and [senior] Justin Cruz.

They talked about how they really want to bring the athletic community together with the non-athletic community, trying to outreach more and make more of a cohesive environment on campus, because there is such a divide. Hopefully we can make more common environments. Instead of having all of our events on North Campus and in the athletics complex, trying to push events more to middle of campus like Wilder Bowl to make them more accessible to people who aren’t athletes and maybe don’t live on North Campus.

DG: Another thing is Play Like

What would you say to encourage an athlete to join SAAC? SK: I think I’ve had a better relationship with athletic administrators. Having different coach connections and being able to build off of those for networking — how many student-athletes get to say that their Athletic Director or their Title IX coordinator really knows them? Building social skills with adults in a professional realm is something that I think SAAC gives a good baseline for.

DG: Another thing is when you see packed games with everyone wearing T-shirts and cheering their hearts out, those things don’t just happen. There are people behind that who work hard to give players on the field and on the court the atmosphere that makes college athletics so special.

SK: SAAC does a big job with trying to change people’s negative connotation of athletes on campus. Showing people that we do more things than play sports. We have a mission statement that involves Special Olympics and community service. We’re not only just there to hype up games and have people support athletes. We want to reach out to the community.

Interview by Jackie McDermott,

Sports editor Photo by Bryan Rubin,

Photo editor

Sports

The Oberlin Review, November 4, 2016

Page 15

— Swimming and Diving—

Rookies Crucial for First Home Win Over Hiram Sydney Allen Production Editor The swimming and diving teams competed against The College of Wooster for their second conference matchup of the season last Saturday, but the Halloween weekend meet saw both squads fall short to the Fighting Scots. The Yeowomen lost 164–115 while the Yeomen fell 157–115.

Although they did not come out

on top, Head Coach Andrew Brabson believes that there were bright spots in the meet.

“They outswam us quite a bit,” he said, “but there were positive takeaways. We did pretty well and had some results to be happy about.”

The women’s team had strong performances in numerous events.

Senior Maddie Prangley swam to victory in both the 200-yard freestyle and the 500-yard freestyle, with times of 2 minutes, .34 seconds and 5:18.34,

respectively. In addition, senior captain Nora Cooper outpaced the competition in the 100-yard freestyle, finishing in first place with a time of 56.04 seconds and went on to score second place in the 50-yard freestyle, clocking in at 26.08 seconds.

The success didn’t only hail from the seniors; on the diving side, firstyear Katja Zoner won the 3-meter dive with 217.55 points and the 1-meter dive with 206.15 points. With successes coming from both veterans

Senior captain Nora Cooper swims in Oberlin’s first home meet of the season against Hiram College. The Yeowomen earned 141 points to defeat the Terriers.

Photo Courtesy of OC Athletics

and rookies, the teams’ depth has been emerging early in the season.

“We’re a young team, but that never means we should be overlooked,” said senior Vera Hutchison, who logged top finishes in the 400yard individual medley and 100-yard butterfly.

Although the men’s team came up short, it showed dominance in certain events. Once again, the newcomers shone as first-year Michael Lin swam the fourth-fastest 100-yard breaststroke in Oberlin swimming history at 59.55 seconds. The Sugar Land, TX, native continued his winning streak, dominating the 200-yard backstroke with a time of 2:00.09 before posting a second-place finish in the 100-yard butterfly. With multiple individual wins over the weekend, Lin is optimistic for more team success as the season progresses.

“This weekend was a really strong start for me,” Lin said. “We’re proving that we’re all working really hard in the pool and there should be more successes to come.”

Just one day prior, on Oct. 28, the men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams earned their first dual meet win of the season against Hiram College. The victory proved to be an excellent stepping stone for the team.

“Considering most of us were swimming in our off-events, it was a big accomplishment for us,” firstyear Matthew Berry said.

The Hiram meet was another

strong showing for the rookies, specifically in the 1,000-yard free. Firstyear Devyn Malouf topped the pack in the women’s field with a time of 11:49.86 while Berry’s 11:07.58 finish bested the men’s side. Given the numerous wins by the newcomers, Brabson is pleased with their growth.

“There are lots of first-years on the team still getting acclimated to Oberlin and the training program,” Brabson said. “But they’re a really hardworking crew, learning to swim some races they haven’t swam in the past and gaining lots of experience.”

To add to the list of successes of the evening, senior captain Kathleen Falk was victorious in the 50-yard free, finishing the race in 26.62 seconds. Hutchison’s 2:25.74 victory in the 200-yard backstroke and Jeremy Cooper’s unopposed finish of 2:14.73 in the men’s 200-yard backstroke capped off the victory.

Looking forward, the Yeomen and Yeowomen will host the Case Western Reserve University Spartans tomorrow at 1 p.m. in their second home meet of the 2016–2017 campaign. With a conference win already under their belts, both teams are focusing on continuing their progression against the Spartans.

“Our goal at [the Case Western meet], as well as every meet, is to try to improve,” Brabson said. “We may be in a tough Division III conference for swimming, but we’re only looking up. The team loves to learn and improve.”

Cool or Drool: 49ers Start Kaepernick Amidst Continued Protest Dan Bisno Columnist The San Francisco 49ers lost four games with quarterback Blaine Gabbert at the helm before they decided to return Colin Kaepernick — the player at the center of one of the biggest political demonstrations in the recent history of American sports — to his starting quarterback position.

Just four years after winning the National Football Conference under Kaepernick’s leadership and barely losing in the Super Bowl, the 49ers currently sit at a tie for last place in the entire NFC with an embarrassing 1–6 record. This is largely due to Gabbert’s subpar performance early in the season, which left many fans wondering why Head Coach Chip Kelly waited so long to return Kaepernick.

At this point, you could have limited sports knowledge and probably still have heard of Colin Kaepernick, a former one-season wonder turned activist. Starting in the NFL’s August preseason, Kaepernick began kneeling during the national anthem. His protest is, in his words, a refusal to stand “for a country that oppresses Black people and people of color.”

What gives this political statement more credibility

Home Games Saturday, Nov. 5 1 p.m. Football vs. DePauw University at the Knowton Athletics Complex 1 p.m. Swimming and Diving vs. Case Western Reserve University at Carr Pool

and attention than last year’s NBA protest in which Lebron James and Kobe Bryant wore “I can’t breathe” shirts in response to the death of Eric Garner at the hands of the NYPD? Perhaps Kaepernick’s actions have attracted more coverage because they have offended more people. Many consider kneeling during the national anthem an act of slander against the United States. Liberal Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg commented, “I think it’s dumb and disrespectful. I would have the same answer if you asked me about flag burning.”

Kaepernick and the many others that have joined him — in consultation with sociologist Harry Edwards, a key player in the Black Power salute of the 1968 Olympics games — are sending a jolt down the spines of people who prioritize football and a freedom-promoting anthem over the lives of Black people. Kaepernick has said time and time again, “Racism is disguised as patriotism.”

Some are more offended by Kaepernick kneeling during a patriotic act than by the pain and discrimination he feels from the systemic racial inequality in the United States.

NFL ratings have taken a plummet since last year: Sunday Night Football is down 19 percent, Thursday Night Football is down 18 percent and Monday Night Football is down 24 percent. Many, including Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump at a Colorado rally last Sunday, have insinuated that the public’s negative response to protests by Kaepernick and others has turned viewers away. Regardless, the NFL, the 49ers and Kelly have all released statements with varying levels of support or approval of Kaepernick’s decision to kneel.

Still, despite publicly supporting Kaepernick, it’s possible the 49ers’ front office was still benching him because of his protests. Gabbert, a white quarterback, started with a bleak passer rating of 69.6 while posting 5.9 yards per attempt, last among NFL quarterbacks.

Many have suggested that Kaepernick sat because the 49ers organization secretly disapproves of his actions and that certain players are not behind him as a leader.

Kaepernick, however, has made it very clear that he has a lot of respect for his coach. After Kelly gave an interview with TIME magazine supporting his player,

Kaepernick said, “The fact that he was willing to take a strong stand and say these things aren’t right — that’s huge coming from a head coach.”

If racism or behind-the-scenes punishment were not the cause for benching Kaepernick in the midst of a 1–4 start, then the other logical explanation is his contract.

Currently, Kaepernick’s contract is locked in through the 2020 season. The contract’s real issue is a line that postulates that the 49ers must pay Kaepernick $14.5 million if he sustains an injury that causes him to fail a physical exam on April 1. While Kelly adamantly denies that the contract has played any role in the decision to not start Kaepernick, it seems likely that the front office would be wary of losing $14.5 million by starting a player after three recent surgeries. Kaepernick’s injuries last season under the same contract are responsible for his current $11.9-million guaranteed salary.

Recently, the 49ers announced that Kaepernick agreed to a contract re-structure that would remove the injuredsalary guarantee and allow him to opt out of his contract after this season if he wishes to be traded.

With the new contract finalized, Kelly started Kaepernick in week six against the 3–2 Buffalo Bills. Coincidence? Probably not.

While more than 60 percent of NFL players are Black, management and ownership continue to remain largely white. Kaepernick’s protests are even more relevant in the context of the NFL — a league which profits off of the performance of Black bodies and the disposability of their health. Why did it take a contract re-structure to put one of the most prominent faces of Black Lives Matter, not to mention a successful, experienced quarterback, back on the field? Is Kelly truly the offensive genius that University of Oregon fans lauded him as?

Even though Kaepernick’s first two starts brought losses to the Buccaneers and the Bills, his bravery and passion for creating awareness and change about racial inequality in the national spotlight earns an enormous “cool.” With a little luck, the 49ers may defeat the 3–4 New Orleans Saints at home in week nine, and Kelly will realize that his suspicious decision to bench Kaepernick was ill-advised.

Page 16

Sports The Oberlin Review

— Men’s Soccer —

Yeomen Head to First Ever NCAC Final Alex McNicoll Men’s soccer is headed to the North Coast Athletic Conference Championship for the first time in school history after besting the Wabash College Little Giants 2–1 in the NCAC semifinal Wednesday. Oberlin’s faithful crowd rattled the bleachers and provided the Yeomen with extra momentum throughout the team’s first home field conference playoff game since 2005.

As they have for most of the season, the Yeomen looked to put the ball at the feet of two-time All-NCAC Second Team selection senior midfielder Nick Wertman. Wertman scored in the 23rd minute off of a through ball by sophomore midfielder Trenton Bulucea, only to find the back of the net again in the 63rd minute. One of the premiere players in the NCAC, Wertman currently ranks second in both goals and points scored with 16 and 35 respectively. The Westlake, OH, native, Fans congratulate the Yeomen after their 2–1 NCAC semifinal victory over Wabash College. The victory considered one of the most valuable players propelled the team to its first conference championship match in school history. Photo Courtesy of Hugh Malcomb in Oberlin history, said he credits his team for his success.

“Everything that I’ve done individually has and the Yeomen led to a scramble on the field, played at Kenyon’s McBride Field. kind of just been a result of good team play resulting in a late goal from Kenyon in golden “There’s definitely something to be said and good individual work by everyone else goal overtime. That loss, combined with the in the way the culture’s been about improveon the team,” said Wertman. “Confidence and fact that the Yeomen have been knocked out ment, and now we’re finally seeing the benefit belief in the system is something that has of the NCAC tournament semifinals by the of that,” said McMillin. “For road games, we definitely evolved over my four years.”

Lords in two of the past three seasons, has treat it like a business trip and that definitely While Wertman’s goals earned Oberlin a left the Yeomen eager for a rematch. goes into the culture of professionalism.” dominant 2–0 lead for most of the game, they This year’s close-knit squad may be preThe championship game will feature the were tested in the second half after an 82nd- pared to put those past losses behind them. top-two offenses in the NCAC. Oberlin brings minute goal by Wabash junior forward Fran- Head Coach Blake New said that the team’s the second-best attack, which averages 2.5 cisco Trejo. But the Yeomen were able to put chemistry, veteran leadership — which in- goals per game and sits just behind Kenyon’s a stop to the Little Giants’ rally, dominating cludes nine seniors — and maturity have been offense, which produces 2.72 goals per game. possession for the final seven minutes of the fundamental to its success.

In the Yeomen’s heartbreaking loss to their bitgame.

“I think this team is kind of like a family,” ter rivals earlier this season, Kenyon outshot Looking ahead, the Yeomen, currently New said. “We’ve had really talented teams Oberlin 33–10 and 19–4 on goal. Despite the ranked No. 6 in the Great Lakes Region, pre- in the past, but we’re always just missing that lopsided offensive statistics, New said the Yeopare to take on the nationally ranked Kenyon one little thing. I think this year the team has men are simply focused on playing the game College Lords tomorrow in the conference come together.” their way. championship game. Oberlin’s only previous First-year forward and midfielder Jack Mc“We always want to keep the game at our matchup against the Lords on Oct. 11 ended Millin said that maturity shines through in the tempo,” said New. “We’re going to have to in a controversial 3–2 defeat. Miscommuni- way the team approaches road games, which come up with a game plan that puts pressure cation between a ball person, officiating staff is key given its game versus the Lords will be on them while still playing our style.”

— Cross Country —

Cross Country Looks to Find Stride at Regionals Sydney Allen Production Editor The cross country team enters the final stretch of its season as the Yeomen and Yeowomen race to the Great Lakes Regional in Holland, MI, next Saturday. Both squads will look to improve upon their performances at the North Coast Athletic Conference Championship meet in Terre Haute, IN, last Sunday, where the women finished second and the men earned seventh.

“Our goal was to win conference — which we definitely could have done,” said first-year Marija Crook, who was awarded NCAC Newcomer of the Year at the meet. “I know we can do a lot better, and we really want to go to nationals, and if we run like we did at conference we cannot.”

Crook posted a time of 23 minutes, 37.1 seconds in the women’s 6 kilometer, averaging a 6:20 mile.

The rookie from Carrboro, NC, finished in 10th place in a field of almost 90 runners. Leading the Yeowomen was sophomore Linnea

Halsten, whose time of 22:29.8 at a 6:02 mile pace earned her a fifth place overall finish.

In addition to Crook’s and Halsten’s top-10 finishes, six of the 12 Yeowomen runners made it to the top 20. But they still fell to the Allegheny College Gators, who were able to get four of their runners to the top 10. Allegheny’s championship finish came as somewhat of a surprise, as the Gators were ranked fourth entering the competition.

But Crook said she and her teammates hope to learn from this experience moving forward.

“We can do a better job of pack running, and Saturday was really a learning experience for a lot of us,” said Crook. “The way we were running wasn’t really working for everyone.”

The Yeowomen will look to find their stride at regionals next weekend and advance on to nationals.

While the women’s team looks to make another appearance at nationals, the men’s team is trying to overcome a devastating hurdle as more than half of its starting run-

ners, along with many other members of the team, were suspended for personal misconduct related to alcohol.

This suspension left a number of rookies and first-years to pick up the slack at the NCAC Championship. Seven of the nine Yeomen runners who competed had never before run in the conference meet, and three of them were first-years — Duncan Reid, Will Taylor and Elliott Bailey. The Yeomen placed seventh in a field of nine teams.

Senior EJ Douglass came in first among the Yeomen, with a time of 26:20.5. He finished in 10th place overall out of 101 runners. Then came Taylor in 34th place with a time of 27:58.2, the last of the Yeomen to break the top-50 runners.

Following Taylor was a pack of Yeomen led by Reid and chased by Dylan Caban, Nick Care and Bailey, in 63rd, 65th, 66th and 67th places, respectively.

Those who are left have one main goal for the rest of the season: to help get senior captain Douglass to nationals individually.

“With a depleted roster, the goal was to get EJ in the top 10 individually, and get the rest of us experience,” first-year Duncan Reid said.

“We accomplished both of those goals, but we didn’t have team goals with such a depleted roster.”

Douglass said he hopes that once the roster is back in full force, the Yeomen can build toward the goal of joining the women at nationals.

“This year I don’t think making nationals as a team was a particularly realistic goal for the men’s team — we just don’t have the numbers right now,” said Douglass.

“But I think in the next few years that could be a goal that we could re-approach.”

Cross country will compete in the College of Wooster 5K Twilight Challenge tonight at 7 p.m. in Wooster, Ohio, before moving on to regionals. Both teams could be facing their last meet of the season next Saturday at 11 a.m. at the Great Lakes Regional, the last qualifying meet before nationals.

November 4, 2016

Stacking Sullies NBA Darren Zaslau Sports Editor The 2015–2016 Golden State Warriors polished off their best NBA regular season ever with a record of 73– 9. Led by star point guard and two-time MVP Stephen Curry, last year’s Warriors were just about as perfect as a basketball team can be.

Enter Kevin Durant.

Adding a seven-time AllStar, former MVP and fourtime scoring titleholder to the mix makes the Warriors virtually untouchable and destined to rack up lopsided victories against teams who just can’t compete.

As the general viewership of sports decreases, stacking teams in the NBA is not helping the situation.

The only way to combat the imminent fan disinterest is through a stricter salary cap.

Currently, the NBA salary cap is $94.14 million, up from $70 million last year.

Wealthy teams now have even more room to pay exorbitant amounts of money to multiple star players and stack their rosters. If the NBA sets a lower salary cap, even the wealthiest teams will be able to afford just one or a few stars. Teams will be much less likely to form untouchable powerhouses.

Considering how the NBA is handling the salary cap now, think about how much worse it could get.

This past April, USA Today Sports cited an NBA memo explaining that the 2017– 2018 salary cap could be increased to as high as to $107 million since the league signed a nine-year, $24-million media rights deal. By that time, the Warriors may end their regular season at 82–0.

But Golden State isn’t the first team that has threatening to ruin NBA competition. Stacking teams was popular even in the 1980s when the Boston Celtics boasted the legendary trio of Larry Bird, Robert Parish See Editorial, page 14