March 14, 2014 by The Oberlin Review

The Oberlin Review

MARCH 14, 2014 VOLUME 142, NUMBER 18

Local News Bulletin News briefs from the past week CDS Works to Promote Sustainability This week, Campus Dining Services launched its initiative to promote sustainability. Beginning on Monday, March 10, students will be charged an additional 25¢ for each disposable cup that they purchase. Alternatively, students who bring reusable cups will save 25¢ on beverages bought. Bone Marrow Drive Held On Wednesday, 274 students registered to donate bone marrow. Professor of Biology Mary Garvin and 29 College students spearheaded the initiative to bring the drive to campus. Volunteers took cheek swabs from those that opted to have their tissue type entered into the national registry. New Sustainability Coordinator Appointed Meghan Riesterer was recently appointed as Oberlin’s new director of sustainability. Previously the assistant vice president of energy management and sustainability, Riesterer will now work with the administration, faculty, staff and students to develop ways to maximize the environmental performance and economic viability on campus. MRC Opens New Branch in the Conservatory On Wednesday, March 12, Dean Andrea Kalyn, Associate Dean and Director of the MRC Alison Williams and members of the staff joined students for the launch of the MRC’s new outpost in the Conservatory. The branch is located in Robertson 130 and office hours are currently scheduled for the following: -Toni Myers, Africana Community Coordinator: Mondays 3-5 p.m. -Dio Aldridge, LGBTQ Community Coordinator: Wednesdays 1:30-3 p.m. -Jesus Gomez, Latino/a Community Coordinator: Fridays 2-4 p.m.

Students, Union Rally for Farmworkers Kristopher Fraser Oberlin students picketed a Wendy’s in Columbus, OH this past Sunday, joining a Florida worker’s union in a march for farmworker justice. Protesters attempted to pressure Wendy’s into signing Coalition of Immokalee Workers’ Fair Food Agreement, legislation that both guarantees farmers a penny per bushel and ensures that there is a flat top on tomato buckets that are distributed. According to College junior Zachery Crowell, this piece of legislation certifies that farmworkers are not over-picking or underpaid. “It ensures farmworkers aren’t exploited in the work that they do,” Crowell said. “It ensures farmworkers have a stake in the work that they do and the companies they work for. It puts a face to the people who are at the bottom of the chain of production. It ensures [they] are really given fair pay and can survive off the work they do.” According to Western Farm Press, the majority of each year’s tomato harvest is shipped to fast food chains. In the past, the economic exploitation and inhospitable working conditions of farmworkers have gone unnoticed by the public. Although the majority of farmers have lived in poverty for the past several decades, it wasn’t until the late ’90s that this issue sparked national attention. “Of how clear-cut it was, you can very tangibly see the benefit

Oberlin students and local residents march for farmworker justice. Outside of a local Wendy’s restaurant, protesters promoted the food chain’s signing of the Coalition of Immokalee Workers’ Fair Food Agreement. Margaret Heraty

of working on the cause. It’s part of a larger movement to build worker power and have more workplace solidarity,” Crowell said. College senior Jesse Vogel forged the relationship between the coalition and the campus as

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part of the Student-Farmworker Alliance in 2009. The coalition was founded to fight for better working conditions for farmers, specifically those involved in tomato picking. The march in Columbus was one of the first events for which

Oberlin students were specifically asked to participate. Through its grassroots organizing, CIW has been able to attract Oberlin students to its cause. “I think it’s really important because it was started by the people who are most affected,” said College senior Maggie Heraty. “These are all farm workers who did their own grassroots organizing; they have asked for support from many college students, and I thought that call to action was really incredible.” The march in Columbus was one of the movement’s most successful efforts. Several major corporations signed onto the CIW Fair Food Agreement, joining the ranks of McDonald’s, Taco Bell and even Wal-Mart. As the movement gains traction, Heraty hopes that other students from Oberlin will get involved. “I think it would be awesome for more Oberlin students to get involved in this movement and support the work the CIW is doing,” Heraty said. “It was only two students and three Oberlin grads at the march in Columbus. Specifically, because this work is being done by the affected communities, I think it would be great for more students to get involved to support them. I also hope this movement extends to other farm workers around the country.”

Heated Senate Plenary Meetings Draw Audience Madeline Peltz Since Fearless and Loathing began recording Student Senate plenary meetings in February, Student Senate’s agenda has been a topic of much debate on campus. Persistent conflict in light of disagreements concerning the purpose and structure of the body has left some skeptical of progression any time soon. “It seems that they are unwilling to negotiate and put aside their differences to actually do the job they were elected to do,” said a student that attended last week’s plenary and preferred to remain anonymous. Senate has been fraught with tension since the beginning of the term. The semester’s first meeting concluded without committee assignments completed due to arguments surrounding the fairness of spring elections. Only a month into the semester, Senate’s ability to cooperate took a turn for the worse when a number of senators were involved in a public confrontation that was ultimately disrupted by Safety and Security and a College dean. Although not directly addressed at the subsequent plenary, the resulting tension was implicit in the tone and position of each senator.

“Many were aware of what happened earlier that week, and it was clear that word had gone around,” said a student that attended the following plenary. “You could just feel the tension.” The first 30 minutes of the meeting proceeded as planned until Senator and College sophomore Kiki Acey raised concerns regarding the postponement of a training session for the senators with the Multicultural Resource Center. Senator and College sophomore Machmud Makhmudov was accused of making an “executive decision” in delaying the training, leading Acey to put forth a proposal that called for the senator’s dismissal from Student Senate. “It was nine people who expressed discomfort having the training, and it was not one person who unilaterally made the decision,” said a student senator. According to several senators, the ability to engage in productive dialogue has been worn down by a year of plenary meetings occupied with mutual disregard for differences in opinion among individual senators. Since the controversy involving Senate spread, more students have began to attend weekly plenaries on Sunday evenings. Last week, more than 30 students were in attendance.

Anti-Racist Organizing The Review sat down with anti-racist organizer Chris Crass before his talk this Sunday.

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Yeowomen Rock the Cradle Rhapsody in Bluegrass The Punch Brothers showed off their musical chops in a sold-out concert at Finney Chapel. See page 11

INDEX:

Opinions 5

This Week in Oberlin 8

The women’s lacrosse team started its season with two encouraging wins. See page 16

Arts 10

Sports 16

“Who made the process of Senate?” asked a student that attended last week’s plenary. “Was that a body that was governed by people of color? Did people of color decide that? Did women decide that? Who did? And if they didn’t, even if you can’t change it in total, how do you compensate for the fact that this system, Senate as a body, was made by white cis–hetero men years back, and it’s still being used? And then you try to say that you’re trying to include voices, but where are those voices and where are those faces? It’s only when we come to this room and then everybody feels uneasy because, ‘Oh, wow, you showed up?’” For better or worse, Acey recognizes that they have made a big splash this year in Senate. “What I have to say is not institutionally backed. If it were institutionally backed then I wouldn’t have to say it,” Acey said. “I would have to assert it in a certain way, and so I think a lot of senators feel uncomfortable with brown and black students speaking up for what we feel is right and what we feel is best for our communities.” While many senators initially expressed that their decision to run for elected office was motivated by See Senators, page 4

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The Oberlin Review, March 14, 2014

Professors Sue College, Cite Discrimination Rosemary Boeglin and Julia Herbst Editors-in-Chief

Assistant Professor of French and Cinema Studies Grace An filed a lawsuit against the College on March 5, claiming that the institution failed to address repeated instances of sex-based harassment by fellow French Department faculty member Professor Ali Yedes, who is also a member of the Comparative Literature Department. This is the second piece of litigation directed at the College concerning the conflict within the French department since 2006. In 2012, Yedes filed a suit against the College and former French department chair Matthew Senior, alleging that he was discriminated against based on his race, religion and national origin. An, who has canceled the rest of her courses for the spring semester, is asking for compensatory relief in excess of $25,000 and a trial by jury. An claims that the College was either aware or should have been aware of Yedes’s inappropriate behavior as early as 2006, but

that no “appropriate corrective action” was taken. The details of the two lawsuits demonstrate the complexity and pervasiveness of long-term conflicts within the department and the extremity of the accusations, both of which center on violations of Title VII of the Civil Rights Acts of 1964, which prohibits discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex and national origin. Although the Review reached out to over a dozen individuals involved in this and related conflicts — including Professor of Arabic Samir Amin, who has filed separate complaints about Yedes with the College — involved professors, faculty and students have repeatedly expressed a desire to respect An’s privacy, given the sensitive and intensely personal nature of Yedes’s alleged actions. Two court filings elucidate the circumstances surrounding the conflict, the details of which appear below. In the meantime, the ultimate litigious question remains whether the College was acting negligently or in disregard of An’s safety and terms of employment.

Grace An

Position: French and Cinema Studies Hired: 2004 Tenured: 2010 Suit: An filed a suit against the College on the morning of March 5 on two counts. Charges: The first count alleges a violation

of code 4112.99, Ohio’s Sexual Discrimination and Hostile Work Environment statute. An claims Yedes “evinced anti-female animus and has created a hostile and abusive work environment,” for her and her female colleagues to the extent that his harassment “has been so severe and pervasive that it has affected the terms, conditions and privileges of Plaintiff ’s employment.” An states in her complaint that the College either knew or should have known about the unsafe working conditions created by Yedes, yet ultimately failed to take appropriate action. As a result of the College’s failure to correct the situation, the suit claims that An “suffered and will continue to suffer economic and non-economic damages,” and that these damages include adverse effects on the conditions of her employment. The second charge is negligent retention. According to An, the College either was or should have been aware of the fact that Yedes is an incompetent employee insofar as his harassment materially inhibited others from performing their duties. The College’s negligent retention of Yedes, according to An, has proximately caused her “mental anguish, emotional distress, anxiety and loss of enjoyment of life and fear for her safety.” Compensation requested: An is requesting economic and non-economic compensatory damages including, but not limited to, “damages for pain and suffering, mental anguish, emotional distress, humiliation and inconvenience,” in excess of $25,000.

Position: French and Arabic Professor, Muslim Religious Life Affiliate Hired: 2000 Tenured: 2006 Suit: Yedes filed a suit against Oberlin College and former French Department chair Matthew Senior on March 23, 2012.

Ali Yedes

Charges: Yedes alleged that Oberlin and French De-

partment Chair Matthew Senior discriminated against him on the basis of his race, religion and national origin. In the lawsuit he claimed that he “was treated disparately from similarly situated non-Arab, non-Muslim coworkers; that he was subjected to a hostile work environment because of his race, religion and national origin; that Defendants failed to promote Plaintiff due to his national origin, religion and race; that Defendants retaliated against him for engaging in protected activity. The Complaint also contains references to state law claims of intentional infliction of serious emotional distress; negligent retention of Mr. Senior and negligent supervision of Mr. Senior.” The court’s summary judgment stated that the prosecutors provided insufficient evidence in their claims against Senior, but that Yedes could still pursue a case against the College under Title VII. Photos courtesy of oberlin.edu

RIO Investment Symposium Assesses Community Standards

Joel Steiker, OC ’78, speaks at the Responsible Investment Organization’s symposium about responsible investment techniques. Steiker is a fund manager at Murex Investments. Rachel Grossman

Elizabeth Dobbins Staff Writer Students, faculty and community members congregated in the Adam Joseph Lewis Center this weekend, foregoing the sunshine to attend the Responsible Investment Policy symposium. The symposium, which was an effort to gather community views and concerns on responsible investing, was held with the goal to apply these ideas to Oberlin College’s endowment fund.

“The stated goal, and certainly how we’ve been approaching it, is to gauge what the inclusive Oberlin community would define responsible investing as,” said Andrew Follman, Responsible Investing Organization member and symposium logistics point person. Over the two-day symposium, RIO brought in four speakers and, in collaboration with other student organizations, facilitated discussions in a variety of working groups. The working groups, ranging in topic from environmental-

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ism to labor to the prison system, were at the heart of RIO’s efforts to gather a range of voices and opinions on responsible investment. “I’m a former city councilman … so I definitely have an interest in how the community operates, how it grows and how it prospers, and [I] have a number of good ideas I feel that I could impart upon them, and this provided the opportunity, so I’ve taken advantage of it,” said Tony Mealy, a former Oberlin city councilman who attended the symposium. RIO plans to create a committee that will synthesize notes from the working groups. Using these ideas, the committee will organize a policy for the investment of RIO’s $50,000 Social Choice Scholarship. RIO hopes to eventually convince the College to invest five percent of its $700 millionplus endowment fund. One percent of this will go towards local impact investments, or investments that have low profitability but high social value. Administrative response to this call has been mixed. “[Speaking to the administration] doesn’t usually result in much,” said RIO member and College first-year Ema Sagner. “I think that individual members of the administration want to support student groups, but I think that it gets more complicated when you talk about the administration as a whole … Certainly in some ways they’ve been mildly supportive of us.” RIO’s recent exclusion from the Collegesponsored Oberlin Symposium on Divestment has been a point of contention. Members from RIO spoke to the administration last Novem-

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ber about the Divestment Symposium and expressed their interest in working together on the event. However, just days before the symposium, RIO was informed they would not be involved. Ron Watts, vice president for finance, spoke at the symposium, where both College President Marvin Krislov and Dean of Studies Eric Estes were in attendance. “RIO did a lot of work in order to hold the symposium and invited me to attend. I understand RIO is working on more specific proposals related to responsible investing, so I’m doing a lot of listening right now,” Estes wrote in a letter to the Review. RIO has also been striving to build student and community awareness of responsible investment. “At the beginning of last year, this group was founded and nobody on campus knew the word ‘responsible investing.’ Through the whole of last year, and certainly through this, I’d say 80 [or] 85 percent [of the student population] at least knows generally what responsible investing means. I couldn’t tell you like a percentage [of people] who are super, super supportive of it,” Follman said. To increase interest and gather opinions, RIO reached out to both student groups and the larger community. Groups such as Slow Food Oberlin, Oberlin J Street U, Oberlin Students for a Free Palestine, the Multicultural Resource Center, OSCA, Oberlin Community

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Retraction: In “GovernorCorrections Kasich Faces Challenge with Democrat FitzGerald” (Mar. 7), Professor Garrett Roth was mistakenly characterized The Review is not aware of as “visibly intoxicated” an interview. any correctionsduring this week. The Review cannot confirm that this was in The Review to print all factstrives the case. information as accurately as possible. If you feelCorrection: the Review has made an error, please send an e-mail to Inmanagingeditor@oberlinreview.org. “Off the Cuff: Leonidas Donskis” (Mar. 7), the last name of Professor Rimvydas Silbajoris was misspelled.

The Oberlin Review, March 14, 2014

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Off the Cuff: Chris Crass, author, activist and anti-racist organizer Author, s educator and organizer Chris Crass is often at the forefront of multiracial and feminist movements. Crass sat down with the Review this week to talk about his experience as an activist and his thoughts on antiracist organizing.

gosh, we have to get people of color to join our group,’ and then there’ll be activists of color who will be like, ‘Well, we’ve been working on these issues for a really long time, so rather than coming to us and asking us to diversify your group, it’s more of how could you, as a mostly white The topic of your talk, “Anti-Racist group, support the work that stuOrganizing in White Communi- dents of color are already involved ties,” is something that our college in and build partnership and trust.’ has been struggling with, both as an institution and as a student What are some positive steps body. Could you begin by talking that Oberlin can take toward about the difference between rac- anti-racist organizing? ist and anti-racist organizing? Some key ones are learnIt’s a really common experience ing about work that’s already for white people who are socially happen[ed] historically in commuconscious and who are coming to nities of color, learning about isawareness about issues of race, par- sues. So if you’re in a social justice ticularly with the campus having or progressive student group that’s the Day of Solidarity. There’s going mostly white, what are issues that to be a lot of folks — white folks in students of color are working on, particular — being like, ‘Oh my God, and what are some ways that your I haven’t thought about this before,’ group can help support that work? or, ‘I didn’t think it was this bad,’ or, ‘I A way that racism often operates thought this was something that was is [by determining] whose voices in the past,’ or ‘I don’t want to be part are prioritized. Who’s been told all of the problem,’ and then one of the of their life, ‘You have an imporfirst next steps [ for those groups] is tant story to tell. You should tell the often the question of how to diversi- world about what you think.’ And fy. I’ve had a lot of experience being a then there’s a lot of folks — women, part of mostly or all-white social jus- queer folks, trans* folks, working tice progressive efforts where [that class, folks of color — who are regudrive to diversify often comes first]. larly told, ‘You have nothing useful But the question that’s often more to contribute. These aren’t spaces helpful is, ‘How can we be a part of that you even belong in, let alone challenging racism? How can we be that you should be working in.’ [It’s a part of ending institutional white about] working to recognize those supremacy? What are positive steps, kind of barriers and having open as a white environmental group, we conversations with activists, leaders could take to support environmental of color on campus about the strugjustice efforts by students of color?’ gles that [you’re] facing and how to One of the ways that white suprem- think about it together. It’s not going acy really impacts white people is to folks of color and [asking them] to invisible-ize the work that’s hap- to solve all the problems but having pening in communities of color, the genuine conversations about how leadership that’s happening in com- to overcome these obstacles. munities of color, the voices, the perspectives — sometimes you’ll have How would you explain the rewhite activists come to conscious- ality of institutional racism to ness about race and be like, ‘Oh my someone who might not be familiar with its historical and cultural background? No one was born with it all fig-

ran out the south doors. Three students reported cash missing from their belongings, which were located in the hallway.

Thursday, March 6

Friday, March 7

7:55 a.m. A facilities staff member reported vandalism to his truck parked in the west lot of the Service Building. One front tire and one rear tire were slashed. Members of the Oberlin Police Department also responded. 9:29 p.m. A student reported observing a suspicious person in the hallway outside the dance studio in South Hall. When the individual noticed the student, they walked in the dance studio and

7:58 a.m. Safety and Security received a report that two students were approached outside Philips gym by a suspicious male in his late 20s, who offered to pick them up in a party bus.

Saturday, March 8 12:23 a.m. Officers responded to a noise complaint at a Village house on North Pleasant Street. Individuals were seen in the backyard and an officer heard three

Chris Crass, an author, activist and organizer, who will give a talk on Sunday entitled “Anti-Racist Organizing in White Communites”

ured out. First of all, the way that racism operates is that it socializes and rewards white people to be completely ignorant of racism. The fact that there are so many white people who feel attacked, or who think that it’s racist to even talk about racism, is evidence of how powerful racism operates. Because in communities of color, historically and today, the impacts of racism are so stark. Often white people today look back at white people in the past — whether it’s the white people who were participating, supporting, oblivious [to] or on the sidelines of slavery, or white people who were supportive or on the sidelines of Jim Crow and apartheid in the sixties — and say, ‘How could they have just done nothing?’ [They think] it’s so obvious. People 30 years from now will look back on us today and say, ‘How could white people have not been aware of the mass incarceration, of the mass poverty, of the incredible disparities and not done something?’ As students, [we need to] recognize that we are historical actors, and just as we look on the past and think it was so clear, people will look back on our day and think that it’s so clear. Because in the past, people often said that it was too confusing, that there was

no issue, that it was cultural. [We have to] recognize that we need to make a choice [about] what side of history we want to stand on. It can be a hard journey, but it’s one that ultimately connects us back to our deepest humanity. [We need to get] away from fear, away from ignorance, away from hate and toward a deeper love for ourselves and the people in our community. [People say,] ‘Well, the reason there’s so many black and brown people in prison is because of these reasons,’ and there’s all this justification in the way that the media portrays it, and throughout history that’s always been true. It wasn’t just this super clear cut obvious right and obvious wrong. So we need to take responsibility to investigate and learn and also to open ourselves up to really learning.

loud banging noises. Contact was made and approximately 15 visitors were asked to leave.

pipes and wooden outdoor seating on the north side of Dascomb Hall. 7:52 p.m. An officer responded to a report of two students studying on the roof of Dascomb Hall. The students were asked to return to the building and warned that access to College roofs is prohibited.

Sunday, March 9 2:38 p.m. A staff member at Philips gym reported the theft of her wallet from her purse while in the aerobic machine room. The wallet is red with peach-colored flowers and contained approximately $200 in cash, credit cards, health insurance and library cards.

Monday, March 10 9:51 a.m. An officer responded to a report of damage found to roof drain strainers, PVC drain-

I’m sure, as a white male talking about feminism and racism, you have been told that you have no right to speak about these issues. Can you talk about your thoughts on who can legitimately contribute to these conversations? The motivation and encouragement for doing this kind of work actually came out of multiracial organizing when I was a student, where

Tuesday, March 11 8:10 a.m. An officer found writing scrawled in black marker on the east sidewalls and objects around Fairchild House. Walls, signs and a dumpster were all marked. A work order was filed for cleanup. 5:23 p.m. Officers responded to reports by ResEd staff of suspected contraband or vio-

student activists of color would say that they needed more white people to organize other white people around issues of race, because white people think that it’s not our issue or are just totally ignorant of both the history and current reality of what’s going on in our communities, of how racism operates. We’re organizing students of color around ethnic studies, around anti-prison issues, around the over-policing of our communities and the underresourcing of our communities, but there’s so much resistance from so many white people who either refuse to believe that this is a reality or accept that it’s wrong but that there’s nothing that they can do about it. We need white people to organize other white people who can relate their own experience about coming to consciousness around these issues, to try to move and support more and more white people to join in multiracial efforts and take on injustice. For me, it’s always [about] trying to remember that it’s absolutely important to amplify and support the voices and leadership of folks of color. This is not about trying to get a bunch of white people to fix the problem for everybody else. Racism is really a cancer in white communities, killing white communities. [It] raises people to racially profile others, to hate or be completely ignorant of other people’s lives and experiences. For me, it’s less about taking [people of colors’] stories and bringing them to white people, and more about connecting with other people as a white person around: How can we come to consciousness about racism, how can we overcome some of the barriers that hold us back from becoming involved, and how can we make really powerful contributions to working toward social justice and structural equality? Interview by Madeline Stocker News Editor Photo courtesy of chriscrass..org

lations of housing regulations during Life Safety Inspections. A small marijuana plant, a Daisy Red Ryder BB Gun and a 10” chef ’s knife were confiscated in Afrikan Heritage House. The owners were contacted and a report was filed for judicial review. 9 p.m. A student reported that his credit card had been compromised while making a transaction in town. He believes that his card was used to make unauthorized purchases in other locations, and that the cards of several other students may have been copied by a device that reads information on the magnetic strip.

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Senators Disagree over Politics of Respectability Continued from page 1 their desire to bring change to the community, most have lost sight of what that means. In the words of one senator, “I was interested in getting more involved with policies on campus. I didn’t have any specific agenda or constituency that I was trying to represent. I don’t really think of myself as a political person really, I just thought it might be good experience for me to be in that kind of setting.” Acey frequently returned to the idea that their frustration stems from the need to navigate the “politics of respectability.” “There is a certain way to behave and to act and certain spaces to be loud and certain spaces to be quiet,” the senator said. The stagnation of Senate’s work does not seem to concern Acey. Rather, the urgency of the institutional oppression faced by students of color motivates Acey’s service, as well as a desire to make the Student Senate benefit that community. Although focusing advocacy efforts on students of color, Acey expressed that the aim is not to represent a racial community. “I don’t feel like I have to represent an entire community… that would be very presumptuous of me to assume that all black people have [the same notions of politics], and that I’m representing those politics,” Acey said. “My politics are moving toward a certain type of revolutionary way of thinking, framework. I like to be in constant communication with how can I move forward with gaining things for underrepresented and marginalized communities without further oppressing other communities.” Acey’s political ideology has been met with both blatant hostility as well as revelation. As one senator said, “Our goals are to make everyone feel as comfortable as possible and create a home environment in Oberlin. Do we always do that? Potentially not. I can’t say that we do.” The senator continued, “I have all the systematic privilege in the world, and to be frank, nothing is ever going to get done until we accept that we are privileged. Is there anything to be gained from the conversations happening? Absolutely. I wish it could be done in a different way.” Another senator expressed hope for cooperation. “You might wholeheartedly disagree, might even hate me as a person, but for the sake of the student body let’s get some progress going. There are plans we can all support to put in place. We managed to re-interview all the honor code interviewees and appoint all of them, except one, because Acey felt uncomfortable with them. That’s progress to me! If we can keep doing that through respectful dialogue, I don’t understand why that can’t happen.”

The Oberlin Review, March 14, 2014

OCS Utilizes Local Produce Louie Krauss Staff Writer Beginning this year, Oberlin will take part in Plant a Row for the Hungry, a national program that helps provide freshly grown produce to families in need. Through this program, the College’s gardens will donate an extra row of fruits and vegetables to Oberlin Community Services, a responsive community organization that provides direct assistance to Lorain County residents who seek help meeting basic needs. Started in 1995 by the Garden Writers Association, the Plant a Row program has donated more than 20 million pounds of produce and includes over 200 volunteer communities. According to its website, 14.9 percent of U.S. households were food insecure at some point in the last year, and over 50 million families — including 17 million children — experience the risk of hunger daily. Oberlin’s gardens are tended both by students and community members and Oberlin Community Service volunteers teach the greater Oberlin community about use much of their resources to aid fami- gardening and the growth of sustainable food. OCS will launch the new Plant a Row Courtesy of Erin Adair lies that might not have access to good program this spring. food. According to the Oberlin College website, about 28 percent of all city residents live in poverty — a “I came into the project thinking this had never been done statistic that the new plan aims to change. before, but it has,” Rosenberg said. “This is the first time local “The campaign we’re running is connected to the national organizations have been really united under one campaign, so campaign that was first started by the Garden Writers As- it’s definitely going to help connect the local farmers and the sociation,” said Volunteer Coordinator Alex Toutant, OC ’12. small student gardens.” “The basic idea is to intentionally grow another row of proAccording to Rosenberg, the majority of the work on the duce to help other individuals. This is really thinking about project has consisted of contacting local farmers. your neighbor.” “Essentially all the work done thus far has been outreach Toutant also said that he doesn’t want the group to consist efforts to local farmers to get them all together to talk about solely of college students. the project. We really want to make this a bridge between local “It’s a pretty large range of folks, and there’s a lot of people farmers and the College.“ Rosenberg said. from many different backgrounds,” he said. “We don’t want Rosenberg also said that the project aims to address a vathis to be an individualistic effort. We want people to network riety of other issues. and stay connected in the community.” “There’s going to be some youth educational projects in The collaboration with the campaign was spearheaded here too,” Rosenberg said. “There’s the economic benefit, by Plant a Row Coordinator and College sophomore Hannah while connecting farmers and teaching and feeding children. Rosenberg, who said she thinks the program will help unite This is a vibrant campus, but there’s many issues, and we want the many different farmers and gardeners in the area. to help reduce the poverty.”

$10 Term Bill Fee Funds Carbon Neutrality Efforts Waylon Cunningham Next semester, an extra $10 will be tacked onto term bills in order to finance Oberlin’s Green EDGE Fund. The Board of Trustees approved increasing a proposal last week to increase the Green EDGE Fund to $30 per semester. Additional funding will be directed toward the new Carbon Management Fund, an initiative to finance carbon sequestration projects in the Oberlin area. “We’re taking the commitment Oberlin has to being carbon neutral by 2025 and generating local projects that will allow those investments in sustainability to impact members of the greater Oberlin community,” said Tani Colbert-Sangree, OC ’13, and leader of the project. “The estimated carbon footprint in 2025 is going to be around 7,000 tons of CO2,” Colbert-Sangree said. “That’s going to persist due to heating buildings with natural gas and transportation. Those two sources combined is going to be the emissions gap that we need to account for and offset.” According to Colbert-Sangree, the new Carbon Management Fund will exist within the current funding structure of the Green EDGE Fund. While Green EDGE projects focus on improving community spaces and campus initiatives, the Carbon Management Fund instead targets local farmers and homeowners that might contribute to carbon emissions.

“The idea is to impact here instead of around the world,” said Paul Paschke, College senior and Student Senate’s green liaison. “The Green EDGE is worried that the College, [in trying to account for carbon offsets by 2025], will buy the offsets from some corporation that will ‘save the rainforest.’” According to College senior Evan Tincknell, “Project ideas will be developed as a collaboration between the Carbon Management Fellow, Oberlin students and faculty and other interested community members.” Suggested projects include a plan to encourage local farmers to use more sustainable fertilizers for maintaining soil quality, installing geothermal heat pumps in local homes, planting trees and use biodigesters to sequester the methane produced by farm waste. “We’re trying to promote projects that won’t negatively affect people,” Colbert-Sangree said. “Projects that these farmers would be willing to accept and that don’t require massive shifts in how they operate.” The Carbon Management Fund will also work to quantify the carbon offsets generated by its projects. As of now, there is no way to determine how much money the College will save in investing in these projects or how many carbon offsets have been produced. Similar to the Efficiency Loan project, the Green EDGE Fund has found success in quantifying energy efficiency and seeking reimbursement for increased efficiency.

“If the energy or water savings could be calculated and the College actually pays us back for their savings, they end up saving more money than they invest and we get more carbon offset,” Tincknell said. “It’s a win-win situation. If we just fund them as grants, that’s not the most effective. The Carbon Management Fund is spurred by the idea of a new system for funding, tracking and quantifying savings for carbon offset projects.” Faculty in the Environmental Studies department also expressed their eagerness to help the Carbon Management Fund. These professors pledge to engage their students in the research and development of necessary components of the Fund’s projects as well as quantifying the resulting greenhouse gas sequestrations. “There is a lot of research and data collection required to fully account for a carbon offset project,” Colbert-Sangree said. “These needs are fulfilled by partnering with related classes in the College.” Despite the prominence of the Fund’s upcoming initiatives, some question the necessity of the raise in Green EDGE’s term fee. Green EDGE said its long-term goal is to work within the Oberlin Project’s Climate Positive Development Program to make Oberlin climate positive by 2050. “We’re providing what I believe is a better solution to these global carbon offsets,” said Colbert-Sangree. “We’re acting as a model for other colleges that have signed similar commitments to impact their local communities instead of purchasing offsets that they have no connection to.”

RIO Hopes College Implements Lessons from Symposium Continued from page 2 Services and the Oberlin Underground Railroad Society were invited to attend the RIO Symposium. Izzy Esler, a College junior and member of Student Labor Action Coalition, helped facilitate the labor working group at the event. “I think it’s important especially at Oberlin … [to] think about incorporating the

College with the community,” she said. “I think it would be cool if SLAC and RIO were working together. I think it’s good when … [we] get student groups working together.” Some, however, felt the representation at the symposium was limited. One of the speakers, Tanya Fields, mentioned the lack of students of color in the audience. Isabella Moreno, OC ’94, and assistant director of the Office of Disability Services, echoed this concern and felt that more could have been

done to communicate with Afrikan Heritage House and Third World Co-op. “I think [it] was phenomenal … that Oberlin College, via RIO, brought Tanya Fields,” Moreno said. “I also think that we need to really look at who’s involved with the conversation, who’s at the table, who are the stakeholders and who are we inviting to be stakeholders. The Responsible Investment has to do with environmental studies, but how do people of color fit into

that conversation … Environmental activists are paramount because they’re the ones dealing with the multitude of toxins figuratively and literally, so there wasn’t necessarily a connection between these communities on campus and the symposium.” RIO is now putting together a committee to create a responsible investment plan for the Social Choice Scholarship fund using the information gathered during the symposium.

Opinions The Oberlin Review

March 14, 2014

Letters to the Editors Deanâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Office Requires Student Participation To the Editor: During the week of March 10, the Office of the Dean of Students will survey randomly selected students from all classes to assist us in evaluating the class dean system. It is a very brief survey that should take you only about five minutes to complete. We would like to determine the extent to which the mission and goals of the class dean system are being met. Your participation in this process is invaluable to us, as it will help us to both assess how students interact with their class deans and to better allocate resources based upon unmet need. If you are selected to participate in the survey, we encourage you to complete it. Responses are confidential and will be reported in aggregated form only. Sincerely, â&#x20AC;&#x201C;Eric Estes Dean of Students

RIO Commentary Grievously Misplaces Valuation To the Editor: Last weekâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Review article, â&#x20AC;&#x153;Oberlin College Ranked U.S.â&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Worst Return on Investment,â&#x20AC;? [The Oberlin Review. March 7. 2014] likely succeeded in alienating a majority of the Oberlin community. In the article, which criticizes Oberlinâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s social justice focus, Aidan Apel writes: â&#x20AC;&#x153;Students should not be demanding the expansion of departments that make Oberlin even less competitive: CAST, ethnic studies, GSF/queer

studies, sociology, etc. These courses are irrelevant to adding value to the modern world. The future of the economy is STEM-based, and value is derived from what you can dream up and what you can technologically execute.â&#x20AC;? Of course, Apel is quite right that these departments have no value. Who could make use of such fruitless, unproductive claims as: r 8PNFO FBSO DFOUT GPS every manâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s dollar r 2VFFS UFFOT BSF GPVS UJNFT as likely to commit suicide as straight teens r "GSJDBO "NFSJDBOT BSF JOcarcerated at nearly six times the rate of whites Shoot, none of this information is useful! We might as well throw in the towel now. In the meantime, Apel tells us, we can pursue such enterprises as â&#x20AC;&#x153;advanced oilâ&#x20AC;? and â&#x20AC;&#x153;powerful computer analytics.â&#x20AC;? In all seriousness, Apelâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s narrow conception of â&#x20AC;&#x153;valueâ&#x20AC;? is deeply troubling. I would remind him, in the immortal words of economist John Maynard Keynes, that â&#x20AC;&#x153;selfdestructive financial calculation governs every walk of life. We destroy the beauty of the countryside because the unappropriated splendors of nature have no economic value. We are capable of shutting off the sun and the stars because they do not pay a dividend.â&#x20AC;? Perhaps instead of increasing the â&#x20AC;&#x153;prestigeâ&#x20AC;? of Oberlin College by maximizing profit, we might work on creating real value â&#x20AC;&#x201D; not only for ourselves but for our community. And a special note for Aidan: As we like to say in my obsolescing department, check your privilege. Sincerely, â&#x20AC;&#x201C;Max Coleman Sociology Honors Candidate College fourth-year

Student Senate Reaches an Impasse To the Editor: Student Senate kicked off its spring semester with what many are euphemizing as a â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;divide.â&#x20AC;&#x2122; â&#x20AC;&#x153;From the start, it was clear we were not wanted on Senate. Within the first 20 minutes, some senators called for a re-election,â&#x20AC;? according to a newly elected senator who wished to remain anonymous. â&#x20AC;&#x153;As the passive aggressive attacks continued, it wasnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t long before conversation devolved completely.â&#x20AC;? For the last two weeks, Senateâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s ability to perform even its vital tasks has stopped. Appointments to the Student Honor Committee have been held up as a result. â&#x20AC;&#x153;The problem with this,â&#x20AC;? one senator remarked, â&#x20AC;&#x153;is that every week and every day there were more students with pending cases. Those are students with ambiguous academic futures, some of whom get expelled. We are doing a disservice to the entire student body by stalling these appointments.â&#x20AC;? Senators College sophomore Kiki Acey and doubledegree junior Arianna Gil have propelled discussions of structural oppression, race, class and identity to the floor, though not always in a productive manner. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s critically important for Oberlin to have a conversation regarding structural oppression; however, it should be conducted in a way thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s inclusive of the entire community and not simply used as a rhetorical veil for intimidating others,â&#x20AC;? Senator and College sophomore Machmud Makhmudov stated. Witnessing plenary discussion, I have only seen a series of ad hominem attacks from Acey and Gil. As student senator and College sophomore See Student, 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 Fridayâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;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 memberâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s response. The Review will not print advertisements on its Opinions pages. The Review defines an advertisement as any submission that has the main intent of bringing direct monetary gain to the author of a letter to the editors. Opinions expressed in letters, columns, essays, cartoons or other Opinions pieces do not necessarily reflect those of the staff of the Review.

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The Oberlin Review Publication of Record for Oberlin College â&#x20AC;&#x201D; Established 1874 â&#x20AC;&#x201D;

Editors-in-Chief Rosemary Boeglin Julia Herbst Managing Editor Julian Ring Opinions Editor Sophia Ottoni-Wilhelm

Sandbergâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s â&#x20AC;&#x153;Ban Bossyâ&#x20AC;? Campaign Ineffective at Addressing Sexism Everybody listen up. BeyoncĂŠ is speaking. Only this time, itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s not just about how girls run the world â&#x20AC;&#x201D; itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s about how to keep it that way. The pop superstar, along with the Girl Scouts, has teamed up with Facebook COO and Lean In Foundation founder Sheryl Sandberg for a headline-grabbing campaign to eradicate the word â&#x20AC;&#x153;bossyâ&#x20AC;? from the American vocabulary. According to Sandberg, calling women bossy undermines their confidence and leadership potential in both school and the workplace. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;m not bossy,â&#x20AC;? Bey concurs in a promotional video. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;m the boss.â&#x20AC;? Great. Weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re thrilled for you, BeyoncĂŠ, but as everyone from New York Magazineâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Ann Friedman to TIMEâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Jessica Roy has pointed out, â&#x20AC;&#x153;Ban Bossyâ&#x20AC;? is taking modern feminism in the wrong direction. According to Friedman, Sandbergâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s war on words represents a failed feminist strategy that casts the entire ideology in a bad light. Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s attempting to expand opportunities for women and girls, but, instead, restricts the way we discuss the issues. Instead of directly combatting the misogynistic sentiment sometimes implied in the use of the word, the campaign is misdirecting its efforts toward eradicating the use of a word that expresses many meanings, both positive and negative. Sandbergâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s book Lean In: Women, Work, and the Will to Lead is problematic in its own right. As renowned feminist theorist bell hooks astutely notes in a review of the book on The Feminist Wire, Sandberg fails to recognize the relevant intersectionality of class, sexuality and race, thereby presenting a narrow, oversimplified explanation of feminism. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Sandbergâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s definition of feminism begins and ends with the notion that itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s all about gender equality within the existing social system,â&#x20AC;? hooks writes. â&#x20AC;&#x153;From this perspective, the structures of imperialist white supremacist capitalist patriarchy need not be challenged. ... Sandberg effectively uses her race and class power and privilege to promote a narrow definition of feminism that obscures and undermines visionary feminist concerns.â&#x20AC;? Even if Sandbergâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s heart is in the right place, her focus is not. Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s indisputable that women face discrimination in the workplace. The statistics speak for themselves: Wage disparity runs rampant throughout the private and public sectors, and only 4.6 percent of Fortune 1000 companies in the United States are female-run. But the Editorial Board fails to see how policing the use of one adjective will affect real change when it comes to altering the landscape of professional gender dynamics. Sure, banning â&#x20AC;&#x153;bossyâ&#x20AC;? provides Sandberg with an easy, concrete symbol to represent a systemic problem. Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s going to be tough, after all, to communicate the importance of equalizing the way parents talk about their kids and employees talk about one other. But thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s the issue we need to be addressing, not a single, relatively non-threatening word that happens to appear in the same context. History has shown that a battle against lexicon doesnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t win the war against social injustice. With â&#x20AC;&#x153;bossyâ&#x20AC;? down for the count, whoâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s to say that more hurtful synonyms â&#x20AC;&#x201D; â&#x20AC;&#x153;bitchy,â&#x20AC;? for one â&#x20AC;&#x201D; wonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t replace it? We understand that banning â&#x20AC;&#x153;bossyâ&#x20AC;? is a symbolic gesture, but the logic and effectiveness behind the Lean In campaign leaves much to be desired. How about, instead of getting rid of â&#x20AC;&#x153;bossy,â&#x20AC;? we reclaim it? Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s not a stretch to imagine women being â&#x20AC;&#x153;bossyâ&#x20AC;? and proud of it, especially since plenty have already started â&#x20AC;&#x201D; TIMEâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Roy says her authoritative epithet doesnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t phase her, and one need only look at the title of Tina Feyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s autobiography or Kelisâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s hit 2006 single to see â&#x20AC;&#x153;bossyâ&#x20AC;? used in a way thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s empowering, rather than minimizing or sexist.

Editorials are the responsibility of the Review editorial board â&#x20AC;&#x201D; the Editors-in-Chief, managing editor and Opinions editor â&#x20AC;&#x201D; and do not necessarily reflect the views of the staff of the Review.

Opinions

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The Oberlin Review, March 14, 2014

Letters to the Editors Cont. Student Senate Reaches Impasse Continued from page 5 Jesse Kohler mentioned, “They use the words like racism, sexism, [and] oppression to try to scare us away from speaking. I have been called a racist, a white supremacist and a host of other extreme words that are not true.” “When I walked into Senate for the first time, before I said a word, a label was slapped onto me,” Kohler continued. “I cannot change the background I come from. I understand that my identity as a white male informs the way I interpret my surroundings, but this does not invalidate my concerns or mean I do not care about all people on this campus.” “We all care about the issues Kiki and Arianna are bringing up — that’s why we came to this school,” senator and College sophomore Mia Wallace mentioned. “That is the only reason the violent speech that is happening has been [able to] continue.” From what I have seen, most senators are eager to work with one another, understand one another and advocate on behalf of the students as they are supposed to do. Student Senate has been working on a number of initiatives: Machmud Makhmudov has been working on the tobacco ban; College junior Peter Arden has been working on a program to have student EMT workers assist Safety and Security with injured students; and College sophomore Ziya Smallens has been working to make Student Health Services more accessible. However, by week four, such discussions were no longer happening. Plenary had become dominated with anger, causing some senators to leave the discussion entirely. I believe these failed discussions in Student Senate represent a larger problem with identity

politics. “When you assert that your opinion is inherently more informed or more valuable because of your background, you’ve already lost the battle. That is not being inclusive. That does not acknowledge people’s experiences, and it does not allow for productive discussion,” Wallace argues. Having witnessed and listened to the discussions taking place in Student Senate since the start of the semester, I have been disappointed to see identity politics run amok. Student Senate is actually quite diverse, including international students, multiple ethnic minorities, Muslims, Jews, gays, low-income students and athletes (and combinations therein). Most senators get along beautifully. Discussion only devolves when some students use their identity as a tool to oppress and negate the opinions of other senators. Past experiences, some of which may have been difficult, are not a carte blanche to speak or behave maliciously toward others. Every senator I spoke to recognized that racism, oppression and injustice are real and serious — many of them have experienced these issues. But the personal attacks must stop. “I encourage everybody to listen to the audio of last week’s plenary session (available on Fearless and Loathing’s website) and come to their own conclusions regarding whether senators are responsibly holding their positions or not,” Makhmudov said. “I think the best thing Senate can do is to focus on the issues and not the personalities.” Kiki Acey and Arianna Gil both declined to be interviewed by the author.

Jesse Kohler Student Senate Liaison At this week’s Senate meeting, there was tremendous turnout and participation from members of the student body. The Senate thanks everybody that came and encourages participation in plenaries more often. We appointed multiple members to the Student Honor Committee, as well as a few others to the Committee of Environmental Sustainability and the Forum Board. After this, the talks shifted from the agenda to the topic of interpersonal relationships — both in Senate as well as throughout the entire Oberlin community. Some members of Senate, as well as other members of the Oberlin College community, feel as though their voices are not being heard,

and that in a system that already oppresses certain people, the institution of Oberlin marginalizes these voices even more. While nobody in Senate disagrees that there is oppression felt by different groups on campus or in Senate, there were other members of the campus community in attendance, as well as some Senators, who do not feel that the ways in which these issues are being addressed are appropriate. Many people do not know how to approach these issues, because it seems as though no matter what they say or do, their actions and words are deemed derogatory or prejudicial in some sense. It will be a continued conversation to be had by Senate as we hope to find a way to make this campus more accepting and comfortable for people of all backgrounds.

The Review invites all community members to voice opinions and respond to content.

Sincerely,

Please email opinions@oberlinreview.org

–Aidan Apel College fourth-year

Epigenetics Dramatically Alters How Scientists Think About Their Discipline Joshua Kogan Columnist Epigenetics is a field of scientific research that has seen explosive growth over the past decade or so. It is starting to come to the attention of the general public, featured in numerous publications including The New York Times and now The Oberlin Review. I’ve become convinced that everybody, regardless of background, should have a basic understanding of epigenetics, as it has far reaching consequences for many fields, including biology, neuroscience, medicine, sociology and anthropology, to name a few. Epigenetics literally means “over-genetics,” and the term was coined in the 1940s to explain how two people with the same genetic background could develop different physical traits or phenotypes. The term is currently defined as heritable changes that do not directly affect the sequence of base pairs in the DNA but affect the expression of certain genes. For example, every cell in your body contains a copy of the genes needed to make bone cells and eye cells. The body uses epigenetic modifications to silence the bone cell genes in the eyes and vice versa, thus creating the thousands of types of highly differentiated cells in the human body. The nucleus of each cell in our bodies contains approximately two meters of DNA that need to be condensed into an area that is approximately five to ten micrometers, or 10-6 meters in diameter.

This means that DNA needs to be compressed to about one millionth of its full length in each cell and still be able to coordinate all of the activities of said cell. We achieve this by wrapping and coiling DNA around proteins called histones. These histones can be modified in certain ways that can lead to a tightening or loosening of the DNA around the histomes. When DNA is very tightly wrapped, it cannot be expressed, as is the case for the bone cell gene in the eye. When it is more loosely wrapped, cellular machinery responsible for expressing the gene can access the DNA (like with bone cell genes in bone tissue). Another important type of epigenetic modification is called DNA methylation, which directly affects the DNA structure and is associated with the silencing of genes. When cells divide, these epigenetic changes can be passed on to the daughter cells, which allows differentiated cell types in the body to remain stable over periods of time with many divisions. Before epigenetics came about, we thought of inheritance of disease as being solely based on genetic mutations, changes in the DNA sequence that could cause disease. Environmental factors were always thought not to interact with gene expression. Even today you hear people talk about nature versus nurture — does the environment or do genes cause a heritable disease? It turns out that these two factors are much less separable than previously thought. Many scientists

have looked at high stress levels, which increase levels of cortisol in the blood stream. This cortisol can act on cells throughout the body, and many studies have shown that chronically high cortisol can lead to epigenetic changes that correlate with depression, reduced immune response, weight gain and other adverse effects. Epigenetic changes have been linked to a plethora of environmental events including childhood abuse, high fat or lowprotein diets and air pollution. This may change the way we view and treat many diseases, especially psychiatric diseases that have –––––––––––––––––––––––––––

Everybody, regardless of background, should have a basic understanding of epigenetics. ––––––––––––––––––––––––––– no known direct genetic cause. Over Winter Term I worked on a project investigating a drug that induces histone modifications, which may normalize expression of genes that are downregulated in depressed patients. The potential in the field of pharmacoepigenetics, drugs that induce epigenetic changes, is huge and could revolutionize treatments for diseases from depression and anxiety to cancer, diabetes and just about anything that you can think of. Not only does epigenetics blur the nature versus nurture line,

but recent studies have shown that epigenetic modifications can be inherited across generations. Around the turn of the 19th century, Jean-Baptiste Lamarck proposed a theory whereby organisms could inherit traits that had been acquired during the lifetime of the parent. Then came Charles Darwin and his theory of evolution, which led to biology students around the world being given the example of Lamarck as a classically incorrect scientific theory. It was so opposed to 20th century biological dogma that telling a biologist that some forms of Lamarckian inheritance were possible would have been heretical even as recently as 20 years ago. Many epidemiological studies were conducted in Sweden during the 2000s, using that country’s access to extensive and centralized medical records for all its citizens. They determined that if a man experienced famine before puberty, his grandchildren would be much less likely to have heart disease or diabetes than those of a man who had been well fed. Of course, this study still leaves a huge black box over the mechanism of inheritance, but it must be something other than traditional genetics because DNA remains relatively stable across generations. A research group at Emory University performed an experiment in which it exposed male mice to a chemical called acetophenone and paired this exposure with an aversive shock. They found that the offspring of these males born from

normal, untreated females had increased receptors for acetophenone and a corresponding increase in fear response when exposed to the compound. The same effect was observed in the grandchildren of the exposed mice. The researchers involved in this project point to forms of epigenetic inheritance for this change. However, the complexity doesn’t stop there. We still have very little idea about how these changes are transmitted from the sperm to the fertilized egg and from there to the fully developed progeny and beyond. Most epigenetic changes are removed and reprogrammed following fertilization. DNA is unwrapped from histones and rewrapped around a different type of protein called protamines, which allow it to be more tightly packed. Most methyl groups are removed and laid out again later in development. In short, there are many theories of why we are observing a seemingly Lamarckian evolution. Hopefully in coming years the scientific community will come to understand how these patterns of epigenetic inheritance are occurring. This cutting-edge research likely challenges many of the concepts that you were taught in high school biology and also challenges many of the ideas that some current researchers have held for most of their careers. It seems that in science, things are always more complicated, and you always need to be prepared to give up what you thought you knew in favor of new research.

Opinions

The Oberlin Review, March 14, 2014

Clarifying What We Mean by “Community” at Oberlin Machmud Makhmudov Student Senator and Contributing Writer Of the few moments that I can recall from freshman orientation, I still distinctly remember my first time sitting in North Quad. It was the type of warm, end-of-summer night that lasts forever while making no promises of any more to come. I sat in the middle of the grassy field with the rest of the newest residents of Barrows Hall, exchanging smiles and laughs with people that I looked forward to sharing memories with over the next four years. Between stories and introductions, I remember looking around the group and thinking, “This is why I came to Oberlin.” Never before had I thought that a group of people with such divergent backgrounds could come together and work in unison for common goals. Coming in with an established interest in politics, I was extremely proud to see Oberlin’s legacy of social progressivism affirmed through the ideals and actions of my peers. As a second-year student, the events that the Oberlin community now colloquially refers to as the March 4 bias incidents have largely dominated my experiences with race relations on campus. Prior to the events, I had always identified as a person of color but never truly understood what that meant to other people. Having been born in Uzbekistan and raised in Stone Mountain, GA, I’m certainly not blind to the stinging pain that racial prejudice can bring. Even at Oberlin, I know the distinct feeling of walking into a room of 30 people and still feeling completely alone. However, I also acknowledge the tremendous privilege that I possess to be accepted within the white community as well, particularly as a varsity athlete. I’ve never felt comfortable claiming a position within what has been presented as a

false dichotomy of being part of the white or people of color communities. Doing so would have felt like a betrayal to the very real friendships that I have on both sides. How can one choose? Oberlin must decide how it will answer this dilemma, one that many other people besides myself face. No amount of rhetorical flourish will absolve us of the frustrating, emotionally draining and hard work that comes along with deconstructing racism. Structural oppression is real, and hundreds of years of inequality have socialized many of us to accept a world that in many –––––––––––––––––––––––––––———–

Oberlin must decide how it will answer this dilemma, one that many other people besides myself face. No amount of rhetorical flourish will absolve us of the frustrating, emotionally draining and hard work that comes along with deconstructing racism. –––––––––––––––––––––––––––——— ways remains overtly unjust. But I hope that we can remember that Oberlin’s ultimate goal should be to act as a united campus, one where the racial differences that we share do not divide us, but rather, tie us together as one community. The answers to problems of race are never black and white; they’re every hue of the human experience in between. The task of staying faithful to the authenticity of both our peers and ourselves does not lend itself to helping us easily categorize one another based on assumptions. Instead, it challenges us to ask harder questions: Must we accept a false dichotomy? Is that really our campus? Is that really me?

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Executive Powers Grow at Expense of Other Branches of Government Sean Para Columnist Recent allegations in Congress against the CIA have highlighted a major trend in U.S. constitutional history in the past century. Since the administration of Theodore Roosevelt, the federal government has gained power relative to state governments, while within the federal government, the executive branch has become stronger relative to the judicial and legislative branches. The office of the president confers much more authority and prestige than it once did, and it is now more acceptable for the commander in chief to use his prerogative to force initiatives than it was a century ago. Theodore Roosevelt came into office after President William McKinley was assassinated in 1901. His administration was a landmark for progressivism in America and the projection of American power abroad. He used antitrust laws to break up large corporations such as the Northern Securities Company, the largest railway company in the U.S., and Standard Oil, which dominated the American oil industry. The Food and Drug Administration was created to protect consumers from the dangers of unsafe food and drug production practices. These reforms ushered in a new age for the federal government and the presidency. Roosevelt used his “bully pulpit” to sway public opinion and portray himself as a populist. The New Deal was the next major shift in how the executive branch interacted with the rest of the United States government. The Federal Reserve became the quasi-central bank it remains today. A rudimentary American welfare state came into being with the passage

of the Social Security Act, which created a social security system for all Americans and guaranteed unemployment benefits. The Works Progress Administration employed millions of Americans and left a lasting impression on American infrastructure and the way that the government deals with economic crises. Let us not forget that a different Roosevelt put the New Deal into place. Although Franklin D. Roosevelt and Theodore Roosevelt were only distantly related, it is hard not to notice how much wealth and power have always been concentrated in the hands of so few Americans. This is truer today than it ever has been. Yet the reforms of the early 1900s were instrumental in making America a more egalitarian society, one in which a worker is (or at least used to be) guaranteed the right to belong to a union and a citizen is guaranteed some sort of basic safety net. The accrual of executive power is not necessarily a bad thing. The two presidents listed above did use their clout to institute significant reforms. Did these reforms go far enough? Of course not, but they did stem from the growing division between the super rich and everyone else for almost 50 years. Sadly, we have returned to a level of economic exploitation and plutocracy unseen since the 1920s. The danger of the shift toward presidential power is obvious. George W. Bush was able to use his prerogative to start two wars and undo many of the legislative achievements of previous presidents, from F.D.R. to J.F.K. What is necessary, therefore, in the grand balancing act of American government, is to have a president with some sense of dignity and public welfare. Sadly, many of our presidents have been devoid of these characteristics.

Israel, Palestine Must Move Toward Future of Collaboration Jonathan Jue-Wong Contributing Writer I did not grow up with an innate love or loyalty to the state of Israel. My first memory of “Israel” as a nation stemmed from a political cartoon I found when I was perhaps six or seven years old. In the cartoon, two military pilots are seated in F-16 fighters — one is American, the other Israeli, as indicated by each nation’s flag on the jet fuselage. I may not remember the political context or current event to which the cartoon referred, but the implications were clear. As an American, my first memory of Israel the nation-state was a militaristic one, a country associated with fighter jets and military aggression. It would be years until my knowledge broadened to include a general awareness of the acrimonious and violent conflict between Israelis and Palestinians in their discord-filled land. As I grew older, I began to gain a better understanding of the conflict in which Israel has long been enmeshed. As personal summer reading before I started middle school, I read President Jimmy Carter’s Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid. As the title indicates, President Carter is pro-Palestine. It was

deeply influential on my political views, and from then until relatively recently, I was solidly and exclusively pro-Palestine. It was infuriating when, during a middle school unit on Middle Eastern history, my teacher pushed discussion of the Israel-Palestine conflict in a decidedly Zionist direction, profoundly influencing the campus dialogue on the conflict. The experience only served to strengthen my convictions in the opposite direction. It was not until 2013 that my views and opinions concerning the conflict began to evolve and shift. In January, I traveled to the region for the first time on a Winter Term project study tour. Being in Israel and the West Bank and interacting with Israelis and Palestinians really challenged my previous onesided take on the conflict. Inspired and re-committed to working for peace, over the summer I interned with Churches for Middle East Peace, a national coalition of 25 church denominations and organizations dedicated to supporting Israeli-Palestinian peace through a two-state solution. Throughout the year, I read more, diversified my research and strove to gain a more comprehensive understanding of an incredibly complicated

and partisan conflict. And in September, I attended the J Street National Conference and Advocacy Day for the first time. In many ways, 2013 was a formative and influential year for me, with regard to my increasing awareness and knowledge of the conflict’s history and ugly realities. There were numerous takeaways and realizations from all the experiences I’ve described. But from the many lessons I’ve learned, I believe more firmly than ever that conscientious Americans must engage in the conflict and demand peace. The United States of America has long been a heavyweight player in the Middle East, especially with regard to Israel. While supporting diplomatic efforts between Israeli and Palestinian negotiators for decades, the U.S. has contributed massive financial and military support to the Israeli government to support U.S. security and political interests in the region. While this has been the status quo for decades, true peace and security in Israel and Palestine will only occur after a fair and just diplomatic agreement, one that firmly establishes a truly sovereign Palestinian state. Oberlin College prides itself on a long and storied tradition of

committing itself to justice, equality and the promotion of human rights. While in the 19th century this pertained primarily to domestic affairs, throughout the 20th century and into the 21st century, Obies have made it clear that they believe that people globally deserve the same justice, equality and dignity that Americans have long fought for. From Vietnam to South African apartheid, transnational migration to the Iraq War, Oberlin student activists have engaged in fighting injustice and ––––––––––––––––––––––––––

I believe more firmly than ever that conscientious Americans must engage in the conflict and demand peace. –––––––––––––––––––––––––– oppression on a global scale. The Israeli-Palestinian conflict, now at a crucial moment with delicate and difficult negotiations currently underway, demands our engagement and advocacy. J Street U Oberlin is committed to this engagement and advocacy on campus, and welcomes a diversity of opinions and backgrounds

— my own background and approach to the conflict are proof of that. This Saturday, on March 15 at 4 p.m., it is continuing its J Street U Coffee Series with a discussion in Mudd 202 concerning the future of Palestinian refugees, a crucial issue at the heart of final-status negotiations. It is an important event that anyone, regardless of background or experience, can and should attend. Today, 14 years after I first saw that political cartoon and associated Israel with military action, I am pro-Palestine and pro-Israel. But far, far above either, I am propeace. And for a just, practical and sustainable peace to come about, both Israel and Palestine will need to be fully and collaboratively engaged as partners, with the full support of the United States, given our enormous influence and role in the region. Entrenching ourselves on either side, as I once did, is not conducive to peace or ending the conflict. But if we support both parties and strongly encourage U.S. leadership to compel both sides into making the tough decisions and choices absolutely necessary for a comprehensive peace agreement, we will see peace between Israel and Palestine in our lifetime.

To Do

Swap your regular towel for a beac Make lemonade

Moisturize your body with cocoa b

Wear a lo

Go to Spl

Wear gog

Record-breaking numbers of vacationers are going to Florida this spring break, but if you’re not one of these lucky millions, here are some things you can do to make break seem warm and fun!

Shopping List Sand for your room

Spri

Courtesy of

Elderflower Tequila Slipper

($6 for five pounds on Amazon!)

Lemons Mason jar to drink from Cocktail umbrella toothpicks Fish from Walmart Sun lamp

Rose Grapefruit Cocktail Rum Punch

Bubbles

CALENDAR

Taylor Swift perfume

Film Screening and Q&A with director Branwen Okpako Friday, March 14 at 4:30 p.m. Dye Lecture Hall, Science Center

MMG Presents: TAK Ensemble and Meet filmmaker Branwen Okpako David Bird Saturday, March 15 at 1:45 p.m. Friday, March 14 at 8 p.m. Afrikan Heritage House Fairchild Chapel Come chat with Nigerian filmmaker Branwen

Filmmaker Branwen Okpako will be screening her documentary The Education of Auma Obama, as well as her film Tal der Ahnungslosen (Valley of the Innocent) on Saturday, March 15 at 3:30 p.m. in Wilder 101. Both screenings will include a Q&A session.

New York-based chamber ensemble TAK will be playing pieces by contemporary composers, including David Bird and one of the ensemble’s own members. TAK and David Bird’s residency is hosted by Modern Music Guild. The event is free and open to the public.

2 ounces silver teq 1 1/4 ounces of St-Germain 4 dashes grapefrui Ice 1 slice of grapefrui

1 cup Lillet Rose o

1/2 cup fresh pin grapefruit juice Ice

1 1/2 cups light rum 3 cups freshly sque 3 cups fresh pineap 3 tablespoons fresh 2 tablespoons cran 2 tablespoons gren Ice 1 lime, thinly sliced

Oberlin Opera Theater Presents: Albe Herring Friday, March 14 and Saturday, March 15 8 p.m.; Sunday, March 16 at 2 p.m. Okpako! You can also meet her at a reception at Hall Auditorium 6:30 p.m. in the Klutznick Commons in Peters Hall after her Saturday film screening.

Oberlin Opera Theater will be performing Alb Herring, a comedic opera by Benjamin Britte Tickets are $6 for students in advance, $9 at t door. Advance tickets are buy one, get one free.

Have a picnic Drink iced coffee

our regular towel for a beach towel

Wear sunglasses regardless of how sunny it is

monade

rize your body with cocoa butter Wear a lot of white

Change your alarm sound to birds chirping

Go to Splash Zone

Watch mybeachcams.com

Wear goggles in the shower

Take a refreshing dip in the Arb

Springy Cocktails

ourtesy of Martha Stewart

er ila er

se uit ail

um ch

2 ounces silver tequila 1 1/4 ounces of elderflower liqueur, preferably St-Germain 4 dashes grapefruit bitters Ice 1 slice of grapefruit for garnish

Surfin’ U.S.A

The Beach Boys

Hot In Herre Nelly

April Come She Will Simon & Garfunkel

Einstein on the Beach Philip Glass

Spring Summer Feeling Jill Scott

1 cup Lillet Rose or Blanc

Look to the Sky

1/2 cup fresh pink or Ruby Red grapefruit juice

Our Spring Will Come

Ice

Antônio Carlos Jobim John Cage

Here Comes the Sun The Beatles

Can’t Stop the Spring The Flaming Lips

Swimming Pools (Drank) Kendrick Lamar

1 1/2 cups light rum 3 cups freshly squeezed orange juice 3 cups fresh pineapple juice 3 tablespoons freshly squeezed lime juice 2 tablespoons cranberry juice 2 tablespoons grenadine Ice 1 lime, thinly sliced, for garnish

berlin Opera Theater Presents: Albert erring iday, March 14 and Saturday, March 15 at p.m.; Sunday, March 16 at 2 p.m. all Auditorium

erlin Opera Theater will be performing Albert rring, a comedic opera by Benjamin Britten. ckets are $6 for students in advance, $9 at the or. Advance tickets are buy one, get one free.

The Rite of Spring Igor Stravinsky

Island Life

Janet Jackson

Splish Splash Bobby Darin

Source: marthastewart.com

Affordable Health Care: a Debate Wednesday, March 19 at 7:30 p.m. Dye Lecture Hall, Science Center

Too Big to Fail: Have We Ended It? Thursday, March 20 at 7 p.m. Craig Lecture Hall, Science Center

Professor, editor and Wall Street Journal and New York Times writer David Henderson will debate with Yale University Professor, modern welfare state scholar and author Ted Marmor on the Affordable Care Act and its alternatives.

University of Pennsylvania Professor Richard J. Herring, OC ’68, will be speaking about major international banks and the government’s role in saving the economy during the recession.

This Week Editor: Sarah Snider

Want Practicum in Journalism Credit? Write for this section! Email managingeditor@oberlinreview.org

Arts The Oberlin Review

Page 10

March 14, 2014

Black Aims to Shock Audience in Stand-Up Show Matt Sprung Staff Writer Michael Ian Black strolled onto the stage of Finney Chapel Wednesday night and started off with the obvious question: “What the fuck is going on outside with this weather?” This was immediately followed by, “This is the worst thing that’s ever happened to me.” Black, a comedian, actor and writer native to New Jersey, attended NYU’s Tisch Institute of Performing Arts before dropping out. He’s most recognized for his role as McKinley Dozen in the comedy Wet Hot American Summer and his appearances on VH1’s nostalgia mash-up series I Love the… As might be expected of a comedian on his first visit to a small liberal arts school, Black started off his performance with a discussion of his preconceptions of Oberlin. One of his initial questions was about the sexual orientation of students: “So do you have to be gay to go here?” he asked coyly. Black’s questions naturally led to the organ behind him: he asked if anyone could actually play it and expressed his desire for an organ accompaniment to his act. A student in the audience named Parker said he played the organ often. Black’s dream turned into a reality as an older couple appeared from the back of the building and, after a few brief words with Parker, gave the OK for what might have been the first impromptu organ performance in Finney. Black’s first song request, “Royals” by Lorde, was not in Parker’s repertoire. After Parker performed what Black referred to as “perfect Phantom of the Opera music,” the show continued in a more traditional manner. Like most comedians, Black was self-centered and

self-abasing. His self-deprecation took center stage as he spoke about his “recreational” use of Ambien, a prescription drug used to treat insomnia. He joked with the audience, asking, “You guys know what Ambien racing is, right?” It turns out Ambien racing is one of Black’s favorite games. “As you’re driving on your way home at night, you take an Ambien fifteen or twenty minutes before you’ll be home and see if you can beat it. It’s a lot of fun,” he explained. The dark, sardonic humor continued as Black, who lives with his wife and two young kids in Connecticut, moved on to his family life. His wife, he said, “as far as wives go, is the worst person in the world.” Black targeted a variety of political stances widely held by Oberlin students, who responded with laughs of discomfort — at least at first, as the laughs subsided into occasional groans throughout the act. Black’s overall effect was positive; he made the most of his comedic edge to cut through oft-avoided topics on campus. One particularly groan-inducing moment was Black’s description of lessons learned during his wife’s pregnancy, which segued into some off-color jokes about abortion. For example, Black advised the audience to never go up to a pregnant woman, put your hand on her stomach and say, “‘I don’t think it’s going to make it.’ Don’t do that, guys, they hate it.” It was his “internalized fear of having kids,” he explained, that he took out on his wife by “being an asshole.” A friendlier bit involved Black explaining how he would simply eat tuna fish in front of his wife while she had morning sickness. When she asked him to stop, he responded, “Oh, so you’re going to take that away from me like everything else?”

Many of his anecdotes gave the audience a glimpse into his natural anxiety and continuous search for material. When Black smoked marijuana for the first time on his honeymoon in Amsterdam, for example, he woke up the next morning still believing he was a panda bear, resulting in his abstinence from the drug. However, after three of such stories, they began to feel like the same dish served with slightly different ingredients, peppered with amplified gender stereotypes for shock value, which he played off with a sympathetic smile of self-awareness. The funniest moments of the night came in his physical comedy, as he exaggeratingly bent over to show how he tentatively took off his underpants after a doctor did not specify if only the pants were to be removed. Black reminisced, “This was an awkward situation, but I saw it as an opportunity for a hilarious moment.” Black mimicked the doctor’s subsequent rectal examination, raising his arm up to the sky as he declared, “The fist hurt, but once he was past the elbow I didn’t feel anything, because it’s all nerves up there.” This story culminated in the funniest line of the night, as Black began twirling his wrist methodically in circles, saying, “It was like the doctor was making cotton candy in my asshole.” Ending the night, Black asked the audience what they were going to do and expressed his disgust and distrust about the fact that one could get such a large amount of beer for such a low price at Splitchers. Before leaving Finney to go back to the Oberlin Inn, Black looked to the future and said with a muted tone that limped toward optimism, “Well, Paul Rudd is going to be on my new podcast next week. That’s exciting.”

Storytelling Takes Center Stage in The New Electric Ballroom Paris Gravley Staff Writer With three jaded Irish women and a pungent fishmonger engaged in a bizarrely cyclical plot, it was unclear how Enda Walsh’s play The New Electric Ballroom was ever going to relate to an audience of Oberlin College students. At first, it didn’t. Yet as director and College senior Zachary Weinberg noted, something about the play is hard to shake — but what is it? The play revolves around older sisters Breda, played by College junior Annie Winneg, and Clara, played by College sophomore Jourdan Lewanda, retelling their experiences at the New Electric Ballroom to their much younger sister Ada, played by College junior Lillian White. What exactly the New Electric Ballroom was remained unstated, but it could be surmised that it was a dance hall Breda and Clara frequented in their youth. As they recount their tales, the audience learns along with Ada one of the pessimistic realities of womanhood, that of subjection to the false promise of male companionship. Fishmonger Patsy, played by double-degree fifth-year Andrew Groble, is the only male character present. He first acts as comic relief, interrupting the darker narratives with his upbeat gossip. In one of the final turns of the play, Ada falls for Patsy, the hope for the couple’s fresh love igniting newfound optimism in Breda and Clara. But their hope is short-lived:

Patsy leaves Ada just as quickly as he had promised eternal love. For the sisters, this repeats a New Electric Ballroom narrative, just without the ballroom. The play’s structure is similar to that of a jazz ensemble: The common thread of the plot provides opportunities for the individual sisters to “solo,” stepping onto a wooden dais at the front of the larger stage to recount their stories. These moments were punctuated with lighting, purposeful background music and costume changes, all of which successfully created a mini-set without leaving the larger one. When the actors mounted this wooden stage, the audience went right with them down memory lane, straight to the New Electric Ballroom. Even outside of the scenes in the ballroom, the setting’s ingenuity was surprising and, perhaps appropriately, smelly. For example, to emphasize the lingering sadness Patsy evokes in his final scene, a fish was gutted onstage, fanning the smell of raw fish into the theater. Nonetheless, the details of the actual narrative were much harder to grasp than the set changes. How old were the sisters? Why did Clara seem so much younger than Breda, when she was theoretically at least twice as old? Why were these women repeating these stories over and over again? And, more importantly, what was at stake for them? As an audience, why should we care about these repetitive narratives about the New Electric Ballroom? As Weinberg noted in the

program, it seemed a meaningless battle to fight the age issue. The student actors, themselves only a few years past their teens, played 60-year-old women as well as the women’s teenaged counterparts in flashbacks. The decision to ignore the matter of age, however, only created confusion, especially with Clara and Ada. Patsy, too, was caught in this age confusion — was he nearing sixty, like Clara and Breda, or closer to Ada’s age? This matter became all the more crucial when he and Ada fell in love. The repetition of the narratives helped hold together the play, even as some of the more basic details remained unclear. The stories acted as pillars for the other scenes, standing out as the stronger moments of the play for both acting and narrative clarity. However, there were times when these anecdotes didn’t generate enough intrigue to keep the audience engaged. The answers to why we should care about these women and their stories weren’t presented explicitly; instead, they seemed to be hinted at with certain lines, such as, “Stamped by story are we,” “People are talkers” and “No such thing as the idle word.” The already confusing plot, with its odd repetition and lack of characterization, distracted the audience from understanding the subtler motivation for these micro-narratives contained within The New Electric Ballroom’s larger tale. When the play concluded, the mood was depressed and directionless, without the obvious demand for introspection common in more resonant works of art.

(From left) College junior Annie Winneg as Breda, College junior Lillian White as Ada, double-degree fifth-year Andrew Groble as Patsy and College sophomore Jourdan Lewanda as Clara in The New Electrric Ballroom. The play explored the power of stories in our lives. Yvette Chen

But despite the problems with age, clarity, the cyclical narrative structure and intrigue, The New Electric Ballroom is hard to shake. Why? How? Though its stories fall under a broad definition of trauma, The New Electric Ballroom exemplifies one reason why narratives of trauma, and all narration, are important. By including Clara, Breda and eventually Ada’s stories within a larger one, the play illuminated the role of smaller stories in our lives. Clara and Breda have been telling the same story to their younger sister for her entire life — without saying so explicitly, we see how they want her to learn from their own mistakes. Ada, even after hearing these stories over and over again, inevitably does exactly what her sisters hoped she wouldn’t, experiencing similar heartbreak

and disappointment. What does this tell us about the role of narrating trauma in our own lives? Several things: first, that retelling the same story to ourselves, over and over again, does not advance our ability to understand or overcome it; second, that telling the story to others does not mean that they will automatically understand it; and third, that if we don’t look critically, continuously and creatively at the stories told to us and the stories we tell ourselves, we are destined to make the same mistakes the Claras and Bredas in our lives have already made. In this way, The New Electric Ballroom was incredibly impactful and relevant to Oberlin students. What does Oberlin College ask of us, anyway, if not to think critically about the pluralistic narratives that surround us?

Arts

The Oberlin Review, March 14, 2014

Page 11

Punch Brothers Meet, But Don’t Exceed, High Bar Anne Pride-Wilt Arts Editor When popular bluegrass band Punch Brothers turned out a last-minute show at the Cat in the Cream last semester, the raucous, enthusiastic concertgoers were treated to a hit parade culled primarily from the band’s crowd-pleasing last two albums. The clean acoustics of the small venue perfectly accentuated the show’s plunky, less bluegrass-heavy than usual set list. To be clear, it was one of the best concerts Oberlin has seen this year. But when the Punch Brothers took the Finney Chapel stage last Sunday night, it quickly became clear that while the band was playing in top form, this concert was a far cry from its organic, wild Cat show. On the contrary, this Sunday night’s show was an almost academic, calculated mix of fun songs, traditional bluegrass, eclectic covers and classical arrangements that seemed more designed to showcase the band’s range than to produce a fun show. The Finney Chapel performance, presented as part of the ongoing Artist Recital Series, was only one in a long line of events and performances that Punch Brothers are participating in as part of their three-part residency in the Conservatory. The band, including guitarist Chris Eldridge, OC ’04, stayed in Oberlin for a week at the end of last semester, hosting master classes, improv sessions and all manner of workshops, culminating in the Cat performance. They returned last week for more of the same, the most-hyped event of which was the sold-out Artist Recital Series performance in Finney. In May the quintet will return again for a collaborative performance during Commencement weekend. Regardless of how the May performance goes, though, the Finney show is sure to remain a standout, at least in terms of scale — a sold-out Finney show is no small feat for anyone. Considering that Punch Brothers are a bigger act than

Oberlin’s usual fare, concertgoers started lining up outside a full 30 minutes before doors opened. The unusually diverse audience was comprised of a healthy mix of students and community members. Frontman and mandolinist Chris Thile acknowledged the brief time that elapsed since the band’s last visit when they took the stage — “How are y’all? It’s been … months!” — but not much time was spent on reminiscing, as they almost immediately launched into the music. Curiously, the band opened with a cover rather than one of their own tunes — albeit one for which the band has become well-known — of Josh Ritter’s haunting “Another New World.” A new, original instrumental piece followed, and only after that did the band come through with “This Girl,” a favorite from the group’s most recent full album, 2012’s Who’s Feeling Young Now? This odd initial ordering more or less set the pattern for the rest of the show — a cover, an instrumental and a recognizable Punch Brothers song, with a wild card thrown in here and there for good measure. It was the wild cards, though, that defined the tone of the show. Most notably, the group played a Debussy arrangement that Chris Thile announced with, “Now for some Debussy.” The audience mostly laughed in response, assuming he was joking, before the five-piece actually did play a lively arrangement that sounded perfectly natural with the unorthodox instrumentation. The song was followed with its polar opposite, an as-of-yet unreleased new original song called “Magnet” in the band’s more recent pop-y style, lyrics querying, “Is there a center between two centers of attention?” Also in the mix were a few more covers, less associated with the band than “Another New World,” including a pleasant version of “Dead Leaves and the Dirty Ground” by the White Stripes (or, in Thile’s words, “Jack White and his sister-wife Meg”) and a sublime cover of Elliot Smith’s “Clementine.”

(From left) Punch Brothers members Gabe Witcher on violin, Chris Eldridge, OC ’04, on guitar, frontman Chris Thile on mandolin, Paul Kowert on double bass and Noam Pikelny on banjo lock into a rhythm during their Artist Recital Series performance in Finney Chapel Sunday night. The bluegrass group demonstrated their talent and chemistry, but focused on diversity of repertoire at the expense of crowd-pleasing favorites. Courtesy of Yevgen Gulenko

All of this variety was enjoyable in the moment. Each band member — Eldridge, Thile, violinist Gabe Witcher, banjoist Noam Pikelny and double bassist Paul Kowert — is wildly talented on his own, and the chemistry between the five only accentuates their individual skill. In particular, Thile’s goofy hopping motions while playing are a joy to watch; his weirdness is so unabashedly enthusiastic that it becomes infectious. All of this made the Finney show an energetic, engaging performance, and after the second standing ovation following the encore, the audience left with a smile on almost every face. Frankly, though, it could have been better. Finney acoustics are notoriously ill-suited to musical performances, and the concert was affected by the muddy sound. But more than that, the set list felt calculated to impress, as if the purpose of the concert was less to put on a great show than to highlight the band’s range. When the crowd’s energy was high after, for example, fast and loud “Rye Whiskey,” still the band’s biggest hit, the band didn’t

respond to that energy and keep the mood elevated, but rather dampened it with a 10 minute movement of a longer, slower piece, the fourth movement of Thile’s “The Blind Leaving the Blind.” Both pieces are beautiful and impressive in their own ways — but Punch Brothers should have picked a theme and stuck to it rather than trying to be all things to all people. This is what the Cat show last December did better; it went for “fun” before “impressive,” and the results blew away the selfconsciously grown-up Finney concert. Nonetheless, Chris Thile, and hopefully the rest of the band, loves Oberlin, as he announced towards the end of the show (“I hope that’s okay,” he added), and Oberlin rightfully loves them right back, if one can judge from the enthusiastic response of the Finney audience. The quintet is astoundingly talented, so even a less-thanstellar performance will still probably be one of the better concerts of the year. Even so, here’s hoping that when Punch Brothers return over commencement weekend, they focus less on impressing and more on having fun.

The Invincibility Fallacy: Balancing Musical Ability with Physical Agility Nora Kipnis Arts Editor One Wednesday during senior double-degree student Elizabeth Castro-Abrams’s second semester at Oberlin, she suddenly felt an excruciating pain in her wrist. She complained of the pain to her violin teachers, who told her to ice and stretch, but it didn’t stop. Student Health Services wasn’t much help either. Despite numerous visits to various doctors, all of whom had different ideas about the injury’s origin, the pain eventually forced Castro-Abrams to drop all of her musical engagements for the rest of the semester. Prior to her injury, she’d been practicing violin up to eight hours a day — not unusual for a Conservatory student, she said — but the injury was completely unexpected. “You think you’re invincible before anything happens,” she said. Instead of going to music camp as she had planned, Castro-Abrams spent the summer at home in California visiting specialist after specialist trying to find out what was wrong. By August, she had the answer: a tear in the cartilage of her wrist, for which she would need surgery. Castro-Abrams’s friends cautioned her to avoid going under the knife, warning her that she might sustain irreparable nerve damage and never be able to play again. However, the doctor told her that if she didn’t get surgery, the tear would only become worse, so she decided to go ahead. When Castro-Abrams woke up from the two-hour surgery, the doctor told her that hers was “the worst wrist I’ve ever seen.” She spent the next two months on medical leave from Oberlin, in a cast and unable to open doors, eat or dress herself without intense pain. For the next few months, Castro-Abrams used acupuncture, massage therapy and swimming to rebuild her strength. “All of the muscles that I had built up over years and years of violin playing completely atrophied,” she said. By late December, she was allowed to return to her violin — but for no more than two minutes a day. Despite the strict time limitation, Castro-Abrams said that when she was allowed to play again, “it was the best day of my life.” Slowly, she increased her daily playing time by a few minutes a week, until by February she was practicing two hours a day. It was certainly an improvement, but even so, two hours is minimal for

a Conservatory student. For Castro-Abrams, it meant that if she had orchestra rehearsal, that was all the playing she could do for the day. College junior Leah Wollenberg had a somewhat different experience with her violin-induced stress injury. Her wrist pain started this past October and has yet to subside. It first emerged while she was changing her bowing technique to improve her tone, which resulted in additional tension in her hand. At the same time, she says that a general frustration with her musical progress cultivated more physical tension while playing. Wollenberg had been taking private lessons in violin and jazz, as well as a jazz improvisation class. Fortunately, her teachers were supportive in arranging ways for her to complete her coursework with minimal playing. She saw a physical therapist in Elyria who wasn’t much help. As a Music Studies major with a concentration in jazz violin, Wollenberg has been able to cut back on playing this semester; she’s fulfilling her other credits and giving her wrist a rest. She’s also learned a different way of playing to help relieve tension in her wrists. “I have changed, and I actually think that my tone is better for it,” she said, but she’s still working toward the tone she was trying to achieve when she was first injured. Talking to many other students about musical technique has helped her in this pursuit. “If you’re doing it right, then you’re not going to get hurt and you’re going to sound better,” she said. Castro-Abrams also found that her way of playing changed after her injury. She holds her violin differently and now takes a new approach to practicing. Instead of spending hours repeating the same song or few bars over and over until she gets it right, Castro-Abrams uses visualization to make sure she can play the piece within only a few tries. “I’ve heard teachers say, ‘It’s all about repetition, it’s muscle memory,’” CastroAbrams said. “But I think it’s a lot more than that. You have to be completely engaged the whole time.” But while her new method takes up less time, it is far more exhausting than mindless repetition. “To practice properly, you can’t do it longer than an hour at a time. It’s like writing a paper; you have to be extremely detail-oriented and a lot of it is in your head. More than you think.”

Both Castro-Abrams and Wollenberg emphasized the importance of a relaxed approach to practicing. Anxiety and stress lead to tension in the body, which increases the chance of injury. “If you’re stressed out,” said Castro-Abrams, “you’re practicing against that, and it’s way more difficult physically and mentally.” She has tried various mental and physical warm-ups before practicing to help prevent injury, from deep breathing to squats, all in the hope of getting blood flowing to the hands and wrists. Wollenberg believes that mental stress increases one’s risk for physical stress injuries, and that her personal frustration with her music probably had an impact on her own stress injury. In response, she’s learned new ways to keep stress from impacting her body. While Wollenberg and Castro-Abrams noted that their professors and teachers were incredibly supportive while they dealt with their injuries — Castro-Abrams’s teacher even drove her to see a music injury specialist in Cleveland — they both lamented the lack of school-wide support for stress injury prevention and management. “It seems like there’s this idea of you get hurt and then you’re hurt, and it’s forever and it could ruin your career and there’s no helping it,” said Castro-Abrams. While the prevention and treatment of stress injuries is possible, the pair believes that not enough is being done to help students at the Conservatory. Castro-Abrams suggested the institution of a required seminar for stress injury prevention, while Wollenberg said that the Conservatory class Physical Wellness for the Musician’s Life should be a requirement for all students. They would also love to see a sports doctor, physical therapist or music injury specialist on staff at the Conservatory — someone to whom faculty can refer their students for immediate assistance when problems arise, as stress injuries are often difficult for general practitioners to recognize and treat. Dance instructor Deborah Vogel, who teaches the elective Physical Wellness for the Musician’s Life, emphasizes physical health as a key element of musical ability, and agrees with Wollenberg and Castro-Abrams that there should be a resource for Conservatory students akin to the trainer for student athletes. Unfortunately, her class is limited to only 12 students a semester, about See Musicians, page 12

Arts

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The Oberlin Review, March 14, 2014

Mardi Gras Party Celebrates French, American Traditions 1. (From left) College first-year Emily Volz and College sophomore Becky Berenbon pose in the photo booth during the Mardi Gras celebration at Bailey House last Friday night. 2. French professor and Bailey House’s Faculty-in-Residence Thomas Chevrier spreads crepe batter on a skillet, in keeping with the festival’s French roots. 3. Drummers from OSteel keep the beat with a mix of traditional and new French music. The celebration also included a performance from the New Orleans Jazz Quartet.

Photos by Rachel Grossman (1, 3) and courtesy of Antoine Blanpain (2)

Odette Chalandon Staff Writer La Maison Francophone, better known as French House, held its most-hyped annual event last Friday: the Mardi Gras celebration. Mardi Gras, French for “Fat Tuesday,” is celebrated the Tuesday before the season of Lent begins. The “Fat” in the holiday’s name is derived from the huge meal Catholics often eat before the fasting associated with Lent. Louisiana, the state most strongly associated with Mardi Gras celebrations, inherited the tradition from its former colonizer, France. Originally, the French monarchy would consume a cow that had been especially fattened for their holiday meal. This Boeuf Gras, or “Fat Beef,” tradition was inaccessible to many Louisianan colonists, so the tradition instead became known as “Mardi Gras.” New Orleans’s rich culture of African, Caribbean and European influences has made the city the mainstay of American Mardi Gras celebrations. Important elements of the revelry include costumes, masks, parades and music, which are typically provided by the krewes, the organizational bodies that orchestrate parts of the event. In the case of Oberlin’s French House celebration, the krewe consisted of the hard-working Faculty-in-Residence and French lecturer Thomas Chevrier and French Language Teaching Assistants Celia Cassin and Antoine Blanpain. With the help of masks, crepes, low lighting and traditional yellow, green and purple beads, the Maison Francophone krewe conjured the magical, mysterious feeling of a traditional Mardi Gras celebration in the French House lounge. The incredible OSteel and brilliant New Orleans Jazz Quartet provided the music, completing the lounge’s transformation. Steel drums, also called steel pans, originated in Trinidad and Tobago in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. They have a surprising connection to Carnival and Mardi Gras, making OSteel’s appearance on Friday particularly appropriate. Forbidden by Europeans to join Carnival, African and Creole people created their own celebration called Canboulay. Since ceremonial drumming was banned in Trinidad in 1884, Trinidadians were forced to skirt the regulations by substituting the drums for 55-gallon oil barrels, eventually resulting in the steel drums that are familiar today. Judging by the energy of the crowd at the Maison Francophone celebration, the Canboulay had the last laugh. OSteel performers played together seamlessly; each passing song seemed more nuanced. It was also clear that while each drummer was deeply concentrated on his or her work, the players were still having fun, as demonstrated by the head-bobbing and shoulder-swaying of the musicians. The same can be said about the New Orleans Jazz Quartet: they were there to have fun. The quartet’s energy and cohesion drove not only their playing, but also the excitement of the crowd, inciting impromptu swing and other dancing among the crowd and generally happy faces all around. The two musical groups were especially well-received considering the Mardi Gras theme, but the musicians’ level of comfort with each other and with performing in front of an audience would make them both strong candidates for any Oberlin event. Friday’s belated Mardi Gras event was robustly attended, treating attendees to an atmospheric celebration that incorporated many classical aspects of the holiday. The festival’s French roots made the Maison Francophone the ideal location for such an event, an on-point fusion of music, food and culture that did the Frenchoriginated holiday justice.

Musicians Call for Stress Injury Prevention Services Continued from page 11

half of whom enrolled because they were already injured. Vogel said, “I think sometimes, musicians forget that they have a body. … Their main focus is: ‘how many hours can I put in? That’s going to make me a better musician.’ ” Vogel espouses a less-is-more approach to rehearsals, saying that visualizing practice can work wonders for rehearsal outcomes. Stress injuries and minor pains are common in the Conservatory, a side effect of the pressure to perform that leads to hours and hours of practice a day. “I’m practicing more here than I have in my whole life. I think that’s the case for most people in the Conservatory,” Wollenberg said. Vogel agreed, suggesting that the intensity with which Conser-

vatory musicians approach their training and the competitive nature of orchestra pecking orders make them particularly vulnerable to emotional stress and stress injuries. In her class, she teaches basic anatomy for musicians, stress-relief methods and exercises specific to musicians. According to Vogel, students often report that their injuries or pain have subsided within a semester of taking her class, although Castro-Abrams noted that she knows “students who have taken it who still have problems.” Evidently, the prevention of stress injuries isn’t a cut-and-dried endeavor. “[Stress injuries] are mysterious things,” Wollenberg said. “You kind of have to wait and not push things and be patient with it.”

Arts

The Oberlin Review, March 14, 2014

On the Record: Steve Roggenbuck

Poet Steve Roggenbuck takes a selfie in front of Mudd library despite the extreme Ohio cold. Roggenbuck gave a workshop on social media self-promotion in Wilder and a poetry reading at Fairchild Chapel this past Saturday.

This past Saturday, poet Steve Roggenbuck, renowned for his use of the Internet to create a new form of poetry and relationship with an audience, held a workshop and poetry reading in Oberlin. As soon as he arrived in Oberlin, the Review sat down with him in DeCafé to ask him about the Internet as an artistic realm of expression, building a readership and making a living as a poet.

sites, and I can reach thousands and thousands of people every day, whereas when I’m at a reading, I can get 50 people usually, maybe. And maybe [in-person readings have] a higher impact, but on the Internet it just reaches a lot more people. And [as for] being in someone’s life every day, I can’t tour every place every day, but I can be there for people on the Internet every day.

Why did you choose the Internet as a medium for sharing your poetry? I like the Internet because it reaches people in these populous platforms. … It’s real people sharing stuff that they really like. And I don’t have to play a game with trying to get what editors want, I don’t have to do what an editor wants or network with certain people; it’s like my posts got to everybody and they can be re-blogged and shared between common people … and they love the feeling that [my poems] give them.

Many writers aspire to hard-copy publishing, but your focus seems to be on reaching people through social media. Do you think you will ever adhere to this traditional idea of a writer? I do publish books every once in a while. … I like [self-publishing] because I get total freedom of what I want to put into it. I don’t have to check with an editor. … I guess that’s the same as artistic freedom, like I can put it in the public domain, where people can share it. And I actually make more money per book because of the self-publishing, so it helps me be an artist with a small community and still make enough to live off of — whereas with a publisher, Amazon takes a big chunk, bookstores take a big chunk, distributors take out a big chunk, the editors take out some, and you’re left with only a couple of dollars per book. So you have to sell a lot more books in order to make enough money to live off.

What is your lifestyle like? When I really started doing it full time, I was couch surfing just so that I wouldn’t have to pay rent, and I would take a lot of cheap buses (usually Megabus) between cities. I would stay on people’s couches that I knew from the Internet. I was trying to live very cheaply so that I only had to sell a certain amount of books a month, like a hundred books. … I built [my presence] up very gradually. My Internet community was small. And then it [has] just been buzzing. … I was on social media every day, reaching out to people and [drawing] attention to my videos and my poems, and then hopefully some of those people would get hooked and would become regular followers. I also did live streams. And then I started going on tour more, doing readings like [the one at Oberlin]. And so now the main way that I make money is through those tours, I think. So do you do the readings because you can see the audience that you cannot see through the Internet? Yeah, I like doing the readings, but I also think that people underestimate the kind of impact you can have on people over the Internet. There have been certain musicians and certain bloggers who have had a profound impact on my life, but I have never met them in person, like the people who have probably affected my life more than anybody, or as much as anybody. It’s starting to come around — people are starting to realize that you can build a friendship or even a romantic relationship with someone. You can really touch people through the Internet. Do you think the Internet will remain your artistic realm? Yeah, I think the Internet is the most efficient way to reach a lot of people regularly because it’s free to post on all these

What is the primary message of your work? It’s a spiritual sort of message: It’s about appreciating your time in the world. It’s about being here, whilst we [are] here. … But there’s one [message] that I have that is more popular, from the past. It’s called: Stop pretending it’s boring to be alive. I think a lot of people get sort of deadened to what life is because they are doing the same things every day. … It’s very hard to keep your wonder about the world and keep a sense of excitement that you are here to do something, and that you are with people, and that you get to make a difference if you want. It’s trying to get people thinking about that sort of basic stuff. I like when people zoom out and sort of see the context of their lives instead of getting caught up with all the little problems of their day. I started talking about different forms of activism more [in my work], like different ethical and political things I believe in because I think that is part of doing something responsible with our time here. … And then also I have a particular sense of humor that I think is kind of wacky, and I share it with a lot of people — not everybody — but it’s very special to connect with somebody else who has the same sense of humor. It’s sort of like, it makes you laugh kind of forcefully, and that can be really magical. Interview by Mary Fischer Photo courtesy of Steve Roggenbuck

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IN THE LOCKER ROOM

Sports

The Oberlin Review, March 14, 2014

Men’s Baseball

This week the Review sat down with junior baseball players Danny Baldocchi, Mitch Novak and Jeff Schweighoffer to discuss how the poor Ohio weather has affected the team’s preparation, their favorite Oberlin sports teams and their World Series picks. What are some of the team’s goals for this season? Jeff Schweighoffer: Everyone’s goal would ideally be a conference championship. We’re also looking for something around a 25-win season, hopefully more. We want to improve upon last year. Danny Baldocchi: I think everything is contingent on improving our pitching staff. It’s a tough season with so many doubleheaders, so 25-win seasons and conference championships will come when we have pitching that can back up our hitting, which is already the best part of our team. Whatever we accomplished last year is nothing. We all say it: We have nothing in our trophy case. What personal goals do you have? Mitch Novak: There’s no specific goal of mine, but, like our coach says, ‘If your team doesn’t win, no one gets personal accolades.’ If our team doesn’t do well, [personal accomplishments] don’t matter to us. We just want to win. DB: I could hit 12 home runs, but if we don’t win any conference games, it’s not going to matter. No one is going to care. JS: Personally I would like to improve upon my defense and hit more batting practice home runs than Baldocchi. DB: I’m going to throw this out there. I’m looking to break the [Oberlin] home run record. It’s

DB: When we have games or practice, we’re out there for so much longer than other sports. We’ll have a doubleheader on a Saturday and be at the field for, like, 12 hours. Worst part is that it’s just a huge time commitment. JS: Best part is that you get 40 great friends right off the bat. We hang out all the time. Worst part: While baseball doesn’t really seem like a physically demanding sport, playing four games a weekend can really be a grind. Our schedule gets kind of compact because of the weather. Also, the arm pain is a bad part. MN: I can vouch for the arm pain. It’s not good.

Jeff Schweighoffer, Danny Baldocchi and Mitch Novak seven, and I had four last year, and I played less than half the games, so I’m definitely trying to get that. Also, no chance I lose the batting practice home run contest. How tough has it been to move on from the season-ending playoff loss last season? JS: It was a tough way to go out, but I think that’s really something to build on. Everyone is upset about how we lost and looking to get back at it this year. It’s motivating us a little bit. DB: I was mad because I hurt myself in the first game of the playoffs and was pretty much useless from that point on, but I kept playing. I went 0-for-seven after I tore all the ligaments in my thumb. I had a bunch of chances to knock people in and couldn’t do it.

How difficult has the weather made it to get ready for this season? MN: It’s tough because you can practice inside all you want and work on individual stuff, but it doesn’t compare to actually being on the field and getting the real feel for what you actually have to do. It’s hard to keep focus, too. DB: Distances get completely messed up. As soon as we go outside, all the throws are harder. All the things we thought were home runs are caught at the wall. JS: The hardest part is mental. It’s hard being inside because it’s just not as much fun. How does this year’s team compare to past years’? DB: We’re definitely better. We have much more vocal leaders this year.

MN: We’re better, especially in leadership. Last year, we really learned how to win. JS: We’re better in almost every aspect. What’s your favorite Oberlin sports team other than your own? DB: I want to love the basketball team, but they make it hard. I love basketball, and we’re always going to be out there cheering them on. It’s frustrating seeing them frustrated by not winning. JS: I like the football team. They’re a good group of guys. We have a nice little cornhole rivalry with the football team. MN: Probably the football team. What are the best and worst parts about being on the baseball team?

Do you have a big rival that you get especially pumped up to play? DB: I hate [The College of] Wooster. Wooster has been perceived as the best team, and they have that cocky attitude. JS: I don’t like Kenyon [College], and I want to beat Wooster more than anyone. What MLB players have you tried to model your game after? DB: Definitely Albert Pujols. MN: [Troy] Tulowitzki. JS: Evan Longoria. Who’s going to win the World Series this year? DB: A’s for sure. They’re going to go 162–0, clean sweep through the playoffs, lose one World Series game and then take the rest of them. MN: I’ll go with the Tribe. JS: I think the Red Sox are going to repeat. Interview by Nate Levinson, Sports editor Photo by Zach Harvey

— Men’s Lacrosse —

Yeomen Boast Nearly Perfect Record Heading into NCAC

Sophomore attacker Alex Wagman looks for an opportunity to drive to the goal. Wagman has contributed 10 goals and 9 assists this season. Courtesy of Erik Andrews

Sloane Garelick Only five games into the season, the Yeomen lacrosse team is off to a strong start with a record of 4–1. The lone 5–6 loss came last Wednesday, when the Yeomen faced the Albion College Britons.

After a rocky start, the Yeomen ended the first quarter against the Britons down 2–0. Over the next three quarters, the Yeomen fought back, ending regulation time with a tied score of 5–5. Unfortunately, overtime ended with an Albion goal, leaving the Yeomen with their first defeat. “We came out slow, battled back, but we were able to force overtime and lost it there,” said Head Coach Topher Grossman. “Had we played 60 minutes [at our best], as opposed to 45 on Wednesday I think we would’ve had a different result.” Junior Sean Seaman expressed similar feelings. “I felt like we left a lot of plays on the field and didn’t make the most of the opportunities we had. We should’ve come out with a win,” he said. Despite this, senior defender Paul Paschke acknowledged that Albion was a formidable team. “Albion was a tough team. They’re the best team we have played so far and [they] have a good chance of making the NCAA tournament,” he said. Assistant Coach Bill Schmoldt looked at this defeat in a positive light. “The Albion game was a missed opportunity, but the growing pains from that loss could have a long term benefit if we learn to put the mistakes behind us and make the next play,” Schmoldt said. Although the team struggled to remain consistent throughout the game, the Yeomen played with intensity and had positive takeaways. “I was proud of my team and how hard everyone played and how everyone contributed,” said Seaman. “First-year Jason Gibson really stepped up and played well in the game.” Gibson had a game high of seven groundballs and won 10 of the 15 face-offs. The five Yeomen goals came from senior Connor Jackson, first-years Eric Hager and John Fires-

tone and sophomores Nick Lobley and Matthew Fox. The Yeomen had a quick turnaround after Wednesday’s loss, as they faced the Capital University Crusaders just three days later. Despite the frigid weather on Saturday, the Yeomen came out on top with an 11–3 win. “Everyone’s sticks were actually frozen,” Seaman said. “We came out sluggish in the first and third quarters, but the second quarter was great.” Nine of the team’s eleven goals came in that dominant second quarter. In the frame, Hager and Jackson each netted two goals. Jackson added another goal early in the fourth quarter to give him a hat trick for the game. Lobley, Fox, Firestone, and first-year Jack Frabrizio also scored, while sophomore Alex Wagman added two goals of his own. “Our guys are seeing that when we’re playing our game and keeping it simple and playing uptempo, we can play very well and we can play with just about anyone,” Grossman said. The Yeomen’s fifth game and fourth win came Tuesday night against Trine University. The final score of 8–5 was closer than the team and coaches anticipated. “We really need to play a complete game and really work out playing 60 minutes of offense, defense and transition,” said Grossman. “Right now we’re playing inconsistently, but when we’re all on the same page it’s great. When we try a little too hard we’re not as good. We need to focus on sticking to our basics.” Oberlin outshot Trine 40–21 with goals from Wagman, Firestone and Fox, along with two additional goals from Jackson and a hat trick from Lobley. The Yeomen take on Adrian College next on March 19 and hope to return to Fred Shults Field on March 22 to open North Coast Athletic Conference play against the Ohio Wesleyan Battling Bishops.

Sports

The Oberlin Review, March 14, 2014

Page 15

Women’s Lacrosse Players Yeomen Crush OWU Bishops Collaborate — Men’s Tennis —

Tyler Sloan Staff Writer

With key players resting injuries in the singles matches against the Ohio Wesleyan University Battling Bishops, first-year Yeoman Ian Paik picked up the slack and notched his first singles victory in the No. 1 spot. Paik, a Portland, OR native, won the first set of the match but left Yeomen fans nervous after his opponent teetered on the edge of a comeback. It was not until late in the second set that was he was able to shut down Richie Karban of the Battling Bishops, who Oberlin Head Coach Eric Ishida called Ohio Wesleyan’s best player. “Ian played really well in the first set and answered a late surge by OWU’s best player to win the second set and match,” Ishida said, noting that this was also the most exciting moment of the tournament for the Yeomen. Paik was not the only underclassman to brush off the Battling Bishops’ efforts. Fellow first-years Abraham Davis and Lucas Brown and sophomore Brandon McKenna all won singles victories. In the doubles matches, the Yeomen saw success from power duo senior Charlie Marks and sophomore Callan Louis, last year’s North Coast Athletic Conference Newcomer of the Year, in the No. 1 seed. Junior Soren Zeliger and Davis clinched the No. 2 spot in their doubles event. Ultimately, first-year Paul Farah ended the singles match in the No. 4 spot, concluding Saturday’s events in which the Yeomen quashed the Battling Bishops with an overall 9–0 win. McKenna attributed the success of the team to an increasingly intense work ethic over the past few weeks. “We’ve been competing pretty hard in practice on a daily basis, and, as of late, the intensity and overall energy has risen drastically. I

feel like that’s been a major component in our improvement, and our ability to transfer that intensity from the practice courts to match play was definitely a huge factor in getting that 9–0 win,” McKenna said. This work ethic is evident in the evenly spread success across the team’s roster. With nine out of eleven players competing in Saturday’s events and each one leaving triumphant, the goals are high for the young squad this season. The Yeomen anticipate tougher competition from conference opponents that they will face during spring break. “I feel as though this match, as well as all the others we’ve played in the spring, showed that we can compete with anyone regardless of their level, be it Case Western, Cleveland State University, Wabash, or even OWU. This spring break stretch will really show us how good we really are rather than how good we could be,” Paik said. Although the team has expressed excitement about last weekend’s success, members are tentative about getting overly confident. The Yeomen are set up for a season full of achievements with its young roster, but doubt that Ohio Wesleyan University is representative of other top competition coming from the NCAC. Oberlin will not shy away from the tough level of play that the conference has to offer this season. “I feel good about the team moving forward; we are a much better team this year with lots of variety in the lineup,” Ishida said. “I think we are looking forward to future NCAC West matchups with Wooster, Allegheny and Kenyon. We are also looking forward to playing some central region opponents — DePauw, Carleton and Denison.” Looking forward, the Yeomen will host John Carroll University on Saturday, March 15 at 11 a.m. in the Heisman Club Field House.

Continued from page 16 lot of variability with plays and keeps the other team’s defense on their toes.” Phister led all scorers with a career-high five goals and was joined by a hat trick from Doak. First-year Marissa Maxfield and junior Bronwen Schumacher each added in a pair of goals. The Yeowomen saw scoring from all classes — Andrews and fellow seniors Phoebe Hammer and Hannah Christiansen, Hanick, sophomore Emily Kipling and first-years Puterbaugh, Morgan Daruwala, Heinke-Green and Garelick each added in their own tallies. Phister and Daruwala also led the team in draw controls, with six and five respectively. “It’s so awesome that every teammate is an asset, and there isn’t just one person we rely on,” Hammer said. “Otterbein was a good win for us, especially because they beat us last year,” said Head Coach Lynda McCandlish. “With that said, there are some things we need to work on. It’s really great to see a lot of players score, and I think that having multiple threats on attack will definitely be to our advantage this season.” The Yeowomen look for another victory as they take on Alma College on Saturday at Baldwin Wallace University. Oberlin opens North Coast Athletic Conference play after spring break as the team faces the Kenyon College Ladies on March 29.

Editorial: Emotionally Abusive Coaches Detrimental to Players Continued from page 16 accused of “unwarranted and damaging personal attacks” against BU players. In 2008, two members of the team, also on scholarships, quit because they could “no longer tolerate [Greenberg]’s mistreatment.” Boston University conducted an investigation based on these players’ complaints and came up empty-handed. The official statement was that the allegations “helped Coach Greenberg appreciate that her style has been difficult, and that she has also made substantive mistakes that she deeply regrets.” Clearly, the school did not conduct a thorough investigation. Of the four women who left the team this season, two have left the school ––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––

Athletes are always told to toughen up, work under pressure and constantly improve. But there is a fine line between constructive criticism and emotional abuse. –––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––– for good, one plans to graduate in May and the fourth is unsure of her scholarship status. All four women indicated that they recognize the difference between an aggressive coach and a bully. Greenberg was the latter. “All the screaming and yelling about basketball was fine,” said Dionna Joynes in an interview with The Boston Globe. “Basketball is a contact sport. We have all played for tough coaches. But I went to BU because I believed [Greenberg] was a great coach, and I was shocked by how it turned out.” Joynes reported feeling suicidal and was rushed to the hospital after communicating these feelings to a BU staff member. She eventually left school in November. A coach has the power to make or break your athletic experience. That’s a lot of responsibility centered on one person. Coaches need to strike a balance of constructive criticism, emotional support and player development, instead of making tyrannical attacks on individual players. So what style of coaching is the best? There’s no clear cut, best choice, but there are many examples to follow, such as NFL legend Vince Lombardi. The all-time great was named head coach of the Green Bay Packers after a 1–10–1 season, the worst in franchise history. In his first season as head coach, Lombardi led the Packers to a 7–5 record and was named Coach of the Year. Lombardi was known for his extensive training regimes and his expectation of dedication from all of his players. Lombardi’s style worked and has garnered him a tremendous amount of respect. He led the Green Bay Packers to five NFL championships in seven years. The NFL Super Bowl trophy is named in his honor and he was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1971. No one expects Greenberg to become the next Lombardi, but nevertheless she has a lot of changes to make to her coaching style. She crossed the line and emotionally abused her players. Hopefully this is merely an isolated incident and not a trend. Current NFL and other professional and collegiate coaches should take note. There is a line between constructive criticism and emotional abuse, and to become one of the greats, like Lombardi, that line should be crystal clear.

Sports The Oberlin Review

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March 14, 2014

— Women’s Lacrosse —

Lax Plays to Strengths, Nabs Consecutive Wins Lillian Jahan

Sarah Orbuch Sports Editor

especially against Otterbein, so playing Lourdes and getting to focus on offense was great.” The Yeowomen were indeed focused, scoring 22 goals off of 14 different players. “Our whole team is extremely versatile — each player really has their own special skills that add to the overall talent of the team,” said Hanick. “It’s great to have an offense where each person is a threat to goal. This gives us a See Women’s, page 15

— Men’s Rugby —

Despite Weather, Gruffs Remain Confident Nate Levinson and Sarah Orbuch Sports Editors

Junior captain Andrew Follmann kicks the ball in a match last fall. The Gruffs will play host to Ohio Wesleyan University on April 12 in their first match of the season. Courtesy of T-Fizzle Photography

“The weather is not that great and there’s a lot of snow, but we have had a lot of new guys come in. We have at least six or seven newcomers. Four of those are freshmen,” said sophomore Tim Chung. “I feel like we have a large group of younger interested players that we have not been able to practice with yet because of the snow and the cold. But I feel that the heart is there and among the older new players,

See Editorial, page 15

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The Oberlin men’s rugby football club struggled through its fall season last semester, but spirits are high heading into this spring season. “Spring semester, because we have two to three months to prepare before we play a game, there’s more time to teach our new recruits about the important parts of rugby,” said senior President Matt Kendrick. “The teams we play are also more for fun. We know we’ll get a good game and friendly welcome when we go on the road.” The Gruffs, as the team has been called since 2006, have only three games this semester, but that hasn’t stopped many on the team from setting various goals for the season. “I really want the younger guys to have more of a presence on the team,” said junior captain Andrew Follmann. “I feel like my generation has developed and become the new leaders on the team, and I really want to see the authority of the team passed down and still be a presence and still be running practices but very much see the team develop and maintain its presence both on the campus and in the league.” Although the Gruffs did not graduate many seniors last spring, last semester they had a handful of new talent show up at practices.

the second-semester freshmen, the sophomores that have been coming out, they are already defining aspects of the organization,” Follman added. Due to inclement weather and lack of practice space, the Gruffs have spent part of the semester focusing on team development and building an alumni network. “It’s really great. I am really happy to see the Gruffs grow as an organization and become more institutionalized,” Follmann said. “We are building an alumni network. I am really happy with how the Gruff community is realizing itself.” Even with the snow, the Gruffs remain confident that this season will be a success and are ready for their games to begin. “This season, with considerable more time to train our new members, we’re going to have more success,” Kendrick said. For Follman, the spring season is exciting because it provides an opportunity for the team to decide its schedule. “Fortunately in the spring we decide our own schedules, so we try to avoid playing teams that we have poor times playing. No Black Swamp Mercenaries, no Ohio Northern, no bad blood this semester; it’s going to be a fun season, a more relaxed season,” he said. The Gruffs begin their season at home against the Battling Bishops of Ohio Wesleyan University on April 12.

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score. After their Saturday victory, Oberlin had a quick turnaround before playing host to Lourdes University on Monday afternoon at the All Pro Athletic Center. The Yeowomen made quick work of the Gray Wolves, defeating them 22–6. “This game was a great opportunity to work on our offense,” said first-year Sloane Garelick. “The defense we play involves a lot of communication, which I think we were successful with,

with two assists. Fellow sophomore Suzanna Doak and junior Kate Hanick each added a pair of goals, and first-years Hannah Heinke-Green and Sara Phister each netted a goal of their own. Heinke-Green also added an assist in the victory. The first 10 minutes of the game were close, with Oberlin only up 2–1, both goals a result of Barlow’s efforts. The Yeowomen ended the half up 4–1 and came out strong in the second half in response to a quick Otterbein

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Junior midfielder Kate Hanick sprints down the field against Otterbein University. Hanick has scored three goals and added one assist in the Yeowomen’s first two games. Courtesy of Erik Andrews

We’ve all had that coach: the one who makes you do extra laps after practice, unnecessarily blows the whistle and makes you wake up at the crack of dawn to foster “mental toughness.” It’s the coaches’ jobs to be tough on their players, make them work harder and push them past their limits. Given the job description, it can be difficult to determine how much pressure is too much. Every player takes criticism differently. For some, being told that they are underperforming can be motivation to work harder, while for others it can be emotionally damaging. Athletes are always told to toughen up, work under pressure and constantly improve. But there is a fine line between constructive criticism and emotional abuse. When does a coach yelling “You’re too slow!” become a personal attack? If and when players feel targeted, they are often uncomfortable speaking up because they fear it will impact their playing time or be detrimental to their already shaky relationship with their coach. At Boston University, members of the women’s basketball team found themselves with no choice but to report their coach after one teammate felt so emotionally damaged that she contemplated suicide. Two other players said that their coach’s emotional abuse ruined their love for the sport, while another sought mental health care. All four women were attending Boston University on $60,000-a-year athletic scholarships. This is the second time that their head coach Kelly Greenberg has been

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The Oberlin women’s lacrosse team started its season off strong with two wins, defeating the Otterbein University Cardinals last weekend and the Lourdes University Gray Wolves this past Monday. “Playing Otterbein and Lourdes was helpful in gauging how our team plays on a full field and how our offensive and defensive plays can be utilized during the season,” said junior Kate Hanick. “Even though these weren’t teams that significantly tested us, I think we’re more comfortable as a team now, and we know what we really need to work on for our upcoming games.” Hanick and the rest of the Yeowomen look at this strong start as a way to keep the team hungry for more wins, especially as they meet tougher competition. “Starting the season off in this way definitely sets the expectations pretty high up and gives us confidence heading into the upcoming games,” said first-year Michaela Puterbaugh. In their season opener, the Yeowomen beat the Cardinals 10–3 and saw contributions from five different Yeowomen. The team also dominated the ground ball battle, winning 31 to Otterbein’s 21. Sophomore Grace Barlow led all scorers with four goals, along

Abusive Coaches Cross Line