May 9, 2014

The Oberlin Review

MAY 9, 2014 VOLUME 142, NUMBER 24

Local News Bulletin News briefs from the past week Oberlin Alums Run Adult Summer Camp Danielle Polyak, OC ’09, Amiel Stanek, OC ’10, and Davey Field, OC ’11, will be joining forces this summer to facilitate Skill Set, a new retreat for young adults. The program, which comprises a series of workshops and discussions, hopes to provide young adults with an outlet to hone their life skills. According to the website, retreat attendees will “work on ... the vital skills of listening, leadership, critical self-reflection … career, family, identity and social change.

[Attendees will] also [share] experiences as cooks, carpenters, nd wilderness explorers.”

The alums will be joined by six other facilitators, all aged 22-30.

City Purchases Hybrid Trucks Oberlin City Council approved the purchase of three hybrid garbage and recycling trucks Monday night, making Oberlin the first city in Ohio to use the energy-efficient vehicles. The purchase comes after all six of the city’s garbage and recycling trucks were destroyed in a fire at the Public Works Complex in February.

The city has replaced two vehicles already and has rented the remaining vehicles to service its residents. Although the hybrid trucks cost the city $1.1 million, a $10,000 per vehicle grant from the College’s Green EDGE Fund and a $200,000 grant from the state’s Environmental Protection Agency will help fund the purchase.

Anonymous Pooper Strikes at Tank An unknown individual defecated in Tank Co-op’s oven Thursday, causing co-op officials to cancel both the lunch and dinner meals. The food safety and sanitary hazards have since been addressed, and meals are continuing as scheduled.

Primary Voters Approve Tax Hike Elizabeth Dobbins Staff Writer

Despite a turnout rate that many officials are referring to as “abysmal,” Lorain County residents convened at the polls this Tuesday to cast their votes in the Ohio primary. Ballot features included gubernatorial candidates as well as numerous state and local issues. Several of the more potent results of the election include the approval of Issue 22, an Oberlin tax levy that will raise the income tax in Oberlin by three-fifths of one percent and the rejection of Issue 11, a Lorain tax levy proposed to fund county transit.

In the gubernatorial primaries, Cuyahoga County Democratic Executive Ed Fitzgerald swept the ballot, defeating democratic opponent and exstripper Larry Ealy by a steep margin.

Fitzgerald will go on to face incumbent governor John Kasich in the fall.

“Fitzgerald is talking about a lot of issues that … Kasich just can’t defeat him on, like education in the area and how much money [Kasich] has cut toward education or women’s rights,” OC Democrats Co-chair and doubledegree fifth-year Eric Fischer said.

“Things [like] that need to be talked about throughout the state, [but] Kasich can’t address [them] because he doesn’t have credibility on those issues.”

Fitzgerald’s gubernatorial platform largely echoes his county execu-

Voters converge outside of Philips gym to campaign for Janet Garret, a write-in candidate from Oberlin who ran for U.S. Congress in the Ohio primary election on Tuesday. Some other ballot features included Issue 22, Issue 11 and the Democratic and Republican primaries.

Effie Kline-Salamon

tive campaign, with emphasis on job creation, worker protection, education and spending cuts in Columbus and spending in education. As county executive, Fitzgerald sheared the county payroll by nearly $25 million, reworked a failing property reappraisal system and offered employee health insurance, sewer maintenance and

See page 4

other services to municipalities.

Although many see the candidate as highly successful, Fitzgerald’s campaign has had several lowlights.

Conservatory Senior and President of Oberlin College Republicans and Libertarians Taylor Reiners identifies his choice in running mate as one of the campaigns greater failures.

“He had to get rid of his first choice for Lt. Governor, Eric Kearney, because he owed over 800 thousand dollars in unpaid taxes,” said Reiners in an email to the Review.

Throughout his term, Kasich has eliminated the largest budget shortfall See Fitzgerald, page 4

New Coalition Aims to Revitalize Local Economy Emma Paul Since its founding last year, the Oberlin Community Benefits Coalition has pursued involvement in the construction of a new Oberlin public school for grades K-12. At a school board meeting on April 22, the group presented its vision for the school: a project the Coalition considers capable of revitalizing the community by providing job training and employment.

“It started because we knew there was a school being developed in town,” said Ruth Palmer, a cospokesperson of OCBC. “There were a couple of facts we knew already. One is that we knew there was a core of people in this town that don’t have jobs. We also know this is reflected in that 50 percent of the children in our schools are eligible for free or reduced lunches, which shows people are not being paid enough to be able to buy lunch for their kids. So our thought was, if we’re going to build a school, it’s important that people who live here in this town are able to buy lunch for their kids.”

The new school has become a symbol for OCBC, representing more than new classrooms for the town’s students.

“When we knew there was a school being built, we saw this as an opportunity for our community to build a great school, because education is so important to get out of poverty, but also to give people who are in poverty the ability to get themselves out,” Palmer added. “One of the things that we are asking in our agreement is not only for people to be able to work during the building of this school, but that they are also able to have a career that will take them the rest of their lives.”

OCBC describes the Community Benefits Agreement, its current project, as a pact between developer and community, covering major development and construction projects to ensure that benefits will be spread across the whole community.

In the building of Oberlin’s school, OCBC asked that local workers be hired and paid a living wage, that those workers represent the diversity of the community, and that lasting training programs be established to build the local workforce and supply people with the skills they need for sustainable careers.

CBAs have been widely used across the country.

According to Arlene Dunn, another co-spokesperson for OCBC, they are gaining momentum.

“They’re reaching critical mass,” she said.

Kiss My Ace

Frack Off The OCRL hosted a fracking panel yesterday evening.

ESTABLISHED 1874 oberlinreview.org

ONLINE & IN PRINT

Playing With Fire Oberlin College Aerialists fused aerial tricks, acrobatics and open flames in their outdoor showcase last Friday.

See page 10

INDEX:

Opinions 5

This Week in Oberlin 8

Senior women’s tennis player Brenna Sheldon is leaving Oberlin on top.

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Arts 10

Sports 16

However, CBAs have not been free of criticism.

Some see the agreements as a means for developers to push less desirable projects by paying off the community with adjunct projects, such as adding a public park to compensate for the construction of a superstore that would ultimately close down local businesses. In other parts of the country, there have been legal issues surrounding CBAs and their alleged use of contract zoning. Contract zoning refers to the practice by which a local legislative body circumvents established ordinances by giving its power to a private party to secure rights to certain properties. CBAs have been criticized for removing the transparency of that public process by acting as private parties instead of community advocacy groups.

OCBC has established a framework to avoid those failures by requiring transparency in the decision-making process and shared responsibility for conformity to the agreement.

If the agreement is adopted, the group anticipates many benefits for Oberlin. By bringing about the employment of more members of the community, OCBC hopes to support a locally sustainSee OCBC, page 4

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The Oberlin Review, May 9, 2014

Judicial Advocacy Group Offers Peer-to-Peer Legal Support Julia Herbst Editor-in-Chief When Helen Lai received a judicial letter from ResEd after failing a life safety inspection, she turned to fellow College senior Mac Muir for advice.

“Honestly, I don’t know what I would have done if he wasn’t there,” Lai said. “I think I probably would have made a fool of myself or been more aggressive or more scared of the situation.”

Muir, a Politics major and Africana Studies minor, has become an informal source of information, advocacy and emotional support for many students who have been involved in the school’s judicial proceedings, academic probation or the sexual offense process.

In Lai’s case, Muir met with her to explain the process and then served as her student advocate during a meeting with Timothy Little, the area coordinator for Village Housing and offcampus students. Lai said that she had to work the Village Housing event Rock the Block for three hours in order to “enter back into the community as a responsible citizen,” but that no charges were filed, and she wasn’t fined.

Many of the cases Muir has advised on were more serious than Lai’s, and generally resulted in more severe consequences — including expulsion — for involved students. Despite the range of outcomes, Muir believes that student advocacy is greatly needed on campus.

“I’ve lived in Afrikan Heritage House my entire time here except for when I’ve been living off campus, and that, I think, really exposed me to a lack of support from the school,” Muir said.

“Last semester, as far as I know, at least five Oberlin students of color were expelled for academic reasons — some folks on their last semester of school. And I’m thinking, ‘These are some of the brightest people I’ve spent time around at Oberlin, and they’re no longer going to have a chance to get this degree.’ And that’s been really frustrating for me, and I think I have the opportunity to change that in a certain way and provide support.”

Muir got the idea to create a group of student advocates, tentatively called Oberlin Peer Advocates, while working in Colorado during spring semester of last year. Last Winter Term, Muir, along with two other students who wished to remain anonymous, created a six-page document outlining a plan for a student advocacy group. In their mission statement, they stressed that the organization would be student-centric in nature.

“As members of the Oberlin College student body, we have identified the need in our community for a student-run orga-

College senior Mac Muir meets with fellow students in order to discuss objectives of his new organization, Oberlin Peer Advocates. The organization will work to pair students in need of support with peer student advocates.

Rachel Grossman

nization that operates to assist Oberlin students in navigating the College’s bureaucracy with an overarching goal of providing an autonomous, accessible and confidential source of information and support,” they wrote. “We envision a student advocacy group … that seeks to provide multiple forms of creative and flexible solutions that cater to the needs of the student body.”

The group could also remedy what Muir sees as a need for long-term aid from peers involved in these processes.

“Right now, there’s a real lack of student support for students going through those processes, and there’s no semblance, as far as I can see, of long-term support for those folks,” he said. “So when people leave the process, it’s ‘Best of luck getting back into the community and having a successful academic career,’ and the idea of this would be providing both short- and long-term plans for success for students who go through these processes.”

According to a Conservatory sophomore who underwent judicial proceedings after being accused of trafficking drugs by another student, and agreed to be interviewed on the condition of anonymity, involving student advocates in the judicial process enables students to better represent themselves.

“I’m not a huge fan of the legal system right now, but it’s better than what Oberlin offered me,” the student said. “There’s more of a safety net; there’s more things in place to defend yourself. … It’s going to allow someone in my position to have a group of people that they can talk to who know everything there is to know about this, or who have been through it, and can console them and See Senior, page 4

Conservatory Council Restarted After a Decade, Student Officers Announced Kristopher Fraser Staff Writer The Conservatory announced the results of the election for the newly revived Council of Students on Friday morning. Just over 41 percent of Conservatory and Musical Studies students voted to elect double-degree junior Hannah Santisi president; Jeanette Chen vice president; doubledegree senior Rebecca Achtenberg treasurer; and Conservatory junior Katie Skayhan secretary.

Following the events of March 4, 2013, Conservatory students and faculty members created the Conservatory Working Group, an organization that seeks to address issues of hiring and diversity in the Conservatory. Next year, the working group will assimilate into the Conservatory Council of Students, a body that has been dormant for the past decade. The group aims to bridge the gap between student and administrative goals and improve communication between the two bodies. “[The purpose of the group is to] facilitate effective communication between students and the administration, with the hope that the organization will be able to empower students and retain students in marginalized communities as

well as improve diversity in Conservatory culture,” Conservatory senior Michelle Ellison said in an email to the Review. “[The group will] also be a support system for students whose voices are silenced behind their musical capabilities.”

The Council will also serve as an outlet for students to voice their concerns. Current issues expressed by Conservatory students include the poor quality of practice rooms and a lack of diversity.

“Friends express to me how they’ve sometimes felt that their concerns go unheard. It is important to me that we address these concerns to create the most ideal space to learn and to grow through our art and fully utilize our resources,” said Chen, who was elected vice president, in her candidate statement.

Additionally, the Council plans to address the divide between Conservatory students and administration.

“The divide is masked in staff and faculty prioritizing the musical advantages from the talents of [their] students over the other aspects that inform our identities,” Ellison said. “Other interests outside the Conservatory suddenly become ‘othered’ or ‘less than’ because those ide-

The Oberlin Review — Established 1874 —

Volume 142, 140, Number 24 2

(ISSN 297–256)

May 9, 2014

Published by the students of Oberlin College every Friday during the fall and spring semesters, except holidays and examination periods.

Advertising rates: $18 per column inch. Second-class postage paid at Oberlin, Ohio.

Entered as second-class matter at the Oberlin, Ohio post office April 2, 1911.

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als are not glorified in the Conservatory. Also, [it stems from] the idea that Western European classical music is the ‘end-all, be-all’ and that it is the main thing we as Oberlin Conservatory students should study or qualify as legitimate or professional music. Also, the discriminatory language and actions applied to students and the music or topics that address matters of people of color, LGBTQIA folks, or those with disabilities.”

Olivia Boen, Conservatory Council of Students candidate and Conservatory sophomore also believes such issues are a priority.

“I’m also a supporter of the social justice issues that people are very focused on,” Boen said. “That’s not just something that will be fixed overnight or in a year; that’s a long-term thing. I think it’s important to take care of the little things as we go and increase dialogues between students and administration and among students within themselves.”

Not only does the Council hope to improve communication between students and administration, but some candidates expressed hope that it will also help connect students in different years.

Rosemary Liv Boeglin Combe Allegra JuliaKirkland Herbst Samantha Julian Ring Link RosemaryKate Boeglin Gill Madeline Alex Howard Stocker Opinions editor SophiaWill Ottoni-Wilhelm Rubenstein This Week Weekeditor editor Zoë Sarah Strassman Snider Arts editors Phoebe Kara Hammer Brooks Anne Georgia Pride-Wilt Horn Sports editors Nate Quinn Levinson Hull Madeleine SarahO’Meara Orbuch Layout editors Abby Tiffany Carlstad Fung Ben TaliaGarfinkel Rodwin Alanna Sarah Sandoval Snider Photo editors Effie Kline-Salamon Olivia Gericke BrannonRachel Rockwell-Charland Grossman Online editor Business manager Jesse Alanna Neugarten Bennett Editors-in-chief Editors-in-Chief

Managing editor News editors

“I would love to see more connection between underclassman and upperclassman, whether it’s creating a younger sibling-older sibling program,” Boen said. “I’d love to bridge the gap for future students, whether it’s creating student-run tours for all the string students, or vocal students, I don’t know exactly how that would happen, but that is one thing I’d really love to do. Just to have more communication at the beginning of the year.”

Skayhan, who was elected secretary, hopes to improve communication between majors and increase professional development opportunities. “[I want] to work on more community in the [Conservatory] between departments and providing an opportunity for other majors getting to know each other,” Skayhan said. “For me as a vocalist, I tend to socialize with a lot of singers, [but] I’ve also come to rely on my friends in other degrees I just wish more people had an opportunity to get to know people in ways I’ve gotten to know [people]. I’d really like to see more professional development workshops as well, and Creativity and Leadership to help provide opportunity with students, and work on website building, and do things that bring people together and have a preprofessional goal as well.”

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Corrections: In “Althetics Department Adopts New Trans* Corrections Policy” (May 2, 2014) the Review mistakenly attributed following Thethe Review is notquote awaretoof(College junior) Emily Clarke: “I know any corrections thisthere week.are transgender students on campus, and I would love toThe make this easier Review strivesfortosomeone print allto feel comfortable on as playing on an intercollegiate information accurately as possible. teamIf or a club sport. ” The statement you feel the Review has made should an have been attributed to Betsy Bruce,to director error, please send an e-mail ofmanagingeditor@oberlinreview.org. recreation and club sports. Clarke was also misquoted as saying, “Oberlin is fairly progressive.”

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The Oberlin Review, May 9, 2014

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Off the Cuff: Hannah S-P and Lonnie Bass, Slow Train baristas College senior Lonnie Bass and Hannah Scharlin-Pettee OC ’13 are baristas at the Slow Train Café. Bass has been a barista for two years, while Scharlin-Peettee began brewing this past fall. Bass and S-P sat down with the Review to discuss coffee, the Vengaboys and their strangest moments on the job.

How did you land the job here?

HSP: I graduated [last spring], then I applied, but I was smart about it. I applied several months before I wanted to start, because I knew this place was very competitive for hiring.

LB: I’m obsessed with coffee. I’ve been obsessed with coffee since I was 14, and this seemed like an excellent place to work. And I had just discovered this place as a haven to do homework and see my friends; working here seemed like a seamless transition ... I did my training shifts with all the original staff, the first wave of people who had worked here, which was really cool –– The Vengaboys.

Is that what they were called?

LB: Yes. So our coffee machine is named the Venga-bus, and it says ‘we like to party’ on it. And there was like a Vengaboys obsession. They [ultimately] banned the Vengaboys Pandora station; it was a little intense for Slow Train.

HSP: The way we play music at Slow Train is we have a business Pandora that plays appropriate music. It’ll censor stuff.

LB: The Vengaboys station is very upbeat.

HSP: It sucks. It’s terrible. It’s a lot of European House and techno.

And who established the prohibition on the Vengaboys?

LB: Our boss.

And the old wave of Slow Train baristas, do you think they’ve achieved a semilegend status?

HSP: Yes, and it’s because they all were on the soccer team, and they were all pretty attractive.

LB: They were all hot bros.

HSP: Then [word got out and] it was this coffee shop with hot bros.

Thursday, May 1 10:10 p.m. A student reported the theft of a backpack from a study carrel in Mudd Library. The backpack was later located by officers under a different carrel in Mudd. The backpack was returned to the owner with all items intact.

Friday, May 2 2:39 p.m. Officers responded to a report of damage to the door lock at the Bike Co-op. The center piece of the lock was missing and

ing, and now he’s so obsessed with it; it’s nuts. He’ll be like, ‘what is the difference between a pour-over of an Ethiopian when you have 23.5 grams versus 23 grams?’ And we’re like, ‘probably nothing, Liam.’ It completely pays off.

He only works at The Local, and they have stepped it up so hard, and I think it’s partly because he’s taken on a bigger role in the coffee making. When the Local first opened, the major distinction between The Local and Slow Train was supposed to be that The Local would be mostly to-go. We didn’t even have ceramic-ware when we first opened.

We were hoping it would take away the to-go traffic from Slow Train, but then people would find the two chairs in The Local and just sit down there and drink their coffee. It turned into a more artisan place, but that wasn’t its original purpose.

Hannah Scharlin-Petee and Lonnie Bass, Slow Train workers

Why did they all end up working here, do you think?

HSP: Both of our owners were into soccer.

LB: Jessa [an owner] is Blake’s wife, and Blake is the boys’ soccer coach. And Zack played soccer when he went to Oberlin.

HSP: It’s soccer city.

LB: I feel like a lot of people don’t know that.

You’re not going to be working here for much longer, how does that feel?

LB: It’s a little weird, definitely. I’ve been looking into similar coffee shops where I might work. I don’t know, this place has [changed a lot] since I started working here. I had a stint at The Local then I came back here. I’ve worked anywhere from 18 to 28 hours per week. It’s been crazy, but I’ll miss it.

What’s the weirdest thing that’s ever happened on the job?

LB: Hannah works when all the weirdos come in. She closes a lot more than I do, and the late night customers [tend to be weirder]. Maybe they’re drunk, I don’t know. Laughs. Late night customers definitely make for better stories than the midday ones.

HSP: I’ve gotten hit on a few times,

the deadbolt did not work. Nothing appeared to be missing inside.

A locksmith responded for repair.

7:22 p.m. A student reported the theft of his cell phone from the basketball court area at Philips gym. The phone is a black iPhone 4 with a black case. The phone is valued at approximately $250.

9:54 p.m. Officers were requested to assist with a student ill from alcohol consumption at an Elm Street house. Paramedics also responded and the student was transported by ambulance to Mercy Allen Hospital for treatment.

Saturday, May3 12:16 a.m. Facilities staff reported someone on the roof of the

and I think other co-workers have gotten hit on in creepier ways. A friend of mine was on the job, and one of the customers was secretly filming her. I had a customer come up to me who just bought chocolate-covered blueberries at Ben Franklin and was like, ‘Can I feed one to you?’ [A few weeks ago] I was at the counter, and this kid came up and said, ‘If I blow your mind with a magic trick will you give me free coffee?’ And I said, ‘Yeah, you can try.’ And then he did.

He blew your mind?

HSP: Yeah. It was insane.

What did he do?

HSP: I don’t know. Sorcery, man. He just did some basic card tricks that I’m sure any aspiring magician would know.

Are you a coffee snob now?

HSP: No. Some of us are. And this is going to sound really snobby, but we’re a third-wave coffee shop. It’s not like a Starbucks. Coffee art is a thing here. If you go to The Local, they’re really serious there, like scientific shit. There’s this guy Liam who works for us, and he is passionate about coffee.

LB: He’s a freshman in the College, and he’s from Oberlin. And he wasn’t into coffee at all when he started work-

Service Building with beer. The student was located and climbed down the west wall of the building.

He was advised of the dangers.

6:50 a.m. A student reported injuring her ankle when she tripped while walking in the area near Bailey/East drive. The student was transported to Mercy Allen Hospital for treatment.

10:42 p.m. Officers responded to a possible natural gas odor at the Science Center. Members of the Oberlin Fire Department also responded and checked the area; no gas was detected.

11:53 p.m. Officers responded to an anonymous call of students burning plastic at East Hall. A plastic “wet floor” sign and a poster were found on the partially

Any favorite anecdotes?

HSP: Yes! So this one time, two students [were] having sex in the bathroom … at noon. In the middle of the day, we always clean the bathroom. One of our staff was trying to get in, and they were waiting and waiting and no one came out. After a while, a girl leaves, then a minute later a guy leaves the same bathroom. We were grossed out. As a word of advice to all students, don’t have sex in our bathrooms. [That said] we are fortunate to have the nicest customer base.

Anything else to add about your experience?

HSP: We’re cool as shit. Everyone knows Slow Train baristas are the sexiest baristas.

LB: We have a reputation for being sexy and here’s my theory: it’s not actually true, but the cool factor makes people think we’re sexier than we are.

HSP: I think the cool factor is the bar.

We have a space that gives us power over you. And everyone loves Slow Train.

burned floor of Stewart wing partially burned. The incident is under investigation.

Sunday, May 4 3:31 p.m. A student reported injuring her ankle while jumping in a bounce castle in Wilder Bowl.

The tudent was transported to Mercy Allen Hospital for treatment.

Monday, May 5 11:17 a.m. Custodial staff reported observing vandalism in the restroom on the third floor of the Conservatory. Window blinds were stuffed into the toilet, causing it to clog. A plumber responded for repair.

Interview by Kate Gill, News editor Photo by Kate Gill

8:05 p.m. Officers and paramedics were requested to assist with a student who was injured in the second floor stairwell at Mudd Library. The student was transported by ambulance to Mercy Allen Hospital for treatment.

Tuesday, May 6 7:45 a.m. Grounds staff reported broken glass on the front steps of a Goldsmith apartment.

An officer responded and also observed glass near the apartment next door near the north of the driveway. A work order was filed for cleanup.

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The Oberlin Review, May 9, 2014

Fitzgerald Sweeps Ballot, Prepares to Face Kasich Continued from page 4 in state history. His term is marked by a $3 billion tax cut, achieved through the elimination of the death tax, a 10 percent decrease in income tax and a 50 percent decrease in taxes for small businesses. Under Kasich, Ohio has become a national leader in job creation, and the administration has seen a recent surge in approval ratings.

Some, however, see his budget cuts as misguided. College sophomore and OC Democrats Co-chair Madeline Peltz cites these cuts as part of the reason tax levies, such as Issue 22, are necessary.

“Kasich has cut local government budgets across the board and lowered state taxes, but what has happened [is] that local taxes have needed to be raised because [of] the infrastructure … Issue 22 is a symptom of that,” said Peltz.

Issue 22, which received much more media attention than its peer amendments, proposed the raise of Oberlin income tax from 1.9 to 2.5 percent. Such an increase would pad the city’s steadily declining budget. A 42 percent reduction of local government funds, the elimination of the estate tax and lower interest rates due to the poor economy have all forced the city of Oberlin to use its own reserves to fund this year’s budget.

The revenue garnered from the tax hike will also enlarge the city’s general fund, which is used both to pay Oberlin’s 150 full-time and 60 part-

time employees and to fund the city’s police, fire and parks and recreation departments.

“One of the reasons we’re hoping that the voters approve this now [is] because, if we continue to use reserves, it’s kind of like killing the goose that laid the golden egg,” Sal Talarico Oberlin’s Finance Director said. “It eliminates yet another source of revenue, because eventually the interest rates will come back.”

Though Issue 22 passed this Tuesday with strong support, staunch opposition remains. Former City Council member David Ashenhurst contended the legality of the issue, claiming it did not receive enough council votes to be on the May ballot. This claim was proven to be unfounded, and the issue made an appearance in Tuesday’s election. Associate Professor of Philosophy Tim Hall is one of several other residents who believe that this tax increase was unnecessary.

“The city of Oberlin has steadily increased its tax rate since 2001, when I moved here. The city generally spends money well in excess of necessary city services. It is this fact that I would highlight to Oberlin residents, rather than any reductions in state spending,” said Hall in an email to the Review.

Different views are held by City Councilmen Scott Broadwell and Talarico, who see the tax hike as necessary for the city’s economic security.

“I am obviously very pleased. I had no idea last night how this would pan out in the end; I am not only pleased with the result, but also the margin of passage,” said City Council President Broadwell in an email to the Review.

“As I said before, the state has balanced its budget by cutting our funding without providing replacement revenue. If we had not lost those revenue sources, there would have been no need for this income tax increase.”

Another widely campaigned feature of Tuesday’s election was Issue 11, the tax levy to raise money for transit in Lorain County. The issue, which proposed creating a revenue stream through an annual cumulative property tax of $400,000, failed to garner the majority of voter support.

“As is the case with all but a few goods and services, there is no special reason to have government-run buses or other automotive transportation services,” Hall said. “If the point of the measure is to increase benefits to the poor, a straightforward increase in welfare benefits should be proposed.”

This is not the first time the transit issue has been defeated, as voters shot down a previous levy request of $250,000 in last year’s primary. Supporters of the levy hope to push to have a transit levy on the ballot again in this November’s election.

“There are an awful lot of people that depend upon public transit to get to jobs, to get to school, training

Feature Photo: Frack Panel

From left to right: Thomas Stewart, executive vice president of Ohio Oil and Gas Association, Shawn Bennett, Ohio field director of energy In Depth and Linda Woggon, executive vice president of the Ohio Chamber of Commerce.

The panel, dubbed “Frack Panel: Diverse Perspectives on Fracking” was organized by the Oberlin College Republicans and Libertarians, and held on Thursday evening in the Nancy Schrom Dye Lecture Hall. According to Conservatory senior and President of OCRL Taylor Reiners, State Senator Gayle Manning and Professor of Petroleum Engineering Robert Chase of Marietta College also expressed interest in the panel, but were unable to participate due to scheduling conflicts. “Fracking is an issue that we felt would be of interest to a large segment of the student body,” Reiners said. “We decided to invite multiple speakers to discuss a variety of issues related to the environmental, economic and social impacts of fracking.” Anti-Frack member and College first-year Katie O’Connor disagreed. “The panel, which was advertised as a space for ‘diverse’ perspectives, was clearly a forum for industry reps to spew propaganda,” said O’Connor in an email to the Review. “Concerns about public health, corporate dominance, and disruption of communities were belittled and voices drowned out with industry-approved figures, as they so often are by fracking corporations.” The OCRL worked closely with the Oberlin College Democrats and the Office of the President to bring the event to organize the event.

Effie Kline-Salamon

so they can get a job… [It] just give[s] people the opportunity to do their day to day activities,” Broadwell said.

The OC Democrats were also excited about U.S. Congress write-in candidate Janet Garrett. After the 2010 census, the Oberlin area was redistricted and Republican incumbent Jim Jordan’s district. With no Democrats running in the primary race, Garrett needed only 50 write-in votes to be on November’s ballot. As of print, the results have not been announced, but Garret is expected to receive enough votes.

“She has a long career as a public school teacher. She has strong convictions about living wage, preserving social security, equal rights for all, and we really need Democratic persons from Ohio who can take those positions,” said Kendal resident John Elder, OC ’53.

Elder sent mailings to fellow Kendal residents in support of Garrett’s candidacy. He not only supports her platform, but also said he sees her candidacy as a strategic way to combat Tea Party candidates in other districts.

“The incumbent republican congressperson is a strong Tea Party Republican, and if we can keep him tied down in his own district, having to campaign here, spend money here, then he won’t be able, as he could if there were no opposition, go and support Tea Party candidates running for

Congress in other districts,” Elder said.

Fitzgerald won by an almost 60 percent margin in the gubernatorial primary against Larry Ealy, a subur–––––––––––––––––––––––––––

“She has a long career as a public school teacher.

She has strong convictions about living wage, preserving social security, equal rights for all, and we really need Democratic persons from Ohio who can take those positions.”

John Elder, OC ’53 Kendal Resident ––––––––––––––––––––––––––– ban Dayton resident. Ealy, with at least 37 guilty court verdicts and no campaign money, was able to gather over 1,000 signatures, enough to earn him a spot on the primary ballot.

Charlie Earl, the Libertarian nominee for governor, was bumped off the primary ballot after his professional signature gatherers allegedly failed to list their employer. Earl may still appear on the November ballot and, if so, is expected to siphon votes from Governor Kasich.

Senior Looks to Bridge Campus Divides Continued from page 2 explain to them what they’re going to experience and how to go about dealing with it in the best way possible.”

Although Muir believes the current system — wherein class deans meet with students who are on academic probation — to be positive, he said that students could support their classmates further, thereby unburdening the administration.

“Deans are overworked in so many capacities,” he said. “Whenever people are critical of the administration, you need to be attentive of the fact that deans have an incredible amount of responsibility. They came into the school looking to be involved in education, and yet they’re handling a lot of incredibly difficult situations.

And so what’s better to say, [than] ‘Hey, we as students want to take control over some of this.’ “ As part of this effort, Muir led a recruiting and informational session last night in Mudd to discuss the fledgling group. He hopes to hold other such sessions throughout finals period in order to garner support among students, especially underclassmen, who can continue advocacy work after he graduates this semester.

Currently, Muir envisions that this process will include an anonymous Facebook forum

similar to Oberlin Confessions, in which students can seek assistance from the group anonymously, rather than relying on wordof-mouth to discover the service. At Thursday’s meeting, participants decided to get the forum up and running by this summer.

He believes that the entire community can benefit from this sort of support, given the potential to bring students from different parts of campus together while providing the opportunity for them to practice advocacy.

“I think that in the cases where I’ve worked with folks, it’s been humanizing and helpful to have someone there to say, ‘How are we going to do this?’ “said Muir. “There’s a sense of public defense and I think that’s where there’s a big appeal to the Oberlin campus. …We get a Law and Society major with very few chances to practically apply those skills. Even within politics there are all sorts of majors. These are folks that may want to be public defenders. Why not have a way for folks to learn how to advocate for student members and at the same time build a stronger community? I see really great value in that.”

OCBC Advocates for Local Job Creation Continued from page 1 able economy to raise standards of living. Local wealth means more purchasing power within the community. For the school, this means families will be able to provide more support for their children.

“We’re leaving out a whole bunch of people because of poverty, because of not having money and jobs,” Palmer said. “We’re

leaving out all these people, and we want that to change.”

Dunn agreed, adding, “We’re not looking for handouts just for the poor community. This should benefit the whole community.”

Both Palmer and Dunn view the OCBC as an extension of Oberlin’s tradition of progress.

“Oberlin has always been one of the communities in the country that has always pushed for equality,” Dunn explained.

“They’ve always done that, and this is a thing we want to do again, to lead the way in equality as well as excellence. This is what we’re hoping to achieve: a new way of doing business, because the old way is not working anymore, because we’re leaving a group of people who could be paying taxes, who could be getting their children better able to compete in the world,” Dunn said.

Opinions The Oberlin Review

May 9, 2014

Letters to the Editors Continuing Campus Conversation About Inclusion To the Editor: Perhaps inadvertently, inclusion was a theme of the last issue of the Review, with stories about the new trans* policy and the controversy surrounding Solarity. This illustrates the prominent place of debates about diversity and inclusion in campus politics and College policy more broadly.

Because inclusion is (rightly) an issue of such urgent concern here, the concept and its practice deserve more critical scrutiny than they receive. To begin with, it’s worth noting that the verb “include” comes from the Latin includere, which is translated variously as “to shut in, enclose, imprison, insert.” Its linguistic roots hardly carry the positive connotations that accompany “inclusion” in contemporary politics.

These dark roots are reflected, I think, in historical and contemporary policies and practices of inclusion. For example, in the original U.S. constitution, African Americans were infamously “included” in the political community — as three-fifths of a person. This linguistic and political trick “worked” not only because of anti-black racism, but because of the way that this racism could be adorned with the democratic trappings of inclusive politics. Its effect, moreover, was one of both insertion and imprisonment. African Americans were inserted into the political community, as bodies and persons that were not seen to properly belong, and they were imprisoned in it by the terms of their inclusion. To ask for more was impermissible. To leave would be to lose what meager trappings they were granted.

The persistence of exclusionary and racialized inequality, exploitation and domination suggest that the terms of African-American “inclusion” continue to do their work today.

The histories of African Americans and trans* Americans are very different ones, though they overlap at the fraught intersec-

tions of racial and gender identity. Nevertheless, the lessons of the history of African-American “inclusion” should give us pause when we think about trans* inclusion at Oberlin. On what terms will we include? On formally equal terms, no doubt. But at what price equality? Are we, too, improper bodies and persons inserted into the Oberlin community? Is our impropriety somehow to be made “proper”?

Are we, too, imprisoned in a community by the very terms of our inclusion? Will a trans*-inclusive policy imprison us in our very trans*-ness, so that in a fundamental sense who we are is not up to us? Will it mark us, indelibly, with the sign of disturbing difference?

Undoubtedly, this is not the intent of the policy or its drafters, to whom we should be very grateful for their hard and thoughtful work. But as we strive to make Oberlin a more inclusive community, we should think very, very carefully about what we are doing.

– Jade Schiff Politics Department

Tom Reid and the Oberlin College Lanes To the Editor: I have known Tom through various social relationships. He is my coach, boss, instructor and mentor. I share many interests with him, ranging from our love for baseball to a mutual admiration of 1960s and 1970s folk rock music. I admire the way that Tom maintains a cool demeanor in just about every situation and thinks critically and thoughtfully before teaching a lesson or answering a question. I have learned just as much from my interactions with Tom as I have through all of the wonderful classes and experiences I have enjoyed here at Oberlin.

Tom has said that the most important thing about bowling is the relationships we make with the people around us. I did not

appreciate this statement until a few months ago. College Lanes is an extremely special place.

I cannot even begin to explain the personal significance of the relationships I have formed with students, staff and community members through my experiences at the Lanes. I have met such a diverse group of people in a place where many students complain about “the bubble.” I too have experienced the bubble and its effects, but my exposure to the Juniors league, the Oberlin Classic League and bowling in tournaments throughout Lorain County has enabled me to develop friendships that have made my experience at Oberlin so much better. It would take too long to thank all of these people individually, but bowling at the Lanes has played an instrumental role in fostering my relationship with the wider Oberlin and Lorain County communities.

I hope I am not glorifying my time at Oberlin at the expense of how others have formed their own experiences. For those who wish to develop a deeper connection with the greater Oberlin community, I do think that Oberlin College Lanes is a great intersection of town and gown.

If you have not had the chance to interact with Tom on some level, or if you just want a friendly reminder, these sayings may enable you to get through the next test, work through a difficult situation or just survive in this constantly changing world. Bowl here now. Make the shot. Just one more. And, of course, exist in continuous creative response to whatever is present. As I stated before, I have interacted with Tom through a variety of social relationships. The relationship I value most is my friendship with him. And the most important thing he has taught me, more so than the invaluable amount of bowling advice or his Zen-like approach to just about everything, is his down-to-earth ability to respect and treat everyone equally in everyday human encounters. Thank you, Tom. – Johnnie Kallas Oberlin Senior

SUBMISSIONS POLICY The Oberlin Review appreciates and welcomes letters to the editors and column submissions. All submissions are printed at the discretion of the editorial board.

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

The Review reserves the right to edit all submissions for content, space, spelling, grammar and libel. Editors will work with columnists and contributors to edit pieces and will clear major edits with the authors prior to publication.

Editors will contact authors of letters to the editors in the event of edits for anything other than style and grammar.

In no case will editors change the opinions expressed in any submission.

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

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

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

Page 5

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

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

With Unpaid Internships, Gainful Employment Favors the Prepared Mind Finally, the sun is out, and it looks as though it might stay for a while.

But for many of us, the sunny season doesn’t correspond to a lull in work — quite the opposite, actually, as students disperse to pursue summer jobs and internships in a variety of fields. Since the 1990s, the internship has become a rite of passage embedded in the undergraduate experience, one that sees aspiring biologists, senators and filmmakers worming their way into the offices of their dream employers, often for no pay, with the hope of testing out a possible career path, gaining on-the-job skills or networking with valuable contacts. Landing one of these opportunities can seem like a dream come true. But as new research shows, writing your own check for a shot at the big time may not pay off in quite the way you had hoped.

According to data from a 2013 survey by the National Association of Colleges and Employers, only 37 percent of those who worked unpaid internships landed a job after college, compared to 35 percent for those with no internship experience. Average starting pay for those who have worked as unpaid interns is actually about $1,400 lower than those who do not complete an internship. In short, an unpaid internship isn’t likely to lead to a job with your company of choice — or any company, for that matter.

At the same time, disputes about the legality of unpaid internships have erupted nationwide, with many experts wondering whether the whole concept is on its way out. Students in highly competitive fields like journalism and fashion design often see free labor as the only way to break into the business and are therefore willing to take part. An element of strategic timing is always at play, too, since studies also show that pursuing unpaid positions after graduation leads to worse job prospects than forgoing that track altogether.

With that said, in certain fields, internships do provide an invaluable opportunity to make an impression and learn in a new environment, as long as they are pursued in a thoughtful way. Knowing how to make an internship work for you, rather than the other way around, can make it worth your while and help you move one step closer to paid employment.

Before you begin on your first day, it’s important to fully comprehend the merits and drawbacks of the path on which you’re embarking. There are often ways to receive the same networking benefits from, or even work for, a company without cycling through a formal internship program. If you are enrolled in such a program, however, know that the Career Center provides stipends to students for whom the financial burden of taking an internship would otherwise be prohibitive. This is a resource not publicized well enough at Oberlin, and one more students should utilize.

In an ideal internship scenario, you should be getting more out of the employer — in the form of knowledge, skills and an expanded network — than the employer is getting out of you to power their operation. Otherwise, it’s just free labor (and possibly illegal). One way to ensure this balance is to go into the position with set goals in mind. What do you want to get out of the experience? How would that best be accomplished? Make these thoughts known to your employer early, as that may help them to tailor the types of work you’re assigned to match the set of skills you want to attain. It’s also important to be honest with your immediate supervisor(s) if you’re not satisfied with the internship. It’s their job and legal obligation to ensure that the program is providing suitable vocational training, and it’s too often the case that interns are afraid to speak up about a less-thanstellar experience.

It’s possible that “permanent employment at an internship site” is on your list of goals. If that’s the case, it’s in your best interest to make yourself an indispensable presence in the office. Once you’ve mastered whatever work you’ve been assigned, see if you can ask around for more. You’ll learn more, and if your workplace counts on you to handle certain critical tasks, they have less of a reason to get rid of you once the program is complete.

Editorials are the responsibility of the Review editorial board — the Editors-in-Chief, managing editor and Opinions editor — and do not necessarily reflect the views of the staff of the Review.

Opinions

Page 6

Thoughts on Toxicity

The Oberlin Review, May 9, 2014

Letters to the Editors cont.

To the Editor: When students of color on this campus express any sort of dissent that challenges mainstream social norms, including culture inherent to whiteness, they are systematically and violently silenced. As the publication of record, it is the role of the Review to present an unbiased perspective. Not only would this provide a space for marginalized groups to speak and be heard, but also it would promote greater understanding within the campus community while allowing readers to reach their own conclusions.

Unfortunately, the Review failed in its responsibility. Last week’s coverage of “A Response to Toxicity” had everything from the use of polarizing language in headlines, to the doctoring of quotations from the original document, to the publishing of two columns by Review staff that present the same viewpoint.

Of course, the Review is but a product of its surroundings, and its treatment of these issues echoes sentiments expressed both in person and online: 1) that there exists a “controversy” over the name of Solarity’s event and 2) that the concerns raised are invalid.

We believe the addendum to “A Response to Toxicity” (reproduced in part below) thoroughly addresses the first sentiment.

“The initial statement was intended to address Solarity’s use of of dystopic and toxic imagery in their advertisements, as well as how attendees’ interpretations of the theme may be reflected in their dress and mannerisms ... [Solarity has] taken our concerns seriously from the start, and we are continuing this productive conversation.”

Though the Review published this addendum, it seems that the columnists who wrote about the issue did not read it. Despite the ongoing dialogue between members of the Asian American Alliance and Solarity (might we add that an AAA treasurer is a member of Solarity?), the Review chose to reduce productive engagement to “complaints” and “controversy.” A “divide” was not created by the authors of “A Response to Toxicity”; it was created by reactionary violence perpetuated by folks on online platforms and the Review.

Further, we believe that Solarity’s publicly available statement is an example of an appropriate response. Its compassion towards fellow Oberlin students and dedication to upholding its mission statement is something other organizations and students could stand to learn from.

Our concerns are not invalid. To center the response on the name of Solarity’s event — not the theme at large or the imagery conjured in event descriptions — further minimizes the issues raised. For the Review to publish headlines that say that the concerns are “flat-out ridiculous” and a “non-issue” does not acknowledge the lived experiences from which individuals speak. More than a lack of acknowledgement, this language actively silences, diminishes and rejects these lived experiences.

The cyberbullying we witnessed over the past week is more than just disheartening, it is harmful. It is one thing to critique our argument, but posting a photo of the author online, using ableist slurs against supporters, delegitimizing what is real trauma and relying on an anonymous platform to attack our concerns do not constitute critical engagement with the material. Where were critics when AAA hosted a discussion about the cost of glorifying toxicity and dystopian realities? Members of both AAA and Solarity were present, furthering the dialogue; most detractors were not.

We believe that all students, regardless of background, have a fundamental right to believe their existence in this particular space is valid.

The people who contributed to, endorsed and supported “A Response to Toxicity” have different experiences from you, and these experiences do not invalidate your own. We hope that when concerns like these are raised in the future, members of this community will choose compassion over callousness, understanding over ignorance and respect over scorn.

– The Asian American Alliance

Review Article Misrepresents Trans* Policy To the Editor: I was interviewed for Kristopher Fraser’s article “Athletics Department Adopts New Trans* Policy,” in the May 2, 2014 issue. While I am happy that the Review took time to cover the work of the Transgender Participation Advisory Committee, the article did not accurately reflect my conversation with the writer.

Firstly, language throughout the article credits Oberlin as an institution rather than the actual people responsible for work: “Students arguing for revision initially provoked the policy change, in keeping with Oberlin’s demonstrated interest in issues of gender and sexuality.” Although I remember mentioning specific names in the interview, this sentence erases the work of students, particularly Erin Berg ’12 and Kye Campbell-Fox ’15. Later, a quote from Betsy Bruce is used that does not specify the “somebody from the MRC” who helped craft the latest draft: Lore Espinoza Guerrero and Dio Aldridge, the LGBTQ community coordinators for ’13–’14 and ’14–’15, respectively, have contributed importantly to this draft and the Transgender Participation Advisory Committee as a whole.

Secondly, the article incorrectly states that transgender student-athletes will no longer have to deal with paperwork, medical records and personnel. The fact that the first contact person has been changed from the Athletics Director to the Director of NCAA Compliance does not change the NCAA’s requirements for medical documentation of hormone replacement therapy, for example. However, it does streamline the process

and reduce the number of people that a student’s medical information is shared with — since the Director of NCAA Compliance is the person responsible for sending that documentation to the NCAA, they are a necessary contact point.

Third, the aim of the policy is not to “develop a greater sense of comfort” in transgender students; it’s to change the way that administrators, coaches and teams can be held accountable for the ways they do or do not support transgender student-athletes, and to make sure that resources are moved toward that support. Comfort is important; so are accessibility and safety, and those need to come first.

Fourth, I am quoted as saying, “I know there are transgender students on campus,” despite never saying this. The presence of transgender students on campus should be a surprise to no one, and it was the activism of transgender student-athletes around their own experiences in athletics that led to the committee I’m on — I got involved through being on the Rhinos, the women and trans*-inclusive rugby team. Putting those words in my mouth invisibilizes the work of transgender members of the Transgender Participation Advisory Committee, who put serious time, energy and vision into the latest draft.

Fifth, I never said that Oberlin is “fairly progressive.” I think Oberlin has a progressive reputation and that Oberlin sells itself on that reputation, which is why I think it’s important to point out where the College falls short of that reputation, as well as where it’s facilitating and supporting moves forward. I have no idea if we have more transgender students than a “typical” college, and I don’t believe Oberlin as a whole can be a “safe space” for transgender students, yet I am quoted as saying both of those things.

Sixth, I spoke in the interview about the excellent feedback people provided us at the forum on April 24. That feedback was supportive, but students also made it clear that there is a lot of work to be done — particularly in clarifying where our guidelines are determined by the 2011 NCAA policy, and in further stipulations for education and support. We are still seeking student feedback on the latest draft; an email was sent to the student body and the A&PS staff on April 24th with the draft, a summary of changes and a link to the previous guidelines.

Please feel free to send feedback, thoughts, questions, etc. to me (eclarke@oberlin.edu) or any other member of the Transgender Participation Advisory Committee.

Additionally, the new draft is of the “Guidelines for Inclusion and Respectful Treatment of Intercollegiate Transgender Student Athletes.”

Including the actual name, rather than “a new set of athletic guidelines,” would have been more helpful for people trying to find the policy.

Lastly, I am a College junior, not a senior.

I know that your writers work on tight schedules, and I also know that section editors tend to not allow writers to share drafts with interviewees. However, I asked to see a draft,

and this article was published without me ever seeing one. The misrepresentation of my words seems to indicate bigger issues with the way the Review works. I have seen other letters to the editor this year from people complaining of being misquoted, of their words being edited to mean something entirely different. In retrospect, I wish I’d made it clear that I didn’t want my name used without being able to see what words were attributed to me first. I understand that there are difficulties in transferring spoken words to text, but I hope the Review staff can prioritize accuracy over immediacy in the future.

– Emily Clarke

Football Fan Looks Forward to Anderson Era To the Editor: I’m late writing this, as the column that is prompting me to write appeared in a February Oberlin Review. I felt some negativity in the article entitled “Football Ushers in New Era with Anderson” (Feb. 14, 2014).

I personally feel that the “New Era” will be a lot of the same. Expensive small schools fielding teams with “real” student athletes. I say this with more experience than anyone mentioned in the article. I’ve watched most home games and some away games dating back to 1978.

I remember Coach Don Hunsinger stopping by my place of business on Saturday mornings to remind me of a home game that day if I had time to come. I won’t expound on Don, as he is a friend as well as a wonderful football coach.

If I missed an article about the positive things that Coach Ramsey did while here at Oberlin, I am remiss. I read the paper regularly.

He brought this team up to a place — a good place for Coach Anderson to take over. Does anybody else remember –0– for the 1990s?

I do. Realistically, four or five wins a year is good. I know there are some close games I wish we had won, as I am sure many fans do as well. Beating nationally ranked Division III The College of Wooster in the past was great. I also wish I could have called a few plays during games for Coach Ramsey, but that is just me. I love football!

Anyway, I want to wish Coach Anderson lots of luck. I watched him play football at Oberlin High School and at Toledo. I thought he was a great player, and that’s coming from a Wellington guy! In closing — good luck to Coach Ramsey — he was always friendly and approachable. Coach Anderson, I wish you great success. I really enjoy coming to the games, and who wouldn’t enjoy more wins? A new era sometimes is needed. The sidelines never seemed to give that 12th man excitement. Hopefully you will instill some new energy in the team.

– Peter Brubaker Central Heating Plant

How to Flourish During Finals, and Other Clichés Sophia Ottoni-Wilhelm and Sam White Current and Incoming Opinions Editors It’s that time of the year again: The trees in Tappan Square are exploding with foliage, the daffodils are blooming and the bumblebees are having awkward, turbulent inflight orgies. Meanwhile, Oberlin College students are gearing up for finals, oblivious to all the wonderful and weird things happening in nature. Barred from the outdoors by Mudd’s cavernous, Inferno-esque clutches, they bury themselves in their studies, trying furiously to extract information from waist-high piles of skipped readings and cram it into their Solarity-ravaged brains. In these trying times, we Obies would do well to take a step back and learn a few lessons from nature.

Take the trees, for instance. While it’s been a difficult spring for many of us, the trees have had it especially rough. They emerged from winter’s sap-chilling polar freezes and branch-snapping winds only to enter

an equally unstable relationship with a perilously fickle spring. Slowly, tentatively, the warming temperatures led the poor, unsuspecting trees on, and — just as the buds started to unfold into blossoms of hope — the winds snapped back into their older, colder ways. Yet with the month of May in full bloom, the trees have bounced confidently back into an ever-expanding green canopy, undeterred by their previous challenges.

Their resilience is inspiring.

Most of us have spent the semester falling behind on work, but now it’s time to spring ahead. How, you might ask, does one do this? The answer is simple: Make stuff up, just like we did in the previous paragraph. Let your words bloom like sun-kissed daffodils in May, and let your thoughts climax, one on top of the other like a couple of buck wild bumblebees. Suddenly, four pages double-spaced with expanded margins and 12.5 Comic Sans font becomes 12 single-spaced in Times. There is a time for acknowledging one’s own bullshit (like we just did). For you, that day is not today.

Academia is hard. Sometimes, college will throw more than its share of punches. Our advice: Roll with those punches like a roly poly, motherfucker. To put it less crudely: Know your limits, and know that it’s perfectly OK if you can’t do everything. If everyone fought back against every punch that came their way, the world would likely be a much more war-torn and loveless place than it already is. Instead, channel that energy elsewhere. Be wonderful. Be weird. As for the work, you’ll get done what you get done, and there’s no reason to sweat the rest.

Finally, we, the current and future Opinions editors of the Review, would like to remind you to keep your shit in perspective and not lose sight of humanity in the midst of your Nietzsche-fueled, Machiavellian rage of a paper. At least one of us has, in recent history, turned in a half-written paper in favor of experiencing more fulfilling aspects of life (and, generally speaking, gotten away with it). Always do your best, but remember that doing your best doesn’t always mean doing it all.

Opinions

The Oberlin Review, May 9, 2014

Page 7

Response to “Complaints Over Solarity Syria Descends into Chaos Naming Flat-Out Ridiculous” Column Sean Para Columnist

Maxime Berclaz Contributing Writer This article was written in response to Aidan Apel’s May 2 column in the Review.

First off, to address what little content is presented in the piece: The column’s main claim, outside of general accusations of ridiculousness, is that “using word association is an inappropriate standard for determining what is actually offensive.”

While perhaps I might object to the idea that there can truly be an objective determination of what is actually offensive (after all, the author seems to be offended by people being offended — also a rather poor standard for determining offensiveness), on a less pedantic note, I absolutely agree that word association is a terrible standard.

Luckily, the concerns expressed in “A Response to Toxicity” are in no way, shape or form founded on such a principle. The publicly available document puts forth the argument that what Toxicity reduces to fantasy is in fact the lived reality of many, and asks us to question what sort of social forces leave us so disconnected from this reality that we can uncritically enjoy this fantasy. This strikes me as a valid reason to be “actually” offended. Furthermore, in an addendum published on April 28, the letter states that Solarity has taken these concerns seriously from the start and that a productive conversation is ongoing. So essentially, concerns were put forward, and those concerns were listened to. Why would someone feel the need to add more?

As this column and other similar responses make quite clear, the real issue is not Toxicity or the response to it. It is the very idea that someone may dare to be offended when you are not. That they may dare to have experiences you

cannot comprehend, emotions that they dare to ask you to see as valid, histories that they dare to ask you to learn.

This is why the concerns of multiple student groups are dismissed as simply being because they “hate Solarity.”

This is how someone can honestly compare associating the word radioactive with Fukushima to associating the word “Alliance” with the Axis powers. This is why hurt can only be “ridiculous and inappropriate.”

However, in a stroke of luck, the column provides us with examples of what the ridiculous actually looks like. It claims that the writers of the letter “use a loose association with real suffering to throw around racially bigoted statements” and “fashion [their] pedestal from a pile of real victims.” If I have to explain why claiming that an event is a bit messed up is not equivalent to building a pedestal from human corpses like some twisted demon god, then I will have lost a good deal of faith in the student body.

The idea that the letter was a bigoted statement (which I assume comes from the use of the term “white culture”) is equal nonsense. As a white person, I am overjoyed to explain to the author that whiteness is a socially constructed category that constitutes nothing other than signifying one as an oppressor within a racial hierarchy, regardless of how one feels about that. Whiteness begins and ends with oppression, and so does the associated culture.

I would be quite troubled to find out that someone actually identifies with this culture and sees it as worth defending, rather than working to abolish it and the social forces that maintain it. Defense of whiteness is the actual bigotry, and hopefully the next time students are confronted with an opportunity for a dialogue on this, they will engage in it rather than seeing it as a personal attack against them and their right to party.

The Ukrainian crisis has dominated international relations in the last few months. In the Middle East, however, the Syrian civil war continues unabated. The conflict has already begun to destabilize the entire nation. 150,000 Syrians have been killed, and there are nearly 2.5 million Syrian refugees in neighboring countries. The regime has hung onto power, and it now seems nearly impossible that the Syrian opposition will dislodge Bashar al-Assad. The government has regained control of much of Syria’s heartland in the south and west of the country.

Homs, once seen to be the center of Syrian resistance, fell to government forces earlier this week. However, much of the north and west of the country is under rebel control. The rebels are split into many factions, and a civil war has started between the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria and more modern rebel forces.

Syria does not have a bright future. While the dictatorship lives on, the country is fractured, and large parts of it have been destroyed. The humanitarian dimension of the conflict is also astounding. Lebanon alone has more than one million refugees, while Jordan and Turkey each have close to 600,000. These countries are supporting the Syrian refugees as best they can, but the future implications of the humanitarian crisis are enormous. The Assad regime has taken to starving out rebel strongholds to force their submission, bombing civilian centers and even using chemical weapons against its own people. The West has only stood back and watched as this happens.

The Assad regime has survived through sheer tenacity and brutality against its own people, as well as the support of Russia, Iran, Hezbollah and China. Russia and Iran have funneled arms and funds to the regime. The opposition, meanwhile, has only received limited aid from the West, despite many assurances of support. The geopolitical implications of the Syrian civil war and the apparent continuation of the Assad regime are also striking. Russia has successfully backed an ally that the United States and its allies have repeatedly derided and called to step down. An Assad victory in Syria will place the nation squarely in Russia’s camp at a time when Moscow has few allies abroad.

Campus Tobacco-Free Policy Protects, U.S. Must Navigate Road Carefully Expands Upon Individual Rights in Palestine-Israel Compromise Machmud Makhmudov Columnist On April 27, Student Senate passed a resolution endorsing the adoption of a tobacco-free campus policy that includes provisions such as the exclusion of Tappan Square from the ban and allowing the use of e-cigarettes in outdoor spaces.

This event serves as a benchmark for — though certainly not the culmination of — a campuswide conversation that has been ongoing for seven years, but was amplified significantly this year.

Though Student Senate and the Tobacco Subcommittee of the Office of Student Wellness have worked hard to promote dialogue about the policy this year, confusion still exists within the campus community with regard to the motivations and implications of the policy.

An op-ed letter in last week’s copy of the Review, penned by College first-year Alexander Ekman, articulates many of the misperceptions surrounding the proposed policy (“Smoke-Free Policy Infringes on Students’ Right to Choose,” May 2, 2014). For the purpose of full disclosure, I am a member of Student Senate and the Tobacco Subcommittee. Ekman makes reference to posters placed around campus last semester by the Oberlin College Republicans and Libertarians that featured Rick Santorum, among other figures.

The posters implied that a tobacco-free policy would infringe on an individual’s right to choose, drawing a direct comparison to a woman’s right to choose with regard to issues of personal health. Not only is this comparison unwarranted, the charge that the proposed policy would limit individual rights is simply untrue. In fact, the proposed policy protects and expands upon individual rights.

The proposed policy does not compel students, faculty or staff to quit smoking. Instead, it limits the areas in which tobacco use is permitted in order to protect the individual right to living, working and learning in a healthy environment. Ekman mentions that several members of the Oberlin community suffer from health condi-

tions that become exacerbated due to the ample amount of secondhand smoke on campus. I have seen friends and others have asthma attacks right in front of me because of secondhand smoke on campus. Why aren’t the rights of these students, faculty and staff considered when groups or individuals on campus advocate for freedom and individual rights?

Oberlin has a history of affirming liberty by recognizing the importance of individual rights.

At the same time, our character speaks to the truth that while we must fight tooth and nail to protect those rights, we must also never forget that we also have a collective responsibility to serve and strengthen our communities. This means ensuring that everybody has the opportunity to live, work and study in a healthy environment where secondhand smoke and its affiliated negative side effects are avoidable.

I am proud of the resolution that Student Senate passed because it specifically sets aside Tappan Square as a zone where the tobacco-free policy would not be implemented. The exemption was drafted in consideration of the policy’s potential effects on the town of Oberlin and its citizens, as well as the need for a convenient space where anybody could smoke if they so choose.

This compromise is the result of a fruitful conversation that occurred between the subcommittee, students, community members, faculty and staff this year. The collaborative effort has yielded a policy that was inclusive in its formation and is considerate of all members of the campus and town community in its current form. As I have written before, there isn’t another school in the world like Oberlin. As I finish my second year here, I have thought a lot about how the decisions that we continuously make affirm our identities as both individuals and a community. Oberlin, more than any other institution that I’ve ever encountered, is very conscious of how the choices that we make echo down the hallways of history.

I’m very proud of our Student Senate for standing up for a healthier, more considerate, more compassionate and environmentally friendly Oberlin.

Sarah Minion Contributing Writer The past few weeks have demonstrated what seems to be just the latest episode in a history of failed negotiations. We thought this time was different; we thought we finally had leaders who were committed to being partners for peace, and with hope we looked to Secretary of State John Kerry to bring us an outcome different from that of previous peace talks.

Yet, in light of a formal end to a ninemonth negotiation period which brought no progress, it is clear that there still is not enough pressure on the parties to make peace. Americans had a historic opportunity to end a brutal conflict through diplomacy but once again let it go because of our inability to shift from conversations about blame to conversations about responsibility. We cannot let a failed peace process turn into an excuse to ultimately perpetuate the status quo instead of challenging or deconstructing it. Because if anything has become clear, it is that the status quo is unsustainable.

The failure of peace talks time and again is not the failure of a dream. It is not a chance to call for continued occupation, a one-state solution or a binational state. Rather, it is an affirmation that the only acceptable solution for people who believe in peace is one that ensures self-determination for both peoples: a Jewish democratic state in Israel as well as a free and independent state in Palestine, side by side in peace and security.

Why do I keep dreaming, even after the suspension of negotiations? Because, as a young progressive American in solidarity with the Palestinian people who also feels a deep sense of responsibility to and identification with Israel, I am overwhelmed by an undeniable urgency. With each passing day and with each settlement that is constructed, the window for diplomacy is closing. However, the growing momentum I’ve witnessed from Americans who push their leaders to take

meaningful diplomatic actions proves that the window has not yet closed.

There is no denying that, as American Jews, we have unique political leverage. I’m tired of hearing, “I have to be either pro-Israel or pro-Palestinian,” and I am frustrated by the inability of my family, friends and peers on both sides of the table to put their confidence in a future built on trust instead of closing their minds because of a violent and complex history.

Today, we are at a crossroads. It’s time to take an active step and redefine the American political conversation surrounding the conflict and create space for progressive action. At this crucial political moment, it’s time for the American Jewish community to recognize that a voice for peace is a voice for Israel.

The last nine months have been a wakeup call. Even in the face of disappointment, frustration and hopelessness, we must push for a two-state solution while the window is still open. We need to create active movements that bring people together and foster dialogue; we need to model the peace talks we want.

If the U.S. is truly committed to a solution, Kerry needs to stop allowing the continued expansion of settlements in the West Bank and hold Israel accountable to its values, while also holding Palestine — especially in reconciliation with Hamas — accountable for its commitment to nonviolence and other negotiation agreements.

For the peace process to truly succeed, the U.S. must work to be an impartial third partner, acknowledging the struggles and legitimacy of the claims of both Israel and Palestine, but also pushing a globally supported framework for a solution more aggressively than ever before. We have a responsibility to change the conversation so that Kerry can put politics aside and be unafraid to say the unpopular when putting forth a solution, not accepting anything less than a just end to the conflict for two states for two peoples.

Best Oberlin Memory: “I got my first tattoo in Dascomb. It was done really well, and I’ve gotten a lot of compliments on it. My parents weren’t too happy, though, but hey, it’s a permanent and funny one for the books.”

Worst Oberlin Memory: “First semester, I remember breaking down upon hearing ‘Samson’ by Regina Spektor played at an open mic night. The song was really speaking to me at that point in my life, and I just lost it and had to excuse myself.”

– Samantha Spaccasi, College first-year Best Oberlin Memories: “Spending class playing gamelan with Professor Fraser my freshman year, skinny dipping in the Arb during Orientation and participating in a campus-wide scavenger hunt at midnight.”

Worst Oberlin Memories: “Getting my first paper back with ‘Please rewrite’ written in huge red letters across the top.”

– Julian Ring, College sophomore and Review managing editor

Best Ob Worst O months.”

– Sol Sol

Best Ob Valentin Worst O trying to – Ryan K

Best Oberlin Memor Worst Oberlin Mem – Abe Hyatt, College f

Best Oberlin Memory: “Having a five-way in Dascomb.”

Worst Oberlin Memory: “Having a five-way in Dascomb.”

–Anonymous

CALENDAR

Best Ob year was Worst O when I wearing – Jameso

SAAC Division III Week: Dodgeball Tournament OSteel/ExCo Final Performance Friday, May 9 from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m.

Friday, May 9 at 8 p.m.

Philips gym Cat in the Cream

SAAC Division III Week: SAAC Ball Saturday, May 10 from 10 p.m. to 1 a.m.

The ’Sco

Soundfarm no.

Saturday, May 10 Tappan Square

Put together a dodgeball team and play against your fellow students in a dodgeball tournament sponsored by the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee.

Dance and relax at the final event of SAAC Division III Week.

Free for students.

Soundfarm present tions, featuring mu open improvisation the Clark Bandstan

Come see the OSteel ExCo and OSteel band perform their last show of the year, featuring opening act the Sunshine Scouts.

Best Oberlin Memory: “I stayed at Oberlin during Winter Term to do the elementary Greek class, so the entire month of January was pretty chill, literally.”

Worst Oberlin Memory: “Sitting in the suffocating humidity of Finney during orientation week with my parents and a bunch of people I didn’t know.”

– Aditi Gupta, College first-year Best Oberlin Memory: “‘Are you thinking what I’m thinking?’”

Worst Oberlin Memory: “My grandfather dying.”

– William Johnson, double-degree first-year Best Oberlin Memory: “Observing the weather while in the Arb — ‘It damn well may be overcast!”

Worst Oberlin Memory: “Walking to a party half a mile away in a foot of snow. The things we do for free drinks.”

– Judy Jackson, Conservatory first-year

Best Oberlin Memory: “Naked 4loko party.”

Worst Oberlin Memory: “Naked 4loko party.”

– Anonymous Best Oberlin Memory: “Hooking up in the Love Lounge.”

Worst Oberlin Memory: “Last Commencement, I went to the hot dog restaurant outside of Amherst and had five too many hot dogs. I had to lie on the ground for, like, four hours.”

– Sophia Ottoni-Wilhelm, College junior and Review Opinions editor Best Oberlin Memory: “That one time we lit my fart on fire, and I peed on the floor.”

– Anonymous

omb. It was done My parents weren’t ne for the books.” er breaking down pen mic night. The nd I just lost it and

lan with Professor g Orientation and ght.” back with ‘Please

editor

Best Oberlin Memory: “My best memory of the 2013–2014 year was when my friend lit his pants on fire.”

Worst Oberlin Memory: “My worst memory of the year was when I drunkenly locked myself out of my single at 3 a.m., wearing only boxers.”

– Jameson Ware, College senior Best Oberlin Memory: “The entire week of Disorientation.”

Worst Oberlin Memory: “Sub-zero temperatures for four months.”

– Sol Solomon, College first-year Best Oberlin Memory: “My best Oberlin memory was Valentine’s day with my soon-to-be girlfriend senior year.”

Worst Oberlin Memory: “My worst Oberlin memory was my trying to stay afloat during Intro to Chinese my freshman year.”

– Ryan Kavanaugh, College senior

Best Oberlin Memory: “Smoking a blunt with Yo-Yo Ma after his show at Finney.”

Worst Oberlin Memory: “Finding out Yo-Yo Ma laced the blunt with Nyquil.”

– Abe Hyatt, College first-year

C Ball to 1 a.m.

SAAC Division III Week.

The Oberlin Review cannot verify the accuracy of these statements. We love Yo-Yo Ma.

This Week Editor: Sarah Snider

Soundfarm no. 5: Contact Saturday, May 10 from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m.

Tappan Square

WISSELER/KRITIK Concert Sunday, May 11 from 9:30 p.m. to 11 p.m.

Stull Recital Hall

Soundfarm presents music and contact improv collaborations, featuring music by WAM and Beards. There will be open improvisation at 1 p.m. and performances at 2 p.m. at the Clark Bandstand (Rain location: the Cat in the Cream).

Focused on integrated media improvisation, Wisseler is a student audiovisual ensemble which incoroporates electronics, processed saxophone, turntables and live video.

Want Practicum in Journalism Credit?

Write for this section!

Email managingeditor@oberlinreview.org

Arts The Oberlin Review

Page 10

May 9, 2014

Aerialists Finish with a Bang in Up In Smoke Rosie Black Production Manager “Don’t light things on fire, kids,” College senior and director of the event Samantha Karpinski said, waving to the crowd — as if anyone would take her advice after watching her fearlessly twirl, swallow and spit flames just seconds before. This was the trend last Friday and Saturday night just after sundown as the Oberlin College Aerialists lit up the tennis courts with their circus caricatures, physical prowess, artistry and, yes, real fire. The crowd couldn’t get enough of Up In Smoke.

The show’s prologue, choreographed by Karpinski, introduced the characters and their storylines as Karpinski, the ringmaster, watched over her performers with a playful eye. The rest of the night showcased the performers’ talents and developed their characters in a series of solo acts using a variety of apparatuses.

“The aerialists have a history of being a very family friendly show, and we wanted to do something a little more grown-up for this,” Karpinski wrote in an email to the Review.

“When I talked to people about what their feelings were about the first time they saw someone performing with OCA, most said they were impressed [or] interested because they were afraid when we did drops and things. I decided I wanted to take that fear and push it a little farther (while still staying very safe).”

Incorporating elements beyond the simply daring, Karpinski aimed to break the fourth wall, or at least knock on it. College sophomores Linnea Kirby and Molly Barger and double-degree sophomore Christy Rose crawled through the crowd when they weren’t onstage, staring into the faces of audience members; College senior Jessica Mikenas stalled her flaming poi toward the audience for a heart-stopping second in her act; a “hypnotized audience member” (Col-

lege junior David Miller, a member of OCA planted in the audience) was tied in a straitjacket and hung by one foot until he broke free.

“There’s something very safe about being in the audience, and I wanted to push those limits,” Karpinski noted.

With open flames adding an extra element of danger, the show took about a year to come to fruition. “I started looking into getting permission to perform fire on campus early in [the] fall semester, and only finally had things completely nailed down two weeks before the show,” Karpinski said. OCA hired John Mitchell, a fire specialist from Brunswick, Ohio, who has an Ohio Flame Effects Type III license, to maintain fire safety during rehearsals and the show.

The theme of the show was difficult for the audience to put a finger on, but the content, design and execution of each act left it without See Up, page 13

1 1. College senior Hayley Larson prepares to hoist herself onto the single point trapeze during her graceful performance in the OC Aerialists’s show Up In Smoke. Larson’s ghostlike performance fit right in amid the Southern gothic themes of the show.

2. College senior Sam Karpinski tosses a fire staff into the air in one of the many fire displays of last Friday and Saturday’s performance of Up In Smoke. As suggested by the title, Up In Smoke branched out from usual OCA shows by incorporating many fire elements, including flaming poi and fire-eating.

3. From top, College sophomores Linnea Kirby, Molly Barger and double-degree sophomore Christy Rose hang suspended from the stacked trapeze in their roles as a trio of devilish “rabid puppies.” When not performing, the three also prowled through the audience, sneaking up on unsuspecting viewers.

Photos courtesy of Sela Miller

2

3

Contrast Between Beethoven, Brahms Highlighted in Orchestra, Choir Concert Andrea Goltz Brahms and Beethoven are not a natural duo on an orchestra program — Brahms accentuates quirkier chords than Beethoven does and is free with musical form and rhythm. Nonetheless, the concert presented by the Arts and Sciences Orchestra, the Oberlin College Choir and the Musical Union in Finney Chapel on May 4 united the two.

The program took the audience on a trip through time, making stops in the Romantic era with Johannes Brahms’s Shicksalied (his “Song of Fate,” completed in 1871) and the late Classical period with Beethoven’s 1807 Mass in C Major.

However, the combination was not totally disjointed: The pieces are tied together by their use of internal contrast.

Sunday’s concert occasionally tripped itself up with a regretable lack of enthusiasm, but in the end, it managed to pull things together, uniting the pieces in a way that seemed more natural than would have been expected.

Conducted by Assistant Professor of Choral Conducting and Director of Choral Ensembles Jason Harris, the Oberlin College Choir and the Arts and Sciences Orchestra successfully conveyed Brahms’s intended contrasts with their excellent balance between instrumental lines and vocal parts and their masterful control of dynamics. The piece opens

with an instrumental theme that returns re-orchestrated at the end of the piece. In these first few bars, the orchestra artfully set the tone of the piece, not rushing the soft, majestic opening in the slightest, which allowed the choir to make an equally effective entrance. The delicate pizzicato, or plucking, technique employed by the string section supported the tone of the choral lines, relieving some of the tension Brahms had built into the vocalists’ parts. At the end ––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––

In these first few bars, the orchestra artfully set the tone of the piece, not rushing the soft, majestic opening in the slightest, which allowed the choir to make an equally effective entrance.

–––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––– of the second stanza, though, the piece becomes suddenly violent, with accents added to the chorus’s longer chords.

In this passage, along with the potent sudden crescendos of the choir, the orchestra’s brass section really shone, adding more tension to the piece.

As a whole, the original poem changes its tone from hopefulness to despair only once, after the first stanza.

However, Brahms’s piece modulates from major to minor and back again, making the music for the third stanza incongruous with the lyrics. The orchestra brought out this remaining sorrow in the lyrics with a slight slowing of tempo in the final lines. Even with the first theme returning in a major key, the orchestra — in particular, the woodwind section — still managed to bring out a sad tone in the line that had, at the beginning of the piece, sounded so hopeful and peaceful.

In Beethoven’s Mass in C Major, performed by the Musical Union and the Arts & Sciences Orchestra and conducted

by Professor of Accompanying and Coaching and Director of the Arts & Sciences Orchestra Philip Highfill, most of the mass had transitioned into a different tone by the end of the piece. The choir brought out the evolution in each movement with very pronounced dynamic changes and strong enunciation of consonants. Soloists Conservatory senior Alyssa Hensel, double-degree fifth-year Marisa Novak, Conservatory junior Daniel King and double-degree fifth-year Eric Fischer faithfully represented the piece’s fluctuating See College, page 12

Arts

The Oberlin Review, May 9, 2014

Page 11

Intricate Pieces No Problem for Sinfonietta Clara Shannon While most students spent Friday night dancing in Wilder Bowl, several of Oberlin’s most talented musicians revived classical music. Oberlin Sinfonietta, under the acclaimed baton of Professor of Conducting Timothy Weiss, closed its season in Warner Concert Hall with a successful performance of pieces by John Adams, Charles Ives and Richard Strauss, alongside guest soloist and Associate Professor of Singing Timothy LeFebvre.

Nationally acclaimed baritone LeFebvre has had a successful career, appearing in concert with established symphonies such as the Cleveland Pops Orchestra, the American Symphony Orchestra and many more. He has also appeared in concert at New York’s Alice Tully Hall and Carnegie Hall. Prior to his time at Oberlin, LeFebvre taught voice at Binghamton University, Cornell University, Syracuse University, Hamilton College and Colgate University.

The night began with John Adams’s “The Wound Dresser” and Charles Ives’s “General Willliam Booth Enters into Heaven.” Although the Ad-

ams had its merits, it was the performance of Ives that left the audience entranced, haunted and breathless. The work was adapted by Ives from a poem by Vachel Lindsay about the founder of the Salvation Army. LeFebvre’s deep voice filled the resonant hall, with a good balance from the orchestra accompanying him. Though soothing, his voice cut through like a knife with his desperate cries of “Hallelujah!” and “Are you washed in the blood of the Lamb?” Like in many of his pieces, Ives quotes from a number of traditional tunes, among them the hymns “There Is a Fountain Filled with Blood,” “Onward, Upward” and “Oh, Dem Golden Slippers.” The ending was soft, beautiful and rendered the audience utterly speechless, delaying applause ever so slightly before an enthusiastic reaction. The performers did an impeccable job of conveying the dark, despairing essence of the piece.

Strauss’s Suite from the Incidental Music to Der Bürger als Edelmann, based on Moliére’s play Le Bourgeois gentilhomme, followed. With only 16 string players, a handful of woodwind and brass and piano, the lengthy and intricate piece

was a breeze for Oberlin’s Sinfonietta. Each of the movements called for particular solos on various instruments, representing certain characters and themes from Le Bourgeois gentilhomme, a five-act comedy first presented in 1670.

The first movement featured the melody of the soprano arietta, “Du, Venus’ Sohn,” played by oboist and double-degree fourth-year Jacob Chae. The second movement, a minuet taken from a ballet Strauss wrote, is scored for two flutes and strings. With lush romantic harmonies, the movement was enchanting, featuring sparkly and enticing solos from flutist and Conservatory junior Katherine Ma. The fourth movement, “Entrance and Dance of the Tailors,” was a showcase of concertmistress and doubledegree fifth-year Josie Davis’s virtuosity. With immense power and skill, Davis effortlessly shone through her solos, filled with intricate rhythms, difficult high-register melodies and fast running notes. The fifth movement was delicate and sweet, based on a minuet by Jean-Baptiste Lully.

The sixth movement, a courante by Strauss, featured solos for the violin, cello and woodwinds.

To follow, the seventh movement, “The Entrance of Cléonte” was a nice complement to the previous movement. The strings presented the theme at the onset, then the woodwinds followed with a faster middle section, followed by the theme presented by the entire group. The eighth movement was, in the original production of 1912, the prelude to Act 2 of the play. However, in the 1918 revision, it became the intermezzo. The ninth and final movement, “The Dinner,” was a brilliant and grand end to the night. In the play, there is an elaborate entrance wherein the waiters bring in the feast. Here, various courses of the meal were represented musically. Cellist and double-degree fifth-year Luke Adamson gave a heartbreakingly beautiful and powerful solo. Rich in color and tone, Adamson’s cello rang throughout the hall, conveying an alluring and calming atmosphere, with soft echoes from second cellist and Conservatory senior Boris Popadiuk. A fun waltz theme ended the movement, the suite and the night. After an exciting year for Sinfonietta, this program was a fitting and grand finale.

In Spite of Controversy, Massive Crowd Gathers for Toxicity Mary Fischer Solarity’s latest event, Toxicity, generated nearly as much energy as a nuclear power plant. Despite the controversy surrounding the event concerning its name, hundreds of students flocked to Wilder Bowl last Friday night to see student artwork and dance the night away. The display seemed a far cry from the advertised “wasteland,” with only a few decorated trashcans conveying the nuclear wasteland theme. With blinking lights hung from the trees and the Solarity members’ glowing costumes, the event conveyed the atmosphere of the colorful, inviting dance “playground” we’ve seen in other Solarity shows.

Having had to grapple with new limitations issued by the administration since last spring’s Solarity event, Awaken the Wild, Solarity’s team of 25 active members focused on representing and accommodating as much of Oberlin’s diverse student body as possible. Artwork and performances by various student organizations have become as much a part of the program as dancing and having fun. Thus, this year’s spring edition included performances by the student dance group Koreo, fashion creations by College sophomore Sophie Umazi Mvurya, and a performance by the rapper Van ’Go. Whilst the dance floor itself was only open to ticket holders, everyone walking through Wilder Bowl on Friday night had a chance to admire video installations and other artwork on the walls of Mudd library.

Solarity, a student-run group that strives to “unify campus through large-scale music and dance productions as platforms for artistic expression,” has taken on a difficult challenge. It has to fulfill two sets of expectations, one artistic and one entertainment. However, not much of the “beautiful extraterrestrial environment, with slime, fog and bubbles” promised in the group’s advertisement was present; if it was, it was not visualized well enough in the main decorations surrounding the stage and dance floor. There also was not as coherent a dialogue between the events on stage and the presented visual art as many had hoped.

Both organizers and the audience seemed to be much more concerned with the climax of the night, the Silent Disco, which was set to launch at midnight and would allow the dance party to go on until 1:30 a.m. without violating a noise ordinance. In exchange for their college IDs, students received a pair of wireless headphones with two different audio channels. From 12 to 12:45 a.m., DJs Huang and Daogwen played strikingly different sets. While one played a more hiphop and beat-driven set, the other gave the EDM, rave-like set many students were eager to dance to. From 12:45 to 1:30 a.m., DJs Rec Specs and Huh Huh played to a slightly smaller crowd. For those that had a working set of headphones, the Silent Disco was an exciting, unique experience. For those that got caught waiting in line or who received non-functional headphones, however, the event proved disappointing. While the listening experience was variable, the visual

experience was most certainly entertaining, as people moved to different rhythms despite being closely packed and exploded in cheers and shouts at different times. Close physical interactions were made particularly funny to watch as students fumbled around each other’s headsets.

The headphones proved to be the most significant problem and poorly planned part of the event. Starting at around 12:45 a.m., long lines formed around the distributing

tables as students attempted to return the headphones and collect their IDs. Some students complained about standing in line for about an hour, while other students merely cut the line and danced the night away.

Although not all were pleased with the Silent Disco, all agreed that Solarity made an extreme effort to provide a fresh party experience that the Oberlin campus had never seen before.

College sophomore Sophie Umazi Mvurya (right) moves to the music at Toxicity last Friday night. The wasteland-themed event, hosted by Solarity, featured student DJs and musicians and culminated in a “Silent Disco.” Attendees were issued wireless headphones through which they could choose from two music channels.

Kaïa Austin

Sam Amidon Energizes Folkfest with Wit, Crowd Participation Olivia Menzer Sam Amidon may or may not be a time traveler. During the majority of his performance on Friday night at Folkfest, he was undoubtedly a Manifest Destiny, West-Coast-bound pioneer who had lost his wife and children to dysentery, with his oxen next to go. The knowing and aching depth of his voice when singing did little to help the audience predict his persona for the other segment of the performance: a quirky 32-year-old who wasn’t afraid to make a Bruno Mars joke or drop a Gang Starr quote.

Amidon has worked with other performers like Doveman, Nico Muhly and Stars Like Fleas, but at the Cat in the Cream, he went solo for most of the night. His voice filled the room with the wise rasp one would associate with an old-time folk singer. He accompanied himself on guitar with the occasional banjo or violin interlude. Amidon played selections from his 2010 album I See The Sign, as well as from his more recent May 2013 album Bright Sunny South, mixing well-known favorites with newer attempts at rusticity. For his last few pieces, Amidon was accompanied by members of the band to follow his, The Sweetback Sisters. As a testament to the musicality and folk, honky-tonk leanings of this

family, the drummer of The Sweetback Sisters was actually Amidon’s younger brother, Stefan Amidon.

Judging from the laughter and whoops of the audience in response to his silly between-song quips, Amidon’s stage presence was a major part of his appeal. Whether he was telling a tangential story about his new song “Pharaoh” — wherein Amidon supposedly had correspondence with Jimi Hendrix — apologizing for Bruno Mars’s absence from a promised synth performance or dropping some sage advice from the Gang Starr song “Moment of Truth” (“They say it’s lonely at the top, in whatever you do / you always gotta watch motherfuckers around you”), Amidon’s gimmicky and amiable but deadpan delivery was well-received. It was balanced out by his urging the audience to embrace the “fest” in Folkfest, leading them in two singalongs to “Johanna the Rowdi” and “Way Go Lily,” both of which involved unifying call and response. The quiet audience typical of folk performances came out of its shell to sing along.

Amidon’s particular brand of hip approachability was unexpected given his polished and almost elderly brand of folk crooning, but the juxtaposition was both delightful and off-putting.

While he is an interesting individual, one almost wants folk art-

ists to have a few teeth missing and a sad story to tell, born out of genuine suffering and lessons learned through tough love and experience. Amidon’s performance could seem like a farce when one realizes that he generally covers old religious and folk songs.

This is not to say he doesn’t have the musical family that surely encouraged growing into such a lifestyle; on the contrary, parents Peter and Mary Alice made their living as teaching musicians, dedicating themselves to traditional American song, storytelling and dance, and obviously imparted this enthusiasm and skill set to both of their children.

Faith is restored, however, with the knowledge that his repertoire includes covers of Tears for Fears’ “Head Over Heels,” and R. Kelly’s “Relief.” Amidon’s versions of both — typical of his style as a whole — were quieter and warmer than the originals. When providing a reserved yet raucous banjo performance, Amidon asked the crowd to help him decide which song to play next. Amidon’s music is sweet, strong and quiet in a very encompassing way. In the end, the inconsistencies between his style and what one associates with folk stereotypes don’t matter, because it is evident that Amidon is exploring folk without worrying about what he should be. Instead, he concerns himself with what he is and wants to be.

Arts

Page 12

Weigl Exhibit Shuns Beauty Jacob Rivas Staff Writer Overlooking the value of art in the study of history is a common mistake. While history often focuses on objective investigation, art has the power to inject emotion and beauty from the present into the past, providing an essential dimension to historical events. The Usual Suspects, an exhibition of former Oberlin professor Jean Kondo Weigl, is a prime example of this infusion of bland historical facts with passion and humanity. The exhibit, which opened in the Baron Gallery in Dewy Ward ’34 Alumni Center on May 2, runs through May 16.

The exhibition is thematically two-fold. One series of paintings is a clear depiction of American history with various references to indigenous American peoples and their culture. Alongside this thematically-related series of paintings are abstract works of ink on paper. While the references to indigenous culture can be seen in nearly every nonabstract work, to say that it provides a narrative or structure for the series is presumptive. Instead of depicting a clear narrative, Weigl uses her artistic vision to shine light on the humanity of history.

Weigl’s style can be placed somewhere comfortably between modern and realist, but her craft remains clearly her own. The works exhibited in The Usual Suspects don’t attempt fascination by accuracy; they attract thought by rejecting the notion entirely. Her paintings portray caricatured faces, outlined canoes and purposefully or arbitrarily dripped

paints. Shunning beauty, she invites thought and focus into the piece’s identity. Through faded colors and distorted heads, viewers are asked to look past the visual aspect and venture into the why of each character. Weigl shows us bodies in a canoe.

She shows us two men carrying a naked woman between them on a plank. At the same time, her history isn’t meant to reflect what happened at all.

Weigl’s attempt to promote reflection in the viewer succeeds for this reason. Viewers likely have at least a basic idea of American history, but how many of those viewers have seen a reflection of what that may have felt like? Dehumanization via contortion asks many questions; Weigl is certainly not promoting the idea of the inhuman native. Is she asking us to consider how strangely they may have felt or the absurdity of the situation as a whole, or making a statement on humanity’s capability for inhumane and inhuman relationships? The answer isn’t offered by Weigl directly — but that’s not what art is about. History, as told through the artist’s works, can be great simply for how it stimulates the mind to think differently, to replace words with faces and to force the viewer to answer the question themselves.

The Usual Suspects is a fascinating exhibit for those passionate about history or those attracted to strange faces and gloomy fixations. While Weigl’s days as an instructor at Oberlin are over, her presence fills the Baron Gallery until the end of the semester. It is an experience of great value for students and non-students alike.

The Oberlin Review, May 9, 2014

College Choir Unites Disparate Pieces Continued from page 10 tone with their vocal interactions; when a movement was violent, their parts seemed to be arguing.

One particularly poignant moment was a vocal quartet in the Benedictus movement that accentuated the lighter quality of this section. The singers’ vocal blending was better than it was throughout the rest of the piece, and their balance allowed each part to come to the foreground when appropriate. As in the Brahms, the orchestra did a wonderful job restating one of the first movement’s original motifs in the last movement, the Agnus Dei. Though as a whole, the ensembles presented a good interpretation of Beethoven’s piece, a few minor details were not as refined as they could have been. For example, in the Gloria, the tempo fluctuated when it should have remained stable, detracting from the control normally exhibited in a mass. Of special note in this half of the performance, though, was Highfill, who was unafraid to encourage performers to be more expressive. Unfortunately, in spite of his animated gesticulations, the choir did not always respond in kind; if the conductor’s energy had translated to the choir, the performance might have greatly improved.

All in all, both halves of the concert — the Brahms and the Beethoven — were of high quality. In spite of the minor technical deficiencies sprinkled throughout the performance, the execution of dynamics and contrasts in both pieces was excellent and brought out a faithful depiction of the composers’ intents. While a little more energy from the performers could have gone a long way and brought the performance to the next level, the orchestra and choirs were ultimately able to unite the disparate pieces, creating a cohesive, musically adept whole.

On the Record with Faculty Folk and Country Band Twila and the G’Tarvins This week, the Review sat down with Twila and the G’Tarvins, composed of Chair of the Biology Department and disease ecologist Mary Garvin, her husband, Associate Professor of Biology and behavioral ecologist Keith Tarvin and Twila Colley, the Biology Department’s administrative assistant. The band discussed its changing name, favorite genres and hidden talents.

How did your band get started?

Keith Tarvin: Last fall Debbie Mull, who was the facilities manager of [the Science Center] retired, and we had a retirement party for her. Twila wrote a song and wanted to sing it and told me about it, so I said ‘All right, I’ll back you up.’ Then, we discovered Twila can sing … very well. We said, ‘Hey, we have to get a band in.’ It was organic. Once we learned she knew how to sing, there was no way to do anything otherwise.

Twila Colley: Yes, we had a good time.

KT: There was this hidden talent for 13 years.

What kind of music do you play?

TC: Country and western.

KT: Some people probably call it “classic country.”

Mary Garvin: Honky-tonk.

KT: Forties, ’50s, ’60s, ’70s. At least the seven songs we know now come from that period!

What about modern country and folk?

KT: I talk about them in completely different realms. Modern country I’m not a big fan of.

MG: We like modern folk, though.

KT: I don’t know — Twila, do you listen to…

TC: I love modern country. I listen to it all the time.

I know you played at Folkfest last Friday [May 2]. What other events have you played recently?

TC: We did the Relay for Life [on April 26].

MG: [And] Feline Riot [this past March]. That’s it so far.

KT: You could say our world tour is concentrated in and around Tappan Square.

When you’re not in “professor mode,” where do you hang out and practice?

MG: Our house, I guess.

TC: Mary always cooks me a fabulous dinner.

MG: [Laughs.] Yeah, that’s the lure.

Chair of the Biology Department Mary Garvin (left), Biology Administrative Assistant Twila Colley and Professor of Biology Keith Tarvin make up Twila and the GiTarvins, a folk and country band that played last Friday at the Cat in the Cream as part of Folkfest.

Courtesy of Ben Garfinkel

name?

MG: We have a fluid identity, I guess.

KT: Yeah, we are going to see if we can keep this trend of having a different name for every gig. It keeps people guessing.

MG: For G’Tarvins, it’s G apostrophe T. TC: I thought it was just “Gi,” then a capital T. KT: No, G’Tarvins, because with Garvin and Tarvin together, we sometimes just go by Arvins.

MG: This is clearly a work in progress. When we hit Nashville, we’ll get it ironed out.

Do you ever play with students?

MG: We have. The G’Tarvins and Spring Ephemerals have played at Folkfest with our research students the past couple years.

TC: Not yet, for me.

What are you working on now?

MG: There are some more popular country songs we are thinking of doing. What else?

KT: I want to do that Buck Allen song “Heaven Sent.” We don’t have any gigs lined up yet right now, but if we can come up with another name for the band, then we will book another gig.

MG: We are just waiting for Nashville to call.

I’ve seen your band name written as “Twila and the Gui’Tarvins,” “Twila and the Spring Ephemerals” and “Twila and the Biohazards.” Which one is actually your

On a slightly more serious note, why is it important to you as Biology professors to also be involved in the arts at Oberlin?

KT: I guess I don’t think of it in the way that it’s important because I’m a Biology professor — it’s just something that comes out organically, which I think is the case for a lot of it. We play with some other [ faculty] in different groups, like a chemist and someone from the English department. Oberlin is a great place for people with similar interests to find each other.

MG: Speaking of “organically,” Keith and I started playing at the field station where we lived in graduate school because that was what the community did at night after field work. We weren’t near a town or anything, so we just played music.

KT: Yeah, for these six-month field seasons, when you’re out in the boonies of central Florida and you’re not near a town, what do you do on Friday night? [You get a] six-pack of beer and a bunch of guitars.

MG: Or whatever is sitting there.

KT: Yeah, could be a bass or maybe a fiddle. And Twila, she was just born with it.

MG: And Twila, she’s been singing since she was a kid.

TC: Oh, I just grew up with it. My dad was such a fan.

KT: She’s from southern Ohio. She’s got cred.

Interview by Phoebe Hammer, Arts editor

The Oberlin Review, May 9, 2014

Feature Photo: Other Worlds

College junior Christopher McLauchlan lifts College sophomore Rachel Nesnevich during “Now We Are Here,” choreographed by Professor of Dance Nusha Martynuk. “Now We Are Here” was featured as part of last Friday and Saturday’s Oberlin Dance Company showcase, Other Worlds.

Courtesy of John Seyfried

Arts

Page 13

Up In Smoke Breaks Fourth Wall Continued from page 10 complaint. Karpinski admitted that even she couldn’t put a name to the show’s story, other than deeming it a “Southern gothic.” Still, the lighting, designed by College senior Ben McLean, the black and white costumes, the use of a light box to convey messages to the audience without speech and the character’s interactions with their apparatuses and each other during and between acts gave Up In Smoke the loose structure it needed to keep the audience hooked.

In light of Up In Smoke’s aim for more “grown-up” antics, the show featured a slew of College seniors who were able to exhibit the aerialist skill and knowledge that they have accrued from working with OCA over the years.

Jessica Lam, the show’s “bad girl,” climbed the corde with a vengeance while Hayley Larson played the role of a flirty “ghost” on the singlepoint trapeze, allowing her dance background to surface in her elegant and creative manipulations of the apparatus. Lena Lane and Karellyn Holston partnered up as a pair of wide-eyed wind-up dolls for an act on the lyra, a suspended hoop, which spun as they contorted in flawless unison. Jessica Mikenas wowed the crowd as the “butler,” swinging her fire poi expertly without once losing her expression of complete composure. Karpinski also took her time to shine in a multi-apparatused solo, whipping her fire staff around with just one hand and dangling from the trapeze by the crook of her elbow, shooting a look of revelry toward the audience.

The exceptions to the “adult” rule were equally talented and fun to watch. Kirby, Barger

and Rose successfully embodied demonic “rabid puppies” in both their acrobatics and stacked –––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––

Jessica Mikenas wowed the crowd as the “butler,” swinging her fire poi expertly without once losing her expression of complete composure.

––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––– trapeze acts, swinging each other across the stage and snarling at the audience. Audience members’ hearts went out to College junior Rachel Webberman, who convincingly played the innocent, caught up in the madness and trying to escape via a mournful number on the silks.

She is pursued by the rabid puppies until — to the audience’s delight — she joins them in the end, becoming a member of the sinister assortment of characters.

The threat of inclement weather endangered the show’s two outdoor performances, but luckily for those who were able to find the “north-most tennis courts,” the show went on.

The fine attention to visual detail, the performers’ commitment to their characters and apparatuses and the stunning use of fire made for a breathtaking final show of the semester.

However, anyone sticking around for commencement may encounter further aerialist treats. “We are planning on having impromptu shows during [the] week, so keep an eye out for those,” Lane said. Who knows — maybe with some more nice weather, fire will make another guest appearance.

Sports

Page 14

The Oberlin Review, May 9, 2014

— Baseball —

Yeomen’s Season Comes to Close in Crossover Play Michaela Puterbaugh The baseball team ended its season with three consecutive losses of 14–2, 13–6 and 4–1 against the DePauw University Tigers this past weekend in the North Coast Athletic Conference Crossover Series. With the losses, the Yeomen were eliminated from the conference tournament, and the Tigers will advance to Chillicothe, OH, this weekend for the playoffs.

“Obviously, it wasn’t the result we wanted,” junior outfielder Andrew Hutson said. “DePauw came out and played the best series of their season and beat us, simple as that. No reason for us to be too down about it.”

The Tigers set the pace in the first game of the series, scoring 14 runs before the Yeomen could get on the board.

“We scored in each game, but we just couldn’t hold them off defensively,” senior pitcher Mike McDonald said.

“If our pitching was on, maybe we could have moved on.”

The second game got off to a better start as the Yeomen took a 2–0 lead on a Tiger error and an RBI single

by sophomore catcher Blaise Dolcemaschio. The Tigers quickly took the lead back, though, as they gained five runs in the second and third innings. Junior infielder Danny Baldocchi hit a homerun in the sixth inning to bring the Yeomen within two, but the Tigers added three in the bottom half of the frame and five more in the eighth to widen the gap. The Yeomen tallied three runs in the top of the ninth, but the game was already out of reach.

“I thought we came into the weekend with a great shot of making it back to the final four,” senior infielder Kevin Verne said. “We ran into a team that played some very good baseball on a day that we did not have our best stuff. Clearly a tough way to go out, but I’m still proud of our team.”

The two teams ended their weekend on Sunday with the third game of the crossover series. Verne and junior infielder Jeff Schweighoffer had two hits, and Hutson added three, but only one of the eight went for extra bases and, as a result, the Yeomen were only able to put one run on the board.

IN THE LOCKER ROOM

For Verne, it was a difficult way to end his career, and the reality of having played his last game at Oberlin hasn’t set in yet.

“When you go through your athletic career, you never really think it’s going to end,” he said. “One season ends, but you have that safety net of the next season to fall back on. Playing in my last game, I tried to take in my surroundings and enjoy every second. I looked back at all the games I have played in my life, and how they all led to that final game. I’m pretty sure it hasn’t really hit me yet, but it is certainly a tough situation to deal with.”

The Yeomen ended their season with a record of 7–12 in the NCAC and 17–20 overall. Despite losing five graduating seniors, the team has high hopes for next fall.

“Obviously, we’re losing some very key pieces in our game with our seniors graduating,” Hutson said. “However, I think we have a very good shot at making a very strong playoff push next year and potentially being right in the mix to win the conference. We’re returning many of our top hitters and pitchers, and I expect us all to improve greatly over the next several months.”

Football Coaches

This week, the Review sat down with first-year Assistant Football Coaches Nate Cole and Bob Saunders to discuss past jobs, what NFL players they’d like to coach and the new era of Oberlin football.

What drew you to Oberlin?

Bob Saunders: I had spent some time in Division III football at Washington University in St. Louis. That is also a very high academic school, and knowing the type of student-athletes that they had there, I figured it would be similar here, where there are extremely smart guys — extremely hard working and willing to do whatever it took to get better. That’s the kind of environment that I was looking for to continue my coaching career.

The opportunity came up here with Jay [Anderson], where he’s changing the culture of what the football program is all about, and along with the new facilities here and the vision Jay has of the direction of the program, it was all very intriguing to me.

Nate Cole: Pretty much, like Bob said, opportunity. The opportunity to mentor kids, young men, and develop them into upstanding citizens and teach them how to go about life, being accountable in all areas of their life. It’s a new era here, and I couldn’t wait to be a part of that.

Coach Saunders and Coach Cole, where were you before Oberlin?

BS: I played at Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas. I spent most of my career on the professional level. I had stints with the Kansas City Chiefs, the Washington Redskins [and] the [St. Louis] Rams.

I coached wide receivers for two years in the United Football League. At the college level, I coached quarterbacks at Washington University in St. Louis, and I was the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at Kansas Wesleyan University last year. Now I am the offensive

about this incoming class.

NC: I live by recruit, retain, develop. We are going to recruit good student athletes, good ball players. We have to be able to keep them here and develop them. We are going in the right direction and going forward and keep bringing in good, highquality guys and high-character guys.

Bob Saunders and Nate Cole coordinator and quarterbacks coach here.

NC: I went to the University of Toledo; I played and started there for three years. Immediately after getting done, the coach called me back, and I was a graduate assistant there for three years. My first year, I was mostly involved with centers and guards; the second year was more so tackles and tight ends and my last year I worked with tight ends and fullbacks. I am here right now as the offensive line coach and special teams coordinator.

What was your favorite part about your college football experience?

BS: The camaraderie of the guys that you are around every day and being able to be a part of the sport that you love. I have been around football my entire life; it’s given me the ability to have a deep understanding and respect for the game. [I have enjoyed] having the relationships that you get through being almost forced to lean on other people on a regular basis to meet the goals that you want to have personally and as a team.

NC: Exactly the same for me.

The camaraderie, the brotherhood — that is your family. You see them more than you see your parents, you wake up with them every day and you have those relationships that will last forever.

Are you excited for the new stadium?

BS: I am thrilled.That is a huge piece that we need here in order to enter into the new era.

We are all very excited about it; we talk about it almost every single day. It’s going to help out quite a bit, for recruiting and for other sports as well. It’s a huge addition to this already outstanding college campus.

NC: I can’t wait. Words can’t describe it — our own turf field.

It’s a reassuring feeling that they are putting in a lot of money and backing our program. This program is taking a step toward the right direction and having a stadium is incredible.

If you could work with any NFL player, who would it be?

NC: I have two. The first: Warren Sapp because of his whole attitude and swagger. The next player I think would be Jon Og-

den or Orlando Pace. If I could have my wish — rest in peace — but I would like to work with Deacon Jones.

BS: He went with all former guys. One current guy I would like to work with is Peyton Manning. He has a high intelligence level and understanding of the game — that’s a guy that can probably teach me as much about football as I could teach him.

How many new recruits are you bringing in next fall?

BS: I think there are 23 incoming freshmen, and there may be a couple more, maybe 25 or 26. That would put the roster right at about 50, which is outstanding and a good start for where we want to head this program. This is the biggest recruiting class that we have had in a long time. These are kids that can play football. Half our team will be freshmen, so we will have some inexperienced guys.

As far as collegiate football is concerned, they are good athletes, and kids that we feel can step in and help us out immediately. We are headed in the right direction, and are really excited

What are your expectations for the 2014 season?

BS: I think we are going to be extremely competitive. We are going to be young and have inexperience on some level, but I think that we have an extremely good core of guys on the offensive side of the ball that are coming back. We have an offensive line that has played together for a few years now, and we have a couple of quarterbacks that are good young players. We have an outstanding group of running backs, both incoming and guys that are already here.

We are going to be really young at wide receiver. Offensively, we are going to be extremely competitive, and I think we will be really competitive on defense, too. We are not looking at this like rebuilding — we are looking at this like being competitive from the start.

NC: Pretty much Bob summed it up. We are going to compete.

We are going to compete in every game and not going to kill ourselves offensively or do things that turn the ball over.

We are going to be fundamentally sound. We are going to execute and be physical, because we are playing football and usually the most physical team wins. And lastly, we are going to finish. Execute, finish, physical.

Our guys have to control the two things they can control: attitude and effort. After that, we will be able to figure it out. I can’t wait.

Interview by Sarah Orbuch, Sports editor Photo by Zach Harvey

Sports

The Oberlin Review, May 9, 2014

Page 15

— Track and Field —

Yeowomen Fall Just Short At NCAC Championships Hannah Heinke-Greene Last weekend, Oberlin hosted the North Coast Athletic Conference Outdoor Track and Field Conference Championships. The men’s team finished fourth in the competition, while the Yeowomen placed second for the sixth year in a row.

The Yeowomen earned 124 points, falling only to Ohio Wesleyan University, who finished with 229 points.The men’s team finished with 61 points as Wabash College took home first place with a total of 282 points.

Although the teams did not finish on top, they were still happy with their performances.

“The conference meet went very well,” Assistant Track and Field Coach Danielle Hunt said. “There were a lot of break-out performances for people across all event areas.”

On the women’s side, sophomore Deirdre Haren competed in the 800-meter race, finishing third overall in the conference with a time of 2 minutes and 19.25 seconds. Haren attributed her success to a “change in mindset toward racing and more intense training.”

There were many more strong performances on the women’s side, including junior Carey Lyons, who broke the school and conference record in the steeplechase with a time of 10:49.72, good enough to place her seventh in the nation.

“I focused on just enjoying the experience rather than worrying too much about times or winning or losing,” said Lyons.

The Yeowomen continued to dominate in the 5,000-meter race as seniors Molly Martorella and Lauren Taylor along with juniors Emma Lehmann and Sarah Jane Kerwin earned second-, sixth-, third- and fifth-place finishes, respectively.

The Yeowomen also impressed in the field events, with junior Tiffany Henry earning first place in the discus with a toss of 35.77 meters.

First-year Ave Spencer had an impressive showing at her first conference meet, finishing second in the pole vault by clearing 3.20 meters. She attributed her success to “a lot of strength training in order to become stronger and faster” as well as a “ton of technical practices.”

With its impressive performances at the conference and the meets leading up to it, the Yeowomen had many members already qualified for the NCAA Track and Field Championships.

“With the women’s distance qualifying marks, Oberlin is looking at qualifying the most people in school history to Nationals,” Coach Hunt said.

Although the men finished behind the women comparatively in the standings, they, too, had impressive individual success.

By a slight margin, sophomore Joshua Urso won the 800 meters with a time of 1:55.06.

“It is very rewarding to win your event after all the time and effort you put into the sport in order to have that as a possibility,” Urso said. “It has been a goal of mine to win a conference title, and it is awesome to be able to cross that off my list.”

In a competitive 1,500-meter race, senior Jimmy Taylor finished third with a time of 4:00.41, which was a mere two seconds slower than the first place finisher’s time.

Junior Jerry Choi was also successful, setting a new school record in the 400-meter hurdles, crossing the line with a time of 53.71.

“The highlight of the meet was not only defeating the 12th ranked hurdler in the nation but also placing second and breaking that 24-year-old record,” Choi said.

Across the board, Oberlin’s track and field teams had strong individual success at the conference meet.

“The energy of being on our home track with everyone’s friends, families and professors around was just outstanding and really inspired everyone to compete well,” Coach Hunt said.

While most other spring sports have concluded their seasons,

Junior Carey Lyons competes in the steeplechase at the conference championship meet last weekend. Lyons broke a school and conference record and placed seventh in the nation with her time of 10:49.72.

Courtesy of OC Athletics

the track and field team is busy trying to qualify more runners for the national meet. The team’s next attempt to do so will be May 9 at Allegheny College.

OBIE Awards to Honor College Athletes Grace Barlow This Saturday, student-athletes will trade in their uniforms for dress clothes in anticipation of the athletic department’s third annual OBIE awards. The OBIEs are a way to look back at the 2013–2014 athletic seasons and recognize the successes of student-athletes who play on Oberlin’s 21 varsity teams.

“It serves as a moment to create community while igniting enthusiasm and love for Oberlin Athletics,” said Delta Lodge Director of Athletics and Physical Education Natalie Winkelfoos. “It is our night as a department to thank our student-athletes for sharing their talents and intelligence with the College.”

The OBIEs showcase student-athletes with nominations across different categories, such as Newcomer of the Year, Athlete of the Year, Program of the Year and Most Improved Program. Male and female athletes and teams are recognized in each category. The nominees are selected based on an evaluation of statistics and performance by the OBIEs committee, which is composed of coaches and athletic department administrators, as well as two student representatives. Winners are selected by their peers in the athletic department.

“It’s an honor to be considered a standout on my team as a first-year,” first-year basketball player Jack Poyle said. Poyle was nominated for Male Newcomer of the Year.

“Everyone nominated is well-deserving and talented,” he said.

In addition to performance awards, the OBIEs recognize senior studentathletes who have given their four years at Oberlin to their respective sports and exemplify dedication to academics, leadership on and off the field and strength of character. These awards include the John N. Stern Award, the Gertrude E. Moulton Award, the Honda Scholar-Athlete award and the North Coast Athletic Conference Scholar-Athlete Award.

The Director of Athletics, department faculty and head coaches all play a role in determining senior winners. Past winners of the Gertrude E. Moulton award include 2013 alumni Marissa Clardy, Preeya Shah, Ilyssa Meyer and Caroline Martin. Farah Leclercq, OC ’13, senior Molly Martorella and junior Carey Lyons were awarded the Honda Scholar-Athlete award, and Laura Jesse, OC ’13, and Andrew Fox, OC ’13, were recognized with the NCAC ScholarAthlete Award.

“I love having our entire family together in one space recognizing our successes as individuals, teams and a department,” Winkelfoos said of the awards.

Senior basketball player Lillian Jahan, a student representative of the OBIEs committee, echoed this sentiment.

“We go to a unique school in which the athlete culture is different from most other institutions, and on this night I feel like we are united as an athletics department,” Jahan said.

While most Oberlin athletes said they enjoy the event, some student-athletes noted that the awards aren’t the best representation of success in the department.

“Not all [athletes] improve at the same pace and are sometimes only noticed by their teammates and coaching staff,” sophomore basketball player Matthew Walker said. “As a fellow athlete, I am proud of all, and I think that all of the programs were successful in their own rights.”

The awards will take place at the indoor track. The event includes the awards presentation, as well as dinner and the opportunity for Oberlin athletes to enjoy one last celebration together before the summer.

Men’s Soccer Headlines Successful Year for Athletics Continued from page 16 the NCAC tournament. Lone senior Brenna Sheldon was honored as one of the best women’s tennis players in Oberlin history and NCAC Player of the Year. She has been seeded third in the NCAA Individual National Championship.

Teammates junior Grace Porter, sophomore Erin Johnson and firstyear Emma Brezel also caught the attention of the NCAC with a variety of honors. Porter earned a spot on the All-NCAC Second Team, while Brezel and Johnson made the cut for NCAC Honorable Mention selections. Ananiadis reflected on this season as a success and looks forward to what is to come.

“Soundly defeating Kenyon twice, a team that had beaten us twice last year, in heartbreaking fashion both times, had to have been the two highlights for us competitively,” Ananiadis said. “It was also neat that the two matches were on Senior Day and the last match of the season. But that aside, our biggest accomplishment was off court and more abstract. The chemistry this team had

was something special, and when teams of any kind operate like this, it’s a wonderful thing.”

Another team that made waves for Oberlin was cross country. Countless individuals had successful seasons for the Yeomen and Yeowomen of the cross-country team. The women’s team placed eighth at the NCAA Championships. The men’s team members sophomores Geno Arthur and Joshua Urso also clinched individual spots at the tournament, finishing in 111 and 139 places, respectively.

Other programs saw huge success even if not represented statistically. Both the women’s lacrosse and soccer teams doubled their wins from last season under new head coaches. Jay Anderson also looks to begin his tenure as the new head coach of the football team next year under the lights of a brand new Savage Stadium.

Winkelfoos shared an update about the stadium’s construction progress: “The target completion date is August 15, and we are mostly on schedule. The place is going to be a landmark of leadership,” Winkelfoos said. “This is where student-athletes are going to play, but it’s also where the community will come together and strengthen Oberlin.”

Editorial: NBA First Round Best Ever Continued from page 16 Lillard are playing some of the best basketball of their careers right now, and the Blazers are absolutely in the mix to head to the Finals. That said, Kevin Durant is still the best scorer on the planet and the Blazers and Los Angeles Clippers don’t have a Tony Allen-level defender capable of slowing Durant down for seven games. A Clippers road win in Game 1 showed the treading won’t be easy, though.

As great as the first round of the Western Conference playoffs were, the second round has the potential to be just as good. The Thunder– Clippers series, featuring Durant and Russell Westbrook versus Blake Griffin and Chris Paul, has as much star power as any playoff series in recent memory, and the Spurs–Blazers series features an up-and-coming Portland squad against a Spurs team that has been a perennial contender since the dawn of the Greg Popovich era in 1996.

The East, however, doesn’t offer quite the same appeal. Washington won just 44 games this season and faces a Pacers squad that has been increasingly difficult to watch as the season has gone on. With regard to the Heat–Nets series, the question is when, not if, the Heat will prevail.

This contrast in talent between the West and the East could be an issue for the NBA going forward. Despite finishing the regular season with 48 wins — a total that would have been good enough for third best in the East — the Phoenix Suns missed the playoffs this year. Given that the conferences are location-based, however, a realignment to even them out isn’t a possibility. A stacked NBA Draft could give teams in the East some more firepower, but that’s unlikely to pay off for at least a couple of years.

Regardless of the unevenness of the two conferences, this season is going to end with a bang.

All four teams remaining in the West are worthy opponents for the Heat, and with Dwyane Wade at full health, the Heat look poised for a threepeat. All we can hope for now is that the rest of the playoffs feature as much clutch time as the first round. I think they will.

Sports The Oberlin Review

Senior Brenna Sheldon eyes the ball in a match. Sheldon boasts an impressive 21–6 singles record and 20–7 in doubles. She recently earned a bid to the NCAA Division III tennis tournament.

Courtesy of OC Athletics

things with the ball; she’s much more versatile.”

The improvement has shown on the court; in 20102011, she went 5–4 in singles and 8–8 in doubles, well short of this year’s strong 21–6 and 20–7 marks, respectively.

Sheldon credits two of her former teammates as mentors who facilitated her growth.

“I have improved a lot as a tennis player over the past four years in large part because I learned how to handle my injuries,” she said. “I’ve certainly been inspired by Ariel Lewis, [OC ’12], our No. 1 from a couple years ago, and Farah Leclercq, [OC ’13], who graduated last year. I always loved playing [at No. 2] on the court next to them.”

Even while improving her skill set and becoming stronger, Sheldon has faced multiple challenges over the years.

“Injuries. Many of them,” said Coach Ananiadis. “Her back was the most major, as well as debilitating, one. Brenna hardly played her freshman year. She’s one of the most resilient people I know, though, so she kept a smile on her face and continued working.

She’s so deserving of all this recognition she’s getting. This couldn’t have happened to a nicer, more deserving person.”

Sheldon considers her biggest challenges to be her injuries as well, but when asked about her greatest accomplishment, the answer was obvious to her.

“The best match I ever

played was my junior year against Case [Western Reserve University],” she said. “I was playing at No. 1, and our match lasted three hours and fifty minutes. I lost the match, but I wasn’t sad because I left everything I had out on the court. I love the feeling of putting absolutely every last ounce of effort I have into a match. After that match I could barely stand up. I think some people would find it crazy to love that feeling, but other athletes probably understand.”

Sheldon first became interested in tennis when she was 13, and began to think about playing in college shortly after that.

“At first, I thought I wanted to go D-I,” she said. “But luckily I figured out that D-III would be much better for me.”

Aside from loving the friendly atmosphere of Oberlin, it was ultimately Coach Ananiadis who convinced Sheldon to play here.

“He would call and send letters, and after a while I just couldn’t say no,” Sheldon said.

Sheldon’s tennis experience prior to college was also a formative time for her current playing style.

“I’ve always been a counter-punch player,” she said.

“Playing on red clay in Spain for a year during high school, where the mentality is to grind through really long points, really contributed. Some pretty bad injuries in high school and early college made me appre-

ciate my body and tennis, too.

Especially throughout college, I’ve always felt lucky to play. In my four years there has barely been a day when I didn’t want to be out there practicing.”

Despite only having played with Sheldon for a year, firstyear Emma Brezel spoke highly of her teammate, praising her as one of the most hardworking, positive individuals on the team.

“I have never seen someone fight for every point the way Brenna does,” Brezel said.

Junior Grace Porter, Sheldon’s doubles partner, also couldn’t help but gush about her teammate of three years.

“Being on the same team as Brenna is amazing,” Porter said. “She is a strong leader and leads by example more than anyone else. We have a very balanced doubles dynamic on the court — her intensity never falters, which keeps me focused, and I think in return I help her relax a bit and remain calm in tough situations.”

Sheldon said she is incredibly excited to have received this bid; to her, it means going as far as she possibly can as a Division-III player.

“I’m so happy and lucky to go to Nationals,” she said. “It’s gonna be fun. Also, I’m really happy that I get to stay in season right up until graduation.

I wouldn’t have it any other way.”

Sheldon will be in action at the Nationals Tournament May 22-24 in Claremont, CA.

Eventful Year Draws to Close for Athletics Dept.

Tyler Sloan Staff Writer

Dean Schapow and first-year Nick Wertman.

Head Coach Blake New was also honored by the NCAC as the Coach of the Year.

“I do think we have been well supported through the years, but when we had more success we drew more people,” New said. “It was extremely moving for me to see so many students and parents in the stands at the NCAA games. The last game, the crowd sang

to the very end even though we were losing, and that brought me to tears.”

Another program that made huge strides this year is the women’s tennis team under the leadership of Head Coach Constantine Ananiadis. Finishing with a record of 13–9, the Yeowomen placed third overall in

Nate Levinson Sports Editor If the first round of the NBA playoffs was any indication, basketball fans everywhere are in for a real treat.

In what was the best first playoff round I’ve ever watched in the NBA or otherwise, five different series went to seven games, while a sixth ended on a buzzer beater in Game 6 by one of the game’s brightest stars, the Portland Trail Blazers’ Damian Lillard.

In total, teams combined to play 168 minutes of clutch time, or parts of the last five minutes of games in which the score was within five points.

None of this should come as a surprise. In the Western Conference, every team to make the playoffs had at least 49 wins, and the topseeded San Antonio Spurs and Oklahoma City Thunder are absolutely not without their flaws.

In the Eastern Conference, other than the Miami Heat, there is no standout.

Although the Washington Wizards have looked good thus far, all the teams were fairly evenly matched.

Deciding on the favorite in the East is as easy as it’s been in each of the past four seasons. Considering the Indiana Pacers’ Roy Hibbertsized struggles in the second half of the season and in the first round of the playoffs, LeBron James and the Heat should have no problem manhandling the Brooklyn Nets and the winner of the Pacers–Wizards series en route to a fourth consecutive Finals appearance.

The West is another story.

Heading into the playoffs, I’d have said that the Thunder were the favorite to make it to the finals, but given their struggles against the Memphis Grizzlies, I’m less sure.

Couple that with the fact that LaMarcus Aldridge and See Editorial, page 15

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The academic year comes to a close in just over a week, finishing what has been both an eventful and successful time for the Athletics Department. Several teams and individual athletes clinched NCAA bids, countless individuals garnered North Coast Athletic See Men’s, page 15 Conference accolades and new facilities have undergone construction.

Overall, Delta Lodge Director of Athletics and Physical Education Natalie Winkelfoos feels positively about the direction of the department.

“I think that there is a lot that has changed that you can’t put your finger on. I do get the sense that there is an overall feeling of more enthusiasm and more support for what is happening in our corner of the campus,” Winkelfoos said.

Underscoring this year’s achievements is the men’s soccer program. For the first time in its history, the team gained a berth to the NCAA tournament.

A handful of individuals also grabbed the attention of several national and state organizations, earning a variety of awards.

Highlighting the individual awards is senior goalkeeper Brandt Rentel, who was named a Third-Team All-American by D3-soccer.com and Defender of the Year by the NCAC. Senior Ari Schwartz and sophomore John Ingham joined Rentel in earning both First-Team NSCAA Great Lakes All-Region and AllOhio First-Team awards. Five other Yeomen picked Sophomore Slade Gottlieb strikes the ball in the NCAA tournament last fall. Gottlieb earned All-NCAC up NCAC honors, including senior Joe Graybeal, honors this fall, helping guide the Yeomen to a 14–4–4 record and a berth to the NCAA tournament for Courtesy of Matthew Yeoman sophomores Slade Gottlieb, Josh Wilkerson and the first time in program history.

NBA Delivers in Clutch

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The women’s tennis team finished out its season in the North Coast Athletic Conference match at Kenyon College with a third place finish on April 27. The Yeowomen ended their year with a conference record of 3–0, improving on last year’s mark of 2–1.

One of the most notable aspects of the weekend was the culmination of senior Brenna Sheldon’s conference

play at Oberlin. After her four years, she sits in third place for individuals in the Intercollegiate Tennis Association Central Region’s rankings. Due to her high ranking, Sheldon received a bid to the NCAA Division III National Tournament.

“Emotionally, Brenna was always a rock,” Head Coach Constantine Ananiadis said.

“Physically and tactically is where she’s had the most improvement. She’s now a lot stronger and can do more

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Sheldon Ends Career with Nationals Bid

May 9, 2014

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