November 1, 2019

The Oberlin Review November 1, 2019

Established 1874

Volume 148, Number 7

Shopping Center Plans Raise Concern at City Council Hearing Katherine MacPhail Editor-in-Chief

Emergency responders stand outside of Mercy Allen Hospital on Tuesday after seven people were exposed to an unknown substance.

Photo by Chris Schmucki, Photo Editor

Unknown Substance Causes Emergency at Walmart, Mercy ER Anisa Curry Vietze News Editor An unknown substance originating in the Oberlin Walmart parking lot left seven people sick or unresponsive on Tuesday. Some of the exposures occurred in Mercy Allen Hospital and resulted in the hospital employing its emergency management plan and temporarily evacuating its emergency room.

Chemical testing is still ongoing, but Chief of Police Ryan Warfield says he suspects the substance was fentanyl. The exposures began when police responded to a call reporting a suspicious individual walking in and out of Walmart and potentially stealing from the store.

“Officers went to Walmart to check the situation out and talk to the subject,” Warfield said. “One of the officers made contact with the subject and she started to feel sick — she felt ill from what is suspected to be fentanyl. She Narcaned herself and after a brief moment, the subject got sick as well. An ambulance was called for the subject and the officer.”

According to President of Mercy Health Allen Hospital Charlotte Wray, the hospital was already in the process of preparing for the situation by the time the ambulance arrived.

“When the first two victims were on route to the hospital, [the staff ] beleived they knew what they were dealing with,” Wray said. “We have protocols that include gowning and gloving and putting on face masks and goggles — because they know you don’t want to get exposed to that stuff. So they received the suspect and the police officer and quickly began treatment. And shortly after arrival, the EMT [assisting in the ambulance] started exhibiting some symptoms, so at that point, we were treating three folks. And it just kind of accelerated from there.”

According to Wray, several nurses and healthcare workers also became sick once the patients were admitted to the hospital.

“There were seven people that were exhibiting symptoms and six [of them] received treatment — including the initial suspect and the police officer,” Wray said. “I’m not at liberty to get into the specifics of the clinical situation, but the people exposed to the substance may be feeling extremely weak, dizzy, or confused. They may lose consciousness and stop breathing. It is very serious.”

As a precaution, emergency workers blocked off a

section of West Lorain Street for several hours, according to Supervisor of Campus Safety Tyrone Wilks.

“We were asked by the fire department to assist with traffic control and making sure people stayed out of the area,” Wilks said. “We’re always happy to participate in stuff like that because our main goal is to make sure all of our staff, students, and faculty are safe. … During that time our department was actively engaged in making sure the alerts were going out to the College staff, students, and people from the emergency contact list.”

In addition to cordoning off the street, Mercy Allen Hospital called upon the surrounding facilities and ambulance crews to mitigate risks.

“If one hospital is in crisis, you can divert ambulances for short periods of time to another hospital,” Wray said.

“It doesn’t happen very often, but in situations like this, that’s what you do. We also were transferring patients that were in the emergency room out, because we didn’t want to expose anybody to what was going on — because at that time you’re not always certain what you’re dealing with. In spite of planning and preparing for everything, you just never know.”

The origin of the substance, as well as its effects, are still being investigated.

“We think it’s likely the substance was fentanyl, however at this time the lab results came back negative,” Warfield said. “But there’s still other stuff they are testing and the report has not been released yet.”

Reports of incidences of emergency responders becoming ill or even unresponsive due to exposure from fentanyl — a drug that is sometimes 100 times more potent than morphine, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention — have been prevalent since at least 2016.

“In the media, we’ve seen examples where first responders, family members, and people that are struggling with addiction come in contact with this substance and it completely incapacitates them,” Wray said. “There [are] definitely precedents around how you develop a plan way ahead of time. You know, the threat of exposures are part of the scary reality that we live in.”

However, many in the scientific community believe there is little evidence that shows that these experiences across the country are a result of contact with a drug.

A 2017 statement published by the American College of Medical Toxicology says that “it is very unlikely that small, unintentional skin exposures to tablets or powder

Plans are in motion to develop a 28-acre shopping center at the intersection of Ohio State Route 58 and U.S. Route 20 in Oberlin. The proposition was met with resistance from community members at a City Council hearing on Oct. 21.

The property belongs to Oberlin Fire Chief Robert Hanmer, who intends to sell it to Carnegie Management and Development Corporation if the plans are approved.

Carnegie Management expects to spend $10–15 million on construction, and predicts that the development could bring 350 full-time jobs to Oberlin.

The parcel was originally designated for office building development at an Oct. 21 public hearing. The Oberlin Planning Commission recommended that the Oberlin City Council rezone the property as C3, which would open it up to commercial development. City Council was also asked to address the C3 zoning restriction that capped construction at 50,000 square feet. The proposed shopping center is around 120,000 square feet.

City Council President Bryan Burgess explained that the City Council and the Planning Commission initially approved the 50,000 square foot limit in an effort to keep big-box stores out of Oberlin. He said that the effect of this rule was that there was very little building done in that area at all.

“Where the intention of Council and the planning commission 12 years ago was to stop a big-box store, that’s not what’s being proposed here with this developer,” Burgess said. “Even though a single building is going to be 82,000 square feet, it’s actually being subdivided into smaller storefronts.”

Burgess said that in upcoming meetings, City Council will consider passing a new ordinance which will state that a building may exceed 50,000 square feet if the storefronts are 50,000 square feet or smaller. He also spoke about some of the benefits that this development could bring to the Oberlin community.

“The initial estimate from the developer was 350 jobs at an average salary of $30,000 per year,” Burgess said. “The combination of property and income tax was over half a million dollars a year. Split between the city, the schools, and the county — it’s significant.”

Carnegie Development and Management Corporation, based in Westlake, OH, is currently at the planning and research stage of the development process.

“We are still in the process of performing due diligence on the property and working with the city to get everything zoned appropriately,” said Associate General Counsel Jonathan Khouri. “We’re looking for potential tenants, so we’re working with a couple that have interest. And we’re basically going to just continue to go through our internal processes to make sure that we’re doing a project that pencils out and can be supported [by] the Oberlin community.”

Director of Planning and Development Carrie Handy is hopeful that the shopping center can supplement existing businesses downtown.

“As far as competing with downtown, I think that we can get a mix of retail, office, restaurants, whatever, that would complement downtown versus compete,” Handy said. “These offer larger spaces that downtown just doesn’t have. … The storefronts downtown are small; you’re talking a thousand to probably three thousand square feet, and these are

See Hospital, page 4

See Residents, page 2

CONTENTS NEWS

OPINIONS

THIS WEEK

ARTS & CULTURE

SPORTS

02 Updated OCOPE Contract to be Published Online

05 Proposed Journalism Concentration Deserves Support

08–09 Halloweekend Edition

10 Grammy Winning Alum Performs for High Schoolers

03 College Adds More On-Campus Winter Term Opportunities

06 Universal Health Care Requires Universal Sacrifice

16 Women’s Cross Country Win Rumble: An Annual Tradition of Determination

The Oberlin Review | November 1, 2019

11 An Obie Recommends: How to Avoid Procrastination

16 NBA Struggles to Face China

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Updated OCOPE Contract to be Published Online Katie Lucey News Editor Oberlin College Office and Professional Employees will soon publish an updated union contract following negotiations with the College.

OCOPE leadership confirmed that language used in the updated contract was ratified on Oct. 2, although the contract in its entirety has not yet been finalized and approved.

“We’re currently proofreading the contract, and hope to get it finalized very soon,” Diane Lee, president of OCOPE and interlibrary loan supervisor, wrote in an email to the Review.

OCOPE first signed a contract with the College in 1971, ensuring benefits and establishing more transparent human resources policies for union members.

Negotiations occur every three years, with the two most recent discussions occurring in July 2016 and this past June. The most recent contract expired on June 30.

Chief Human Resources Officer Joseph Vitale maintains that the timing of the bargaining progress was not unusual, despite claims that the administration waited until the student body was off-campus to begin negotiations in order to limit student pushback on the terms of the contract.

“The College engages in negotiations collectively with its unionized memberships when mutually-agreeable times present themselves,” Vitale wrote in an email to the Review. “This year’s sessions began on June 11, when

we were able to get all parties at the table.”

“All parties” include OCOPE and representatives from the College, such as: Labor Counsel at Frantz-Ward LLP Mike Frantz; Azariah Smith Root Director of Libraries Alexia Hudson-Ward; Director of Compensation and Benefits Mark McLeod; Assistant Dean for Business and Operations Angela Szunyogh; Chief Human Resources Officer Joe Vitale; and Manager of Labor and Employee Relations Kim Wiggerly.

According to the most-recently published contract, the College recognizes OCOPE as “the sole and exclusive bargaining representative for all full-time and regular status part-time Administrative Assistants including limited-term positions.”

The final One Oberlin report, which was released in May and outlined the Academic and Advising Program Review committee’s recommendations for overcoming the institution’s structural budget deficit, posited four overarching goals for its review process. One of these goals focused on employee and labor relations.

The report states that 63 percent of the institution’s operating expenses go toward employee costs. During the fiscal year 2018, this number totaled approximately $79.6 million. As stated in the 2018 annual report, employee costs decreased from 2017-18 due to voluntary separation and salary freezes. In accordance with the 2016-2019 contract, OCOPE members received a onepercent raise effective July 1, 2018, and a half-percent increase in wage rates starting Jan. 1, 2019.

Although AAPR could not legally interfere with the

bargaining process, Lee feels that AAPR’s goal to contain labor costs indirectly influenced the negotiations.

“Many of the College’s proposals to cut benefits, rights, and job protections in our contract appeared to be informed by the conclusions and recommendations of the AAPR,” Lee wrote. “We remain deeply concerned about the AAPR recommendations.”

According to Lee, union members will see a small wage increase in the second and third years of the contract. However, these raises are expected to be offset by decreased benefits including higher out-of-pocket healthcare expenses and a decrease in retirement contributions by the College.

The administration maintains that it looked to prioritize both employee well-being and long-term financial sustainability in its negotiations with OCOPE. “The College sought to engage in a collaborative effort that allowed each party to reach an agreement which is fair to its employees and supports Oberlin’s ongoing mission, while aiming to ensure the institution’s financial sustainability,” Vice President for Finance and Administration Rebecca Vasquez-Skillings wrote in an email to the Review.

The full implications of the new contract are unlikely to come to light until the contract is officially posted on Oberlin’s Employee and Labor Relations webpage.

“There is no significance to the delay,” Lee wrote in an email to the Review. “We’re taking the time necessary to make sure it is completely accurate and hopefully error-free.”

Proposed Commercial Development Sparks Community Controversy

Carnegie Management and Development Corporation’s initial plans for the proposed shopping center located at the intersection of Ohio State Route 58 and U.S. Route 20.

Courtesy of The Chronicle Continued from page 1

all bigger than that. … These types of businesses want this location for the traffic, and they want the parking. ... I think they can complement each other.

I really do.”

The proposition was met with resistance from community members who spoke at the Oct. 21 meeting. Ben Wisner, a retired professor who has a background in land use planning, was skeptical of the plan.

“I’m concerned that it’s not needed,” Wisner said.

“I’m also concerned that we don’t know enough about the company. I can see numerous alternatives in terms of employment and economic and social development of the city.”

Matt Keddal, a resident of Pittsfield Township who owns a farm near the proposed shopping center,

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expressed his concerns about increased trash and noise that the development would bring. Donna Waltz, who lives close to the Hamner property, echoed Keddal’s concerns about increased traffic.

Wisner also worried about the development’s environmental impact.

“All open land — the fallow field, which was the larger portion of this, and the Woodland, certainly — is permeable,” he said. “It controls rainfall and runoff [that] seeps into the ground. All of it has very important biodiversity roles. ... If you’re going to lose that environmental benefit, it has to be offset by a very strong social benefit.”

Handy says that Carnegie Development will first have to submit their site plan to the Ohio Department of Transportation. Afterward, the plan will return to the Planning Commission for approval.

“At that time, we will also look at their stormwater plans,” Handy said. “We have now on staff a stormwater coordinator, so she will be looking at that really hard. We’ve passed a lot of stormwater regulations here in the last year. I think we’re pretty equipped to deal with that issue.”

The Planning Commission has already asked Carnegie Management to adjust their original site plan.

“They actually modified this plan already to include more green space,” Handy said. “The first plan had a lot of asphalt, and I told them to go back and modify it. We actually have a pretty decent set of design standards for the C3 district, which were put into effect after Walmart came in. That’s why you see a lot of this green space breaking up the asphalt.”

Mark Chesler of Oberlin Citizens for Responsible Development believes that the shopping center is not in line with the Planning Commission’s past work.

“The Oberlin City Council ought to heed the astute, prescient advice of former senior City of

Editors-in-Chief

Nathan Carpenter Katherine MacPhail Managing Editor Ananya Gupta News Editors Anisa Curry Vietze Katie Lucey Opinions Editor Jackie Brant This Week Editor Lily Jones Arts Editors Kate Fishman Aly Fogel Sports Editor Jane Agler Cont. Sports Editors Khalid McCalla Zoë Martin del Campo Photo Editors Mallika Pandey Chris Schmucki Senior Staff Writers Carson Dowhan Ella Moxley Imani Badillo

Layout Editors

Oberlin officials as Carnegie Management and Development seeks to pervert the City of Oberlin Comprehensive Land Use Plan,” read the statement that Chesler shared at the hearing.

Handy said that the comprehensive plan for city development in Oberlin was last updated in 2011 and is now outdated. The Planning Commission plans to update it again for 2020. According to Handy, this parcel is the only one in the city that was designated for office development.

Khouri spoke to Carnegie Management’s business practices and its history with sustainable development.

“We’re an asset-based company, so we hang on to all of our developments, so we don’t ever flip our properties,” Khouri said. “We’re going to keep it and manage the projects for many years to come. With that in mind, we do try to engage in environmentally sustainable practices … There’s a whole slew of different things and a protocol that we go through, and as long as the economics work, then we employ as many as we can. … We’ve picked up a lot of sustainable practices along the way that we just try to work into our commercial developments as best we can.”

Other community members shared their reservations about starting new developments in Oberlin.

“This sprawl, this huge sprawl from the original size of Oberlin, has all happened in the last 30 years,” Oberlin resident Aliza Widenbaum said in a statement during the hearing.

Handy maintains that the development makes sense for this location.

“I don’t consider this sprawl,” Handy said.

“It’s already in the city. It’s already got utilities running past it. We’re not going to build any new infrastructure to make it happen.”

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Corrections:

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

Democratic Debate Propels Ohio to Center Stage

Democratic presidential candidates stand on stage at the Oct. 15 Democratic debate, hosted at Otterbein University by CNN and The New York Times.

Courtesy of CNN and NYT

Nathan Carpenter Editor-in-Chief Twelve candidates for the Democratic Party’s presidential nomination descended on Westerville, OH, on Tuesday, Oct. 15, to take part in a three-hour debate hosted by CNN and The New York Times.

Many of the candidates came out swinging, attempting to highlight ideological divides and set themselves apart from the field. Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren became a lightning rod for critique from other candidates, especially on the issue of health care. Other clashes focused on foreign policy, calls for party unity, and past political records.

Several Oberlin residents and students made the two-hour drive to Otterbein University, the host venue, to watch in person. Among them was Lili Sandler, founder of local activist group Lorain County Rising.

“Myself and my fellow activists across the state were really, really happy when we found out that the debate was being held in Ohio,” Sandler said. “We’ve been told since last year’s election that they are disregarding Ohio … that it’s no longer a swing state.”

In Sandler’s eyes, Ohio is still firmly a swing state. Indeed, several candidates made appeals specifically to Ohio voters

over the course of the night.

“You know, this isn’t a flyover part of the country to me,” Minnesota Senator Amy Klobuchar said. “The heartland is where I live. And I want to win those states that we lost last time, and I have bold ideas to get us there.”

Other questions and responses referenced the August shooting in Dayton, OH, lost manufacturing jobs in workingclass communities across the state, recent attempts by the Ohio state legislature to curb abortion access, the opioid crisis, and other local issues.

“It seemed like a pretty clear attempt to appeal to the Midwest more,” said Faith Ward, College second-year and co-chair of the Oberlin College Democrats, who also attended the debate. “[It juxtaposed] how [former Secretary of State and Democratic presidential nominee Hillary] Clinton did in 2016 and what they need to do now, or what they think they need to do.”

Still, Sandler wasn’t completely satisfied with how the candidates addressed the issues specifically impacting Ohioans.

“I found that a lot of times … it felt like they were just inserting ‘state name here,’” Sandler said. “A lot of the times they were saying, ‘Well, as you know, in Ohio’ … they could have just as easily said Iowa, or North Carolina, or Florida.”

Bridget Smith, a College third-year and Ward’s counterpart at the helm of the OC

Democrats, felt that efforts to highlight local issues were largely successful.

“I think that the candidates, or more so the moderators, did a good job of creating a balance between Ohio-specific topics and more broad topics,” Smith wrote in an email to the Review. “The candidates had obviously prepared to answer questions about the opioid crisis and the degradation of the manufacturing industry, but several candidates, such as Andrew Yang, went out of their way to talk about conversations they had with local Ohioans and discussing their needs.”

While Smith felt positively about how the three moderators — Erin Burnett and Anderson Cooper, both of CNN, and Marc Lacey, of the Times — introduced Ohiospecific topics, many, including Sandler, walked away unimpressed.

“It would’ve been nice to see them come up with some new questions,” Sandler said. “It seems like at each of these debates we keep hearing the same things, and we’re not really varying from that.”

Moving forward, Smith encouraged Oberlin students to remain civically engaged.

“We are lucky enough to attend an institution that pushes us to be politically active,” Smith wrote. “I hope that as we approach the 2020 election, students find the time to support their connections outside of Oberlin in learning more about local, state, and national political issues and candidates.”

Sandler said that Lorain County Rising will also focus on education and outreach as the election gets closer.

“We’ll be doing all the regular things,” Sandler said. “We’ll be knocking on doors, we’ll be making phone calls. We’ll be encouraging folks to make donations and to do everything they give it they can to get as many Ohioans to vote as possible.”

The next Democratic presidential debate will take place Wednesday, Nov. 20 in Georgia, and will be co-hosted by MSNBC and The Washington Post.

College Adds On-Campus Winter Term Projects

Students conduct research on-campus during a recent Winter Term.

Photo courtesy of Office of Communications

Ella Moxley Senior Staff Writer The College plans to implement changes to Winter Term to both encourage students to stay on campus as well as make offcampus Winter Term projects more financially accessible. These revisions come after recommendations from a Student Senate survey, The Academic and Administrative Program Review, and Winter Term program review.

The College has made three broad changes to Winter Term this year: increasing the number of projects on campus, creating a better sense of community, and increasing equitable access to projects.

This year, Oberlin is offering over 44 on-campus group projects.

Such projects include 3D Printing 101, Photo-Sonic Composition, and Podcasting Oberlin News.

“The College is moving toward a model where more students are staying on campus for the Winter Term period, which means that more financial resources can be allocated to high-need students,” wrote College third-year and Chair of Student Senate The Oberlin Review | November 1, 2019

Bridget Smith in an email to the Review. “At most colleges that have Winter Terms, students that want to participate in an offcampus project or internship must petition the College on the importance of that experience, which leads the norm to be taking a class on campus.”

According to Professor of History, Comparative American Studies, and Africana Studies Renee Romano, the number of oncampus projects this year has almost doubled — partly due to curriculum development grants that the Dean’s office offered this year.

These grants were intended to encourage faculty to design new Winter Term projects that would offer unique educational experiences.

“We wanted to give faculty the opportunity to pursue a topic or creative endeavor that does not fit within the [15]-week semester or that will inspire new pedagogical approaches or research,” wrote Dean of Arts and Sciences Laura Baudot in an email to the Review. “The result is a really exciting and varied list of Winter Term on-campus group projects. Students should take advantage of the opportunity to learn in a less formal environment and to forge unique bonds with their peers and faculty.”

The AAPR recommendation that requires faculty to facilitate a Winter Term project every four years will officially go into effect next year, which will also increase the array of choices that students have for Winter Term projects.

Another one of the administration’s goals was to make campus life more appealing for students during January.

“We are currently working with the [Student Finance Committee] and hoping that they will be able to reserve some money or spend some money on [more] Winter Term programming,” Romano said. “So there could be something like transportation for students to get off campus on the weekends.”

Three bus trips to Cleveland are already planned. Romano says that the College is also currently working on offering movie series, intellectual events, workshops in collaboration with the Career

Security Notebook Friday, Oct. 25, 2019 9:37 a.m.

Campus Safety Officers and members of the Oberlin Fire Department responded to a fire alarm on the second floor of Barrows Hall. Burnt food had activated the alarm. The area was cleared and the alarm reset.

2:57 p.m. Staff reported a strange odor at Burrell-King House. Officers and an HVAC technician responded, and the house was evacuated. It was determined that carbon monoxide gas was coming from the hot water heater and boiler area. The boiler and water heater were shut off for repairs, and the house was aired out. Space heaters were provided while the boiler was out of service.

9:25 p.m. Officers were requested to assist a student at Old Barrows who experienced symptoms after consuming drugs.

The student was transported to Mercy Allen Hospital for treatment.

11:14 p.m. Officers, members of the Oberlin Fire Department, and an electrician responded to a report of a staff member stuck in the elevator at South Hall. The individual was assisted from the elevator unharmed.

Sunday, Oct. 27, 2019 8:48 p.m.

An officer and members of the Oberlin Fire Department responded to a fire alarm at a Union Street Housing Unit. The cause of the alarm was burnt food. Smoke was cleared, and the alarm was reset.

Monday, Oct. 28, 2019 2:00 a.m.

Officers were requested to assist with a Life Safety inspection on the first floor of Price House. Observed in plain view was a bagged smoke detector, a multicolor glass pipe, and a small bag containing a substance consistent with marijuana. The bag over the smoke detector was removed by an electrician; the pipe and the substance were turned over to the Oberlin Police Department.

3:46 p.m. Officers were requested to assist with a Life Safety inspection on the third floor of Langston Hall. Observed in plain view was a glass pipe containing a residue similar to marijuana.

The pipe was confiscated and turned over to the Oberlin Police Department.

11:18 p.m. An officer on routine patrol observed two panes of glass missing from the east exterior doors of Baldwin Cottage. There was no one in the area, and the panes were covered with cardboard and duct tape. A work order was filed for repair.

Tuesday, Oct. 29, 2019 11:45 a.m. Officers and members of the Carlisle Township Fire Department responded to a fire alarm in the Asia House kitchen.

The alarm, which had been activated by smoke from cooking, was reset with no further issues.

6:55 p.m. Officers and Oberlin Fire Department responded to a fire alarm at an Elm Street Village Housing Unit. Smoke from hot cooking oil activated the alarm; there was no fire. The area was cleared, and the alarm was reset.

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Ne New wss OFF THE CUFF

Greggor Mattson, Cleveland Immersion Program Professor

Greggor Mattson Photo by Yingran Zhang

Associate Professor of Sociology Greggor Mattson teaches the Cleveland Immersion Program, a two-credit module course offered over fall break which educates students on the greater Cleveland area.

Students learn about the history, challenges, and opportunities that Cleveland has to offer and visit the city for a day. Mattson is an urban sociologist who has written about gentrification and LGBTQ+ communities.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

Katherine MacPhail Editor-in-Chief Alice Koeninger Can you tell us a little bit about the Cleveland Immersion Program?

The Cleveland Immersion Program is designed to connect students with different opportunities in Cleveland, including in

the business sector, arts, and nonprofit.

So it involves a one-day immersion in Cleveland with site visits. This year we visited four locations and there’s some instruction that goes along with those. It was founded by [Special Assistant to the President for Community and Government Relations Tita Reed], and her original goal was to keep Obies in greater Cleveland and keep the talent that Obies bring here in Northeast Ohio. And so she designed this program as a way to do that. Now it’s housed in the Bonner Center. It’s [Director Trecia Pottinger and Civic Engagement Intern Della Kurzer-Zlotnick] — without the two of them, this would not happen.

They did all the logistical work for our site visits and our transportation. I contributed the academic component, but they did all the back office work.

Can you speak to some of the opportunities that Cleveland offers?

You can afford to live on a nonprofit salary in Northeast Ohio. I know many Obies are interested in the nonprofit [sector], but it’s very difficult to survive on that kind of salary on the coasts. And Northeast Ohio turns out to be a great place to launch your career because there’s a lot of opportunities. We have a fairly dense alumni network. In past CIPs, we have met with artists and musicians who likewise have said, “I would not be able to afford to live solely off my art if I wasn’t

living in a place where a roommate and I could affordably share a house.” And they told us tales of friends with MFAs on the coast having to work day jobs and do their art only at night because that was the only way to pay the bills.

If you’re going to start a business here in Northeast Ohio, there’s a really vibrant culture for starting at businesses. And, for people in their twenties and thirties, there is a really dense network of opportunities to meet business leaders and politicians, because Cleveland wants young people to move there. Cleveland tries harder. New York City doesn’t care if you move there; Cleveland wants you.

What are some of the most exciting projects students have done for CIP? A Physics major wrote a paper about an experiment that’s run in the salt mines that are one mile under Lake Erie, and that was something I did not know anything about. A student wrote a paper about a queer tailor shop that functions both as a business that helps gender nonbinary, trans, and queer people get clothing that’s fitted to their bodies, but also runs itself as a nightclub sometimes on the weekend to have a queer-POC space in Cleveland.

Someone wrote a paper on the punk scene and the recording studios and punk music legacy that was produced in Cleveland.

I see the final paper that’s associated with the module as a way for students

to connect their own interests or their majors and find something in Northeast Ohio. And it’s my job to help you make that connection — even if you never end up meeting those people or visiting that organization — to know what they do is a skill that will help you as you move through life. Because you will move to new cities and not know anybody and your ability to find the organization you want to volunteer for, to find the local alumni who might help plug you in or to find that job that allows you to sustain yourself in a way that makes you happy — that’s important.

Why do you think it’s important for students to learn about Cleveland?

Most of us at Oberlin did not grow up in Ohio, and [are subject to] coastal biases about flyover country … I think it’s important for us to be better citizens of the counties that we inhabit. It’s important for those of us who grew up [on] the coasts or maybe grew up in suburbs to understand what are the challenges of legacy cities [and] rust belt cities that haven’t experienced the same benefits from financial capitalism. I think if we want to understand the current political climate, we need to understand places like Ohio that have been swing states — [states] that are largely purple — and we need to be able to understand the people who live in the vast middle of the country if we want to shape our own political future.

College Revamps Winter Term Options Hospital Experiences Continued from page 3

Development Center, and classes at the gym.

“This is sort of the first year, and I think that it will scale, it will continue to grow as we are able to build more of a foundation,” said Romano.

According to Director of the Office of Winter Term Deanna Bergdorf, there will also be opportunities to showcase projects before the start of the spring semester.

“There will be time at the end of Winter Term for students to share and celebrate their work in the twoday ‘Winter Term Festival of Ideas,’” Bergdorf wrote in an email to the Review.

Importantly, the College is also looking at ways to make access to Winter Term more equitable. One example of a change implemented this year is the new Winter Term meal plan.

“This year, the College was able to work with Bon Appétit to offer a month-long meal plan for $300,” Smith wrote. “The more students [that] choose to stay on campus, the less money each student has to pay for campus resources.”

Additionally, the Office of Winter Term is moving away from the merit-based approach previously used to allocate funding for student projects.

“Ensuring that all students have equal access to Winter Term experiences that are of uniformly high quality is a widely-shared goal, and making it happen is my top priority as Winter Term Director,” Bergdorf wrote. “For 2020, we are moving to a need-based model for all Winter Term funding awards. For the short and long-term alike, we take equity and accessibility as the first point of concern in program planning.”

According to Smith, the committee plans to fund students based on their demonstrated financial need and feasibility of the project. Still, the exact process for project funding has not been finalized.

“The committee is still discussing how the funding model will continue to change as the Winter Term model adapts,” she wrote.

The administration is also considering moving up the deadlines next year for professors’ project proposals and students’ applications. Currently, project applications with funding requests are due Nov. 15. Pushing the deadline back would allow both students and faculty more time to submit requests for funding.

“It’s not such a last-minute scramble if you find out you didn’t get the funding you needed to go wherever,” Romano said. “There is more space and more deliberation and intention around those funding decisions. Right now there are a lot of different deadlines, and it’s a bit … chaotic, so we are trying to [regulate] that as well, and the hope is that would go into effect next year.”

To ease the burden on students, the Office of Winter Term has also offered more support to first-year students planning their first Winter Term project.

“The Winter Term Office is offering 30-minute individual advising sessions on Mondays and Wednesdays throughout [the] Fall Semester,” wrote Bergdorf. “We held the first drop-in advising session on Oct. 14 and we’ll have another on Nov. 6. So far, all of the sessions have been well-attended..”

The deadline to submit Winter Term projects with funding requests or international individual project proposals is Friday, Nov. 16, while all domestic group and individual project applications are due Dec. 6.

Ohio Legislative Update

House Bill 240 Ohio House Representatives Brigid Kelly (D-Cincinnati) and Jessica E. Miranda (D-Forest Park) introduced House Bill 240 yesterday. The proposed bill, in its current iteration, would prohibit individuals from improperly storing firearms in situations where a minor could reasonably gain access to them.

According to analysis published by the state legislature, “Criminally negligent storage of a firearm is a thirddegree misdemeanor, but if the minor gains access to the firearm as a result of the violation without the lawful permission of the minor’s parent, guardian, or custodian and uses the firearm to cause personal injury

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or death, other than in self-defense, the violation is a first degree felony.”

Plan for the Reduction of “Surprise Billing” Ohio House Representative Adam Holmes (R-Nashport) announced Thursday his plan for a bill that will reduce out-of-network, “surprise” billing for Ohio residents seeking medical care. Surprise billing concerns individuals who receive “unexpected big invoices from out-of-network providers after visiting an in-network hospital or health care facility,” according to Statehouse News Bureau. His announcement follows the Sept. 16 introduction of bipartisan Senate Bill 198 by

Hazmat Situation Continued from page 1

would cause significant opioid toxicity, and if toxicity were to occur it would not develop rapidly, allowing time for removal.”

Some medical professionals likewise harbor doubts about the feasibility of these incidents.

“I would say it’s extraordinarily improbable that a first responder would be poisoned by an ultra-potent opioid,” Dr. David Juurlink, a clinical researcher at Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre in Toronto said in a New York Times article (“What Can Make a 911 Call a Felony? Fentanyl at the Scene,” Dec. 17, 2018). “I don’t say it can’t happen. But for it to happen would require extraordinary circumstances, and those extraordinary circumstances would be very hard to achieve.”

However, stories of emergency responders who experience such reactions after touch exposure to fentanyl and other drugs are very common, and more research needs to be done to determine if these are a result of the drug or if there is a psychological reason. Some suggest a “nocebo effect,” meaning that symptoms like shortness of breath, nausea, and passing out are still very real, but stem from expectations of danger, rather than chemicals.

In any case, Wray stresses the importance of being aware of any potential dangers.

“Exposure to drugs and substances is something that should be a safety concern for everybody,” Wray said. “I think most importantly if anybody has a loved one or friend that has an addiction, they really need to practice additional caution.

What you’ve read in the papers [and] seen on the news is [that] these drugs and substances are getting very, very strong and they’re incredibly deadly. So we need people to take additional caution and we need them to seek treatments. We need them to get help.”

State Senators Nickie J. Antonio (D-Lakewood) and Stephen A. Huffman (R-Tipp City), which was referred to the Insurance and Financial Institutions Committee on Oct. 2.

Anti-Domestic Violence Bills A coalition of Ohio State Senators and Representatives held a press conference on Wednesday to call upon legislative leaders to act on a variety of anti-domestic abuse bills. Sixteen bills currently sit in the Ohio Legislature that address domestic violence and increase protections for domestic abuse victims.

Among these bills are HB279, which will remove spousal exceptions for some sex offenses, and SB146, which will augment Ohio’s definition of domestic violence to include strangulation.

opinions November 1, 2019

Established 1874

lEttErs to thE Editors Slocum Invites Students to Azariah’s Meet and Greet As the Nov. 5 City Council election approaches, I’d like to hear from Oberlin College students and give them a chance to meet me. I’ll be in Azariah’s Café on Friday, Nov. 1 from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m., Saturday, Nov. 2 from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m., Sunday, Nov. 3 from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m., and Monday, Nov. 4 from 3 p.m. to 4 p.m. I’m councilmember Linda Slocum and have served as vice-president of Oberlin City Council for the past four years. I’m running, along with 11 other candidates, for a third term. The College community is an integral part of this small city. Stop by the table today, tomorrow, Sunday, or Monday in Azariah’s Café to share your thoughts!

– Linda Slocum Vice President, Oberlin City Council

Vote Slocum for City Council I encourage voters in Oberlin to vote for Linda Slocum for Oberlin City Council this November. Linda’s tenure on the Council, like many others who have held the position, could be scored based on her accomplishments, her advocacy, and her work ethic. Yet, she would be the first to downplay any of those distinctions. Linda is a uniter and a team builder.

Her core strength is seeking consensus among her colleagues. City Council brings together seven unique individuals to make group decisions, and Linda’s key role has been to facilitate compromise. Linda’s voice on the Council is one of experience and wisdom. Join me in voting for Linda Slocum on Nov. 5.

– Bryan Burgess President, Oberlin City Council

Oberlin Finds Great Candidates in English, Price Today I have chosen to write in support of Ray English and Mary Price for Oberlin City Council. Oberlin has been fortunate for many years with a wonderful City Council, and I commend those who are currently serving.

Ray and Mary are in the mold of leaders who in the past have unselfishly, and with vision, made important decisions to improve our community.

Ray English is committed to social justice, environmental sustainability, and community development. He exhibits a remarkable balance of attention to detail and practicality as he navigates conflict resolution, mediation, and community dialogue. He is also a recognized leader in the Citizens’ Climate Lobby working diligently on issues of environmental issues at the national level.

Mary Price is a businesswoman whose daily work puts her in direct contact with hundreds of families in Oberlin, showing that she cares about Oberlin and its citizens. I am especially delighted by Mary’s enthusiasm for new housing projects that provide accessible, eco-friendly options for See Letters, page 7 SUBMISSIONS POLICY

The Oberlin Review appreciates and welcomes letters to the editors and op-ed submissions. All submissions are printed at the discretion of the Editorial Board. All submissions must be received by Wednesday at 4:30 p.m. at opinions@oberlinreview.org or Wilder Box 90 for inclusion in that week’s issue. Letters may not exceed 600 words and op-eds may not exceed 800 words, except with consent of the Editorial Board. All submissions must include contact information, with full names and any relevant titles, for all signers. All writers must individually confirm authorship on electronic submissions. The Review reserves the right to edit all submissions for clarity, length, grammar, accuracy, strength of argument and in consultation with Review style. Editors will work with 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. Headlines are printed at the discretion of the Editorial Board. Opinions expressed in editorials, letters, op-eds, columns, cartoons or other Opinions pieces do not necessarily reflect those of the staff of the Review. 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 a contributor.

The Oberlin Review | November 1, 2019

Volume 148, Number 7

Editorial Board Editors-in-ChiEf

Nathan Carpenter

Katherine MacPhail

Managing Editor Ananya Gupta

opinions Editor Jackie Brant

Proposed Journalism Concentration Deserves Support “We decided to take an approach to the story that a national outlet might not, and reach out to the university,” Andrew Howard, a managing editor for The State Press, Arizona State University’s student newspaper, said in an October interview with The New York Times. “I’m not sure we ever expected to get the scoop that we did.”

Howard was referring to his publication’s story about Kurt Volker, former special envoy to Ukraine, and his resignation from the Trump administration due to involvement in inappropriate pressure politics with Ukraine. The Press was the first publication of any kind to break the news.

“Just a college paper” — it’s a phrase used to diminish the importance of college newspapers on campuses across the country, but as Howard’s work and countless other examples illustrate, the role of student newspapers and student journalists are vital. Especially in a changing media landscape where many local publications are cutting down pages and circulation, or shuttering their doors entirely, many college newspapers are now papers of record in their cities and towns and must be comparable to professional journalistic organizations. This dynamic was the focus of another recent Times article, which focused on the role that such student papers play in their broader communities.

In this context, it is extremely heartening to know that the Educational Plans and Policies Committee plans to present a proposal to add an integrative concentration in journalism to the list of academic concentrations available to students. If the College Faculty vote to approve the proposal during its Nov. 6 meeting, the concentration will give Obies the opportunity to access the vast journalistic knowledge and experience Oberlin’s faculty and network have in a more organized and fruitful manner.

With the support of faculty and courses from across the academic spectrum, the proposed concentration would give students the opportunity to develop journalistic skills and get unprecedented avenues of training and feedback.

It is important to note that this concentration aims to be not just academic, but also highly co-curricular. The concentration plans to build upon existing foundations of journalism on this campus, and does not discount the value of ‘learning on the job’ — a method that has created a significant number of renowned journalists from Oberlin in the past. Part of the concentration requires students to engage in at least one semester of on-campus work of which the Practicum in Journalism — a one credit course requiring students to write consistently for any student publication — is a time-tested option.

Additionally, the concentration aims to encourage students to get real-world journalism experience as well. The concentration’s plan involves a requirement that students pursue a minimum of eight weeks of related work. This requirement is flexible, as it can be fulfilled on campus by working for a student publication, as well as off campus through internships in any media sector that interests the student. The concentration hopes to work collaboratively with the Career Development Center to help students network, gain valuable advice from alumni in the field, and secure experience in print, radio, television, online news, or other communications-related work of interest.

Furthermore, the concentration encourages students to create portfolios documenting bylines and clippings that showcase their skills and experience. Skills and experience that can be accounted for are imperative to illustrate an aptitude for a career in journalism, particularly for students fresh out of college. We believe this concentration can help students interested in journalism to gather the resources, confidence, and experience to achieve their journalistic goals.

However, of the 17 courses on the tentative list of courses that will be regularly offered and will count towards the journalism concentration, only three fall under the Rhetoric program. Though this fact may be a testimony to the integration of the concentration with several other departments, it still points to the possibility that the Rhetoric program may not have been given enough resources to oversee and maintain the concentration — a concern heightened by the fact that the program only has two tenured faculty and no junior faculty on tenure track. If a new journalism concentration is to succeed, the Rhetoric and Composition program will need more.

It is true that journalism — particularly print journalism — is often considered to be a dying field. However, Obies know better than anyone that journalism is indispensable.

While technologies and the medium used to dispense good journalism may change, the world will always need great journalists to provide credible information, hold governments and corporations accountable for their actions, and give a platform and voice to those without. The Review could not be more thrilled for this much-needed opportunity, and we hope that College Faculty considering the journalism concentration will vote in its favor come their meeting next Wednesday.

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.

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Opi n ions

Colonial Hangover, Right-Wing Universal Health Populism Define Indian Democracy Care Requires Universal Sacrifice Kushagra Kar Production Editor

Leo Lasdun Contributing Writer Near the end of his rally with Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez in Queens, NY on Saturday, Nov. 19, presidential candidate and Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders asked the crowd to look at the people standing near them and to consider how far they’d go to help a stranger: “Are you willing to fight for that person who you don’t even know as much as you’re willing to fight for yourself?” Bernie wondered if his supporters were ready to make sacrifices for their fellow Democrats and Americans. The sentiment was couched in a sort of polished, Twitter-ready catchphrase, but beyond that, I think Bernie was getting at something pretty basic that often gets overlooked in many liberal conversations: In order to achieve progressive equity, some people will need to make sacrifices.

The most obvious area where this applies is health care, a contentious topic at every primary debate. Nothing elicits furious jabbing and quipping from the Democratic candidates quite like the health care question. It comes down to Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren arguing for a government-funded universal health care system, with the rest of the candidates offering a range of plans, mostly revolving around a public option that would allow people to stay on their private health insurance if they choose.

The Sanders-Warren contingent makes the case that a public option would simply create an unfair quality divide in health care based on class, and would entirely shirk the goals of streamlining the health care system and eliminating excessive profits for private insurers. If they are right that a single-payer option is best — and I believe they are — we, the voters, need to be prepared to make some sacrifices. And Bernie and Warren need to be more upfront about what those sacrifices will look like.

First of all, if you’re lucky enough to have no complaints about the quality of your health insurance and general health care experience, things would probably get worse for you under a single-payer option. Though the differences aren’t huge, it’s true that in countries with single-payer health care, like Canada and England, appointments with general practitioners have longer wait times and are generally a bit more difficult. The difference would likely be augmented somewhat in the U.S.; such a major transition away from a market-based system is sure to come with its own set of unforeseeable challenges. But the bottom line is that for a good chunk of people, Medicare for All is going to be less efficient than their private insurance.

Then there’s the question of paying for it. Bernie has been pretty upfront about his plan to raise taxes on middle-class families, with the idea being that overall costs will go down for these families as a result of the reduction in health care costs. Warren has made every effort to dodge the question thus far, but it’s safe to assume her plan is largely the same. According to Bernie, his taxation plan would end up saving the average family about $4,400 annually. Since this number is being provided by his own camp, it should be taken with a grain of salt. But even assuming its accuracy, savings for some families means that some will indeed end up paying more in taxes for Medicare for All than they do under a privatized insurance system.

There are plenty of other potential inefficiencies that could result from a Medicare for All transition, but ultimately those are sacrifices we should be willing to make.

If you buy into the new progressive ideology, if the democratic-socialist vision appeals to you, part of your commitment needs to become an acceptance of these changes.

If you think people shouldn’t die because they can’t afford private health insurance, then you need to understand that your life might have to be a little more difficult to make that possible.

The responsibility here isn’t entirely on us as voters either. Like a lot of people, I like the ideas that Bernie and Warren talk about — Medicare for All and a Green New Deal — because they’re presented nicely. I understand the political maneuver of not being explicit about exactly what everyone will have to give up for the greater good.

But still, some of the burden surely falls on those presenting the ideas to explain what sacrifices we will need to make to progress collectively. The willingness to accept these sacrifices, to fight for someone we don’t even know, falls on us.

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History testifies that the single most influential construct in the postmodern world is imperialism. The remnants of colonial structures still loom over integral aspects of society in what we know today as ‘the third world’. India, for example, is still reeling from the consequences of the blind partition of the country that birthed modern-day Pakistan. Caught in the crosshairs of the newly-formed nations was the Kingdom of Kashmir. After a brief and bloody guerilla struggle between India and Pakistan, India absorbed the Kingdom on the condition that it be granted regional autonomy, provisional under Article 370 of the Indian Constitution.

The partition began a 72-year-long tussle between India and Pakistan that — even after two wars, in 1947 and 1965 — continues to shape their relations and respective national socio-political discourse. Generations of Kashmiris have lived and continue to live with this political turmoil, with regularly-occuring protests and acts of terrorism in the region. This turbulence has often forced the government to intervene, resulting in curfews and altercations between the police and civilians. Years of volatility and violence finally culminated in a highly controversial move by the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party — the ruling party of India — over Indian-administered Kashmir earlier this year.

The original terms of India’s agreement with the state of Jammu and Kashmir granted the state and its people special provisions as of 1950, chief among which was a degree of regional sovereignty within India. This degree, which grants permanent residents of Kashmir the right to determine their own laws, as well as other special provisions, is known as Article 370. On Aug. 5, 2019, the Indian Government declared the complete revocation of Article 370. The decision to dissolve the Article was made unilaterally by the BJP and brought into action overnight, a move many have critiqued as unconstitutional and undemocratic.

With the revocation of Article 370, the very basis of social organization within the state has been compromised. Kashmiri autonomy was only further undermined by the decision to strip the region of statehood and split it into two separate areas under the direct control of the central government. What the split means for daily life in Kashmir is debatable, but the facts remain that in the hours following the announcement, curfews were implemented, internet access was entirely disabled, and phone lines were cut — not to mention the arrests of hundreds of political dissidents.

Almost three months later, the situation remains nearly the same, with the exception of restored phone lines. Journalists and opposition party members have been denied access to the region, leaving much to the interpretation of domestic and foreign media. While the government maintains that basic human rights are still honored, and that there has been no breach of trust, the inarguable truth stands that no one really knows what’s going on. The only feasible option for international media has been to assess the situation based on the available facts — which are just as scarce as access to the internet — and what little information slips through the cracks. The majority of reports to flow out of the state involve terrorist attacks and violence.

To contextualize these events, it is important to understand the nature of the BJP. A right-wing, conservative party with roots in the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh — a Hindu nationalist organization — the BJP has been one of two primary national political parties to operate in India since its independence in 1947.

The face of the party, Narendra Modi, has been Prime Minister of the country since 2014 and was re-elected earlier this year. Modi’s track

record as a political figure is questionable to say the least. It was during his term as Chief Minister of Gujarat that the 2002 Gujarat Riots targeted against the Muslim minority occurred, resulting in the deaths of 790 Muslims and 254 Hindus. While he has since been cleared of charges of any involvement in the riots, local reports stand that the government and police allegedly helped organize the rioters. Modi’s Hindutva rhetoric and RSS background have most certainly impacted the nature of his government, with many attributing the surge of mob lynching across the country to him.

It may not surprise many readers to see the similarities between Modi and President Trump, who is equally, if not more, prone to racist commentary. In fact, the number of global right-wing conservative leaders seems to be swelling — Boris Johnson in the U.K. and nationalist parties in France and Germany all seem to be cut from the same cloth.

The right-wing wave has been all too tangible over the last decade, and it is evident that these parties look to each other for validation.

Modi, who has spent much of his time as Prime Minister on international envoys, continues to look to the West for answers. His recent decision to show foreign ministers around Kashmir is a blatant expression of this need. Articulated impeccably by the Leader of the Congress Party Adhir Chowdhury, Modi is suffering from a “colonial hangover.” Alongside his seemingly unavoidable need to appease western powers, growing international pressure, and overwhelming international support for Pakistan, Modi finally decided to call in a ‘second opinion’ on the state of affairs in Kashmir. On the invitation of a little known NGO called WESTT, 27 European Union Parliamentarians traveled to India with the purpose of visiting Jammu and Kashmir. After being greeted by the Prime Minister in his residence in Delhi on Monday, the delegation departed for Srinagar, Kashmir, on Tuesday morning.

The visit is more than symbolic, considering the fact that only select few Indian politicians have been allowed to visit the region.

As a breach of the established Indian political hierarchy, this decision to grant foreign diplomats access to the area before domestic figures is unparalleled. Prominent Indian politicians, including Opposition member Shashi Tharoor, have spoken out against this move, coining a trending Twitter hashtag, #InsultToIndianDemocracy. It is, without a doubt, an insult. For a country that prides itself on being the ‘world’s See Modi, page 7

Modi, Trump Share RightWing Political Ideology

Letters to the editors (cont.)

Continued from page 5

anyone who would like to live in Oberlin.

Ray English and Mary Price are not afraid to back up their beliefs with a commitment of time and effort. We have a wonderful community that is blessed to have the resources to make conscious decisions about growth and sustainability. We all need to make our best efforts to be part of these decisions, and that includes making a mindful decision about who we elect to our city council. Ray English and Mary Price are team players who will set us on a path of optimism and progress.

– Kathleen Abromeit Public Services Librarian

In Council Race, Voters Should Consider Climate Policies Of the dozen fine Oberlinians running for City Council, I urge you to vote for those who have been clear about their support for preserving the entire $2.8 million Renewable Energy Credits money for its intended purpose — the Sustainable Reserve Fund — where it can now be used to fulfill the goals of the City’s Climate Action Plan and provide significant long-term benefit to our low and moderate-income residents. I am very glad that all 12 candidates have positive views about the use of the REC dollars, as reported in the questionnaire responses on the Communities for Safe and Sustainable Energy Facebook page (@oberlinCSSE). However, I want to

highlight the six who voted or said they would have voted to put all those dollars into helping us work together as a community to cope with climate change through energy efficiency: Heather Adelman, Peter Comings, Elizabeth J. Meadows, Mary Price, Linda Slocum and Steven E. Thompson.

– John D. Elder, OC ’53 Vice President, Communities for Safe and Sustainable Energy

Building Consensus, Transparency Among Slocum’s Strengths I am pleased to write this letter asking you to vote for Linda Slocum for Oberlin City Council on Nov. 5. Here is why Linda deserves re-election: Linda Slocum brings experience and community-oriented thinking to City Council. Serving her second term as the council’s vice president, Linda has focused on making local government more effective, efficient, and transparent. Linda has also worked to build consensus among council members by solving problems and not pursuing her own agenda at the expense of others.

When she is re-elected, Linda will continue to be a consensus-builder, stressing collaboration on the challenges and opportunities the city faces.

– David Snyder Oberlin resident

Continued from page 6

largest democracy,’ it is alarming when a ruling government makes it common practice to leave the opposition in the dark, and actively denies it access in multiple regards. Moreover, the explicit purpose of the visit was to brief the delegates on the security situation in Kashmir, a declassification of information that was otherwise unavailable to the Indian public. While the government and its many supporters are characterizing the visit as a stroke of diplomatic genius on Modi’s part, the subtleties of the informal EU delegation raise a number of alarming questions.

Of the 27 members of the delegation, 22 are affiliated with right-wing conservative parties in their countries. Considering Modi’s track record of altering narratives and employing religious rhetoric, the right-wing majority delegation seems suspicious. While it is inevitably impossible to prove, the likelihood of these specific MEPs being specially selected cannot be ignored, especially considering that an entire team dedicated to drafting a plan for the EU’s relationship with India published a “Joint Communication to the European Parliament and the Council” in 2018.

Members of that team would no doubt be far better acquainted with the context in political, religious, and historical arenas than the diplomats who visited Kashmir, yet were conspicuously absent from the delegation. So, again, if foreign diplomats had to be taken to Kashmir, why not the ones who are familiar with the Indian context?

The world is experiencing a ripple effect. As college students with the privilege to attend an institution such as Oberlin, it is incumbent upon us to pay attention to the broader implications of right-wing nationalist parties gaining popularity around the globe. Modi is a leader who constantly seeks validation, particularly from the Western world.

It is essential, therefore, for countries such as the U.S. to consider the existence of Narendra Modi with as much gravity as Donald Trump.

While Trump is in the middle of an impeachment inquiry, Modi faces clear skies. The primary opposition party in the Indian Parliament is in shambles, and the Democrats in the U.S. are navigating an 18-candidate brawl for the presidential nomination, compared to the GOP’s unity. The political imbalance is striking but, more importantly, it’s statistically unnerving. The old guard of democracy is failing, and governments around the world are forced to choose the lesser of two evils. Yet, when devils abound, it becomes difficult to dissociate good from bad. Modi looks to Trump for advice, just as Trump looks to his delusions and Twitter. Most of us are conversant in the realities of American politics, but it is equally important that we connect our understanding to international developments.

We have the ability to use our voices, opinions, and privilege to bring that moral line back. We must condemn not just Donald Trump and his brazenness, but Narendra Modi and his unilateral governance. So long as major democratic strongholds around the globe succumb to conservative leadership, “who will guard the guardians themselves?”

Senate Welcomes Collaboration with Student Body Joshua Rhodes Contributing Writer This article is part of the Review’s Student Senate column. In an effort to increase communication and transparency, student senators will provide personal perspectives on recent events on campus and in the community.

It has been 45 days since we received the “Congratulations new senators!” email. Since then, my life has gotten busier than I could have ever imagined. As a senator without an internal position, I will be required to be a part of a committee, attend the general faculty members, hold office hours, be a part of a working group, attend Senate’s weekly Plenary Meeting every Sunday night from 7-9:30 p.m., and attend most Senate-sponsored events. When I was elected as Communications Director, that meant that on top of all my general Senate priorities, I would have to send out the Senate Weekly email, manage Senate’s social media accounts, attend media sessions, have meetings with administrators, chair the communications working group, and write the Senate Review Column.

The purpose of listing all of that is not to complain or boast about the amount of things that are on my plate, instead, I mean to highlight the question, “Why in the world would a Conservatory transfer student take on all of that?”

The Oberlin Review | November 1, 2019

I am on Senate because I found that a large portion of my first year here was spent calling my mom and complaining to her about an unsatisfactory trip to the dining hall, or how every office that I would go to was an organizational mess. I was unable to go a day without pointing out how something that could have been done more efficiently, or how the communication problems faced by the different offices on campus could be fixed. Common responses were: “Joshua, can’t you just transfer again?” or “Just keep your head down, get your degree and skedaddle!” However, I wanted to try something other than these methods. I wanted to try to hear other sides to the story of our campus, and find out how our systems run on campus and why they run that way.

Being a part of Senate is all about teamwork. It is our responsibility to remember that we are part of a whole student body and a whole institution.

The role of the Student Senate is to navigate between the administration and our fellow peers. We look to inform our colleagues in the College and Conservatory of the information that we are receiving. Along with informing, we are also responsible for collaborating with all students. The decisions that are made affect every student in one way or another, so it is important that we have input from our compadres.

As a transfer student, I was caught off guard by the workload that I had acquired as a student here as opposed to my old institution. Our individual busyness poses an impediment in our attempts at making progress in the different areas in our lives. My answer to our individual busyness is comradery and compromise. We must look at fostering relationships where we care about the person whom we are working with so much that we are willing to walk the extra distance to meet that person who might have a valuable perspective. This way, we might encounter new experiences of our own that will expand our own knowledge and interests.

Student feedback is crucial for Senate to be able to represent the student body as Oberlin begins to go through changes. Positive feedback for Senate is always great to hear, but negative feedback is also crucial. Learning about the negative ways in which students viewed Senate sparked my interest in writing this piece, in order to encourage feedback and collaboration. However, along with learning the negative ways that Senate may be looked at, I was also made aware of moments of high tension between Student Senate and the rest of the student body. Examining how controversial matters have been handled, I would like to do my part in speaking about how these matters can be handled productively.

As senators, we should look to make ourselves present in the experiences of all students. However, when it comes to giving feedback, I think that it is best that Obies present our opinions on what is going on, and along with that, present ideas or ways in which we can fix the problem, or mitigate the negative effects. Without that second part, feedback and criticism can quickly get antagonistic. As we navigate through this time of change for Oberlin, there are many discussions and decisions that need to take place. Senate’s role in that is to speak for the students, and represent the student body accurately.

However, unless we are knowledgeable of everyone’s perspective that we are speaking for, we can only go off what we currently know.

So in this, I encourage you, my Oberlin family, to get involved. Talk to us, join committees or working groups, attend our individual office hours, come to our weekly plenary meetings, read the weekly email. We are looking to better represent and unify our campus from the knowledge that we have, but we can do it more effectively if we have input from all of you. So now, the ball is in your court. In previous column pieces in the Review, the goals of individuals senators were listed. You are now aware of who we are and what we do. I hope that gives everyone an idea of our intentions. Now, it’s your turn!

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HALLOWEEKEND EDITION

TEXT AND LAYOUT

BY LILY JONES, THIS WEEK EDITOR

Halloween might be over, but Halloweekend lies ahead, and there’s still plenty of time to get in the spooky spirit! This week we’re featuring everything you need to have the best possible Halloweekend: food and drink recipes, activities, events, and costume ideas.

The Bachelor/

Bachelorette:

• A fancy dress or suit • A single rose Pantone Color Swatch • An outfit of all the same color • A piece of paper • A way to attach the paper to your clothes (tape, pins, etc) “Chip-On-YourShoulder” • Any outfit (although solid colored clothes are recommended) • An empty chip bag • A way to attach the bag to your shoulder

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LASTMINUTE COSTUMES

FALLTHEMED WEEKLY EVENTS! RECIPES

Saturday, Nov. 2 Halloween Organ Pump A Halloween-themed midnight organ performance

by Conservatory Organ department students.

12 – 1 a.m.

Finney Chapel

Sunday, Nov. 3 Fall Bach A midnight performance featuring an hour of music composed by Johann Sebastian Bach and performed by the Conservatory Cello Studio.

12 – 1 a.m.

Fairchild Chapel

Spiced Apple Cider (with or without alcohol) 1 gallon apple cider 2 tablespoons orange juice 1 teaspoon cinnamon 1 teaspoon cloves Optional: orange slices for garnish Optional for 21+: 2 cups dark rum, whiskey, or bourbon (add more to taste) Place all ingredients in a saucepan and bring to a boil.

Reduce heat and simmer for 15 minutes.

If adding alcohol: remove from heat and stir in liquor of choice.

Divide into cups; serve with orange slice garnish.

Leftover Candy Cookie Bars (adapted from Nestlé Toll House chocolate chip cookie recipe) 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour 1 teaspoon baking soda 1 teaspoon salt 1 cup butter, softened 3/4 cup granulated sugar ½ cup packed brown sugar 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 2 large eggs 2 cups coarsely-chopped chocolate bars of your choice Preheat oven to 350° F. Grease a 15 x 10-inch baking pan.

Combine flour, baking soda, and salt in a small bowl. Beat the butter, granulated sugar, brown sugar, and vanilla extract in a large mixer bowl until creamy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Gradually beat in flour mixture. Fold in chocolate candy.

Spread the dough into prepared pan. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes or until golden brown. Cool in pan on wire rack.

Day of the Dead Celebration (Dia de los Muertos) The celebration will have four ofrendas (traditional alters) as well as chocolate and pan de muerto.

5 – 6:30 p.m.

Harvey House Thursday, Nov. 7

Fall Forward Dance at Oberlin’s annual fall showcase, featuring student-andfaculty-choreographed performances from a variety of dance genres. Tickets are $5 and can be purchased in advance through Central Ticket Service.

8 – 9 p.m.

Warner Main Space

ACTIVITIES Westwood Cemetery Tour: The Oberlin Heritage Center offers brochures on their website for self-guided cemetery tours!

This is a wonderful way to celebrate Halloween and learn some local history. Find the pdf guide at oberlinheritagecenter.org in the “Do It Yourself Tours” section under “Visit” on their homepage.

Oberlin Trick-or-Treat: The City of Oberlin trick-ortreat has been rescheduled for Saturday from 6 p.m. – 7:30 p.m. Help a friend with a house hand out candy to local trick-ortreaters!

A r t s & C u lt u r e

ARTS & CULTURE November 1, 2019

Established 1874

Volume 148, Number 7

Personal Newsletters Prove a Revitalized Way to Connect Kate Fishman Arts & Culture Editor College third-year Lucy Kaminsky has an entry in her Notes app that looks like it is miles long, each new section marked with a simple N* and then a number.

N*17 marks her current project, yet to hit the inboxes of her over 100 subscribers.

Kaminsky’s kept up an email newsletter since starting college. It was her response to the social and locational upheaval of that moment, and she has used this newsletter since to keep in touch with family and friends, sharing her life across distances great and small. Her high school guidance counselor, a mother she babysits for, and her orthodontist are just a few of the more unexpected contacts on her Listserv.

This note marks not only the evolution of the content shared — bundles of articles and ideas and happenings in her life, in what is mostly a blog-style missive — but also the growing list of recipients. Scrolling through these caches, we even found my name and email listed under N*6.

“Email newsletters, an old-school artifact of the web that was supposed to die along with dial-up connections, are not only still around, but very much on the march,” David Carr reported in his New York Times article, “For Email Newsletters, A Death Greatly Exaggerated” (June 29, 2014). Like most other content on this subject, Carr’s article focused on email newsletters by publications and companies, rather than those started by one individual. However, in many ways the two function just the same.

As concerns rise about the “fakeness” of social media — a quality that, truthfully, never escaped anyone to begin with — information-sharing via those platforms seems growingly incapable of connecting us meaningfully. It needs to be supplemented.

“I think a newsletter is really satisfying and also inherently unsatisfying to me,” Kaminsky said. “I think if this was all I was doing, it would be not enough. But I think that the best part about it is that it has enabled me to … be like, ‘Okay, if I really like writing or sharing writing with people, how can I do it in a different way?’”

Kaminsky also described the joy of curating everything she’s been thinking about and reading, and her hope that this translates for newsletter recipients — as she says, “Why wouldn’t you want to read such a beautifully packaged list?”

“Newsletters are clicking because readers have grown tired of the endless stream of information on the Internet, and having something finite and recognizable show up in your inbox can impose order on all that chaos,” Carr wrote.

It follows that young people are resurrecting the newsletter. The college-try at repurposing an artifact breathes new, distinct life into it. The personal newsletter can be almost like a written YouTube channel — it seeks to share, expand, and connect through the avenues of thought, content consumption, and, for many, deeply-considered writing. “[My newsletter is] kind of an ongoing answer to the question, ‘What good are the humanities?’” said College fourth-year Phoebe Pan. She started her monthly newsletter, “Soupbone,” almost a year ago. “A lot of the letters take the form of sort of essay-style writing, but it varies from issue to issue. I guess in each issue I’m largely … thinking about how literature exists in the world and my own life, and how that can help us think about humanities in the future as well.”

Pan’s newsletters are marked by exquisite and thoughtful prose, each one meditating on a distinct topic — from love to geographic imagination to the study of video games. Crafting these essays typically takes between seven and eight hours each. Pan is interested in the public humanities, a term that places the humanities outside of purely academic settings and into community engagement and outreach. In many ways, “Soupbone” reflects a fusion of intellectual thought and personal care. “‘Soupbone’ is a really comfortable visual, I think,” Pan said, commenting on the project’s name. “If you want to take it to a metaphorical level, I guess [I was] thinking about humanities as that bone in the soup that infuses life with a certain flavor and substance … but [also] it sounded cool and I liked it.”

College third-year Goose Macaulay’s “Mother Goose” has a similarly pithy title. Macaulay began their newsletter after being inspired by a family friend’s, which in its heyday boasted thousands of subscribers. Comparatively, “Mother Goose’s” reach is small, with around 30 recipients. Macaulay shares the content they’ve consumed recently, from articles to podcasts, seeing it as a jumping-off point for new types of conversation and connection. “[It’s] people in my kind of close social circle who I’m not following on social media anymore but who I still want to have a social, online outlet [and] conver-

sation with,” Macaulay said, adding that the connections this has prompted with their family have been particularly exciting, especially lengthy text conversations with their dad. “All of my family is subscribed to it … and they’ll hit me up and be like, ‘Wow, this one article was so cool,’ and then we’ll have a great conversation about it. It’s a fun way to stay in touch that’s not like, ‘How are you?’ ‘I’m stressed, how are you?’

‘Everything’s fine at home,’ and then it’s done.”

For both Kaminsky and Macaulay, some understandable fatigue and questioning seems to have set in. Kaminsky no longer feels the need to send out a newsletter regularly, and while Macaulay is hopeful about getting back to it, they’re frustrated by having not sent out an update for a couple of months. It’s all easier to do in the summer, and easier still when the idea is fresh, brimming with possibility rather than steeped in routine.

Pan is still relishing the capacity for productive conversation that newsletters provide — as are Macaulay and Kaminsky. She said no two topics have provoked the same consistent responders, but she finds that to be most of the fun.

“Social media is something you go to, but newsletters come to you,” Pan mused. “It comes to your inbox, which has that sense of invitation.”

In Kaminsky’s 15th newsletter, she voiced ongoing concerns about what her content should be, and about the tone she’d set in previous letters. Being honest, she stressed, is not sharing what brands of shampoo she uses. She wanted to get a bit more real with this chosen constituency about what was going on in her life, even if she wasn’t yet sure what that might mean.

Worrying about communicating authentically is a universal experience, it seems. Though we’re closer than ever, dissatisfaction with the depth of our contact only grows in this era of connection-in-seconds.

As a contact on all three of these Listservs, though, I can say from experience that a fresh newsletter in the inbox hits different. While most emails require an immediate response or an agonizing drafting process, a newsletter asks nothing but attention to the carefully collected thoughts of a friend — an attention that’s easy to give. I relish these newsletters, saving them for a quiet moment when I can absorb what’s been written. If there are links, I peruse them and click a few.

At a moment when we’re all too used to shouting our ideas and feelings into the void, newsletters say, “For you. Write back.”

Grammy Winning Alum Performs for High Schoolers Acclaimed musician Rhiannon Giddens, OC ’00 stopped by the Oberlin Center for the Arts’ Community Center to play a private show for local high school students last Wednesday. Giddens has an astounding resumé — as an activist, a historian, a Grammy-award winning artist, and an Oberlin alumna.

The event was hosted by the Oberlin Center for the Arts. Female and non-binary high school students from the area were invited to attend the concert and engage with Giddens’ three-piece band.

Director of the Oberlin Center for the Arts Darren Hamm commented on the success of the performance.

“We see Rhiannon Giddens as a messenger for traditions in music, and an ambassador of history and culture,” Hamm wrote in an email to the Review. “We’re proud to provide an opportunity to highlight her work and create a space whereby others can be inspired to pursue leadership roles and to follow in her path.”

Giddens’ work highlights race and gender in the United States.

Folk music is a white-dominated genre, and Giddens uses her platform to highlight Black folk narratives.

Brittany Lovett commented on the powerful performance.

“Being in a room full [of ] youth from throughout Northeast Ohio that are passionate about music and art, and to watch them learn about who Rhiannon Giddens is and what she represents was magical,” Lovett wrote in an email to the Review. “As a Black Woman, being able to watch another Black Woman teach the next generation about the lost art form of the banjo and early African-American history was fulfilling.”

Text by Carson Dowhan, Senior Staff Writer Photo courtesy of Billy Delfs Photography

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An Obie Recommends: How to Avoid Procrastination Casey Troost Staff Writer It’s that time of the semester again: I’ve just finished midterms and used fall break to get a jump start on upcoming projects for my classes. There’s a foggy idea forming in my mind about the amount of work piled on my plate, an unending academic grind in the weeks ahead. Any day now I expect the specter of academic foreboding to come knocking at my door, whispering to me to put off my finals and internship applications in favor of readings, homework, and student organizations. My procrastination is gathering on the horizon, and once I start slipping, it’s hard to overcome.

Fortunately for me, though, procrastination works like sleep debt. With a large enough disaster, I’ll find the motivation to avoid making the same mistake. At the end of last semester, I procrastinated on a final essay, and now I’m letting my memories of sitting stupefied before my computer with mere hours until the deadline keep me on track.

Not to mention, feeling haunted gets me into the Halloween spirit. Boo! But am I spooked enough?

Will this be the semester I nail self-discipline?

One major hurdle in my way is that procrastination is a beast of many faces. According to researchers Piers Steel and Katrin Klingsiek, procrastination manifests uniquely depending on individual personalities. Specifically, Steel and Klingsiek found that extraversion is the most popular trait that leads to procrastination. However, students can be

deterred from their work for a whole host of other reasons, including anxiety, boredom, exhaustion, perfectionism, and impulsiveness.

In my personal experience, these factors can all contribute to procrastination at the same time, with one dominating according to the situation. However, even before these causes set in, students can be predisposed to procrastination due to issues with time management and academic engagement. The fact that procrastination can take a variety of forms is a likely reason why it’s widespread throughout academia. Steel and Klingsiek cite one study which treats the behavior as an epidemic.

Although procrastination can be multifaceted and difficult to overcome, Piers and Klingsiek suggest a few methods for preventing it. One strategy is counseling and therapy. This route is not exclusive to people who struggle with mental health.

Counselors can help to identify specific causes of procrastination and aid students in determining personally effective strategies. Obies considering counseling should go to the Academic Advising Resource Center or the Counseling Center for additional information.

If you don’t want a counselor, Piers and Klingsniek also recommend introspection, or “conscientiousness.” Think about what places, objects, times, or other factors interfere with your commitment and plan ways to avoid or overcome them. After you’ve found what makes you step away from your necessary work, the last step is self-discipline.

See if you can think of a reward to work towards.

Or, if you’ve been working for a while and you feel a strong impulse to quit, mentally step away for a few minutes before returning to it. You may have more energy and motivation than you think.

Some of my anti-procrastination goals for the second module include running more, sleeping regularly, and consistently scheduling my homework.

Exercise both significantly reduces my anxiety and lets me practice mental endurance so that I’m destressed and focused when I sit down at my desk.

Sleeping regularly will help me maintain more energy and focus, as well as preventing additional anxiety. To make sure school work and applications don’t bleed into my sleep and running time, I like to schedule homework and projects into my day. When I set aside a specific time for a task, I’m much more efficient with my time and don’t catch myself ruminating on missed time management when I should be focusing. Typically I like to work on big projects in the morning because it builds good momentum for the rest of the day and keeps my motivation high for when I work on homework due the next day.

To all my co-Obie-procrastinators, I wish you the best of luck, and I want you to know I’m fighting right alongside you. I write these recommendations in full knowledge that people struggle with procrastination for their own unique reasons, but I still hope my advice was helpful. Stay strong and don’t be afraid to reach out to someone for help.

Let’s make this semester one we’re proud of!

“[In Elyria,] everybody’s very conservative, very religious,” Monyak said. “That’s all I’d grown up with and was used to. And then coming here, all of my knowledge of liberal [or] feminist topics was all from the internet, and I wasn’t able to really talk about it or gain knowledge from it at all from my hometown [or] anybody in real life. So I came here, and I was really shocked by the way people talked about things and thought about things.”

Even for students that had strong ties to social justice before coming to Oberlin, the transition can be difficult. Justin Godfrey, a College fourth-year from Westlake, described that he was one of the only Democrats in his conservative town, and he expected to be among like-minded people at Oberlin. What he found, however, was a new world of leftist thought beyond what he had previously encountered.

“When I was in high school, I was a big Bernie Sanders guy,” Godfrey said. “And people [in my hometown] were like, ‘You’re a communist,’ basically. I came here, and I was like, ‘Am I just a moderate Democrat? I know none of this [stuff ] you guys are talking about.’”

Though he is able to laugh about it now, Godfrey explained that it was hard to adjust to the climate at Oberlin.

“I think it was very frustrating, as is the beginning of anything,” Godfrey said. “You’re picking up an entirely new cultural set of norms, right? What is acceptable, what’s not acceptable … [and there is] just constant anxiety, like ‘Am I going to say the wrong thing?’”

In Oberlin classes, both Godfrey and Monyak have felt anxiety talking about subjects that their public schools didn’t cover. This is especially due to the prevalence of cancel culture on campus, in which students harshly call out peers who make problematic comments. This call-out can also lead to the social rejection of an individual.

“Cancel culture scares me a lot,” Monyak said.

“In classes, I’m so afraid. I’m taking a [Introduction to Gender, Sexuality, and Feminist Studies] class this year … [and] I try not to talk in class. I was discussion leader a few weeks ago, and I did not know how to talk about things because I’d be afraid I’d say one wrong thing and then people would be like, ‘Well, what did you just say?’ … Half the time, everybody is very understanding and totally gets [that] everyone comes from different backgrounds.

But at the same time, I feel like I say one wrong word and then people will not even want to acknowledge me.”

Godfrey experienced similar fears in his class-

es as a first-year. While he went to a good public high school in an upper-middle-class area, Godfrey was still shocked by the depth of topics covered in the private schools of his peers. He urges Obies to remember the difference in education before “cancelling” others.

“Is [the comment] out of ignorance or out of malice?” Godfrey said. “I think that Oberlin needs to understand that a little bit more, especially cause we’re a very bi-coastal campus. It’s a lot of people from New York and people from L.A., and big city people as well. … [In] smaller [conservative] communities, we’re not having discussions like this in our classes in high school. And that can be a bit frustrating when you first get here.”

Despite these frustrations, Oberlin culture has been a positive experience for many students from Ohio. Thomson Lince explained that she was one of a small handful of Latinx students at her high school in Wooster, and she was excited to come to Oberlin because, though it is still a predominantly white institution, it is more racially diverse than her hometown. She feels that Oberlin classes helped her to better understand her past.

“There was a lot of stuff, even my own personal experiences, that had always felt weird to me, looking back, but I didn’t know why they felt weird,” Thomson Lince said. “And then coming to Oberlin gave me the vocabulary and understanding as to why I felt weird about those experiences, and it made me realize a lot. It just put my past into a little bit more perspective.”

Like Thomson Lince, Kelly was really excited by the culture at Oberlin. Kelly is a Theater major who said that a career in the arts wasn’t encouraged in her hometown. She feels that Oberlin supports her passions.

“Even when I was touring [Oberlin], I got the sense that you could really just do anything, people will support you and help make whatever you want happen,” Kelly said. “I really appreciated that environment because I feel like at my high school I didn’t really get that kind of support. That was a huge draw for me.”

Even for students that did struggle with transitioning to Oberlin, campus culture can be a positive experience. Many students site culture shock as an essential part of their personal growth and College education.

“I think [culture shock] makes you a better person,” Godfrey said. “It just breaks you down, and then you can get to build yourself up. … It was a good experience for me to realize, ‘Oh, I know nothing, let’s figure it out.’”

In-State Students Discuss Culture Shock, Cancel Culture Aly Fogel Arts & Culture Editor Oberlin College is so distinctive from Northeast Ohio that driving just 10 minutes away can feel like entering another world. An oddball-liberal college in a state that voted red in 2016, Oberlin is uniquely positioned. For students who come from conservative areas in Ohio, the transition to Oberlin College culture can be a disorienting experience, despite their hometown’s geographical proximity.

“It’s so crazy how different it is,” said Paige Monyak, a second-year College student from Elyria.

“When people say it’s like a bubble here, it’s like an actual bubble. … Right when you pass the [Allen Memorial] Art Museum [and step] on campus, it’s just completely different.”

College fourth-year Susana Thomson Lince, who grew up in Wooster, echoed this sentiment.

“My experience in Ohio has been so different from my experience at Oberlin that I forget [I’m still in the same state],” Thomson Lince said.

Part of the reason for this difference between Oberlin and other towns in Ohio is the demographic of Oberlin College students. Delaney Kelly, a College fourth-year from North Royalton, said she was shocked by the socioeconomic status of some of her peers when she first got to campus.

“I hadn’t really experienced wealth and privilege to the extent that I see some people at Oberlin [have],” Kelly said. “Especially [first] year, I became really jealous of the other opportunities and stuff that people had growing up. Not to be misconstrued, I [wasn’t] struggling or anything, but, in some ways, [the opportunities more privileged students had] made me feel inadequate to come to Oberlin.”

In addition to demographic differences, many students from conservative towns in Ohio are struck by the political nature of typical Oberlin conversations. Conservatory second-year Steven Cozzuli, who is from Ashland, described being shocked when he heard students talking about progressive topics that he hadn’t encountered prior to Oberlin.

“The first time I actually got [on campus] was for the Brenda Grier-Miller Scholars Program, which is for low-income/first-gen students,” Cozzuli said.

“In that group, it was the first moment that I was, I guess, culture shocked ... [We started] to talk about things like social justice, which just never was a concept to me before leaving high school, which is, I guess, the fault of myself, location, family.”

Monyak also had a difficult time understanding the political topics that often come up in conversations with Oberlin students.

The Oberlin Review | November 1, 2019

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

Michelle Belanger, Occult Researcher and Psychic Medium

Oberlin resident Michelle Belanger is a prolific author and researcher of the occult, who has published many books on the supernatural and paranormal. Her work ranges from religious research to occult young adult novels. She is best known for The Psychic Vampire Codex and The Dictionary of Demons. Belanger has also appeared as a psychic medium on a variety of psychic and ghost-hunting TV shows, including Paranormal State. The Review sat down to talk with her about the origins of her interest in the occult, her journey to a supernatural career, and the many haunted locales in the state of Ohio.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

Nathan Carpenter Editor-in-Chief Kate Fishman Arts & Culture Editor Could you start by stating your name and your pronouns?

I’m Michelle Belanger. I’m intersex [and] I was raised with she/her. But once I confirmed my intersex identity, he/him is sort of more my private pronouns, for people that really know me.

You said that you got into psychic work because you grew up in a haunted town in Ohio. Can you talk about that experience?

I grew up in Hinckley, OH. I think that my first experience that I can confirm … was at the Hinckley Library. I was somewhere just under four-anda-half [years old]. … I went upstairs in an area that I wasn’t supposed to be in while my mom was talking to the librarian and [I saw] a woman standing in this room that was otherwise empty. She was standing at the window, [and] I became completely fascinated with this dress that she was wearing because it had all these tiny buttons down the back and down the sleeves, and these big poofy sleeves at top. And her hair was all piled up on her head. She never said anything [but] she did turn and look at me, and then my mom called for me. I was standing in the doorway for all of this. As far as I could tell, it was the only door in and out. … I leaned out and yelled back that I was coming and when I looked back into the room, she wasn’t there anymore.

Four-and-a-half year-old logic [said that] she wasn’t supposed to be in the room either, so she found a hiding space. I just kind of toddled off and really didn’t think too much of it until, as I got a little older, I started to hear stories about multiple people having experiences at that library and they called her the lady in blue. The dress that I saw in my recollection was white, but it had little blue flowers embroidered on it.

When did you decide to make the occult your line of work, or line of study?

I like to think of myself as an open-minded skeptic who has accepted — through a great deal of reflection and practical application — that … there is something to [my] abilities. I started reading up on things pretty much as soon as I could get my hands on books about it. One of the really interesting things about growing up in the time period that I did was that [the library], even in elementary school, had books on psychic phenomena.

My grandmother and I often talked about it. She had some abilities as well. Probably the best advice [I received] from my grandmother was to always record

stuff. You know, anybody can be psychic after the fact. … Memory’s very unreliable, sadly unreliable.

It certainly helped direct what I ended up studying [at John Carroll University]. I started off in the Psychology department partly to understand more about perception and how memory works — why we have experiences and how to navigate the line between hallucination and delusion. I ended up moving over to the Religious Studies department, partly because at the time my college was very much about pills; I was a Jungian in a Skinnerian institute and it just really did not work out. … I cobbled together my own degree under the tutelage of Dr. Joseph Kelly, which was [about] religious studies in myth and folklore and the stories we tell ourselves and why religion is important in a cultural way.

As we’ve talked about your work, it seems much more academic or scholarly than I think the public perception of psychics is. Can you talk about that discrepancy?

I identify myself more as a scholar and an academic, which sometimes has me at loggerheads with some of the other psychics, because there are still folks who experience it like this where they have abilities … [but] they’re almost intimidated to study about them or to question them. And I’m driven to … understand.

To this day, even with the work that I’ve done on the shows … I still can’t tell you where the line is between being incredibly perceptive and perceiving something that is supernatural or paranormal. For me, it’s less about whether these things are real and true. I’m not interested in proving it to the world.

What I’m interested in is understanding how they happen, why they happen, and what influence they have had on people’s experiences of the world, with one another, where they show up in our fiction and our literature, how they impact culture, social trends.

So it’s not what a lot of people expect.

I’ve had the James Randi Educational Foundation skeptics come at me a few times, and there is a logical fallacy among a number of what I’m going to call ‘evangelical skeptics’ that someone who makes the grave mistake of believing in what they think is hokum must be stupid [or ignorant]. I think it’s fair to say I’m neither stupid nor ignorant … and they don’t know what to do with that. … [But] there are fakers out there. I think it’s a bad idea to assume that there aren’t. If your bulls**t meter is going off, listen to that. … I think when we assume that it is always accurate, there is no way we’re going to formally understand how these abilities work, what they are, or even what we’re picking up.

You talked about having this extra layer of perception — is that difficult or something that you ever wish you didn’t have?

I don’t know that I wish that I didn’t have it, but it can be difficult. Especially when I was a teenager — high school was just hard enough without also walking down the hallway and having this other layer of everybody else’s emotions.

A Super Kmart [Center] opened up in [Medina, OH] I think at some point, like the late ’80s, early ’90s. And my grandmother was all about getting the bargains the first day. … The place was super packed.

It felt to me that everyone was screaming all at once….

I could hardly hear anything. I could barely think. My grandmother was trying to get me to do something for her and she’s like “Mickey? Where’s your head at? I told you to move that.” I said, “I can’t hear you, it’s so loud in here!” And she’s like, “What are you talking

Michelle Belanger

Photo courtesy of Michelle Belanger

about? … Listen.” And once she drew my attention to it, it was loud and chaotic. It was not quite what I was hearing with my ears — [I was] becoming aware that there was this other layer of what most of the time just sounds like static … that unfortunately, if I don’t tune it out, is incredibly distracting.

Can you speak, either anecdotally or academically or both, to some ways that belief in the supernatural and paranormal has been cemented for you?

One of the experiences — and this was with Paranormal State — that convinced me I was picking up something that I can’t necessarily explain [was when] we started working with a blindfold — and initially that was just something they wanted to do for one episode. And then I found it so incredibly useful to be able to rule out that accidental cold reading [through sight]. I [go] in with the blindfold [and] I’m there to pick up emotional residues, spirits, if they’re there — [for example], if there’s somebody who’s been murdered in the house. I started to get so used to the blindfold that when I’d walk into a room, I get this image in my head. … This particular one, for no reason that I had an explanation for, I saw with a very particular color of wood paneling [and] mounted animal heads on the walls. Taking the blindfold off and realizing that down to the grain of the wood … I could not explain how that image was so strong as I moved from place to place. It got to a point with being able to perceive spaces with the blindfold on that the production company was pretty sure that it was a fake. So they’d try to punk me or walk me into walls and stuff just to see.

There’s an awful lot of theory, so much of it in the paranormal community that really, honestly, is pseudoscience. … There are some people who run around with an EMF meter and, honest to God, they’re really just trying to be Eagan from Ghostbusters.

See Local Psychic, page 13

Book Nook Review: Ill Will Presents Gripping Mysteries James Cato Dan Chaon’s novel Ill Will follows a conspiracy through an Ohio haunted by insidious police, opioid addictions, and fractured families. Through the hazy eyes of 40-year-old Dustin Tillman, two murder mysteries unfold. One mystery comes from Dustin’s past; the other from his present. It left me chilled.

Dustin is a psychologist, father, widower, and court witness to the savage killings of his parents by his abusive older brother Rusty. Thirty years after Dustin’s testimony, Rusty is exonerated by DNA testing, allowing him to potentially wreak havoc in

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revenge. Simultaneously, one of Dustin’s patients begins to convince him that a cult is behind the fatal overdoses of supposed binge-drinking frat boys.

After his wife’s recent passing, Dustin floats through life in a dreamy and imaginative state. This perspective comes to bear in the choppy structure of Ill Will, which exhibits half-finished sentences, blank spots, and time jumps. Chaon’s writing urges the reader to question the subjectivity of memory and the reliability of Dustin’s narration, and to wonder whether his testimony against Rusty was fact or fiction.

The disorienting narrative is laced with shifting perspectives and dubious facts, leaving the reader

saturated in fake news and psychological uncertainty. Despite the creepy concept and morbid tilt, this book serves as a compelling look at grief, emphasizing that loss can permeate subconscious cognitions and affect all aspects of perception.

This may not be a novel for all. Its melancholy and morbidity can be overwhelming, its environment only a step ahead of American society’s current apocalyptic paranoia. However, I found Ill Will compelling. The sinister mystery left me suspicious of real-world institutions, the mark of a strong thriller. It’s nice to read a book staged in the suburbs of Cleveland, too — even if it doesn’t showcase the charm.

CROSSWORD Lauren O’Hear 55. “_____ Diem” 56. Recently released horror film starring Octavia Spencer as an unhinged veterinary technician 57. A muscle in the torso + a smell 60. Of or related to aircraft 61. Where horror protagonists should not go when they encounter a haunted house 62. Element that produces the eerie blue glow of tanning beds 63. Extremely 64. Greek letter used to represent wave functions in quantum mechanics 65. “Are we there _____?” A parent’s nightmare on road trips 66. The scream of a banshee 67. The contents of a messy drawer

ACROSS 1. A vampire’s favorite snack 6. An ethereal presence, plural 13. Cast away 15. The terrifying leading cause of skin cancer, singular 16. Wrapped ghouls 17. Linking verb of the past to describe a state of being 19. The initials of a city that many horror movies have been filmed in.

21. A ghostly scream inducer 22. More than enough 24. Area 51 inhabitant 26. Funeral flames 27. Hopeless gloom

DOWN 1. A scene of uproar and confusion 2. Roman numerals for sixty 3. Hotly contested resource, contributing factor in several bloody wars 4. British interjection to get attention 5. Wicked spirits 7. Orange gourd carved for Halloween 8. The opposite of good 9. Sneak 10. Delicious 11. Slang for “Hey!” 12. Float, Fly 14. Batman and Robin, Scooby and Shaggy, Holmes and Watson 17. Depressed 18. Not a sinner 20. Templeton of Stephen King’s 11/22/63 21. Tim Burton horror-comedy starring Michael Keaton 23. Swiss painter whose nightmarish artwork inspired the xenomorph of Alien 25. Needed to gain entrance to some adult Halloween parties 28. Snape’s specialty 29. Coffee time 30. A tombstone’s slogan 33. Grave concerns are put to rest here 35. Force that changes a werewolf 39. Acronym for master of entertainment at a party (disambiguation) 31. One of the most infamous colonizers (abbr.).

41. Devil worship, adjective 32. All-knowing 42. Where aliens may live 34. Charm to ward off evil 44. Green citrus 37. What disgruntled teenagers throw at the houses of 46. Angel of death those they dislike, singular 47. Venomous snake 38. Descartes’s revelation 49. When the Mystery Machine runs out of this fuel, the gang 40. The sound a black cat makes upon crossing your is stranded path 50. Modern medical abbreviation for electroshock therapy 42. what you do when told, “Run away!”

53. Not quite right...

43. The scary-good artist who sang “Jenny from the 58. Insect that sends people running Block” 69. Synonym and slang for “no” 45. An underground chamber 63. Repeat thrice for the devil’s number, Roman numerals 48. Snake-like 64. Unendingly intimidating number that shares its name with 51. Source of teen angst a favorite fall dessert 52. After trick or treating, time to ___ the candy 54. “Ready, _____, Fire!”

Local Psychic Medium Shares Paranormal Experiences Continued from page 12

What I end up falling back on is how schools of fish will know and turn as one. … [Some] animals in large groups seem to have a groupthink. … I think on some level, humans have a hard time accepting that we are as much a part of the animal kingdom as anything else, that we put the stuff in [the] language of gut instinct. We have a feeling — the energy of space, the vibe — that there is some other sense, and maybe it’s not metaphysical. It doesn’t have to be magic. It’s just not something that we’re accustomed to peeling out and looking at.

I ended up having a lot of conversations about that with my wife, who is the granddaughter of Vera Rubin, the Jewish scientist whose findings led to the discovery of dark matter. … So here’s this incredibly science-y family, and we talk about this stuff. I don’t necessarily think that it’s something that we can’t … [or] shouldn’t study. I think we should certainly apply [the] scientific method to it The Oberlin Review | November 1, 2019

[and] ask yourself, where is this information coming from? What’s going on here?

You mentioned that you’ve worked all over but found that Ohio and Pennsylvania are particularly haunted.

Ohio has just a weird history and there are so many odd little places. …

Some places seem to be weirder than others and I don’t know if it’s the people, I don’t know if it’s the land. I think there’s far too many variables to be able to be sure. But the vast number of anecdotal experiences, from Gore orphanage to Mansfield Reformatory to the Melon Heads to Franklin Castle, [is] ridiculous … The only other place I know that is as weirdly haunted is down in Louisiana.

What about Oberlin?

I have definitely heard stories about Oberlin. One of the reasons I bought the house [I currently live in] is that I was pretty sure when we walked through it that it was haunted. After living here

about a year and a half, [I’m even more] sure that the house is haunted. When I’m out of town and travel a lot we rent it out on Airbnb.… We later learned on Airbnb to mention that it might be haunted, because we had a couple of people be like, “Nope! All the nope.”

It’s what I call a charming haunting.

[During] late summer probably around this time last year, [we had a guest who] had been here for about five days. One of the days she opened all the windows because it had been hot in the afternoon and she fell asleep on the couch and it dropped colder. When she woke up, someone had closed all the windows and tucked her with a blanket. So we get this little message through Airbnb where she’s like, “So this might seem weird, but do you know anybody else who’s had experiences in this house?”

And fortunately, she wasn’t weirded out.

She actually wanted to blog about it. She seemed to have enough wherewithal and self-awareness to be aware that she

wasn’t the sort to wake up in the middle of a nap, cover herself up, and forget about it.

We’ve [also] got footsteps and there are a couple of music boxes that play on their own on a fairly regular basis. ...

It really just feels like people who lived here loved the house and didn’t feel like leaving.

Everybody’s got a story, is the one thing I can say. Everybody. It’s interesting when I’m recognized as someone who’s on TV because I’m now the safe person to tell. It usually starts with, “this is probably going to sound crazy, but…” or “maybe this is a little weird, but…” or “I don’t normally believe these things, but… .” It’s always fascinating to hear why people won’t talk about it otherwise — why they don’t feel safe talking about it with family or with coworkers. … Because I’m that wacky person that hunts ghosts on, you know, whatever travel channel, it’s okay to tell me because it can’t get any weirder.

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Sp ort s IN THE LOCKER ROOM

Olivia Smith, Two-Sport Varsity Athlete

College third-year Olivia Smith is used to balancing a variety of activities. In the fall, you’ll find her competing on the field as a member of the women’s soccer team.

In the spring, she can be found running for the women’s track and field team. In her free time, between games and meets, Smith is an Oberlin College Research Fellow. As a result of her involvement with the Oberlin College Research Fellowship program, she has spent a significant amount of time researching and studying invasive plant species with the Biology department.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

Zoë Martin del Campo Contributing Sports Editor Can you elaborate more about OCRF and your responsibilities as a fellow?

OCRF is for minority students and people who are underrepresented, [which] in my case [is] within STEM fields. But the program is for any major, even the Conservatory, which is really amazing because I got to hear people’s presentations on all subjects, not just my field. You spend two summers here and you have to create your own research project, with the help of your professor.

But it is my project and my thesis, and at the end, it’ll be my poster, which is really exciting. I spent almost 10 weeks here this past summer doing my research. At the end we had a big display of everyone’s research in OCRF, which was amazing.

OCRF is a two-year commitment, so next summer I will be in Oberlin again and I’ll be extending my project because you start with one research question and now I have a thousand, so I’m really excited to keep finding new things.

OCRF also displays everyone’s research in the spring, but I’ll be studying abroad

in Copenhagen, which is too bad, but I’ll be back in the summer, ready for part two.

What type of research did you do and what are you continuing this semester?

Through OCRF, I worked [with] the Biology department [and Associate Professor of Biology and David Orr Associate Professor of Environmental Studies] Professor Roger Laushman and I work with the invasive species, Rosa multiflora, which is an invasive rose plant.

I work in Chance Creek, which is about 15 minutes away from Oberlin, so I was doing fieldwork all summer and it was amazing. Throughout my summer, I was looking for Rosa multiflora distribution and abundance because there was major ash tree death in the forest, which means that the composition of the forest was changing completely. So I was looking at how [Rosa multiflora] were reacting to this new environment. I would walk around all day, and in total I counted over a thousand Rosas, which was pretty intense, but I loved every second of it. I also did a hotspot analysis to demonstrate if [Rosa multiflora were] growing in a pattern or if they just [were] randomly distributed throughout the forest. I can conclude that there was a pattern to their growth and that they were in high[ly] disturbed areas. I am continuing this research into this year; now I’m looking at how to get rid of them.

What type of research do you want to pursue in the future?

I would say every door is open because that’s what Oberlin allows you to do. I’m interested in public health, so I’m going abroad to study it. Botany and ecology are also still potential options. I definitely want to go to graduate school, but maybe

College third-year Olivia Smith

I’ll get a job first before going back to school to start my own research again.

That’s my kind of plan for right now.

Why is studying abroad important to your Oberlin experience?

It was really important for me to be able to go somewhere for my major, and I’ve never been to Europe before, so I’m hoping to see as many places as I can and while studying biology. I’ll be looking at public health because their public health systems are different than ours.

So I’m excited to dive into that. I’m also interested in a lot of different types of biology, not just plants, so I’m hoping to connect them all one day.

At Oberlin, you are part of two varsity teams, women’s soccer and women’s

Von Wooding Moves Up in OC Record Book

Photo by Mallika Pandey, Photo Editor

track and field. Do you find it difficult to manage both your athletic and academic responsibilities on top of research?

It’s definitely all about time management, my agenda and Google Calendar are always by my side. I’m always trying to fit hours to do research or make sure I can get in that time for practice. I would say I just have a schedule that I try to follow. But it’s also important for me to have break times. On Friday nights I usually try to de-stress and put away the schoolwork and try not to think about sports or the game tomorrow.

You were a walk-on for the track and field team your second year. Why did you decide to join?

I ran track in high school and I loved it. I heard great things about the track team here and I was already running because it is one of my passions and is a stress reliever, so I talked to the coaches to see if it was the right fit for me. It’s a different type of competition from soccer, and I’m really glad I did it. I love the track team so much.

You are part of various communities on campus, whether it is athletic or academic — do you see any overlaps in terms of passion or goals?

Everyone I come in contact with throughout my day really cares about what they’re doing. We all strive to get better, whether it’s running that extra mile, or in research, reanalyzing your data to make sure it makes sense. The passion that everyone has around me pushes me forward. … It’s hard sometimes, and you get tired, but if there’s someone who’s encouraging you, then you’re going to do well.

This past Saturday, College fourth-year Von Wooding racked up 13 tackles against Wabash College, giving him a career total of 296. This moved him past his former teammate, Bennett Jackson, OC ’17, for second most all time at Oberlin.

“It honestly is more bittersweet than anything,” Wooding said. “It reminds me that I don’t have very much time left to play this game. Breaking records has always been a goal of mine, but what I cherish way more is the memories that I made along the way and the people who gave me the strength to do it.”

Wooding’s record further punctuates what has been a strong year for the Oberlin defense. Currently, the Yeomen rank third in the North Coast Athletic

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Conference in rushing yards allowed per game, third in fumble recoveries, and tied for first in interceptions.

Much like his record, Wooding attributes the success of the team’s defense to those who have supported both him and the program over the last four years.

“I owe this accomplishment to the Oberlin community, my family and friends back home, and to the other players that have helped transform this program for the better,” Wooding said.

Text by Khalid McCalla, Contributing Sports Editor Photo courtesy of OC Athletics

How do you think athletics has impacted your overall time at Oberlin?

Having someone that always has your back is really nice. I never feel alone here. I always know if it’s not even the two teams I’m on, I know I always have a friend with the other women’s teams here and even the men’s teams here, which is really amazing. It also helps me push myself in everything I do. If I’m working hard in the classroom, it transfers onto the track or onto the field.

I have fun when I do my sports because it’s one of my passions. In general, I really try to enjoy what I’m doing throughout my day, whether it’s research or practice; I absolutely love what I do.

College Third-Year, Lacrosse Player Alec Palmiotti Details the Chilean Protests from Santiago

Photo courtesy of Alec Palmiotti

Protesters demonstrating against the Chilean government.

Jane Agler Sports Editor On Oct. 18, Chilean citizens took to the streets in response to the government’s implementation of a raise in the cost of public metro fare. Alec Palmiotti, a College third-year varsity lacrosse player, has been a witness to this heightening unrest through his study away program in the country’s capital, Santiago.

“The [U.S. media] coverage on what’s going on in Chile has been flawed on multiple levels,” Palmiotti wrote in an email to the Review. “In some ways, [the protests are] a reaction to the hike in metro fare, but to focus on the metro issue is to trivialize what’s actually going on.”

Beginning in 1970 with the election of the world’s first democratically-elected socialist president, Salvador Allende, and his subsequent overthrow by a U.S.-backed coup that installed the 17-year-long military dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet in 1973, Chile has gone through drastic changes in government and economy over the last five decades.

However, the brutal effects of Pinochet’s dictatorship, which ended in 1990, can still be felt in the country today. Not only is the current president, Sebastián Piñera, the first billionaire to be sworn into office in Chile, but he is also the brother to Pinochet’s former Minister of Labor, Social Security, and Mining José Piñera. José is likely best remembered for his position as one of the infamous Chicago Boys, a group of Chilean economists who implemented strategies during the dictatorship that still affects the country’s economy today.

“What the people of Chile are [actually] protesting is, essentially, 30 years of neoliberal politics that have disproportionately benefited not only Chile’s one percent, but also the North American corporations operating in Chile,” Palmiotti wrote. “The minimum wage in Chile is more or less unlivable, middle-class pensions and retirement benefits are non-existent, the education and health care systems are defective and corrupt, and the vast majority of Chileans are fed up.”

Millions of people throughout the country are gathering to protest these inequalities in the plazas and streets of Chile’s major cities, the highest attendance since the reinstatement of democracy in 1990. There have been lootings and fires, as well as the deployment of over 10,000 Chilean The Oberlin Review November 1, 2019

troops who have utilized tanks, water cannons, tear gas, bludgeons, and other means to put an end to the demonstrations. So far, there have been 20 recorded deaths, hundreds injured, and more than 2,000 detained — many of whom are students.

The protests first began with college and high school students on social media encouraging the public to hop over turnstiles when entering the subway. Many protests in Chile have been student-led, such as the historic 2011–13 movement to de-privatize secondary and higher education and combat the larger issue of economic inequality. In the past few weeks, student leaders have been joined by civil society groups and others to aid their cause.

In a speech at the country’s presidential palace last Wednesday, Sebastián Piñera announced that Chile would be unable to host the upcoming UN Climate Change Conference in light of the protests.

He explained, “Our first priority as a government is to focus first and foremost on fully restoring public order and social peace.”

On a more personal level for Palmiotti, his day-to-day life in Chile has been different than what he had originally expected from study abroad.

“I was actually stuck in Calama, a small city in Chile that you fly into to get to the Atacama Desert, for three days because almost all domestic flights into Santiago were canceled due to the protests,” Palmiotti wrote.

“There was also a national curfew for about a week, which meant that being out after a certain time, most commonly 10 p.m., was illegal.”

College fourth-year and former varsity soccer player Izzy Rosenstein had similar experiences when she studied abroad in the smaller Chilean port city Valparaíso last semester.

“I lived in the center of the city and could often see marches happening from my bedroom window and a couple of times I smelled and felt the sting of tear gas as I walked home,” Rosenstein said. “Protesting was embedded into the daily life of Valparaíso.”

Palmiotti explained that his experiences as an Oberlin student have prepared him to take part in the conversations around protesting and other political discourses while in Chile.

“Oberlin is an incredibly politically active place where people voice their opinions loudly,” Palmiotti wrote. “A lot of people in my program choose to avoid thinking about and discussing

the protests entirely, which surprised me. I’m not sure to what extent Oberlin has made me better equipped to discuss and learn about the protests and what’s going on, but I’m certain it has [helped me].”

As a student in Chile, Palmiotti has had a close look at the demonstrations. However, he is not legally allowed to participate in the protests due to multiple Chilean laws regarding foreigners.

One of them, Decree No. 597 of 1984, Article 15, reads, “[El extranjero] comprometerse ... a no participar durante su permanencia en Chile en la política interna ni en actos que puedan inferir molestias a los Gobiernos con los cuales se mantienen relaciones amistosas y a respetar y cumplir la Constitución Política.”

In English, this translates to: “[Foreigners] compromise … to not participate in internal politics nor in acts that can cause trouble toward the Government during their stay in Chile, with which they maintain friendly relations, and to respect and comply with

the Political Constitution.”

Palmiotti, however, has still learned much from the political discourse and unrest that has developed around him in Santiago.

“I’ve been inspired by the fact that Chileans protest literally everything,” Palmiotti wrote. “Which isn’t to downplay what’s going on [in the country] right now, because this is different. But in general, if there’s something that is seen as an injustice or inequality, Chileans are [motivated to] protest until it’s changed. I hope that’s something I bring back [to the U.S.] with me.”

Looking beyond Chile’s geographic boundaries toward the rest of the world, Palmiotti hopes that the international media and public will pay attention.

“What’s going on here right now is pretty monumental,” Palmiotti wrote.

“I’m just hopeful that more people take the time to learn about Chile’s history and how these protests are integral in setting the tone for the future of the country.”

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SPORTS Established 1874

November 1, 2019

Volume 148, Number 7

NBA Struggles to Face China Alex McNicoll

College fourth-year Oona Jung-Beeman participating in the Rumble.

Photo courtesy of OC Athletics

Women’s Cross Country Win Rumble: An Annual Tradition of Determination Zoë Martin del Campo Khalid McCalla Contributing Sports Editors On the morning of the Inter-Regional Rumble, members of the Oberlin women’s cross country team prepared by putting on glitter and writing words of encouragement on each other with colorful pens. Coaches, friends, Oberlin alumni, and family were on the sidelines cheering for their teams as athletes lined up at the starting line, a sea of multicultural uniforms. When the gun went off, the sound of pounding feet filled the air as hundreds of cross country athletes raced around the 6- and 8-kilometer course.

The Inter-Regional Rumble is the only home meet of the season, and the event includes teams from across the country, as well as nationally-ranked and regionally-ranked teams for both the men’s and women’s races. The Oberlin women’s cross country team was the only to place three runners within the top 19 finishers. This triumph landed the women’s team their fourth consecutive Inter-Regional Rumble title.

While this alone is an impressive feat, it is the experience of being a part of the event, whether as an athlete or as a spectator, that made the Rumble memorable. College second-year Nina Liloia is part of the women’s cross country team and described the Rumble as an event that goes beyond athletic competition because of the enthusiasm of participants.

“The Rumble is extremely high in energy,” Liloia said. “The whole course is lined with family and friends, and so you can always hear someone chanting your name and cheering you on. There are four different races during the day, so during every race that isn’t your own, you’re running from place to place on the course and cheering on your teammates. If your voice isn’t completely gone the day after the Rumble, you’re doing it wrong.”

The women’s cross country team attributes their success in part to the team dynamic fostered by coaches, Ray Appenheimer and Izzy Alexander. College fourth-year Marija Crook has found that team practices are a safe place for players to express and push each other to be their best both on and off the field.

“Team dynamic is everything,” Crook said.

There is an intentional effort by everyone on the team to create an environment where everyone understands how integral they are to the team’s success in races. For me, success is also the type of community we continue to create that strives to

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bring out the best, most accountable, and supportive versions of ourselves.”

The Rumble was worked by the women’s soccer team, many of whom were surprised by the sheer number of runners and reactions of the athletes as they crossed the finish line. Some runners were so exhausted that they collapsed on the finish line, where the women’s soccer team was placed to help them. One non-Oberlin runner ruptured her gallbladder during the event, while others required additional support from coaches as they pushed themselves to break personal records.

College third-year Kiera Markham’s job was to ensure that the finish line remained clear, which meant at times, she had to help runners move to the sidelines when they reached the end.

“These athletes are incredibly inspiring to watch,” Markham said. “I was in awe of the amount of people that were running so hard that they literally could not support their bodies.”

Markham also appreciated the strong sense of community fostered by the event.

“Runners hugged their competitors and congratulated every person that crossed the finish line,” she said. “There was an outpouring of support from the runners and everyone around them.”

For College third-year and varsity soccer player Olivia Weeks, working the Rumble reinforced the stamina of Oberlin’s cross country team.

“Our cross country team is amazing, and some of the most hardworking and impressive people I have ever met,” she said. “The meet definitely reinforced my utmost respect for all of the team as athletes and I can’t wait to help out more in the future.”

As a whole, Oberlin’s women’s cross country team pride themselves on making each meet, especially the Rumble, an opportunity to support each other and express their passion for running.

“I’m glad that even though we are an accomplished team, we can still have fun and not be too serious about things,” Liloia said. “Personally, I dump glitter on myself before every race. Even if it doesn’t make me run faster. It totally does though.

It’s still wonderful to do things just for pure joy.”

For Liolia, the Rumble, and cross country as a whole, can serve as an escape and a strong confidence boost.

“When I’m running, I’m focusing on how good the breeze feels around me, on the sun warming my face, my feet beating against the ground, not how I look.” Liloia said. “Being on the cross country team makes me feel proud of my body and how far I can push it, how far it can take me, and makes me feel joy and gratitude for the ability to move.”

The NBA season’s tip-off, as per usual, did not come without controversy. Heated discourse overpowered the start of the regular season after Houston Rockets General Manager Daryl Morey tweeted his support of protesters in Hong Kong. While the initial drama has faded, NBA officials, players, and fans alike are still waiting to see how the narrative will unfold throughout the season. From NBA superstars like LeBron James to the current inhabitant of the Oval Office, everyone has chimed in on how the NBA should handle its relationship with China in light of the violent Hong Kong protests.

Protests in Hong Kong have been ensuing since June in reaction to a proposal to repatriate Hong Kong to mainland China.

Hong Kong — a former British Colony — has had more political autonomy than its mainland counterpart since returning to Chinese rule in 1997, including different legal and judicial systems. Additionally, the Chinese government has been censoring coverage of the Hong Kong protests, filtering and blocking any internet content that supports them, as well as raiding the offices of accused offenders in order to obtain their computers.

The repatriation has been suspended indefinitely in light of the protests, which have resulted in physical aggression between protesters and the police, and more than 1,000 injuries treated in hospitals.

NBA Hall of Famers Charles Barkley and Shaquille O’Neal both weighed-in on the issue on Tuesday during their talk show Inside the NBA on TNT. “Vice President Pence needs to shut the hell up,” Barkley said. “I think it’s unfair for [the United States Government] to do all their business in China, and just because this thing happened, try to make the NBA and our players look bad. All American companies do business in China. Period.”

Barkley and O’Neal continued going back and forth, defending either side of the NBA’s dilemma. Barkley tried to highlight the NBA’s right to protect the massive amounts of money they make per year in the Chinese market, saying that most other American companies have already done the same.

O’Neal thought Morey had every right to express his opinion, especially considering the severity of the conflicts in Hong Kong. Many fans have sided with O’Neal, asserting that profit should not come before addressing the violation of human rights.

China’s population of 1.4 billion represents an incredibly lucrative market. For Nike — the NBA’s exclusive apparel provider — China is expected to be the largest retail market in the world by the end of the year, and it boasts tens of millions of basketball fans and accounts for 10 percent of NBA revenue.

Additionally, Nike has pulled all Houston Rockets merchandise — made popular by Chinese basketball phenomenon Yao Ming — from all Chinese retail locations. For both Nike and the NBA, the issue has forced fans to reconsider both the NBA and Nike’s politically salient decisions in the past.

NBA fans often look at stars such as Stephen Curry and LeBron James with pride for calling out President Trump throughout his tenure. Meanwhile, Nike is just a year removed from their now-famous Colin Kaepernick campaign after his ostracism from the NFL. No matter where either company goes from here, how they’ve handled their relationship with the Chinese government so far will certainly force fans to look at their activism in a new light.

LeBron James, who received flak for suggesting that Morey was “misinformed” before sending out his tweet, is one of the many players that benefits from both the NBA and Nike’s immense presence in the Chinese market. In 2015, he signed a lifetime contract with Nike that guaranteed over $1 billion by the time he is 64 years old. Therefore, James’ comment was likely reflective of his own business ventures in China, rather than Morey’s knowledge of the unrest in Hong Kong.

Moving forward, the NBA and China’s relationship is still muddled. Commissioner Adam Silver suggested that the Chinese government demanded that the Rockets fire Morey, which he said they would not do. The Chinese government denies this, and has already canceled exhibition games in China.

While the NBA seems to be in for the most competitive season in recent memory, the league should consider taking greater measures to live up to its comparatively progressive image if it wants to save itself from the hypocrisy that other leagues, like the NFL and MLB, have been accused of in the wake of globalization.