November 17, 2017 by The Oberlin Review

The Oberlin Review November 17, 2017

established 1874

Volume 146, Number 10

City Council Approves Heritage Home Program Jenna Gyimesi

Staff Writer

A student prepares for a performance at the ’Sco, which will undergo changes as staff members work to draw more students to the space. Photo by Devin Cowan

’Sco to Open Earlier, Offer More Diverse Events

Tess Joosse

The ’Sco, Oberlin College’s campus bar and music venue in the basement of Wilder Hall, will open earlier and offer a wider range of events based on student feedback. Staff members of the club hope the changes will make it more accessible, with a larger role in student life. The ’Sco will open earlier on days when no touring act or other programming is scheduled. It was open from 8 p.m.–11 p.m. instead of its usual hours of 10 p.m.–1 a.m. on Saturday, and Assistant Director of Student Activities Sean Lehlbach, who oversees the ’Sco and its staff, said that despite a lack of advertising, there was a promising turnout. “We had 51 on Saturday, which — versus a normal DJ night — is more than we will sometimes get,” Lehlbach said. College senior and Student Manager Martin Rabot said that turnout is notoriously low on days without a touring act or themed program. “If we have a student DJ in here, only the 20 kids that the DJ invited are going to come, and they’re only going to stay for an hour until there’s a party they find out about,” Rabot said. The issue, Rabot added, is that the ’Sco cannot compete with house parties happening elsewhere on campus. He said that the earlier hours would hopefully eliminate some of that competitive overlap. ’Sco staff also hope to attract a wider range of students in the coming months by varying and expanding the

types of events in the space. “I think our main goal in moving the ’Sco especially earlier this year is to make it so a lot of people can come, even if they don’t want to stay up really late, or if they don’t feel comfortable being in a dark space late at night, or if they’re not comfortable around people who are drinking a lot,” staff member and College junior Emma Broun said. Rabot said that one of his goals is to show students that the ’Sco hosts more events than just Splitchers, the club’s popular Wednesday night event. Recently the ’Sco hosted a murdermystery event, which Lehlbach said is an example of the new and somewhat unexpected programming he hopes to see implemented. “They got a little bit of a ground swell and are thinking about doing it again,” he said about the event. “That was something off the wall — something different — and the students liked it.” Game nights, craft nights, trivia nights, and karaoke nights are all in the works, as well as a weekly or biweekly ’Sco Family Feud. “I’m not opposed to trying these types of things,” Lehlbach added. “I think the students will dictate how the space is used best.” Students expressed excitement in the ’Sco’s plans. College senior Deborah Johnson said she has enjoyed going to Splitchers and other events at the venue earlier in the night than she might have in the past to beat the crowds and spend more time with her

friends. She added that she’s optimistic that the new events will help the ’Sco attract more students. “I really like the ’Sco, and [it] has had a place in my heart since freshman year,” Johnson said. “I think these new hours might give older students an opportunity to return to the ’Sco. I really am excited about it. I think a new take on anything is always fun.” According to Broun, the ’Sco has a reputation of attracting certain groups of people. “There’s a lot of stigma around people who are consuming a lot of alcohol and people who are in packs, and I don’t want to say ‘big groups of male athletes,’ but I think that’s what would come to mind for some people,” Broun said. In addition to house parties, Rabot acknowledged that the ’Sco also competes with The Feve and other restaurants and bars downtown. “I think we’re now in a period where we need to reinvent and refocus a little bit,” Rabot said. “That is something that I want student feedback on.” He said that he and Lehlbach want to see the ’Sco live up to its full potential, and the best way to do that is by listening to comments and suggestions made by students. “If we get people that are fired up about doing something there, we can feed that and fuel that, and then they put on a cool program” Lehlbach said. Students can voice their wishes and ideas by messaging the ’Sco on Facebook and Instagram or chatting with ’Sco staff members in person.

City Council approved the Heritage Home Program to create a fund that will provide homeworkers and landowners a more affordable, accessible way to renovate or repair aging homes. The program, passed Nov. 6, will officially take effect Dec. 1. Anyone who owns a home in Oberlin built 50 or more years ago can receive free technical assistance. Qualifying homeowners can obtain a low-interest, equity-based loan to improve upon or maintain their property through the program. Recently re- elected City Councilmember Linda Slocum was a critical advocate for the program, and she articulated it as one of her main goals throughout her campaign. “When I was running for council the first time, I went to the [doorstep] of every home in town,” Slocum said. “That’s when I realized that a lot of Oberlin homes are in real need of renovation. The planning commission did a housing study, and they confirmed the fact that we have a declining housing stock. It all fits in together — the observations and the study. It’s a real problem.” A 2014 housing market analysis, conducted by Vogt Santer Insights, provided data around the functionality and market of Oberlin homes. “The study characterized overall renter growth as slow, but concludes that the demand for new construction and higher quality rentals is there, due to the aging, ‘functionally obsolete’ rental housing existing in Oberlin currently,” states the Feb. 24, 2017 City of Oberlin Comprehensive Housing Study and Needs Analysis. City Director of Planning and Development Carrie Handy said she believes the program will help homeowners maintain their properties in the long term. “Hopefully this program is another tool that homeowners can use to help fix up their property,”Handy said. “This provides free technical advice [to] help them figure out what they need to fix and what they should fix first.” Slocum emphasized that the program makes it easier for homeowners to partake in beneficial largescale projects, as the minimum loan amount is $10,000. “The loan cannot be less than $10,000, so we are talking substantial renovations,” she said. “Some might think that’s high, but this is to encourage substantial renovations. This will not be the end of assistance for home renovations. We will introduce other programs that may be able to go lower in the future.” see New, page 3

CONTENTS NEWS

OPINIONS

03 Student Senate Holds

First Annual Constituents’ Week

Editorial: Discussion of Enrollment, Retention Must Include Dorms

Off the Cuff with Gar Alperovitz, Historian and Professor 06 GOP Tax Reform Threatens of Political Economy Future of Higher Education 04

The Oberlin Review | November 17, 2017

07 Oberlin, Gibson’s Should Settle Out-of-Court

ARTS & CULTURE

SPORTS

Renowned Poet Hanif Willis-Abdurraqib Slams at Cat

THIS WEEK

Women of Will Strikes Socio-Political Chord

Trees of Tappan Square

Halsten Claims Regional Championship, Headed to Nationals Club Hockey Skates Again

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Ohioans Decisively Vote Down State Issue 2 on Election Day

A customer picks up a prescription at the CVS in Oberlin. Issue 2, which would have saved hundreds of millions of dollars for Ohio taxpayers, did not pass in the Nov. 7 election. Photo by Daniel Firebanks, Staff Photographer Lila Michaels Staff Writer

In last week’s election, Ohioans voted down state Issue 2 — the drug price standards initiative that would have capped the cost of prescription drugs

purchased by the state government — also known as the Ohio Drug Price Relief Act. The issue was voted down by 79 percent statewide and only gathered about 23 percent of supportive votes in Lorain County, where drug abuse — especially of opioids and heroin — has worsened in

recent years. The issue proposed that state agencies and state -subsidized insurance providers, mainly Medicaid, pay no more than the lowest price paid by the U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs. The VA typically receives a discount of about 24 percent on specific prescription drugs. The measure would also grant petitioners the ability to intervene in legal challenges brought against the law. Had the drug price standards initiative passed, it would have gone into effect in the first 30 days. However, since the majority of Ohio constituents voted in opposition, state agencies and programs will continue to negotiate drug prices on an individual level, as they did before the election. College first-year Lee Khoury suggested that some constituents might fear increased access to certain medications that have contributed to the opioid epidemic in the county. “In a state that has a pretty bad opioid crisis, I could understand people being tentative about it with more powerful drugs on the market,” Khoury said. Drug abuse has been a rising concern within Lorain County in recent years.

Oberlin Police Department records indicate that non-lethal overdoses from heroin — which is often used by individuals who first abuse opioids — increased from one case in 2015 to four in 2016. Lorain County Coroner Stephen Evans told the Review (“County Suffers from Worsening Heroin Epidemic,” March 3, 2017) that Lorain County’s overall deaths from drug overdoses more than doubled between 2015 and 2016, increasing from 63 to 131. The county coroner’s office reports that 48 opioid-related deaths have occurred in 2017 so far. Although he understands this potential concern, Khoury said he supports the initiative to increase access to prescription drugs for those who need them. “If more people on Medicaid are going to be getting, you know, epinephrine that they need for their kids’ allergies, I think that’s a good thing,” he said. Issue 2 broke the record for most funds raised towards a ballot measure ever in the state of Ohio. When combined, the forces supporting and opposing state Issue 2 collected approximately $75 million. The primary campaign in support

we need to work on to make the student experience better. Senate needs new information to work with. At the end of the day, we’re here to represent the whole student body.” Williams-Baron said she hopes that the information Senate receives through the surveys will help them better communicate the wants and needs of students to the senior administration and the Board of Trustees. “When the Board of Trustees asks us why Oberlin doesn’t retain students well, we want to be able to give them an answer backed with as much data as possible,” Williams-Baron said. Because Senate has spent so much time trying to get a student representative on the Board of Trustees, Dunbar admits they haven’t been able to focus on other things as much as he’d like to. “Senate needs a little more direction,” Dunbar said. “What better way to do that than by asking students directly what they want? President Ambar likes to see data and statistics. We hope to get back legitimate data that will substantiate things Senate has said in the past and help Senate develop new areas.” One specific project Senate is looking at involves Disability Resources. One question asked students whether they feel like Disability Resources should continue to be housed with the College Scholarship Service, or if it should be moved to its own distinct location. “There’s definitely some important dialogue happening right now around that kind of question, and we want to know how students honestly feel,” Williams-Baron said. “If the feedback,

say, were 90 percent that Oberlin feels Disability Resources needs its own location, we would design a task force that would tackle advocating for that next semester. We want to be making informed decisions about how we allocate our energy and labor.” The questionnaire’s results will be communicated to students once Senate has the chance to organize and make sense of the data. Dunbar said he is considering giving a presentation and holding a forum with the student body, senior administration, and eventually the Board of Trustees. Students have expressed interest in seeing what their classmates’ opinions are. “Hopefully the surveys will help in the long run. It would be nice to see the results. A lot of people seemed to be participating,” College senior Paddy McCabe said. Dunbar and Williams-Baron said that Senate is committed to representing their classmates and want to do a better job in the future of communicating everything they’re doing with the student body. “Meg [Parker] and I have done a lot of work this semester to engage more with our constituents,” Williams-Baron said. “We spend a lot of time writing weekly emails that we hope can foster more care and community. We held our first town hall. We’ve been tabling in Mudd [and] increased our social media presence. This survey is just another avenue towards increasing student engagement, honesty, and trust. We want people to know that we’re fighting for them in as educated a way as possible.

see Ballot, page 3

Student Senate Holds First Annual Constituents’ Week

College senior Paddy McCabe discusses a survey he took on his desired campus improvements with Student Senate Vice Chair Kameron Dunbar and President Carmen Ambar. Students who participated received a free Krispy Kreme donut. Photo by Bryan Rubin, Photo Editor

Alexis Dill News Editor Members of Student Senate spent every night in Mudd library this week — known as Constituents’ Week — handing out Feve tots and Krispy Kreme donuts to every student who filled out a short questionnaire. The surveys, which were anonymous, asked students to provide feedback about academic programs, mental health and disability resources, athletics, and housing — ultimately geared toward retention, which decreased in the 2017– 18 academic year and has contributed to the $5-million deficit the College is facing. Senate Communications Director and College junior Hanne Williams-

Baron said she hopes to gain insight into student opinions so Senate can better represent the student body as a whole. “We felt that a survey was necessary in order to get a broad scope of what’s working for students here and what’s not working,” Williams-Baron said. “I speak for all of Senate when I say we are really invested in our fellow students’ ability to thrive here, and we know it’s difficult to finish school here in four years.” Although administration sends out numerous surveys to students throughout the academic year, that data isn’t always shared with Senate, according to Vice Chair and College junior Kameron Dunbar. “We take this stuff very seriously,” he said. “This will help us see what areas

The Oberlin R eview November 17, 2017 Volume 146, Number 10 (ISSN 297–256) Published by the students of Oberlin College every Friday during the fall and spring semesters, except holidays and examination periods. Advertising rates: $18 per column inch. Second-class postage paid at Oberlin, Ohio. Entered as secondclass matter at the Oberlin, Ohio post office April 2, 1911. POSTMASTER SEND CHANGES TO: Wilder Box 90, Oberlin, Ohio 44074-1081. Office of Publication: Burton Basement, Oberlin, Ohio 44074. Phone: (440) 775-8123

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J.D. Vance Speaks at American Democracy Conference

Security Notebook Thursday, Nov. 9, 2017 1:11 a.m. Safety and Security Officers and members of the Oberlin Fire Department responded to a fire alarm at a Goldsmith Village Housing Unit. The residents of the apartment had just arrived when the alarm was activated. An electrician changed the detector head, and the alarm was reset. 12:20 p.m. Staff members of the Science Center reported graffiti in the women’s restroom on the first floor. A work order was filed, and the graffiti was removed. 1:20 p.m. A bagged smoke detector was reported by facilities staff members on the third floor of Langston Hall. A photo was taken, and the bag was removed.

Saturday, Nov. 11, 2017 2:29 a.m. College visitors reported the theft of a bag containing a laptop and a backpack containing clothing from their vehicle, which was parked in the Union Street lot. The vehicle was unlocked at the time of theft.

J.D. Vance, author of The New York Times bestselling Hillbilly Elegy: A Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis, spoke at the Apollo Theatre this morning. Hillbilly Elegy offers a perspective of America’s white working class, tracking the generational migration of a family from the hills of Kentucky to a rural town in Ohio. Vance was a participant of the American Democracy Conference, which launched Wednesday at The Hotel at Oberlin. The conference will culminate this evening with a convocation event in Finney Chapel by Terry Tempest Williams, author, environmentalist, and activist. Vance will give a talk called “Democracy in the Red Zone,” focusing on the “red-blue divide” in Ohio. He is a regular contributor for CNN and has appeared on ABC, CBS, and Fox News, where he discusses politics, public policy, and class divisions within political discourse. At the conference, he also engaged in a moderated discussion with Anthony Flaccavento, the president of SCALE Inc., a sustainability and rural development company. Text by Sydney Allen, News Editor Photo by Bryan Rubin, Photo Editor

Ballot Measure Falters Despite Record Fundraising

Continued from page 2

of the drug price standards initiative, Ohio Taxpayers for Lower Drug Prices, raised nearly $16.7 million as of Nov. 12. Nearly all of those funds — more than 99.99 percent — came from the AIDS Healthcare Foundation, a Californiabased organization. On the other hand, a leading organization against Issue 2 was Ohioans Against the Deceptive Rx Ballot Issue. The group raised nearly $58.3 million, all of which was funded by the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America. Given the huge amount of money

funneled into this ballot issue by the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America, some students had seen advertisements that ran against Issue 2. “I’d seen commercials about it that were against it, that just framed it as being too costly,” College first-year Kate Fishman said. One commercial featured President of the Ohio State Medical Association Kris Firth. “We have closely examined Issue 2, and we know that it’s wrong for our patients,” Firth said in the ad. “Issue 2 could increase drug costs for nearly two

out of three Ohioans. Seniors, veterans, and everyday families with private insurance could pay the heaviest burden. Issue 2 won’t reduce your drug costs. It will make things worse.” Issue 2 is almost identical to California Proposition 61 — an issue that would have barred the state of California from buying any prescription drugs from medication companies at a price over the lowest paid for by the VA — that appeared on the California ballot in Nov. 2016. California voters also rejected the proposal.

New City Legislation Aims for Sustainability Continued from page 1

Renovations to increase energy efficiency are one way homeowners may choose to use the Heritage Home Program. “We hope people will avail themselves of this so that they can make these programs and pay it off with less interest,” Slocum said. “They can use these loans in tandem with some of our other projects to make their homes more comfortable, more sustainable, or more energy-efficient through programs like [Providing Oberlin with Efficiency Responsibly]. They get an extra boost that way.” Greg Jones, energy advocate for the group POWER, articulated the ways in which the Heritage Home Program may help achieve more sustainable practices. Certain renovations, like reThe Oberlin Review | November 17, 2017

placing inefficient knob and tube wiring, cannot be funded through POWER with the assistance of the Columbia Gas of Ohio. But through the new program, homeowners can address these retrofitting issues. “This is something I would definitely like to see for POWER,” Jones said. “The more options I can give to people, the better ability I have to make every home as comfortable, safe, and energyefficient as possible.” Slocum added that the program may have lasting effects on increasing sustainability while also increasing growth within the Oberlin community. “This is a start of a really important goal,” Slocum said. “We will address the housing that’s here with this program, and we will address developing new homes at the same time. We can bring

in young families and singles. We have some opportunities to grow if we do things this way.” The community, the environment, and all people have the potential to benefit from the program, Slocum stressed. “The loans are not only for people of low to moderate income — anyone can avail themselves to this, but there is a slightly higher interest rate,” she said. “This program is for everyone.” To qualify for the loan, a home must be located in a residential zone in a participating community, at least 50 years old, insured, contain three occupancy units or less, and have up-to-date property taxes. Only certain repairs fall in the parameters of the Heritage Home Program. Some ineligible projects include vinyl siding installation and luxuries like landscaping.

10:10 a.m. Officers and members of the Oberlin Fire Department responded to an activated smoke detector in a room on the first floor of Asia House. The overheating of the room’s radiator activated the detector. A maintenance technician responded. 10:12 a.m. Officers assisted an employee who cut their finger while cleaning a knife at Stevenson Dining Hall. The employee was transported to Mercy Allen Hospital for treatment. 2:08 p.m. Officers assisted a student who was hit in the mouth while playing basketball at Philips gym. The student was transported to Mercy Allen Hospital for treatment. 11:26 p.m. Officers and members of the Oberlin Police Department assisted a student on South Professor Street who was ill from alcohol consumption. The student was driven to their home on Lorain Street.

Sunday, Nov. 12, 2017 2:02 p.m. Officers responded to a report of a marijuana odor on the first floor of Barnard House. The officers entered the room in question to find the smoke detector bagged, and they also found a grinder and baggie containing a substance consistent with marijuana in plain view. The bag was removed from the detector and the grinder and baggie were turned over to the Oberlin Police Department.

Monday, Nov. 13, 2017 9:45 a.m. Staff members reported nonoffensive graffiti in a restroom on the second floor of Wilder Hall. A work order was filed for cleanup.

Tuesday, Nov. 14, 2017 1:48 p.m. Officers assisted a student who passed out in a classroom on the third floor of King Building. The student was transported by their professor to Mercy Allen Hospital.

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Gar Alperovitz, Historian and Professor of Political Economy Gar Alperovitz came to Oberlin as one of the speakers in The State of American Democracy: A National Conversation, a three-day, non-partisan discussion about the state of democracy in the U.S. The conference examines how the U.S. ended up in its current polarized state, and how we can bolster the resilience, fairness, and stability of our democratic institutions. Alperovitz is a historian, political economist, activist, writer, and former government official. He was the Lionel R. Bauman Professor of Political Economy at the University of Maryland for 15 years. He is the president of the National Center for Economic and Security Alternatives, and is a founding member of the Democracy Collaborative, a research group investigating ways toward community-oriented change and the democratization of wealth. Interview by Sydney Allen News Editor This interview has been edited for length and clarity. How did you end up in your field? I’m the co-founder of something called the Democracy Collaborative, which is an organization building different ways to transform and democratize the ownership of wealth, the most obvious one being co-ops, but also [things like] city municipal ownership — different kinds of democratic ownership. One of the big projects is called the Next System Project, which is a project of the Democracy Collaborative. That’s attempting to open up a sophisticated, reasonable debate about what is the inevitable next system beyond corporate capitalism, beyond state socialism. What makes sense? What do we want? How do we think about that rationally? What are the stepping stones — projects that we can see that look like they might be a piece of it? It’s mainly about ideas at this stage. How does that pertain to this conference? It’s very hard to have democracy if the institutional substructure of the system is so heavily weighted against democracy. In particular, corporate power and the ownership of wealth is extremely concentrated and plays a major role in politics, and it kind of bends away from “one person, one vote” in practice. This has been studied by political scientists forever, but it used to be that labor unions partly balanced the power of corporations and wealth ownership. But they’re pretty much over in the United States and in many parts of the world. Is there a way to think about, over time, building up the next system that would be democratic, ecologically-sustainable, dealing with racism in a decent, intelligent way, supportive of liberty, dealing with planet changes? The term I

like best is “architecture.” What’s the architecture or relationship between worker and company? How would you design it if you were really thinking about democracy and ecological sustainability? Can you elaborate on the racial component of this? People don’t realize that we are one of the few pro-democratic systems which is fundamentally divided by race. It was shocking to me that it took 100 years after the end of the Civil War before the civil rights laws were passed. And up until that point, the South was a hostage nation, and a hostage part of the country. Think of it ... 100 years after the Civil War. We’ve got a long way to go, and the thing to notice is that it’s unusual. England isn’t like that; Denmark isn’t like that; Sweden isn’t like that; France isn’t like that. We have a fundamental division on racial grounds based on the history of slavery. It’s a very unusual and dangerous and inhumane system that has to be corrected. Oberlin is a place where the first part of that was dealt with. It has a great history of dealing with race.

has the capacity to conduce something like 3 million heads of lettuce a year — lots of herbs. It’s all worker-owned, but attached to a non-profit, something in the neighborhood that can’t move, and so by design it’s trying to build a neighborhood. The other one is an energy and insulation company that’s in lights and solar installations. It’s being picked up in other countries. There’s a big one that’s starting in a city called Prestin, in England. The Labour Party has gotten interested in the model, so we see a lot of pickup on it now.

discrimination, there’s training in part of the participatory democracy company, good jobs. When it works — and it’s been working — in these first three we’ve had about 100 employeeowners now, and I think that’s expanding.

What might that do for workers who live in these neighborhoods? First, it’s a good income, a stable income. There are good loans for housing, [there are] free training programs, many are ex-felons but there’s no

What are your thoughts on the American Democracy Conference and how it can improve the conversation? It’s an important initiative, and there are going to be four or five of them in different parts of the country that’ll catalyze this

Gar Alperovitz

Photo courtesy of Gar Alperovitz

discussion. At one level it’s about very traditional issues, like voting, parties, and finance of elections, which is very important. But it’s opened up some of these larger systematic questions. Who owns the companies? Who owns the stocks? Can we get participation in the workplace as well as in politics? If you can’t do that, then can you have democratic politics if the concentration in income and wealth is not democratic? It’s beginning to open up much larger issues and racial issues of course and climate change issues. It’s a great initiative.

During your talk, you mentioned that Cleveland has an interesting co-operative system. Can you elaborate on that? Cleveland has one of the most interesting models in the advanced world. It’s a pioneer. It’s in a neighborhood, and in the middle of the neighborhood is the Cleveland Clinic and Case Western Reserve University and one other large institution, right in the middle of a very poor neighborhood with about 45,000 people where the average income is $20,000 a year. The program is called the Evergreen Project. [They made it] a non-profit neighborhood corporation attached with their own companies which are locked in and can’t move to the suburbs, so there’s a major industrial scale — probably the greenest industrial scale in the Midwest. There’s a huge modern greenhouse, which

Oberlin Community News Bulletin Thanksgiving Potluck Scheduled for Sunday The annual Oberlin Thanksgiving Potluck Feast and Multifaith Gathering will convene Sunday, Nov. 19 at 6 p.m. in Carnegie Building’s Root Room. The event will be open to students, faculty, staff, and community members and will feature music from Conservatory musicians. The event is sponsored by the Office of Religious and Spiritual Life, Interfaith Student Council, and Oberlin Area Cooperating Ministries.

Wall Street Journal Ranks Oberlin College 66th Oberlin was ranked 66th among U.S. Colleges and universities by The Wall Street Journal in their 2018 list. The Journal differentiates its list by claiming it prioritizes student experience over wealth and prestige. Oberlin ranked significantly higher than many of its peer schools, with Kenyon College ranking 96th, Denison University ranking 81st, and Macalester College ranking 78th. The schools were ranked using 14 individual performance indicators, including student engagement, resources, and overall environment.

Jazz Legend Establishes Fund at Conservatory Acclaimed saxophonist Sonny Rollins, age 87, has established a scholarship fund at Oberlin to promote the study of jazz. Rollins, who first cut his teeth in Harlem jazz clubs in the ’50s and ’60s, had one of the most prominent jazz careers in history. Students will have the opportunity to audition for the scholarship starting in spring 2018. The “Sonny Scholars” will be chosen based on the audition, academic achievement, and the thoughtfulness of their responses to a question about jazz as a service to humanity.

OPINIONS November 17, 2017

established 1874

Letter to the Editors

Students Should Engage with Indigenous History To the Editors:

On Aug. 21, 2017, Oberlin City Council passed a resolution declaring the second Monday in October to be Indigenous Peoples’ Day in the city of Oberlin. Thus, Oberlin became the first city in the state of Ohio to abolish Columbus Day. The Indigenous Peoples’ Day Committee is working to continue to educate the community about all indigenous peoples, and our invitation is extended to Oberlin College. A series of events have been planned, and our next will take place on Monday, Dec. 4, 2017 at 5:45 p.m. at the Oberlin Public Library. The movie, Tecumseh’s Vision, from the acclaimed PBS history series entitled We Shall Remain:

America through Native Eyes will be aired. This episode tells the story of the Ohio Shawnee leader Tecumseh and his brother, Tenskwatawa, known as the Prophet. In the years following the American Revolution, the Prophet led a spiritual revival movement that drew thousands of followers from tribes across the Midwest. In the course of his brief and meteoric career, Tecumseh became one of the greatest Native American leaders of all time, orchestrating the most ambitious pan-Indian political and military alliance ever mounted on the North American continent. After his death, he would live on as a potent symbol of Native pride and pan-Indian identity. This movie is directed by Ric Burns and Chris Eyre. Please consider coming to this event. – Jean Foggo Simon Member Indigenous Peoples’ Day Committee

OSCA Fails to Adequately Address Needs of POC Carson Li Contributing Writer Alright, white folks, let’s be honest — do you really care that the coop you’re living in is too white? I was pretty surprised when my white friend, not a friend of color, first raised this question. It initially made me feel good because I felt like white people in my co-op were advocating for more diversity in our community. Later, things turned out to be different than I thought. Coop diversity for many white people is just a casual topic for chit-chat while hanging out in the lounge. By the way, don’t get them talking about race; those white people can analyze the definition of race from four different angles. As an international student hailing from China, nearly all of my knowledge about race and discrimination was actually taught to me by my white friends. The difference between white people and POC in discussions about the whiteness of the co-op is

that white people will remain and POC will leave. After an intense discussion of how a co-op is too white, white folks can still comfortably live in that co-op as usual, while POC are made to feel uncomfortable by the whole conversation. For POC, the intimidation of whiteness will never go away. That’s the problem — people can talk about diversity of a co-op, but POC are constantly being reminded that we are disadvantaged in the United States and that we are the ones targeted by racism, not white folks. To be honest, it sucks to always feel this way. What I would like to suggest here is that conversations about race in the Oberlin Student Cooperative Association should include a greater emphasis on how POC feel and how to take meaningful action. There seems to be a lot of white discussion on how to define race, such as how we define race as not only an ethnicity, but also a term coined by the social hierarchy See Co-op, 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. Op-eds may not have more than two authors. 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 17, 2017

Volume 146, Number 10

Editorial Board Editors-in-Chief Melissa Harris

Christian Bolles

Managing Editor Daniel Markus

Opinions Editors

Nathan Carpenter

Jackie Brant

Discussion of Enrollment, Retention Must Include Dorms Enrollment and retention are two of the most immediate issues that Oberlin College must address. That much has become clear over the last few years, as the College has seen its Moody’s credit rating drop and budget deficit soar due in large part to unexpected enrollment shortfalls. Naturally, the College’s administration is looking to address these problems that have a significant impact on College finances — the PAL program is a prime example. Created by Assistant Dean of Students Dana Hamdan, PAL seeks to address feelings of discontent and isolation among first-year students that have negatively impacted retention. One aspect of student life that has been overlooked in discussions of how to address student unhappiness and dropout rates is College facilities, particularly dorms. It’s no secret that Oberlin’s dorms are not in good shape. Some of them, like Barrows Hall and South Hall, are often the target of criticism for failing to support students’ well-being. Barrows, for example, has the capacity to house 130 students, but only offers a single drinking fountain. Its bathrooms regularly flood. Such conditions are unacceptable, particularly at a school like Oberlin, where many students pay more than $70,000 in tuition and other costs and often take on significant debt in order to attend. It has become part of the Oberlin ethos to make light of — and perhaps even take a perverse pride in — the “jankiness” of our facilities. This dynamic is representative of how Oberlin students talk about the many stressors in our lives — work overload, lack of sleep, and isolating social conditions, to name a few. These factors are unceremoniously bundled into a romanticized view of Oberlin life that is unhealthy in many ways. In reality, there is nothing funny about inadequate dorms. Living spaces, both private and shared, have profound impacts on mental health. Returning to poor living conditions every night can be demoralizing for students — especially first-years who may already be struggling with the transition to college. Parents and guardians — the people who are, in many cases, writing the tuition checks — have expressed serious concerns about the condition of Oberlin’s dorms. Following first-year move-in this past August, these complaints reached President Carmen Twillie Ambar herself. She responded by tasking Residential Education with double-checking all of the living spaces that were unoccupied at the time, prior to the official move-in period for returning students. ResEd’s student and professional staff meticulously catalogued all the various damages and structural issues in dorms across campus. The connection between parent concern and student retention should be clear. A significant amount of the money that families are paying to send their children to Oberlin is directly tied to the residential experience, and the rest of the bill is connected indirectly to the same. If parents’ faith in Oberlin to provide a positive, healthy living situation for their children wavers, then their trust in and support of the rest of the institution begins to crumble as well. Leaving the poor state of dorms across campus out of the conversation concerning enrollment and retention is an oversight that must be addressed. Oberlin students are required to live in on-campus housing for at least their first six semesters of enrollment, and a significant part of that experience centers around dorms. This residency requirement prevents students from moving to off-campus houses, which often cost significantly less than living in a dorm and are in better condition than many options on campus. For this requirement to be fair to students, the College must concentrate on providing dorms that students do not dread living in for three years. Responsibility for living spaces does cut both ways, however — both the College and students must hold themselves accountable for keeping dorms liveable. Adequate resources must be allocated not only to cleaning services, but to structural upkeep. Coupled with this institutional commitment, students must also take a sense of ownership of their buildings and make an effort to keep them clean and liveable. In particular, kitchens and bathrooms are often treated with blatant disregard for fellow residents and custodial staff. Part of the dominant student perspective on the dorms is that they do not need to be respected because they are often in poor structural condition. This perspective must shift in order for healthy, productive communities to thrive — we must make do with what we have, out of respect for others in our community, while reminding the College that the structural issues in our facilities must be addressed. It’s true that the College’s financial situation is troubled, and there’s not a lot of money to go around. Our deficit will only continue to grow, however, if we do not address the steady stream of students choosing to either not enroll or not remain at Oberlin. Part of the solution must be addressing the problem of inadequate living facilities on campus. Unfortunately, that may mean spending money in the short term to secure the happiness of Oberlin students and financial security of the College in the long term. Editorials are the responsibility of the Review Editorial Board — the Editors-in-Chief, Managing Editor, and Opinions Editors — and do not necessarily reflect the views of the staff of the Review.

Opi n ions

GOP Tax Reform Threatens Future of Higher Education Xander Kott Contributing Writer In a 227 to 205 vote Thursday, the House of Representatives passed major tax reform legislation, described by President Donald Trump as “one of the great Christmas presents,” that has significant implications for many people, including Oberlin students. The bill will now move to the Senate for consideration. Republicans have been touting the bill — known as the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act — as a blessing for the middle class. They have also declared that it will serve as a catalyst for economic growth. Speaker of the House Paul Ryan commented that “the whole purpose of this [bill] is a middleclass tax cut,” and Secretary of the Treasury Steve Mnuchin has stated that the bill is “about bringing trillions of dollars back on shore and creating economic boon for our country.” Ordinary Americans are not actually the focus of this tax plan, however. President Trump’s chief Economic Advisor Gary Cohn confirmed in an interview

with CNBC that the bill delivers four times more in business and estate tax cuts than in cuts for individuals. The major components of the bill are a reduction in corporate tax rates from 35 to 20 percent, an increase in the standard deduction, a repeal of the estate tax, and a reduction in the number of tax brackets from seven to four. Critics have reason to believe that the repeal of the estate tax serves to benefit the wealthiest Americans. This is because merely 0.1 percent of estates are charged with the tax, as it only applies to estates with assets that surpass $5.3 million dollars. Critics of the administration say that the commercials and publicity surrounding the bill are ultimately an attempt to fool the middle class into believing that the bill will help them — the real winners here are the wealthy people and large corporations. There is a lot of lost government revenue from the massive reduction in the corporate tax rate. In order to pay for this, certain people’s taxes will be raised. Republican Congresswoman Di-

ane Black explains this when she says, “there are a number of pieces in this code, as we move along, that are not going to be making everyone happy.” Oberlin families may find that there are pieces of the bill that will hurt them. One example of this can be seen in how the bill removes state and local tax deductions, often referred to as SALT. Residents of states with high taxes are the biggest beneficiaries of these deductions. Many Oberlin students come from families that live in such states – in fact, one-fourth of Oberlin students are from New York and California alone. Among those that will be impacted if the legislation passes are college students — both in Oberlin and elsewhere — by removing a deduction on interest paid on student loans. As President Carmen Ambar expressed in an email to Oberlin College students and employees, “The proposed legislation diverts resources from our students, and adds to the complexity of the tax code when the goal is simplification.”

The bill also negatively impacts college students in Oberlin and elsewhere by removing a deduction on interest paid on student loans. Currently, people paying for student loans are able to reduce their taxable income by up to $2,500. If the GOP plan passes, this deduction will cease to exist. Over 38 percent of students at Oberlin have taken out loans to help them pay for college — the eradication of this deduction would significantly impact their ability to do so. The plan also affects graduate students’ loans. Oberlin graduates tend to go on to pursue advanced degrees; the College ranks first among comparable institutions in the number of students that go on to complete PhDs. Certain provisions in the GOP bill could change this by deterring current Oberlin students from furthering their education at graduate school. It is common for students pursuing PhDs to have their tuitions forgiven and to receive a stipend. Under the current tax system, these students only have to pay taxes on that stipend. With

the GOP plan, students would still have to pay taxes on their stipend, and in addition would be required to pay taxes on their tuition — even if that tuition was forgiven — which would typically amount to costs in the range of $50,000, according to NPR. These changes would afford students even less money with which to support themselves post graduation. These revisions will make education much less accessible to undergraduate and graduate students across the country, as many students depend on the tax breaks from forgiven tuition and interest paid on student loans. This is why Ambar urged students to familiarize themselves with the legislation — there are countless provisions that hurt not only Oberlin students, but higher education as a whole. Big corporations and the wealthiest Americans had much to smile about Thursday following the bill’s passage through the House — if this tax break makes it out of the Senate, many Oberlin families and students will not be as lucky.

Winter Term Changes Infantilize Students

Students, Senate Vital to Productive Relationship

Kameron Dunbar Columnist

In discussions about the importance of engaging with elected representatives, our most local and available representatives are often left out of the conversation. Student Senate is a representative body, elected at-large by Oberlin students, tasked with working with both students and administration to represent the voices of the student body. Unfortunately, Senate’s potential to advocate on behalf of its constituents is often overlooked by students, which results in perceptions that Senate’s work is not particularly important or relevant. This perspective misses the mark. Student Senate works on a broad range of issues on campus, and though many of those issues largely play out behind the scenes, senators themselves are not interested in hiding anything from students. To the contrary, my experience with Senate has been that senators are excited to engage with students and talk about what they are working on to the extent that they are able. Indeed, many senators I have spoken to have expressed that they are interested in expanding student engagement with their projects and initiatives, not shrinking it. I was excited last weekend, then, to see that Senate was sponsoring an open town hall-style event — an opportunity for students to learn directly from senators about what Senate is working on and to provide suggestions for Senate’s future directions to the people who are making those decisions.

Many students have not yet started the registration process for Winter Term, but many will find themselves amazed by the dramatic new changes implemented by the Winter Term Committee. Winter Term is one of the most unique facets of the Oberlin experience — a program that certainly attracts students to the College. Students can research, play, work, or pursue other activities to extend their learning outside of the academic course-load. Everyone around here knows that Obies run the gamut in terms of projects. From learning how to cook to surveying the Nile River in Cairo, Obies do it all. And we’re thoughtful about it. While some students use Winter Term as a time to recoup from the stress of college life, many of us also use it to focus on personal growth and our collegiate promise. We use it to develop new skills, build our résumés, and discover unexpected passions. However, several channels on campus have essentially assumed otherwise. With the adoption of the most recent Strategic Plan, Oberlin doubled down on the institutional emphasis of connected learning. In short, the connected learning model strives to blend traditional academic curricula with a student’s social life, post-graduation life, and a clear understanding of why it all matters and how it all connects. While this may sound good on paper — excellent, in fact — the true effects on college life can be seen in changes like that to the Winter Term registration process — an unnecessarily redundant and mildly patronizing process. Students can no longer simply fill out a card and deliver it to the

Registrar’s office. The process begins online at the Oberlin Study Away portal — a clunky site with several barriers to entry. After formulating an idea for a project, students then fill out an online form specifying logistical details of their project, such as where they will be and what they will be doing. The form must be printed, signed by the students’ advisors, scanned, and finally uploaded to the Office of Study Away. While students — only recently introduced to these changes — have voiced objections and frustrations, faculty have as well. Some faculty members expressed irritation at having to sign multiple documents in order for a project to be approved. Similarly, some faculty members believe that they can and should be the arbiter of when a project is ready to be signed off on and submitted. In the 1960s, Oberlin’s faculty asserted that the College was not to govern in loco parentis — in the place of a parent. This once-radical idea begins to dissipate in Oberlin’s application of a connected learning curriculum model — a model that can often be infantilizing. Students can make the important connections — we can conceptualize how our work inside the classroom relates to life outside the lecture hall. We don’t need that information spoon-fed to us, nor does it serve us well to be subjected to purposefully complicated registration procedures. As an institution, Oberlin should be breaking down barriers to entry, not building them. We should make concerted efforts to ease the everyday lives and burdens of students. We owe it to ourselves to simplify our institutional processes, rather than complicating them.

Nathan Carpenter Opinions Editor

As someone who is relatively informed on Senate’s work due to my role on the Review staff, I wasn’t optimistic that I would get a lot out of the event. However, I did have the opportunity to engage with Senator Liz Cooper on an issue of interest to both of us — whether the Office of Disability Resources should continue to be housed in the newly-created Center for Student Success, or whether it should become an independent office. In a letter published Nov. 3, Liz wrote, “The administration’s choice to lump the ODR into the Center for Student Success is telling. It implies that Oberlin doesn’t value the kind of qualifications staff need to effectively support disabled students. It implies that they are willing to jeopardize the quality of support of both disabled students and low-income students” (“Insufficient ODR Funding Should Discourage Prospies,” The Oberlin Review). The argument to keep the ODR within the Center for Student Success — one that has become convincing to me over time — is that such a structure allows for greater inter-departmental communication and collaboration. Fully meeting the needs of any student requires the time and energy of more than one department. In terms of making accommodations for accessibility needs, it is necessary for the ODR to work alongside other departments in the Division of Student Life — for instance, Residential Education and the Office of the Dean of Students. Channels of communication between these departments be-

come more streamlined and less bureaucratic when they are housed under the same umbrella. Ultimately, while Liz and I do not agree on the best structural resolution to the ongoing ODR fiasco, I appreciated the opportunity to engage with her on a topic we’ve both thought a lot about. She was respectful, heard me out, and responded thoughtfully, and I was grateful to Senate for providing the space for that dialogue to happen. The event was not very well attended overall, which was disappointing but not entirely surprising. I’m not interested in shaming students for missing the event — there are many entirely understandable reasons why students would have decided not to take time out of their Saturday afternoons to attend the town hall. Chief among those, in my mind, is that a lack of personal connection to individual senators discourages students from engaging with Senate’s work. For this reason, Senate should continue to emphasize events and initiatives that foster interpersonal relationships between senators and students. Doing so will encourage student involvement in Senate’s work, and will allow Senate to access valuable channels of feedback that it is potentially missing. To Senate’s credit, they seem truly interested in developing those relationships and seeking that feedback — through events like the town hall, and through increasing engagement from the student body, a stronger, more effective relationship between students and Senate can grow.

Student Criticism Crucial to Oberlin’s Future Henry DuBeau 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. As I see it, part of the Oberlin experience involves the desire to leave Oberlin at one point or another. I’ve been known to say that you’re not a true Obie until you’ve considered transferring — in jest, to be clear. But I have known many students who have come close to leaving permanently. And for me personally, a large part of my desire to study abroad was simply to take a break from this campus. Of course, everyone has their own reasons for wanting to leave, and sometimes those reasons do not result from preference but from necessity. For those who are still here, there is certainly an air of dissatisfaction permeating throughout the student body — enough that the College administration is taking notice. This has become evident in meetings between Student Senate and senior staff as the issue of retention grows as a concern. This week, Senate is hosting “Constituents Week” — an outreach program that will allow Senate to

better advocate for students’ interests. At the core of this program is the online survey that we send out each semester. I cannot stress how important it is that we receive as much feedback as possible through this survey. On one hand, student feedback gives Senate a clearer picture of what issues matter most to the student body, and from this we can derive and prioritize our advocacy concerns. On the other, a large response percentage will further legitimate our requests to the College administration, as our statements will be backed by hard data. So the purpose of my writing this piece is to say: Here is your chance. You will notice that the first few questions on our survey have to do with retention. This is intentional. Compared to peer institutions, Oberlin is more heavily reliant on income from student tuition in our operating budget, compared to other sources like annual giving or the endowment. Thus, maintaining a certain enrollment is paramount to the survival of the College. Enrollment was less than ideal for the current academic year, which means that retention of students who are already here is a top priority. To prevent the College from slipping further into financial hardship, the administration is trying to do all that it can to prevent students from transferring or

dropping out. Sure, you could take a cynical view and question why the administration is paying increased attention to student concerns now that their greatest source of funding has been compromised. But I encourage you to take this opportunity for what it’s worth. Senior staff is lending an ear to the student body through Student Senate, and your voices matter more now than they have in the past. It is imperative that students take advantage of this opportunity to further our goals of fostering transparency, accessibility, and an overall more welcoming and healthy campus environment. Oberlin is at a critical juncture on both local and national levels. In the past year alone, there has been considerable turnover of senior staff positions, administrative offices have been reorganized, a hiring freeze has been instituted, and another voluntary separation program for faculty is soon on its way. In addition, the value of a private, liberal arts education is being questioned as college tuition increases each year across the board. Compared to administration and faculty, students remain a constant amidst this sea change. We ought to stake a claim not just to air our grievances, but to leave Oberlin a better institution than how we found it.

Oberlin, Gibson’s Should Co-op Members Discuss Diversity, Fail to Act Settle Out-of-Court ed one day that international are doing. When those white

Booker C. Peek Contributing Writer

We should all root for a quick out-of-court resolution between Gibson’s Bakery and Oberlin College. It can be exciting for us to root for our favorite teams; that is what sports are all about. We may debate who the greatest composer is, the finest painter, or the best dancer. Having all those options is what we enjoy in America, along with the right not to take part at all. But there are times when the outcome of a matter affects us quite profoundly. This lawsuit is not a sporting event; its outcome has the potential to be earthshattering. The founders of the College settled in a wilderness in the 19th century, a site where there were no humans at all. In the intervening period — more than 150 years — we have this great town and an amazing College, both of which embrace and promote so many of our country’s defining values — freedom, justice, and nondiscrimination. The Gibson’s establishment has long been a fixture of our business section right across from Tappan Square, the name of “Gibson” honoring one who did not want Black people enslaved and who provided much-needed funds to keep the College afloat. Gibson’s and the College have thrived all these years because they have found a lot of common ground and worked together. This lawsuit could not have landed upon the College at a worse time. The College’s first-ever Black president, President Carmen Ambar, has been in her position barely four months. The financial situation seems about as dire as it has been in recent memory; it is unprecedented that most professors have had to go two straight years without an increase in their salaries because too few students enrolled and too many failed to return. Adverse publicity, particularly that arising from an incident involving three Black students and a white business, could stain and weaken the College, Gibson’s, and the city for a long time. Conversely, they could all flourish, as they always did in the past, if they seek and find mutually satisfying solutions. Gibson’s case against the College and the College’s response to it can and should be hashed out behind closed doors. A lot is at stake. All Oberlin College students and employees will feel a painful sting from any financial settlement — and definitely from a sizable one — that the College may pay. Gibson’s, to its credit, did all that it could to keep the matter from ever going to trial in the first place; it’s ironic that there’s a suit, but they deserve fair chance to recover any losses. A bare-knuckled, nasty, public fight will leave ugly scars and a putrid smell with no true winner. From what was read, all sides — the students, the College, and Gibson’s — would probably change much of what they did to get us to this day. Any settlement in the dark may produce light for a future just as bright as that of our past. Celebrate this day. The Oberlin Review | November 17, 2017

Continued from page 5

in order to better regulate people. Many white people fail to truly understand the feeling of being discriminated against and the disappointment of hearing white folks discussing race but never really taking action. As a result, there’s a discrepancy between what white people think POC need and what POC really need. When a person from France moved into my co-op, many people were excited to hear that she was French. People shared their experience with anything stereotypically French: “You know I’ve never been to France, but I do know you guys like baguettes and wine.” People also asked her to help them with their French homework. Nobody has asked me about Chinese or for help in a Chinese class, even though at the very end of the last semester I finally realized that there were actually two people in my coop taking Chinese classes. The person from France comment-

students are pretty popular and welcomed in the U.S. It seemed to me that only a white international student from Europe can be popular. I do not dislike her; I actually very much admire her vast knowledge. What we can see from her experience is that it’s not an obvious kind of discrimination — rather an unconscious bias that motivates white folks to want to know more about European culture. This is because the idea that European standards for living and beauty are superior has been entrenched in many people’s minds. Every co-op meal, I observe the behavior of my friends of color. One friend of mine always shows up quickly, grabs some food, then goes straight back to his room. Other friends will get food and then sit alone in a remote corner of the lounge. While those white folks are talking about their classes and asking each other how it’s going, they neglect to ask how my friends of color in the co-op

people chat and laugh in the lounge, my friends of color sit alone at the other side of the room. Of course, we have POC in our co-op — but they are rendered invisible to the point where we must question if we really have them. A Black friend of mine once told me that Oberlin is a unique place because everyone seems so liberal, but when you look at those white folks and notice the way they look at you, you do not feel like you belong here. OSCA is known for its inclusion and for fulfilling accessibility needs, but it doesn’t mean that the voices of POC are being heard. Most students focus so much on being verbally liberal that they “forget” to really take some action. Therefore, OSCA needs to hear more from POC and not just create a separate space for them — they must build a more inclusive community that does more than just make more antidiscrimination policies.

CARTOON OF THE WEEK

Liz Ambar

Notable Trees

Content and images by Lucy Martin, This Week Editor

White Oak, Quercus alba 1840s This is one of the oldest trees in the square.

Bald Cypress, Taxodium disticum 1878

Swamp White Oak, Quercus bicolor April 19, 1839 It was planted during the first organized tree planting and was one of the first trees planted. It is the tallest tree in Tappan Square.

White Oak, Quercus alba 1840s

Pin Oak, Quercus palustrus 1882 The Message Rock was put in Tappan at the same time to signify permanence, while the tree symbolizes development.

Dawn Redwoods, Metasequoia glyptostroboides Students and groundspeople planted them in an effort to create a full canopy over Tappan Square for climate regulation purposes.

Sycamore, Platanus occidentalis 1856

TREES OF TAPPAN SQUARE Tappan Square was the original site of Oberlin College. The College’s founders, Rev. John Shipherd and his partner Philo Stewart, were looking for an area to establish a missionary training college. As they trekked across the last large section of unsettled land, they stopped and tied their horses to an elm sapling. As they rested, a hunter arrived and cautioned that a bear had been approaching them but had turned away at the last minute. The men took this as a divine sign and established Oberlin College right at the elm sapling. The elm sapling survived the initial establishment of the College and grew to be known as the Historic Elm. The Historic Elm lived until 1965 when it contracted Dutch Elm Disease and had to be removed. In 1903, the Olmsted Brothers designed a schematic where Tappan Square would be cleared of buildings and reestablished as a park area. Charles Martin Hall, OC 1885, donated $3 million to see this concept brought to reality, and by 1927 all buildings were gone, save the Memorial Arch.

November 17

ViBE Dance Company: Unplugged at 8 p.m. in the Cat in the Cream. Join ViBE for tap and jazz dances choreographed and performed by students.

November 18

OCircus Presents: Cirque Eclectica from 10 p.m. to 12 a.m. in Hales Gymnasium. Their fall show is a dance party featuring performers of all kinds including OCircus, OC Aerialists, And What?! and live music by Andre Jamal and Khalid Taylor. Free admission, popcorn, and beverages.

November 19

Oberlin Thanksgiving Potluck Feast and Multifaith Gathering from 6–8 p.m. Oberlin’s annual Thanksgiving potluck is open to community members and students and features musicians from the Conservatory.

November 20

Tea Time with Nicolette and Marcelo in Wilder 110 from 4:30–5:30 p.m. CLEAR staff members Nicolette Mitchell and Marcelo Vinces host the support group Tea Time each week. They offer tea, crackers, discussions, and a supportive environment with peer educators such as OWLS, Quantitative Skills Center tutors, Writing Associates, Media Center associates, PALs and tutors, TAs, and lab helpers. Roadmap to Research is in the Carnegie Root Room from 7:30–8:30 p.m. Have a discussion with both science and humanities majors about how to get involved with research at Oberlin. Students will discuss how to talk with professors, find programs, and how to be a successful applicant.

Notable Trees

Content and images by Lucy Martin, This Week Editor

White Oak, Quercus alba 1840s This is one of the oldest trees in the square.

Bald Cypress, Taxodium disticum 1878

Swamp White Oak, Quercus bicolor April 19, 1839 It was planted during the first organized tree planting and was one of the first trees planted. It is the tallest tree in Tappan Square.

White Oak, Quercus alba 1840s

Pin Oak, Quercus palustrus 1882 The Message Rock was put in Tappan at the same time to signify permanence, while the tree symbolizes development.

Dawn Redwoods, Metasequoia glyptostroboides Students and groundspeople planted them in an effort to create a full canopy over Tappan Square for climate regulation purposes.

Sycamore, Platanus occidentalis 1856

November 17

ViBE Dance Company: Unplugged at 8 p.m. in the Cat in the Cream. Join ViBE for tap and jazz dances choreographed and performed by students.

November 18

November 19

November 20

A r t s & C u lt u r e

ARTS & CULTURE November 17, 2017

established 1874

Volume 146, Number 10

Grandbrothers Return with Stunning Second LP Daniel Markus Managing Editor

If you asked me what I think the most beautiful music in the world is, I would probably mention a Dvorak symphony, Bon Iver’s “For Emma,” or a piece from an obscure folk recording session held by PBS, depending on the day. It’s time to add Grandbrothers to that list. The German and Swiss experimental duo of pianist Erol Sarp and engineer Lukas Vogel recently released its sophomore LP, Open, after signing to City Slang — the label of Broken Social Scene and Sinkane, among others — over the summer. It’s a plainly gorgeous record, full of more moments of serenity and elegance than I previously thought possible in a full-length LP. For the uninitiated, Grandbrothers’ Pianist Erol Sarp and engineer Lukas Vogel released their new LP, Open, Oct. 20. sound comes entirely from a grand piano. Photo courtesy of City Slang. Sarp, a jazz pianist by trade, plays the departure from the sound that made them distortion and bitcrushing, both of which instrument’s actual keyboard, while Vogel great while simultaneously honing and he uses masterfully. “From a Distance,” one — who designs synthesizers for Access expanding upon it. The music of Open is of the group’s most electronic-sounding Music in his day job — plays just about every still fundamentally the same as that on tracks to date, feels straight off of a Tron other part of the instrument available. The Dilation, which is to say that it is almost soundtrack with the use of such effects, group’s piano is rigged with a homemade pure and unrestrained beauty. Listening to and in that way Grandbrothers are in system of hammers and magnets entirely it is like watching a timelapse video of an good company — the Tron films were first designed and programmed by Vogel, entire month or year passing — watching scored by synth legend Wendy Carlos and which turns the familiar instrument into the sun rise, leaves turn, snow fall, and later by Daft Punk. something that sounds equally like a piano, flowers bloom all in the span of a few Even more impressively, Open is totally hammer dulcimer, drum sampler, and minutes, without having to actually wait free of duds or tracks that fail to achieve polyphonic synthesizer all in one. through the seasons. It is thick, dense their potential. On Dilation, things weren’t The result is a unique blend — powered music, full of moments whose brilliance entirely figured out, leading to songs equally by Sarp’s thoughtful, relaxed can easily go unnoticed even after many like “Arctica” and “Ghost Clock,” which playing and Vogel’s digital, mechanical listens. Very few albums can achieve that. were hard to listen to amongst Dilation’s effects — that I first heard on “Ezra Was Simultaneously, Open feels subtly new, moments of genius and made an otherwise Right,” the group’s lead single from their with tracks like “1202” and “Long Forgotten impressive album feel slightly confused 2015 debut, Dilation. Future” that lend it a more ambient and and incomplete. With Open, Grandbrothers has done synthesizer-like quality than Dilation had. Open, by contrast, manages to be what most groups try and fail to do Vogel’s expanded effects palette is also almost totally cohesive from one song to in follow-up LPs — avoiding a radical a clear feature, having added things like the next, even though each has a slightly

different feel. “Honey” is a very typical Grandbrothers track, with strong, blocky chords; “Sonic Riots” provides one of the band’s danceable grooves to date; and “Alice” shows that Grandbrothers can also deliver a simple, elegant lullaby, complete with their signature dulcimer-like sound. The album is at its best, however, on “Bloodflow.” The album’s lead single is a nearly six-minute jam that integrates Sarp’s grace and Vogel’s barrage of electronic fog more masterfully than the rest. Its pulsating undercurrent gives the song a feel that is true to its name, a flow that undulates back and forth with every beat. “Circonflexe” comes in a close second and sounds the most new amidst Grandbrothers’ catalog, a fresh take on the band’s typical balance of electronics and piano. At the same time, if Open falls short anywhere, “Circonflexe,” is a case study, precisely because it’s the only track that came as any sort of surprise. That’s not a bad thing — Grandbrothers’ typical style works immensely well, and the band has shown that they know their strengths and aren’t willing to just toss away something good. But the question is, when the time comes to shatter the paradigms that made them great and do something new, will they be able to do so? If so, then perhaps “Circonflexe” offers an answer in terms of a possible future. In the meantime, though, we have Open, Sarp and Vogel’s second, beautifully executed opus. It’s a deep, complex, and satisfying record — one that I’ll be listening to for a long time. If you feel in need of music in which to lose yourself on a roadtrip home or a late-night walk, the beautiful haze of Open is just the place.

Chicago Boricua Resistance Presents Puerto Rico Teach-In Julia Peterson Arts & Culture Editor Largely due to the damage wrought by Hurricanes Irma and Maria, Puerto Rico has been frequently featured in the news this year — in fact, according to the data that Google Trends has collected since 2004, searches about Puerto Rico peaked this October by a wide margin. However, hurricanes are not the only crisis that are affecting Puerto Ricans on the island and throughout the diaspora; Puerto Rico has a high unemployment rate and debt that has been increasing throughout a decadelong recession. These economic and humanitarian conditions inspired the creation of the Chicago Boricua Resistance, a group of individuals and organizations that came together last August to advocate for Puerto Ricans and their diaspora. Two members of the Chicago Boricua Resistance came to Oberlin Wednesday to first present a teach-in on the history and economy of Puerto Rico, and then a musical performance by Chicagobased Puerto Rican musician and activist Lester Rey. Rey’s performance was opened by College junior Fernie Borges, who performed the poem “Rituals.” Cruz Bonlarron Martínez, a member of the group who spoke at the teach-in, explained that one of the group’s major goals at the moment is to resist the Puerto Rico Oversight Management and Economic Stability Act that was passed by Congress in June 2016. “PROMESA ... imposes a non-elected fiscal control board on the island,” Bonlarron Martínez said. “That board has the power to make all economic decisions on the island that it wants to make. Again, that board is appointed by the U.S. President and ... the whole act came together out of an act of Congress — U.S. Congress, not Puerto Rican Congress.” As Bonlarron Martínez explained at the teach-in, the board currently favors lowering the minimum wage for people under the age of 24, privatizing public services, and implementing private religious education. In response to PROMESA and the undemocratic control that it imposes on the island, Chicago Boricua Resistance has organized by providing information and

inciting protests against this status quo. Recently, the group’s efforts have been redoubled in the wake of the hurricanes. “We’ve done two protests now outside of Trump Towers since Hurricane Maria happened,” Bonlarron Martínez said. “We’ve also been organizing fundraising efforts on different campuses in Chicago, and we’ve seen a lot of people wanting to get involved and see how we can get involved about educating people about this situation in Puerto Rico. Right now, with the hurricane, we’re seeing a lot of non-Puerto Rican people who want to hear about the situation on the island and how it got this way. Previously, there had not been as big of a desire to hear about the issues on the island.” Chicago Boricua Resistance conveys its activism in part through art and music — as highlighted by the work of Chicago-based Puerto Rican activist and musician Lester Rey, also a member of the group. Rey, who describes his music as “a blend of neo-Soul and Latin Soul” performed at the Cat in the Cream the evening after the teach-in. Many songs from his performance featured prominently on the PROMESA mixtape that he released last year. “The music comes about from despair, a sense of hopelessness, a sadness almost, where I feel very far from the island,” Rey said. “I’m speaking specifically about the PROMESA mixtape that was very politically charged and very much for Puerto Ricans in the diaspora and in Puerto Rico. Hearing about everything that was going on from headlines, from family in the island, and feeling like I was too far to do anything about it led to me putting all my frustration into music, into an art form that I’m very familiar with. And that’s how the PROMESA mixtape itself came about. In turn, it provided hope to myself and to many other people who heard it. It provided a different lens by which to understand what was going on in Puerto Rico and in the diaspora and, more importantly, it was implemented into activist scenes where it wasn’t just discourse and lecture, but there also could be a place for art in activism.” For Rey, activism and art go hand in hand because of the narratives that music tells, whether the message is intentional or not. Much of Rey’s music is explicitly

political, tying in with ongoing protests and fears for the future. “I have a song … titled ‘Forward,’ very much from the [protest] chant ‘forward together, forward,’” Rey said. “I have a song called ‘Coqui,’ which imagines a dystopian future where Puerto Ricans are extinct. It’s a song I wrote last year that’s supposed to be an exaggeration, but it’s starting to become more and more a reality when you have so many people leaving the island. There’s a lot of songs in the set … that convey a message that very much needs to be heard and sometimes doesn’t transmit through a lecture, but it transmits through music and art.” The driving force behind bringing Rey and Bonlarron Martínez to campus was double-degree junior Mobey Irizarry Lambright, who was introduced to Rey’s PROMESA mixtape last year and began featuring it on their WOBC radio show soon after. “[Rey] fuses a lot of different genres,” Irizarry Lambright said, describing the appeal of Rey’s music. “Puerto Rican genres, African-American genres, and Afro-Cuban genres.” “I hope to convey that not all Puerto Rican music itself sounds the same,” Rey added. “It’s not all pop top-40 radio music like … ‘Despacito’, what people think about when they hear Puerto Rico or Latin music.” After the teach-in, Irizarry Lambright reflected on the impact that this moment of education about Puerto Rico might have for the Oberlin community. “I think it was a great opportunity to highlight radical Puerto Rican artistic voices and activist voices that are actively resisting the political climate — and more specifically resisting issues of colonialism on the island and in the diaspora,” they said. “I think it’s important that we pay attention to this, as so many Oberlin students are privileged U.S. citizens that benefit from these systems of colonialism that they’re not aware of. So much of the stuff in the teach-in, so many people just don’t know about even though they’re complicit in this system and it’s propagated by the U.S. government. Some of it is awareness; but more than just awareness, it’s understanding the struggles and the beauty in resistance and art as resistance for the Puerto Rican people.”

ON THE RECORD

Hala Alyan, Author Hala Alyan is a Palestinian-American author, poet, and clinical psychologist, whose work centers around questions of place, identity, and voice, particularly within the Palestinian diaspora. Alyan was born in Carbondale, IL, and has lived around the world in Kuwait, Lebanon, various parts of the U.S. She received her undergraduate and graduate degrees from the American University of Beirut and Columbia University respectively, and then went on to earn a doctorate in clinical psychology from Rutgers University, where she specialized in trauma and addiction. Alyan is the author of three collections of poetry, the first of which, ATRIUM, was selected for the Arab American Book Award. She released her debut novel, Salt Houses, in May 2017, published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. Alyan’s visit to Oberlin is part of the continued efforts of Students for a Free Palestine and Jewish Voice for Peace to celebrate and bring Palestinian art and culture into the limelight. This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

Poet and author Hala Alyan. Photo by Daniel Firebanks

Interview by Eilish Spear Staff Writer

Your work centers around identity and its relations to place. What does home mean to you? How has this defined your identity? Home is something that’s been constantly evolving for me. It’s gone from meaning something very specific and pinned to a specific place into something more general. So I think of home as a language; I think of it as food; I think of it as certain cultural traditions. It’s become more about the sense of community than a specific place, which I think happens a lot to people in diasporic communities, understandably. When I read Salt Houses, I was struck by the idea of voice and who is allowed to have one, in both the Palestinian diaspora and other communities and societies. Do you ever struggle with writing with the voices of other people? How do you address this? It’s definitely something I try to be really mindful and conscious of. Speaking

for groups that are more marginalized than myself — refugees, or people who are currently living in camps ... it’s always [difficult] because coming from a place of privilege you don’t want to use that platform in the wrong way. I think of using privilege appropriately as taking it and using it to amplify the voices of people who don’t have it. In terms of writing, I did a lot of research. I made sure I had primary and secondary sources and did everything in my power to feel like [the people I was representing] when I was taking on a particular persona or character. I was very careful not to do that unless I really understood their motivations and had spoken to enough people who mirrored the experience of the characters to feel like I did the best I could do to capture them in an appropriate way. I think it’s also important to note that [Salt Houses] is a book about an upper-class Palestinian family, because it is a luxury to get to leave; it’s a luxury to have passports and financial resources. So in that sense I did try to be really conscious of telling stories that I felt comfortable answering for. What similarities and differences do you see between prose and poetry? How do you pick one or the

other for a situation? For poetry, it’s a lot more of a free-flowing thing. I wait to be inspired, and it doesn’t require a lot of discipline for me. I just sort of write poetry when I feel like writing poetry, and that’s it, whereas prose requires much more discipline. I do 30 minutes a day. There’s a lot more instant gratification with poetry because you have the product directly after doing the work, whereas with prose you just kind of work and work, and you plod along, and it may come to fruition and it may not. There are a ton of fiction writers who will tell you that there are a lot of projects that never see the light of day. I try to think of it all as practice. But it’s definitely a lot more of a regimented process for me with prose. How are performing poetry and spoken word incorporated in your writing? I think performance in general makes me pay attention to musicality and rhythm in a way that I didn’t before as a writer, so I do think that I have a little more of a honed ear now for things like dialogue and for how some people come across aloud. I never used to think about that before I started performing. What role does art play in

talking about Palestine? How does art help in talking about people in relation to a location? What role do you want it to play? I guess one way of answering the question is to say this: I definitely believe that artists have a massive role in dissent and protest and amplifying the voices of populations that are marginalized or who are silenced. I don’t think it’s a coincidence that in times of great oppression there’s usually wonderful literature, wonderful music, wonderful comedy. You’re seeing it now in the era of Trump. These are not coincidences. Particularly in the Palestinian community — or in my case the diaspora — this is a community that is so politicized, with or without the consent [of the people] — to even say you’re Palestinian is an explicitly political statement — and so because of that, art in a lot of ways can lower a person’s sensors. Saying something is a story — it’s just a story, it’s just a novel — that, for whatever reason, makes it a little more digestible for audiences. That’s true for films too. Narrative films versus documentary films. There are a lot of movies that people will watch because it’s cinema, it’s a story, it’s fiction, and that can be a really wonderful and impactful way of communicating a narrative that’s not heard very much to a

wider audience. In my case, getting picked up by a big publishing house was not something I saw coming and I’m very grateful for them because I do think that expanded the readership, but I also think something about it just being a novel about a family [made a difference.] There are ways in which that sort of [fictional] language around it allows for people [to accept the story and learn something.] I’ve gotten a lot of emails from white people in the Midwest who have written to just say, “I had no idea that any of this was happening, I had never heard the other side of this, it never came across to me.” And they may not have ever really come across it if they’d just relied on news reports or other mediums of information that are being communicated, whereas sometimes art can be a way of changing minds. I think it’s effective because a lot of people are not expecting it. Is there anything you’d like to add about your performance at Oberlin this week? I’m so excited. Oberlin has a wonderful, long-standing tradition of protest and art and the intersection of the two and so I’m very excited to see [and] meet a little bit of the community. I’ve never even been to Ohio.

Renowned Poet Hanif Willis-Abdurraqib Slams at Cat

Slam poet Hanif Willis-Abdurraqib performed a selection of witty, unusual, and energetic poems at the Cat in the Cream Monday night. Photo by Hugh Newcomb, Photo Editor

Ananya Gupta Arts & Culture Editor “I think public affection is one thing that will save us — as long as it’s, you know, consensual with the person who is also down to be publically affectionate with you,” poet, cultural critic, and essayist Hanif The Oberlin Review | November 17, 2017

Willis-Abdurraqib said Monday. “Please clear that hurdle first.” Willis-Abdurraqib, who has been published by The New York Times, Pitchfork, The New Yorker, and The Fader, as well as poetry journals such as Muzzle, Vinyl, and PEN American, writes about grief, joy, and heartbreak with finesse. “It’s been a weird — I want to say year — but life perhaps,” Willis-Abdurraqib said. “Because the one thing that is certain is that I will be distraught and broken-hearted and upset by the news or the world. But what isn’t promised is that I get to do more nights like this, and I get to hang out with people like you all, and I get to write poems and read for people who care about words. That means so much to me.” An embodiment of wit, charm, and all-around charisma, Willis-Abdurraqib proved himself one of the most beautifully unusual poets to ever visit Oberlin. Every poet who performs at Oberlin brings a great energy and talent to the Cat in the Cream. Very few poets have invited the audience to sit around the stage with him, share a reading, then discuss vulnerability and the anxieties of young writers. “Sitting on stage with him and seeing his famous bomber jacket that says ‘Ohio against the world’ was so special,” OSLAM Co-President Hanne WilliamsBaron said. “I think he does so much to bring his readers into his home. To turn the lights on, say come sit with me and read together is really important and does not happen a lot.” Willis-Abdurraqib’s performance spanned from the painfully serious to lighthearted and was

inundated with pop-culture references weaved in throughout. His mother’s death, the struggles of being Black in the U.S., and conversations with the ghost of Marvin Gaye were just some of the subjects Willis-Abdurraqib touched upon. Lines from his new manuscript, such as “Everyone who thinks of death as a peaceful place is still alive,” or “Your mama so Black she will carry you in her teeth to the river and hold you down until you become either holy or dead,” from the poem “The Ghost of Marvin Gaye Plays Dozens with the Pop-Charts” left the audience murmuring “woah” into an otherwise stunned silence. “He was such an engaging personality in a sort of understated way,” College sophomore Anne Schoonover said. “He had a lot of charisma and his poetry drew a lot of connections which were not obvious. It was really striking to hear him talking about the poem and then reading the poem and seeing the way that those two things connected in unexpected ways.” Perhaps even more valuable than his poetry was the stellar advice he gave budding writers after the show. His counsel showcased what he seems to use in his poetry: the dichotomy between heavy and light content, and the equal importance and respectability of both. “I think a blocking point for many writers and poets specifically is that they imagine the shit they consume everyday isn’t worth stretching into something vital and important,” Willis-Abdurraqib See MTV, page 13

A r t s & C u lt u r e

Women of Will Strikes Socio-Political Chord

Students premiere a staged reading of College senior Sam Marchiony’s original one-act play, Women of Will, a feminist take on Shakespeare’s plays and female characters. Photo by Matthew Payne

Kristen Heuring Staff Writer Editor’s note: This article contains mentions of sexual and physical abuse. Women of Will, an original one-act play written and directed by College senior Sam Marchiony, premiered as a staged reading in StudiOC last weekend. The play — produced by an all-female cast and crew and written entirely in iambic pentameter — featured six of William Shakespeare’s female characters: Rosalind from As You Like It (Marchiony), Lavinia from Titus Andronicus (community member Aliza Weidenbaum), Hero from Much Ado About Nothing (College first-year Lucie Swenson), Imogen from Cymbeline (College sophomore Leah Treidler), Katherine from The Taming of the Shrew (College first-year Sofie Rejto),

and Isabella from Measure for Measure (College sophomore Samantha Brooks). With a fiercely feminist, intensely academic script, the production seemed right at home on the Oberlin campus. The initial concept of the play came to Marchiony when she was acting in Measure for Measure with the Commonwealth Shakespeare Company during the summer of 2016 and watched Cymbeline. Marchiony noticed feminist themes in those plays and was intrigued by the ways that the female characters were written and portrayed. A few months later, the infamous Donald Trump Access Hollywood tape came to light and Trump was elected to the presidency, leaving Marchiony with a buildup of, as she put it, “toxic feelings.” At the time, Marchiony was taking a Shakespeare class and noticed misogyny — at

times strikingly clear — in the Bard’s plays. But Shakespeare is also considered by many a feminist for his time because of the strong, complex female characters he crafts in his work — a radical choice for the 1600s. Noticing all of these aspects of Shakespeare’s depictions of women, Marchiony wrote Women of Will during her Winter Term last year. The play centers around the stories of Lavinia, Hero, Imogen, Katherine, and Isabella, with Rosalind acting as a puppet-master who brings them together. The five women tell their stories as Rosalind sets the scene and then proceeds to play the men who hurt the women. Hero tells her story about how no one believed her account of her relationship. Hero is innocent, and though she would not do anything to hurt the man she loves, he still accuses her of sleeping with another man. For Isabella, the acceptance of silence as consent is a major issue. When a powerful duke asks for Isabella’s hand in marriage, she responds with silence, and everyone believes that is an affirmation of her agreement — though she actually wanted to become a nun. She questions the power dynamics at play in her life with the line, “Who dares challenge he that rules us all?” Spousal abuse features heavily in Katherine’s part as well. Despite her sharp wit and her verbal barbs that she uses to lash out at other women, she is scarred by her abusive husband who had attempted to harness her. Though The Taming of the

Shrew is most often billed as a comedy, Marchiony and Rejto bring out the truly disturbing moments of Katherine’s relationship with her husband that have been garnering laughs for centuries. Imogen’s story, like Hero’s, involves a man she loves who believes that she is unfaithful — and then is murdered, leaving Imogen to tell a tale of loss and lies. Finally, Lavinia represents a pawn. She is murdered in her story to pain her father, and laments in Women of Will that she is not truly remembered as an individual — only as a daughter. By uniting characters from different stories and allowing their stories and personalities to engage with each other, Women of Will affords new agency to these fictional women. “[It takes] a bunch of female characters out of their elements and [puts] them together,” Brooks said. “[Marchiony] extended the life of Isabella past what Shakespeare says in his work.” Both College first-year and Assistant Director Ellie Loane and Brooks mentioned what a unique and amazing experience it was to work directly with the creator of a work that they are acting in. “[Marchiony] examines every single character trait and all these interactions between all these different characters and isolates the women,” Loane said. “She puts them on a pedestal that they have never been on before, and what I really love … is that it features female characters in Shakespeare that

are often neglected and not as well-known.” Marchiony, Brooks, and Loane all agreed that the play seemed very apt in the current climate of the U.S. “I did not expect the play to feel quite so timely when it went up, … but I think that just means I’ve hit on something.” Marchiony said. Recently, a number of stories about powerful, wealthy men who have been accused of sexual assault have gained wide popular media attention; Harvey Weinstein, Louis C.K., Kevin Spacey, Roy Moore, and, most recently, Senator Al Franken, to name a few. Women of Will offers a long, hard look at contemporary and historical treatment of women, offering an empowering message that, although cliché at times, is as necessary now as ever. “The underlying theme [of the play] is that women should be united, and [that] we need each other.” Loane said. Women of Will provides a necessary fresh take on welldebated topics, and it comes at a time when it could not be more pertinent. It was inspiring, thought-provoking, and left some of the audience in tears. In the author talk that she gave after Sunday night’s performance, Marchiony discussed the possibility of a second act for Women of Will. One can only hope that she, among others, will continue to uplift the voices of women who have historically been silenced and find in their interactions even more moments to listen honestly to shared pain and celebrate hidden triumphs.

Voice of the Lake Highlights Musicianship, Environmental Advocacy Kate Fishman Staff Writer

Voice of the Lake, an oratorio for Lake Erie composed by former Director of the Composition Department at the Cleveland Institute of Music Margaret Brouwer, OC ’62, exists at the intersection of environmentalism, musicality, technology, and community. The piece, written in collaboration with poet and Cleveland native David Adams, highlights both the beauty and the problematic nature of living in concert with Lake Erie. “Voice of the Lake … brings to life the struggle between the recreational and natural joys of Lake Erie and the commercial, agricultural, and political issues that threaten its ecological health,” Brouwer writes on her website. For the premiere performance, which took place Sunday afternoon at the Breen Center for the Performing Arts in Cleveland, the Oberlin Musical Union joined Brouwer’s Blue Streak Ensemble, the Cleveland Institute of Music Children’s Choir, and soloists Angela Mitchell, Merav Eldan, Brian Skoog, and Bryant Bush. The ensemble was conducted by Maestro Domenico Boyagian, the music director of Cleveland Opera Theater and Heights Chamber Orchestra. The Oberlin Musical Union’s director Gregory Ristow, OC ’01, who prepared the community choir for the performance, was pleased when Brouwer reached out to him saying that she was composing the piece and wanted an Oberlin choir to be a part of

it. The Musical Union, the second-oldest continuing choral tradition in the United States, has united Oberlin students and community members throughout its 180 years, a facet of the ensemble that Ristow hoped would highlight the communitybased aspects of Brouwer’s oratorio. “Thinking about the piece, I thought it made a lot [of ] sense for Musical Union,” Ristow said. “Musical Union is unique among our ensembles in that it’s about 50 percent College [and Conservatory] students and about 50 percent community members. It’s a group that has a lot of ties to the local area in ways that our other musical ensembles don’t.” A much-repeated refrain in the piece’s second movement is that “the citizens come together” to care for the lake and reflect upon their relationship with this natural resource, and this motif is reflected by the choir’s communitybased nature as well. All singers are welcome in Musical Union, regardless of age and experience, and they do not have to audition. Some performers on Sunday were singing with the choir for the first time, while others have been with Musical Union for over 40 years. As Conservatory senior and Musical Union member William Bolles-Beaven said, “I think one of the beautiful things about Musical Union is how we’re all gathered for a common purpose, and that everyone in that context is equal.” By the start of the semester, Ristow said, Voice of the Lake was fairly finalized — and luckily, Brouwer was open to modifying the composition based on what would sound best for the choir. In the final performance, he explained,

the choir was conducted by Boyagian, and he said was new and healthy for the ensemble to be conducted by someone other than him. It was a novel performance in many ways — many members the group had never premiered a composition before. The oratorio is split into four movements — “Part I: At the Lake,” “Part II: The Public Hearing,” “Part III: The Dream,” and “Part IV: Sunrise on the Lake.” In each, the music served to represent facts of community life. The libretto includes snippets from newspaper articles and transcripts from public records, juxtaposed with stirring poetry about the natural beauty of the lake. Ristow described it as “specific,” adding he was not sure if it would be performed again. “It’s kind of cool to be part of a piece that’s written for a moment in time,” he said. The first movement illustrated a lake through sound, featuring a wave-like vibrato of the instrumental. As described on Brouwer’s website, “The choir sings of the constant motion of the bubbling waves swirling the sand from rock to stone.” The voices of children singing created nostalgia, and brought back memories of childhood lakeside games. Similarly, the song of a fisherman conducting his livelihood on a lake created a warm atmosphere of a simpler time, away from the bustle of city life. The second movement was a natural transition, showcasing invasive human interference into a once chaste resource. The movement showcased a public hearing between the U.S. Army Corps of

Engineers and affected citizens, including Congresswoman Marcia Fudge. The two sides locked horns on stage, conflicted between the environmental damage of dumping the dredged Cuyahoga River bottom into the beloved lake of the people, and the economic benefit the Corps would claim from this behavior. If the brilliant music hadn’t already created enough angst in the hearts of audience members, in the third movement, a visual projection showcasing run-off and an increasingly polluted lake accompanied by mezzosoprano Merav Eldan’s lullaby only further solidified the image: the impending death of a once-thriving life force. The final movement of the show created a poignant atmosphere in the room. The soloists and children sang in harmony, expressing a deep longing for a modest desire: clean water. While sorrow was evident in the message Voice of the Lake communicated, there was an air of disgust expressed towards the economic greed of organizations that profit from environmental degradation. While the responsibility of society in the indirect perpetuation of natural resource destruction was missing — glossed over some of the complexities of the issue at hand — the show brought light to an issue often sidelined, in a dynamic and interdisciplinary manner. “It brought parts of a community into contact that may not have otherwise met, for the purpose of bringing attention to an issue facing the community,” BollesBeaven said. “Taking that as my yardstick, I think the performance was a success.”

MTV Critic Showcases PopInspired Poetry

Repercussion Presents Innovative, Percussive Choreography

Continued from page 11

The BOOMERANG Dance and Performance Project, featuring dancers Matty Davis and Adrian Galvin, performed the choreography of Kora Radella with finesse Sunday. Greg Saunier, OC ’91 and one of the founders of internationally revered band Deerhoof, provided a percussion accompaniment to the dance. Drumbeat met heartbeat in Warner Main Space, where the performers showcased cultural critic Lewis Hyde’s physical method of “active forgetting.” Text by Ananya Gupta, Arts & Culture Editor Photo by Sarah Goodstein

said. “I think a tree poem and a Teen Wolf poem are equally important. I think the poem about my mother’s death and Alicia Silverstone in Clueless are on the same level because they’re just windows to what I’m actually trying to say.” Through his brilliant translation of the seemingly mundane into profound poetry, Willis-Abdurraqib validated and sought inspiration from pop-culture and the works of other artists through his poetry, such as in his limited edition chapbook Vintage Sadness. “Vintage Sadness is [a compilation of ] a lot of poems prompted by songs I didn’t know were about sex when I first heard them,” Willis-Abdurraqib said. “All poems are named after the songs that inspired them. This poem is called ‘Girl on Film’ — it’s named after the Duran Duran song ‘Girls on Film,’ which is about pornography, though I once thought it was about literal film. I was just like — I too enjoy talented actresses.” As a columnist for MTV News, he advocated for mainstream media consumption and made the average pop-culture guzzler feel less ashamed of their interests. Willis-Abdurraqib commented that he wants to dissolve the confines of genre, unashamed to consider the possibility of his works’ likeness to fanfiction. “On its face I don’t think my work is fanfiction, but by pure definition I think [it might be],” Willis-Abdurraqib said. “But I’m also attempting to do away with the idea of genre [and want to] instead be governed by the fact that often I am wrong and need to find my way to answers. Sometimes that’s by writing a poem, sometimes by an essay, sometimes pacing around my apartment and speaking out loud. I don’t even know if I’m trying to find answers; I’m trying to find ways to discuss my wrongness in a more eloquent manner.” Perhaps the most important message Willis-Abdurraqib left the audience was to celebrate even the smallest literary successes to acknowledge one’s privilege to even have the opportunity and ability to be able to express one’s opinions through words. “Celebrate your sentences,” he said. “Celebrate your finished poems or books or whatever, sure, but also celebrate your metaphors, your images that you can bring to life on the page. Writing is rooted in celebration. … What a gift to be able to write, to have the tools, at least for me, that my ancestors didn’t have. I have to really honor that by … finding ways out of fear as quickly as possible.” Hanif Willis-Abdurraqib can be found on Button Poetry and has just released a collection of essays called They Can’t Kill Us Until They Kill Us, alongside his book of poems The Crown Ain’t Worth Much, both of which are available on his website.

CROSSWORD

Across

Bureacracy is a drag, man

1. Found with the shakes on a menu 6. Statement of a proof, abbr. 9. Drain 12. Be in store for 13. Old-school pronoun 14. Heal 15. Desert wells 16. Brood leaders 17. Name for a sports tournament 18. “I’m _______ boy!” 19. Goes with foil and sabre 20. Logical diagram 21. When to wear pink 23. Les Bleus, on a scoreboard 24. Motivates 25. Where mussels

Puzzle by Daniel Markus Managing Editor 1

38 40 43

25 29

24 26

39 42

The Oberlin Review | November 17, 2017

come from, abbr. 26. Avg. newborn is 7.5 29. American time zone 30. Disfigure 33. DOJ Head 37. Explored the web 38. Fee 39. Text msg. 40. Back

41. Raises 43. Government org. responsible for child welfare 44. Diminishing 49. Kind 50. Roman poet 51. Pandemonium 52. Leave out 53. Entices the reader 54. See 41. Down 55. Vases 56. Born and ________ 57. Where livestock graze 58. What 13. Down was searching for, man 59. Band that wrote “Roundabout” 60. Like Alaska or Hawai’i on a map Down 1. Type of parrot 2. Cognizant 3. Tied up 4. One of Saturn’s moons 5. Fence-crossing aids 6. Election adage 7. Butters up

8. Greek goddesses 9. Bosses 10. Rock subgenre 11. Philadelphian height limit, previously 13. 58. Across seeker 14. Presidential typo 22. Pass (time) 25. Enclosure 26. Spanish article 27. Unit of heat 28. Handsome 30. Tractor brand 31. Hard wired on Macs 32. U.S. soccer org. 34. Counteracts 35. Steep or soak 36. Shy 41. Midnight rider 42. Web browser 43. Wales, in Welsh 44. Audio technology company 45. African country 46. Used for chipping 47. Norway, in Norwegian 48. Receive 49. Excursion Editor’s Note: Solutions to the crossword run in the following issue.

Sp ort s

Yeowomen Dismantled by Purple Raiders in Season Debut Alex McNicoll Sports Editor

In their first game since dropping a nail-biter to the DePauw University Tigers in last year’s North Coast Athletic Conference semi-finals 58–54, the Yeowomen lost their season opener to the University of Mount Union Purple Raiders 65–44 on Wednesday. The Yeowomen’s offense could not pull through, shooting 25 percent from the field and 10 percent from three in a disappointing start to a season that they began with high expectations. Despite coming off a season in which the Yeowomen ranked first in all of Division III with total blocks (203) and blocks per game (7.5), Head Coach Kerry Jenkins — who has helmed the team for 10 years and has a program record of 82 wins — has tried to maintain an underdog mentality within the locker room going into the season. “I remind the players daily not what they almost did, but what they did,” Jenkins said. “They almost beat DePauw, but they didn’t beat DePauw. We’re approaching it with that mindset that we have to be hungry; we still have to be aggressive. It’s still their throne until we take it from them.” The Yeowomen came out of the gate sluggish, falling down 18–10 through the end of the first quarter. Two quick threes from first-year guard Leah Ross and sophomore guard Ally Driscoll put the Yeowomen within two points, but the Purple Raiders were quick to respond with a 16–3 run, helping them ahead to 34–19 at the half. From there the Purple Raiders were able to cruise to victory as the Yeowomen relied on their bench to try ease the deficit. Key performances came from junior center Olivia Canning, who gained her tenth career double-double by posting 10 points and 10 rebounds, all while shooting 50 percent from the field to follow up her All-NCAC Second Team performance last season. Driscoll,

Sophomore guard Ally Driscoll tries to move the ball past a defender in last season’s Nov. 28 loss to the University of Mount Union Purple Raiders. Wednesday, she scored a team-high 14 points in their 44–65 season opening loss to the Purple Raiders. Photo courtesy of OC Athletics

who came off the bench, led the team with 14 points as she also shot 50 percent from the field. However, according to junior guard Alex Stipano, who scored four points and went 1–8 from the field despite leading the team in points last season with 10.1 points per game, the team is much more focused on scoring points than who is doing the scoring. “We don’t really think about who’s scoring the most,” Stipano said. “[Jenkins] really emphasizes doing your role well. It just so happens that my role, Abby’s role, Liv’s role are to be the main scorers. That doesn’t mean that all we do is focus on scoring. We’re realizing that, of course, scoring is important to win, but [rebounding, playing defense, being aggressive] is also important.” The Yeowomen, who have their

two returning All-NCAC Second Team players Canning and senior Abby Andrews, as well as their leading scorer last year, Stipano, bring one of the most experienced groups in the program’s recent memory. To Leah Ross, who is one of three first-years on the team this season, this experience has been evident since day one, and she hopes it will lead to more future wins. “The first thing I noticed was the attitude,” Ross said. “The attitude towards a championship is really intense. There seems to be a lot of memory. As first-years you come in and don’t have the history of the program, but the returning players remember the teams we’re playing now. They remember the tough games and hard losses. There’s that aspect of grit that’s there. Looking forward, the Yeowomen

hope to find their rhythm before their matchup against the Muskingum University Fighting Muskies in New Concord, Ohio tomorrow, after which they will kick off conference play against the Hiram College Terriers Tuesday in Philips gym. “It’s one thing to believe you believe, and it’s another thing to believe,” Jenkins said. “I think that up until that DePauw game we believed that we believed, and it was in the middle of that game there was a moment that the team legitimately thought, ‘Wait, we’re gonna win this game.’ That opened the door to expectation for them. All of a sudden they thought, ‘Wait a minute, not only are we playing with the top team in the conference, but we’re playing one of the best teams in the conference,’ and it’s really impacted [the approach this] season.”

Perspective: A Thank You to Baseball From Me and My Father Alexis Dill News Editor

The other day I passed a young father playing catch with his son in the driveway, and as I drove off, I started to cry as I reminisced about the times when that little boy was instead a little girl, and the father was my dad. Between school, work, and softball at Oberlin, not many things grab my attention and stick with me, but this did. Call baseball what you want — boring, too slow, not entertaining — but never deny its ability to form a bond between father and child in a way that few other things can. The year is 2004, the girl is six years old, and her mom has tied a pink bow in her hair to match her pink dress. She’s in the backyard on a humid summer afternoon, holding a bat that’s certainly too heavy, and her dad has a baseball in his hand. He’s painstakingly trying to teach her how to hit one. She doesn’t understand that she’s not supposed to swing in the same spot every time. She keeps swinging across her body and missing the ball, and all she wants is to go inside. It’s hot out, and she’s tired. Why won’t Dad lay off? Eight years later, she’s preparing for her first year of high school,

and rumor has it the varsity softball team needs a shortstop. She’s not very good at this point in her career, but Dad knows what she’s capable of and knows what it will take for her to succeed, even if she doesn’t trust him at first. He’s hard on her and pushes her to her limits, and she doesn’t understand that this is what would make him so influential throughout her adolescence. But soon she will. My dad was a great softball coach and a great life coach, but — most importantly — he was always a great dad. The little girl in that pink dress is now a sophomore in college, and the older I become, the more appreciative I am for everything my dad has ever done for me. Baseball helped us form a bond that will never break — so long as the Cleveland baseball team is still on TV and neither one of us loses our passion for the game. It was during the hours of front toss and ground balls that I learned what it meant to be a parent — a real role model. I will never forget the image of my dad bent over and covered in sweat after an eight-hour workday, which didn’t include the hour of traffic he had to sit through on the way home. He was exhausted, yet he never turned down a trip to the softball field. Not once.

Last winter my dad underwent his second open-heart surgery. We were told the surgery was incredibly complicated and unlike anything the surgeons at the Cleveland Clinic — one of the best hospitals in the world — had ever performed. My heart broke as I entered the intensive care unit to find him strapped down, connected to several machines, and it continues to break a little more each time I turn around to find him 10 steps behind my mom, my brothers, and me, because he doesn’t have the energy to match our pace anymore. Long gone are the days when Dad would spend hours tearing up field number seven at the community ballpark with me, but those memories will stay in my heart forever, especially when I someday have little ballplayers of my own. For now, I’m content with making the 30-minute drive home to plop down on the sofa next to Dad and take in all of the knowledge he shares as we watch our beloved baseball team. The sport has given me more than I ever asked for: lifelong friends, coaches who instilled confidence in me, and more memories than I can keep track of. But the most important thing it’s ever given me is a relationship that I vow to never take for

granted — a dad who never gave up on me and taught me that anything in this life is possible if you approach it with a relentless work ethic and a little bit of mental toughness. I’m not the only one who has been blessed with an inseparable bond thanks to the game. There’s a reason why Carlos Correa got emotional hugging his father after winning his first World Series this fall. There’s a reason why Michael Brantley considers his father Mickey — who attends most games and offers his son advice after every single one — the best role model and coach he’s ever had. Before the fame and the money and the awards, there were the hours of work put in and the formation of an unbreakable relationship. As our to-do lists grow and the burdens of everyday life become heavier, baseball is the glue that holds fathers and their children together. Our dads never stopped sacrificing for us and showing us the way back then, and we are nothing but grateful now. The memories will last a lifetime, and as long as the game is still being played somewhere, there will forever be something to bond over. Kids, go grab your mitt and ask your old man to play catch. Time is flying by. Dads, please never turn them down.

IN THE LOCKER ROOM

Tess Jewell and Emma Schecter, OCET, OCDT Captains This week, the Review sat down with seniors Tess Jewell and Emma Schechter, captains of Oberlin’s Dressage and Equestrian teams, respectively. As they near the end of their four-year careers, they reflected on how the program has flourished in their time here, as well as the hectic schedule that comes with riding at Oberlin. This interview has been edited for length and clarity. Alex McNicoll Sports Editor

How did you end up joining the Dressage and Equestrian teams? Tess Jewell: I’m the captain of the Dressage team, but I also compete on the huntseat and Western Equestrian teams. I started riding when I was seven years old, and I ended up just riding English for a while. I went to an eventing barn, which is where I started dressage. When I visited Oberlin, I met the coach, and that was a big part of my decision to come to Oberlin: Because I liked the coach of the Dressage and the Equestrian teams, and I just wanted to continue what I’d been doing since I was little and had always been a big part of my life. Emma Schechter: I’m the captain of the hunt-seat and Western Equestrian teams. I also started riding when I was seven, and only ever did huntseat until I started Western here. For me, a big part of schools I looked at, they all had Equestrian teams and they all had club teams, but I really didn’t want to ride varsity. I

Seniors Tess Jewell (left) and Emma Schechter. Photo by Hugh Newcomb, Photo Editor

met Coach Ric [Weitzel], and that was a huge deciding factor for me. What is the history of OCET here at Oberlin? TJ: Well, it’s always been really small, and it really hasn’t grown until the past few years. Before our first year here, there were only two people on the team, and now there are 40 people on the team; 45 if you’re looking at Equestrian and Dressage. ES: I think the big influx started our year. There were eight of us. Only three or four of us are still riding, but we’ve had, for the past two years, an increasing amount of firstyears. Considering your sports can be difficult to organize and have such a rigorous schedule, do you ever feel like it’s a challenge being just a club sport, and not a well-funded varsity team? ES: I think for me the big thing is getting people who play varsity sports to take us seriously. One thing I’ve

noticed is that people spend a lot of time talking about how much they put in to their varsity sports, which is true, but we’re also a full-year sport who has had a show almost every week this semester. We ride in the cold, we ride in the snow, and that’s definitely something we have to explain to people here. Does everyone on your team have riding experience before coming here? Is it hard to recruit people who are new to riding to such a niche sport? TJ: A lot of people actually come to the club sports fair in the fall who have never ridden before, and they see us standing there with the horse, and they’re just like, “Oh my gosh, I want to learn how to ride a horse.” We actually have an athletics class that our coach teaches, and a lot of people on the team actually started by taking the athletics class and learning the basics and then signing up for lessons on top of that. Luckily for us, the barn is only a mile away, so it’s pretty

easy if people want to try it out. Some other schools have a 45-minute drive, so it’s [much more] accessible for people [here]. How has your season been going so far? ES: We’ve had a show every weekend this month. TJ: Between [the] Equestrian and Dressage [teams], there’s been a show every weekend, but for the people who don’t show dressage, they’ve had a couple weekends off. Pretty much since the end of September, the only weekend we’ve had off was this past weekend. We actually compete against Division I varsity schools, such as the University of Findlay and Lake Erie College. The Dressage team competes against Otterbein University, the University of Kentucky, and Miami University of Ohio. Oberlin has a club team, but we’re all part of the Intercollegiate Horse Show Association, so just because it’s a club team at our school, it’s a varsity team at other schools.

For Findlay, the school pays for everything: their lessons, their food at the shows. We’re really fortunate that Oberlin pays for our entries and our hotels and cars. It is interesting sometimes, because we show against schools where these students are majoring in horse-back riding, and two weeks [ago], the hunt-seat team placed third at the show: right up there with the varsity teams, which is super cool. What’s on the horizon for OCET and OCDT? ES: We have a meet this weekend at Stonegate Farms in Coolville, Ohio, which is about four hours away. It’s one of my favorites of the season. It’s not particularly special in terms of its significance — we don’t have anything major until regionals in the spring. TJ: But we are hosting a home Western show on Dec. 2 at our barn that hopefully a lot of people from campus will bus over to, and we’re hosting a show on March 10 in the spring.

Halsten Claims Regional Championship, Headed to Nationals

Junior runner Linnea Halsten finished first overall in the Yeowomen’s NCAA Regional race Saturday. Halsten and sophomore Marija Crook will both compete in the NCAA Championships tomorrow in Elsah, IL. Photo courtesy of OC Athletics Julie Schreiber Sports Editor

Select members of the men’s and women’s cross country teams took their marks in Powell, Ohio last Saturday to compete in the NCAA Great Lakes regional meet — one of the final contests of the season for both teams. The meet, which was hosted at Ohio Wesleyan University, featured 36 men’s and 25 women’s teams with a total of 242 men and 247 women competing, all from schools belonging to The Oberlin Review | November 17, 2017

the Great Lakes Region. The Yeomen finished 26th overall with a score of 727, while the Yeowomen surged to fifth place with a score of 184. “Both teams executed the game plans we wanted on Saturday,” Head Cross Country Coach Ray Appenheimer said. “The men’s team did a really good job moving up in the second half of the race with discipline and confidence. The women weren’t able to get a national spot, but still performed really well.” The highlight of the day was a

first-place finish by junior and North Coast Athletic Conference champion Linnea Halsten, who crossed the 6K finish line with a time of 21 minutes, 37.2 seconds. Halsten — who is the first regional championship for the Yeowomen in seven years — completed the race an entire ten seconds before her runner-up. “Seeing Linnea dominate the course the way she has all year was fantastic to watch,” senior Owen Mittenthal said. Halsten now heads to the NCAA National Championships for the second year in a row. She looks to build off her 53rd place finish at last year’s National Championship meet. “Linnea has been undefeated this season,” Coach Appenheimer said. “While that is likely to end at Nationals, she’s going to stick her nose in there with the best runners in the country, and just that makes me proud.” Joining her will be teammate sophomore Marija Crook, who finished 10th overall in the Great Lakes Regional Meet. Crook, who came in second for the Yeowomen, crossed the finish line with a time of 22:49.1. “Marija had the race of her life, both placing 10th and qualifying for nationals as an individual,” Mittenthal said. Other noteworthy finishes at Saturday’s meet came from sophomore Oona Jung-Beeman, who finished

with a time of 23:22.9, as well as from the Urso sisters, with senior Sarah finishing at 24:04.0 and sophomore Rachel following closely behind at 24:10.4. The Yeomen were fueled mostly by junior Grant Sheely, who came in at 122nd place in the 8K with a time of 27:52.4. Other notable finishes for the Yeomen on Saturday include the 139th place spot by first-year Archie Velazquez with a time of 28:12.1, and junior Dylan Caban, who came in 140th with a time of 28:14.3. “Although our season’s over, we all gained lots of experience this year,” Sheely said. “We’re a young group and we really learned how to be a team. We’re all looking forward to carrying that into next year.” Halsten and Crook will take the trip to the NCAA National Championships, hosted tomorrow at Principia College in Elsah, IL. “I’m excited, but nationals is really just a bonus at the end of the season,” Crook said. “I just want to do whatever I can do, have fun and enjoy it.” Meanwhile, the rest of the cross country runners will soon begin preparing for their winter track season, a shift that increases the team size to 95 members. “After this weekend, we’re no longer a cross country team,” Appenheimer said. “We’re a track team now, but the strength of the community remains the same.”

SPORTS November 17, 2017

established 1874

Volume 146, Number 10

US Gymnastics Must Address Sexual Assault Julie Schreiber Sports Editor

From left to right: First-year Nick Dawkins, first-year Daniel Hill, junior Ethan Hill, senior Ken Allen, junior Jake Parentis, and Cortland Hill, OC ’77. Photo by Hugh Newcomb, Photo Editor

Club Hockey Skates Again Alex McNicoll Sports Editor

The Plague, Oberlin’s club hockey team, will play its second and final game this semester against The Chiefs, a team of Hockey North America, a recreational no-checking hockey league, tomorrow. While school funding is low and games are few and far between, the 18 members of The Plague represent a rich culture of hockey at Oberlin that has existed for more than 50 years. Chemistry and Biochemistry Instructor and Lab Manager Cortland Hill, OC ’77, who joined the team after returning to Oberlin in 2000, played for the Yeomens varsity hockey team as a student and has seen Oberlin’s hockey program mature for much of the last 40 years. Although Oberlin has not had a varsity hockey team since 1978, The Plague still manages to build a close-knit community and a competitive team. “We get people from all classes joining the team,” Hill said. “It’s a wide range of people we have. Some are athletes, some are not. One of the nice things about the team when we get into games, is that we end up playing against people in the surrounding community. It gives the students a chance to see what people from the surrounding communities are like.” The co-ed club sport usually plays three games in the fall and four games — including two alumni games — in the spring, but had to cancel one game this semester because the Elyria rinks were not ready. In the past, The Plague played other schools’ club programs and would check their opponents in game. However, eight years ago when several players got serious injuries, the college decided to only play non-checking. After several universities, including The Ohio State University, voiced their dismay, The Plague began playing HNA teams, which are comprised of community members who are usually in their late 20s and early 30s. The Plague will get their chance at revenge tomorrow in their game against The Chiefs, whom the lost to last weekend by a final score of 12–5. The Plague quickly fell down five goals, and although they started to find a rhythm, it was too little, too late. The young team, which has five new players, fields both players who have been skating their whole lives and players who have never played before but heard about it because they are in Hill’s lab section. Nevertheless, they have built a supportive environment that first-year student Daniel Hill, Cortland’s son, has watched develop since he was 12 years old and played in alumni games. “I started before I was in high school because my dad is the faculty advisor,” Hill said. “It’s been fun to see every year different people come out just to see the varying skill levels. Some years you’ll have people who’ve played their whole lives and some years you’ll have people who’ve never played before. Just to see the team come together [every year] despite these differences has always been really fun.” For the past 13 years, alumni games — in which players for both The Plague and the former varsity

team compete against each other — have been highlights of the season. Members of the 1964–1965 team not only show up to play, but dive down onto the ice to block shots. The alumni games are opportunities for the players to show their appreciation for the game and the camaraderie that The Plague maintains. Junior and club President Jake Parentis, who manages the team’s activities on top of participating on the varsity lacrosse team, has never thought that being on The Plague was too much work. “It’s definitely not a chore,” Parentis said. “I do it for the love of the game. I love playing with all of my friends on the team. It’s a great workout for me for lacrosse, and we all really enjoy it and have a good time.” A testament to the players’ passion for The Plague are their battles with Oberlin College itself, as well as the HNA. Several years ago, former Delta Lodge Director of Athletics Vin Lananna called Hill and said that he did not like The Plague’s name, and that if they did not change it to the Yeomen, he would cut the club’s funding. Unfazed, Hill challenged Lananna to cut it; at the time, The Plague received only $50 annually from the college. Some coaches have also voiced concern about the team through the years, encouraging their players not to play the recreational sport in the off-season for fear of injury. Back when hockey had a much larger presence at Oberlin, there was even a rink on campus next to where the Austin E. Knowlton Athletic Complex now stands. However, the cost of maintaining the rink became too big for the Athletic Department at the time, leading to the rink’s closure. Despite the uphill battles, The Plague has not just survived, but has become a team that allows students to compete and express themselves. Laurence Ducker, OC ’13, who was a near-Olympic level speed-skater, came to Oberlin after spending a gap year in Colorado training for the 2010 Olympics. However, when he competed in the Olympic tryouts the following January, he fell just short of his top-10 goals with a 14th place finish. When he arrived at Oberlin he heard about The Plague from Hill. When he arrived at the first practice, he was the fastest player on the ice, but could only turn in one direction and would circle the rink again and again. With a little training, he not only learned how to turn, but enjoyed a lengthy club hockey career, and found closure on the ice after not competing in the Olympics. As this semester winds down, Hill, who was just joined by his other son, junior Ethan Hill, is sure to not only recruit more, but get his team in shape for the alumni games to come. After 53 years of hockeyplaying, The Plague continues to offer an experience like no other on campus. “We’re always looking for players, regardless of ability,” Hill said. “The beautiful thing about Oberlin is you can play a sport regardless of where you are. I’m really encouraged about our prospects right now. … The problem is, our profile’s very low on college [consciousness] and a lot of people don’t know we exist. The importance is to get the word out and let people know that we exist, that we’re active. Then we’ll try to get them on the team.”

Last week, it was Harvey Weinstein. This week, it was Roy Moore. Yesterday, it was Al Franken. Throughout the past few weeks, it seems as if almost every accomplished, coveted, and powerful man in America’s public eye has been revealed as a sexual predator, demonstrating how much of the politics and culture we consume in our everyday lives are covertly tainted by manipulation, violation, and abuse. The outrage and shock of each new individual’s exposure as a sexual assailant is both natural and justified, but the recent surge in enraged responses implies that the issue of sexual assault perpetrated by professional men behind closed doors is an unprecedented problem. As we continue calling out the Harvey Weinsteins and Roy Moores of the world, it is equally as important to recognize the ways in which sexual assault has been pervasive for years in other aspects of American society — in the sports world and, more specifically, women’s gymnastics. Professional gymnastics is one of the most hyped and celebrated sports at the Olympic Games every four years. With its dazzling routines and charming personalities, the U.S. Women’s Gymnastics Team retains insurmountable support, attracting volumes of publicity, attention, support. But behind the scenes the celebrated U.S. gymnasts have suffered countless violations on their paths to success, including horrifying accounts of sexual assault and abuses by team doctors and coaches. Most notable for his perpetration of assault was former USA Gymnastics team doctor Larry Nassar, who was sued by over 125 women — including U.S. national team gymnasts — and is currently imprisoned for more than 20 counts of criminal sexual conduct. Accusations come from such gymnasts as Jamie Dantzscher, a member of the 2000 bronze medal-winning U.S. Women’s Gymnastics Team, as well as Aly Raisman and McKayla Maroney of the team that took home the 2012 gold. In a public hearing against Nassar in February, Dantzscher cited the many instances throughout her career when Nassar took advantage of her and left her feeling powerless. She explained that she “was abused all around the world” and “thought she was the only one.” Maroney and Raisman recently added themselves to the list of women publicly proclaiming their experiences of sexual assault. On Oct. 18, Maroney posted on Twitter that Nassar began molesting her at age 16, as well as her teammates, under the guise that he was treating their medical ailments. “It seemed whenever and wherever this man could find the chance, I was ‘treated,’” the tweet read. Raisman made her public declaration in an interview with 60 Minutes last Friday, during which she credited Nassar’s lack of accountability and the silence of the gymnasts to the “culture of U.S. gymnastics” that scares young girls away from speaking up about their assault. The idea that U.S. gymnastics culture promotes fear, silence, and abuse is not hard to swallow. In the sport, women are overwhelmingly small, young, barely clothed, and mostly coached and directed by men. Former gymnast Jennifer Sey described the sport’s natural inclination to abuse in a New York Times op-ed, citing the normalization of berating and belittling athletes, discouraging eating, and minimizing injuries; Sey argued that this dangerous culture of gymnastics is what holds young athletes back from reporting their abuse. “There’s a message that if you can’t take it you’re weak … if you perceive it as abuse, you’re delusional,” Sey stated. This June, U.S. gymnastics stated its plan to hear and implement new recommendations to its organization intended to improve the safety and wellbeing of young gymnasts throughout the country. The recommendations emerged from a report by sexual assault prosecutor Deborah J. Daniels, which cites flaws like the unclear process of reporting assault though complicated grievance reports, as well as the decentralization of gymnastics as a business, with lots of private, disconnected clubs and little accountability or awareness of coach or doctor malpractice. Daniels’ recommendations include creating clearer protocols to document and investigate abuse complaints, as well as implementing strict and immediate consequences for adult violators. These implementations are undoubtedly necessary, but a noticeable change in the amount of abuse that emerges from gymnastics won’t occur until the sport as a whole undergoes a massive culture shift that involves more respect for gymnasts and their families, less silencing, more encouragement for gymnasts to speak out about misconduct, and a greater understanding of how young athletes deserve to be treated. Hopefully one day gymnasts won’t be applauded for their bravery to speak out about their sexual assault, because sexual assault won’t be happening in the first place.