November 30, 2018

The Oberlin Review established 1874

November 30, 2018

Volume 147, Number 10

Sustained Dialogue Encourages Connection Anisa Curry Vietze Senior Staff Writer

College sophomore Katie Kim passes out boba outside of Warner Concert Hall. Kim runs the small business Bobalin, which she started last year after getting an honorable mention and $2,000 in the LaunchU competition.

Photo by Katie Kim

Boba Businesses Open Debate on Campus Gabby Greene News Editor Andrea Wang

Bobalin and Yeoba are two student-led boba businesses now in operation at Oberlin. Organizers for both businesses found that selling boba raises many questions about appropriation and ownership.

Boba — also referred to as bubble tea — originated in Taiwan in the 1980s; nowadays, it forms an integral part of Asian American culture in the U.S. and other areas within the Asian diaspora. There are many types of boba, although the drink is typically made of flavored tea, milk, and chewy tapioca balls. As the drink gains popularity outside of the Asian community, more boba chains continue to open across the U.S., with both Taiwanese and non-Taiwanese owners.

College second-year Katie Kim started Bobalin last year as a project for the LaunchU Bootcamp and Pitch Competition. Kim was inspired by her upbringing in southern California and the boba she enjoyed as a child.

“I still remember my first-year fall break, being really lonely and calling my parents about the lack of boba and good Asian food in general at Oberlin,” Kim said. “My dad encouraged me to spin this in a positive direction and

make my own boba tea.”

Yeoba began this year, led by firstyears Nico Vickers, Faith Ward, Anna Silverman, and Rachel Serna-Brown.

Vickers was also inspired to sell boba based on their connection to home.

“I’m from [the metro Atlanta area in] Georgia,” Vickers said. “I bought stuff for boba a few months ago at home, but there’s [already] boba at home, so I never really used it. But here [in Oberlin] there’s no boba. I thought, there’s no boba here so might as well make it here.”

Members of Yeoba were contacted by students concerned about cultural appropriation.

“I got a text from someone I knew from one of my classes that she felt uncomfortable with us selling boba because she understood that we weren’t Asian,” Vickers said. “I was a little stressed out, and we talked to her in person. The thing about our Instagram is, we weren’t super clear about who we were, or what we were doing.”

On Nov. 13, Yeoba announced through its Instagram that it would shut down, explaining, “it is not our place as a team of mostly non-Asian people to be selling an Asian food item.” The Yeoba team includes some Asian and some non-Asian students.

In addition to this statement, Yeoba encouxraged students to buy Bobalin

instead.

Three days later, the team returned to Instagram, announcing that Yeoba would continue after further dialogue with students and support from various Asian students on campus.

College first-year Claire Wang, who identifies as Chinese American and joined the Yeoba team shortly after its inception, asserted that acceptance of culturally significant food items would lead to a greater acceptance and understanding of the culture itself.

“Personally, it was more damaging when I was growing up and people would look at the things I enjoyed, saying, ‘those things are foreign and weird,’” Wang said. “I think having [boba] become more part of this cultural space is very helpful in getting people interested in East Asian cultures.”

Anna Silverman, a member of the original Yeoba team, agreed that acceptance of boba in American culture is a positive thing.

“Growing up Asian, in terms of cuisine, it’s nice that it’s mainstream in some ways, because everyone enjoys it and doesn’t think it’s weird or an outside concept,” Silverman said. “It’s nice to be able to share that piece of culture with everyone.”

Other students commented on a

The Barefoot Dialogue program, which has been expanded this year as a presidential initiative, is an opportunity for Oberlin students to regularly meet for a meal and engage in intimate and vulnerable conversation. Dialogue sessions are entirely led by students, as student facilitators plan each session to provoke thoughtful sharings from their peers.

Multifaith Chaplain and Director of the Office of Religious and Spiritual Life David Dorsey, who started Barefoot, hosted his first dialogue group with a handful of students when he came to Oberlin six years ago. The group sat around his dining table and shared a meal together twice a month while talking about spirituality.

“It got its name, Barefoot, because really central to the work is choosing vulnerability,” Dorsey said. “Going with bare feet is sort of an exercise in vulnerability, and what really sort of clinched it for me is that Oberlin students go barefoot longer than any other student population I’ve ever been in, and I’ve been in warmer climates. So, it’s sort of like Oberlin students named it themselves.”

The program has expanded since its beginnings in Dorsey’s home — although he still hosts regularly. Last year, there were four groups. Now, there are eight groups with about 15 students each.

Each group meets every other week, and discussions focus on a range of topics, including connection to land, the personal and cultural significance of Thanksgiving, the water crisis in Flint, MI, and the experience of displacement.

Upperclass student facilitators provide a base for conversation by creating a prompt — known as a centerpiece — for the group to focus on. “[The centerpiece] is usually a piece of paper with text on it where we kind of start,” said College senior and student facilitator Sam Bailey. “But that can also look like songs, or art pieces, or stuff like that. Some groups have even done dance pieces.”

Barefoot falls underneath the Office of Religious and Spiritual Life, but not all of the groups focus on religion or spirituality in their discussion. Four of the groups are interfaith in nature, while the other four are secular.

“From the very beginning, some of the most significant contributions in this work came from people who were not from a religious perspective at all,” said Dorsey. “My theological framework was always sort of set up to really expand on this work beyond religion.”

The program’s goal is to expose students to different perspectives and cultivate a community of people committed to respectful, yet meaningful, discussion.

“The whole point is that you’re seeking meaning across difference, and [Barefoot is] a space for that, so that looks different than trying to reach a compromise or an

See A Tale, page 2

See Barefoot, page 3

CONTENTS NEWS

OPINIONS

THIS WEEK

ARTS & CULTURE

02 Senior ’Sco Night Raises Funds for Undocumented Student Fund

05 CDS Should Keep Serving Up the Changes

08 Doodles of Oberlin

10 Science Gets A Theatrical Spin 15 Hooliganism Spolis Soccer with Copenhagen Match in Argentina

03 CCL Fights for Climate Change Policies

06 Don’t Be A Voluntourist

The Oberlin Review | November 30, 2018

11 Crimes of Grindelwald Falls Short of Predecessor

SPORTS

16 Nature’s Company All the Way

oberlinreview.org facebook.com/oberlinreview TWITTER @oberlinreview INSTAGRAM @ocreview

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A Tale of Two Bobas

Chabad Sponsors Book Drive

Continued from page 1

Chabad at Oberlin College Student Group is hosting “People of the Book Project: Bringing Books into Prison” through Sunday, Dec. 2. The group is seeking gently used books that will then be donated to libraries in the Lorain County correctional system. Rabbi Shlomo and Devorah Elkan, co-directors of Chabad at Oberlin, are leading the collection. Shlomo Elkan, who does colunteer work in the Lorain County prison system, is familiar with the obstacles incarcerated individuals face when trying to obtain books — some spending months on waitlists in the process.

“It dawned on me that there are people who could use help locally, and every student has two or three books that they aren’t using sitting on their desks,” Elkan said. The prisons in Lorain County usually receive 10 to 15 new books per week. Elkan hopes to collect hundreds of books in the one-week span.

Text by Jenna Gyimesi, News Editor Photo by MariaTurner, Photo Editor

photo from Yeoba’s Instagram that was shared to Facebook the same day Yeoba announced its brief closing.

“One of the first pictures we posted was a picture of myself, holding a cup of boba tea,” Serna-Brown said. “And I’m very white-looking or whatever, so under that presumption — though those people don’t know who we are — they are just assuming I’m white and the whole team is white.”

The individual who originally posted the image on Facebook has since edited the post to reflect that all of Yeoba’s leaders are people of color.

“I’d also like to highlight the fact that I am aware I am not from Taiwan, which is where boba tea originated,” Kim said. “I believe that this is a very gray issue ... Who gets to draw the line? What about cultural rifts between different Asian groups? I do think that it is harder for people who do not understand the cultural significance of food, to view selling boba tea as anything other than for profit.”

College first-year David Seo agrees that criticisms of Yeoba should be more nuanced than critiques of white people who sell boba.

“I realized there is no service in pitting different groups of people of color against each other,” Seo said. He commented on the Facebook post about Yeoba mentioning the lack of resources for Asian students on campus.

“We do what we can to educate each other, but some things just fall through the cracks,” Seo said. “But at the end of the day, there’s more important things to be done.”

Chuang agrees that the boba conversation should feed into a dialogue about how people of color can better support one another.

Both businesses plan to continue operations. Kim hopes to expand Bobalin by selling boba in Azariah’s Café.

“I don’t get to have the final say in who can or who can’t make boba,” Kim said. “But being away from home has made me realize how much I am tied to the food I grew up with. I want especially for isolated Asian and Asian American students to know that their experiences are shared within this community, even if the only way I can communicate that is through a chewy confectionery drink.”

Senior ’Sco Night Raises Funds for Undocumented Student Fund Roman Broszkowski Senior Staff Writer Editor’s note: Senior Class President Ify Ezimora works for the Review as Sports Editor. The second Vice President and head of the event planning committee Jenna Gyimesi is News Editor.

Oberlin’s Senior Class Council kicked off their celebrations Thursday evening with Senior ’Sco Night in Wilder Hall. The event featured senior DJs and a fundraiser for the Undocumented Student Scholarship Program.

“Senior ’Sco Night [was] a chance for seniors to get drunk on free alcohol, have fun, and support a cause that they care about,” Senior Class President Ify Ezimora said.

“It has historically been an opportunity for seniors to DJ

and celebrate in the ’Sco apart from Splitchers.”

Several DJs agreed with Ezimora and expressed appreciation for the chance to play in the ’Sco. “I always wanted to have a DJ shift at the ’Sco and I tried to during International Students’ Night during my sophomore year, but it ended up not working out,” said College senior Ilana Ascher — who performed under the name DJ Lana del Rage. “I was really excited to be able to have that opportunity again … [plus] I think it’s great when there is a special event that people put a lot of thought into. How could people not have [had] a good time; it’s the ’Sco.” Other attendees enjoyed the community aspect of the night.

“As a senior, I think I’m more inclined to go to more

The Oberlin R eview November 30, 2018 Volume 147, 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.

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Editors-in-Chief

events … there is definitely the mindset that you have go to these things because of how much time is left in the year,” College senior Jesús Martinez said. “Even if I don’t like the event, I would still go. It’s going to be that group that you’ve always been with and I [wanted] to go and create those senior memories.”

Thursday’s festivities represented the beginning of a series of senior class celebrations scheduled this academic year, leading up to Senior Week and Commencement Weekend in late May. These events are aimed at community building, but will also serve as fundraisers for the Class of 2019’s gift to the Undocumented Students Scholarship Program.

The scholarship fund was selected from a pool of several organizations through a

Sydney Allen Nathan Carpenter Managing Editor Ananya Gupta News Editors Gabby Greene

Jenna Gyimesi Opinions Editor Jackie Brant Cont. Opinions Editor Luce Nguyen This Week Editor Mikaela Fishman Arts Editors Kate Fishman

Katie Lucey Sports Editors Alexis Dill

Ify Ezimora Photo Editors Mallika Pandey Maria Turner Senior Staff Writers Carson Dowhan Roman Broszkowski Anisa Curry Vietze Julie Schreiber

Layout Editors

Seniors celebrate at Senior ’Sco Night, an event sponsored by the Senior Class Council.

Malcolm Brainerd

survey emailed to Oberlin seniors.

“The fund question was the highest filled-out section,” Ezimora said. “79 people answered, and 88.6 percent voted for the Undocumented Students Scholarship Program.”

Anya Spector Tori Fisher Lila Michaels Lillian Jones Business Manager Jared Steinberg Ads Manager Jabree Hason Web Manager Mikaela Fishman Production Manager Giselle Glaspie Production Staff Olive Hwang Lior Krancer Leo Lasdun Courtney Loeb Devyn Malouf Katherine MacPhail Madi Mettenburg Annie Schoonover

The survey also asked seniors to propose events they’d like to see over the spring semester, as well as to nominate students whose actions and campus presence are worthy See ’Sco, page 4

Corrections: In “Students, Alumni Present Ambar Tom Reid Petition,” published Nov. 9, the quote, “We’re not going to roll over on this” was attributed to President Carmen Ambar. It should have been attributed to College junior Jody Shanabrook.

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

CCL Fights For Climate Change Policies Yan Jin Ray English, Emeritus Director of Libraries at Oberlin College and a member of Oberlin’s branch of Citizens’ Climate Lobby, joined 619 other volunteers from CCL in Washington, D.C. on Monday, Nov. 19, to advocate for bipartisan climate policies. The volunteers participated in over 400 congressional meetings and met with numerous Ohio representatives.

Citizens Climate Lobby is a national environmental group which works to educate communities on how to engage with their representatives about Climate Change.

“I visited four different congressional offices with teams from the lobby, and we had a very good conversation with Senate and House offices,” English said. “We met with offices of Senator Portman, a Republican senator from Ohio, Senator Brown, who is a Democratic senator, and the office of Jim Jordan, who is in the House of Representatives — he is our local congressman — and also with the office of representative Bob Gibbs — he was in the adjacent district.”

Climate change policy is often perceived as a Democratic priority. However, English hopes that it will become a bipartisan issue.

“It’s become quite partisan as an issue with very sharp opinions from both sides,” English said. “The problem with a divisive issue is that the parties may just continue to fight over the issue but never find a solution and that is exactly what has happened with climate change … and the solution we are proposing is one which we think

is attractive to both parties. We are arguing in a sense of encouraging that both our parties stop the political fighting and come together on an effective solution.”

John Sabin, the founder of the local chapter of the CCL in Oberlin, noted that the city of Oberlin has asked Congress to enact better climate change policies previously.

“I think our biggest accomplishment so far is that we worked with Oberlin City Council, and a year after we launched — it was March of 2018 — the Oberlin City Council passed a resolution calling on Congress to implement our climate action proposal called Carbon Fee and Dividend,” Sabin said.

According to English, the Carbon Fee and Dividend policy can help both the American economy and the climate.

“We favor an approach that basically would place a fee on carbon at the source, that is oil, natural gas, and coal,” English said. “That fee would steadily rise each year following that, but all the money that comes in from the fee would be given back to American households on an equal basis so it’s basically creating market incentives to transition to a clean energy economy.”

For English, Carbon Fee and Dividend is the optimal approach that the CCL should take.

“It would grow the economy, it would create market growth, it’s revenue-neutral, and it would have health benefits for the American people — it would be positive in many different ways,” English said. “And what I particularly like about it is that it would not be damaging to low-income peo-

ple.”

The CCL is already seeing some increases in bipartisan climate change efforts. On Tuesday, Nov. 27, The Energy Innovation and Carbon Dividend Act, a bipartisan bill, was introduced to the House of Representatives. “[The Act] has been the most significant climate change legislation Congress has seen in over a decade,” Sabin wrote in an email to the Review. “It is almost identical to the proposal Citizens’ Climate Lobby has been promoting for years.”

In February of this year, a student chapter of the CCL was formed at Oberlin College.

“We kind of work independently and codependently, so we have our own projects that we work on, such as getting an endorsement from Oberlin Committee on Environmental Sustainability — so I got that back in May, and then another project that we are working on is an endorsement from President Ambar,” said chapter founder and College sophomore Jess Wilber.

English hopes that more Oberlin students become involved with the CCL, and he urges students to join their local chapter and attend monthly meetings.

Additionally, he also urges students to advocate for climate change policy in alternative ways.

“The Citizens’ Climate Lobby is trying to create, at a national level, a political will to solve the problem of Climate Change, and that involves a lot of local efforts … [such as] writing to the newspaper, or going to public events [and] tables, and talking to citizens, talking with people in a position of influence,” English said.

Barefoot Opens Vulnerable Conversations Continued from page 1

agreement,” Bailey said. “Sharing your own personal stories on various topics in a really vulnerable way, where you’ve agreed on this space to do that. And then I can learn from other identities and people and backgrounds at Oberlin in a safe but brave space and then take what I’ve learned … and go back out into the world with that.”

A majority of participants are first-years, and the program helps new students engage with people they wouldn’t otherwise encounter, especially early in their Oberlin careers.

“I leave every dialogue having a shifted perspective or learning something new about myself,” said College first-year and Barefoot participant Serena Zets. “On campus, I live in a program house and I mainly associate with people who — at least identity-wise — are fairly similar to me. I’m involved in a lot of identitybased spaces and clubs, so I think Barefoot’s been really influential in introducing and exposing me to people that I probably wouldn’t have talked to otherwise. And I think it’s really cool that they’re all within my year. I can continue building those relationships for the next four years.”

The groups meet at the homes of Oberlin faculty or staff who volunteer to host the discussions and provide a meal for participants.

“We were interested in making our home more available for people in general and particularly for

The Oberlin Review | November 30, 2018

Students serve themselves at a dialogue dinner hosted at David Dorsey’s home as part of the Barefoot Dialogue program.

Photo by Maria Turner

students,” said Assistant Professor of Chemistry and Biochemistry and Barefoot host Will Parsons. “I won’t lie, it is a fair amount of work because, basically, we’re preparing a meal for 15 people every two weeks and then also making sure our house is clean enough to have 15 people there to come to visit, but we’ve enjoyed it so far. It’s really been a great opportunity for us to interact with students and in particular a great opportunity for me to interact with students that I don’t encounter on a frequent basis.”

For the students, the welcoming environment — and home-cooked meal — are vital parts of the Barefoot experience.

“You walk in and there’s food being made, steam rising from wherever the stove is, there are hosts right

there at the door to greet people,” said College senior and student facilitator Martha Hoffman. “Slowly people filter in and they get food and it’s just this nourishing moment. [...]

And then facilitators present their centerpieces in whatever way they want to. Sometimes there’s humor and laughter and stuff, but then it sort of gets into this really exciting place of a lot of silence, which doesn’t happen a lot on campus.”

The program is one component of an institutional effort to build community on campus.

“One of the things that we’ve been seeing is that our students are feeling increasingly lonely and we want to be intentional in helping them build relationships with their peers,” said Assistant Dean Eddie Gisemba, director of health promotion for

Security Notebook Thursday, Nov. 22, 2018

12:13 a.m. A student reported that a suspicious, unidentified male knocked on their door. The student answered the door, and the male apologized and said he was at the wrong room. The student was advised to call Campus Safety immediately if the incident occurred again.

Friday, Nov. 23, 2018

12:15 a.m. Officers and members of the Oberlin Fire Department responded to a fire alarm on the second floor of Barrows Hall. The alarm had been activated by smoke from melted plastic on a stove burner. The area was cleared and the alarm was reset.

3:30 p.m. An officer on routine patrol observed non-offensive graffiti on a freezer at the South Hall loading dock. A work order was filed for removal.

Saturday, Nov. 24, 2018

1:41 a.m. Officers and members of the Oberlin Fire Department responded to a fire alarm on the second floor of East Hall. A slight haze and peculiar odor were detected. An electrician responded, and the area was cleared and the alarm was reset.

4:27 p.m. Grounds staff found a wallet in Tappan Square and turned it over to the Oberlin Police Department, who contacted the owner in Chicago.

Sunday, Nov. 25, 2018

8:30 a.m. A resident of South Hall requested transportation to Mercy Allen Hospital. An officer responded, and the student was transported.

Monday, Nov. 26, 2018

12:13 p.m. An officer responded to a report of a broken window in the basement of the Carnegie Building.

It did not appear as though person(s) attempted to break in, as the glass was cut. A work order was filed for repairs.

5:45 p.m. A student reported the theft of their wallet from a cubicle on the Mary Church Terrell Main Library of the Mudd Center. The wallet and the student’s book-bag were found in the men’s third-floor restroom and turned in to the circulation desk. A debit card and $20 cash were missing from the wallet.

The card was canceled, and the Oberlin Police Department was notified.

students and Barefoot host. “Having difficult conversations is the way forward for us to better understand our backgrounds, our beliefs, our values, and our life experience. It helps pave the way forward, not just for the institution, but I think the country as a whole.”

Expanding Barefoot has been a priority for President Carmen Ambar. This year, the program was launched as a presidential initiative for the first time.

“Sustained dialogue has the power to help transform the ways we relate to each other,” Ambar wrote in an email to the Review .

“The focus on listening deeply in order to understand another person’s thinking and experiences, rather than seeking to defend one’s own point of view, is a powerful commitment to relationship building in an increasingly polarized world. At this moment, sustained dialogue has the potential to be the next chapter in Oberlin’s long history of serving as a catalyst for positive change.”

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’Sco Night Honors Senior Class Continued from page 2

of recognition.

However, technical issues limited the number of seniors who actually received an email containing the survey, and may have decreased the number of potential respondents.

“Due to an inability to know who was graduating until the end of spring registration, we ended up sending the survey to everyone who had a certain number of credit hours at the start of this semester,” Ezimora said. “As a result, some people who were juniors got the email while some seniors didn’t.”

The response rate among those who did receive the survey was about 13 percent. From these answers, Ezimora, Gyimesi, and 1st Vice President Joy Udoh have begun to plan further activities, potentially including a wine-andcheese night and an inflatable moonbounce.

“I believe that these responses do represent what people want, because those that took the time to fill out the questions are the ones who would go to programming,” Ezimora said. “I can’t program around what people don’t tell me.”

However, both Ezimora and 2nd Vice President Jenna Gyimesi said that they are open to further student event suggestions. Future events will be planned and organized by an event-planning committee that the council hopes to solidify by today.

“About 35 people said either yes or maybe [that they would be interested in volunteering for the committee], but everyone won’t be on the committee,” Gyimesi said.

“I’m hoping that we can create small groups of two to three people so that they can specialize in one event and become very familiar with something they’re interested in.”

A second committee run by Udoh will manage fundraising the class’ gift.

“The Gift Committee will start to meet and be in charge of creating a fundraising goal,” Udoh said.

“Students will help by tabling at events or by selling tickets, and we’ve been working [Assistant Director of the Oberlin Annual Fund] David Stonebraker-Martinez as part of the administration.”

The Senior Class Council hopes that Senior ’Sco Night follows the group’s long tradition of hosting events that are memorable for seniors and impactful for the community.

OFF THE CUFF

Jesse Milan, Jr., AIDS Activist

Jesse Milan, Jr. is the president and CEO of AIDS United, an organization dedicated to fighting the AIDS epidemic in the United States. He delivered a convocation address Tuesday titled “You are the Keeper of the HIV Movement,” which discussed the ways young people can engage in the HIV/AIDs movement. Milan has lived with HIV for 35 years and has been involved with activism in the public health sector for over 30 years.

A lawyer by training, he currently serves on the Scientific Advisory Board for the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief as well as numerous boards and committees around the country promoting awareness and funding for HIV and sexually transmitted disease prevention and treatment.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

Sydney Allen, Editor-in-Chief Maranda Philips, Staff Writer Can you tell me a little bit about your background and career trajectory?

So I grew up in Kansas, and my family was very involved in civil rights. My father was the first African-American public school teacher in a major city in Kansas, and he was hired the same year as Brown v. Board of Education. So that legacy is sort of my legacy, and as I was a young lawyer, I was being asked to give advice on what are the rights related to HIV/AIDS. Since that was the role I was playing as a lawyer — to advise employers, including the government — I sort of became a local HIV expert in the law.

Through that expertise — it was the same time that my late partner died, and so it was both a personal and professional calling for me — I had the opportunity to be on the board of a local AIDS service organization that grew to be the largest in the state. That’s where I met my husband, and we just celebrated our 30th anniversary. As that opportunity continued to grow, I kept feeling this calling to do more. Suddenly, I was involved in more boards, including the National Episcopal AIDS Coalition that I was president for.

When I was asked by a health commission and mayor to be the AIDS director for the city of Philadelphia, it took my role to a whole new level. I was responsible for the prevention, treatment, and care for the sixth largest city in the country. That regional opportunity made it possible for me to move on to national work. Then I was asked to take on national work and moved to the Washington area. National work gave me the opportunity to do global work, and I’ve always accepted those opportunities because the work is so important.

Can you talk a little bit about what it was like as a lawyer, specifically working with employers and other groups, trying to navigate HIV/AIDS? I found that there was always a thirst

to know what were the rights and responsibilities for both the employer and for the employee. People never wanted to do something wrong and never wanted to hurt anyone — and that could be not only hurting the person living with HIV, but there was a concern also about hurting customers and other patients. People just wanted to know what the pathway was, so I was often partnered in the work that I did with the AIDS Education Training Center to help doctors and physicians, to help the police officers and firemen understand how the disease actually works.

And that the risk to them, and the risk to the people they were serving was essentially non-existent because this is a sexually transmitted disease. Once people understood the facts about how HIV works, you’d be surprised how often the “a-ha” arrived. Then it all started to make sense — the discrimination was actually the wrong answer.

How was that for you? Working for people who sometimes came in with really homophobic and harmful beliefs?

What’s always impressed me is that people really do want to do the right thing, but if they don’t have the information then they are operating out of ignorance. As people became enlightened with the information, they had to do a sense of self-reflection around, “well, I may not necessarily approve of everything that person does, but now I understand that they are not necessarily putting me at risk.” And that’s at least a step in the right direction. Over the years that we’ve had loss and more loss and more loss, I’m finding that more and more people are willing to be out and open about how HIV has actually touched their lives and also how they’ve understood the common humanity across genders, sexual orientation, across race. When people have the opportunity to find the true commonality of experience, that’s where change happens.

Can you discuss the work that AIDS United does? And what the organization’s mission is?

I’m very thrilled to be leading AIDS United; it’s a great organization. We have three main pillars of work. One is grant-making; we’re a national grant maker that supports and engages and activates HIV organizations across the country.

This last year, we gave away about $8.5 million, and we have about 215 grantees across the countries in 36 states. We continue to do policy work, so we’re a leading policy advocate for HIV procreations and policies with Congress and with the administration, and through our partners and our grantees we help support policy advocacy at state and regional levels as well. And then we continue to do capacity buildings, helping HIV/AIDS organizations do better at what they do by giving them the best practices and tools to continue to do their work.

Oberlin Community News Bulletin Holiday Gift Bazaar Supports Local Music Students The Oberlin Community Music School will host its annual Holiday Gift Bazaar to support musical studies in Oberlin on Sunday, Dec. 2 from 1 to 4 p.m at 315 East College Street. The event will feature live music, hot chocolate, cookies, and diverse holiday shopping. Proceeds will support teacher development, practice parties, and the purchase of computer software. Come hear and support local musicians!

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OHC Events Gives Visitors a Tour Through Time The Oberlin Heritage Center is giving a special tour of the museum’s clock and watch collection every Saturday in the month of December. The first Tour Through Time will be on Saturday, Dec. 1 from 11 a.m. to 12 p.m. at the Monroe House. One of the featured items will be a decorative Empire Style clock, which was given to Charles Frandison Finney. The tour costs $6 for adults, $4 for OHC members, and is free for College students and children.

Jesse Milan Jr.

Mallika Pandey, Photo Editor

Can you talk a little bit about the way young people can engage in the struggle today compared to 20, 30 years ago?

Today’s generation stands on this legacy of HIV. But it’s not that different in terms of other historical traumas that have informed who we are as people and citizens today. The traumas of lynching, the traumas of slavery, the traumas of the Holocaust, the traumas of sexual abuse — what is your pathway today into moving social justice and human rights forward?

Your entry point today can be many different places, but the HIV epidemic can still be that entry point for you. Even though you may not have personally experienced a loss, you have a personal commitment that there’ll never be another one. That there’s still great health inequity, and there is still social justice. So when we look at the HIV movement and we look at those people and populations that are heavily impacted

by HIV, particularly disproportionately impacted, if you’re concerned about racial justice, HIV is still a pathway for you. If you’re concerned about women’s health, if you’re concerned about women being treated fairly, HIV can still be a pathway for you. If you’re concerned about discrimination and housing and employment, HIV is still a pathway for your opportunities. So whether you’re going to be a lawyer, a public health official, a doctor, a social worker, or just an informed citizen, there are still ways that the HIV movement can be relevant for you today.

What would you say to young people who are struggling with coping with this issue or debating whether not to get tested?

To any young person that is struggling to get tested, my message to you is: take control of your health. My message to any young person who has just learned that they are HIV positive is take control of your health and find anyone and everyone that is there to support you, to stay healthy.

Community Meetings Examine STEM Equity in Oberlin A series of community discussions will be held to address STEM equity at Oberlin. The “Women in STEM” meeting will discuss intersectionality on Monday, Dec. 3 in Baldwin Cottage. The “Black and Latinx Folks in STEM” meeting will address microaggressions in and out of the classroom on Dec. 4 in Afrikan Heritage House. The “Trans and Nonbinary Folks in STEM” meeting will discuss gatekeeping on Dec. 5 in Baldwin Cottage. “First Generation and Low-Income Folks in STEM” will host Class Matters on Dec. 6 in Price House (Third World House). All discussions will take place from 7 to 8:30 p.m.

November 30, 2018

OPINIONS

Letter to the Editors

Thank You For Passing Issue 11

Oberlin City Schools would like to thank all of our parents, staff, students, and community members for supporting Issue 11. It has been a long journey.

The district has been engaged in exploring and researching new school facilities for over 10 years. The vision for the district is to design and create a new state-of-the-art facility for our students and community. This will provide the district with future cost savings, security enhancements, and advanced technology. With the passing of Issue 11, the vision has become a reality. I would like to thank our Bond Committee, Facilities Committee, previous superintendents (John Schroth and Geoff Andrews), the School Board, and community members for all of the hard work in leading up to and passing Issue 11. We are very excited!

Our students, parents, district employees, and community will have the opportunity to collaboratively create an brand new, innovative school facility in the next couple of months.

Again, thank you, and Go Phoenix!

Dr. David Hall Superintendent, Oberlin City Schools

Oberlin Will Survive Financial Challenges The recent protest in response to Tom Reid’s termination from his former position of associate director of the Student Union seems to be only the beginning of more conflicts as the administration addresses what it sees as difficult financial decisions ahead.

What made Oberlin special for me as a student was the courage students showed in speaking up on issues of importance. This tradition continues.

established 1874

When Oberlin describes itself as a place where students who want to change the world go, it speaks to a culture that is unafraid to identify problems but also committed to solving them.

As the Review article describing the protest pointed out, Oberlin’s challenges exist at a high level. Oberlin has an existential problem, borne of financial challenges facing all but a few liberal arts colleges today (“Students, Alumni Present Ambar Tom Reid Petition,” The Oberlin Review, Nov. 9, 2018). Tuition costs continue to rise, while more people question the value of a liberal arts education. Birth rates are falling, meaning fewer college-age students in the pipeline.

Higher education trade journals point this dilemma out. Less competitive liberal arts colleges are undertaking drastic changes in order to survive, especially arcing toward more career-oriented course offerings. This trend began when the technological revolution really took off in the late 2000s and people like former Secretary of Education William Bennett took to the airways to pronounce that the future of careers was in science and technology. To some extent, they were right.

The response to these events might not have happened so soon were it not for the arrival of President Ambar and a changed mindset of the Board of Trustees — but it would have happened eventually. Then again, it might never have happened if Oberlin possessed a much larger endowment than the one it currently possesses — roughly the same per student as Johns Hopkins University, whose financial problems recently disappeared in a day when Michael Bloomberg, entrepreneur and former mayor of New York, bestowed $1.8 billion to his alma mater specifically to fund financial aid. In 2017, Oberlin’s endowment per capita was $290,000, Johns Hopkins’ $245,000, and Pomona College’s $1.27 million. We can hope for a wonderful benefactor, but we should plan as if we won’t get one.

The most important thing happening now is that Oberlin, in part through the ongoing Academic and Administrative Program Review, is taking stock of its assets and coalescing around an understanding of what makes it special.

Oberlin has described itself as “a place of intense energy and creativity, built on a foundation of academic, artistic and musical excellence.”

See Letters, page 7

SUBMISSIONS POLICY

The Oberlin Review appreciates and welcomes letters to the editors and op-ed submissions. All submissions are printed at the discretion of the Editorial Board. All submissions must be received by Wednesday at 4:30 p.m. at opinions@oberlinreview.org or Wilder Box 90 for inclusion in that week’s issue. Letters may not exceed 600 words and op-eds may not exceed 800 words, except with consent of the Editorial Board.

All submissions must include contact information, with full names and any relevant titles, for all signers. All writers must individually confirm authorship on electronic submissions. The Review reserves the right to edit all submissions for clarity, length, grammar, accuracy, strength of argument and in consultation with Review style. Editors will work with contributors to edit pieces and will clear major edits with the authors prior to publication. Editors will contact authors of letters to the editors in the event of edits for anything other than style and grammar. Headlines are printed at the discretion of the Editorial Board. Opinions expressed in editorials, letters, op-eds, columns, cartoons or other Opinions pieces do not necessarily reflect those of the staff of the Review. The Review will not print advertisements on its Opinions pages.

The Review defines an advertisement as any submission that has the main intent of bringing direct monetary gain to a contributor.

The Oberlin Review | November 30, 2018

Volume 147, Number 10

Editorial Board Editors-in-Chief

Sydney Allen

Nathan Carpenter

Managing Editor Ananya Gupta

Opinions Editors

Jackie Brant

Luce Nguyen

CDS Should Keep Serving Up the Changes

Over the past year, Oberlin’s Campus Dining Services has faced significant criticism in the wake of changes caused by budgetary restrictions. Complaints have included accessibility issues, a lack of dietary options, dissatisfaction with the menu and food quality, labor issues with Bon Appétit, and the unpopular 300-meal plan that first- and second-years outside of OSCA are required to purchase. On top of these initial complaints, further issues included the closure of Dascomb Dining Hall; the removal of the made-to-order sandwich station in DeCafé; long, seemingly unmanageable lines in Stevenson Dining Hall; and the new meal swipe system in DeCafé which many students felt was confusing and disorganized at the start of the year. Despite these setbacks, we feel compelled to acknowledge the significant positive changes that CDS and the Dean of Students Office have implemented this year, as well as their demonstrated dedication to improving the dining hall experience for students.

Staffers have made an intentional push to gather student input through frequent surveys, the emergence of a textable hotline, and whiteboards in DeCafé and Stevenson Dining Hall where students can physically write their suggestions. In past years, it often seemed that nothing came of these surveys, as there were seemingly no obvious efforts or changes as a direct result of them. However, just this week, staffers filled the boards with frequent requests gathered from their survey that had recently been addressed. A board in Decafé describes additions of soy yogurt and milk, vegan overnight oats, increased salad bar options, and the promise of vegan desserts in the near future. In Stevenson, the salad bar had similar additions, and CDS also added rice to the menu for both lunch and dinner daily.

Additionally, the texting hotline system allows students to give immediate feedback in an innovative, effective, and accessible manner. It has allowed students to connect with CDS employees and created a sense of accountability over the dining experience. The old suggestion box in Stevenson was difficult to find and did not provide immediate responses, leaving students feeling unheard.

One of the most important things to come from the CDS surveys is the addition of the Sky Bar — a dining option that was eliminated for numerous semesters — in the Cole Jazz Building. In a piece published by members of the Conservatory Council of Students at the start of the semester, authors cited many disturbing statistics indicating that Conservatory students were not getting their needs met by CDS. The authors noted that 94 percent of respondents missed several meals a week due to insufficient options to accommodate their uniquely structured schedules (“CDS Must Address All Accessibility, Health Concerns,” The Oberlin Review, Sept. 28, 2018). In response to the survey conducted by CCS and other CDS surveys, CDS reinstated the Sky Bar to provide Conservatory students a convenient and accessible option for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.

Another great example of CDS implementing student feedback was the incorporation of South Asian recipes — courtesy of the South Asian Student Association — for a Diwali -themed dinner. While it was a little upsetting for SASA members that a mere two weeks later they once again titled a dish Butter Chicken despite the fact that it was far from the true South Asian dish, their Diwali-themed dinner was an undoubted success. CDS should continue to make efforts to connect with student organizations like SASA. Getting input from cultural organizations while doing their best to represent their food was extremely appreciated, and allowed CDS to serve more authentic — and delicious! — cuisine. Students are more than happy to provide recipes and help. We enjoy taking part in this process and having cultures appreciated and represented as accurately as possible.

There have also been noticeable efforts to better accommodate students with dietary restrictions and accessibility issues. Gluten-free items have been separated to their own table to avoid cross contamination, posters outlining all the gluten-free items available during meals are now posted, and gluten-free options have been expanded in the board meal sections at DeCafé, including pastries, pizza, and sandwiches. DeCafé has also greatly expanded vegan and vegetarian items for board meals — including the popular addition of a daily veggie hot sandwich option. All ingredients in meals continue to be listed, and students have noticed the recent addition of labeling food as halal. Additionally, retractable dividers guiding food lines in Stevenson have created a more accessible space for students, ensuring the lines are not intrusive to walking spaces and reducing confusion about where lines start.

When there are smaller crowds, staff remove the ropes in order to maximize walking space for diners. Moreover, students can now freely access the elevator, which previously was available only by request and with a key.

All of these positive changes are great starts, and there are still things that can be done.

Peak hours still seem overcrowded, Lines at DeCafé can be long due to a lack of registers.

There still seems to be too few options — specifically for breakfast — for people with dietary restrictions.

Ultimately, all these changes demonstrate a sincere effort and dedication to student satisfaction. While students have been quick to complain about different aspects of CDS, we have been slow to acknowledge the efforts of CDS staffers have made to improve the dining experience. So, to all the deans, staff members, and CDS workers who have worked so diligently to make these changes possible, we offer our sincere thanks to you. We appreciate your hard work, and we look forward to seeing what new changes will come.

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.

5

Opi n ions

Don’t Be A Voluntourist Kameron Dunbar Columnist

The first time I realized I was voluntouring, my group had just left a monastery and orphanage in Yangon, Myanmar, after spending about an hour surveying the grounds. Just before we left, we bestowed “ceremonial gifts” of pencils and school supplies through a dramatized exchange that was perfectly staged for the iPhone videos fellow Americans took. We left feeling good about ourselves, but the kids there barely benefited at all.

This type of travel experience is not uncommon, and the issues noted here are not unique. The story of the Christian missionary who recently died after disturbing a remote island community close to India has brought several important concepts and considerations to a national stage: “mission work,” white savior complex, neocolonialism, and voluntourism being just a few.

Traveling internationally, in so many ways, is a privilege. For one, there’s the economic piece. Traveling costs money. And then traveling as an American comes with its own set of privileges, offering access to at

least 186 countries through a powerful passport. These privileges are not devoid of the sociopolitics omnipresent in the world, and are direct results of generations of imperialism, perceived national superiority, and a desired hegemony on the global stage.

In my experience, it is often some of the most well-intentioned people who can be ignorant of these privileges and perpetuate harm through their travels. It can be a Christian evangelist trying to spread the Good News, a student traveling with a local Catholic school to build a school in Haiti, or a college group traveling to Central America to express solidarity, but only achieving bandaid fixes.

While noble at face value, these activities — if done without intention and reflection — often result in the mindless perpetuation of supremacist values and the status quo. How does an American visit Haiti without any acknowledgement of the United States’ role in the transatlantic slave trade? How does an American travel to Central America with no understanding of the United States’ role in destabilizing the region? And how do you do any of that

after voting for Trump, who has been openly hostile and violent toward people from many of these very places?

I am a firm believer that there is no right or wrong way to travel, but I do believe the privileges listed above cannot just be waived or ignored while traveling.

People should be able to experience the world if they are able to — but they must do so with awareness. I am guilty of leveraging my privileges and passport while trying to understand the world more completely. But travelers must be cognizant, critical, and keenly aware of our positionality in doing so. And we can’t disregard the times we blatantly use our access in ways that are harmful, especially when doing so in the name of Jesus Christ or anyone else.

So what should one do? Be cognizant. If we move about the world with a greater understanding of ourselves, our privileges, the bags we carry, and how those realities affect other people, we can challenge ourselves to be better while also holding ourselves accountable when we fall short. I fell short in Myanmar, and have done so many times while traveling.

We all need to learn — just not at the cost of others.

Oberlin Churches Should Consider Pay-it-Forward Lighting Program Lucia Mason Elan Rochelle-Share Contributing Writers Lighting retrofits are becoming accessible to more Oberlin churches through a highly successful program that combines rebates provided by the city with the altruistic nature of churches. The Pay-it-Forward Program strengthens ties between Oberlin churches, reduces carbon dioxide emissions, and — with a little help from Review readers — has the potential to do the same in other communities as well.

The program was born after the First Church in Oberlin, United Church of Christ, qualified for a rebate of approximately $1,800 by switching their lighting from incandescent bulbs to LEDs, according to Eugene Matthews, co-chair of First Church’s “green team” and member of their facilities committee. Instead of absorbing this sum back into their budget, the church chose to use the money to pay for more lighting retrofits, first at Rust United Methodist Church, and later the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship. These churches in turn qualified for rebates that could be passed onto other churches. Today, seven churches have taken part in the program.

The rebates the program relies on are generated through Oberlin’s utility rebates and “super rebates” funded by the city of Oberlin, which match the rebates given by the utility.

Together, these rebates often pay back 50–75 percent of the cost of the bulbs, according to Matthews.

“The idea is to address each one of the churches with the hope that as they look nice and beautiful and lit up inside, you can then talk to the parishioners about having the same thing done on their home,” said Greg Jones, who works for Providing Oberlin With Effi-

6

ciency Responsibly, Oberlin’s community energy conservation nonprofit. Jones is Oberlin’s Energy Advocate and a key player in facilitating the Pay-it-Forward Program. He highlights how Oberlin residents will be more open to energy retrofits within their homes after they see an energy efficiency measure successfully implemented by a source they trust — their church. In essence, the Pay-itForward Program has the potential to reduce carbon dioxide emissions by improving energy efficiency not only in churches but also throughout the broader Oberlin community.

Although POWER facilitates the program, churches decide which church to pass their rebate on to and, alternatively, have the option to keep the rebate if they need the money.

That being said, Jones has worked to expand the program beyond the city’s main religious establishments. In total, he estimates Oberlin has over 25 churches.

The system is crafted so that the pool of rebate money will continue to be replenished.

“We want to zig-zag it a little,” Jones said, describing how he suggests churches choose to pass rebates onto a church that differs from them in size. Bigger, more financially-stable churches can choose to use their own money to bridge any financial gaps caused when small churches do not receive rebates large enough to cover the full cost of a retrofit in a church that is larger than them.

In the event that the “zig-zag” method isn’t enough to sustain the pool of rebate money, Jones has located an external backup funding source. A set of accounts managed by Oberlin students known as the Green EDGE Fund can act as a financial backstop for the program, ensuring that every church — regardless of its size or financial situation — has full access to the program.

See Pay-it-Forward, page 7

Dear Senator Sherrod Brown, Please Run Ilana Foggle Columnist The time has come for politicians all over the country to decide whether or not they will be running for president in 2020. The process is starting now, before candidates officially declare their candidacy, so they can put together presidential exploratory committees, build campaign teams, and start hitting the campaign trail. People like Senators Kamala Harris, Bernie Sanders, Cory Booker, and Elizabeth Warren, as well as former Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick, have already begun the process of declaring their candidacy. However, there is one person who is missing from this robust list of qualified candidates: Senator Sherrod Brown. Unlike many of my past articles, this article is not a call-to-action for Oberlin students. Contrarily, this is a call-toaction to Senator Brown to listen to his constituents and run for President.

Senator Brown’s political career began during his final year at Yale University when he ran for the Ohio House of Representatives and, after graduating, became the legislative body’s youngest member. At age 30, Brown ran for Ohio secretary of state — and won.

From 1983 to 1991, Secretary Brown focused on voter registration and outreach all across Ohio. Then, from 1993 to 2006, Brown served as the U.S. representative for Ohio’s 13th congressional district. In Congress, Brown was an early advocate of LGBTQ rights and opposed an amendment to Ohio’s constitution that would have banned same-sex marriage. He was also one of the few U.S. Representatives to vote against the Defense of Marriage Act in 1996. In 2006, Brown defeated current Ohio Governorelect Mike DeWine in Ohio’s U.S. Senate Race and has served as one of Ohio’s senators ever since. Even as Ohio has elected more and more Republicans into office, Brown has retained his seat and shown voters that Democrats can and will win in Ohio. To say that Brown is qualified is an understatement. However, what makes him the perfect candidate for president is not the fact that he has an immense amount of legislative experience. It is the fact that he can actually win.

Ever since Trump won in 2016, I have heard countless people say, “At least he will be gone by 2020.” Well, I am not so sure.

Trump speaks to a demographic that Hillary Clinton could not.

Many people of color and other minority groups have known all along what some Americans are just beginning to discover now that Trump is president. Our country is sexist. Our country is homophobic. Our country is racist. Donald Trump may have amplified these beliefs among voters in our country, but they have always been there, and without the right Democratic opponent, he will win re-election. To prevent another four years of Trump’s racist and discriminatory policies, the Democratic party needs to unite and pick a candidate who can earn the support of the swing voters that Hillary Clinton was not able to secure.

I am not only saying that Sherrod Brown is the right candidate because he is a straight, white man from Ohio. Frankly, I am saying that a straight, white man from Ohio may be the only candidate who can beat Trump. We cannot continue to ignore a population of voters who voted against Hillary Clinton simply because she was a woman. Our country cannot afford another four years of President Trump without irreparable damage to social progress.

In order to work toward a day where a woman will be president, we must have a Democratic candidate who can actually win in 2020.

Ohio is a key state in presidential races, and with the state becoming more and more red, a beloved politician from Ohio — like Sherrod Brown — may be the only Democrat who can turn Ohio blue come 2020. As president, I know Brown will continue to advocate for minority communities across Ohio and the country.

He is experienced, he is loved across the state, he speaks to both progressives and moderates, and he might just be the person to take Trump out of office. But Sherrod Brown hasn’t officially declared that he will be running for president … yet.

Now, I don’t ever want to be president. But I want to live in a country where someone who looks like me could be. We aren’t there yet, but we do have an opportunity in 2020 to show Trump and his supporters that love can trump hate. That kindness can trump fear. That decency can trump bigotry. That one day, a gay man or a woman of color will easily beat an unqualified racist like Trump to become the president of the United States of America.

We can’t “make America great again” when it was never great.

But, we can elect a president who can pave the way for a day when it will be.

So here is my call-to-action: Dear Senator Sherrod Brown, Please run.

Thank you, An Oberlin student who can’t take four more years of hate.

P.S. Make Beto O’Rourke your Vice President. I want to see Trump’s face when he loses both Ohio and Texas.

SFC Strives to Increase Efficiency Through Council System Elijah Aladin Contributing Writer Over the course of this semester, SFC has been reviewing its policies to identify inefficiencies and improve the efficacy of its allocations. The following piece lays out the structure for a new council system that SFC is adopting. The original policy’s language has been edited by the Review for length and clarity.

The Student Finance Committee is undergoing a policy review to restructure funding channels for the services and activities sponsored by the Student Activity Fund. In coordination with Student Senate and the Office of the Student Treasurer, SFC must evaluate the efficacy of core allocation processes. While this is an ongoing evaluation subject to feedback, the committee has identified major inefficiencies in the spring budgeting process and, as such, has begun to rely on ad hoc funds to sponsor fluctuating and nonconstant programming throughout the year. In this transitory year, the committee has adopted a hybrid system in which many groups received some funding in the 2019 fiscal year spring budgeting process but received less funding than they were allocated in previous fiscal years.

The issue with this reallocation was that it was largely arbitrary, as it required SFC, with its limited knowledge, to assess the importance of one event, service, or mission versus another. This new Council system addresses allocation inefficiencies as well as student development goals that the Committee has identified in the SFC Policy review. The policy recommendations aim to aggregate expenses to address the issues of repetitive and extraneous spending within student organizations.

The Committee also recognizes that stu-

dents’ assumption of personal responsibility for SAF money is unfair without adequate preparation and consistent guidance throughout the allocation processes. This system hopes to alleviate some responsibility from students while cultivating their financial literacy by restructuring the allocation system to facilitate more engagement of the student body by the Committee. Such engagement will also allow the Committee to participate in student leadership development, as well as cultivate networks of student leaders and resources that will eventually translate to alumni leaders and resources. The Councils will allow a platform for student organizations to collaborate on events that represent an intersection between clubs with similar missions.

Each Council should consist of a member of SFC serving as chair of that committee and one voting member to represent each student organization. While only one member from each organization will be allowed to vote, any number of members may attend Council meetings and actively participate in event discussion and planning. Each Council will be chaired by a member of SFC, who will facilitate the appointment of a Council operations manager and Council coordinator.

Council members should be an officer of the student organization — ideally, the student union liaison, chair, or treasurer of represented student organizations — elected by an internal process. Votes will be collected anonymously through a mechanism developed by the SFC. This voting system will allow for organization members to give feedback on how their ideas are being incorporated or represented by the elected Council members, past and present. Thus, this voting system will give an indication of membership and divided ideologies within the club as well as promote equitable rep-

resentation within club structures.

Rather than allocating for the upcoming fiscal year in the spring, this system will allocate on a rolling basis that corresponds with and accommodates event planning.

Council members should be elected and established by the first week of April. This deadline will allow sufficient time for councils to assemble plans, communicate those plans, and receive feedback from the Student Finance Committee for events planned for Commencement, summer months, and early fall. Furthermore, this timeline will correspond with many similar deadlines for student organizations, such as new officer elections and submission of the new officer list to the Student Union. Following their appointment, Councils will convene at least once monthly during the first week of the month — the necessity of additional meetings are up to the discretion of the council. During this meeting, the council will, to their best ability, detail plans for events up to three months away.

The SFC will deliberate over the next two weeks on the final allocations for each of the councils. The Committee will assess the events against the priorities and goals established by the Student Governance Council. The Student Governance Council will consider timelines, demand for programming across semesters, historical spending, institutional initiatives, and student feedback when prioritizing goals for student government. The Committee should also consider competition for audience, participation, and spacing between events scheduled by different councils when making allocation decisions. SFC will review the event proposals as well as any ad hoc proposals that were not heard at the initial Council meetings. Once SFC makes allocation decisions, the Committee will return a master list of Council

Letter to the Editors (cont.)

Continued from page 5

The blending of artistic and musical excellence with a quality academic program is what distinguishes Oberlin.

Artists and musicians tend not to see limits in pursuing their goals. Nor are they particularly concerned with the “return on investment” of their education.

They only seek absolutes in terms of their performance and creative expression. This single-mindedness of purpose provides a great example for intellectual pursuits and pursuits related to social justice, because unconstrained creativity is crucial to the advancement of society. The key constituent components that distinguish Oberlin have resulted in a particular ethos that uniquely positions us in the liberal arts world.

However painful the coming financial challenges are, Oberlin will survive this Darwinian phase we are experiencing. Oberlin’s traditions and its living community of students, faculty, and alumni are too strong to allow anything else.

If I were thinking of college now, I would be so grateful to know there is a school like Oberlin there for me. Fifty years from now others will say the same.

Donn Ginoza, OC ’74 Member, Alumni Leadership Council The Oberlin Review | November 30, 2018

Joy Karega Deserved to be Fired

The Review recently reported that Joy Karega is suing Oberlin over her dismissal, her case “claiming breach of contract and employment discrimination on the basis of race and gender” (“Karega Sues College, Claiming Discrimination,” The Oberlin Review, Nov. 16, 2018). She actually got fired for posting indisputably anti-Semitic conspiracy theories on Facebook. Does anyone think this constitutes discrimination against her?

Firing Karega reflected basic morality and logic. We know in principle that any institution is justified in firing someone who, even in their personal life, publicly endorses vulgar, racist ideas. Many of Karega’s defenders likely concede as much. For example, when yet another white person has a public racist outburst or meltdown, many on the political left identify them and call for the person to lose their job.

Some might construe Karega’s posts as being on a lesser scale than other racist

acts and therefore relatively innocuous. But the principles behind her firing remain unchanged and paramount.

For example, we agree that if Karega was sharing neo-Nazi white-supremacist website The Daily Stormer on Facebook, Oberlin would not only be right to remove her, but also within its rights to distance itself from her or any other professor promoting anti-Semitic beliefs. In principle, then, some social media posts are grounds for dismissal.

That her posts were anti-Semitic is without question (“Karega-Mason’s Facebook Posts Anti-Semitic,” The Oberlin Review, March 4, 2016). So to anyone who disagrees with Karega’s firing — particularly those evaluating her actions in terms of scale — does that mean you’re willing to overlook even a little anti-Semitism?

Similarly, though less important, is that Karega publicly promoting any conspiracy theories at all speaks to the value she places on serious scholarship and therefore her qualifications to teach Oberlin College students rhetoric and composition.

Tom Cohn College senior

and ad hoc proposals and the associated funding allocated to each of the Councils and student organizations within those Councils. The Committee will also assign ad hoc proposals to student organizations with missions that align with the mission of the ad hoc. Both Councils and student organizations will have the opportunity to appeal the Committee’s assignment of ad hoc proposals and scheduling on the event master list. If the Committee cannot place an ad hoc with a specific Council or student organization, the Committee will be responsible for facilitating the programming proposed via ad hoc, contingent on the proposal’s approval.

The committee will consider the appeals and/or student organization plans to incorporate ad hocs to their proposed programming and make a final allocation.

Finally, SFC will create and disseminate a master calendar of events. To ensure survey respondents are representative of the event attendees, groups will be required to ticket for events and collect emails via a mechanism developed by SFC for individuals who receive tickets. This form will be disseminated and responses collected monthly to groups organizing SFC-sponsored programming. The survey responses and group cooperation in the survey process will be considered in future allocation decisions.

The ad hoc form should be disseminated monthly to the student body, and will be available on the SFC website with brief instructions and insights into the ad hoc process. The Council system will also encourage individual ad hoc proposals to collaborate with student organizations that are already chartered. This is consistent with organization’s community-building goals because it also points students to the groups sponsoring events that they want to see on campus.

Pay-it-Forward Benefits Everyone Continued from page 6

Surprisingly, the biggest problem the program faces is difficulty convincing churches to participate, simply because it seems too good to be true. Churches tend to take a while to warm up to the idea that someone else would pay for their lighting retrofit. It took almost a year for Rust United Methodist Church to accept the First Church’s rebate money due to confusion about the sequence of payments.

This was the experience of Thom Colon, president of the board of Oberlin’s Unitarian Universalist Fellowship.

“It actually took me a while to understand what our responsibility was and what expectations people had for us,” Colon said.

However, once the program was fully explained to him, Colon was all on board. “It’s kind of a win-win. Somebody’s going to give you money to make an improvement, and all you have to do is when you get the reward you just have to share it. I mean that’s kind of a church thing anyway.”

The fact that the program strengthens bonds between Oberlin churches of different faiths and demographics is just as much a draw for participants as the lighting retrofits.

“It’s really not so much about energy conservation as it is about community, about churches

helping churches,” Matthews aptly said.

The success of the Pay-itForward Program has sparked interest even beyond Oberlin. In fact, Jones has received inquiries about it from Cleveland and Avon.

“I always think of whatever we’re doing here as a prototype for what other communities can look to do,” Jones said. This prototype has exceeded expectations.

Extending the program’s format beyond Oberlin is exactly what needs to happen to fully develop this concept. Oberlin students: Start a Pay-it-Forward Program in your hometown that builds off the prototype modeled here. Oberlin churches: Contact Greg Jones to get in line to have a rebate passed on to you. Or don’t wait — pay to switch your light to LEDs, and be the church to pay a rebate forward. Adapt the basic outline of the program to your circumstances.

Pay-it-forward programs don’t just have to apply to LED retrofits, either. Any energy efficiency change that qualifies for a rebate could be “paid forward.” Participants don’t have to be churches either. Why not pass rebates between schools?

Or even whole towns? Let’s think outside the box — and combat climate change and build community while we’re at it.

7

DOODLES OF

In every Oberlin class I’ve been in, I’ve seen people doodling. Economic students draw cartoons in other languages, and Anthropology students put out the call for doodle submissions and received many responses fro are a few doodles, as well as statements from the doodlers. Layout a AMELIA HUANG • COLLEGE SENIOR • GEOLOGY

“I like choosing a pattern and then seeing how other shapes emerge when I repeat it.”

CAROLINE SPITTEL • COLLEGE SENIOR • ENVIRONMENTAL STUDIES

“I doodle in lieu of journaling, and it helps me remember a moment in time more clearly. I think it is just really nice to focus on the things that I see around me, and it helps me understand the way that I see things a little bit more.”

SARAH NATHANSON • COLLEGE SENIOR • THEATER

“I doodled this particular doodle one day in my social psychology class; we were covering some rather unpleasant topics, such as the psychological basis for discrimination and why we perpetuate harmful and irrational behaviors.”

KIRSTEN MOJZISZEK • COLLEGE SENIOR • NEUROSCIENCE

EMILY JACOBSON • COLLEGE JUNIOR • POLITICS AND MATH

“I think doodling helps me pay closer attention in class. It’s also how I can go to sleep at night knowing I’ll never get into an Oberlin art class.”

CALENDAR FRIDAY, NOV. 30 // Snow Ball

Dress up and get down at this winter-themed formal dance. Tickets are $10 — details about sale times and locations will be posted on the Facebook event. The first 100 guests to arrive qualify for a free drink.

The Hotel at Oberlin // 8 p.m.–12 a.m.

“I really like writing and drawing to help process information, so if I’m not taking notes in a class or [a] meeting, I’ll be doodling instead.

This is something I drew when there was a lot going on during a Student Senate Plenary. The little plant dudes are inspired from [the TV series] Hilda and remind me to keep joy in my life.”

FRIDAY & SATURDAY NOV. 30–DEC. 1 // Fall Forward

Fall Forward is an annual showcase of multi-genre, student-choreographed dance pieces. This year, the show will conclude with a piece by Visiting Assistant Professor Alice Blumenfeld. Tickets are $5 and can be purchased through the Central Ticket Service.

Warner Main Space, Warner Center // 8 p.m.

SATURDAY, DEC. 1 // Asian Night Market

Come celebrate the cuisine and culture of Asian countries and the Asian diaspora at this popular annual event. Many student organizations will contribute both food and performances. Tickets are $5 at the door.

Root Room, Carnegie Building // 6–8 p.m.

OBERLIN

cs students draw prisms on graph paper, language draw their classmates. Inspired by these artists, I om students from a wide variety of majors. Here and text by Mikaela Fishman, This Week Editor CARRIE KLEIN • COLLEGE SENIOR • ENGLISH AND ENVIRONMENTAL STUDIES

“Doodling feels more intuitive than some art because I am always supposed to be paying attention to something else, so I don’t think too hard about what I’m drawing. I like to see where a pattern will go and how I can fill a page.”

DOCTOR TRUMPET • DOUBLE-DEGREE SENIOR • NEUROSCIENCE AND TRUMPET

“My creativity is gradually exchanged for stability. Daily pills for four to six weeks grant me the power to conform. Beautiful epiphanies and emotional disasters exchanged for safe and surface-level interactions. This two-part doodle series portrays the decrease in excitement experienced after my ‘stabilization.’”

ELIANA ZUCKERMAN • COLLEGE SENIOR • THEATER & NEUROSCIENCE

“Doodling keeps me focused in class — it gives me something to look forward to on slow days. The doodle of the girl’s head with no eyes is my murderbot. She was drawn on the day of the Kavanaugh [hearing] as a way to channel my anger.”

ALEX TASH • COLLEGE SOPHOMORE • UNDECLARED

“I like to doodle because it gives me a way to interpret my feelings and ideas into something tangible that isn’t as explicit as writing. It’s a way to relax and let go of stuff that doesn’t quite fit in my head. I do a lot of doodles based on what I read for class. They help me examine the text from a new perspective.”

THURSDAY, DEC. 6 // First Thursday: De/Re-Contextualizing Classical Sculpture

A panel discussion on the pinhole photography exhibition by Adam Fuss, titled “A Different Kind of Picture.” The panel consists of Liliana Milkova, curator of Academic Programs; Olivia Fountain, OC ’17 and Anne Lunder Leland Fellow at the Colby College Museum of Art; Drew Wilburn, associate professor of Classics; and Chris Trinacty, associate professor of Classics. Their discussion will center around Fuss’ career, classical sculpture, museum displays, Pygmalion myths, and much more.

Allen Memorial Art Museum, King Sculpture Court // 5:30–7:30 p.m.

GAVIN EPSTEIN • COLLEGE SENIOR • COMPUTER SCIENCE AND MATH

“I like to doodle because I can’t pay attention in class and need to be doing something with my hands in order to focus.”

A r t s & C u ltu r e

November 30, 2018

ARTS & CULTURE established 1874

Volume 147, Number 10

Science Gets a Theatrical Spin with Copenhagen

ing accounts of their disastrous meeting and their discussion about the undeveloped atomic bomb.

The play addresses the uncertainty of people’s memories and motives as the characters wrestle with the question: Why do we do the things we do?

College sophomore Lex Martin, who plays Heisenberg, reflected on the questions that Copenhagen raises about the nature of memory in an email to the Review.

“Everything about this play deserves second glances,” Martin wrote. “On the surface, it is about a historically factual conversation between two figures that [were] slowly figuring out that they had

the fate of the world in their hands. …

With another listen, though, it becomes [uncertain] whether their appreciation of nuclear potential was fully formed at the time. How do people recall the past?

What do we wish to believe about ourselves? … Everybody can burrow into their beliefs and play back the past as they’d like to remember it. But how well were we watching ourselves? … Deep, deep down, these same themes echo among the most evidenced [tendencies] of the universe. Coincidence? I think not.”

The play incorporates scientific language and concepts in a way that is approachable for people unfamiliar with

STEM. College senior Jackson ZinnRowthorn, director of the production, addressed this in an email to the Review. “[The play] takes these arcane physics concepts of uncertainty and complementarity and employs them as metaphors for the personal struggles of the two physicists who first worked them out,” he wrote. “And in doing so they become accessible and relevant to people like me who aren’t necessarily science-minded.”

Zinn-Rowthorn described how the production’s minimal set affected the rehearsal process.

“Whereas other shows I’ve directed were much more tech-heavy and involved a lot of moving parts, this one calls for three actors and three chairs and very little else,” he wrote. “So the rehearsal process was streamlined, and we were afforded a lot of time to focus on text analysis and close scene work. … It’s an intensely demanding show for actors because, without tech, the brunt of the storytelling work falls on their shoulders. I’m so fortunate to be collaborating with three excellent actors. …

Their dedication and talent consistently blows my mind.”

College junior Amanda Stavis, who plays Margrethe, echoed this sentiment.

“It’s a physically stripped-down show with a small cast, so we could really do a deep dive on the acting work,” Stavis wrote in an email to the Review.

These circumstances also afforded the cast the space to consider the central themes of the play. In her email, Stavis said that she thinks the play imparts the message that “no one person or event is easily morally definable.”

Philadelphia to record the project at Miner Street Studios, where famous acts such as Sufjan Stevens, Modern Baseball, and Kurt Vile recorded their works. From the opening track, Over Lake Erie catches your ear with a vibrant and intimate sound.

The album was mixed by Matt Poirier and mastered by Xcoustic Sound.

The final mixes create a wonderful balance among each instrument, and there are new intricacies to discover upon every listen. Even “Odyssey,” a song which did not have as effective a sound as the earlier tracks, had me admiring the quality of the mixes.

Each song is patiently paced — the titular track “Over Lake Erie” introduces the group’s emotionally-resonant style. The song’s arc, beginning with its patient build, is met with delicate vocal harmonies carried by its drifting instrumentation. Hilton’s harmonies and Bailey’s melody join together seamlessly to create a slow and somber dance, characterized by the intermingling of acoustic and electric guitar.

“Misty” shifts from catchy, wordheavy verses to its slow, ballad-like chorus. It’s similar to “Over Lake Erie,” but instead finds its heart in the chorus. Hilton’s intricate basslines fill the lower register over Bailey’s singing in the breakdown, and seg-

ue into a grand, yet solemn ending.

This is another strength of Preacher & Daisy — every song closes with reflection, no matter its energy.

The fadeout of “Over Lake Erie” has Bailey lamenting: “I’m this world’s to waste / I’m this world’s to break.” This serves as a soft transition to the upbeat “Frequencies.” The juxtaposition between poetic lyrics and Edgerly’s upbeat drums captures a sense of urgency, as Bailey sings, “Sarah, I didn’t mean to disappear like that / Out in the Midwest chasing what I never had.”

Abstract imagery is grounded by these moments of intimacy and vulnerability. They are scattered throughout the recordings, and I pondered through my unanswered questions after every replay. Bailey’s doubled vocals in “Frequencies” are also a nice touch, and the powerful momentum puts Baltor’s guitar solos to overdrive, with a tone reminiscent of The Killers. This track is the highlight of the EP, sharing space for each band member’s contribution to be evenly admired.

“Odyssey” departs from emotional prayers and regrets, taking a turn into a blend closer to Americana and folk with a talk-sing hook. A song like this, about the beautiful lie of life, demonstrates the band’s ability to span mul-

tiple genres. Most impressive was the song’s dynamic rise and fall, filled with breakdowns and solos.

While “Odyssey” did not have the same punch as other tracks, its mellowness signaled a shift in tone to set the scene for “Clint Eastwood #2.”

The stripped-down, acoustic track featured a solo performance by Bailey on guitar. Upon first listen, the bare instrumentation feels as though it does not do the rest of the EP justice, considering the complete sound of the band in the prior recordings. I found myself waiting for the full band to kick in, as it did in “Misty.” Yet his claims of self-loathing and hopelessness fit the acoustic, old-timey sound.

While this song did not fit in the context of the overall sound of Over Lake Erie, it stands on its own well.

“Clint Eastwood #2” ends on a chord which sounds unresolved, beckoning the ear for that one final note to complete the song’s cycle. That resolution never comes — perhaps it will be found in Preacher & Daisy’s next record. For now, they know you’re listening. The emotional and mature lyricism, combined with the talent of Bailey, Hilton, Baltor, and Edgerly, create an emotional soundtrack of the hardships in the Midwest. Let us hope this is the first of many more records to come.

College junior Hartley Wise stars in Copenhagen, an Oberlin College Theater production with performances tonight and Saturday.

Photo Courtesy of Celie Johnson

Katherine MacPhail Production Editor Copenhagen, a play by Michael Frayn that explores a mystery of modern history, debuted yesterday in South Studios, and will run through Saturday, Dec. 1.

In the play, the spirits of Werner Heisenberg, Niels Bohr, and Niels’ wife Margrethe discuss why Heisenberg went to Copenhagen to meet Bohr during the height of WWII. Heisenberg, the lead physicist for the Nazi nuclear project, risked his life to visit his friend and mentor Bohrs, a Jewish physicist with ties to the Allied powers. In the afterlife, the two scientists share conflict-

Indie Group Preacher & Daisy Releases Over Lake Erie

Carson Dowhan Senior Staff Writer Preacher & Daisy, an Oberlin student folk group, will be releasing its debut EP Over Lake Erie next week.

College senior Sam Bailey released his solo record Preacher & Daisy in the summer of 2017. Soon after, he began playing with College sophomore Eva Hilton to form an electric guitar and bass duo. Over time, Cody Edgerly, OC '17, and Conservatory senior Maddy Baltor filled in on the drums and electric guitar, forming the indie-folk-rock group, Preacher & Daisy.

Bailey found the name for his fledgling group after reading a short story titled “The History of Rodney” by environmental writer Rick Bass.

“In the story, Daisy, is an old woman who has dedicated her life to waiting in the Mississippi ghost town of Rodney for her lover Preacher to come back,” Bailey said. “My freshman year, I wrote a song called ‘Preacher & Daisy’ inspired by the story and later decided to use the name for my musical project.”

After months of shows on and off campus, the group is releasing their first EP Dec. 7. After raising a few thousand dollars via GoFundMe, Preacher & Daisy made their way to

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A Man In the House Celebrates Family Ties

Kate Fishman, Arts & Culture Editor Photo by Maria Turner, Photo Editor This weekend will mark the opening of A Man In the House, an Oberlin Student Theater Association production. Written by Elinore Siminovitch, the play takes place in 1937 Montreal and chronicles the lives of Lily, a progressive trade unionist, her daughter Jenny, who rejects her mother’s aspirations for her to attend medical school, and Lily’s mother, who cares deeply about her family but resists progress. A boarder comes to live with them as the first man in their house and the strikes up a romance with Lily, despite great political differences. In the wake of their breakup, they have to find new ways to navigate their shared space.

Julia Peterson, a College senior and the play’s director, started thinking about putting on the show over a year ago. She has a personal connection to the script, as it was written by her grandmother.

“The idea of her that I have in my head is of a person who would have really loved Oberlin,” said Peterson of Siminovitch, a feminist socialist, and

a prolific writer with a firebrand personality much like her protagonist.

Peterson designed a set that reflects her personal connection — the tablecloth is her family’s tablecloth, a portrait of her grandmother hangs among the feminists that adorn the bedroom, and Peterson’s Shabbat candles are included onstage.

A Man In the House is interestingly anachronistic — something Peterson leaned into, using ’60s and ’70s union songs for the scene transitions.

The play’s protagonist acts much like a second-wave feminist; additionally, there are also several references made to fascism despite the pre-Holocaust time period.

“Especially for somewhere like Oberlin that is so progressive, a lot of the ideas that [people are] fighting for seem like such a done deal,” Peterson said. “But then you have to think, this wasn’t that long ago, and it’s not the past for many people.”

The play will run tonight and tomorrow at 8 p.m. in Wilder Main, with tickets sold at the door for $5.

Crimes of Grindelwald Falls Short of Predecessor Kabir Karamchandani There are few franchises with a stronger fan base than J.K. Rowling’s Wizarding World — particularly among our generation of 20-somethings who grew up dreaming of centaurs, phoenixes, dragons, and hippogriffs. This is why the lackluster Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them: The Crimes of Grindelwald came as such a disappointment.

From the get-go, The Crimes of Grindelwald is a darker movie than its predecessor. The focus is no longer on colorful creatures — instead, the opening is a gruesome scene of a captive Grindelwald, played by Johnny Depp, chained and allegedly voiceless.

He predictably doesn’t remain quiet for long, and much of the film follows his deadly exploits. Low-lit shots and stark colors are featured throughout, mirroring the shift in focus from one wizard’s magical adventures to the emergence of a genocidal cult determined to subjugate all non-magical people and start a war that will drastically transform the world.

The Oberlin Review | November 30, 2018

The beasts are not the only thing we see less of in this installment; the endearing partnership between Newt Scamander and Jacob Kowalski, played by Eddie Redmayne and Dan Fogler, respectively, also receives less screen time. The story’s dark shift to focus on Grindelwald made this transition inevitable, but it is unfortunate given that the two characters shine in the little time they spend together and add some much-needed lightheartedness to the somber plotline.

In their absence are a plethora of new characters and plot threads, many of which have little, if any, payoff. The biggest issue with The Crimes of Grindelwald is that it is too convoluted. Rowling’s expertise lies in writing books, where there is more room to explore smaller details that ultimately have little impact on the story as a whole. Despite its impressive 134-minute run time, the script still leaves several threads and relationships unresolved and undeveloped.

The one new character who works

remarkably well is Depp’s Grindelwald. Voldemort, the main villain of the original Harry Potter series, was so monstrous that only the worst of wizardkind could conceivably follow him. But with Grindelwald, Rowling paints a compelling picture of a brilliant demagogue in a time of impending crisis and global insecurity. Grindelwald is intelligent and persuasive like few villains in blockbuster movies are, carefully manipulating public opinion to convince audiences he is in the right.

Unfortunately, when not focusing on Grindelwald’s impending war at large, the movie has many elements that don’t work. The tonal shift from the first movie is completely incongruous with the returning characters, most of whom are still a central focus of this film. The awkward Newt and unceasingly positive Kowalski seem absurdly out of place except for when they’re with each other, fumbling through interactions in a world that is becoming ever more dangerous and nefarious.

Another factor that may deter viewers is the inconsistency in storylines introduced throughout this film. Purists invested in the Harry Potter canon might cringe at some of the clumsy name drops and incongruous plot points which attempt to draw from the original series. These choices stretch the audience’s suspension of disbelief that may make the film unpalatable for some.

The Crimes of Grindelwald, while not a complete disaster, has more than its fair share of problems. If you are a fan of the magic and wonder of the original movies and the first Fantastic Beasts, then this film will disappoint you. But if you’re interested in a darker look at Rowling’s Wizarding World, then this movie is worth a watch. Of course, as this is only the second of five planned Fantastic Beasts films, avid fans of the series and casual moviegoers alike must wait for future installments — the next of which has a tentative release date of Nov. 20, 2020 — to know exactly what is to come of Rowlings’ characters.

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

On the Record with Andrew V. Uroskie, Filmmaker and Professor Andrew V. Uroskie is an associate professor of art and the director of graduate studies in Art History and Criticism at Stony Brook University in New York.

Uroskie specializes in late modern and contemporary art with a focus on postwar and contemporary artists that work in durational mediums such as video, film, and sound. On Nov. 29, he presented a lecture at Oberlin titled “Beyond The Whole Earth?: David OReilly’s Everything (2017),” about how OReilly’s work traverses the traditionally segregated fields of fine art, experimental film, social media, and game design. Here he discusses interdisciplinarity in film, and treading the delicate lines of advancing the field.

Interview by Gabe Schneier, Staff Writer This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

Andrew V. Uroskie

I was wondering if you could talk a little bit just about how you see David OReilly’s films as important?

I actually came upon David OReilly years ago when I was starting out teaching. I’m not actually sure how I ran into him originally, but somehow I encountered his short film, Rgb Xyz. I think that’s from around 2006 or [2007], and it was really quite striking, because the direction of media art and digital video — especially over the course of the '90s and early 2000s — was increasing in sophistication.

There were other people kind of working in this way, but I thought it was quite striking that he was going in this completely other direction to produce [an] aesthetic that was very reminiscent of the first video games and then just really screwing with perspective. It was a video that was really taking on board the visual language of video gaming, which I think especially scholars have a really hard time with because it’s a generational thing. They don’t understand it. They don’t know why kids are interested in video games. They don’t like the fact that it’s this multi-billion dollar industry. And that’s reasonable, because a lot of video games are kind of boring.

Not just aesthetically, but even philosophically, with the idea of the video games. So that’s kind of what got me into his work.

So he was one of the first people to bring video games into the fine art context?

It’s always hard to say who was the first, but I think he was very interested in bringing both the history and the visual history and the kind of radical perspective that you get playing video games. When you’re watching a movie, you just see it from a human perspective, like on the ground. Whereas with [video games], you can do flyovers and go over and under things and all around. So you see from this radically expanded perspective. That work for me is really all about perspective.

It’s all about this explosion of our traditional model of perspective in the

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tinuum and challenge that continuum.

I think that contemporary art is really no different in that respect. What is a little different is that artists are using media technologies that everyone is familiar with. So making art on the internet, for instance, is challenging in a different way because in a sense it’s too close. But also, just as I said before, there is a deep-seated divide for a lot of people between art and technology or art and science, which is a little bit strange. If you go back to Leonardo Da Vinci, [he’s] the quintessential exPhoto Courtesy of Andrew V. Uroskie ample, because he’s an absolutely caera of Google Maps and Google Earth nonical figure in terms of drawing and [that let us] instantly see from a mac- painting, and yet he’s designing flying rocosmic view as well as a microcos- machines and catapults. He thinks of mic view. himself as an engineer, and he is a brilliant inventor. So there’s always been a Is that a trend? Are people try- kind of mixture of the two. ing to use those tools or to build on I think that as technology and scithem? ence have grown in importance since Definitely something like Google the industrial revolution, there’s been Maps and Google Earth and more gen- a strong romantic strain that wants to erally the kinds of perspective and kind of keep the artists pure and provisuality that computational technol- tected from all of that. And I don’t disogies have given us. That’s something agree with that. I think that it’s very that has become incredibly import- important that we have [different ant to a whole range of media artists departments] at a college, that everyworking today. thing isn’t just a department of engiEspecially since the 2000–2010s in neering and science. We should have the international art fairs — especially humanities and arts and things like the more technologically savvy ones, that, but it’s also important to try and like in Korea and in the Gwangju Bien- bring those together. niale, at Document or Venice — a lot of early media art that you saw in these What do you see as major changplaces was just a kind of a film-mak- es recently that popular technology ing. Whereas now I think you’re see- like the internet and smartphones ing a generation of artists who are have brought into aesthetic producreally working with the computer as tion? a medium, and the computer is fundaThe ubiquity of smartphones and mentally not a visual medium. It’s not social media has really changed the a camera. It’s an algorithmic system whole visual culture landscape. Just that manipulates data and the ways 20 years ago you needed to lug around that enables us to visualize the world. a camera [to] be a photographer. But It’s based on obtaining all kinds of now everyone is a photographer. Evdata from all kinds of different sourc- eryone has this ability on their phone es and then integrating in some way and the ability to cycle images. It creto generate a picture. And that pic- ates these very, very quick feedback ture may or may not have to do with loops. The news cycle now is so fast anything that we as humans can see and so much is happening so quickly with our eyes. It’s different kinds of that you can’t keep up. And there’s this mappings, [like] when we see through information overload. A lot of artists a thermal camera, for instance. The are sort of exploring what happens to heat record can be translated into a a memory, what happens to social invisual form that we can see, and that’s teraction. just a very easy example, but there’s It’s a little bit of a generational tons of different things — of course thing. I think it’s very interesting, you going all the way up to something like know, my parents who are still alive global climate change, that’s not even use cell phones, but they don’t use something that’s possible to see … but them like my [first-years] in college, it takes place over such a huge space right? The [first-years] have never and such a long time. So it’s a very dif- lived without them, and it’s just absoferent type of visualization, a very dif- lutely integrated into everything they ferent type of seeing. do.

My parents still turn off their cell Does that require us to open up phones for large parts of the day. I just new ideas of what art is? don’t even understand why you would There’s a long history of art trying ever do that. No one I know ever turns to both exist within a historical con- off their cell phones. It’s just always

on. But in terms of the aesthetics that come out of that, there’s a wide variety depending on the issues that people are invested in. One of the things that it relates to is this idea that’s incredibly prevalent in the art world right now of identity, for example the politics of identity and the new visual reality that’s been enabled through social media representation. The ability to share things and to generate audiences so quickly brings together communities. They may not be very strong communities, they may not endure very long, but they grow very quickly and have this media effect.

Do you think that these modern digital mediums require new critical methods?

Definitely. I think art history, for instance, is really in the midst of a major transformation, because if you look at a lot of art history programs, you study certain kinds of work from certain traditions and there are certain models of interpretation that go along with that.

But then if you were to take those people and drop them in a contemporary art exhibition, I think a lot of those people would be very confused as to what the hell is going on. There’s a disconnect between a lot of these older models and what younger artists are working on. There’s a lot of concern with social and cultural criticism; there’s a lot of concern with political criticism, there’s a lot of concern with media, technology and [digital] culture. These are things that are really addressed in the old-fashioned art historical models. I still think that those models are very important to learn in terms of dealing with certain types of work. But I think that the field as a whole is just much more interdisciplinary. Artists are much more interdisciplinary. They don’t care whether it’s from the art historical tradition anymore, they’re going to use elements of political history, of cultural history, of technological innovation, of psychology in an attempt to respond to their present. And in terms of forms, since the rise of installation and the rise of media installations, there’s such a diversity of forms that they can use. I think there’s no easy way to respond to that, but I think that the most effective way of responding to that is for criticism to open itself up to this more interdisciplinary orientation.

I think it’s much more rewarding to have this more radically open perspective because a lot of the objects out there that don’t fit into the traditional models tend to be objects that are more productive. And they open up your possibilities for reimagining our relationship to the world.

Experimental Arts Films Screened in Conjunction with AIDS Talk

A still from one of filmmaker Luther Price’s short films, screened Tuesday in the Clarence Ward '37 Art Building.

Photo by Maria Turner, Photo Editor Josh Spielman Staff Writer What do surgery footage, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, hardcore pornography, and paint have in common? Visiting Assistant Professor of Modern and Contemporary Art History James Hansen ran all of them through his personal Super 8mm film projector on Tuesday in a presentation of seven original films by Boston artist Luther Price. This coincided with a Convocation address by Jesse Milan Jr., the president and CEO of AIDS United.

Price, an interdisciplinary experimental artist with a rich body of work on film, lent Hansen the films pro bono. The seven short films consisted of free-association mashups of footage, some shot by Price himself and others ripped from various sources.

Footage of dated Hollywood melo-

dramas, cowboy Westerns, operating rooms, and men performing various sex acts conversed with each other.

“The screening … totally surpassed all my expectations,” said College senior Alex Scheitinger. Praising the “intimate setting” of the screening, he commented, “We were all intently focused on what was going on onscreen.”

It’s true ­— during the first screening of a three-minute long, completely silent film called House, you could’ve heard a pin drop. The film interspersed mildly disorienting footage of a quiet semi-urban landscape, branches, siding, windows, and sunsets, with explicit footage of two men in a nondescript room having sex. The film’s program notes suggested that House is meant to resist the way queer sexuality is relegated to the private domain, out of the public eye. As Hansen put it, “The suggestion is that gay sex is hap-

COMIC

pening there [behind closed doors] and that’s something you should see.”

Hansen discussed the way Price’s work, during the time of the AIDS crisis, came into conflict with certain tendencies among activists for queer visibility and acceptance.

“The objective in the gay community at the time was to have positive, affirmative images of gay people — which often meant that you’re not showing gay sex,” he said.

Tuesday’s screening demonstrated a healthy and necessary response to the idea that homosexuality is shameful and should be hidden to gain social acceptance.

In a 2012 interview with Tara Nelson, another Boston-based filmmaker and curator, Price rejected being pigeonholed “as this gritty, badass, gay filmmaker [that] I’m not.” Nevertheless, his use of raw pornographic footage sets him apart from many

of his avant-garde film predecessors and contemporaries. As Hansen noted, avant-garde filmmakers have long incorporated pornography into their work, but few have refrained from “working over, or shifting that material,” making pornography an instrument for other political or aesthetic aims. In contrast, in much of Price’s work, “it’s still pornography.”

This is not the first time Hansen, who has known Price since 2012 and published scholarly works such as “The Fall of Days: Luther Price’s Nine Biscuits (2004-08)” about him, has shown Price’s films at Oberlin. In spring 2018, Hansen screened six of Price’s 16mm films. Tuesday’s screening showcased Price’s Super 8mm films, a format that is comparatively smaller, cheaper, and allows for less clarity and detail, making it less “professional.”

Additionally, Super 8 is a considerably fragile format, which is easily scratched and worn. Price utilizes this feature to physically scratch lines into the images. Part of what makes these films unique, and according to Hansen, “one of the reasons [Price] has been taken up in the art world more recently,” is because the original films themselves are art objects.

For example, the final film shown, Gift Givers, consists of found pornographic footage which Price then physically painted on top of, creating a beautiful, distinct visual effect. This technique means that paint will inevitably scrape off the reel when the film is projected. In a 2012 interview with Idiom, Price lamented that his films have accrued a reputation as “unprojectable.”

While this characterization of Price’s films might be a bit overblown, Hansen confirmed that Gift Givers did, in fact, get his projector “really dirty.”

Though the Anthology Film Archive in New York has taken on the project of digitizing some of Price’s films, their quaint, hand-assembled charm and the aura of physical objecthood can’t be reproduced. For this reason it’s a major privilege to see them — according to Hansen — “struggle through the projector.”

Claire Wang Staff Cartoonist

Homer is Where the Heart Is

The Oberlin Review | November 30, 2018

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Sp ort s

Malaika Djungu-Sungu and Jada Kennerly, Women’s Track and Field First-Years IN THE LOCKER ROOM

Malaika Djungu-Sungu and Jada Kennerly met for the first time as roommates during orientation week this fall. Both first-years, Djungu-Sungu is 17.5 hours away from her home in Arlington, TX, while Kennerly hails from Mt. Vernon, Ohio — a small town similar to Oberlin about an hour and a half away. This weekend, the two will be competing in their first college meet in the sprints and jumps for the women’s track and field team.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

Interview by Ify Ezimora, Sports Editor What are y’all’s events?

Jada Kennerly: I do short sprints and hurdles. I’ll be running indoor, probably 60 [meter dash], 60 meter hurdles, and very rarely the 200 [meter dash].

Malaika Djungu-Sungu: I do jumps and sprints. For indoor I’ll be doing long and triple [ jump], and the sprints part is pretty vague right now; I’m not sure, but probably like the 100, 200. [My coach] was like, “Eventually you’ll get to the 400, but probably not now.”

an in [around] eighth grade. So track was always something [where] I enjoyed myself but still kind of took it seriously, but not really. And then having some people who made you feel part of a group. I love track and wanted to do it for four more years and see what I could become.

Why did you decide to do track at Oberlin and not another college?

JK: The recruiting process here was just so much better than othPhoto by Malcolm Brainerd er places. [Recruiting Coordinator Malaika Djungu-Sungu and Jada Kennerly. and Associate Head Track and Field] — and then still be a scholar. Other They don’t teach you about propWhen did you start participating in Coach [John] Hepp called me everyathletes that are DI kind of pass their er weight, this many reps mean this, day. The women coming off of such track and field? classes, but sports take over their life, this many reps means strength endurJK: I went to a private school, so great wins helped as well, because you and I didn’t want that for myself. ance, if you do an exercise wrong you we could start sports in fourth grade, want to join a good team. You know could hurt yourself seriously. Here, but we couldn’t do hurdles until fifth if you go somewhere else and you’re Have you ever competed indoor? the team dynamic is a lot different. a first-year, you might not even get to grade.

Will this be your first indoor meet? There’s people who are actually supMD: I started running in fifth run or score points or anything like JK: My high school didn’t do in- porting you. In track it’s really easy to grade. Our elementary school didn’t that, so having that reassurance was door meets, but senior year after I become like “I’m on a team, but this have track teams. We’d have that little nice. And then coming here, meeting basically knew I was going to come is an individual kind of thing.” I don’t field day thing, but I did track outside. the team and feeling welcomed and here, I entered two indoor meets just feel that as much here. I also feel like I In middle school, I stopped doing that fitting in was nice. So I was like, “Hey, to get a feel for it. They went horribly. know more about what I’m doing and and just joined the school team. Club this is a good place.”

I got so much anxiety because I was how it’s helping me.

MD: Yeah, the recruiting process makes it seem like it was more “for by myself and I don’t do well with new JK: Yeah, I feel like I’m being real” — it was like a club, but it wasn’t was a big thing. You’re recruited by situations. It was just really bad. So coached way more. Obviously I had a serious. Some fifth graders [are] real other schools and everything, but this will be my first indoor meet with coach in high school, but it was always serious — they’re built with muscle Oberlin stood out. And it was because a team [and] hopefully will be a more like, “Oh so you kind of know how to someone actually — and maybe he and everything already. positive experience. run, so I’m not going to help you, I’m was kidding or faking — showing that MD: I’ve never done indoor be- going to help the other kids.” But here Why did you decide to continue do- they want you there and that you’re fore, being from Texas. That’s also you get attention. You want to ask a valuable to them. Also, I didn’t want ing track in college? something to get used to, running in question, you can ask. If you’re doing JK: I did it because without sports, to make a decision on a school based a different weather whenever we start something wrong, they’re going to tell I’d be a hot mess. I feel like it helps on the track side, because that’s not outdoor. It’ll be interesting. you how to change it. me manage my time — I have to go to what I wanted to do for the rest of practice at a certain time, so I have to my time. I chose to run here because What are y’all not looking forward What are your goals for this weekdo stuff at this time. Also, I was very I chose Oberlin as a whole. At first to about indoor? end and more generally this season? nervous about making friends in col- when you’re [being] recruited, there’s JK: Staying so long because both of JK: For this weekend I hope to lege, and I was like, “If I’m on a team, always a stigma when people are like, our events are early. three-step over all my hurdles. For the these people have to like me.” And also “DIII schools” or whatever, but I like MD: I feel like the different track season, I just really hope to actually that you’re able to balance your acawe were both recruited. affecting my performance. A 200 [me- score points for the team. I don’t want MD: Yeah, we were recruited. And demic life, which is important, and ter race] is a full lap. to just be a first-year here running. I then I gave up trying to be an Olympi- still be an athlete at the same time want to make a difference right away.

What are you looking forward to?

MD: For this meet, I hope to not JK: 60 meter hurdles. I’ve never scratch. At all. That’s my goal. For done done that before, so it’ll be in- the season, I hope to PR significantly teresting. I used to four-step in high — not like two or three inches, but at school and now I have to three-step. least a foot — and actually be a valuI’m nervous, but I feel like it’s better able player. to start indoor just because it is shorter so I can build up my strength for You two are roommates — how is outdoor. that also being on the same team?

MD: I’m looking forward to jumpJK: We walk to practice togething, specifically long-jumping. Learn- er, so we’re never late. If one of us is ing better technique and feeling late, we’re both late. Always cheering stronger. for each other. It’s fun because sometimes we don’t practice together, so What differences have you seen so when we see each other, we’ll be like, far in your high school practices “That’s my roommate!” We just do and your current college practice dumb stuff like that. regimen?

MD: I like it; it’s nice. You would JK: We lift so much more. In high think being around someone for so school we used to lift but it was like, many hours of the day would be a “Use a dumbell … and do some stuff thing, but I guess it’s just because we by yourself,” but now it’s real stuff have a good thing going that it’s fine. and we deadlift and do heavy lifting. It’s really not a problem. And it’s nice, We’re taught how to do it, so that’s especially in the beginning when you different. don’t know anybody, at least we can MD: Lifting is serious now. In high be [together]. Just having someone school — I’m 5’3” — and they’re like, where we can hold each other to do“OK, don’t put any weight on your ing things and having the support inMalaika Djungu-Sungu and Jada Kennerly.

Photos by Malcolm Brainerd bench press because you can’t do that.” side and outside of track [is nice].

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Hooliganism Spoils Soccer Match in Argentina

Julie Schreiber Senior Staff Writer

Following weeks of hype and buildup, the highly-anticipated soccer game that was supposed to take place in Argentina Saturday, Nov. 24, was canceled after hooliganism took the stage. The two teams are the River Plate and Boca Juniors, and together they make up quite possibly the most divisive social force in all of Argentina — although both hail from Buenos Aires, approximately 70 percent of the entire nation supports either River or Boca. The two teams have competed against one another numerous times throughout their 105-year rivalry, but never in a championship match.

Saturday was to be their first, as they battled for the trophy of the Copa Libertadores, the most prestigious club competition in South American soccer.

Before the game could kick off, however, a group of raucous River fans stormed the visiting Boca Juniors’ bus and attacked them, shattering windows and eventually sending two players to the hospital. Alejandro Dominguez, the president of the South American Football Confederation, expressed his disappointment in the aftermath of the event, noting that Argentina had spoiled its chance at proving to the world that soccer can be as organized and respectful in South America as in other parts of the world. His plans to make soccer a South American “spectacle” Saturday never came to fruition.

This was the most recent, and one of the most violent, occurrences of hooliganism in soccer, but it is far from an isolated incident. Hooliganism is understood as troublesome or rowdy behavior by young people and has been associated with soccer fan culture for years, dating back to misbehavior at medieval soccer games in the 15th century.

Hooliganism began to gain traction as a soccer phenomenon in England in the 1960s, when spontaneous post-game spats transitioned more and more into organized viciousness. One of the most notable

occurrences took place at Heysel stadium in Brussels in 1985, when a riot that broke out between fans at a game between Liverpool and Juventus led to 39 deaths and countless injuries.

Similarly, four years later, a panicked rush of fans escaping a game between Liverpool and Nottingham led to nearly 100 deaths. Although no football match disasters have led to nearly as high a casualty count since then, high rates of sports violence clearly still pervade today — not only in Western Europe, but all over the world.

According to sports psychology writer Daniel Wann, hooliganism has been so difficult to quell because it is related to many larger conflicts involving race, ethnicity, religion, and geography. Additionally, hooliganism prevails because “fans see their teams as extensions of themselves,” as Wann said in an interview with The New York Times. According to Wann, fans feel personally threatened by a loss, and experiencing these events as a group enhances people’s emotions and statistically leads to more physically-damaging behavior.

The catastrophe in Buenos Aires this weekend becomes just another addition to the list of instances of hooliganism taking place at soccer games all around the world.

Especially alarming is how problematic some of these groups can be. The Chelsea Headhunters, an infamous “hooligan firm” connected to Chelsea FC in England, has been linked to racist and white supremacist organizations for years, and many of its members have been detained for harassment and violent assault both at the stadium and far from it. Groups of rightwing extremists also constitute much of the soccer hooligan scene in Germany and Russia and have increased safety concerns at soccer games both domestically and abroad over the past few years. One hundred and fifty Russian hooligans stormed the field during a game against England at the 2016 European Championship in Marseille, France, and their misbehavior ended up sending nearly 30 fans to the hospital.

FIFA, the world’s most powerful soccer governing body, has confronted concerns with rising hooliganism in the past few years — particularly following the 2016 event in Marseille — and took it upon themselves to preemptively ban more than 1,200 hooligans with histories of football-related disorderly conduct from attending any matches at the 2018 World Cup in Russia.

FIFA also issued a statement addressing safety concerns of the LGBTQ community and ethnic minorities who planned to attend games and reinforced the notion that hooligan bans would help promote safety at the tournament. While FIFA is taking reasonable steps in the right direction to squash hooliganism, many criticize the governing body and other soccer organizations for not doing enough, recognizing that bans are just words if no larger cultural shifts are taking place.

The fate of the match between River Plate and Boca Juniors is still unclear. The teams will meet either Dec. 8 or 9 on a field yet to be determined, but definitely outside of Argentina. While many may interpret this decision as punishment enough for the disorderly conduct of the fans, other soccer leaders will continue to push various measures for preventing hooliganism at games, including alcohol bans, earlier starts, and fan coaching, where coaches will be assigned to different fan communities to teach respect and discipline to those planning on attending games.

The real issues that generate this hooliganism, however, will not be solved without cultural shifts addressing the hatred and violence that fuels this misbehavior.

In order for soccer to maintain its cultural reputation and dignity, hooliganism has to be comprehensively done away with. When violence takes precedence over the unity of the sport, soccer pitches become yet another toxic and dangerous environment spoiled by human indecency.

“Football is not what we saw on the weekend,” Dominguez concluded last weekend. “That is a disease that needs to be eradicated.”

VAs Host Dodgeball Throwdown

Homophobia Present in Basketball Continued from page 16

College seniors Ify Ezimora and Hannah Rasmussen and College junior Nae McClain — all Village Assistants — hosted the second annual dodgeball tournament for their residents Saturday. McClain organized the tournament last year after receiving input from her Barrows Hall residents that they wanted more events to bring people together and allow them to be active and have fun. Over 50 people attended this year’s event.

College junior and Quidditch team member Haley Gee said she appreciated the supportive atmosphere and friendly competition at the dodgeball tournament, as well as the opportunity to show off the skills she’s acquired from playing the sport. “Quidditch itself incorporates aspects of dodgeball, so it’s good for us to be able to apply our skills, along with just having a good time,” she said.

Text by Alexis Dill, Sports Editor Photo by Ify Ezimora, Sports Editor

The Oberlin Review | November 30, 2018

five children out of wedlock. He later spoke with Jenkins about the shame and judgement he felt as a result, motivated by his religious background.

Whether they’re true or not, the allegations against Howard aren’t just troubling — they’re tragic. The underlying issue is that many gay professional athletes do not feel comfortable enough to be their real selves, which is a direct reflection on the way that many Twitter users perceived the Howard scandal. If Elijè was being truthful, it’s a shame that Howard acted the way he did — out of fear of rejection, ridicule, and hatred.

How many professional athletes are waiting to come out? Are there others resorting to threats to hide their identity, just as Howard did?

If an NBA player did decide to come out, I am certain that he would be met with support from NBA Commissioner Adam Silver and the rest of the league. The NBA has a float in the New York Pride March, and many teams around the league hold Pride Nights.

The Los Angeles Lakers held their first-ever Pride Night a month ago. Conner Mertens, bisexual football player for the Willamette University Bearcats, presented Collins with the Laces of Unity Award, which recognizes individuals in the sports community who have significantly contributed to the LGBTQ community.

But if Pride Nights are a step forward, the senseless, heartless tweets that poked fun at the LGBTQ community and downplayed Elijè’s allegations last weekend are two steps backward. Although there are no facts supporting Elijè’s claims yet, they are still worth taking seriously — for his sake and the sake of Howard and the entire LGBTQ community, including those who have not come out yet.

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November 30, 2018

SPORTS established 1874

Volume 147, Number 10

Nature’s Company All the Way Howard Scandal Exposes Homophobia Alexis Dill Sports Editor

College first-year and cross country runner Avery Coreschi said his favorite part about running is the feeling of freedom he gets, as well as the opportunity to take in his surroundings in a unique way.

Photo Courtesy of OC Athletics

Luke Sprecher Staff Writer On a midseason Sunday about two months ago, before Oberlin became covered with a layer of ice beneath an inch of snow, College first-year and cross country runner Avery Coreschi walked briskly to practice.

Few trees were bare, some were still green, and others had turned a burnt red or a dark shade of orange. Oberlin was in the midst of autumn, when the weather’s almost always just OK. At 8 a.m. he completed a routine cross country workout: eight miles around campus, no break.

Most people would ask, why running? Why choose a sport in which conditioning — the punishment for athletes in other sports — is the main purpose? For basketball players, running sprints is practice for a game, a necessary means to an end. The same goes for football, baseball, and most other popular American sports. Asking a devout runner “Why?” aims to resolve confusion about a sport in which running is an end in itself.

The cross country season has been over for almost a month, and inside the Dascomb Hall lounge, Coreschi sat on the couch playing NBA 2K19 with his teammate, College first-year Hizekiel Gombiner. I asked both of them, frankly, “Why run?”

“I don’t know,” Coreschi said. “I guess the whole reason I started to run was because I wanted to see stuff.”

“What do you mean?” I asked.

“I mean that it was cool to look around — while I’m running I’m free, but also guided in a way,” he responded. “I have to stare at one spot in front of me, but I see a lot of what’s going on in my peripherals. I sometimes look down and remember cracks in the sidewalk, or unique markings

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on my usual runs that I don’t think I would have ever seen if I wasn’t running. It’s nice to see nature.”

It makes sense. Running connotes a childlike freedom.

I immediately think of the classic novel Maniac Magee, and Jerry Spinelli’s metaphors for freedom and identity through running. Run more and you’ll be able to run more.

Gombiner laughed at Coreschi’s answer to my question.

I turned to Gombiner. “So, why did you start running?”

“Because I was really good and I love pushing myself physically,” Gombiner said. “I like to win when I know it was the amount of work I put in that made me win. It’s a type of internal process for me. I love being motivated.”

At this point, their 2K game was becoming too intense for me to comfortably ask another distracting question, so I jotted down some notes and let them finish the second quarter.

Winning doesn’t seem to be the primary reason that most runners like Coreschi and Gombiner keep running, like it might be in other sports.

Don’t get me wrong, the emotional reward is definitely nice for them. Meets are very competitive, and Coreschi will tell you he loves winning (and Gombiner already did), but Coreschi will also tell you that not unlike most sports, games and meets make up only a fraction of a season.

So when Coreschi recalls this past season, he doesn’t immediately think of when he placed 12th in a race on one particular weekend. Instead, he thinks of the crack in the sidewalk outside of King Building, or the long narrow path along the side of Tappan Square.

I asked if it’s true that they compete with themselves when they run.

“No, not really,” Coreschi said. “I guess some runners

do, but not me.”

Gombiner disagreed with Coreschi.

“I have to push myself,” he said. “So yeah, I compete with my deficiencies, I guess. I love overcoming myself. And I hate losing so much — like this stupid game sucks, 2K19 ruined the whole 2K franchise!”

“There’s no crying in 2K,” Coreschi said. “You lost your game and I won mine.” Coreschi quotes A League of their Own a lot.

But Tom Hanks and Coreschi are right: There’s no crying in 2K and there’s no magical cliché for the personal desire to compete. Coreschi’s desire to run is more than just a vivid awareness of his surroundings — it’s an abstract appreciation for them. The cracks in the sidewalks could be noticeable to a regular coffee-drinker just walking to their 10 a.m. class, but why would they care if they looked down? Coreschi cares because that crack outside of King is his five-mile marker. It helps him move along, motivating him when he feels too tired to carry on — think home court advantage, but instead of the crowd cheering for your team, hyping you up for the game, the ball itself motivates you to win.

Gombiner’s desire to run, on the other hand, comes from his own response to adversity.

He feeds himself with doubt so that he has the energy to overcome it.

Running is truly a mental sport. It’s difficult and requires the runner to spend so much time inside their own head, while also granting them the opportunity to see things in a new light and the freedom to run for whatever reason that drives them.

Running is a process of finding and employing meaning — but a personal meaning, one that isn’t worth challenging because as long as it works for you, who cares?

Two weeks after the 2012–13 NBA regular season wrapped up, Jason Collins — at the time, a free agent — sat in front of his TV and took a deep breath, waiting to see himself all over the news.

He couldn’t hold it in any longer, and had already told 20 of his family members and closest friends. Now it was time for everyone else to know.

Journalist Franz Lidz helped Collins articulate his thoughts and emotions in a first-person story that was minutes away from being published on Sports Illustrated’s website. On that day, April 29, 2013, Collins told the world that he is gay.

A year later, after being overlooked by some teams because of all the attention surrounding Collins’ announcement, he was picked up by the Brooklyn Nets and made history by becoming the first active male athlete from one of the four major professional sports leagues — NBA, NFL, MLB, and NHL — to be openly gay.

On the flight back to Brooklyn after Collins’ first game with the Nets, future Hall of Fame inductee Kevin Garnett tapped Collins on the shoulder.

“Hey, I just want you to know how proud I am and how big this moment is, for you, but also for a lot of people,” Garnett said.

After his return to the league, Collins had the top-selling jersey on NBA.com for two weeks, making him more popular than LeBron James, Kevin Durant, and Blake Griffin. Collins had even received a phone call from former President Barack Obama and, in two months, would be featured on the cover of TIME Magazine’s “100 Most Influential People in the World.”

Because of how positively people reacted to Collins’ reveal, many people believed that his act of bravery would cause a ripple effect across professional men’s sports.

This has not been the case.

Not a single male athlete in the NBA, NFL, MLB, or MLS has publicly come out in years. The last time a gay male athlete came out publicly was former American and Canadian football player Michael Sam in 2014.

The way that many Twitter users reacted to a scandal that surfaced online last weekend involving Washington Wizards center Dwight Howard shows why this might be the case. On Nov. 24, author Masin Elijé tweeted that he had previously been in a relationship with Howard and accused Howard of hiding his own sexual preferences from the world, sleeping around while dating Elijé, and

threatening Elijé’s health and safety after Elijé refused to sign a nondisclosure agreement. He also claimed to have received many frightening phone calls from a man named Calvin — allegedly someone Howard knows.

Because Elijé has yet to provide hard evidence , it is hard to know at this point what actually happened. Neither Howard nor the NBA has addressed the situation. Regardless, the reactions to the allegations revealed that homophobia and transphobia within the world of men’s sports are as prevalent as ever; many people assumed that Elijé was a transgender woman because of his fashion choices, although he considers himself a cisgender man.

Many Twitter users saw the scandal as an opportunity to crack jokes and project hatred.

One user posted a photo of himself next to Howard and said he couldn’t believe he ever shook Howard’s hand. It seemed as if many people were more concerned by Howard’s alleged sexual preferences than the idea that a person’s life might have been threatened. While it’s wrong to out somebody, putting someone’s life in danger is far more abominable.

Comedian and actor Ronald Funches tweeted, “You ever wonder if the transphobic and homophobic jokes you’re making about Dwight Howard right now are the exact reason he felt he needed to threaten someone’s life to keep it a secret or nah?”

Sports reporter Lindsay Gibbs tweeted, “The reaction to the rumors/reports about Dwight Howard show you everything you need to know about why male pro athletes stay in the closet. So much homophobia and transphobia, it is absolutely sickening.”

Collins himself weighed in on the matter, tweeting, “Transphobic & homophobic jokes aren’t funny and can lead to deadly consequences. Transphobia & homophobia get people killed everyday around the world.”

The claims made about Howard are particularly interesting considering his upbringing in a Christian household.

According to a Sports Illustrated article published by Lee Jenkins in September 2017, Howard slept under a wooden cross and a framed copy of the Ten Commandments as a child and prayed several times a day.

When he joined the firemen’s league at Atlanta Christian College, he told his teammates that one day he would convince the NBA to superimpose a cross over its silhouetted logo. In 2007, Howard had his first of See Homophobia, page 15