The Oberlin Review
NOVEMBER 8, 2013 VOLUME 142, NUMBER 8
Outside the Bubble News highlights from the past week Anti-Rape Product Places Responsibility On Victims: A clothing line that specializes in “anti-rape” products recently launched a campaign that has sparked controversy among feminist organizations across the country. The campaign, whose founders are attempting to raise enough money to produce a new line of “anti-rape” underwear, has been under much speculation. Most find themselves asking a similar question: Are “anti-rape” undergarments — a product that has the potential to be seen as inherently placing the responsibility on people to stop their own rape — “anti-feminist?” Features of the potential product include locking devices around the waist and thighs and material that is resistant to pulling, tearing and cutting. Colombia Offers Political Seats to Rebel Leaders: The Colombian government and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia struck a deal Wednesday that has the potential to put an end to the past 50 years of conflict. The compromise, considered by many to be an innovative, potentially catastrophic stratagem of circumvention, will allow the guerilla commanders to swap out their weapons for a different, more peaceful sort of power — seats in congressional Colombian office. Negotiations of which rebel leaders are allowed a future in politics will begin once leaders agree to put down their weapons. Sources: The New York Times and CNN
Revenue Lost as Parents Weekend Nears Elizabeth Dobbins Staff Writer As Parents Weekend looms, the construction on Main Street and West College Street endures. “How is anyone supposed to get through and shop here? You can just see they always have trucks out here doing construction … all month long. It’s the best time of year for a retail business. It’s the worst time of year for them to be doing this,” said Chris Heinebrodt, owner of Simply Elegant Candle and Gift. The construction began on Oct. 1 of this year with an expected completion date of Dec. 12. The improvements involve replacing the sanitary sewer system, installing accessible pedestrian traffic signals, improving the power circuits for street lights, pouring curbs and repaving West College Street. This construction, however, is causing small downtown businesses to experience a drop in revenue during the holiday season. Construction was initially projected to take place over this past summer, but the city did not
receive any bids on the project from contractors until the third time the project was bid, pushing the start of construction back to autumn.
See page 2
“Well, the original delay is we bid the project in the spring for summertime construction and got no bids,” said Public Works Director Jeff Baumann. “Then
we bid it again immediately to award at the end of August, but construction began right after See Business, page 4
Construction on East College Street has been causing disruptions to local businesses for the past few weeks. According to business owners, the machinery, construction tape and uneven pavement have been deterring costumers from their stores. Rachel Grossman
Students Question Right to Vote in Oberlin Elizabeth Kuhr Staff Writer The public gathered at district voting booths on Nov. 5 to elect a series of local and state candidates and vote on pertinent bill proposals, including the now-passed Community Bill of Rights that prohibits hydraulic fracturing for natural gas and oil within Oberlin’s city limits. Because College students maintain Oberlin addresses, they can legally participate in these elections. The College has demonstrated a commitment to student participation in electoral politics with opportunities like Cole Scholars, a yearlong program which informs students about campaigns, both in the classroom and in the summer on the road with candidates. And the student body has joined the effort — the non-partisan student-run Oberlin Young Voters Coalition hosts voter registration
booths during the election season. Walking into an Oberlin voting booth as a college student is a weighty decision, considering the College’s property tax-exemption status as a higher educational institution and the predominantly out-of-state student body, which is approximately 15 percent from Ohio. “Obviously, it is easy to support the idea of an inclusive franchise and the notion that all interested individuals should have a voice,” said Politics Professor and Director of Cole Scholars Michael Parkin in an email to the Review. “Some, however, are concerned that students, because their time in Oberlin is limited, may have preferences that deviate from those who have a longer record of living, working and paying taxes in the area.” Taking a stance on the matter, representatives from both the Oberlin College Re-
publicans and Libertarians and the Oberlin College Democrats approve of students voting. “Students are residents, so they have the same right,” said OCRL co-chair and College senior Taylor Reiners, who added that he personally chooses not to vote on property taxes. Due to their 501(c)(3) status and politically rightleaning platform, OCRL strategically does not organize around voter registration in the historically Democratic town. However, the OC Dems fervently encourage student voting. Describing the group as an on-campus gateway into electoral politics, co-chair and double degree fifth-year Eric Fischer says members are active in political canvassing and phone banking. Many members oversee OYV registration booths, which, according to Fischer, gave 1,800 students voting rights in fall 2012. “Registering as many peo-
Students Petition for Professor Students and alumni sign a petition to prolong Professor Bernard Matambo’s tenure.
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ple as possible is the goal,” said Fischer, who says he spends most of the year in Oberlin and pays employment taxes. “It’s important to me that people who come to [Oberlin College] make it a home both politically and socially.” By the same token, Fischer sympathizes with the argument against student participation in local elections; he cited an incident when Ohio State Senator Gayle Manning confrontationally expressed her reservations about their political engagement as college students. Like Manning, many who do not support students voting cite the issue with students deciding local property taxes. “We need to take into account our positions as college students who are not affected,” said Cole Scholar and College junior Jocie Sobieraj, who still votes on statewide social issues she sees as impacting her. “It’s classist to assume
Fast and Furious Come One, Come All OCircus’s risqué steampunk spectacle had audiences laughing and squealing late into the night. See page 12
INDEX:
Opinions 5
This Week in Oberlin 8
The women’s cross country team won the North Coast Athletic Championship Meet on Saturday. See page 15
Arts 10
Sports 16
from the
responsibility of local taxes on people.” Although it is true that some landlords renting Oberlin township property to residents live outside the district, and that a handful of College students remain in-state for years after graduation, the prevailing piece of advice is to self-educate. Seeing student ability to vote on property tax as a trade-off to allowing them a say on a wide array of candidates and proposals, the League of Women Voters offers educational events and a seasonally updated election guide. “If students do vote, they have to make sure they’re educated,” said City Councilwoman-elect and member of the LWV Sharon Pearson. Specifically, Pearson advises students to ask questions, pick an area they can affect and consider their votes’ longterm impacts, both in benefit and consequence.
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The Oberlin Review, November 8, 2013
Students Fight to Extend Professor Matambo’s Stay Willa Rubin Staff Writer In an attempt to prolong Creative Writing Professor Bernard Matambo’s tenure, students of the Creative Writing department have drafted a petition that asks faculty, alumni and fellow students to advocate for Matambo’s permanent position as a member of Oberlin College’s professional staff. Matambo, who was originally hired for a six-year assistant visiting professor position, is scheduled to leave Oberlin after the end of this year. After learning of Matambo’s impending departure, College senior Sarah Cheshire chose to take matters into her own hands. “He mentioned that it was kind of up in the air. It prompted me to further search for answers about how the process of allowing him to stay would unfold if it were to be successful. Then me and a couple other people met with Joyce Babyak, the dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, and she said that a lot of it comes down to funding,” said Cheshire. “He is very popular, almost universally among students and faculty members, but it’s mostly all these procedures that come into play with this. It put on our radar the option of making a petition just to synthesize all these feelings that many people are having, about the desire for him to stay, in one cohesive document.” The following day, she drafted a petition and posted it to Facebook.
In the subsequent 24 hours, the petition garnered over 200 signatures and an additional 270 since then. According to Cheshire, the accessibility of an online petition has made it possible to reach out to people in a more effective way “other than tabling in Mudd.” Over the past several weeks, students and faculty alike have convened to express support for his application. “People I know who graduated recently have been sharing it on Facebook. We’ve been getting alumni signing on and emailing Joyce Babyak and College President Marvin Krislov, and emailing me and colleagues who Bernard worked with at Brown when he was studying for his MFA there. Then faculty members started signing on, which kind of took it to the next level and integrated it into being more than just a student-run thing,” said Cheshire. As of yet, it is unclear how much impact this petition will have as Matambo is considered for a permanent position at Oberlin. Prolonging Matambo’s tenure may in fact be infeasible for a department not prepared to hire an additional permanent professor. Departments allocate specific funds for their faculty, and creating a new position would cost the College approximately $3 million. “It all has to come from somewhere,” Krislov remarked. According to Krislov, student evaluations are a component of each faculty member’s “portfolio.”
“The faculty make the decisions about hiring,” said Krislov. “Students have a voice and they should have a voice. But ultimately the faculty make the decision.” College sophomore and international student Matias Berretta praised Matambo’s help and guidance in learning to better connect with English. “I finally acquired the confidence to say something without faltering, just say what I meant and say what I thought and speak my mind. It gave me the confidence to try to write something good,” said Beretta as he described his experiences in Matambo’s Creative Writing courses. Students have also expressed that Professor Matambo’s class discussions often turn to issues outside of poetry. “For a poetry class, there was a lot of social discussion. We had some great discussions about race, class and gender ... [Professor Matambo] is incredibly down-toearth and he tackles these subjects headfirst. He doesn’t skirt through touchy subjects — he acknowledges them, he faces them. That was my introduction to Oberlin. That inspired me a lot,” said Beretta. Cheshire added that “there was also a lot of discussion, especially with the March 4 events last year, for the need for more diverse representation among faculty members in general away from [Eurocentrism] and to try to embrace the knowledge and faculty members from other places in the world, and
that’s really important to Oberlin. I think this really aligns with that institutional vision.” Professor Matambo has also been recognized as an important asset for the Creative Writing department. Dan Chaon, Pauline Delaney associate professor and program co-director for second semester, added that while each professor in the department has a particular specialty, “Bernard is great because he can do so many different things. He does nonfiction, he does prose, he does poetry, he does fiction. He’s a really valuable faculty member because he’s so versatile.” Furthermore, Professor Matambo has helped expand the Creative Writing department’s vision. “It’s important to us that we have a variety of different cultural perspectives and aesthetic perspectives in the department. From people like me that like comics and movies and others that know about African literature and lyrical prose poetry stuff like Bernard does,” said Chaon. Additionally, as a former Creative Writing major, Professor Matambo “knows this department, he fits in really well” and can provide a greater perspective on the department. “It was different than just bringing somebody in for a year,” Chaon said. Although students, faculty and alumni alike have all expressed desire for Professor Matambo to stay at Oberlin, the official process of granting someone tenure remains
an impediment. According to Babyak, his application is a “specific personnel issue” that cannot yet be commented on. Generally, when a professor applies for tenure, the department or program applies for a tenuretrack position. The request, Babyak noted, is submitted in February. The Educational Plans and Policies Committee then evaluates the request from “a curricular perspective.” “Generally,” Babyak said in an email, “quite a few are submitted each year. EPPC rates the requests and provides a detailed account of its evaluations to the College Faculty Council.” CFC makes a decision sometime in May and determines which requests to grant. For a request that is approved, a national search is conducted the following academic year. “Once a member of the faculty,” Babyak said, “the tenure-track faculty member undergoes a series of reviews over the course of their first five years under employment. During the sixth year, the faculty member is reviewed for tenure in an extensive review process, [and] CFC decides whether or not to grant tenure. This decision is then reviewed and subject to approval by both the General Faculty Council and the Board of Trustees.” “I can tell you,” Krislov said, “that Dean [Babyak] and I have talked about it and certainly the student views are being taken very seriously.” Professor Matambo was not available for comment.
College Kicks Coal, Seeks Campus Involvement Louie Krauss This past Saturday, approximately 90 students and faculty spent the afternoon at a workshop to discuss innovative ideas of how to create a carbon-neutral campus. If these various ideas are implemented, the campus would most likely achieve the goal of being carbonneutral by 2025. According to many of the student and faculty environmentalists, one of the most important factors is the willingness of students to cut down on individual choices of electricity and water usage. The workshop was led by Co-Chair of the Energy Planning Committee of the Oberlin Project and Associate Psychology Pro-
fessor Cindy Frantz and Sustainability Coordinator Bridget Flynn, as well as several students who led individual groups on topics such as efficiency, recycling and current ideas that could soon be implemented. “We’re here because students asked for this. Last fall there were discussions for how we will replace our central heating plan. So last fall we had several sessions, and in the spring we will have members of other campuses tell us how their campuses are becoming more carbon-neutral,” Frantz said. To be carbon-neutral essentially means that an individual or institution must be achieving net zero carbon emissions.
Any processes that emit carbon dioxide — such as traveling by car or plane, or gas-burning energy production — will add to the carbon footprint, while conserving water, planting trees and turning off the lights in most campus buildings will help reduce it. According to Flynn, natural gas is being used to help supply Oberlin as it tries to secure other sources like geothermal energy. The addition of “energy zones” — locations on campus that use renewable energy — are also an important part of the plan. “Energy zones are going to be regionalized, using electric compresSee Incremental, page 4
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Co-Chair of the Energy Planning Committee Cindy Frantz and Sustainability Coordinator Bridget Flynn ran a workshop Saturday that served to educate attendees on the College’s exorbitant emission of carbon gases. After the main forum, students broke off into several interest groups to further discuss more innovative ideas of cutting down the school’s carbon footprint. Simeon Deutsch
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Off the Cuff: Sam Daley-Harris, Founder and President of RESULTS and author of Reclaiming Democracy Sam Daley-Harris is the founder and president of RESULTS, an international citizens’ lobby dedicated to creating the political will to end hunger and poverty. Daley-Harris is the author of the book Reclaiming Democracy: Healing the Break Between People and Government, recently reissued to commemorate its 20th anniversary. Could you speak about your organization RESULTS? Why and how did you found it? The story of founding RESULTS is a story of turning my obliviousness and hopelessness into action. I actually have bachelor’s and master’s degrees in music, and I played percussion instruments in the Miami Philharmonic Orchestra for 12 years. Then I started a citizen lobby group on ending global poverty … When I look back on my life, there are two events that particularly come to mind: I graduated from high school in 1964 and played timpani in the orchestra at graduation, and just before the ceremony, a flute player came back to the percussion section and told me that a high school fraternity brother, a year younger than I, had died the day before in a tractor-trailer accident. When I was 17, mortality was an irrelevant issue. But during that period of mourning, it really began to dawn on me that maybe I only had 17 more minutes, or months, or years left in this world. And the questions of purpose started to come up: Why am I here? What am I here to do? There’s a favorite quote of mine by Mark Twain, who said, “the two most important days of your life are the day you were born and the day you find out why.”
Thursday, Oct. 31 9:48 a.m. A resident of Langston Hall reported that the residue caused by spray painting in her room had activated the smoke detector. Officers responded and an electrician was requested to replace the detector head. The student was advised against spray painting in the room. 3:14 p.m. Staff members conducting Life Safety inspections reported a room in Saunders House with a bagged smoke detector. An officer responded, removed the plastic covering and disposed of the plastic bag. 6:05 p.m. A DeCafé staff member requested assistance with an intoxicated individual in the dining area. Officers responded and
Sam Daley-Harris, who spoke on Tuesday on the mitigation of world hunger
Nine years after I graduated from college, I was invited to a presentation on ending world hunger. I thought hunger and global poverty were insurmountable issues because there seemed to be no solutions to these problems. If there were solutions, someone would have done something by now, I thought. Then I realized that I’m not hopeless due to lack of solutions, I’m hopeless about human nature, that people would just never get around to doing the things that needed to be done. But there was one [person’s] human nature I had some control over — my own. In 1978 and ’79, I spoke to 7,000 high school students in Miami and Los Angeles about ending world hunger. Before I went into the first classroom, I read some statements from the U.S. National Academy of Sciences Food Nutrition Study calling for the ‘political will’ to end hunger. So I ask 7,000 high school
students, ‘What’s the name of your member of Congress?’ Out of 7,000, [guess] the number that knew the name of their member of Congress?
the individual told them that he had just been released from Mercy Allen Hopsital. A short time later he told the officers that he was sick and requested an ambulance for transport to the hospital. An ambulance was summoned and he was transported to the hospital.
Saturday, Nov. 2
Friday, Nov. 1 2:11 a.m. Officers were requested to assist a student who was ill from alcohol consumption on the first floor of Barrows Hall. The student was transported to Mercy Allen Hospital for treatment. 11:25 p.m. Officers responded to the report of an odor consistent with burnt tobacco and marijuana on the third floor of Dascomb Hall. A resident admitted that their roommate was burning incense. Both the incense and the holder were confiscated and the resident was advised about the burning and smoking policies.
100? Close. 200 knew. Fewer than three percent. 6,800 didn’t know. RESULTS started out of this gap between calls for the political will to end hunger on one hand and the lack of basic information about who represented us in Washington on the other. So, what would you say to a politically apathetic person who says that it’s not his or her responsibility to know who his/her representative is? How can an individual build a positive relationship with his/her representative in Congress? Well, there’s a quote by an Apollo astronaut named Rusty Schweickart who said, ‘We aren’t passengers on spaceship Earth; we’re the crew. We
1:02 a.m. Officers were requested to assist with an intoxicated, unresponsive student in South Hall. An ambulance was requested and the student was transported to Mercy Allen Hospital. 1:30 a.m. A resident of Noah Hall reported hearing the sound of glass breaking on the fourth floor as well as observing an individual walking down the stairs. Officers responded to the scene and found that a microwave plate had been broken in the kitchenette. A work order was filed for glass clean up and a search of the area was made for the individual with negative results. 1:48 a.m. A student reported witnessing individuals throwing beer bottles from the balcony of a Union Street apartment. Officers made contact with approximately 10 students at the apartment and an emergency work order was filed for glass clean-up.
aren’t residents; we’re citizens.’ The difference in both cases is responsibility. Someone can say, I’m a passenger, I’m not part of the crew. Well, yes, except that this is a diminished life, in my opinion, when you don’t feel like you have control over anything except what is right in front of you. In the community, or in the state, or in the nation, you’re mostly irrelevant. Coming back to that Mark Twain quote, I think to answer “Why am I here?” includes, for most people, to give back, to matter, to make a difference. But this volition is often smothered by cynicism and despair and hopelessness. So that’s the apathetic person. But when you start stripping some of that away, then what comes back up is the commitment to actually produce positive change. What are some of the initiatives that the organizations you’re associated with are working toward now? So, I founded RESULTS and the Citizen Lobby on Ending Global Poverty in 1980, and after 15 years I switched gears and founded the Microcredit Summit Campaign, and then 17 years later, I founded the Center for Citizen Empowerment and Transformation. In the past, I’ve accused national nonprofit groups of not asking people for more than a click and a check. You know, keeping their donors in ‘kindergarten’ and ‘first grade’ as citizen activists. RESULTS and the Citizen Climate Lobby differ from many of these other organizations in that they offer a structure of support that helps an individual become a better, more empowered citizen activist. One example: We hold a nationwide telephone conference call
11:16 p.m. Officers observed an individual lying in the grass outside of the Safety and Security Office. The intoxicated individual became belligerent with officers, who then contacted members of the Oberlin Police Department for backup. The individual was arrested and charged with public intoxication.
Sunday, Nov. 3 12:03 a.m. Officers were requested to assist a student who was ill from alcohol consumption at a Goldsmith apartment. An ambulance was requested and the student was transported to Mercy Allen Hospital for treatment. While at the apartment, a second student ill from alcohol consumption was located. A second ambulance was requested and the student was also transported to Mercy Allen Hospital for treatment.
every month. Hundred of volunteers from around the country are on the phone with each other. In August, the conference call special guest was Jeffrey Sachs of the Earth Institute at Columbia. He spoke to the other volunteers about how to formulate a specific plan of action, how to be more articulate in your advocacy, [and] how to nail an elevator speech on one aspect of poverty, for example. We’ve set up this rich curriculum, not just of guest speakers; there’s way more to it than that. But when you stop doing the ‘Click once to donate and you’re done,’ you progress further and further as an activist. So you need to find an organization that helps you get out of your comfort zone and have a breakthrough in who you think you can be and what you think you can do. The magic happens when you see your passion for the end of poverty or for a stable climate expressed in a newspaper or expressed in your member of Congress finally saying, ‘Okay, I get this. I’m going to support this legislation.’ Is there anything else you’d like to add? I would just recommend that if people are interested, they should look into RESULTS.org or citizensclimatelobby.org. Because this is not like cleaning up the environment on campus, although that is all well and good. This is advocacy. This is lobbying. People need to find a structure of support that will really propel them forward as citizen activists. Interview by Isaac Fuhrman Photo by Effie Kline-Salamon, Photo editor
1:10 a.m. Officers were requested to assist with a student ill from alcohol consumption on the third floor of East Hall. Officers talked with the student, who was able to answer all questions. The student remained in his room.
Monday, Nov. 4 10 a.m. Officers and members of the Oberlin Fire Department responded to a fire alarm on the first floor of Keep Cottage. The alarm was activated by smoke from students who had been cooking without the use of exhaust fans. The students were advised to use the fans and the alarm was reset. 1:15 p.m. A student reported the possible theft of her black, full-length London Fog coat from the first floor women’s restroom in the Science Center. The coat is valued at approximately $50.
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The Oberlin Review, November 8, 2013
Business Owners Lament Lost Customers Continued from page 1 Labor Day, and we got no bids a second time, which is unprecedented in my experience.” Baumann said that the city would have delayed the sewer replacement had they deemed it a possibility, but the sanitary sewer was overdue for replacement and should have been redone several decades ago, when downtown Oberlin underwent its last sidewalk reconstruction. Including the sewer and other projects, the city is spending approximately $5 million on the downtown infrastructure. Several business owners and employees consider the timing of the project to be their main issue. The city plans to clear some of the construction this weekend in hopes of making the
sidewalk more accessible during Parents Weekend. However, Wallace Johnson, owner of As Found Gallery, said he has already seen a 30 percent drop in revenue — perhaps more. “It’s the timing,” said Johnson. “I look at these people who are working out here … these are hardworking people that are doing a great job, but it’s just the timing of it and the things that are happening … It’s bumbling [and] it isn’t working out very easily.” Lorraine Morrison, owner of the Carlyle Flower Shop, recently redecorated her window display to express her frustration with the construction. Tucked between an orange construction cone draped in caution tape and a heavily scratched “Sidewalk Closed” sign is a piece of paper which reads: “Thankful When
This Is Done!!” “That’s my Thanksgiving window,” said Morrison. “As it says, we’ll be thankful when this is done and [the construction is] gone.” “I am bummed,” President of the College Marvin Krislov admitted. “It just makes me cringe.” Morrison wrote a letter to the editors of the Oberlin News Tribune this week commenting on the impact the construction is having on her business, as well as the lack of support she and her fellow local small business owners are receiving from the city. “We have completely lost our third and fourth quarters and, again, you don’t know what it is to run a small business if you think that’s acceptable, because it’s not,” said Morrison. “It has
effects on our credit ratings, it has effects on our bank accounts, our incomes.” City Manager Eric Norenberg said that the city has been meeting with building and business owners since early March in order to discuss the construction. He has also been sending mass emails several times a week to keep owners updated on the construction’s progress. “This is an important project, and businesses ultimately will benefit, but in the meantime let’s keep spending some money [at the businesses],” said Norenberg. In contrast, Morrison said that she feels the city should do more than simply communicate with owners, and went so far as to suggest that it should have provided compensation for
the financial hit businesses are experiencing. “What’s happening here is that no consideration was given whatsoever to any sort of compensation to us that could have and should have been written into whatever grant they’re bustling to be able to meet by the first of January,” said Morrison. Customers will have to find their way around construction until the final project is completed on Dec. 12. “We find it an inconvenience, but it’s a necessity, and so it’s just one of those things that we have to deal with,” said Elaine Hammond, an employee at Smith’s Knitshop. “No time is a good time to go under construction like this … There’s just no good time. [The construction is] something that has to be done.”
Incremental Changes toward Carbon Neutrality Continued from page 2 sor technologies. So things like the Adam Joseph Lewis Center with ground source heat pumps and the Allen [Memorial] Art Museum are already using these methods. The reason we would change the central heating plan is, of course, because it would be renewable energy. So even if we use more electricity, the source would be renewable,” said Frantz. Flynn said that in the spring, Oberlin is planning to close the coal plant that has been providing power to some of the buildings on campus. However, while adapting the heating and electricity systems will definitely help achieve carbon neutrality,
Flynn said the rest lies more on our own daily lives. Even though new building adaptations can help, “10 to 15 percent of the plan to become carbon-neutral is based off of behavior change,” according to Flynn. “That means [doing] your piece. Everyone who lives and works on campus is affecting the carbon inventory by choosing how to go about their daily activities. That means walking or taking your bike to work and taking shorter showers. Carbon offsets, such as tree planting, are also important for us to offset our carbon usage,” said Flynn. At the transportation panel, discussion centered on the possibility of decreasing Oberlin students’ use of air travel, as well as
how to make bikes more viable to people than cars. One local noted that in Cleveland there is public bike parking where bikes can be stored for the winter, and that the vacant Kohl building parking lot could potentially be used for bike storage. College first-year Helen Kramer said that she was in support of a lot of the new plans made at the transportation panel. “I feel that many useful and unconventional ideas came out of it, such as limiting travel emissions by creating one-week break ExCos so that students are more likely to stay on campus over break,” Kramer said. College first-year Sam Horne also notes that most of these pro–clean energy rallies and
anti-fracking meetings rarely involve Oberlin community members. “I think the College could benefit from looking to the town for more input. Oberlin is really leading the charge toward carbon neutrality, while the College seems to me like it’s dragging its feet. If community members have ideas about how to utilize College resources in this manner, they should by all means be consulted,” Horne said. As it stands, some smaller colleges have already transitioned to a carbon neutral campus, one of the most notable being Colby College, which became carbon neutral in 2013. But Cindy Frantz is confident that Oberlin can become a carbon-neutral campus as well. Frantz says that little things like re-implementing recycling bins in smaller rooms and being aware of the temperature are an important part of it. “The big thing is people think that thermostats do nothing at all. But they work more slowly than people think. You can turn it all the way down to shut the heat down. But you actually can’t because you have to protect the building from the pipes freezing. It means that people misuse the thermostats,” said Frantz. However, some new plans are being made to help motivate people to conserve energy. Frantz added that, “One idea that wasn’t generated in the peanut gallery was working to have there be some financial incentive to conserve water and electricity in the dorms. Is the dorm successful at saving the College money?” This idea has already been implemented on a larger scale, as 19 gas plants have eliminated tons of wasteful gas in order to earn financial credits. Former Oberlin Environmental Studies major and head of the Oberlin Education Outreach group Cuy Corey Patrick Harkens, OC ’12, says that collecting rainwater might be a way to both reduce carbon use and pro-
tect nearby water sources from pollution. “I think a city-wide water catchment system, rather than the current system, where all the water goes into storm drains, could then create a gray-water system to significantly reduce –––––––––––––––––––––––––––
‘Everyone who lives and works on campus is affecting the carbon inventory by choosing how to go about their daily activities. That means walking or taking your bike to work and taking shorter showers.’ Bridget Flynn Sustainability Coordinator ––––––––––––––––––––––––––– flash flooding that the Black River experiences with large rain events. As most know, this area used to be very swampy, such that the water filtered slowly through the watershed. Now, the fields are drained and roads paved and fields planted, such that water flows straight into the creeks and rivers,” Harkens said. Horne says that other aspects like wildlife conservation and communication between trustees and students need big improvements. “The plan for the energy zones should move forward ASAP, with the natural gas transition from the central heating plant’s coal to renewable sources happening with no time wasted. The College’s reforestation projects should be expanded greatly in scale; the amount of turf grass maintained by the College is unconscionable,” said Horne. “If we really want carbon neutrality, it’s the students who are going to have to put the pressure on, and for that we need more transparency from the trustees and more studenttrustee communication.”
THE OBERLIN REVIEW, November 8, 2013
Opinions The Oberlin Review
Letters to the Editors Clarification of Oct. 11 Gun Control Letter To the Editors: I am sorry to read that my letter in the Oct. 11 Review left Ms. Broadwell “a bit confused” (“Ashenhurst’s Letter Requires Clarification,” The Oberlin Review, Nov. 1, 2013). I will attempt to clarify; alas, however, the situation will continue to be a complicated one. Ordinance 13-44, in amending Section 927.07 of the Codified Ordinances, did not give anyone permission “to carry firearms in city parks.” As we all saw in September, as Ohioans for Concealed Carry wanted to make perfectly clear, people with concealed-carry licenses have been permitted to carry firearms in Oberlin’s parks since 2004, and openly to carry in our parks since at least 2006. City Council was only “forced” to amend its 1998 ordinance in the sense a schoolyard bully forces a smaller kid to say “uncle” by twisting his arm behind his back. Did City Council “do what it had to do to bring the city’s ordinance into compliance with state law?” No, in two respects: first, because no one had yet demonstrated any necessity, or even any urgency, to try to excise the nullified scrap of our 1998 law to bring us into “compliance” (as OFCC styles it) with subsequently enacted state law; and second, because, if OFCC’s first legal complaint is to be believed, we did not, with the passage of Ordinance 13-44, successfully achieve the “compliance” they sought. And yes, City Council gave in too easily to the gun lobby. We could have stood alone, at least for a meeting or two, in the face of unpleasant pressure, but a narrowly-divided Council chose not to. Why? In part because it wanted “to avoid costly litigation.” That strategy has apparently backfired, and I did not consider such “avoidance” a particularly worthy target in the first place (especially since there was no evidence that litigation against Section 927.07 would necessarily be very “costly”). I called OFCC’s attack on 13-44 a “get-out-of-this-lawsuit-free” card because it was premature, coming as it did before the ordinance was in effect. OFCC’s president is quoted in The Plain Dealer on Oct. 16 as saying a referendum would be “a colossal waste of time because there is pending litigation that is challenging that very ordinance … How can you have a
referendum on something that might not exist through the legal process?’’ The city’s response to this ought to be, “How can you subject to a legal challenge an ordinance that is not yet in effect, and therefore may never exist?” Rescinding or tabling Ordinance 13-44 would have left OFCC with four other ordinances in its complaint. Three are not-yet-updated duplications of state law, and one is a badly edited duplication of state law. Not one of them enlarges nor contracts upon federal or state law regarding firearms. Will the court consider OFCC’s calling attention to the fact that Oberlin’s codified ordinances are not continuously and instantaneously updated “prevail[ing] in a challenge” to a city ordinance? Does OFCC “prevail in a challenge” to a city ordinance when it discovers an editorial mistake made by our codification company (and if so, will the company pay their legal costs, or will we have to)? Stay tuned. –David Ashenhurst Oberlin resident
“Anarchist” Misused in Recent Column To the Editors: I’m writing to object to Sean Para’s use of the word “anarchist” in his column last week absolving the United States government of its crimes and general incompetence (“Recent Events Have Defined Our Government’s Limits,” The Oberlin Review , Nov. 1, 2013). He wrote, “These recent debacles, as well as the many long-held problems of our state, simply give reason to having more government, not less. Anarchists — and their prominent conservative analogues in government — are wrong.” First of all, the “conservative analogue” of an anarchist is an anarchocapitalist, and there are no anarchocapitalists in our government. An anarchist politician would be like a vegan working in a slaughterhouse. It’s simply nonsense. I understand Mr. Para was trying to tar the Tea Party as anarcho-capitalists, but I think sacrificing the rich and varied philosophy of anarchism for the sake of a rhetorical flourish is a pretty sad thing to do. The Tea Party strongly believes in the necessity of
government: They want a government which protects their property, deports immigrants and imprisons as many black men as possible. There’s nothing anarchist about any of that. Secondly, I don’t think most anarchists are in favor of immediately abolishing the government. Anarchists look to build a society with no government, a society of shared property and abundant cooperation. Obviously it will take time to transition to this new society, and in the meantime the federal government’s efforts to protect citizens from the vicissitudes of modern capitalism should be strengthened, not weakened. For true freedom to enter the world, the state and the corporation must end like Gollum and the One Ring: They must fall into the fiery pit together! –Oliver Bok
Senate Adds to Tobacco Ban Article To the Editors: Student Senate would like to take the opportunity to correct a few inaccuracies in the recent Review article (“Campus Divided over Tobacco Ban,” The Oberlin Review, Nov. 1, 2013). The piece implies that the ban is an initiative that Senate, as a whole, has endorsed (“…the main reason the Senate wants [the tobacco ban] to happen…”). For clarification, the Student Senate will not take an official stance on the potential ban until the issue is brought up for a vote this spring. Senator and College sophomore Machmud Makhmudov’s statements, as referenced in the Review’s article, reflect his own opinion and not the opinion of Student Senate as a whole. The misunderstanding in the article occurred as a result of Senator Makhmudov using the word “we,” which he intended to mean the tobacco sub-committee that he is a part of and not the Student Senate. Until the aforementioned vote occurs, we implore students and faculty alike to voice their opinions on the potential ban. Senate plans to host more open forums in the future and we welcome all students to come and discuss their opinions with us at our weekly plenary session, which takes place every Sunday at 7 p.m. in Wilder 215. –Oberlin College Student Senate
SUBMISSIONS POLICY The Oberlin Review appreciates and welcomes letters to the editors and column submissions. All submissions are printed at the discretion of the editorial board. All submissions must be received by Wednesday at 4:30 p.m. at opinions@oberlinreview.org or Wilder Box 90 for inclusion in the following Friday’s Review. Letters may not exceed 600 words and columns may not exceed 800 words, except with the consent of the editorial board. All submissions must include contact information, with full names, for all signers. All electronic submissions from multiple writers should be carbon-copied to all signers to confirm authorship. The Review reserves the right to edit all submissions for content, space, spelling, grammar and libel. Editors will work with columnists and contributors to edit pieces and will clear major edits with the authors prior to publication. Editors will contact authors of letters to the editors in the event of edits for anything other than style and grammar. In no case will editors change the opinions expressed in any submission. The Opinions section strives to serve as a forum for debate. Review staff will occasionally engage in this debate within the pages of the Review. In these cases, the Review will either seek to create dialogue between the columnist and staff member prior to publication or will wait until the next issue to publish the staff member’s response. The Review will not print advertisements on its Opinions pages. The Review defines an advertisement as any submission that has the main intent of bringing direct monetary gain to the author of a letter to the editors. Opinions expressed in letters, columns, essays, cartoons or other Opinions pieces do not necessarily reflect those of the staff of the Review.
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The Oberlin Review Publication of Record for Oberlin College — Established 1874 —
Editors-in-Chief Rosemary Boeglin Julia Herbst Managing Editor Taylor Field Opinions Editor Sophia Ottoni-Wilhelm
Humanities Majors Must Gain Foothold in Workforce Last week The New York Times published an article citing declining interest in the humanities at colleges across the nation. Quoting faculty from Stanford and Harvard, as well as our fellow small liberal arts school Bard College, the Times article adds to the plethora of recent reports about the (in)significance of the humanities, which are framed as losing funding because “we have failed to make the case that those skills are essential.” In response, College President Marvin Krislov submitted a Letter to the Editor arguing that the humanities, while declining in funding, are still “alive and well” and certainly “not on life support.” But we believe that the conversation extends beyond this dead-or-alive argument and speaks to the role of a liberal arts education, and even more specifically, to the role of an Oberlin education. Perhaps the most honest way to express the status of recent Oberlin graduates is that the majority of them are prepared for everything and nothing at the same time. This fact nods at the privilege inherent in a liberal arts education, namely that it doesn’t funnel students into well-paid entry-level positions in the same way that more career-centric programs might. But since we’re all here and paying an exorbitant amount of money to pop out after Commencement as well-rounded, worldly individuals, let’s embrace our costly yet holistic liberal arts education and explore what this experience means for us now and in the future. The single largest criticism of a liberal arts education seems to be the lack of workforce readiness. A recent study published in Inside Higher Ed by the scholastic company Chegg highlights a gaping disparity in students’ self-assessments of their skills versus hiring manager assessments of recent college graduates. Only 39 percent of hiring managers said the recent college graduates they interviewed were “completely or very prepared for a job in their field of study.” These stats, compounded with Oberlin’s anxiety-inducing number-one ranking on The Daily Beast list of “20 Colleges with the Worst Return on Investment,” are hardly encouraging. But though there is surely truth to these reports, they ignore the more redemptive aspects of an Oberlin-type education. At the outset, the premise of these studies is flawed as far as Obies are concerned. Defining success solely in terms of salary doesn’t coincide with the values of most students here, which is why we send impressive numbers of students to the Peace Corps and Teach For America every year. And for many, the next step after graduation isn’t immediate employment. One of Oberlin’s selling points is that we have more graduates who have gone on to earn Ph.Ds than any other American baccalaureate college. The study published in Inside Higher Ed concludes by emphasizing the importance for students to “proactively seek out ways to augment their skills through self-paced learning, coursework, co-ops and self-study” if they want to be competitive job applicants upon graduation. Luckily, Oberlin students can claim these advantages in the job market. Oberlin makes a point to attract those who are active in their communities and involved in any number of extracurriculars, which gives grads an edge when competing against students from less active backgrounds. This is not to say that Oberlin students shouldn’t heed the warnings of the Times. Graduating with a degree in the humanities generally puts students in a less desirable position immediately after graduation than, say, a degree in electromechanical engineering. But by taking advantage of the opportunities made available through Winter Term and summer internships — many of which the College helps finance and coordinate — Obies can compensate for their less career-directed education. Internships help students make connections in the workforce, and allow liberal arts students to showcase well-developed critical thinking skills that employers indeed look for in job candidates. At the very least, you can impress your boss at dinner parties with your knowledge of Kantian ethics and Foucauldian panopticism.
Editorials are the responsibility of the Review editorial board — the Editors-in-Chief, managing editor and Opinions editor — and do not necessarily reflect the views of the staff of the Review.
Opinions
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Kiss My Sass: Interim Wastes Valuable Co-op Bonding Time Sophia Ottoni-Wilhelm Opinions Editor When I joined a co-op last year, I was really excited to break free of the athleteoriented culture I had been immersed in during my glorious and short stint playing varsity soccer. I couldn’t wait to make some new friends, eat a ton of local food and save $3,000 a year while escaping the CDS system. I joined Pyle, one of the largest co-ops on campus with over 100 members, and thought that my chances of finding some awesome people were pretty good. I went to every meal but, try as I might, I couldn’t make a single friend, because the co-op was in the midst of this thing called interim. During interim, every co-op policy and position is discussed at length during meals. Each day, I stood in line to get my food and, as soon as I sat down, the facilitated conversation started and lasted until the meal was over. It was a pretty terrible time. I hassled my friends to come with me to meals but they hated it because 1) the discussions were long and seemed pointless, 2) they were conducted using a top-secret language that only co-op members understand and 3) they couldn’t have a conversation with me or anyone else. The only relief came when someone, normally one of three people, would get really upset about something arbitrary. Not to worry, though, interim only lasted another month and a half, at which point I could talk to people for longer than 30 seconds and started making friends. Just as I originally suspected, Pyle was chock full of weird, smart kids hanging out and eating healthy food. I even learned that we have an Ultimate Frisbee team at Oberlin that was named after a vision team members had during an acid trip. Whoa. I’m back in Pyle this year and couldn’t be happier about it. I’ve met some amazing people and I love having conversations with them. The only problem is that it’s November and we just, and I mean just, finished interim. I’ve spent the past two
months wanting to talk with the friends I have and meet new people, but it’s impossible with all the talk of fridge etiquette and the number of times a semester meat can be served. The most exasperating part is that I can remember having the exact same discussions every semester. The wisest comment I’ve ever heard during discussion went something like this: “During this same discussion last semester, the same comment was made, but we still decided to keep the status quo because of…” Bottom line, interim isn’t welcoming and it doesn’t accomplish much. The policies don’t change much, if at all, and people just get angry. It’s not too bad for people who have friends already, but in a giant coop, it’s hard to tell who is on their own. My friend Megan visited Pyle last week to ask if she could weigh our compost for a biology study of waste per person across campus. When she wanted to make an announcement, she turned to me and asked if she had to check with someone first. “Does the co-op have a leader? Like a president or something?” she asked. I laughed and explained that co-ops are run on consensus. Thinking about it further, I thought that she had a point. Co-ops should be dictatorships. I started asking around and, not surprisingly, some of the Frisbee bros had given this issue a great deal of thought, probably during an acid trip. “In our [Nikhil and Bubbles’s] Theory of Dictatorships, you could still have discussions and the dictator would still listen to people. We’d just skip the needless squabbling over details and everything would happen a lot faster. We just finished meat and animal product policy [at Keep]. We finished everything else five weeks ago but it took us until now to finish this one policy,” said Bubbles, the Frisbee captain. The interim issue is in no way unique to Pyle; it is experienced by all co-ops to varying degrees. It’s time something is done about it. It’s time to put the Theory of Dictatorships into action and get some serious Machiavellian Princes up in here.
The Oberlin Review, November 8, 2013
Inequality in U.S. Wealth Distribution Must Be Addressed Sean Para Columnist Inequality is a serious problem in our country. The poverty rate in the United States is 15 percent, meaning 46.5 million people live in poverty in our country. Fourteen and a half percent of the country is also food insecure, meaning that they lack adequate access to food. It is truly shocking, given these conditions, that inequality is not a central issue in our country. Yes, it is certainly talked about and addressed as a problem, but the sheer number of people living in penury in our country day after day, year after year, points to a systemic failure in our society. The divide between rich and poor continues to grow. In 2013, the richest 10 percent of Americans will receive 9.5 times the market income of the poorest 10 percent, a marked increase from even six years ago, when the richest 10 percent took in only nine times as much income as the poorest 10 percent. It is estimated that 400 Americans own more than half the wealth in the United States. With such a great disparity in wealth, it is increasingly difficult to argue that we live in a egalitarian community, and it is increasingly necessary to distribute a large portion of wealth to the poorest of our society. The vast inequality in our country is detrimental to the population as a whole. Many millions who could make great contributions to our society and culture are instead forced to live without proper education to channel their potential. The concentration of material resources at the top of the social pyramid has also led to a great disillusionment with government: Most people no longer believe our social system leads to tangible benefits in their lives, because it does not. The conception that we live in an increasingly equal society, that in the past millennia we have largely destroyed the hierarchical social structure so decried in pre-modern history, proves manifestly false. While the material conditions enjoyed by the average, or even the poorest,
Americans are far above those enjoyed by the lower class even a century or two ago, modernity has not destroyed the class system. If anything, the wealth gap is becoming more entrenched with each coming year, as the upper class accumulates more wealth and the rest of the population only stays at the same income level or becomes less wealthy due to stagnant incomes and low economic growth. The vastly unequal distribution of wealth in our country is a major problem and should be addressed. Radical change is the only thing that can rectify this impasse. A large amount of wealth must be transferred from the rich to the poor in order to effectively create a more just society. The best way to do this is simply to create significantly higher taxes on the rich. If just a fraction of the wealthiest Americans gave a portion of their income to the most impoverished, the social changes would be tremendous. If, say, there were a 50 percent tax on the wealthiest of Americans, it would allow the government to vastly expand social programs. If the education system were reformed so that everyone going to public school received a good education instead of a mediocre one, and so that higher education was paid for by the government, it would go a long way toward creating a more egalitarian nation. Likewise, if healthcare, welfare and other social services were expanded, it would also raise the quality of life of those in poverty who do not receive adequate healthcare, employment opportunities and other crucial forms of support. The specifics of wealth distribution would have to be handled by an expert at a later time, but the point is that the riches of the upper class could and should be transferred downward in order to improve the desperate conditions of the destitute. We as a society must recognize the moral imperative of helping those in poverty and take concrete and radical steps to distribute wealth to the lower class.
Tobacco-Free Policy Would Reaffirm Campus Values Machmud Makhmudov Contributing Writer Last week, The Oberlin Review published an article titled “Campus Divided over Tobacco Ban” (Nov. 1, 2013). As a member of the team working to implement a tobacco-free campus, I would like to take the opportunity to both make a few factual corrections regarding specifics of the plan and also outline an argument for why Oberlin should go tobacco-free. First, if the proposal for Oberlin to become tobacco-free were to be adopted, it would not be implemented until the summer of 2016. This is intended to allow the vast majority of current students to graduate, give prospective students the opportunity to become aware of and adjust to the change and provide enough time for smoking cessation products and services to become available at either a free or subsidized cost to everybody on campus who desires them. Second, we (a subcommittee of the Alcohol, Tobacco and Other Drugs Committee convened by
the Office of Student Wellness) are now actively identifying how every affected group on and off campus, including students, faculty, campus employees and community members, would be impacted by the change. We are working hard to make cessation kits more accessible and widely available, so that anybody who wants to quit smoking has the resources to do so. Furthermore, Oberlin wouldn’t be forcing anybody to quit; rather, they just wouldn’t be able to smoke on campus. Third, though I am actively promoting and working on the policy while simultaneously serving as the liaison of Student Senate, the Senate itself has not made an official decision regarding whether or not to support the proposal. We will be voting this spring on a resolution that will clearly demonstrate our stance on the issue. All of that being said, there are several arguments for why Oberlin should become a tobacco-free campus. The one that has resonated with most people thus far relates to both public and private health concerns. One only needs
to consider the extent to which secondhand smoke affects life at Oberlin to understand the scope of the problem. In 2006, the U.S. Surgeon General declared that there is no safe level of exposure to secondhand smoke, which is a Class A carcinogen. For the two-thirds proportion of campus that does not smoke — including staff and students with chronic health problems such as asthma, chronic obstructive pulmomary disorder and allergies — it’s indisputable that the effects of smoking still play an integral role in their campus experience at Oberlin by means of secondhand smoke. If we’re concerned about secondhand smoke, why not just create designated smoking zones? Unfortunately, social dynamics at Oberlin make smoking just as much of a way to meet and connect with people as it is a way to alleviate stress and cater to an addiction. Setting aside specific zones where people could smoke would not address, and would in fact possibly worsen, this problem. The partial approach is not considered effective by public health officials
because it sends mixed messages and is hard to ever move forward from. I think that we have an obligation to protect everybody’s right to a healthy living, learning and working environment, and committing to a tobacco-free campus would be a firm step in that direction. Going tobacco-free would also reaffirm Oberlin’s commitment to social justice. Between the years of 1965 and 1999, when a majority of the academic literature regarding the health implications of smoking began to emerge, individuals in the top quintile of wealth experienced a 62 percent reduction on smoking rates. By contrast, those in the bottom quintile only saw a 9 percent reduction. There are a variety of statistics available that clearly demonstrate a correlation between income levels and rates of smoking. However, intention or desire to quit smoking remains fairly constant across all levels, with a study by the Center for Disease Control showing that 70 percent of smokers desire to quit. I believe that Oberlin, both as a community and an institution, has a responsibility to ensure that
everybody who wants to quit smoking isn’t prevented from doing so because of lack of access to a supportive, healthy environment and resources such as nicotine gum or patches. As news about the policy has emerged, I’ve been extremely encouraged by both the amount and intensity of support that has emerged for the proposal. History has shown us that every so often, our community is faced with an opportunity to reaffirm our commitment to being at the forefront of social change. We’re faced with that kind of choice today, and I’m inspired by the courage that a number of Oberlin students, faculty and community members have shown in stepping up to support a healthy, socially and environmentally conscious and compassionate campus. If you’d like to share any comments or questions with the tobacco committee, please send an email to ocwellne@oberlin.edu. I also encourage anybody who is interested in discussing this issue to attend a Senate Plenary Session (every Sunday at 7 p.m. in Wilder 215). We hope to see you there!
Opinions
The Oberlin Review, Novermber 8, 2013
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Death Penalty Discriminatory, Costly, Ineffective Aaron Pressman Contributing Writer There once was a man named Troy Davis. Davis was convicted of murdering a police officer and was sentenced to death in 1991. After 20 years of imprisonment and awaiting death, Davis was finally executed in 2011. Prior to his execution, seven of the nine eyewitnesses used to convict him recanted their testimonies, jeopardizing their credibility and admitting that they lied under oath. They did this in hopes that it would save the life of an innocent man. This, coupled with numerous new pieces of evidence pointing to Davis’s innocence, prompted former President Jimmy Carter, Pope Benedict XVI and over one million American citizens to ask the state of Georgia not to execute Davis without further hearings. Neither Georgia nor the Supreme Court would listen. They strapped a likely innocent man in a chair and took his life. This is not an isolated case. Since 1973, when the death penalty was reinstated, 143 people have been exonerated from death row with new evidence of their innocence. There are also at least 17 record-
ed instances in which a convict has been exonerated after being executed. Killing innocent people in the process of seeking vengeance for killing innocent people is unacceptable. The death penalty needs to go. One major problem with capital punishment is that it is incredibly costly. For one, death penalty trials generally last around four times as long as a trial where the death penalty is not an option. Legal costs are also increased through additional pretrial procedures, appeals, a longer voir dire process and an increased number of attorneys. In addition, many states place death row inmates in solitary confinement, which requires more cells and security at the taxpayers’ expense. One of the most costly states for the death penalty is California. The California Commission on the Fair Administration of Justice estimates that the death penalty has cost the state of California over four and a half billion dollars since it was reinstated in 1978. This accounts for one billion dollars of extra incarceration costs, $1.94 billion of extra trial costs, $925 million of state appeals and $775 million of federal appeals. There are currently only
731 inmates on death row, and there have only been 13 actual executions, bringing the total average cost of each execution to over 350 million dollars. To put this in context, the amount of money spent on each execution is the same amount of money that 7,000 workers make in a year if they each make an average annual salary of $50,000. The opposite extreme, in which executions are comparatively very cheap, is Texas. In Texas, the cost to execute a prisoner is approximately $2.3 million. Yet, the cost to imprison someone in maximum security for life, even in a single cell, is only a third of this. Even in the state that grants the fewest appeals and executes prisoners the quickest, the death penalty is still way more expensive than life in prison. The death penalty has also been shown to be very racist. The Michigan State Law Review reports that participants in a recent study were more likely to sentence an African-American defendant to death, especially if the victim was white. Statistics in the state of Alabama also show that nearly 65 percent of all murders involve black victims, yet 80 percent of the people
currently awaiting execution in Alabama were convicted of crimes in which the victims were white. Further, only 6 percent of all murders in Alabama involve black defendants and white victims, but over 60 percent of black death row prisoners have been sentenced for killing someone who was white. The benefits of the death penalty are very limited. There is little to no evidence that it serves as a crime deterrent, with many death penalty advocates even agreeing that it is not used to deter crime. In fact, according to the Death Penalty Information Center, states with the death penalty have 46 percent more murders than states without. This leaves the main motivation for the death penalty to be revenge. However, if one really wants to seek revenge, they should not punish themselves and all the other innocent taxpayers by wasting tax money; nor should they wish death upon someone else who could potentially be innocent. Instead, the United States should follow the example of other Western nations and abolish the death penalty once and for all.
U.S. Drone Strikes Fight Terror with Terror Sunny with a Chance of Cynicism: Gravity Inspires Anxiety Sam White Contributing Writer
Peace does not come from the barrel of a gun, however much those in power try to tell us otherwise. Missiles fired from U.S. drones, a constant and fear-inspiring threat for people living otherwise peaceful lives in northwest Pakistan, will never root out terrorism. The death of Pakistani Taliban leader Hakimullah Mehsud on Nov. 1 was one of very few instances when a drone strike has made headlines. Mehsud, in his 30s, was a known enemy of both the United States and Pakistan. He claimed responsibility for an attempted terrorist bombing in New York City’s Times Square in 2010, and under his leadership the Pakistani Taliban, also called the Tehrik-iTaliban Pakistan, posed a real threat to the Pakistani state. On these grounds, justifying his death is easy — on the surface. Sadly, most American citizens and politicians only know about Mehsud. Less well-known is that last Friday’s confirmed death was not the first attempt on his life by a U.S. drone pilot, but the third — each with its share of collateral damage. –––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
The best case scenario — perhaps idealistic, from an American perspective — would be for Americans and their elected representatives to recognize and reverse the unconscionable damage their country’s drone attacks are inflicting upon innocent human beings and their livelihoods. ––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––– And that Faisal Shahzad, the would-be Times Square bomber, claimed in court that the bombing attempt was, in part, retribution for the death of Batiullah Mehsud, Hakimullah’s predecessor. And, as reports confirmed on Thursday, that the TTP has elected Maulana Fazlullah as its new leader, the man responsible for the attempt on the life of activist and youngest-ever Nobel laureate Malala Yousafzai. As U.S. drone strikes against the TTP continue, the TTP and its affiliates surge to meet the challenges they pose. Each death fuels the powerful organization’s cause, and each new leader is more aggressive than the last.
While Mehsud had nominally agreed to peace talks with the Pakistani state, Fazlullah has made clear that these are out of the question. Mehsud was not a popular figure in Pakistan, yet widespread protests against his death have accused the U.S. of sabotaging these peace efforts and undermining the authority of Pakistan’s strained democratic government. His death came just a week after Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif urged President Barack Obama to halt his drone program at a meeting in Washington. Academics have also pointed out that the United States’s efforts to break down groups like the TTP from above only end up splintering them, giving rise to well-trained groups like al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula, a target of US drone attacks in Yemen. Drones, furthermore, are a frequent rallying point for the TTP: they heighten anger at the United States government, which the TTP then uses to swell its ranks. And, of course, there are the casualties. Figures vary, with both the Pakistani and American governments downplaying civilian deaths, but outside sources have placed their estimates from several hundred to several thousand reported deaths since the drone program’s start, about half of these children. Thousands more have been injured, often requiring expensive medical treatment that is hard to come by, as was the case with Nabila and Zubair Rehman who testified at a Congressional briefing in Washington in October. The young children’s grandmother, a village midwife whose son was a schoolteacher, was killed a year previously by a drone that struck the family’s peaceful village in North Waziristan, one of the tribal agencies of northwest Pakistan. Their story, featured among several others in a new documentary by filmmaker Robert Greenwald, is not unique. The best case scenario — perhaps idealistic, from an American perspective — would be for Americans and their elected representatives to recognize and reverse the unconscionable damage their country’s drone attacks are inflicting upon innocent human beings and their livelihoods. The very least that we as Americans must do, though, is to realize that drones are helping nobody. It is in the best interest of all Americans to call upon their elected representatives to change the course of a horrific war on terror that is only fueling terrorism’s fire.
Libby Salemi Columnist Over fall break, my parents and I visited my older brother in Ann Arbor for a fun little lunch date. As per usual, we discussed all the normal things families discuss: football, the weather and what movies and shows we’d been watching. My mom brought up the idea of maybe going to see the movie Gravity that afternoon, to which Alex (my brother) and I both promptly responded, “Absolutely not, fuck no, you’ve got to be kidding me.” I asked him why he was less than inclined to see it, feeling almost positive his answer wouldn’t be the same as mine, but I was pleasantly surprised when he said, “Oh my God, are you kidding me? It’s just Sandra Bullock floating around alone in space. Like, just screaming and running out of oxygen with no one else for two hours. That’s the scariest thing possible!” I finally found someone who agreed with me about this movie, and he’d been right by my side for 20 years. Alex and I are both into suspense movies and even thrill rides, but he’s much less timid about these things than I am. This was why it surprised me so much that this movie looked to both of us like one giant stressful panic attack. I’ve read reviews of it, checked out the Wikipedia page and watched several trailers, and I could not agree more with what he said. The movie just looks like an hour and a half of freaking the fuck out. From what I’ve gathered, Sandra Bullock’s character is working with George Clooney’s character on some routine work in space for some kind of satellite. Then everything goes horribly wrong, and they lose
contact with Earth and the satellite they were working on. They now have to travel to another satellite and figure out how to get back to Earth without fucking up or losing all their oxygen. Will they make it? Fuck if I know, I’ve been too much of a pansy to watch anything more than the trailer. For some reason, this movie, which should be renamed “Sandra Bullock Floating Around and Making Me Feel Scared and Insignificant,” is critically acclaimed. Apparently it’s some kind of visual masterpiece with superb acting and tone. Whatever. I still don’t want to see it. And yet… I want so badly to see this movie for the same reason I keep playing that Slender Man Eight Pages game, even though I know it’s just going to end with me screaming and slamming my computer shut. I need to feel that weird, fear-based adrenaline rush. I have no idea why, but I have to do it. The curiosity has been getting to me for far too long, and I need to know if I can handle Sandra Bullock’s scary space adventure. Also, since I’m trying to do that whole film major thing, I should probably see one of the films that’s supposed to be the greatest of the year. But mostly I need to feel Sandra-Bullock-space-fear. My plan is to go see it this weekend with a few friends for support. Hopefully we’ll make it through the whole thing without peeing our pants. I know that I’ll struggle with this challenge. If you see me over the weekend, and I appear to have soiled myself, you’ll know why. Until next time, I’ll be in a constant state of tension as I prepare my body and mind for this panic-inducing experience. Wish me luck.
THIS WEEK END IS FOR THE PARENTS FRIDAY, NOV. 8 Deans’ Wine and Cheese Reception 4:30 to 6 p.m.
Join the Conservatory and College deans for wine and cheese in the Science Center. At 5:15 p.m. enjoy a jazz performance by the Shea Pierre Quartet.
Gaze at the Stars 7 to 9 p.m.
Check out the stars at the Observatory in Peters Hall on the 4th floor.
SATURDAY, NOV. 9 Allen Memorial Art Tour
4 p.m.
Take a tour of the College’s museum with a staff member and a student docent. The tour will be geared towards parents, highlighting main features of the collection and the current exhibition on realism.
Listen to Oberlin’s jazz and folk a cappella group, ’Round Midnight, in the Bosworth Hall of Fairchild Chapel. The group will sing songs by Sufjan Stevens, Irving Berlin, Fleet Foxes and David Crosby.
Oberlin Jazz Ensemble Obertones Parents Weekend Concert
Parents Weekend Student Showcase
Enjoy a Shabbos dinner at the Chabad at Oberlin. All dinners are candle lit, begin with a cup of wine and are open to all.
Oberlin’s oldest and only all-male a cappella group, the Obertones, will be performing a free show in Finney Chapel.
Come to the Cat in the Cream for live music by a series of student bands.
9 p.m.
Fall Forward 2013 The Oberlin Baroque Orchestra 8 p.m.
Directed by Benjamin Hudson, the Oberlin Baroque Orchestra will be giving a performance in Warner Concert Hall.
’Round Midnight
3 p.m.
Family-Style Shabbos Dinner 7:30 p.m.
Take the folks out and about. Check out the awesome events plannned for this weekend. But before they get here, don’t forget to clean your room and hide anything that might be cause for concern.
8 p.m.
Held in the main space of Warner Center, this year’s dance concert will feature four faculty-directed dances and five student-choreographed pieces. The show will feature original music and live performances by student musicians.
Parents Weekend: Improv Showcase
Tony Gee Presents: Black City
8 p.m.
10 p.m.
Enjoy an evening of improv at the Cat in the Cream. Featuring performances from all of Oberlin’s improv groups: Kid Business, Primitive Streak and the Sunshine Scouts.
Black City, a hip-hop collective from Nashville, will be performing at the ’Sco. The collective is made up of four rappers, three producers, three DJs, two singers, two poets and one designer.
8 p.m.
8 p.m.
Join the Jazz Ensemble at Finney Chapel for a concert featuring songs such as “Lil Old Groove Maker,” “Jessica’s Day,” “Midnight Run” and “Groove Merchant.” The event will also be streamed live online.
TUESDAY, NOV. 12 Reading and Book Signing 12:30 p.m.
Barry Gilder, author and former deputy head of the South African Secret Service, will be doing a reading of his book Songs and Secrets: South Africa From Liberation to Governance at the Mindfair Bookstore on West College Street.
Panel on Jewish Feminism, Pizza Dinner Provided 5 p.m.
Intro Digital Camera Techniques 1 p.m.
A workshop on how to use a DSLR camera and JVC camcorder will be held in the Mudd multimedia room. The workshop will include learning about ISO, shutter speed, frame rate, aperture, focal length, white balance and basic lighting principles.
Os Mutantes and Capsula 10 p.m.
What is Judaism? What is feminism? Johnson House will be hosting a panel featuring Oberlin faculty, including Associate Professor of Jewish Studies Shulamit Magnus and Visiting Assistant Professor of Jewish Studies and Religion Rebecca Wollenberg, students and community members.
Brazilian psychedelic rock band Os Mutantes will be performing at the ’Sco, with Capsula opening.
WEDNESDAY, NOV. 13 Brothers at War: The Unending Conflict in Korea 4:30 p.m.
Shelia Miyoshi Jager, associate professor of East Asian Studies, will be giving a talk in Mudd Center 050 on her recently published book Brothers at War.
Keith Rowe: Workshop 5 p.m.
Musician and experimental improviser Keith Rowe will be giving a demonstration and workshop in Bibbins 223. The workshop is open to all students; students are encouraged to bring items to improvise with.
For more events go to: calendar.oberlin.edu
Arts The Oberlin Review
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November 8, 2013
Aerialists Wow Audience with Art-Themed Show Katherine Dye Staff Writer Off the Wall, Saturday’s performance by the Oberlin College Aerialists, featured impressive death-defying feats of strength and flexibility. The aerialists exhibited a variety of skill levels and acts, some of which were more striking than others. The theme which very loosely tied all of these acts together was a visit to an art gallery in which the curator, Miss Clavel, played by College Senior Genevieve Senechal, took the audience on a tour of the paintings. Each act represented a different famous work of art, such as Vincent Van Gogh’s Starry Night or The Birth of Venus by Sandro Botticelli. Miss Clavel gave background information about the works of art, which was supplemented by programs that provided pictures of the actual pieces and additional information about each of them. The performances were all impressive and, at times, simply astonishing. Acts by College senior Jessica Lam, College first-years Juliette Glickman, Katharine Geber, Zoe Beach and guest performer Samantha Sterman, OC ’13 were particularly arresting, as each of them twisted their bodies and manipulated the corde lisse, or in Beach’s case, the static trapeze, with deftness and grace. The performances on the corde lisse were particularly
striking because of how much danger appeared to be involved, as well as the level of skill the performances seemed to require. Aerialists performed extraordinary feats of deftness and strength, their movements oftentimes analogous to a kind of midair dancing. The group act by College seniors Ida Hoequist and Sarah Francis, based on the famous photograph V-J Day in Times Square by Alfred Eisenstaedt, was playful and fun; its display of the performers’ strength as well as their coordination was truly impressive. The final act by Sterman, based off of the Andy Warhol painting Gold Marilyn Monroe, was definitely the highlight of the evening. Sterman exhibited astonishing skill as she swung back and forth on the corde lisse while climbing and twisting herself into it in increasingly complex and dangerous formations. The acts performed on the aerial hoop were also awe-inspiring and appeared quite difficult, though often these segments were not nearly as engaging as others. Despite the admirable effort to integrate art history into the evening, the theme ultimately fell flat. The acts, creating a visual spectacle in their own right, rarely seemed to represent the works of art from which they allegedly drew inspiration. Oftentimes the only way to distinguish what work of art an act was supposed to portray was through
An Oberlin College Aerialist, suspended high in the air in Hales Gym, hangs upside down over the audience. The troupe paid tribute to famous works of art with deft movements and danger this past Saturday. Yvette Chen
the color of the performer’s leotards or through other small costuming details. The theme, though clever, felt tacked-on and unrelated to the performances themselves. Hales Gymnasium was also not an ideal venue for the performance, as the seating was arranged in such a way that it was occasionally hard to see and hear what was going on. Additionally, Senechal was not given a
microphone, which made her short art history lessons somewhat useless and certainly did not enhance the experience. Overall, the performance was fascinating and enjoyable to watch. The audience seemed highly impressed with the physical prowess of their classmates who, for the most part, appeared in top form. Unfortunately, however, the theme failed
to resonate throughout the show. The combination of art history and aerialist performance evoked interesting ideas that would have worked better had they been thought out more completely. Perhaps if additional resources had been available to more vividly realize their vision, the aerialists’ homage to those visual masterpieces would have been a masterpiece all its own.
No More Starving Artists: Entrepreneurship in the Conservatory Daniel Hautzinger and Julian Ring Staff Writer and Arts Editor “But how are you going to make money?” It’s a question every student studying music has likely faced. This query is especially common today, with the economic recession and the all-too-common news stories of troubled music institutions. In the first week of October alone, the New York City Opera filed for bankruptcy, the music director of Minnesota Orchestra resigned after a continuing year-long salary dispute between musicians and management, and Carnegie Hall cancelled its opening concert because of a strike by stagehands. Amidst such doomsaying, it’s understandable for Conservatory students to be concerned about their futures. Yet there is still hope for the musician. According to a study by arts advocacy group Americans for the Arts, the nonprofit arts and culture sector in America creates $135 billion annually in economic activity, and that collective activity supports 4.1 million full-time jobs. “There is a place for musicians in today’s world. It’s not a fizzling economic prospect,” said Tim Weiss, professor of Conducting and director of Oberlin’s Contemporary Music Ensemble. Weiss is a mentor to such successful alumni groups as eighth blackbird and the International Contemporary Ensemble. But to be successful as a musician today, one has to be willing to create a career that fits into the realities of
contemporary life, and that means being well-versed in self-promotion and entrepreneurship. Eighth blackbird is a good model — an Oberlin group that has developed its own brand and become one of today’s foremost contemporary chamber ensembles, with three Grammy awards to its name. Paul Cox, interim director of professional development for the Conservatory and a mentor to eighth blackbird, said that part of the reason for that group’s success was that they made themselves unique. “[They] did one thing that no one else was doing, and that was playing from memory with movement [around stage],” he said. To help students acquire the skills, experience and funding necessary to begin a career in music, the Conservatory and the Creativity and Leadership project, which facilitates entrepreneurship at Oberlin, offer a variety of resources. Alumni like eighth blackbird are brought in to speak about their professional lives and give advice, acting as a potential model for students who wish to form their own chamber groups. Students are also able to form useful connections with alumni. “Connecting with people who have more experience is invaluable,” said Kate Chase, acting director of the Creativity and Leadership project. Masters in Music Teaching student Max Mellman, who is developing “enhanced recorded music playback software” called Maestro, said in an email that through Creativity and Leadership he has been able to meet alumni entrepreneurs who “are both inspiring
and have awesome business advice.” In a lecture about careers at the Conservatory on Oct. 2, eighth blackbird members themselves stressed the importance of acquiring entrepreneurship and business skills as musicians. As the ensemble members mentioned in their talk, it is important to “always use your Oberlin connections.” Oberlin can help kickstart a career through its extensive network. Student groups can then receive coaching. “We even played for Michael Maccaferri [the clarinetist in eighth blackbird],” oboist and Conservatory junior Tim Daniels said of his wind trio, Third Rail, in an email to the Review. Students can tap into faculty networks as well. Daniels said in an email that Weiss helped Third Rail get selected as the Detroit Chamber Winds & Strings’ Young Ensemble-in-Residence. To fully utilize those connections, students must have solid entrepreneurial skills. To this end, the Creativity and Leadership project offers a number of classes. In the Conservatory’s entrepreneurship department, there are courses that cover basic entrepreneurship, finances, business models and promotional video production. The Conservatory also offers a course called “Touring for Musicians,” which covers practical skills such as budgeting, marketing and fundraising. “If I could help students to learn just the basics before they graduate, it will put them so far ahead of their peers from other schools,” said Con-
servatory Associate Dean for Artistic Programming and Operations Gloria Kim, who teaches the class. Kim, along with Cox, Chase, Conservatory Associate Dean for Student Academic Affairs Mary Kay Gray and Acting Dean of the Conservatory Andrea Kalyn, act as professional mentors for students. “Any one of us here are eager to help,” said Kim. Artist Diploma student Nick King, who founded Art of Giving Back, an organization committed to supporting young classical musicians and giving back to the community, said in an email that “Paul Cox, Gloria Kim and numerous other members of the Oberlin administration have been very supportive and resourceful in the development of my organization. Each person I’ve spoken with is incredibly knowledgeable and eager to help.” That guidance ranges from aid in putting together websites, biographies and recordings to refining ideas and careers. “I listen a lot, and I listen carefully, and then I give advice as to what they could do to hone their project, maximize a tour for example, think of ideas that they may have missed,” Cox said. Their advice also extends to funding. “Whenever I had a question about a grant application, Kate Chase from the Creativity and Leadership department provided all of the answers that I needed,” King said. Oberlin has a variety of grants available to provide that funding. The Ignition Fund supports students with entrepreneurial projects in the
early stages of development. Conservatory Initiative Grants Supporting Imagination and Excellence are awarded to Conservatory students with “imaginative artistic projects” to be implemented over Winter Term. Creativity and Leadership also offers fellowships to graduating seniors who are pursuing “business, artistic or social ventures.” Since hands-on experience in the professional world is impossible to underestimate, Oberlin also offers grants to students completing summer internships. And for funding combined with mentoring, there is the LaunchU Winter Term, an “intensive venture boot camp and incubator designed to launch Oberlin entrepreneurs,” according to its website, that allows students to pitch business models in competition for investors. “I don’t know of any other conservatory that has such a comprehensive entrepreneurship program,” King said. This is backed up by statistics from “Fostering Sustainable Arts Careers,” a study of arts entrepreneurship education which found that “74 percent of student respondents said that they would like to see more Arts Entrepreneurship programs offered on their campus.” “Take full advantage of everything Oberlin has to offer. I never realized how good I had it,” a member of eighth blackbird advised in their talk. So are you going to make money? There is no way to tell for sure, but the resources Oberlin offers for music entrepreneurship are a way for students to hopefully do just that.
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The Oberlin Review, November 8, 2013
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Shondes Rocks Queer Beers with Pop-Punk Anthems Nora Kipnis Staff Writer “There’s something about the way the sky is,” sings Louisa Solomon, the lead singer of the Shondes, in a song about those transformative nights when you feel connected with some form of the divine. “Maybe tonight will be one of those nights,” she told the crowd, and from the way their bodies followed the soaring of the violin and the thrashing garage-rock guitars, the Shondes had the kind of music to make that ecstatic connection possible. The event was Queer Beers, the song was “Nights Like These,” and Solomon’s voice, by turns fervent and intense, was then whispering and staccato over the discordant guitars — rough enough to jump to, lively and syncopated enough to dance to. The Shondes are a four-piece indie rock band from Brooklyn with as much of a political presence as a musical one. The four met protesting the Republican National Convention in 2004, and by 2007 had released a debut EP, The Red Sea. Their music is a unique blend of Riot Grrrl, punk, traditional Jewish music, pop and folk. Hot on the heels of their debut came My Dear One, a breakup album in which the band displays a more melancholy, lush sound. On their newest album, The Garden, the band has hit its stride, with a clean sound Rolling Stone called “too wild to ignore,” full of propulsive beats and jagged guitar sounds. The progressive politics of some of the songs can’t be ignored either, and the Shondes often blend music and activism through their lyrics or by playing at events for organizations such as Birthright Unplugged, which seeks to fill a gap in the Birthright Israel program by exposing par-
ticipants to Palestine’s side of the story. The Shondes’ liberalism needn’t lose them fans who disagree though — their music feels so universal, and regardless of one’s politics, it was hard not to dance at their concert. The band members seemed to feel as pulled by their own music as the crowd did, and their emphatic performance infused the ’Sco with energy this past Wednesday. Solomon’s voice is even more powerful in person than it is on record, and her energy and presence is effervescent and contagious. I never knew it was possible to dance as hard as Elijah Oberman did while playing a violin, but he somehow managed to pull it off, headbanging with Solomon while sawing out lilting melodies with unexpected beauty that layered over the garage-rock guitar sound and Solomon’s emotive vocals. The fluctuations of the thickly textured beats reflected the band’s Klezmer influences, dragging almost to a dignified stop and then abruptly, delightfully roaring back with double the energy. Theirs was a brand of Eastern European folk-infused punk that sounds like a popier, girlier Gogol Bordello. The band’s disparate influences were effortlessly blended into an eccentric, unpredictable whole that somehow felt complete and was impossibly catchy. Between the Shondes’ politics and inspiring music, this group might be just what the world needs. They’re fighting oppression, but their songs ask you not to think too much. You might surprise yourself trying to figure out what the Shondes are working toward with their dense pop anthems, but when you suddenly look down and see you’re dancing without realizing it, you’ve decided you love this band.
Shondes singer and bassist Louisa Solomon and violinist Elijah Oberman lock rhythms during their set at the ’Sco on Tuesday. The band’s eclectic mix of Jewish folk and punk rock ignited the space with a fervent energy that had the adoring crowd on their feet and dancing. Kaia Austin
Shondes Bassist Louisa Solomon Talks Politics, Heartbreak, Hope Nora Kipnis Staff Writer How did your band form? What drew the four of you together? Elijah [Oberman] and I formed the Shondes with two other friends back in 2006. At the time, we were feeling an urgent need to get back to music — our previous band had just broken up — and we both really wanted to get serious about it, and give it a real go, shooting for a sustainable career. We wanted to focus on songwriting, infusing honest emotion in it and finding ways to engage politically as a band. Who and what are your musical influences? We have a ton of influences that manifest in all different ways in our work, some much more obvious than others. For me personally, the biggest influences are ’80s pop rock, Riot Grrrl and soul. We are very rarely trying to emulate the people we admire in terms of musical style, but more to learn from the songs and singers and bands we love most. Like, wow, how did that line in that song make me feel so much, and how can I do that too? People can usually detect the punk influence in our brand of rock, and a lot of people say they can hear Jewish elements, but to whatever extent those elements are there, it’s pretty organic and unplanned. I’m always happy when people are moved by our music, and curious to hear all they are hearing in it.
Your music has been often identified as having distinctly Jewish influences. Is this intentional, or is it a function of the music you were exposed to over your life? How do you think Judaism interacts with the feminist aspect of the music? We are Jewish and love a lot of Jewish music, so I’m always happy and intrigued when people hear it in what we do, but no, it’s not really intentional. We write what feels good to us. What do you think the interaction is between politics and music? How does your music exemplify or influence that interaction? We started this band with pretty clear intentions around political engagement and wanting to do our work with a collective spirit. Our writing process, the music itself and the business side of things are all pieces we think about [really] consciously, and we try our best to do things thoughtfully and ethically. The music itself tends to focus more on imparting hope than in presenting specific political positions. Hope is, after all, a wildly fragile and vital part of life, and we need it in spades if we want to do work that makes the world more just. We have some songs that speak a bit more explicitly and specifically about our political beliefs, but for me the goal in being a songwriter is to express stuff through music that is simultaneously of great personal
significance — even cathartic — and also of use to others. Imparting hope through music feels like part of my job in life. When good songwriters tackle political issues directly, sometimes you get brilliant, honest, brave songs. Sometimes though, they come off really contrived and emotionally removed. So I want to be sure that I hold the bar high for myself. I would rather imagine that [our new album] The Garden helps people connect with what is meaningful in their lives than that it tells them what I think is right and wrong. Feeling in touch with what’s personally most meaningful always has the potential to help us care more about everyone’s right to safety and self-determination. At least that’s how it feels to me. It’s part of knowing what we are fighting for. I’m not into writing songs that try to put rhetoric to music or educate listeners. We are better organizers and activists when we are connected to our own needs and desires and feel compelled of our own accord to educate ourselves and take action. Your politics have drawn both fans and critics. How do you think your politics relate to your music and the fans that you want to attract? Would you rather have listeners separate politics from the music when listening, or do you think that your music and your message are one and the same? I don’t want anything artificially
separated to facilitate fandom. But I also don’t think we have a political platform that every song is in direct service of. People can take our music however they want to, and I’m always happy to talk about how it relates to politics for me. I think a lot of activists default to having a goal to get people on board with a predetermined party line. The kind of radicalism that has been important to me in my life is all about being engaged emotionally, intellectually and with other people. So I’m not interested in using music to convince people of things; music is a way for me to engage with an audience that I respect. If we have a message as a band, I’d say it is to be as alive as possible. Think, feel, experience awe, dedicate yourself to what you believe in because it feels like a whole, authentic way to exist in the world. I believe that we should see and fight structural oppression, for example, and be vigilant, open to criticism, cognizant of our positionality and actively walking up the down escalators of white supremacy and sexism. But it’s because it’s genuinely connected to what I want for myself, for people I love, for a world that I’m a part of. I think this is really key — to know in your gut why you care, what your stake is. Otherwise your politics can be just as vapid as any crappy pop song. A lot of your songs seem to revolve around recovering from heartbreak. What has the ex-
perience of heartbreak taught you about your personal power as a woman? Heartbreak sucks, but it’s an important and unavoidable part of life, right? I have felt pretty empowered by surviving major blows in my life, and music has always been my go-to activity for the awful times. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve thought, “Oh my god, I can’t sleep because I’m so sad. I can’t bear to think about the sadness anymore, nothing distracts me from it.” And then just sitting down at the piano and writing that moment is what allowed me to survive it. That’s super powerful and makes you feel like you’re equipped for whatever might hit you. What does the name “shondes,” which is Yiddish for shame or disgrace, have to do with your band’s message? We have all felt like outsiders at one point or another and wanted the band name to speak to that experience, and affirm it. Plus Yiddish is such an expressive and cool language, and it felt good to bring that in. How does The Garden differ from your previous albums? How is it a continuation of the earlier ones? We had a lot more control than ever before and a great partner in producer Tony Maimone through the whole process. It’s an outgrowth of the anthemic pop rock sensibility we were honing on 2011’s Searchlights.
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The Oberlin Review, November 8, 2013
Intimate Masterpieces Enchant Finney Jarrett Hoffman Some of Maurice Ravel’s most beautiful pieces of music emanated from Finney Chapel on Tuesday night, as Ravel: Intimate Masterpieces, an all-Ravel chamber music concert featuring nine Oberlin musicians, kicked off the 2013-14 Artist Recital Series. The concert also celebrated the progress of Oberlin Music, Oberlin’s fledgling record label, which recently released a CD of Ravel’s music sharing the program’s name. The concert began with a stunning performance of Ravel’s famous String Quartet in F Major by the Jupiter String Quartet, the Conservatory’s Quartet-in-Residence. It was clear the group’s members were in close communication with one another as melodies and fast rhythmic fragments passed effortlessly between them. The piece’s many transitions were executed skillfully, making the experience feel like the telling of a seamless musical story. Jupiter was excellent in all sections of the piece, from the first movement’s smooth melodies to the second’s jumping pizzicatos to the raucous opening of the fourth and its heart-racing journey to the end. But the most captivating moment may have been Jupiter’s take on the lethargic and soulful third movement. It evoked within the listener a sense of quiet awe — a reassurance that these emotive progressions have evaded obscurity for a reason. One of the highlight performers of the evening was soprano Ellie Dehn, OC ’02. A star opera singer, Dehn recently performed at the Metropolitan Opera, the San Francisco Opera, the Teatro alla Scala in Milan and the Teatro dell’Opera
in Rome, among many other leading opera houses. She was superb in a chamber setting, her voice warmly filling the space in Finney while retaining a distinct sense of intimacy. The first selection of the evening to feature her was Cinq Mé-lodies Populaires Grecques, a piece derived from remnants of piano pieces Ravel wrote to accompany Greek folk songs transcribed by composer Carlos Salzedo for harp and voice. The piece is quirky, its movements short and spare, each one functioning as a miniature vignette with its own individual mood. Dehn and Assistant Professor of Harp Yolanda Kondonassis captured their character impeccably, in particular the first movement’s urgency and the last movement’s elation. The Chansons madécasses, performed by a quartet comprised of Dehn, Associate Professor of Flute Alexa Still — fresh from a concerto performance with the Oberlin Orchestra just last week — Jupiter cellist Daniel McDonough and pianist Spencer Myer, OC ’00, were more meaty. The piece’s second movement was especially stunning. It began with shrieks of horror from the absorbing Dehn, then cooled to a chilling tone of traumatic reminiscence as Dehn’s eerily calm voice was paired with beautiful descending flute lines. After the ensemble built the tension very gradually back to a climax, the piece receded and the instruments carried on just past Dehn’s voice, as if determined to keep the melody alive. Kondonassis starred in Introduction et Allegro, a concertolike chamber piece featuring the harp. She handled the virtuosic, cascading runs and arpeggios
with aplomb. Her cadenza was by turns gentle, thoughtful and bold, and the audience seemed transfixed at the whim of her every touch of the strings. Her choice to play the piece from memory only added to its impressiveness. The rest of the ensemble, which included Still, Associate Professor of Clarinet Richard Hawkins and the Jupiter Quartet, was likewise spectacular, creating fluttering textures and matching each other brilliantly in both pitch and dynamics. Hawkins and Still played together with exceptional chemistry, enchanting listeners with their opening duet. Also included were introductions to the pieces provided by Assistant Professor of Musicology James O’Leary and Associate Professor of Music Theory Sigrun Heinzelmann. The professors took turns at the podium giving the audience a sense of background for each half of the concert, with O’Leary focusing on the history of Ravel and Heinzelmann discussing his compositional style. For example, O’Leary detailed how Ravel at first toed the line between two competing schools of thought in French music but later tried to set himself clearly apart. Through short audio clips, Heinzelmann demonstrated Ravel’s development of the main melody throughout his string quartet and his use of exotic-sounding modes in his folk tunes. While informative and excellently done — both professors were clearly passionate and very learned about Ravel — the introductions ran a bit long for a concert that lasted over two hours. They may have been more appropriate as an optional pre-concert lecture.
Steampunk Cabaret Revels in Risqué Humor at Cat Anne Pride-Wilt Staff Writer The student-run organization OCircus may call itself a circus, but a better label for the group’s production last week is cabaret — steampunk burlesque cabaret, to be precise. While the combination may sound half-baked or faddish on paper, the four performances of the Fall Cabaret “Mrs. Borden’s Boarding House” that took place at the Cat in the Cream last weekend were anything but. The strength of the writing and performance managed to transcend the production’s overdone premise and delight the audience with a stellar combination of humor and talent. College first-year Em Notley, as the eponymous Mrs. Borden, ran both the show and the boarding house around which the production was set. Strutting around the stage in startlingly high platform heels and fluttering a handheld fan to great effect, Notley was the evening’s magnetic presence, as much because of their flawless line delivery as their pithy one-liners. At the beginning of the show, it would have been easy for an audience member, swept
away by Notley’s performance and the play-like atmosphere, to forget that it was an OCircus performance at all. But that perception would be rapidly corrected when the lights switched off and a blindfolded Nif Ward effected a near-perfect routine twirling poi, tethered and, in this case, lighted weights that are spun rapidly in a circle. The following circus-style acts were more explicitly tied to the thin plot — minions, played by College first-year Zoe Raizen and College sophomore Lillian White, engaged in a complex acrobatic dance-fight, which was followed by a hypnotic automaton dance number distinguished by the physical mirroring of each performer. Equally impressive acts included College junior Adina Shanholtz’s prostitutionthemed hula-hoop routine, which was set to a Panic! At the Disco song, inducing a middle school flashback for some members of the crowd. Next, another excellent acro partner act featured the comical “If You’ve Only Got a Moustache,” originally written by Stephen Foster, extolling the arousing properties of the moustache. Another highlight was College sophomore Chris Bell’s
breakdance/twerk/striptease number. As Bell, whose character was a pirate captain, announced at the end of the number, he was always expected to plunder booty, when all he wanted to do was “shake me booty.” This off-kilter, self-aware sense of humor pervaded the show and kept the steampunk aesthetic — the abounding corsets and garter belts, the airships, the mad scientist — from becoming too precious. Not even the live piano cues guiding the show were safe from it. At one point, Mrs. Borden shrieked and demanded to know who let the pianist into her living room. The show also delighted in its own prurience. Aside from the aforementioned hula-hoop act and the twerking pirate, five “automatons,” demonstrating their sexual fitness, stripped in sequence, underscoring the adult content warnings taped outside of the Cat door and announced at the beginning of the show. The show’s less-than-family-friendly aspects did not go unappreciated by Saturday’s enthusiastic midnight crowd. OCircus’s Fall Cabaret may not have been perfect, but who needs perfect when the
OCircus member and College first-year Em Notely is caught by College junior Annie Valocchi as Notley stares in shock at a letter they have just received. Kaia Austin
show has the crowd laughing hysterically and gasping with awe in all the right places? OCircus succeeded in combining acrobatics, dance, singing, acting and comedy into one
lumpy but thoroughly entertaining display. The performers were clearly having every bit as much fun as the audience, and the show’s humor was too infectious to dislike. Even if
steampunk wasn’t everyone’s thing, circus, music, drama or humor almost certainly was, so there was something for everyone — except, of course, for children.
The Oberlin Review, November 8, 2013
Arts
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On the Record: Fredara Hadley, Visiting Associate Professor of Jazz Studies “I learned how to read music and read words almost at the same time,” Fredara Hadley says without a hint of irony. An upbringing like that seems almost a prerequisite for the ethnomusicologist-entrepreneur’s multifaceted career (her LinkedIn page lists her as, among other things, “Chief Music Evangelist” at her New York-based startup). When Hadley isn’t flying to Oberlin to teach her full-year course on African-American music, she’s exploring the soundtrack of the Big Apple and chronicling the black experience through sound. She spoke with the Review about her work, why everyone is a liar, and living in a post-Napster age. I want to get a sense of what it is you do. You span a bunch of different disciplines, primarily ethnomusicology. How would you describe, in your own words, what your job is and what drives you? I am always trying to find ways to talk about music, black music in particular, and to help people engage with music in their everyday lives, and figure out how to get more music into people’s lives and get them thinking about music. It’s been one of the constants in my life: playing music, singing music, learning about music, teaching music, and I just think the story of African-American music in particular tells so much about not just black people, but black people and white people in America. In this country, I feel like we should be constantly trying to find ways to engage people who don’t necessarily think like us or look like us. Music is a place we can all kind of come and meet, and I think it facilitates a lot of that experience and discussion. So just about everything I do deals with music. Here, I’m teaching the Intro to African-American Music course. When I’m not here, I’m also the managing editor of a site called musicology. com, which is another scholarly take on the traditions of African-American music. I have my own company called Jooksi in New York, and we plan music field trips. We get people together to go to different shows that people may not know about, some of the smaller soul, jazz and funk shows and supporting those artists. We do music-based tours of New York City, really just trying to help people engage with the history of AfricanAmerican music. There are places that you can go in New York that represent everything from Negro spirituals at the African burial ground, all the way up to hip-hop in the Bronx, and everything in between. It’s pretty amazing that you can do all that in one city. I would imagine that your job, as an ethnomusicologist at least, is to explore different people’s experiences with music. Talk about your own experience with music. How did you find that this was something you were passionate about? Part of it happened before I was born. When my mother was pregnant with me, she said that God told her that her child would be musical. My mother played piano and she sang. She hadn’t had a piano in a lot of years, so she went out and bought one. I remember one of my first Christmas gifts was a toy piano. I remember my mom holding me in her lap while she would play piano
when I was a kid. I started classical piano at four, violin at six or seven and sang in my church’s choir most of my life. I tell people I learned how to read music and read words almost at the same time. You can’t remember a time without it. It’s always been there. I went off to college and got a responsible job as a banker and hated it. So when I left that, I was like, ‘What do I really want to do?’ An old professor from undergrad told me about ethnomusicology. I had taken a black film course in undergrad, and he told me, ‘ethnomusicology might be a good fit for you.’ Very long story short, I ended up meeting Portia Maultsby, who is one of the leading scholars in African-American music and ethnomusicology at Indiana University. I ended up going there, and I was like a fish taking in water. I was like, ‘People will actually let me think about this all day long?’ What I really like about ethnomusicology is that I get to get out of my own head. It’s not just about me and my experiences or my thoughts about music, but I talk to other people about their thoughts and experiences with music. And I try to figure out the convergences and divergences in that. It makes music experiences really, really central. Why are people creating music this way? Why do people like this music, why do people dislike this music? What does this tell us about the group of people making it and engaging it? I feel like when you study music, you’re studying the story of us: humanity on a mega-level, or a specific group of people in a specific time and place, all trying to work out our lives and work out our existence on this earth. I just think music is some of the strongest evidence for how people do that. Your research mantra is this idea that ‘people are liars.’ Can you explain about how that fits in with your work in ethnomusicology? If you can’t take people at their word, how can you find out how music relates to their cultural practices? You watch them. You watch what they do. That’s just a shorthanded way of that saying we have a perception of ourselves and who we are, and how we move in the world, and so everybody’s perspective is a little limited. It’s not that people are maliciously lying — well, sometimes that may happen — but I more so mean that we are limited by our perspectives that we have of ourselves. Almost always you see discrepancies between what people say they do or who people say they are and, when you watch them, what they actually do. That’s one of the reasons I really like ethnography, because the discrepancies aren’t bad things — that’s humanity. I like the messiness of it. We like to think highly of ourselves. ‘I like everybody, I like all music.’ But the truth is that music is the easiest way to segregate people based on class, based on region. It’s this weird thing where people say music is universal and it brings everybody together, and it can do that, but [it can] also really, really, really separate people. We’ve been conditioned to learn what genre is a signifier of. We know everything that sort of comes along with that, and we know if that’s something we want to engage in or not.
Professor Fredara Hadley commutes from New York City once a week to teach Oberlin’s Introduction to African-American Music course.
The other thing you seem to be very interested in is the role of technology in music and how those agree — or maybe don’t agree. Can you talk about how you see the relationship between the two? Is technology killing the music industry and music itself, or is it strengthening it and ushering in some sort of rebirth? I don’t think technology is ever really good or bad. I had a professor once in grad school who said that we’ve always had technology. At one point, pen and paper was technology. When I teach the class, earlier in the semester we were talking about Negro spirituals, music in the 19th century mainly, so obviously there were not audio recordings yet. So what is the technology to record what you’re hearing? Your write out a transcription of it. The whole music industry starts out based on the sale of sheet music because that is how tunes get disseminated. That’s why publishing royalties are still a major component of the music industry. I try to help us to think about technology not as computers or Pro Tools or AutoTune, but as whatever tools you have available to record and disseminate something. I’m in my mid-thirties, so I remember really well when Napster happened. We talk about B.C. and
A.D. — that was one of those moments. One day, you’re paying $17 for a CD, and then next day, you’re like, ‘I can get it all for free!’ We still haven’t fully sorted ourselves out in a postNapster age. What I learned while I was doing my dissertation research was that you can’t not be interested in technology if you’re interested in music in some way, shape or form, because not only is it a part of the music-making process, it is a part of the performance process, it is a part of how these music communities define each other and contain themselves. With social media, it’s part of how people listen to music. Most of those things have changed dramatically in the last 13 years. Thinking about how people’s consumption habits are changing, how those changes in consumption affect what people are creating, it’s a symbiotic relationship between the two. What does an app like MOG or Spotify allow us to do that we couldn’t do before? What do they hinder us from doing? I think it’s too early to call. It’s still all sorting itself out. But as an ethnomusicologist really interested in the music experience, how can you not be interested in the fact that we can all create our own personal music stories and share them really easily and really quickly through technology? People can create albums in their house in one night, and so now the market is just flooded with content. What does that mean for the business model? Are listeners feeling overwhelmed or like this is utopia? I spend a lot of time trying to understand these things, and take note of them and, on a good day, guess where it’s all going. I want to shift gears a little bit and talk about the class. Tell me about what the goal is for the Introduction to African-American Music course. Why did you decide to make it a full-year course separated into two related halves?
The class was originally taught by the Jazz department founder Wendell Logan, and I think it was always a two-part course. It moves chronologically, so the first semester moves from precolonial West Africa up to the 1930s, and the second semester from the 1930s until the present. I really appreciate that Wendell Logan thought that the continuum of black music was so important that [he made it] a full-year course instead of a semester course, even though I had nothing to do with it. I say that my goal in the class is to problematize everything, because, again, I like the messiness of things. We don’t live inside boxes, or in this corner or that corner. It’s more like a 2-year-old’s finger painting — the colors get all mixed up. I think that’s the most honest way for me to teach the course. As I problematize things, I hope that I’m giving students some sort of framework to navigate the messiness. We’re all living here in the United States, and although we’ve made great strides, race is still a real issue. In a real-life sense, I hope that learning the history and talking about race in class can give people an outlet to find their place in this whole system, to think about what kind of person they are or what kind of person they want to be. For the musicians in the class, it behooves us to understand what is packed up in [a musical] statement. You as a musician can make whatever choices you want, but understand what choices you’re making and understand the implications of those choices. These musicians [we’re learning about] aren’t blank slates. They’re trying to grapple with their humanity through this instrument, and we all get to hear it. I want to talk about jazz from that perspective and really do a close reading of what is happening with this person that caused this piece to come out this way. Interview by Julian Ring, Arts editor Photo courtesy of Fredara Hadley
Sports
Page 14
The Oberlin Review, November 8, 2013
IN THE LOCKER ROOM
Tom Reid
This week, the Review sat down with Bowling I and II teacher Tom Reid to discuss Reid’s long tenure at Oberlin, how he started bowling and what you need to do to take his class next semester.
going to be for a few years before I went out on tour. It turns out that if you want to become a professional bowler, maybe you should not run a bowling center, because there’s so much work in that, that you don’t get to spend enough time honing your craft on the lanes. Maybe that’s just a cop-out, and it’s an internal character flaw or a lack of physical or mental giftedness.
When did you start bowling? Tom Reid: I started bowling fall of 1973. I was 15. My church formed a bowling league, and I asked my parents if I could join. I expected them to say no but they said yes. I was always picked next to last in gym class. I had a friend who was one of those naturally athletic people, and he joined the league also, and on the first night, I beat him. On the second week, I beat him again, and that’s when I thought, ‘Hey, this might be my thing.’ What makes bowling a great sport? TR: On the face of it, it’s pretty stupid. Let’s face it: You’re rolling a ball at some sticks, and what’s the point of that? I feel a little weird because right next door to the bowling center is a hospital where they’re trying to save people’s lives. [But] there are some very real things about it. One is the human connection. Bowling provides that. In a team setting, you have comrades that are out there fighting pin wars with you. The movie The Big Lebowski shows how bowling can help strong bonds develop between people who otherwise would have nothing to do with each other. When did you start teaching a bowling class at Oberlin? TR: Spring of 1993. When I started managing the lanes in the fall of 1980, I went to the athletic director and offered to teach the classes, and the response that I got was that there were people in the department who felt I should have a teaching degree to teach the class. So, for the next 13 years, I just sat behind the counter and passed out shoes and sometimes would wince when someone teaching the class would give a piece of advice that seemed unsound. Then, in the fall of ’93, they came to me and said, ‘Tom, we don’t have anybody to teach the bowling class.’ That fall semester, every night before class, I stayed up until two or three in the morning getting the lesson plans in order. Do you have any special articles of clothing that you wear when you bowl?
Tom Reid, bowling instructor and coach TR: Are you recording this? There’s one thing I need to say: ‘Hi Mom!’ I’m sorry to report that I do not have a lucky pair of socks or a lucky pair of underwear. I wear slacks and never jeans, and also short sleeves. I always do wear my lucky bowling shoes. If you don’t wear ’em, you slip and fall down. How do you keep a fresh perspective about Oberlin despite being here for so long? TR: This is actually my 38th year on campus. I’m in my 75th consecutive semester here at Oberlin College. Thank you for assuming that I do have a fresh perspective. I’ve been teaching the class for 20 years, and sometimes I do get tired of going through the same routines year after year, and yet, each student that comes into that class, it’s their first time. They’re having this exciting new experience taking bowling. I feel I owe it to them as an individual to give them something to be excited about it. Are there any professional bowlers who you’ve tried to emulate? TR: Yes, and it usually works out pretty disastrously. When I was first starting out, the [Professional Bowlers Association] telecasts were on Saturday afternoons as the lead-in to ABC’s Wide World of Sports, and I bowled in a Saturday night league. That was pretty cool. You’d watch the pro-
fessionals bowl and then go out to bowl, and I bowled better in that Saturday night league than I had in any other. There have also been times where I’ve seen a bowler do something and said, ‘I’m going to try to do that,’ and it didn’t work out so well. Do you have any bowling superstitions? TR: I can reason my superstitions away. If someone has left a split on the next lane, you don’t bowl until they have taken their next shot and gotten that split off of there. If you don’t wait, you’re likely to leave a split yourself. I also wipe my ball off before any strike attempt, and that’s really not for the purpose of getting the oil off the ball. To me, that’s a focusing mechanism. What do you think about The Big Lebowski? TR: It’s been very good for us because it’s encouraged a lot of people to take the class and take up bowling in general. It shows how bowling can help one remain centered when everything else in your life is swirling out of control. The thing I don’t like is that it makes bowling seem easy. Aside from one time, every time you see someone roll a ball, every pin that is standing is knocked down.
You’ve bowled three 300 games in your life. Does one stick out more than the others? TR: Before I shot my first 300, I had four 299 games, and of course the only way you can get a 299 is by bowling 11 consecutive strikes to start the game and nine pins on the last shot. All four times, I made a pretty good [last] shot, and three times I left the 10 pin and once I left the 7 pin. The next time I started the game with 11 pins, I totally choked. I sent the ball way over to the wrong side of the head pin, and the pins just knocked each other down. I didn’t know how to feel. I rolled the worst shot I ever rolled in that situation. The next two 300 games had 12 good shots. What would you say to people thinking about taking your bowling class? TR: Email me to get on the waitlist. When I was a student, you would register for classes, and those would be the classes that you’d take. Now, it seems like you select a few classes that you’re sure you don’t want to take. If you’re on the waitlist, there’s a really good chance you’ll get to take the class. If you could go back to one year in history, what would it be? TR: I suppose what I’m supposed to say is that I’d go back to now because life keeps on getting better and better. 1968 was pretty cool, but there was also a lot of horrible stuff going on. I was 10 in 1968, so I got to enjoy all the good music and cool parts of the counterculture without really being aware that it meant that people were rioting in the streets. Any place where there’s great debate about historical truth, I want to go back and see what really happened. I’d love to have that role.
Did you ever consider being a professional bowler? TR: That was my plan. When I took the job managing the lanes here, it was only
Interview by Nate Levinson, Sports editor Photo by Jodi Helsel
Editorial: Losses Felt More Deeply When Players Are Peers Continued from page 16 was nothing compared to a Duke University basketball game or an Ohio State University football game. But we were all there because of a genuine loyalty to the men on the field. Watching your friends play, watching them put their heart into a game and focus in ways they never do off the field, is quite honestly inspiring. Please excuse my sentimentality. It was a rough game. Oberlin isn’t known for its school spirit. To put it bluntly, we probably have negative spirit. We are a bit of a self-deprecating campus, and I’m no exception. To watch the game today I put on my one piece of clothing with an Oberlin logo: an Oberlin Athletics sweatshirt I got for free from the Athletics department. But watching the game today, our Oberlin pride came out. As
we drove up the hill to Kenyon, the five of us in the car jokingly listed off reasons why we were glad we went to Oberlin over Kenyon: We have lights on our soccer field, our students are hipper and we have a separate Creative Writing department. As we drove by an admissions tour, we almost rolled down the window and yelled, “Oberlin’s better!” We were all proud to be Oberlin students. With five minutes left in the game, it started raining. Oberlin was down 1–0, and the weather seemed to mirror our dwindling hope. When the clock ran out, the men in purple and black exclaimed with joy while the men in crimson and gold stripes fell to their knees in sadness and anger. The players came to the fence along which we stood. We hugged them, and they thanked us for making the trek. All were
visibly upset, angry or some combination of the two. Some were holding back tears. I was sad as well, a feeling I’ve never really felt after watching others play sports. It wasn’t simply because we had lost the game,
but because the season was over. One of the friends in the car with me graduated from Oberlin last year, yet he still lives here and is still the soccer team’s biggest fan. On the way home from the game he mentioned how bummed he
was that he wouldn’t get to see the Yeomen complete another season. Jokingly, or perhaps seriously, he pondered staying another year just to watch them play. At least I’m not alone in my love. Until next year, boys.
The Oberlin Review, November 8, 2013
Feature Photo: Frisbee
Sports
Page 15
— Women’s Cross Country —
Once Again, Yeowomen Finish First in Conference Tyler Sloan Staff Writer
Junior Evan Holliday shields the disc from his opponent. The Flying Horsecows and the Preying Manti, the men’s and women’s Ultimate Frisbee teams, hosted the annual Force Freedom tournament over the weekend. The Horsecows and the Manti competed against five other schools as well as a team of Oberlin alumni, who came back for the festivities. Simeon Deutsch
Yeomen Play Kenyon Lords in Aggressive Back-to-Back Games
Senior captain Ari Schwartz dribbles the ball. The Yeomen have enjoyed one of their most successful seasons in the last two decades. Simeon Deutsch
Continued from page 16 better than last time. I left thinking we were the better team.” The Yeomen will find out on Monday whether or not they will get a berth in the NCAA tournament. The top teams in each conference advance automatically to the NCAA tournament. A game between Ohio Wesleyan University and Kenyon College on Saturday will determine the number one team. However, the Yeomen hope to receive one of the 19 available at-large bids. New is optimistic, though far from certain, about the team’s chances at earning a place in the tournament. “Our numbers look good for an
at-large bid to the NCAA tournament,” he said, “but at this point, we have to just sit back and see where all the cards fall. Our hope is that the teams around the country that are supposed to win their conferences do win them, which makes more at-large bids available.” Regardless of whether or not the Yeomen receive a bid, the team is proud of its historic record. “Obviously, I don’t want our season to be over, but I’m really proud,” said Schwartz. “No matter how the season ends, I’m proud of how it played out,” he said. “You could recognize from the very beginning of the season that this was going to be a turnaround year,” Schneider agreed.
For the fifth year in a row, the women’s cross country team won first place in the North Coast Athletic Conference, held at Allegheny College on Nov. 2. The top-tier team placed four members within the top ten runners at the event, accumulating 45 points for the Yeowomen. Ohio Wesleyan University trailed behind with 57 points to earn second place, and Kenyon tallied 86 for third. “It was the worst conditions we’ve ever run in,” said junior Kyle Neal, referring to a torrential downpour and an extremely muddy course. “That makes it hard to gauge how I did, but I was happy with the team’s results.” The Yeowomen’s top five runners earned the accolade of All-NCAC honors for finishing within the top 21 runners. Sarah Jane Kerwin led the pack, placing fourth overall in the 6K with a time of 23 minutes, 17 seconds. Following her were juniors Emma Lehmann and Kyle Neal and seniors Molly Martorella and Lauren Taylor. First-year Emily Curley also made her debut over the weekend at her first NCAC Conference Championship and placed 28th in the event. “The conditions were really muddy,” said Lehmann. “But I thought the team did a really good job staying tough. Overall, we had a good performance. Sarah Jane really rose to the occasion.” Head Coach Ray Appenheimer lived up to his title as NCAC Coach of the Year over the weekend. During Appenheimer’s 10 seasons at Oberlin, he has coached an extremely successful group of runners. Just last year, he led the Yeowomen to the NCAA National Championships where they finished ninth, the highest rank in Oberlin’s history. Last season’s squad also boasted nine All-NCAC runners. Cumulatively, Appenheimer has coached 336 all-conference and 32 all-region runners. His athletes have broken 128 school records and have won 104 conference championships. Additionally, he has coached 16 national qualifiers. The Yeomen showcased successfully at the
event as well, finishing fourth overall with a total of 122 points. Wabash College took first at the event with only 30 total points and five of their runners finishing within the top ten. Allegheny clinched second with 46 points, and The College of Wooster locked up third place with a tally of 95 points. Sophomore Geno Arthur was the Yeomen’s top runner at the event, finishing sixth overall at the race. He ran the 8K in 27 minutes, 15 seconds, and was trailed by second-scoring Yeoman, sophomore Joshua Urso. Urso finished 17th overall with a time of 27:58. The two were the only members of the Yeomen who left the weekend earning titles at the event. Arthur earned first-team All-NCAC honors for the first time; during his rookie year, he earned secondteam honors. After a competitive race, Urso earned a spot on the All-NCAC Honorable Mention team. Appenheimer noted that the team’s strong current junior class gives him high hopes for the future of the team. He is looking forward to upcoming seasons when the young group will continue to improve. For both sides of the program, this means advancing to the NCAA Great Lakes Regional competition taking place in Grand Rapids, Michigan at Calvin College on Nov. 16. If either team prevails at the event, they will continue on to compete in the national competition. For the Yeowomen, this could be a shot at claiming their place as number one after a ninth-place finish at the tournament last season. “I’m hoping to run with and work off of each other [at the Regional meet],” said Neal. “I want to move and be strong together.” “Regionals will be a really important race for us. One of the really big national contenders, Calvin [College], is ranked top five nationally, and if we all have our best races, we stand a chance at winning,” said Lehmann. The top two teams at the regional meet will automatically qualify for the NCAA national championships. However, the teams’ performances this season give them a good chance at receiving an at-large bid, regardless of whether or not they are victorious.
Sports The Oberlin Review
Page 16
November 8, 2013
— Swimming and Diving —
Team Makes a Splash with Weekend Wins Sentiment-
ality Grips Soccer Fans
Nate Levinson Sports Editor
Rose Stoloff Sports Editor
The team’s depth will also be an asset this season. “Our new incoming class has allowed us to have someone for every event. A lot of teams lack that. We have a lot of people who can swim a good 200yard race,” said Kahl. First-year sprinters Nils Gudbranson and Adam Winikoff both swam well for the men’s team on Friday and Saturday and look like they’ll be assets this season. Brabson was pleased with the team’s victory but knows team members can’t rest on their laurels. “Everyone has some facet of their race or performance that can be fine-tuned in practice,” he said. The team will look to build on its fast start to the season when they go on the road to battle with the Case Western Reserve University Spartans on Saturday.
— Men’s Soccer —
Yeomen’s Historic Season May Be Drawing to a Close Rose Stoloff Sports Editor
sophomore John Ingham, who has been the leading goal-scorer for the team this season, and first-year Sam Weiss had promising shots in the first half, but neither managed to make it to the back of the net. “We had a good game plan going into the game, and we executed it very well except for the most important part — the scoring of the goal,” said New. Schwartz agreed, saying the team’s greatest struggle on Wednesday was shooting. Perhaps the most devastating moment came in the final five minutes of the game when sophomore Sam Bernhard made an impressive cross from the far left corner of the field to senior captain Joe Graybeal. Despite a valiant effort to get a head on the ball, Graybeal couldn’t finish the cross and was brought to his knees in disappointment. “I was pretty sentimental when the game ended,” said Schwartz. “It didn’t really hit me that that could be my last game until after it was over.” “I was upset,” agreed Schneider, “but I also recognized that we played really well, much See Yeomen, page 15
See Editorial, page 14
the trash — r in e r p
e or compost ycl it ec
After one of the most impressive seasons of the team’s last two decades, the Yeomen may be putting away their cleats until next year. The men’s soccer team traveled to Gambier, Ohio, twice in the last week to take on the Kenyon College Lords where they played two close games, tying one 0–0 and losing the other 1–0. Tensions were high during Saturday’s game. “It was probably the most physical game I can remember,” said junior Remington Schneider. Each team committed 16 fouls over the duration of the drawn-out game. After going into double overtime, the match ended in a dissatisfying 0–0 tie. The Yeomen returned to Kenyon on Wednesday to play their first North Coast Athletic Conference Tournament game since 2006, fully expecting another tough game. Played under an initially sunny and clear sky, the game ended in a 1–0 loss for the Yeomen as the rain started to come down. “The game was as we expected,” said senior captain Ari Schwartz. “It was really physical.”
Having already played the Lords, however, the Yeomen were better able to cope with their aggression. “When you go into a game like that, you have to know you’re just going to get bruised and hurt,” said junior Sam Winward. “The key is to not think about it.” Both teams displayed more maturity in their playing style on Wednesday and put aside some of their antipathy. “We had a better official that kept the physical play to a minimum, which allowed us to play more to our style,” said Head Coach Blake New. Winward attributed some of the team’s better playing style to a few key strategy adjustments. “We were more patient on the ball,” he said. “Last time, we got in trouble when we were stuck on the same side. This time we kept switching the ball and had room to play.” In the 23rd minute of the game, the Lords got a shot within the 18-yard box. Despite a performance that earned him the title of NCAC Player of the Week, senior keeper Brandt Rentel was not able to defend the shot, and Kenyon took a 1–0 lead over Oberlin. The Yeomen fought hard to recover. Both
t this new t pu sp o a n
they put in pays off during meets. The team’s practice schedule is more rigorous this season under Brabson’s watch, and the results are easy to see. Heading into the meets, the team’s expectations were high, since they know how much progress they’ve made since last season. “We swam a lot faster at this point than we did last year. The training has gotten a lot more intense,” said Review staff writer and sophomore Sarah Kahl. This newfound intensity is largely thanks to Brabson. “Our new coach has brought a relaxed but motivated energy. Practices are more fun and interesting, but we’re still working harder,” said Redell. Kahl also noted that he “has more of a plan” for the team than former coach Mark Fino.
o
his solid performance. The fast start is hardly a surprise for those who know how hard the swimmers and divers work every week to hone their craft. The team practices twice a day four times a week, and an additional two other times during the week, making a total of 10 practices each week. Often, team members get up before 6 a.m. to start practice at 6:30 a.m. This grueling schedule was toughest at the beginning of the season, but the team has started to adjust as time has gone on. “You start to get into a groove and not mind the lack of sleep so much,” said junior Jack Redell. “We practice 19 hours a week. It’s a lot of practice,” said Redell. Still, he and his teammates are able to maintain a positive mindset and know that all the work
ead! Please d
Luke Harrison swims the 200-yard butterfly last weekend. The swimming and diving team started their season 2–0. Sarah Kaufman
I originally wrote my editorial this week on the New York City Marathon. But here I am in a cramped car driving through the cornfields of Ohio typing away on my iPhone. Today I spent four hours traveling in a car to watch a 90-minute soccer game. Not a professional game — I went to watch the Oberlin men’s soccer team take on the Kenyon College Lords. And this isn’t the first time I’ve followed the team to Gambier, Ohio. Am I crazy? No. For the first time in my life I’m a devoted fan of a sports team that is not my own. I’ve always been an athlete, but never have I been excited by watching another team play. I don’t watch professional sports often; I don’t feel any allegiance to a particular team. In fact, I came to Oberlin thinking I’d never attend a football game. Even when my home team, the San Francisco Giants, won the World Series and all my friends skipped class to parade in the streets, I couldn’t bring myself to hop on the bandwagon. I didn’t see the point. But today I realized what it’s like to truly love a team you aren’t a part of. Our cheering section at the game was small but strong: three former team members, a few players on the women’s team, a handful of parents and me. I also knew of at least a dozen devoted fans who were watching the game remotely on their computers in class, in Mudd and in Slow Train. We didn’t don crimson and gold, we didn’t wear war paint, we didn’t make signs or tailgate before hand. The spectacle
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The swimming and diving team began its season impressively this past weekend with wins over the Hiram College Terriers and The College of Wooster Fighting Scots in the Greater Cleveland Swimming and Diving Tournament. The team defeated the Terriers handily on Friday by a score of 347–106 and eked out a narrow 244–221 victory over the Fighting Scots on Saturday. The wins marked the first two for new Head Coach Andrew Brabson. “He’s officially undefeated,” joked senior Luke Harrison, also noting that the meets were both “high energy” affairs. Strong results in both the men’s and women’s 200-yard medley relay helped Oberlin to victory against Hiram. Sophomores Olivia Degitz, Deirdre Haren and Lauren Choban and first-year Caroline Lesce swam the relay race in 1 minute, 57.21 seconds. They narrowly beat the next best relay team, also racing for Oberlin, and gained 11 points for Oberlin in the process. The Oberlin men’s 200-yard medley relay team against Hiram was equally impressive, and a squad consisting of first-year Kurt Pianka, sophomore Aaron Frederick, junior Jack Redell and senior Luke Harrison swam the race in 1:45.80. Redell performed particularly well, swimming the last lap of the race in just 22.43 seconds. The team’s divers also contributed to two big wins. “The divers are the ones that put us over the top. They usually perform amazingly and gave us a nice padding of points,” said Harrison, who singled out first-year Shane Lonergan for