October 27, 2017

The Oberlin Review October 27, 2017

established 1874

Volume 146, Number 7

General Faculty Approves Honor Code Changes Lila Michaels

College first-year Ben Diener talks at the Student-Trustee forum on Oct. 12. The Board of Trustees recently rejected the Student Trustee Task Force’s proposal to add a student trustee to the board.

Photo by Daniel Firebanks

Trustees Reject Proposal for Student Representative Sydney Allen News Editor Former Student Senate Liaison and fifth-year double-degree student Jeremy Poe submitted a letter to the Review 18 months ago calling for student representation on the Board of Trustees.

After months of follow-up activism and mobilization from students and Oberlin community members, the board officially rejected a resolution proposing student representatives during their quarterly meetings Oct. 5–7.

The proposal requested that the board allow students to sit in on its meetings to improve transparency and communication between the board and student body.

The board’s Student Trustee Task Force — formed after March’s TrusteeSenate retreat to investigate the potential benefits of adding student representation — drafted the proposal. The task force was created due to outspoken student demand after a petition was submitted to the board with over 150 signatures and a protest outside the retreat.

The task force was composed of two students — Student Senate chair Thobeka Mnisi and Student Senator Josh Koller, both College seniors; and three board members — Jacob Gayle, OC ’79, Anne Chege, OC ’16, and Ed Helms, OC ’96. The Board of Trustees Chair Chris Cananvan, OC ’84, also attended some of the meetings.

Students received word of the rejection through an Oct. 9 Student

Senate email after the weekend of board meetings.

“This is not the outcome we were hoping for and working towards for the last two years,” wrote Senate in an email.

“We want to extend our heartfelt thanks to all of the students who came to the trustee fora on Thursday night.”

Canavan released a report Tuesday detailing the board’s discussions during the weekend, including their decision to reject the proposal.

“A healthy board is one on which every trustee feels absolutely comfortable thinking out loud,” Canavan wrote in the statement. “Trustees are no less human than students: when we think out loud, we take note of who’s in the room, consciously or subconsciously. Most trustees, including those who might otherwise support the resolution, worry that some of us would think out loud less candidly if students were in the room. As chair, that’s unacceptable to me.”

For some students who have worked for greater representation during their time at Oberlin, the rejection was a major blow.

“It more or less baffles me that these couple dozen highly-qualified adults who care so much about Oberlin — they’ve all worked in professions where they have had to deal with some uncomfortable situations, where they’ve had to navigate that — it seems are just so frightened by students that they don’t think they can speak their mind in front of students,” Koller said.

Koller emphasized the importance of

student voices on campus, particularly in crucial decisions that affect the longterm viability of the College.

“I think [the stated reasoning] says something kind of scary about the board,” he said. “Students are not nearly the only important constituents of the school, but we are more or less the lifeblood of the College and Conservatory.”

Canavan said that although the board won’t be accepting a student representative, it is still actively discussing ways to better engage students.

“There will be an ongoing commitment to thinking about board governance and thinking about how the board works,” he said. “That should include thinking about how we engage with students. We view this as an evolution, and I don’t think anyone suggests that that evolution should stop where it is. We just need to find out what that next step looks like.”

President Carmen Ambar said that given this closed avenue, students should seek other channels to voice their thoughts within the current confines of representation.

“One of the things I would encourage students to do is to also think about the ways [they] can engage with the board and have [their] views heard,” Ambar said. “That may not result in student participation on the board in the way that students perceive it now. At the end of the day the board has made a decision. That doesn’t mean the board is not thinking about other options.”

The General Faculty Council and Student Senate voted on proposed revisions to the Honor Code and the Campus Code of Conduct during the General Faculty meeting Oct. 4. The Honor Code amendments passed thanks to overwhelming support from faculty, though Student Senate voted unanimously against the changes. Revisions to the Campus Code of Conduct were tabled and will be revisited at the General Faculty meeting in November.

With the Honor Code amendments, students will now receive communications regarding Honor Code violations and updates via email rather than through their OCMR mailboxes. The language within the Honor Code has also been changed, replacing the phrase “judicial system” with “student conduct system.” Additionally, there will no longer be an option for a secondary appeal to the President’s Office.

The period that a student may remain on campus after being suspended for an Honor Code violation has been extended from two to five days. The window for appeal has also been reduced from ten business days to five business days. These changes have been effective since the Oct. 4 meeting.

“Overall, the goal for the revisions is to provide an update to policies to reflect changes in, for example, best practices, state and federal laws, and technology,” said Thom Julian, assistant dean of students and director of the Office of Student Conduct and Community Standards. “Oberlin community members should know that there was a very long process to recommend the changes that were presented at the October General Faculty meeting.”

Student Senate Vice Chair and College junior Kameron Dunbar said that Senate voted against the Honor Code revisions but did not strongly reject them.

“Part of why we objected to it was that it was the first time we were seeing it, so it almost felt as though these changes were being railroaded in, and we weren’t sure where they were coming from,” Dunbar said.

Julian said the process was meant to “make policies more accessible.” However, Dunbar questions if the changes will cause problems for some students, pointing to the shortened window for appeal.

“By shortening that timeframe, I think we reduce students’ abilities to make those decisions with the sort of conscientious thought processes that they need,” Dunbar said.

With no official communication to students regarding the changes, many don’t understand the General Faculty or administration’s intentions behind the amendments.

“It doesn’t seem like a super huge deal to me, but I also don’t understand why it’d be necessary,” said College first-year Kate Fishman.

The changes were the result of a 10-month See Code, page 4,

CONTENTS NEWS

OPINIONS

Election Brings Opportunity 05 Editorial: Policy of Silence Threatens Students for Change in School District 02

ResEd Undergoes Structural Changes 03

06 Letters to the Editors: 2017 Candidates and Issues

The Oberlin Review | October 27, 2017

07 Athletics Encourages Toxic Belief Systems THIS WEEK

The Buckland Museum of Witchcraft and Magick 08

ARTS & CULTURE

SPORTS

11

On the Record with Nikita Makarenko

15

Oberlin Professor Unveils Critically Acclaimed Novel

16 Forum Mediates Sports

12

Lords Eliminate Yeomen From Playoff Contention Dialogue

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

1

Ne w s

Election Brings Opportunity for Needed Change in School District them that it’s not just about how to make a living; it’s about how to make a life worth living.”

Continuing school board member Barry Richards said he hopes the board will establish effective curricula, develop a plan to deal with the growing financial burdens caused by the deterioration of the district’s buildings, and foster a sense of community.

“It’s important to have kids in the district and to have grown up in a public school environment,” Richards said. “It gives [candidates] a sense of the community, and the kids the whole package.”

Williams — who claims to be the only candidate to own a business — wants to form a partnership with the College that will help prepare students in the Oberlin School District for the demands of college Oberlin Superintendent David Hall at the most recent Board of Education meeting. and beyond. His hope is that students in There are currently six people running for three open positions on the Board of the district will be able to utilize the College to knock out some college credits.

Education. Photo by Justin Bank The International Baccalaureate body specific characteristics — namely, was mentioned several times during the Jenna Gyimesi integrity and dedication — according to League of Women Voters of Ohio forum Staff Writer Superintendent David Hall. They will be that took place Oct. 16. The IB is an interSince the Oberlin City School Dis- expected to enforce policies that will im- national educational foundation that oftrict continues to face uncertainty as prove the school district as well. fers four educational programs. Schaum’s “It is not a job to take lightly,” Hall said. daughter, College student Miranda enrollment numbers drop and the construction of a new school remains up “[It’s important to] have an understanding Schaum, graduated from the district with in the air, the Nov. 7 election presents of the board process and its dynamics.” an IB diploma. At the forum, she asked The board is responsible for why less than 10 percent of her graduata much-needed opportunity for developing and updating policies, ap- ing class graduated with the diploma. positive change.

The school board is made up of five proving the budget, hiring the superThere are many key issues that the elected representatives, and three seats intendent and treasurer, and taking ac- board must work to improve, Schaum will be up for grabs at the end of the year. tion based on recommendations made responded. That program is just Six candidates are vying for a position, by those positions. one of them.

Borroni said that he and Schaum exincluding current representatives Albert “A decision needs to be made about the Borroni and Anne Schaum, recently re- pect themselves and other candidates to facilities,” Schaum said. “We have fewer signed Oberlin College staff member Isa- be thoughtful when it comes to the goals than 1,000 kids and are maintaining five bella Moreno, and community members of education, and to be able to balance the aging buildings. The proposal the board Sandra Redd, Jason Williams, and Ken- educational needs and other demands of received a few years ago indicated we neth Yancey. Steven Thompson’s name the community should they be elected. could save $1 million per year if we built a “We are looking for continuous im- single facility to house our programs.” will still appear on the ballot, although he stepped down from the running in mid- provement — giving the students the best The proposal is for a $36 million buildOctober. Each seat carries a four-year opportunities to succeed — to move the ing that will replace Prospect Elementary district forward in a reasonable way that School, Eastwood Elementary School, term that will begin this January.

The five current members of the prepares students for the future econo- and Langston Middle School. school board expect the electees to em- my,” Borroni added. “[We work] to teach Borroni supports reducing the number

of schools from five to two and says that it will reduce costs in the long run, despite the millions it will cost to build.

Yancey, a retired electrician, views the construction of a new school differently.

He said that having multiple schools adds to the benefits of a small town, since each school brings something unique to the community.

Borroni said he thinks the board has an opportunity to make significant positive change during the next term. He says the board spent a lot of time over the past two years interviewing candidates and finding the best fits for the superintendent and treasurer positions, and the board is next.

“Getting everyone into place was a balancing act, but now there is some stability to move forward and explore new programs,” Borroni said. “I am very excited to move forward and will be involved even if I am not [re-]elected.”

He said he hopes to see the future board members work with Lorain County Community College to offer high school students options to get some college credit hours out of the way. He also hopes the board will develop a plan to sustain the “no pay to play” program, which gives students access to musical instruments, art supplies, and athletic facilities free of charge.

Hall encourages voters to take the time to research all of the candidates before making a decision.

“It’s about the students,” he said. “It’s not about personal feelings or specific programs. At the end of the day, it’s about the kids.”

Schaum said the candidates were asked to complete several surveys for local newspapers and the League of Women Voters. Recordings of the annual Candidates Night — which took place Oct. 9 and allowed the Board of Education and City Council candidates to voice their opinions and answer questions — are available on Facebook on the Oberlin Candidates Night page.

President Ambar Announces Hate Speech Policy in Wake of Posters Alexis Dill News Editor Anti-Semitic posters advocating the end of “Jewish privilege” were discovered outside of Warner Center, the Science Center, Carnegie Building, and East Hall by Safety and Security officers Oct. 20. The posters were promptly removed as they went against the College’s stated mission of diversity and inclusion and were in violation of Oberlin’s postering policy, according to Clifton Barnes.

Following the incident, President Carmen Ambar reached out to students, faculty, and staff members via email. She recognized that the incident mirrored similar events that have occurred recently in other communities

and college campuses across the country, both in content and in approach.

“These actors are working from a predictable playbook — they want to create fear and distrust, and to exploit our energy, passion, and creativity for their own destructive ends,” Ambar wrote. “At Oberlin, we are simply not going to participate.”

Ambar went on to say that members of the Oberlin community should not allow such incidents to distract or derail them from the important work that they are engaged in. For this reason, she announced her decision to avoid disseminating information about similar events to the Oberlin community.

“In the future, we will not circulate information about such postings unless

The Oberlin R eview October 27, 2017 Volume 146, Number 7 (ISSN 297–256) Published by the students of Oberlin College every Friday during the fall and spring semesters, except holidays and examination periods. Advertising rates: $18 per column inch.

Second-class postage paid at Oberlin, Ohio. Entered as secondclass matter at the Oberlin, Ohio post office April 2, 1911. POSTMASTER SEND CHANGES TO: Wilder Box 90, Oberlin, Ohio 44074-1081. Office of Publication: Burton Basement, Oberlin, Ohio 44074. Phone: (440) 775-8123

2

Editors-in-Chief

Melissa Harris Christian Bolles Managing Editor Daniel Markus News Editors Sydney Allen

Alexis Dill Opinions Editors Jackie Brant

Nathan Carpenter This Week Editor Lucy Martin Arts Editors Julia Peterson

Ananya Gupta Sports Editors Alex McNicoll

Julie Schreiber Layout Editors Hannah Robinson

Amanda Tennant Parker Shatkin Elena Hartley Photo Editors Bryan Rubin Hugh Newcomb

there is clear evidence of an ongoing pattern or a serious threat to campus safety, which we continue to monitor vigorously and proactively,” Ambar wrote. “They want a microphone.

Our community’s goal should be to turn off their sound.”

Students have expressed satisfaction with how Ambar has chosen to handle further instances of postings, but hope to be alerted should similar incidents continue happening more frequently.

“The president’s decision to not alert students of hate crimes unless [they are] connected to a pattern or series of crimes is a respectable way to deal with the situation,” said College sophomore Nathan Slone. “While I absolutely understand that alerting stu-

Business Manager

Monique Newton

Ads Manager

Madison Kimball

Online Editor

Mikaela Fishman

Production Manager Victoria Albacete Production Staff Gwennie Gardiner Giselle Glaspie Eliza Guinn Willa Hart Courtney Loeb Kaitlyn Lucey Madi Mettenburg Kendall Mahavier Distributors

Bryan Rubin Ben Steger Mason Boutis

dents of any hateful incident is a responsibility of the school, I agree with the president in that students have more important things to worry about.”

College senior Dana Goldstein said that by giving such incidents attention by always alerting the community, the committers of the wrongdoing get what they want.

“I would be upset, however, if these incidents were happening more frequently and there was no discussion of it,” Goldstein said. “President Ambar said that if it becomes a pattern, then there will be emails about such posters. I’ll trust her in good faith that she’ll [send out alerts] if that happens.”

President Ambar was unavailable for comment.

Corrections:

The photo in “Cleveland Orchestra Brings Beethoven to Finney Chapel,” (Oct. 6, 2017) was incorrectly credited to Bryan Rubin. It was taken by Justin Bank.

“City Council Candidates Prepare for Election,” (Oct. 6, 2017) incorrectly named Bryan Burgess and Sharon Pearson as President and Vice President of City Council, respectively. The current president of City Council is Ronnie Rimbert and the current vice president is Linda Slocum.

In “Office of Religious and Spiritual Life Holds Las Vegas Vigil,” (Oct. 6, 2017), the non-emergency phone number for Safety and Security was incorrectly listed as (440) 7748444. The correct number is (440) 775-8444.

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

Oberlin Participates in Nationwide Webcast

Security Notebook Thursday, Oct. 19, 2017 1:36 p.m. An Oberlin resident reported an apparent garage break-in at a Woodland Street Village Housing Unit. A window on the north side of the building was broken, and a door on the second floor was open. Safety and Security officers responded and a work order was filed for repair.

Friday, Oct. 20, 2017 No reports.

Saturday, Oct. 21, 2017 No reports.

Sunday, Oct. 22, 2017

City Councilmember Bryan Burgess discusses council’s plans to address climate change and improve sustainability after the screening of An Inconvenient Sequel: Truth to Power, the sequel to Al Gore’s An Inconvenient Truth. The film screening was followed by a live webcast question and answer session with Al Gore that was broadcast to 112 colleges and universities nationwide on Thursday. One of the questions chosen was from Oberlin regarding environmental justice.

Text by Sydney Allen, News Editor

Photo by Justin Bank

ResEd Undergoes Structural Changes Alexis Dill News Editor Several staff members in the Residential Education Office are transitioning roles for the remainder of the academic year after Interim Associate Director Kourtney Arcaba accepted a position as director of student help and resource exchange in the Dean of Students Office, where she also serves as assistant dean.

Now that ResEd is down one full-time staff member, Assistant Vice President of Student Life Adrian Bautista said he and his colleagues intend to spend the next several months searching for a replacement for the 2018–19 academic year.

“We will continue to evaluate our services to campus stakeholders — faculty, staff, and students — and review existing data to determine how resources, including staff, may best be allocated,” Bautista said.

While the new staff members’ responsibilities will be determined later by ResEd’s needs as roles shift, Assistant Dean and Assistant Director for Housing Administration Andy Sadouskas will replace Arcaba as director of ResEd — a position which he will enter with plenty of experience.

“I bring eight years of professional experience working in residence life and housing at Wittenberg University, the University of Toledo, and Oberlin College,” he said. “I earned a Ph.D. in Higher Education Administration from Bowling Green State University.

While [there], I worked for two years in the Residence Life deThe Oberlin Review | October 27, 2017

partment as the Doctoral Fellow in Assessment and serving as a Greek House Director.”

His dissertation research focused on Residential Assistant selection and the Five Factor Model of Personality, which is a set of five broad trait dimensions often referred to as the “Big Five”: extraversion, agreeableness, conscientiousness, neuroticism, and openness to experience.

“I hope to continue to collaborate with our campus partners to improve the condition of our facilities and determine a strategic plan for our office for future years,” Sadouskas said.

Area Coordinator Josh Trowbridge, who specializes in the senior year experience and co-oper–––––––––––––––––––––––––––

“We will continue to evaluate our services to campus stakeholders — faculty, staff, and students — and review existing data to determine how resources, including staff, may best be allocated.”

Adrian Bautista

Assistant Vice President of Student Life ––––––––––––––––––––––

ative living, will now serve as the area coordinator for the Village Houses and work on several housing processes, including first-year housing placements, room changes, and the returning housing se-

lection process.

Chelsea Kinjorski, the area coordinator for theme and traditional housing, and Atiya McGhee, the area coordinator for multicultural and identity-based communities, will now serve as senior area coordinators, a position that was created to better support students in light of Arcaba’s departure.

“The area coordinator positions for Atiya and Chelsea were expanded to senior area coordinator positions to reflect expanded residential areas of supervision for each,” Bautista added.

Kinjorski will oversee Langston Hall, Burton Hall, Noah Hall, Union Street, and Goldsmith Lane. McGhee will oversee all of the program houses, as well as Firelands Apartments and Zechiel House.

Assistant Director Tara Beverly will assume responsibility for Oberlin Student Cooperative Association housing, which is a role that usually falls on an area coordinator. However, Bautista assures that is it not surprising that the role has been assigned to Beverly instead of Trowbridge, who is an area coordinator.

“Kourtney Arcaba as an assistant director prior to this academic year worked with OSCA housing for a number of years, so it is not uncommon for an assistant director of residential education to work with OSCA,” Bautista said.

Beverly will also serve as the liaison with the facilities department.

Changes will become effective Nov. 1. Students with questions are advised to call ResEd’s main office line at (440) 775-8472.

7:15 a.m. A groundskeeper reported damage to a wooden bollard in the parking lot adjacent to Williams Field House. The bollard was most likely hit by a vehicle, which knocked it out of the ground. A work order was filed for repair.

7:29 p.m. Students at a Main Street Village Housing Unit reported that they suspected that someone attempted to break into their house over break. Leaves and dirt were left on the floor near a window, and the screen on the window was jammed. There are no suspects at this time, and a work order was filed for repair of the screen.

8:17 p.m. Officers and members of the Oberlin Fire Department responded to a fire alarm at an Elm Street Village Housing Unit. Smoke from burnt food activated the alarm, which was reset.

9:09 p.m. Students reported finding several items on the ground in South Bowl. Owners of the items were identified and their items were returned to them. It is suspected that somebody broke through their unlocked window over break.

A work order was filed to have the missing screens replaced.

10:10 p.m. A resident of a Goldsmith Village Housing Unit reported the theft of their mini Bose speaker, valued at approximately $200, from their room over break. The window in their bedroom was left open. There are no suspects at this time.

Monday, Oct. 23, 2017 11:30 a.m. A student reported the theft of their bicycle from a bike rack outside of Stevenson Dining Hall. The bike was locked to itself at the time it was stolen.

Tuesday, Oct. 24, 2017 1:40 a.m. A resident of Price House reported hearing someone attempt to enter through the window of their room. The student opened the blinds and saw a male subject wearing a dark hoodie run toward South Hall before driving off. Officers checked the area but could not locate the vehicle.

9:52 a.m. Members of the Oberlin Police Department are investigating a possible theft that occurred on the first floor of Price House. A student’s brown leather wallet was reported missing, along with two credit cards, the student’s driver’s license, health insurance card, and approximately $5 in cash.

3:18 p.m. Officers assisted an ill student on the second floor of the Science Center, who was transported by ambulance to Mercy Allen Hospital for treatment.

Wednesday, Oct. 25, 2017 12:02 a.m. A resident of a West College Street Village Housing Unit reported a gas-like scent after turning on their heat. Officers and members of the Oberlin Fire Department checked the area with meters, all of which had zero readings. It was determined that the cause of the smell was turning on the heat for the first time.

10:35 a.m. A facilities staff member reported a covered smoke detector in the stairwell of Old Barrows. Officers found the smoke detector covered with ScotchBlue Painter’s Tape, which was removed.

3

Ne w s

Code of Conduct Faces Institutional Examination Continued from page 1

The changes were the result of a 10-month process during which members of the Dean of Students Office, Residential Education Staff, and others reviewed the codes. Before the October vote, the changes were reviewed by the Interim Vice President, General Counsel, and Secretary Donica Varner and General Faculty’s Student Life Committee.

The proposed revisions to the Campus Code of Conduct are more extensive and, as Dunbar puts it, “a bit unclear in the language.” For this reason, the students and faculty brought many questions at the October General Faculty meeting.

To Dunbar, the most concerning proposed change to the Campus Code of Conduct is the amendment to “allow for the director of student conduct and community standards to suspend a student if they accept responsibility for an act that will likely result in suspension,” as it reads in Julian’s presentation to the General Faculty.

“When I first read that it seemed [like a] pretty egregious removal of due process rights or due process obligations in basically saying that the student conduct officer, whoever that may be, has the power to unilaterally suspend a student if they admit to something that could end in suspension,” Dunbar said.

“I think that sort of loose language is dangerous because I don’t think it speaks to the significance of the consequences they’d be facing,” Dunbar added.

When Dunbar and other Senators voiced their grievances regarding this amendment at the meeting, many faculty members seemed unconcerned, though the Senators’ qualms were met with consideration from the faculty and even gratitude for their contributions.

“I found it interesting in general faculty because [the removal of due process rights] wasn’t a concern that was on the minds of many faculty members,” he said.

This experience speaks to the significant role of Student Senate on the General Faculty Council, even as a minority.

“We are a very small percentage of the general faculty,” said College junior and Student Senator Meg Parker. “While it may seem that we don’t have a major impact numerically, I think this really goes to show how impactful we can be when we speak up together. Our votes can’t change the outcome, but we can directly impact the conversation and provide unique context that wouldn’t be present otherwise.”

Although the proposed amendments to the Honor Code and Campus Code of Conduct were widely unpopular with Student Senate, senators do see a need for the revisions, as the Honor Code hasn’t been tweaked since May 2008.

“I think the changes are a principally a good thing,” said Parker. “We haven’t revised the code of conduct in almost ten years, and Thom Julian wants to make the information more accessible and consolidate all of it, which sounds like a very good idea to me. Thom has a lot of really good ideas for the office. But, I think some of the language proposed in the changes to the student conduct policy could use some amending and clarifications in some places.”

OFF THE CUFF

Marcelo Vinces, CLEAR Director

Marcelo Vinces is the director of Oberlin’s Center for Learning Education and Research in the Sciences, which mentors students in quantitative skills and connects students with research and leadership positions in science education.

Vinces and Director of the Office of Undergraduate Research Afia Ofori-Mensa organized this year’s Celebration of Undergraduate Research, a conference that highlights students’ summer 2017 research projects. Around 90 students will be presenting both oral and poster presentations throughout the day today.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

Interview by Narvaez How has the format of the presentations changed over the years?

In the very beginning, the symposium often had a keynote speaker and there were also other things attached to it. Once, we had an alumni panel in addition to the student presentations.

We found that the events were great, but they were almost a little bit too much and kind of a distraction from the focus, which is the undergraduate researchers. So we kind of trimmed it down to really focus on just oral presentations by students and poster presentations by students.

The other change has also been giving more tailored sessions and workshops for students to prepare by discipline. Afia [Ofori-Mensa] does a lot of things for the humanities and social sciences because they have conventions that are used in those fields that are not used in the natural sciences and vice versa.

What has CLEAR done to incorporate quantitative skills into departments that aren’t usually associated with those concepts?

I do a lot of outreach to intro classes that are not necessarily always thought of as quantitative, but they have a lot of quantitation in them. That includes the intro [economics] courses, some of the research method courses, and things like sociology. [We are] trying to get the message out there that quantitative skills are useful and found in a variety of courses, not just the sciences.

Oberlin recently received a large grant from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. How has that impacted Oberlin’s research community?

This is our second grant from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, and the first grant’s focus was, as you said, quantitative skills and also interdisciplinary learning. But even though those were the focuses of the grant, … diversity in the sciences has always been a passion of mine. On the side, we’ve been doing some stuff like partnering with the [Multicultural Resource Center] or with [the Gender, Sexuality, and Feminist Studies department] on programming especially at the intersection of science and

society, as well as mentoring students.

This new grant’s focus is diversity, so we’re able to dedicate a lot more time and resources to that, which is really great. It gives us a budget, so when we do events, we don’t have to scrounge around as much, [so we actually have a budget for these events].

We also have a whole line in the grant to hire, every year, a STEM fellow. Right now it’s Nicollette Mitchell.

She’s a Geology and Africana Studies double-major who graduated in 2013.

She’s expanded the capacity of the center. The grant has allowed us to be able to shift even more emphasis on ensuring that everyone has equitable access to, and success in, the sciences.

What are your goals to make the sciences more inclusive?

The proposal calls for the first year to be a year of learning, so we’ve organized these learning communities very organically. We invited all faculty and staff across campus to these lunches to generate ideas and questions that they had about diversity in STEM and diversity in general on campus. From these, they formed groups specific to these topics. For groups that have read a lot of stuff and want to take it a step further by going to a conference or inviting a guest speaker who’s an expert on a topic, we have money for that.

That’s how the grant is enabling us to follow up on a lot of the great ideas that people have generated.

Following the first year, in the second through fourth year, departments will be able to apply for these special learning communities which we call DARTs, Departmental Action and Reflection Teams, and this gives departments more time and money to pursue things specific to their department.

For example, diversity barriers and issues in computer science look very different from those in biology. They are able to address more specifically what this looks like in their discipline, and their department at Oberlin College.

They would be awarded with a visiting assistant professor, which is a really great thing for a department to have because it frees up time for other professors who are otherwise very busy with course work to do those kind of professional development things like going to conferences and getting together to talk about the literature.

Professors here are extremely well-

Oberlin Community News Bulletin

4

College Set to Host Fifth Annual “Track or Treat”

Blue Rooster Staff Member Passes Away

The Oberlin College Student-Athlete Advisory Committee and Oberlin City School District will hold their fifth annual “Track or Treat” Monday from 6-7:30 p.m. Families are encouraged to dress their children in costumes and walk around the John W. Heisman indoor track at the College, while student-athletes pass out candy and provide games. Children under the age of 11 must be accompanied by an adult.

Jason Baird, a staff member at the Blue Rooster Bakehouse, passed away from a hit-and-run accident Tuesday morning. Wendy Boes, owner of Blue Rooster, posted on the bakery’s Facebook page memorializing Baird: “Jason was only with us at the bakery for a short amount of time but he will remain with us always in spirit. He was such a lovely, unique soul and we were blessed by him in so many ways.” Blue Rooster will be closed today and tomorrow as staff members process the loss.

Marcelo Vinces

versed in their fields, but given all the constraints of research and teaching, it’s hard for them to carve out time to become well-versed in diversity issues.

This allows them to raise their capacity of knowledge and expertise.

What do you think Oberlin scientists have to offer that their non-liberal arts counterparts don’t?

It’s a really great question. It’s something that I’ve been thinking about even before I came to Oberlin. I used to work at the National Science Foundation, and I looked over a lot of data that graduate students that go on to get Ph.D.s in the sciences. Oberlin was way up there with a lot of schools that you would more typically associate with the sciences like [Massachusetts Institute of Technology] or [California Institute of Technology]. That made me very curious about what was going on at Oberlin. Since I’ve been here, I’ve gotten to meet a lot of well-known scientists who are alumni of Oberlin, and I tend to ask them, “What would you change about the science education at Oberlin, that would have benefited you?” For the most part they say, “absolutely nothing,” because it was that very broad liberal arts education that allowed them to be creative scientists.

I asked one professor who was a pioneer in artificial intelligence and machine learning if he thought we should have computer modeling classes here and he said, “no.” His field didn’t exist when he started, but it was that thinking outside of the box that Oberlin encourages that allowed him to reach out across disciplines and join a community that ended up forming a new field in computer science. That was so thrilling to hear because I was thinking he would recommend more engineering type classes or more specific skills classes. But instead he was like, “No, I wouldn’t change a thing.”

Police Chief Electee Faces Opposition and Delay Clarence “Ryan” Warfield, who was supposed to fill the police chief vacancy in September, has yet to start his new role due to the extensive time required to complete Warfield’s background check. City Manager Rob Hillard said at the Oct. 16 council meeting that once the background check is finalized, the city will focus on salary negotiation and deciding a start date.

Warfield also faces opposition from the police department, as Sergeants Patrick Durica, Melissa Lett, and Steve Chapman sent a letter to council in early October questioning the hiring process and Warfield’s qualifications.

OPINIONS October 27, 2017

established 1874

Letter to the editors

Hillard Should Maintain Commitment to Warfield To the Editors:

I am writing in response to “Sergeants Oppose Oberlin Police Chief Hire” by Jodi Weinberger that appeared in The Elyria Chronicle-Telegram on Oct. 7, 2017 about three sergeants’ opposition to the Oberlin City Manager’s choice of Clarence “Ryan” Warfield as the police chief of the Oberlin Police Department.

I serve as pastor for Ryan Warfield and his family. Ryan and his family have been active members of our congregation for the past 15 years. I and others encouraged him to apply for the position of police chief. Ryan, born and raised in Lorain, is a 24-year officer in the Elyria Police Department and has a stellar reputation in the Lorain County community. He is clearly committed to reaching out to all citizens of the Oberlin community to change the current limited relationship that I feel the OPD has with its community. Ryan and his family have previously lived in Oberlin. He and his wife Vernita are excited to move back to the Oberlin community and become active and involved members.

As I participated in some of the listening sessions that Rob Hillard held throughout the spring, it was clear to me that the citizens of Oberlin wanted a more comprehensive approach and a new vision for community policing. It was also clear to me that many did not feel that the current ethos among some in the police depart-

ment’s rank and file was appropriate for Oberlin’s future.

I participated in the advisory interview process for former Chief Juan Torres’ candidacy under the former City Manager Eric Norenberg. I came to know him through our interaction surrounding community concerns regarding how young AfricanAmerican men were seemingly being singled out by some in the OPD. He was very responsive. Torres was a great community minded leader who truly wanted to implement community policing practices. He met significant opposition from among the ranks of his officers. This opposition letter sent by these three sergeants of the OPD, I think, is reflective of the kind of opposition that Chief Torres experienced in his short stay as chief.

My feeling is that these sergeants are part of the problem that has entrenched the OPD and made it difficult for it to come to reflect on the kind of change that many Oberlin residents are demanding in their police department. The OPD is here to serve its citizens and not to be a closed system unto itself.

My hope is that City Manager Rob Hillard stands by his conviction to swear in Chief Clarence Ryan Warfield as chief of Oberlin Police Department. I hope that Hillard and the City Council will stand with Chief Warfield against unfair accusations and the seemingly recalcitrant officers within the OPD. We as a community will be the better for it.

– A.G. Miller Pastor, Oberlin House of The Lord Fellowship

Oberlin Must Embrace Disabled Students Without “Despites” El Wilson Contributing Writer

I don’t accept “despites.”

They lead me to build walls between myself and my family. My best friends forcefully dismantle them.

And I see their presence in romantic relationships as potentially abusive.

I grew up with the idea that I would succeed, despite my disability. I spent hours in physical, occupational, and speech therapy in an attempt to “fix” me.

Some of these hours were worthwhile because they made my body healthier and more mobile. Others — especially those spent in

speech therapy — contributed to a negative body image and made me ashamed of my existence. Yet the adults in my life took every opportunity to tell me that I was smart, funny, and beautiful. I would be successful despite my disability.

I am successful, but it’s partially because of — not despite — my disability.

When Oberlin decided to understaff the Office of Disability Resources to the point where the only full-time professional staff member resigned, it chose to engage in “despites.” It told the 23 percent of students who use the ODR

that Oberlin accepted them despite their disability.

That very notion is actively harmful.

The day Oberlin sent me my acceptance letter, it didn’t only accept my high school GPA, my extracurricular activities, and my essay writing skills. It accepted my wheelchair. It accepted my inability to read a map. It accepted my phobia of olives. It accepted every strand of saliva that falls from my lips. It accepted me.

Since my acceptance, I have contributed to the Oberlin community. I have been a successful Creative See Neglect, page 7

Submissions Policy

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

All writers must individually confirm authorship on electronic submissions. Op-eds may not have more than two authors. The Review reserves the right to edit all submissions for clarity, length, grammar, accuracy, strength of argument and in consultation with Review style. Editors will work with contributors to edit pieces and will clear major edits with the authors prior to publication. Editors will contact authors of letters to the editors in the event of edits for anything other than style and grammar. Headlines are printed at the discretion of the Editorial Board. Opinions expressed in editorials, letters, op-eds, columns, cartoons or other Opinions pieces do not necessarily reflect those of the staff of the Review. The Review will not print advertisements on its Opinions pages. The Review defines an advertisement as any submission that has the main intent of bringing direct monetary gain to a contributor.

The Oberlin Review | October 27, 2017

Volume 146, Number 7

Editorial Board Editors-in-Chief Melissa Harris

Christian Bolles

Managing Editor Daniel Markus

Opinions Editors

Nathan Carpenter

Jackie Brant

Policy of Silence Threatens Students In the wake of anti-Semitic flyers being discovered by Safety and Security on Warner Center and Peters Hall early in the morning Oct. 13, President Ambar announced in an email to the students, faculty, and staff that the College would stop notifying the community of discriminatory postings “unless there is clear evidence of an ongoing pattern or a serious threat to campus safety.” As a group that includes multiple marginalized identities, including Judaism, the Editorial Board is surprised, confused, and frightened about the implications of such a sudden sweeping decision.

First and foremost, we believe that marginalized students have a right to be informed about any all possible statements of hate and threats made against them. The decision to not inform students of such events in absence of “an ongoing pattern or a serious threat to campus safety” not only interferes with that right, but also parallels the fact that atrocities against Jews have historically been ignored and disbelieved — even unreported. The question of who decides what constitutes a threat is consistently laden with oppressive power dynamics. We believe that students with targeted marginalized identities should be empowered to decide when they are under threat — not an opaque administrative decision-making process. Even if Ambar hopes to shield students from the potential anxiety caused by the information she now plans not to distribute, that is not her decision to make. Whether students choose to read emails regarding acts of hate is up to them, but accessing that information is their right.

Furthermore, in the midst of a strongly resurgent and dark ethno-nationalism that the Trump presidency has emboldened, we are deeply skeptical of a decision that in any way trivializes acts of hate — including intentional silence when such acts are committed.

That silence is worsened when it is institutionalized in policy. Silence by those in power is a large part of what gave us the Trump presidency. Bigotry must be consistently and constantly identified where it exists. The only way to quash it is to expose it for all to see — not, as Ambar suggests, to simply “turn off [its] sound.” The reason that so many people don’t believe that racism, anti-Semitism, and other forms of bigotry still exist is precisely because they are so seldom pointed out.

Ambar’s decision also presents a myriad of logistical problems for the administration, which in many ways will undermine the likely intention behind it. If students notice future hateful postings without prompt response from the administration, such news is likely to spread easily on Oberlin’s small and connected campus, and there is no way to know how accurately such information will travel through the Oberlin telephone. Without definitive information from the administration, the likelihood that student knowledge of incidents of hate will generate dangerous rumors only increases, causing more disruption to students than a simple announcement from the president’s office. Further, Ambar’s metric for what merits communication is unclear. If particularly despicable language is posted around campus, but is not a pattern and poses no threat, should that really not merit a response?

When marginalized students do hear about acts of hate perpetrated against them, they want real solidarity from campus officials, including and beyond affirmation of their experiences and perceived danger. Ambar’s decision to limit information regarding acts of hate inherently means that solidarity will not be shown. That is a real disappointment — one of our strongest hopes regarding Ambar was that she would be more connected to the student body, which was a particularly weak aspect of former President Marvin Krislov’s tenure. Additionally, we had hoped that President Ambar would make herself and her administration more easily accountable, but how can students hold the administration accountable for investigating acts they either don’t know about or the administration won’t acknowledge occurred?

More broadly, we are concerned that when future acts of hate are perpetrated against our campus, student publications will be the only marginally official channels through which accurate information about such events will be disseminated. This represents a troubling trend that emerged during the Krislov administration and appears to be continuing under Ambar. Information about numerous recent major campus decisions — including the 2017 fiscal year deficit and long-term structural budgetary issues discovered by the Board of Trustees — has still not yet been disseminated through official channels, and the Review has at times had to rely on leaked information. Student publications cannot be sole reliable source of information — our articles can’t be distributed to the email account of every student. The announcement is also extremely sudden, and to the best of our knowledge, no students — more specifically Jewish and other marginalized students — were consulted about the possibility of such a move being made.

While the reasoning behind Ambar’s announcement is unknown — whether it aims to keep Oberlin out of the frequently unforgiving eyes of the national press, shield students from emotional harm, prevent bigots from receiving the reaction that they desire, or something else entirely — one thing is clear: This is the wrong choice. It is sudden, dangerous, disturbingly thematic of previous abuses of marginalized communities, and ultimately causes more problems than it solves. If Ambar truly wants to support marginalized students, she should stand with them in solidarity and fight against their oppressors, not attempt to blind them from the hate they already know they face.

Editorials are the responsibility of the Review Editorial Board — the Editors-in-Chief, Managing Editor, and Opinions Editors — and do not necessarily reflect the views of the staff of the Review.

5

Opi n ions

Letters to the editors: 2017 candidates and issues Heather Adelman and Linda Slocum The City of Oberlin is blessed to have a number of excellent candidates for City Council this year. Two candidates in particular may be less familiar to many but merit special attention: Heather Adelman and Linda Slocum.

Heather Adelman’s leadership in Oberlin revolves around three themes: economic development, building collaborations among stakeholders, and sustainability.

She is the market manager for the Oberlin Farmer’s Market and cofounder of the Oberlin Food Hub, two efforts that provide economic opportunities for small and medium-sized farms in the area. As vice chair of the City’s Resource Conservation and Recovery Commission and former assistant director of the Oberlin Project, she has experience working with people in city government, public schools, and the College.

Heather will not just show up to City Council meetings, but will also work hard in between them to help Oberlin realize its vision.

Linda Slocum has served one term on council, and in that time she has also proven herself to be a leader on issues related to economic development, collaboration, and sustainability.

Her voting record demonstrates a commitment to Oberlin’s proud heritage of progressive civil rights issues, and a commitment to Oberlin’s Strategic Plan and carbon neutrality plan. We need a consensus-builder like Slocum on the council.

In addition to Adelman and Slocum, Sharon Pearson and Bryan Burgess are council veterans with a history of excellent public service, transparency, and commitment to Oberlin’s goals of economic development and sustainability. I support these four outstanding candidates.

– Cindy Frantz Professor of Psychology Linda Slocum has proven to be a valuable member of Oberlin City Council the last two years.

She works conscientiously, does her homework on issues, and expresses her opinion clearly and compactly. Her goals for the next term include ways to create a more inviting climate for families and businesses.

Heather Adelman is a firsttime candidate for Council with a wealth of useful background in environmental issues. She has worked hard and been effective on boards on which she has served.

I urge a vote for these two women in November.

– Dina Schoonmaker Oberlin Resident

Heather Adelman, Bryan Burgess, Sharon Pearson and Linda Slocum I am writing this letter in support of the candidacies of Heath-

6

er Adelman, Sharon Pearson, Linda Slocum, and Bryan Burgess for Oberlin City Council. I fortunately have some experience in Oberlin politics, and can honestly say it is at its most effective and most true to the character of the community when it surges forward. Adelman, Pearson, Slocum, and Burgess have shown an investment in new ideas, policies, and directions that open up the lungs of Oberlin, allowing the city to breathe in new opportunities. Every element of their broad, varied, and deep experiences feeds their service and commitment to the rich possibilities of our community. Whether in the areas of sustainable environmental policy, progressive economic development, or inclusive civic life, these candidates have shown themselves willing and able to break away from ideas that are more aged than effective. Oberlin is more than its past. Oberlin is more than what it has done.

Oberlin has a future full of promise that will only be realized by leadership that understands that.

I urge you to support leadership that looks forward to the future and vote for Heather Adelman, Sharon Pearson, Linda Slocum, and Bryan Burgess for Oberlin City Council.

– Charles Peterson Associate Professor of Africana Studies

William Jindra and Ronnie Rimbert We urge Oberlin voters to support Bill Jindra and Ronnie Rimbert in this year’s council race.

Both candidates bring a wealth of experience, knowledge of city needs, and concern for others to the table. Both candidates work well with the city’s administration and staff and appreciate quality work at all levels. They support necessary maintenance of infrastructure and back Oberlin’s aggressive pursuit of sustainable energy. Fran served on council with Jindra and both of us with Rimbert; we can attest to their commitment to our town.

– Fran and Jack Baumann Oberlin Residents

Kelley Singleton It is important to return Kelley Singleton to Oberlin’s City Council for a second term. I have never seen a first-term councilmember work as hard as Kelley to understand the issues and to make good decisions.

Kelley very quickly established relationships with the administrative experts in the city, meeting frequently with the city manager, finance director, and law director.

He is widely known as someone who wants to learn and to gather information pertinent to a discussion or voting.

Before council meetings, Kelley not only had asked questions of city leaders, but also had carefully read the packet of ordinances and background materials provided by the city clerk. He was

always prepared and able to encourage council support for critical issues, whether he was advocating for additional protections of the LGBTQ community or addressing the quality of designs for future city signage.

I doubt that any councilmember can match Kelley’s attendance at virtually every commission meeting. Because of all the hours he has put in and his willingness to ask questions of city administrators, he is more knowledgeable than some council members who have served multiple terms.

Kelley supported legislation reaffirming Oberlin as a sanctuary city as well as council’s proclamation condemning Trump’s withdrawal from the Paris Climate Accords. He voted to raise the minimum wage for city workers, and he strongly urged council to create Indigenous People’s Day. Kelley Singleton is a hard working, well informed councilmember. Oberlin would benefit greatly from his reelection.

– Sharon Fairchild Soucy Member, Oberlin City Council

Linda Slocum When you vote in Oberlin in the upcoming election, please cast one of your votes for Linda Slocum for City Council. Here’s why.

During her first term on council, Linda has demonstrated her ability to build solutions across differences of opinion. She listens well to her council colleagues and to people from each slice of the Oberlin population. She actively seeks out ideas that build on Oberlin’s many strengths, while also challenging our ready assumptions.

In her second term on council, Linda plans to improve our aging housing stock by making homes comfortable, efficient, and affordable. She will attract new business and industry, while increasing job and housing opportunities. She anticipates working with schools and industry to train local talent, will give residents more of a say about infrastructure and playgrounds in their neighborhoods, and will improve public transportation while supporting sidewalk and bicycle connectivity.

Your vote for Linda Slocum is a vote for inclusive and creative governance and effective problem solutions.

– David Snyder Oberlin Resident I am writing to urge you to vote for Linda Slocum for a second term on Oberlin City Council in the Nov. 7, 2017 election. A model of leadership in representative local government during her first two-year term on City Council, Linda has demonstrated her commitment to learning the concerns of her constituents and to reflecting those concerns responsibly as a councilmember.

Linda’s interest and investment in the success of Oberlin’s economic future and her active participation in the work that the council does to encourage, promote, and

preserve responsible administration of city government are a testament to her strong work ethic and her willingness to stand up for her convictions. Linda’s energetic participation in and coordination of local volunteer programs reflect her involvement in community activities. Her willingness to research issues thoroughly, her approachability, and her communication skills equip her to represent Oberlin’s citizenry as a City Councilmember.

Linda’s campaign motto, “Building Community Together,” sums up her primary goal in seeking reelection to this office. It is for these reasons that I urge you to cast your vote for Linda Slocum for a second term on Oberlin City Council.

– Linda Gates Oberlin Resident We write to urge the re-election of Linda Slocum to the Oberlin City Council in November. She has served as vice chair of that body throughout her first term.

By virtue of her skills, extensive experience, and devotion to the well-being of the community, she is certain to continue her superb service. She is ardently committed to the open and clear process of decision-making that is fundamental to democracy. One sign of her civic engagement is her longstanding participation in the activities of the League of Women Voters. Her concern for social justice has been exemplified in her unremitting efforts on behalf of homeless families who are aided by the Family Promise organization. She has the temperament and wisdom to work through conflicts and disputes with discernment. She is assiduous in preparation, astute in arriving at judgments, and fair in dealing with others. In short, she is an exemplary candidate whom we are honored to support.

– Carol Longsworth Oberlin Resident – Robert Longsworth Emeritus Professor of English

Issues The letter from Steve Hammond and John Elder on Sept. 22, 2017 in The Oberlin Review, “Voters Can Correct City Council’s Mistakes,” provides solid reasons for voting “Yes” on City Issue 16 and “No” on City Issue 17. Critical to their recommendations are two letters from city law director, Jon Clark, who responded to questions from the City’s Public Utilities Commission.

In response to a request for a legal review of a proposed recommendation to City Council from PUC on the disposition of net Renewable Energy Credits revenues, Clark’s letter from April 13, 2015 stated, “Based on the authority of the decision in Union Ice, I conclude that the City has no legal obligation to electric customers in the disposition of the REC revenue and council may, if it wishes, adopt the recommendation of the PUC.” Simply put,

RECs revenue does not belong to ratepayers, but to the city of Oberlin.

In response to a request for the status of the ordinance establishing the Sustainable Reserve Program, Clark’s letter from Sept.

18, 2015 on Ordinance No. 07-39 AC CMS stated, “There has been no repeal or modification of Ordinance 07-39 AC CMS since its passage in May of 2007.” This is important because if City Council wanted to do something different with RECs revenue than proposed by PUC in 2015, the ordinance needed to be repealed or modified.

Ordinance 07-39 AC CMS explicitly directs the finance director to “establish a Sustainable Reserve Program Account for the city of Oberlin for the sole purpose of depositing the revenues resulting from the sale of ‘green power’ attributes, the monies so deposited to be utilized to fund a Sustainable Reserve Program.”

Despite this clear statement on where “green power” revenue (RECs revenue) is to go, Clark’s Sept. 18, 2015 letter stated, “… Ordinance No. 07-39 AC AMS contains no requirement that all REC sale proceeds be deposited into that account.”

Issue 16 clarifies that “sole purpose” means “all REC revenue” by adding “all” to the ordinance so it reads, “directing that all net proceeds derived from the sale and repurchase of green power attributes be deposited into the Sustainable Reserve Program Account.”

The city is in an unusual position of having over two million dollars created by its wise choice in 2008 to abandon coal-based electricity and shift to renewable and carbon-neutral-based electricity, a decision many Oberlin College students supported with their votes. Now, the voters, by choosing to invest these monies, can leverage and increase significantly the impact of these funds on the quality of life in Oberlin.

If you think it wise to compound RECs revenue by investment to benefit Oberlin residents, businesses, and institutions, vote “Yes” on Issue 16 and “No” on Issue 17.

– Carl McDaniel Visiting Professor of Environmental Studies A regrettable aspect of the public discourse surrounding the Renewable Energy Credits is that some electric customers have been led to believe that they overpaid for their electric utility and should receive a refund.

It certainly would be a serious issue if customers were being overcharged. However, surplus funds don’t come from customer payments but from wise transactions of credits gained by using “green energy” sources. Accumulated RECs reflect sound financial decisions by management and sound value decisions by citizens, guided by our Climate Action Plan.

When I read a letter in the Oberlin News-Tribune in March 2017 stating that Oberlin’s electric See 2017, page 7

Athletics Encourages Toxic Belief Systems Marissa Maxfield Contributing Writer

Editors’ Note: This article contains mention of unwilling ingestion of consciousness-altering drugs.

I am a former athlete who played lacrosse at Oberlin for three years. From my first to fifth years here, my identity, perspective, and culture — specifically in relation to my sport — have significantly shifted. I have seen the best and worst of what athletics can encompass and witnessed its polarizing effects. Like many former student-athletes, I have undergone a sharp transition away from sports-centric culture, rejecting the structures — like aggression is ability and pack mentality is power — that once governed my belief system.

As a result of this awareness, I am a traitor to teams but an outsider to the rest; I am the middle man.

While my views may seem radical to some, they may be mild and even compromising to others.

If we truly wish to understand the struggle between studentathletes and non-athletes in our community, we must listen to the voices that are not being heard — the voices of those who cannot honestly and holistically portray athletics in a positive light.

Occasionally, first-years are naïve enough to find natural friendships across athlete/nonathlete divides, but in my experience, those relationships often do not last. The reality of scheduling conflicts makes it nearly impossible to support each other. Daily practices consume athletes’ afternoons and evenings, preventing them from pursuing their interests through joining ExCos or extracurriculars and attending events, talks, or workshops.

Even getting together regularly on weekends is implausible due to traveling and team activities.

In many cases, the protective shield of sports allows athletes to live out the entirety of their collegiate existence inside a bubble.

I believe the housing and dining environment is largely to blame here. Teams have a way of taking over a space. North Campus hotspots like the Science Center atrium and Stevenson Dining Hall practically belong to sports squads, making it difficult for others to use those spaces. It doesn’t help that, in my experience, a significant number of athletes study either natural sciences or economics, often expressing indifference or disdain for the humanities and other creative pursuits. A little diversity in academics surely wouldn’t hurt their cause — after all, we are all Obies, right?

It is, of course, only natural for humans to gravitate toward groups in which they feel a sense of belonging. This process is made even easier at Oberlin, where the divide between North and South Campus concentrates groups that would already be inclined to spend time with each other. In my four years at Oberlin, common dorm spaces have come to be dominated by male athletes — spaces that first-years or sophomores with poor housing slots are more likely to be unwillingly placed into.

Living in community is part of the college experience, sure, but living in toxic environments can be disconcerting and dangerous.

Within the very first month of my first year, I was drugged at a men’s lacrosse party. I became very sick, paid the hospital bill, was placed on academic probation, and was nearly kicked off my team. From this, I learned to not waste my

time calling negative attention to myself when I had been told by the deans that nothing would be done without further witnesses.

The association of athletics with sexual assault, normative violence, and general intolerance are not simply stereotypes. Many others have been victimized in similar ways, and I hope that some of them might feel comfortable speaking out about their experiences. According to what I was told of the Title IX policy at the time, reports of violations would not be sent through the judicial process unless multiple witnesses attested to the truth.

Too often, peer pressure and team toxicity discourage teammates from reporting incidents involving other teammates. Unfortunately, it seems there are more than just a few individuals ruining the reputations of all the rest.

Furthermore, hordes of jocks pack into dorms on Wednesdays and weekends, making a racket and littering the halls and building entryways with filth. The aftermath of these escapades often creates safety hazards and general disgust. If coaches have ever been made aware of these problems and cared enough to seriously acknowledge these concerns, it has not been amply reflected by players’ attitudes.

The patriarchal sentiment that “boys will be boys” is far from extinct in our society, even in a “progressive” place such as Oberlin.

I want to believe in Athletics 101, the new program working to address these issues by breaking down the divide between athletes and the rest of the Oberlin community, but so far it sounds like more of the same. “Athletes are students, too;” “We work

Neglect of ODR Perpetuates Ableism Continued from page 5

Writing student. Now, I’m considering an M.F.A. This is partially because my brain is hardwired for words. At the end of my senior year of high school, a psychiatrist discovered that I score about average on IQ tests because my visual IQ is so bad it qualifies as a “cognitive disability,” but my verbal IQ is in the 98th percentile. I hypothesize that my brain compensated for its differences, which has allowed me to have amazing verbal abilities even though I get lost in dorm buildings on a regular basis. This semester, I became a bread maker in my co-op because my (albeit irrational) fears of various foods made cook shifts incredibly stressful.

Even when I use 80 cups of flour, my bread vanishes within 24 hours. My food fears pushed me to learn a new skill that serves my co-op community in a tangible way. On top of all of this, the visibility of my disability serves to make the campus appear more “diverse.”

Whether Oberlin likes it or not, this community benefits from my disabilities and from those of other students. By neglecting the ODR, Oberlin perpetuates able-bodied and neurotypical privilege. It still benefits from the neurological and physical diversity brought by disabled students, while failing to provide the support The Oberlin Review | October 27, 2017

structures that allow those students to be happy and healthy in an environment that wasn’t designed with them in mind.

I am no longer the high school senior struggling with self-hate. I love my body and my brain. Sure, I don’t like burning myself making bread because of my lack of gross-motor skills.

I don’t like the fact that the burn still hasn’t healed because I compulsively pick at the scab. However, I recognize that those are the negative manifestations of the best parts of myself.

I love myself because I am funny, emotionally unstable, loving, transgender, child-like, creative, and disabled in so many beautiful ways. I expect that my friends, family, and romantic partners love me without despites. I demand that Oberlin College respect me and other disabled students without any despites attached.

Disabilities are differences, not difficulties.

I know that providing services for disabled students can be financially costly, but I don’t care. One in five Oberlin students depends on ODR services. That’s far too many to be ignored. No student should feel the need to change who they are to accommodate a college that doesn’t have the staff to give the student the accommodations they need. Oberlin, get your act together.

CARTOON OF THE WEEK Kathryn Blessington

just as hard, if not harder!” and the worst — “Academics always come first” — is simply untrue. I can’t count the number of times I had to sacrifice my studies to attend a game I didn’t end up playing in. I had no choice about going, whether or not I was needed, or whether or not I would be provided with real meals.

But no one wants to hear athletes’ complaints. After all, we did sign up for this. The more that athletes claim their biased treatment is unfair, the more non-athletes will read their behavior as aggravating, selfish, and trivial. Until something new is introduced to the conversation, no one will listen.

Maybe if athletes showed more concern for other groups on campus, empathetic feelings would be returned. James Tanford, a member of the Student Athlete Advisory Committee, has suggested that athletes become more involved in campus activism (“Athletics 101 Opens Ath-

lete Divide Conversation,” The Oberlin Review, Sept. 29, 2017).

However, singular displays of service won’t revolutionize an entire community, especially one as resolute as Oberlin’s.

People see what they want to see. Anti-athletic prejudices — however hateful, derogatory, or arbitrary they may seem — are credible and deserve validation.

Oberlin students need more than uninspired persuasion to think and act a certain way. They need to believe in the worthiness of a cause. And right now, there’s not much to believe in.

Many exceptional individuals who play sports at Oberlin do have a positive impact on the community. Professor of English Yago Colás — Athletic 101’s visionary — and many others at Oberlin are truly impassioned and determined to bridge this divide. Nevertheless, the ugliness that hides behind parts of sports culture must be confronted; it cannot be ignored any longer.

2017 candidates and issues Continued from page 6

costs are “among the highest in the country,” I decided to test the veracity of that statement. I conducted a sampling by contacting electric users in various locations across the United States. Consumers calculated their “effective rate” — their monthly bill amount in dollars divided by kilowatt hours used. I found that Oberlin’s rate during January 2017 was the lowest at 9.87 cents/ KW hour. Municipalities from five states reported rates of 12 to 22 cents. Three neighboring communities during the same period were at rates of 11.06, 13, and 13.67 cents. Over seven years, Oberlin’s average rate was 11.05 cents, the most recent year being 10.63 cents.

A valid case might be made to use the REC funds to reduce customer bills, but such an argument should not be based on false charges of comparatively high payments, which could help dissuade businesses and families from locating here. Changes in the political climate indicate that REC transactions will soon end. Applying the REC money

to customers’ monthly payments will provide a small, short-term saving until the funds are used up. Then rates will soar. Applying the same funds to improve our community’s long-term electricity use and efficiency for all would be a gift that keeps on giving. If handled correctly, the RECs may be a valuable resource to the Oberlin community.

Linda Slocum is currently the vice-chair of Oberlin City Council and is running for her second term on council. Come to Azariah’s Cafe in Mudd library on Nov. 5 between 6 and 8:30 p.m. to share thoughts and ask her questions.

– Linda Slocum Vice-chair, Oberlin City Council Vote YES on Issues 15 and 17 to ensure that Oberlin has funds for capital improvements to pay for fire and police vehicles and safety equipment, parks and cemetery improvements, street improvements, and maintenance, along with preserving ratepayer’s preference in regard to their utility cost.

Vote NO on Issue 16, which proposes to eliminate the Sustainable Reserve Program at a time that Oberlin College is experiencing a 5 million dollar deficit with enrollment down and tuition up, plus the recent buyout of staff and faculty and the hiring freeze at the College. It reminds me of 2009 when Barack Obama entered office. Do you think the new College President Carmen Ambar could use the electric rebate?

Also, there are many Oberlin families living paycheck to paycheck and businesses in town that are struggling on a monthly basis that could use this money pay back from the electric utility.

Consider these candidates and issues carefully when deciding your vote on Nov. 7, 2017. The best picks for Oberlin City Council are William Jindra, Kristin Peterson, Ronnie Rimbert, Kelley Singleton, and Linda Slocum. And remember to vote YES on Issues 15 and 17 and vote NO on Issue 16.

– Tony Mealy Member, Oberlin Public Utility Commission

7

Spider web design courtesy of Andrea Lauren

Layout, text, and photos courtesy of This Week Editor Lucy Martin

the buckland museum of witchcraft and magick 2676 W 14th St. cleveland, OH 44113 bucklandmuseum.org In the back of A Separate Reality Records and through an inviting door with a clever “Stop in for a Spell!” sign off to the side are the remnants of Raymond Buckland’s Wiccan museum. Buckland was inspired by Gerald Gardner’s museum in the Isle of Man, which he visited upon Gardner’s death in 1964. He and Gardner had become friends when Buckland sent him fan mail after

history of wicca and witchcraft Witchcraft — or Wicca, as its practitioners know it — refers to a specific set of beliefs that primarily revolves around their Goddess and God. It is a religion that celebrates the natural world and incorporates pagan, folk, and magical rites. Rites are tied to the cycles of the moon, and Wiccans have four major sabbats, or holidays: Imbolc, which is on February 1, Beltane on April 30, Lugansadh or Lammas on July 31, and Samhain on Halloween. Though Wiccans do not worship the devil because they do not believe in the same God that Christians do, they were deemed devil-worshippers and heretics throughout history. They suffered mass persecution in Europe and the United States, which reached its peak in the late 16th century in Scotland. With a death toll in the thousands, the condemnation continued into the late 17th century with the Salem Witch Trials, where 150 people were arrested and 19 men and women were hanged. In the late 17th century, witchcraft was deemed illegal and did not resurface publicly until 1951 when the last of the laws were repealed. Gerald Gardner was the pioneer of a new age of witchcraft and rebranded it under the name Wicca. Prominent leaders of the Wicca movement in the years that followed include Raymond Buckland, Sybil Leek, Gavin Frost, and Yvonne Frost.Wicca is contemporarily considered an incredibly feminist religion and focuses on working with existing systems, emphasizing the idea that actions have consequences.

Raymond Buckland did not shy away from kitsch representations of witchcraft and Wicca. His collection included a variety of novelties, from the Lisa witch doll from the Simpsons to real voodoo dolls. The troll doll, for example, has pieces of hair stuck in it while the wax figure on the right is more traditional.

Saturday October 28

Featured is Gardner’s personal ceremonial robe. While most witches work naked, there are times when a robe is necessary. In his book Buckland’s Complete Book of Witchcraft, Gardner details that the robe can be crafted from any material.

He encourages aspiring Wiccans to wear the colors of nature for their robes, as it is the religion of nature.

Monday October 30

reading his books on Wicca. Gardner invited Buckland to Scotland where Monique Wilson, a high priestess, initiated him into Gardner’s Wicca.

At first, Buckland’s museum was open only for people of the craft. However, when news of the museum’s existence got out, Buckland moved his family and the museum to Bayshore, Long Island to avoid harassment. There, he reestablished and opened it to

the public. After several years ­— and an attempt to sell the collection to a coven in New Orleans, which resulted in a lawsuit after pieces were found on eBay — Buckland entrusted it to a member of his coven. Though around half of the collection was lost after the New Orleans sale, 35–40 percent of the original collection is currently on display and the museum is still collecting new pieces.

The traditional Gardnerian altar has the goddess on the left, and the color silver and elements air and water represent her. The god is on the right, his color is gold, and his elements are fire and earth. Four of the points stand for the elements and the one pointed northward is for the spirit.

Salt, water, and a bell to call the spirits are also necessary for most spells.

The Buckland Museum of Witchcraft & Magick contains many ceremonial goblets and knives. Most Wicca practitioners craft their own knife by hand, as it is important to personalize the tool for magical use.

In some traditions knives can only be used in rituals, whereas in others a personalized object should be used as often as possible.

Tuesday October 31

Celebrate Filipinx American Discover who murdered Free Bowling for students at the Heritage month with a FASA Kameron Dunbar at Murder at College Lanes in Hales Annex at panel featuring Mia Alvar and the ’Sco from 9–11 p.m.

3:30 p.m.

Assistant Professor of English Harrod Suarez in Dye Lecture Hall at 5 p.m. A banquet and a Pumpkin Carving and Spooky Altar for our Ancestors: Honor musical performance will in the Snacks at the MRC from 4–6 your ancestors with the MRC p.m. from 4:30–6 p.m. atrium at 6 p.m.

Wednesday November 1 Thursday November 2 “Get Wilder Halloween” in Support student dancers Wilder Hall from 8 p.m.–1 and purchase tickets for Fall a.m. The 5-hour event will Forward in Warner Main feature a costume contest, Space at 8 p.m. for $5 from the Halloween Splitchers, trickCentral Ticket Office in Hall or-treating, tarot card and Auditorium. Tickets are also astrology readings, and more. available online.

Spider web design courtesy of Andrea Lauren

Layout, text, and photos courtesy of This Week Editor Lucy Martin

the buckland museum of witchcraft and magick 2676 W 14th St. cleveland, OH 44113 bucklandmuseum.org In the back of A Separate Reality Records and through an inviting door with a clever “Stop in for a Spell!” sign off to the side are the remnants of Raymond Buckland’s Wiccan museum. Buckland was inspired by Gerald Gardner’s museum in the Isle of Man, which he visited upon Gardner’s death in 1964. He and Gardner had become friends when Buckland sent him fan mail after

history of wicca and witchcraft Witchcraft — or Wicca, as its practitioners know it — refers to a specific set of beliefs that primarily revolves around their Goddess and God. It is a religion that celebrates the natural world and incorporates pagan, folk, and magical rites. Rites are tied to the cycles of the moon, and Wiccans have four major sabbats, or holidays: Imbolc, which is on February 1, Beltane on April 30, Lugansadh or Lammas on July 31, and Samhain on Halloween. Though Wiccans do not worship the devil because they do not believe in the same God that Christians do, they were deemed devil-worshippers and heretics throughout history. They suffered mass persecution in Europe and the United States, which reached its peak in the late 16th century in Scotland. With a death toll in the thousands, the condemnation continued into the late 17th century with the Salem Witch Trials, where 150 people were arrested and 19 men and women were hanged. In the late 17th century, witchcraft was deemed illegal and did not resurface publicly until 1951 when the last of the laws were repealed. Gerald Gardner was the pioneer of a new age of witchcraft and rebranded it under the name Wicca. Prominent leaders of the Wicca movement in the years that followed include Raymond Buckland, Sybil Leek, Gavin Frost, and Yvonne Frost.Wicca is contemporarily considered an incredibly feminist religion and focuses on working with existing systems, emphasizing the idea that actions have consequences.

Raymond Buckland did not shy away from kitsch representations of witchcraft and Wicca. His collection included a variety of novelties, from the Lisa witch doll from the Simpsons to real voodoo dolls. The troll doll, for example, has pieces of hair stuck in it while the wax figure on the right is more traditional.

Saturday October 28

Featured is Gardner’s personal ceremonial robe. While most witches work naked, there are times when a robe is necessary. In his book Buckland’s Complete Book of Witchcraft, Gardner details that the robe can be crafted from any material.

He encourages aspiring Wiccans to wear the colors of nature for their robes, as it is the religion of nature.

Monday October 30

reading his books on Wicca. Gardner invited Buckland to Scotland where Monique Wilson, a high priestess, initiated him into Gardner’s Wicca.

At first, Buckland’s museum was open only for people of the craft. However, when news of the museum’s existence got out, Buckland moved his family and the museum to Bayshore, Long Island to avoid harassment. There, he reestablished and opened it to

the public. After several years ­— and an attempt to sell the collection to a coven in New Orleans, which resulted in a lawsuit after pieces were found on eBay — Buckland entrusted it to a member of his coven. Though around half of the collection was lost after the New Orleans sale, 35–40 percent of the original collection is currently on display and the museum is still collecting new pieces.

The traditional Gardnerian altar has the goddess on the left, and the color silver and elements air and water represent her. The god is on the right, his color is gold, and his elements are fire and earth. Four of the points stand for the elements and the one pointed northward is for the spirit.

Salt, water, and a bell to call the spirits are also necessary for most spells.

The Buckland Museum of Witchcraft & Magick contains many ceremonial goblets and knives. Most Wicca practitioners craft their own knife by hand, as it is important to personalize the tool for magical use.

In some traditions knives can only be used in rituals, whereas in others a personalized object should be used as often as possible.

Tuesday October 31

Celebrate Filipinx American Discover who murdered Free Bowling for students at the Heritage month with a FASA Kameron Dunbar at Murder at College Lanes in Hales Annex at panel featuring Mia Alvar and the ’Sco from 9–11 p.m.

3:30 p.m.

Assistant Professor of English Harrod Suarez in Dye Lecture Hall at 5 p.m. A banquet and a Pumpkin Carving and Spooky Altar for our Ancestors: Honor musical performance will in the Snacks at the MRC from 4–6 your ancestors with the MRC p.m. from 4:30–6 p.m. atrium at 6 p.m.

Wednesday November 1 Thursday November 2 “Get Wilder Halloween” in Support student dancers Wilder Hall from 8 p.m.–1 and purchase tickets for Fall a.m. The 5-hour event will Forward in Warner Main feature a costume contest, Space at 8 p.m. for $5 from the Halloween Splitchers, trickCentral Ticket Office in Hall or-treating, tarot card and Auditorium. Tickets are also astrology readings, and more. available online.

A r t s & C u lt u r e

ARTS & CULTURE October 27, 2017

established 1874

Volume 146, Number 7

Performance Highlights Identity, History of Indigenous Musicians Kate Fishman Staff Writer

Oki Kano, professionally known as OKI, began singing before the applause died down from the packed audience in Fairchild Chapel. The Ainu performer, along with protegé and friend Nate Renner, came to Oberlin as part of The Luce Initiative on Asian Studies and the Environment grant that the College recently received. The two musicians participated in an informal chat at Cowhaus Creamery on Monday, performed their music in Fairchild on Tuesday, and gave a lecture at the Adam Joseph Lewis Center on Wednesday.

Professor Chie Sakakibara, Assistant Professor of Environmental Studies and co-chair of the Oberlin LIASE committee, was thrilled to bring these performing scholars to campus.

“I just wanted to bring in somebody who is underrepresented and underserved in a society that is considered to be highly evolved, and get their voices out,” Sakakibara said. “Really, [the Ainu are] a very resilient group of people. And often times, they solidify their cultural identity to be able to adapt to the challenges that they confront in society. That’s what I see in the creation of music, and the development of contemporary cultural identity that’s getting very global today.”

Kano is a scholar, musician, and social advocate from Asahikawa Ainu, Hokkaido, Japan — one of the Ainu communities on the island. His testimony to the U.N. contributed to Japan’s official recognition of the Ainu as an indigenous people in 2008. The Oki Dub Ainu Band — which he founded — has played festivals including No Nukes in 2013 and WOMADelaide in 2017, and he is currently the world’s only professional tonkori player; a tonkori being a five string, fretless instrument from the Sakhalin Islands.

“I put something into the music,” he said. “It’s hard to describe by words, you know. But something groovy.”

Ainu musician Oki Kano performs on tonkori to a packed Fairchild Chapel. Kano, along with ethnomusicologist Nate Renner, came to Oberlin this week for performances and lectures about indigenous music.

Photo by Patrick McBride

Rhythms are a key distinguishing feature of the tonkori, which Kano highlights both when he performs traditional music and when he creates new songs. Much of his performance on Tuesday was based upon repetition, and the building of specific beats — given the limited melodic variation of his instrument, rhythmic variation gives his songs life. Toward the end of the concert, he had the audience chanting and clapping along with him in a thunderous roar.

His other interests include building on Ainu culture, and he rejects concepts such as “preservation” when it comes to said culture. Despite the fact that the community has often had to battle discrimination, he rejects the idea that they are less vibrant or sustainable for it.

“It’s already vital. Nothing ever died,” he said. “[However], I really want to update Ainu music through my expression and my experience … of a trip

through the world. I’m a trader through music.”

Nate Renner, a Ph.D. student in ethnomusicology at the University of Toronto, first met Kano when he was in his early 20s, and traveled to Japan to play guitar.

“I got bored very quickly,” he said, recalling his first few months as a “tourist” in the country — to remedy this, he decided to try and learn more traditional music, and took shamisen lessons. From there, he grew more interested in exploring indigeneity, and all the variation that is possible in one place.

“Japan has this monoethnic sort of image … I found out that it’s not really true,” Renner explained.

Since then, he has studied how indigenous tribes “use music to assert a presence on their ancestral lands, and human-environment relationships in Japan.” The exploration of different styles

within Ainu culture and his exposure to Kano’s methodology inspired him to create songs based more upon his inner sense of musical style as well as his own mixed Canadian ancestry. For example, one of Renner’s songs was trilingual — utilizing English, Japanese, and Cree, one of the First Nations tribes indigenous to Canada.

He and Kano had this discovery in common — “Before [music], I was kind of escaping from that [identity],” says Kano.

Now, though, Kano frequently performs traditional Ainu songs. His set lists on Tuesday and Wednesday included songs to catch swordfish, “boy hunting” songs where “women use the tonkori and say, ‘let’s go over there,’” greeting songs, and a song of a man who lost his hut.

When Kano finished performing at the end of the talk on Wednesday, Sakakibara took to the stage and exclaimed, “That was the most energetic lecture I’ve ever attended in my life.”

Post-Punk Band Big Ups Returns to the ’Sco with Halloween Special Ananya Gupta Arts & Culture Editor

Big Ups, a post-hardcore punk band, will bring a holiday-themed performance to the ’Sco on Halloween. Its four members — Joe Galarraga, Amar Lal, Brendan Finn, and Carlos Salguero Jr. — formed the band at New York University in 2013. Their ’Sco performance is a pit stop between their recently-concluded fall tour with METZ and Toronto’s Dilly Dally. Their next tour starts in St. Louis, Nov. 2.

Tough Love Records describes Big Ups’ music as a “blend [of ] punk, post-punk, metal and indie rock into a salty mash that gets stuck to the roof of your mouth.”

Big Ups has released two albums so far. Their debut, Eighteen Hours of Static, was followed by Before a Million Universes. The title of their second album was inspired by Walt Whitman’s poem, “Song of Myself.” In an interview with Culture Creature in 2016, Galarraga spoke to this inspiration.

“We’re talking about [Whitman’s idea of ] how an individual becomes a part of something bigger and how a person’s identity helps them to see their place in the world and perhaps be a force of change in it,” Galarraga said.

“We’re building upon that but talking about things that happened in our generation.”

Big Ups sings about capitalism, economic guilt, justice, and community — themes that often feature in discourse at Oberlin — which is why they have been invited back for another performance on campus.

“They came to the ’Sco in 2015, and they wanted to 10

come back so it’s very exciting,” said College sophomore and event host Matt Grimm.

This week, Grimm spoke to the Review about the band and what listeners can expect from their upcoming performance. ”It’s a very good punk band that has its loud and very quiet [moments], he said. “It’s very chaotic but it will be a fun show to just dance to, experience some fun music.

[The] performers are very energetic.”

If the sociopolitical relevance of Big Ups’ music isn’t enough to draw crowds, audience members can potentially expect a hair-raising Halloween ambience at the ’Sco. Grimm let slip that there might even be some special Halloween beers on sale for those of drinking age.

“It’s on a Tuesday, but it’s Halloween night, so if people don’t necessarily want to go to a bigger Halloween event and want something a little more loose and a little more fun, that’s there for them,” he added.

Student band Weed Vacuum, influenced by posthardcore and punk bands whose sound could be described as dark and heavy, will be opening the show at 10:30 p.m.

Band member Brandon Minor described his experience with Big Ups. “I heard about Big Ups when I was in freshman year of high school after seeing the video for Goes Black on Youtube,” he said. “Then while I was in the band I used to play in, Bleary Eyed, we opened for Big Ups in D.C.” Punk fans are fervently awaiting the concert. Joey Shapiro, a senior Cinema Studies major, described his experience with punk shows.

“Punk shows are such a mixed bag because there’s a

definite undercurrent of toxic masculinity in the scene, but really great punk shows have an energy and joyfulness that is totally absent from any other kind of concert,” he said. “Being in a really rowdy mosh pit is both terrifying and liberating.”

Eager to broaden his audience, Minor readily dispelled some preconceived notions punk novices may have about the music.

“I think the biggest misconception about punk is that it’s just noise and screaming, but it can also be very melodic and sweet-sounding as well.” he said.

Gabe Steller, another College senior, described a common criticism punk music often faces.

“People sometimes don’t think the lyrics are intelligible.

Those who can’t necessarily hear [the lyrics] the first time or understand them the first time [need to] hear the song.

You might understand it the fifth time or you can always look them up.”

Steller encouraged everyone to consider attending this concert.

“It is going to be loud but that’s just part of the spiel and fun. [You] probably won’t understand the lyrics, [but] just lose yourself a little bit — it’s a full-body, everything experience. Just be open to that and let it flow into you.”

Big Ups’ album is available on Spotify as well as on their website, the link to which is provided on the ’Sco Facebook page. Tickets are $3 with your Oberlin ID and $8 without, and will be on sale until Tuesday afternoon. “I think it’s probably going to be the best punk show of the semester.

You will see some great punk music and are going to see one of the best Oberlin student bands,” Grimm concluded.

ON THE RECORD

On the Record with Nikita Makarenko Artist-in-Residence Nikita Makarenko is a political journalist, theater producer, and musician from Tashkent, Uzbekistan. He is a producer at Ilkhom Theater, Uzbekistan’s first independent theater company. Makarenko gave a talk titled “Romantic Notions of the Revolution and Revolutionary Songs in Contemporary Post-Soviet Popular Music” at 4:30 p.m. today, and on Tuesday, he will give a talk about the recent paradigm shift in Uzbek politics at 4:30 p.m.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

I just write what I want. This is how I combine two professions. Journalism is more for getting money, while art is what I am.

Artist-in-Residence Nikita Makarenko.

Photo courtesy of Nikita Makarenko

Interview by Julia Peterson Arts & Culture Editor

Editor’s note: This interview contains discussion of murder.

You’ve been a political journalist, a rock musician, and a producer at Uzbekistan’s first independent theater company. What draws you to all these different things?

My main passion is arts. From the very beginning, I was a musician. I started an academic career ... as a button accordion player. You know this instrument? It’s a Russian folk instrument which is similar to the accordion but with buttons, not with keys ... I was doing good. In the Republic competition, I was number one. But then I decided that I don’t want to have anything related with academic music anymore.

This [was] too difficult and too boring for me, [so] I turned to rock music. That’s how I became a rock musician. I started my first rock band in 2002. After that I had a lot of rock bands. I was constantly inside this movement, and I started to work in the Ilkhom Theater [in] 2008 as a musician, and then as a music producer. But rock music in Uzbekistan is not about business at all. It’s not about money. It’s a countercultural movement which has no relation with any profit. This is about protest. This is about self-expression.

And for sure, I thought about a profession which could bring me some money, and I [went] into journalism because it’s actually not factory working.

This is kind of easy for an artistic person, to write and to express yourself in the paper. I started to work as a journalist [and] actually, I love it. It was really hard in times of our previous president Islam Karimov. Our country [has] existed for only 27 years, and for 26 years, we had only one president — Islam Karimov — and he was a tough dictator. It was really hard to do a journalistic job in this time. It was really, really tough. And [since] last year, we have a new president, and I will make a lecture on Tuesday about this transition [of power], which is unique for post-Soviet countries. For the first time in history, a country got a liberal president without revolution, without any violence. We just got him, ... and it became really interesting to be a journalist, because right now we have total freedom of press. I could write anything I want. I have a great experience of working with U.S.A. media, and I can say that you have big problems with freedom of press, especially [in terms of ] editorial censorship. Your editors in major media, they have stopped words, stopped persons — they have inner censorship. I know it for sure. But right now in Uzbekistan, I could honestly say we have more freedom, because ... I work for the most popular online media in Uzbekistan, gazeta.uz, [and] we have no inner censorship at all.

The Oberlin Review | October 27, 2017

Can you tell me a bit about the rock festival you founded? How did that come about, and what is the festival like?

We have a very unique place in Tashkent, [where the rock festival is based].

During the Soviet Union, there was no freedom of expression at all, ... but in 1974 a theatrical director whose name was Mark Weil — he was an ethnic Jew who was born in Tashkent — he opened the first-ever independent theater in the Soviet Union.

It was possible because Tashkent was too far from the Kremlin, and actually they didn’t care about what [was] happening [there], so we had a little more freedom in Soviet times than [we would have had] in Moscow, for example. He opened this theater called Ilkhom, which translates from Uzbek as “inspiration.” It became so popular — actually, it was the only place in the Soviet Union where you could see a fresh, new, and sharp drama. People from all over the Soviet Union used planes to get to Ilkhom shows and come back. After Uzbekistan proclaimed independence in 1991, Ilkhom became the only independent theater now in modern Uzbekistan. For 27 years, we were the only stage where people could impress themselves without any fear and absolutely free. It was because Ilkhom was very popular in the world. If you are deep in the theater, you know about Ilkhom. We had tours, we crossed Europe and [the] U.S.A. for months. Everybody knew us. They just couldn’t shut us down without a big scandal. We lived under slight pressure. But we existed, and it was possible to perform anything on our stage.

In 2011, rock musicians and the rock movement in Uzbekistan started to feel more pressure from the government, because the government ... proclaimed rock musicians as “evil.” They said, “Rock music is satanic music. Hip-hop music is criminal music. They have nothing in common with Uzbek traditions, and we should get rid of it.” They started to shut down rock bars and rock venues. They started to close any rock event. Starting from 2011, Ilkhom Rock Fest, my festival, was the only stage for rock musicians in the country. We started the rock festival a few years before in 2007, and our idea was to give a theatrical stage to rock musicians to develop their artistic skills. Just imagine, in a typical rock show, everybody’s dancing or standing with a beer. At our festival, people [are] sitting, like in a theater, and very carefully listening to the music. This is a big difference, we are really pushing musicians to do something more than just standing in heroic poses and playing rock. We push them to find ideas, to make shows, to involve light, dance, theater — anything they want to make a theatrical rock show. We’re doing one show per two months through the season, and every concert is a big solo show. [Last year’s] season was the 10th anniversary, so now we’re starting season number 11. It’s always popular. We’ve always had a full house.

What brought you to the U.S. for this current residency?

The organization which invited me [to the U.S.], CEC ArtsLink — [they] are so good, and they are the most well-

organized institution which develops cultural ties between Central Asia and the United States. Nobody else does it. Your government doesn’t care. Nobody else cares, but CEC ArtsLink [has been] doing it for [more than] 20 years. It could be really interesting for Oberlin students, because it works both ways. Central Asian artists can go to the United States for an art residency, while United States artists could apply to work with Central Asian artists. And right now, it is grant season. Probably until midNovember, your artists could apply. It’s an interesting opportunity.

You also wrote a textbook, The Standards of Western Journalism for Arts Journalists?

During my journalistic career, I was working in different international media. I [had] a friend, a journalist from New York, Chris Schwartz, [who] was developing the first-ever civil journalism at work in Central Asia. Chris constantly had a human resources problem, because the way [that the] faculty of journalism everywhere in Central Asia teaches their students is just awful. It has nothing in common and nothing related to modern and contemporary journalism. That’s why there is a big problem in human resources.

If you want to have a really interesting and modern media, you just have no people.

Me and Chris, we came to the idea that we needed to create a book where we could write just the basic standards, which people don’t know in Central Asia at all.

For example, you know what the inverted pyramid is? Nobody knows it in Russia or in post-Soviet countries. Nobody told me about the inverted pyramid during my four years in university. The post-Soviet standards of journalism [are] completely different. In Western countries, a journalist is just a third-party person ... when you’re telling a news [story], you don’t involve yourself. You get quotes from the people who were involved. But in the post-Soviet tradition, it’s not like that. In the post-Soviet tradition, journalists are always involved. If you are [writing] about the news, you’re always telling your opinion. That’s the biggest difference. We created this book to explain to our young journalists about Western standards, and we organized a series of workshops through Central Asian capitals with this book.

In your experience, what effects do sociopolitical and economic phenomena have on art?

Politics and economy are different topics, so let’s talk separately. If we talk about politics, for 26 years we had one of the most repressive regimes in the world, ever. If you just looked into different United Nations ratings like “freedom of the press” or “human development” or anything else, we were always top five from the bottom. Especially in the corruption index — we always were second place from the bottom, because corruption is the second name of our country. For sure, in these political conditions where total censorship controlled everything, it was completely dangerous to be a really free artist. You should know that the founder of our theater, Mark Weil was killed in 2007 just on the night before the premiere and the opening of a new season. After the last rehearsal, he was returning from Ilkhom and he was stabbed in his apartment. There are a lot of versions [of ] who did it and

why. Some people think it was definitely political, some people think it was about anything else. Actually, you should know that in Uzbekistan, to be gay is a crime.

If police discover you are gay, you will go to prison for five or six years. And Mark Weil was openly gay. He never hid it, and in our theater Ilkhom, we had a few plays which raised questions of self-identity and homosexuality. A few people think it was about [that]. But the government showed us a few people, there was a trial, and those people said that they killed Mark Weil because of our play Imitation of the Koran, which was staged six years before his death. Imitation of the Koran is [adapted from] poetry by Alexander Sergeyevich Pushkin, ... the great Russian poet. The government organized the trial, and these guys said they killed him because of [that play], and they got 15 or 16 years in prison and they are still there. But we don’t know.

Is it real, or not? It’s just an example of the life of an artist in Uzbekistan.

And the economy. For sure, we had one of the worst economies in the world. You can’t imagine, but we had no free currency market. For example, our national currency, you just couldn’t convert it to dollars or back. There was no free market of currency. During the Soviet Union, the system of economy was a so-called planned economy, ... [which] means that the government says “the price of meat in this year will be like this,” and “this factory will produce 3,000 cars.” After the Soviet Union fell, most of the post-Soviet republics, they converted their economy to market [economies], but not us. We’re still attached to a planned economy, and that was a really big problem. Standards of living for people were very low, which influenced the arts a lot. A lot of artists emigrated. Thousands of artists emigrated.

We had a lot of well-known artists who had to emigrate. Our people are everywhere because of the bad economy.

In terms of today’s talk, what do you mean by the “romanticization of revolution,” particularly in music?

I’m very deep into the rock music of post-Soviet countries, because I love rock. When I planned to come to Oberlin, I discovered that you have a series of events which are related to the October Revolution anniversary. I asked ... Professor Ian MacMillin how I could be useful and what I could do for this series of events, and we came to the idea that it could be interesting to analyze [whether] there are any romantic notions in modern rock music of post-Soviet countries. I started to research, because I never thought about it, and I discovered that it’s very, very funny and interesting. It’s a paradox. [During the] Soviet Union, rock music was ... a crime.

You could get [into] a lot of problems if you were playing rock music, or even listening to it. Rock musicians in Soviet times — they were in front of [the] struggle. They were an avant-garde of democracratic forces and a democratic style of thinking. They were a hope of all liberal people. But right after the Soviet Union fell, a lot of bands turned 180 degrees and started to glorify communism and sing about nostalgia of Soviet times ... I analyzed why it happened, and why these bands [are] doing this.

And I discovered that there are a few reasons why people have romantic notions, and a few reasons why rock bands See On the Record, page 12 11

A r t s & C u lt u r e

Oberlin Professor Unveils Critically Acclaimed Novel Jack Rockwell Editor’s note: This article contains mention of drug use, murder, and cancer.

Dan Chaon, Delaney Professor of Creative Writing, read from his latest novel, the dark, cunning Ill Will, and fielded questions as part of the Friends of the Oberlin College Libraries’ series on Wednesday night. In Ill Will, Chaon plays with perspective, form, and genre, earning a glowing review from The Washington Post which described it as “the scariest novel of the year.” In person, what came through especially in the section that Chaon read was his exposé of difficult emotions.

Set in Cleveland, Chaon’s home for the last few decades, the novel employs a heavyhanded and self-conscious horror aesthetic to paint a grim portrait of a crumbling suburban way of life. Beset on all sides by death, decay, and abandonment, Chaon’s characters lean heavily on drugs, alcohol, and denial, and a racing thriller-style plot keeps the reader enthralled.

While the story is told from many perspectives, Chaon limited his reading to a section voiced entirely by the protagonist Dustin’s youngest son Aaron, who has recently begun experimenting with heroin.

College senior Gabe Steller

Author and Delaney Professor of Creative Writing Dan Chaon reads from his latest novel, Ill Will, in Mudd library Wednesday night.

Photo by Daniel Firebanks Quevedo

called the reading “strong and emotive” — Chaon read clearly, and at times he paused and looked upwards as if reaching for the text not from the book in his hands, but from somewhere else.

The novel has generated exciting press for its complex and gripping plot that involves patricide, disappearances, satanic cults, and plenty of murders.

Critics gleefully described “horror,” “anxiety,” “fear,” and “dread,” but the section Chaon read on Tuesday revealed other tonal elements in the novel.

“It was not scary or spooky per se, but it was certainly unnerving,” Steller wrote in an email to the Review.

Abandoned by his older

brother Dennis, who is off at Cornell, and his recently deceased mother, Aaron is left at home alone with his drunk and oblivious father, to whom he feels less connected with each passing day. He’s enrolled in classes at nearby Cleveland State, but he hasn’t gone once, instead hanging out with a friend who is only known by his nickname “Rabbit.” They sit in his basement and shoot up, trying to avoid Rabbit’s mom, who suspects what they’re up to but feels powerless to stop them. She’s also dying of cancer, the same kind that killed Aaron’s mom. Rabbit ignores and berates his mother, but Aaron feels compassion for her.

As the relationships become

increasingly intimate, Chaon ended the reading on a moment of suspense.

While occult horror and murder didn’t make it into the section Chaon read, the novel’s sinister character was alluded to by scene and environment.

Chaon frequently describes the darkness and emptiness of streets and rooms, leaving the reader feeling alone and unnerved.

The lecture hall in which he read was well lit and crowded — one shudders to think of how it would’ve felt to read it in bed.

He juxtaposes uncomfortable interactions between estranged friends and family members with horror tropes, describing one character’s feelings as, literally, “like a horror movie.”

Chaon’s experimentation with form is another compelling element of the novel. He includes large blank spaces on the page to convey pause, and plays with splitting the text into columns that “read both across and down,” to “show association, and to give the reader a sense of the different streams of thought that the characters are experiencing.”

He includes other contemporary formal elements such as emojis and text messages, printing bubbles to convey when a communication is over text.

“I think everyone’s still scrambling what to do with text messages, because it’s become so important to understanding

what’s going on in contemporary life,” Chaon said. “I’m trying to replicate some of that fragmentation.”

One of the challenges of writing a novel from so many perspectives is writing believable narrative voices for each of the characters. Chaon, in his midforties, writes convincingly from the perspective of someone a generation younger.

“People’s mode of speaking is something I’m particularly interested in, and trying to find a way to represent that in prose, because it feels important to me,” he said. “Getting at that is an important way to sort of figure out what the soul of our social life is. You have to understand how people talk in order to understand people.”

He cites his teenage sons and his college writing students as sources from which he drew vernacular and checked to see if his usage made sense.

The audience, though clearly impressed by Chaon’s performance, was especially excited to ask him about one development — Chaon is currently in conversation with Buster Productions to have the novel made into a ten-episode limited series. “No promises — but we’re in talks!” Chaon said. He has written a pilot and has begun working with a showrunner.

Visiting Faculty Showcase Works in New Baron Gallery Exhibition

Visiting Assistant Professors Andrea Joki, Mimi Kato, Corrinne Teed, and Adjunct Instructor of Painting Donna Coleman present their artwork in The Visitors, a shared exhibit running until Nov. 10.

Photo by Devin Cowan

Julia Peterson Arts & Culture Editor As students cycle through college from their first year to graduation and faculty members arrive and depart, every semester at Oberlin becomes a unique, ephemeral moment on campus. But this semester’s new art exhibition, The Visitors, showcases continuity of Oberlin’s artists past and present through the the work of some current and former visiting faculty members in the Art department, bringing these artists’ works together while they are all here.

The exhibit — which features works from Visiting Assistant Professors of Drawing Andrea Joki and Mimi Kato, Visiting Assistant Professor of Reproducible Media Corrine Teed, and Adjunct Instructor of Painting Donna Coleman — is housed in the Richard D. Baron ’64 Art Gallery.

The first of the exhibition’s two rooms is given over almost exclusively to Coleman’s work.

“My work takes up so much more space, and that’s because the other three [artists] had work in other shows,” she explained.

Coleman’s paintings explore personalities and character archetypes — one piece, “Costume Dramas,” is painted on an unusually-shaped surface and features groups of people including bodybuilders, clowns, scouts, cheerleaders, and brides. Another painting shows a parade of women with labels above and below them: “Slut; Babe; Blonde; Bimbo; Banshee; Princess; Baby mama; Floozy; Granny….” Other paintings play with color, or with presenting bodies in atypical configurations.

“It’s narrative work,” Coleman said. “I tell stories in a certain way, or bits of stories. I’m deeply fascinated by people and their interactions with each other, juxtaposing different groups of people together, and the kind of collision course or the harmony that that can bring. …

I’m also very interested in looking at people who aren’t prominent — you know, the people who are between the cracks. I like to look at those people and pay attention to them, because in art I can do that and in real life I can’t always do that.”

The second room of the exhibition houses the other

three artists’ work, all of which are extremely stylistically different from each other and from Coleman. Kato’s pieces in this exhibition are photographs and maps from an installation called “Watermark,” which she collaborated on with the Cleveland Urban Design Collaborative. This project involved using flowers and flags to trace the path of Giddings Brook, one of the city’s long-vanished waterways, which was buried during Cleveland’s peak period of expansion in the late-19th and early-20th centuries.

“The intent [of the project] is to visually reconnect Clevelanders with Giddings Brook … and remind the residents of our identity and responsibilities as citizens of the Great Lakes,” reads the artists’ statement featured in the exhibition.

The photographs are striking, featuring hundreds of small blue flags bending and weaving their way through an otherwise empty field, somehow evocative both of moving water and of a memorial. Along with being aesthetically fascinating, a great deal of the focus of “Watermark” is on education.

“For my work particularly, I just want people to understand about the project, the contents and idea, and what the future landscape is like,” Kato said. “I was … interested in how the city is built, and the history of the city, and also the ecological sense — what [can] we do to make the city better?”

For Kato, although all of the works featured in The Visitors are so different, they complement each other when featured in the same space.

“I think it’s really colorful,” she said. “I think the color

On the Record with Nikita Makarenko, Artist-In-Residence Continued from page 11

have romantic notions and they glorify communism still. Some [of them] do it because of nostalgia; some [of them] do it because they are really disappointed in a democracy and free market; some [of them] do it because they just love the aesthetics of revolution and communism.

Is there anything else that you would like to add?

I consider [that today’s talk] will be a 12

little bit specific, because it’s interesting only for people who are interested in music.

But my lecture on Tuesday could be really interesting for everybody. I already [gave] it at Columbia University two weeks ago ... and my lecture is about what is happening right now in Uzbekistan, because nobody outside of Uzbekistan really understands what is happening. As I told you, this is a unique situation where a dictatorship was replaced by a very liberal government without any violence. It’s never happened

in any post-Soviet country, and I don’t think it ever happened anywhere else [except] maybe in Czechoslovakia in the late ’80s. ... At Columbia University, we even had people from the U.S. [State Department] who came to listen to me and they told me “thank you ... because we don’t understand what is happening right now in Uzbekistan, and it was really interesting for us to find out.” On Tuesday, I will give you all the chronology of how it happened, and I think it will be really interesting for people

See Art, page 13

who are interested in politics. ... I believe that in the United States, especially in the government, there is a strong idea that dictatorships or non-democratic regimes can be replaced only with violence, and we see how you do it across the world. But I will give you a nice example of how the United States completely failed in Central Asia, especially in our country ... they have no influence at all. But ... we converted to democracy and a very liberal government [anyway].

Art Professors Display Captivating Works in The Visitors Continued from page 12

kind of bounces off each other. I think it goes together in a very different way. [And] I think our work is so different, I think the viewer has a different reaction to all the work.”

Also featured in The Visitors are paintings and sculptures by Andrea Joki. Joki’s paintings “Untitled (Night Visions #3 and #4)” are a thrilling abstract explosion of colors and movement on canvas, while a diptych plays with patterns of clean straight lines stretching out to the borders of the canvas, complimenting a paint-splattered backdrop.

“I am interested in a language of painting that speaks to the idea of ‘not knowing,’ of positioning objects and images in relation to one another and referencing a logic of simultaneity in breaking down the binary,” Joki wrote in an email to the Review.

Joki’s section of the exhibition also features the only sculpture in The Visitors.

The sculpture, “Unnamed,” is a long, featheradorned pole made from found materials.

The final artist in The Visitors is Corinne Teed, who displayed a series of pieces involving screenprinting and photolithography. One of these, “Figure 2. Idealized structure of transitional habitat,” shows a cross-section of land with layers of soil and rock clearly demarcated by vivid colors. The image might have come out of a geology textbook, except that the cross-section also features carved-out pockets which look like they might have been made by small, burrowing animals and are

inhabited by curled up adult humans.

“As research into queer ecology, ‘Mapping The Burrows’ uses traditional diagrammatic geologic imagery to re-imagine our habitation of landscapes, situation contemporary queer portraiture within utopic, multi-species communities,” Teed wrote in an email to the Review.

Teed’s print series, “Trophy Hunted,” also stars in the exhibit, illustrating a wolf’s body in vivid detail, every claw and bristle of fur painstakingly brought out. Behind the wolf, a forest is evoked in pale blues and greens, while a blank white space that forms the outline of a human holds up the wolf’s body.

“The Trophy Hunted print series uses photographs that trophy hunters post to the internet holding up wolves they have killed,” Teed wrote in an email to the Review. “I remove the hunter from the photograph, their silhouette haunting the fragility of the wolf carcass carved into a relief print.”

For Coleman, one of the exciting aspects of the exhibition is how much of it is open to interpretation.

“I hope that [people] enter into what the artist is offering and deeply consider the work that went into an artist’s decision to make this work and why that’s important,” she said.

The Visitors will remain free and open to the public in Richard D. Baron ’64 Art Gallery until Nov. 10, when it will culminate in a closing hosted by the Art department from 6–8 p.m.

CROSSWORD ANSWERS: TASTY THINGS

T

U

L

I

P

E

L

O

P

E

A

A

H

A

T

S

E

A

G

I

M

P

Y

M

R

I

W

E

D

D

I

N

G

C

A

K

E

A

R

N

R

O

S

I

N

O

L

E

D

T

I

U

F

R

I

E

S

B

L

E

N

D

E

B

E

L

T

L

A

Y

E

R

R

D

R

A

M

I

S

B

L

E

A

T

A

E

R

I

A

L

E

D

D

E

S

S

E

R

T

S

E

A

S

O

N

T

O

R

I R

P

A

P

A

S

N

A

P

O

L

E

O

V

A

L

P

I

C

T

A

S

H

L

E

E

T

A

T

T

L

E

C

R

E

E

K

O

N

M

I

A

M

I

H

E

N

C

E

F

O

R

T

H

L

A

G

E

R

L

E

N

T

O

S

T

A

R

E

E

R

A

S

E

SideBar Releases Realistic New Take on Golf Games Avi Vogel Columnist

Sports video games typically function as emulations: players run and pass in football games or throw and hit in baseball games. However, some gaming developers have reconsidered sports games platforms, gearing them toward storytelling in some cases.

That’s where Golf Story comes in. Golf Story is independent pixel-art golf game from Sidebar Games released at the end of September for the Nintendo Switch. In the game you play as a person who, after not playing golf since childhood, returns to the sport. The story is simple; the golfer aspires to play professionally, despite never playing seriously before. The journey that follows is an elegant romp through a small world of golf courses.

Golf Story is split between golf and the rest of the storyline. Golfing is rewarding, if somewhat realistically difficult. Gameplay offers options to adjust the distance of the ball, the spin you put on it, and change clubs.

Furthermore, the heads-up display informs you of the slope of the course and the direction the wind is blowing. Despite these details, Golf Story is a relatively bare-bones system that allows you to play golf without the frills usually associated with more complex sports games.

The aesthetic of 2D pixel art allows each golf course to looking visually distinct, but at times fails to convey necessary information. Even though the HUD displays showcase the degree of the slope, for instance, different parts of a hole occasionally have different slopes, causing errors in judgement by the player. The ball spin mechanism is also a slightly frustrating feature.

Upon trial, on many occasions it rarely seemed to affect the ball beyond knocking it past a barrier. For the most part, these aspects did less to frustrate me and more to impede my fully immersive gaming experience.

The system itself is good, but it never feels like it was meant to give a feeling of mastery.

Completing golf courses, as well as small side missions like learning to putt or chasing off some frisbee golfers, gives you experience and levels allowing you to customize the golfer’s stats as you see fit. However, unlike games that make you specialize, Golf Story actively discourages specialization. Every time you gain a point or two in strength, your other stats suffer and you’ll need to raise them up again. This is an interesting system that supports the ethos of golf as a sport being presented: It’s not about a single aspect of greatness, but about skill balance.

But golfing, as previously mentioned, is only half the game. The other half is the story of you, the player, and your improvement. The game follows your character from beginning as an absolute amateur to winning your very own pro tour.

Another beautiful aspect of the game is that it never takes itself too seriously. The occasional flashbacks of the coach who takes you under his wing are juxtaposed with the player knocking golf balls at a resurrected skeleton horde. Moments like the latter are what pushed me through; seeing what wackiness the game could come up with outside of its main premise of golf.

The characters, although engaging, never really grow. They feel less like real people and more like tools used by developers to create plot momentum or comedic elements. No character seems to get their own arc. Devoting attention to the supporting characters would have been a welcome addition to making the world feel less like a game and more like a real inhabited place.

Overall, I enjoyed Golf Story’s original take on sports games. The golfing was fun, while also a frustrating challenge due to design decisions. The story, although not remarkable in where it culminates, was an entertaining journey that had some standout moments that invoked genuine laughter.

Still, the two halves of the games felt like they needed more. It was a competent game, and certainly there isn’t an experience quite like it except for old Mario Golf games. Most of Golf Story’s flaws don’t lie in what is there, rather in what isn’t. However, for $15, it’s still a really good time.

THE UNFORTUNATE OWL: ODDS PADDY MCCABE

The Oberlin Review | October 27, 2017

13

Sp ort s IN THE LOCKER ROOM

In The Locker Room with Danielle Miller and Julia Thorndike, Documentarians This week, the Review sat down with Burn the Ships (2017) directors Danielle Miller and Julia Thorndike. The film follows the Akron Racers, a professional softball team in the National Pro Fastpitch (the only league of its kind in America) as they compete against the other four teams in the league, while also struggling to stay afloat amidst poor player retention and low salaries.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

Danielle Miller (left) and Julia Thorndike, directors of Burn The Ships, a documentary about the Akron Racers that screened at the Apollo Theatre Wednesday.

Photo by Bryan Rubin, Photo Editor

Alex McNicoll Sports Editor

How did you both get into making films, and how did you get to be a part of Burn the Ships?

Julia Thorndike: I am a director at Think Media Studios, which is the production company that we both work for in Cleveland. I actually have a Bachelor of Fine Arts from the Cleveland Institute of Art, and I did a lot of performance work in college but slowly started to fall in love with the video aspect of [my studies] and somehow ended up where I am now. This is the first featurelength documentary I’ve done, and I got to do it with Danielle, who has done a few of them already. It was really a great process for the two of us to work together, especially as two female filmmakers, which gave us a real connection with the players. We’re in a world where maybe being a woman can be a little tougher, and then there was the team aspect and that we were working together and making a movie about a team, so those parallels helped the film come together.

Danielle Miller: I went to the Art Institute of Pittsburgh for Digital Media Production. I’m a senior editor at Think [Media Studios], and have been there going on 10 years now. I cut three feature-length documentaries before this, but I had hardly any directing experience.

JT: But she’s good at it.

DM: Because I had Julia to guide me.

JT: [Burn the Ships] got into the Cleveland International Film Festival, and we won the ReelWomenDirect Award for Excellence in Directing by a Woman this year, which was really cool.

We also got picked up by a distributor, Gravitas Ventures, and our movie is now on iTunes, Amazon, Google Play, VUDU,

and some other weird streaming services.

What made you want to make a documentary about the Akron Racers?

JT: We often get calls from different people who say, “Hey, I have an idea,” or “Would you want to make a movie about this?” One day we got a call from somebody who knew the Akron Racers, and they wanted us to get on a call with Joey Arrietta, who is the general manager of the Akron Racers, and just listen to her story. We had an hour-and-a-half phone call with her, and we kind of fell in love with her, her passion for the league, and her passion for the game.

The Akron Racers are very much an “underdog team,” in that they do not have a lot of money and they do not get a lot of media attention. How did you navigate using, or omitting, the “underdog” trope in sports movies as it applied to both the Akron Racers and the league itself?

DM: [The Akron Racers] naturally are the underdog. They are the “blue-collar” team, and they don’t have some of the resources that other teams in the league have, so they have to work a little harder to get what they do have.

Because of that, you can see the amount of heart they put into it, so it’s an underdog story for sure.

They have to work second jobs — they don’t make a living playing professional softball. Not even close, so they have to be working full-time jobs, which comes with plenty of problems. They have to find a job that will allow them to leave for three months [every summer], and they have to decide at some point, “Do I want

to continue playing professional softball, or do I want to follow my career?” There is that juggling act that happens, specifically because they are women.

The Akron Racers’ careers are marked by their sacrifice and how long they can go playing professional softball before starting “real” careers. Seeing as this film gives the NPF more publicity than it is accustomed to, how did you approach their sacrifice as a part of being a professional athlete?

JT: As with any other documentary, there were things visually that we thought they would see about their sacrifice, like having to do their own laundry, whereas in the MLB they don’t.

We realized that we had to follow the reality of what was happening, and a lot of that sacrifice was actually seen in their passion, in saying, “I’m willing to do this even though I’m not making any money,” or “even though I’m not famous.” Even though they don’t get the credit they deserve, they love the sport, and they want to be there for the future of the sport. You do see moments where people are struggling. They have to decide if they can keep going another year without making enough money.

DM: I think you also see some of that in Joey, the general manager, too. She sacrifices everything to keep this going. She’s a general manager who has to give speeches on the field after every single game. She’s maintaining the field.

She’s cleaning up the stadium, and you just don’t see that in Major League Baseball. She’s working up to 80 hours a week just to keep this going for [the Racers], so she is kind of the embodiment of sacrifice for the entire league.

So for us, our approach was just getting that across as much as possible and letting Joey be the heart of that struggle.

JT: A lot of the girls are so [locked in] for those three months that they’re on the team. They are just playing, and they love it.

They almost don’t even articulate how hard it is to maintain a career with their salaries, because they’re so focused on the game.

Those worries and that sacrifice they don’t say that much, so we saw it in watching them more than they even realized.

DM: We expected a lot more frustration from them, and we were frustrated on their behalf.

They were just happy to get to keep playing.

How did the “blue collar” attitude of the Akron Racers reflect the NPF itself, and does the league feel disrespected by their lack of coverage?

JT: I think that parallel is definitely there. It’s Joey dragging the field herself and the league having to pay to get TV exposure.

DM: The Racers have been around the longest. They’ve been a team since day one [of the league]. I think that if we had been in any other city, we could have told a very similar, if not identical story, because they all have to be in it 100 percent just to do it. There’s no other option.

JT: Even if other teams may have more resources or interns than the Akron Racers do, they still aren’t getting their games shown on TV, they’re still not making the money that the MLB is making, and they’re not a household name. Even outside of that rust-belt, underdog mentality, [that disregard] is felt by all teams, and all throughout the grand scheme of women in

sports.

DM: I just talked to Joey not too long ago, and [the team’s] frustration is rooted in the fact that they know they need to get a corporate sponsorship, and until that happens [the NPF] is not going anywhere. They’re banging their heads against the wall right now because it’s a cyclical problem. They would get more attention if [there was] more marketing. There would be more marketing if there were more fans in the seats, and there would be more fans in the seats if there was more marketing. The only way to get out of that trap is a corporate sponsorship. However, they can’t get anybody to take the risk on that, despite the fact that the evidence [that there could be a lot of viewership] is there, and it’s a good business decision to invest. They aren’t getting any productive or constructive input on what they need to do, it’s just flat no’s.

In making the film, was one of your goals to make the audience become a fan of the Akron Racers?

JT: I would love to say that we’re not biased, and that we’re trying to be as objective as possible, but also yeah, [we did].

DM: I think we both went into this frustrated with the situation of these women and wanting to make a difference. That being said, I don’t think we had to manipulate anything to make [the audience] like them. Joey is immediately loveable. The team is really just fun to watch. Whether they’re winning or losing, it doesn’t matter. You just enjoy watching them. So whether or not we were trying to make you watch them or root for them, you would have gotten there anyways.

Beltrán Champions Houstan Astros, Puerto Rican Relief Efforts Alex McNicoll Sports Editor

Carlos Beltrán is a surefire Hall of Fame baseball player, with nine All-Star appearances and 2,725 career hits and counting in his 20-year career in the MLB. However, for more than 10 years, Beltrán has been marred by one moment. In 2006, Beltrán was playing for the New York Mets as they battled through the National League playoffs. In game seven of the league’s championship series, down two runs, he stepped up to the plate in the bottom of the ninth. With two outs and bases loaded, he struck out looking. Beltrán now travels with the Houston Astros to the World Series, and while he finally has a chance to win a championship, he also finds his voice off the field in the twilight of his career.

Despite Houston’s ongoing recovery from Hurricane Harvey, the Astros have emerged as the city’s champion team. While Beltrán plays for Houston, his homeland of Puerto Rico is also struggling in the aftermath of Hurri-

14

cane Maria and is in desperate need of resources. In the midst of his team’s playoff run, Beltrán has not missed the opportunity to become a philanthropist and humanitarian.

Beltrán and his family donated $1 million to help kickstart a hurricane relief fund for Puerto Rico, which has already raised nearly $1.5 million to date. With the help of Astros owner Jim Crane, he has also chartered six separate flights, containing over 300,000 pounds of supplies including water, clothing, and diapers. Each flight costs $135,000, but they have gone a long way for Puerto Rico, as just 10 percent of the island has energy and 40 percent has potable water, according to Beltrán, who has been trying to stay in contact with his family on the island.

“I talked to my brother like four days ago,” Beltran said to ESPN.com. “Today I was able to talk to him again. He was trying to get gas. He’s been in the line for almost 27 hours. He just called me to talk to me a little bit and inform me about the situation over there. It’s not good, man. ” His team is coming off of a heart-wrenching series in

the American League Championship Series against the New York Yankees. The Astros jumped off to a 2–0 start as they took both of their home games, but their lead was short-lived. After the Yankees took the next three games in the Bronx, the Astros went back to Houston facing an elimination game six. The Astros ultimately took the last two games and the series, but through all of the drama it has been hard for Beltrán to stay focused on the team.

“Of course, my body’s here,” Beltrán said to ESPN.com.

“My mind and my soul is with my people in Puerto Rico.

It’s going to be like that until I see that things are starting to get better.”

Beltrán has dominated the MLB since joining it in 1998, and has been a role model on all seven teams he has played on. He has been so close to a World Series several times, with seven playoff appearances, 2,586 regular-season games, and 11,031 plate appearances. Now at 40 years old, his impact on the field is not what it once was, but as he begins to impact the country in other ways, he might also finally get the ring he always deserved.

Swimming Faces Tumultous Season Without Pool Sam Harris Contributing Writer

The men and women’s swimming and diving teams have just begun North Coast Athletic Conference competition, but they are in the midst of their toughest challenge of the season: swimming without their pool. As the renovation of Philips gym continues, the Yeomen and Yeowomen will swim at Splash Zone, a swimming complex a few minutes off-campus. In one of the toughest conferences in Division III swimming and diving, lacking a pool will be a constant thorn in the athletes’ sides in what is sure to be a rebuilding year.

Despite Splash Zone’s proximity to campus, sophomore middle-distance swimmer Devyn Malouf noted the challenges of using the facility, which includes an inflexible practice schedule.

“The schedule has been a little chaotic because we have to work around Splash Zone’s hours, high school practices, and our own academic schedules, so we end up practicing really early in the morning and pretty late at night,” Malouf said. “Also, arranging transportation has been a little difficult, so we end up squeezing too many people into small cars.”

Not only do the swimmers and divers have to navigate practicing off-campus, but they must also overcome a lack of veteran leadership, as there are just four upperclassmen between the two teams. How-

The 2016-2017 Swimming and Diving team poses at the site of the demolished Robert Carr Pool.

They will compete solely in away meets this season, as the new pool is set to be completed in late August 2018.

Photo courtesy of OC Athletics

ever, sophomore Michael Lin is confident that his team can compete despite their striking lack of experience.

“I often forget that our team is almost entirely comprised of underclassmen because lack of collegiate experience has nothing to do with work ethic,” Lin said.

Among the seven seniors who graduated last year was Maddie Prangley, OC ’17, who held three school records and departed as one of the most decorated swimmers in Oberlin’s history. In her place, the Yeowomen will look to junior Rachel Poyle, who will follow up her successful season last year as one of three upperclassmen on the women’s team. The Yeomen will rely

on Lin and sophomore Jonathan Liu, who both had dominating seasons in their first years.

Head Coach Andrew Brabson — who enters his fifth season leading the team and previously won NCAC Women’s Swim Coach of the Year in 2015 — does not see the lack of senior presence as a huge hurdle this year.

“We have a great team atmosphere, and while it would be nice to have a few more seniors on the team, the chemistry and environment is such that we are continuing to set high goals for improvement and performance this season,” Brabson said.

Another challenge and one of the most

Lords Eliminate Yeomen From Playoff Contention Alex McNicoll Sports Editor

The Yeomen fell to their rival Kenyon Lords 2–0 on Wednesday, dropping them to 7–8–2 and 3–5–0 in North Coast Athletic Conference play. The game also crushed their playoffs hopes. In what was a promising year following their historic second place regularseason finish and brutal Six Oberlin seniors were honored on Saturday, Oct. 21. From left: Tim Williams, Jesse Lauritsen, Ben Jennings, NCAC Championship Jake Frankenfield, Connor English, and Matthew Bach-Lombardo. The Yeomen play their last game of the seadefeat to the Lords 2–1 son tomorrow at DePauw University.

Photo courtesy of Erik Andrews in double overtime, the Yeomen started confertion on offense. The teams goals and we didn’t.” us finding our way back to ence play on a four-game entered the second half with On Senior Day, the Yeo- keeping the ball again. We losing streak and could not a score of 0–0, but the Lords men topped the Little Gi- had a couple key injuries, recover. This past Saturday, broke the ice in the 65th ants 1–0 in the seniors’ final but we’ve gotten back on they honored their seniors’ minute, rifling the ball past home match. Sophomore track to what we do, and final home game on Senior the Yeomen defense and forward Jack McMillin the biggest thing was to stop Day, besting the Wabash not looking back. With the blasted the ball into the net conceding goals.”

College Little Giants 1–0. game all but over, Kenyon in the 21st minute off the asNow eliminated from Before the match against scored the final goal in the sist of senior defender Jesse participating in the playoffs, Kenyon, Head Coach Blake 82nd minute, bringing the Lauristen, and the Yeomen the Yeomen will lace up toNew, who will finish his score to 2–0. The Yeomen were able to ride their lead morrow to play their final 19th season as head coach were severely outshot in the for the remainder of the match against the DePauw of the team, recognized that match — firing off just three game. The match marked University Tigers, who will their place in the confer- chances, none of which a three game NCAC win also not compete in the ence standings was not only were on goal — while the streak, and put them in a po- playoffs, as they sit fifth in unexpected, but also some- Lords shot the ball 20 times, sition to make the playoffs the conference with a 2–3–3 thing new for the team. with seven of them on goal. prior to their match against NCAC record. With little on “It’s a different position Sophomore midfielder Kenyon. the line, the Yeomen can just than we’ve been in the last Jake Crim recognized that Coach New credited his worry about enjoying themfew years,” New said. “Re- Kenyon and Oberlin are team’s late season turn- selves and giving a proper cently we’ve been in control familiar with each other’s around to a sharp increase send-off to their seniors. of our destiny all through- games, and noted that the in defensive play. While key “I’m sad to see it ending, out the conference season, game came down to just a injuries ultimately fueled and I’m a bit disappointed so this is something new for couple defining plays. their collapse, the team still that it has ended in the way the boys. I think that they “I think we executed demonstrated resiliency that it has. But I’m mostly handled it well so far, hav- our game plan pretty well, throughout the year. left feeling grateful,” senior ing their backs against the but so did they,” Crim said.

“We’ve been very good midfielder Jake Frankenwall for a few games, but it’s “We knew what they were defensively,” New said. “We field said. “It sounds cheesy, survive-and-advance.” going to do, and they knew only had one shutout all sea- but the team has given me Against the Lords, the what we wanted to do. At son prior to our three-game so much over the last four Yeomen refused to give an the end of the day, they had win streak. I think that’s years, I can’t really believe inch for the entire first half, two plays fall their way and been due to better consis- it. I owe them a lot.” but were unable to gain trac- we didn’t. They scored two tent play by the defense, and The Oberlin Review | October 27, 2017

unorthodox changes this season is the absence of home meets. The Yeomen and Yeowomen hosted four meets at home last year, of which the women went 2–2 and the men went 1–3. Brabson insisted that the familiarity of a home pool can be a competitive advantage in matchups, and not having that edge this year will be a huge hindrance for the teams.

“Having home meets provides a number of advantages,” Brabson said. “Not having to travel prior to a meet definitely helps with preparation for better performances.

Many pools have small idiosyncrasies — lighting, walls, starting blocks, etc. — that are specific to that facility.”

The teams opened their season as the swimmers traveled to Kenyon and the divers to Denison Oct. 14. The men finished 7-of-9 and the women finished 6-of-9. Both conference rivals, Kenyon and Denison were top three in the nation last season.

With the men finishing 8-of-10 and the women finishing 5-of-9 last season at the NCAC Championships, competing against the top of the conference early in the season should help prepare the Yeomen and Yeowomen come the NCAC Championships this season. Both teams will travel for eight more away meets before the conference championships. The teams travel to The College of Wooster tomorrow to swim against the Fighting Scots, as well as the Wittenberg University Tigers and the Ursuline College Arrows.

“Hate Sports?”

Addresses Atheletic Divide Continued from page 16

“I’ve seen coaches who never take their prospective students further south than Harkness,” New said. “But I’ve also seen tour guides answer questions about Oberlin athletics with disinterest or misinformation.”

Senior Charis Stanek also chimed in to affirm the swirling theories of potential causes of the athlete gap, adding that the absence of Greek Life on campus is a likely attraction for prospective Oberlin students and may contribute to the campus’s social divide.

“Without Greek Life, it’s possible for athletic culture to sometimes take on that role,” Stanek said, highlighting her sister’s Oberlin experience as a studentathlete and the difficult experience she had feeling accepted by both the athlete and non-athlete communities to further her message.

Colás encouraged attendees to speak as specifically as possible about personal experiences, in a clear attempt to address the divide and its complications head-on, rather than dancing around the issue. While the conversation on Monday was somewhat nonlinear and sporadic, it featured more constructive contributions from attendees, who focused less on the merits of being a student-athlete and more on the ways in which the issues of the athletic community pervade campus.

With only an hour to discuss and debate, the workshop ended abruptly.

Colás again encouraged attendees to provide honest feedback and attend the upcoming third workshop in November with dissenting voices. It remains to be seen if the workshop series will yield the progress he, alongside numerous students and faculty members, is looking for. The third workshop will take place Monday, Nov. 27, from 12–1 p.m. in Wilder 101.

15

SPORTS October 27, 2017

established 1874

Volume 146, Number 7

Forum Mediates Sports Dialogue Julie Schreiber Sports Editor

Senior Sarah Urso races alongside competition at the Oct. 14 Rumble. The Yeomen and Yeowomen are preparing to host the NCAC Conference Championship meet tomorrow at 11 a.m.

Photo by Erik Andrews

Rumble-Champion Yeowomen Look to Dominate Jackie McDermott Staff Writer

The cross country teams hope to sustain their success as they prepare to host the North Coast Athletic Conference championship meet tomorrow, after hosting and performing well at the Inter-Regional Rumble Oct. 14. Looking forward after the Rumble, in which three Yeowomen notched career-best times and the team finished first, the women’s team aims to hoist a conference championship and qualify for the NCAA meet for the first time since 2014.

The Yeomen and Yeowomen both viewed the Rumble as a key conference warm-up, according to senior Owen Mittenthal.

“We saw the Rumble as the perfect opportunity to rehearse everything we’ve been working on one last time before conference,” Mittenthal wrote in an email to the Review.

“That meant not being afraid of a fast early pace, hanging tough during the middle segments, and using our familiarity with the course to help us finish strong. It was great for us to get this racing experience on the conference course.”

The strongest finish of the day came from Yeowoman junior Linnea Halsten. Halsten finished first in a crop of 240 runners, edging the rest of the 6K competition by a significant 1 minute, 7 second margin and running a career-best time of 21:05.3. Halsten is undefeated this season, having finished first in each of the three races in which she’s competed. Each of those first-place finishes have earned Halsten NCAC Runner of the Week honors.

Halsten’s performance helped the women’s team assert its NCAC dominance. Oberlin had fallen behind Kenyon College in the regional rankings following the All-Ohio Championships on Sept. 29 — a meet in which Halsten was unable to compete. But Oberlin’s first place finish in the Rumble, besting conference rivals Kenyon, ranked No. 28 nationally, and Allegheny College, left all of the Oberlin runners ecstatic.

“For me, the highlight was watching the women’s team win,” Mittenthal said. “Seeing them beat Kenyon handily and reestablish themselves as the conference favorites and a team to look out for at nationals was really awesome.”

16

Halsten wasn’t the only Yeowoman to post a top performance at the Rumble. Sophomore Marija Crook cracked the top 10, finishing ninth with a time of 22:37.1. Just behind Crook was senior Sarah Urso, whose time of 22:47.7 earned her 13th place.

What made Oberlin’s success even sweeter was the size of the home crowd.

“The atmosphere was amazing,” junior Grant Sheely said. “So many [runners’] family members showed up and [so did] a bunch of alumni, so even though the meet took place over fall break, the Oberlin fan base was still huge. We love hosting the Rumble each year, and this year was no different.”

Despite having a depleted roster, Mittenthal said the Yeomen’s performance in the Rumble was highlighted by strong performances from underclassmen. Sophomore David Brubacher and first-year Archie Velazquez were two of the top Oberlin finishers, finishing 40th and 132nd, respectively. In between Brubacher and Velazquez was Mittenthal in 73rd place. Sheely finished in 141st place.

“It’s really been a pleasure watching the men’s team grow as a unit over the course of the season,” Mittenthal said. “Early on, we were worried about having a much smaller team than in the past, and we weren’t sure who was going to step up. However, we’ve seen two first-years in Garrett Robins and Archie Velazquez emerge to become scoring runners for us, and guys like Dave Brubacher and Jackson Daugherty have taken big steps forward in their second years.”

Tomorrow, the Yeomen will look to surprise the competition as the Yeowomen hope to duplicate past successes.

The women’s team earned six consecutive NCAC titles from 2009–2014, making six appearances in a row at the NCAA Division III Cross Country Championship meets. Oberlin finished a program-best seventh in the nation in 2014, and Head Coach Ray Appenheimer said that success continues to instill confidence in the team.

“I do think we have a winning culture on this team,” Appenheimer said. “An expectation that, if we are all at our best, incredible things are in store.”

Oberlin’s second installment of a workshop series sponsored by the StudiOC Sports, Culture, and Society course cluster took place Monday, in an attempt to advance the ongoing conversation about the social gap between athletes and non-athletes that divides the campus. Monday’s workshop, entitled “Hate Sports? We Want to Hear About It” and organized by English Professor Yago Colás, aimed to build off the foundation laid by the first workshop, which took place Sept. 25.

Between this week’s and September’s workshops, the panel format changed. While last month’s workshop featured a panel discussion of four Oberlin varsity coaches — facilitated by Colás himself — Monday’s workshop was instead designed to operate as an open conversation.

The shift in structure was a result of the organizers’ dissatisfaction with the nature of the first conversation, entitled “Athletics 101,” which resulted in an outpouring of affection for athletes, rather than opening the floor to different voices and perspectives, according to senior Gwennie Gardiner.

“The organizers also felt that the open format with no coaches on the panel would allow more people to speak up who had negative experiences with athletics,” she said.

The conversation quickly homed in on two elements of the Oberlin experience that largely contribute to the reputation of athlete culture on campus: the weekend social scene and prospective students’ impression of the college.

Men’s Lacrosse Assistant Coach Branden Geldart first took the floor to address the social divide of athletes and non-athletes he has already perceived on campus in his first year, a breach similar to one he experienced as a high school athlete.

“Athletes and non-athletes weren’t always connecting in their personal lives,” Geldart said, adding that he was unsure of the reasons why. “Not a lot of them were spending time together on the weekends, and it was sometimes hard to make them want to.”

Double-degree senior Daniel Markus expanded on this divide, acknowledging that even the simple differences in the social media presences of athletes and non-athletes greatly affect which communities people choose to take part in during the weekend.

“Lots of Facebook events I’m invited to for, say, house shows, usually recognize the event as a safe space or make some sort of statement disallowing misconduct,” Markus said. These cautionary notices are not often included on Facebook events for parties hosted by athletes, likely contributing to the discomfort some students associate with weekend parties in athlete spaces.

The athlete community, however, is not the only group on campus that can potentially foster unease at a party, a point raised by senior Allie Cole. “These issues can show up at a party of basically any group of students on campus,” Cole said.

College senior and admissions advisor India Wood drew attention to another factor that perpetuates the divide on campus: visits from prospective students — prospective athletes in particular — and the way Oberlin is packaged to them.

“Some of the prospective students I talk with don’t know anything about what the school offers besides athletics,” Wood explained. “And some parts of Oberlin are omitted from the Oberlin profile by coaches.”

Head Men’s Soccer Coach Blake New followed up on Wood’s statement, recognizing that the misrepresentation of Oberlin’s athletic community to prospective students is often the fault of both coaches and tour guides who are unaffiliated with the athletic program.

See “Hate,” page 15