Septmeber 8, 2017 by The Oberlin Review

The Oberlin Review September 8, 2017

established 1874

Volume 146 Number 2

Former Professor Faces Federal Charges

Community Stands for DACA

Jenna Gyimesi Staff Writer

Pictured is College senior Zury Gutierrez giving a speech at the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals vigil Tuesday evening in Tappan Square, an event arranged after President Trump announced he would rescind former President Obama’s DACA, which allowed the children of undocumented immigrants to pursue careers and college educations. The event was organized by Lili Sander, with collaboration between Obies for Undocumented Inclusion, Lorain Ohio Immigrants Rights Association, and Indivisible Oberlin College, and drew a crowd of around 300 people. Photo by Justin Bank

Enrollment Drop Creates Financial Shortfall Sydney Allen and Alexis Dill News Editors

Oberlin College is looking at a $5 million deficit heading into the 2017–18 academic year due to an unexpected drop in admissions. This not only strains budgets for the upcoming fiscal year, but also points toward a much larger budgetary issue that has been brewing under the surface for years. Newly-elected Chair of the Board of Trustees Chris Canavan, OC ’84, announced the news in an email to faculty and staff June 14. The email, leaked to the Review by anonymous sources, was sent just a few weeks before Canavan officially took office, replacing six-year board member Clyde McGregor, OC ’74. “Although we had already reduced budgets across the institution for next year, this shortfall in student charges will generate a deficit of about $5 million,” said Canavan in the email. Because of the deficit, the board chose to hold all non-union salaries at their previous level unless otherwise stipulated by a contract, including faculty member salaries, for the second year in a row. “It’s something that we never want to do,” Dean of the College of

Arts and Science Tim Elgren said about the salary freeze. “When we look at a short-term expense issue, there’s almost no way to recover, because we’re fixed in contracts with the unions, and with non-union continuing faculty members and visitors. Holding salaries at zero for a year, which is what happened this last year, is a dramatic step. But it’s the one thing that we can do immediately to have an impact on the budget without people losing their jobs. We hope to not have to go back to that.” The email also requested that administrators and staff begin looking for ways to cut spending and increase revenue, as the board hopes to reduce college spending by at least five percent over the next decade unless it can find additional sources of income. “This is intended to give the Oberlin community the breathing room needed to think carefully and purposefully about Oberlin’s long-term financial model, and to avoid making future decisions under financial duress, which almost never leads to healthy decisions,” Canavan wrote. Elgren noted that the College would do its best to distribute the cuts from falling onto one department or sector by distributing them

campus-wide. “Cuts will be shared over the entire campus,” Elgren said. “Everybody’s in the game. When I talk about departments or divisions, I’m talking about the Conservatory, the College, athletics, student life, and advancement in admissions.” Within the last few years, Oberlin has seen budget cut initiatives like the Voluntary Separation Incentive Program, which offered incentives for early retirement with the goal of decreasing long-term costs; decreased DeCafé hours; and the suspension of most faculty Research Status grants last year. There have also been an increasing number of faculty, custodial staff, and administrative assistant positions left unfilled as some tenured and experienced employees have retired or left the school. “These are daunting challenges,” Elgren said. “I think we’ve known since the start of strategic planning when I arrived that we live very close to the margin, and the margin is where our revenues meet our expenses. Our projections are that our spending is far outreaching our revenue. Part of the reason President Ambar came here wasn’t to kick the can down the road, but to go at that.

See Oberlin, page 3

Former Oberlin Professor Robert Roche was formally indicted on federal charges of conspiracy and theft of government funds last Wednesday. An Apache Native American himself, Roche serves as the executive director of the American Indian Education Center and is a prominent national activist in the fight to end racism against indigenous peoples. However, he may have harmed and stolen from the very people he has fought to defend. Roche and his alleged co-conspirator, Craig McGuire of Cleveland, are accused of embezzling over $180,000 in federal grant money. Roche allegedly pocketed about $77,000 for personal use. McGuire pled guilty in April to charges raised against him. The upcoming trial will be presided over by Judge Douglas D. Dodd. U.S. Attorney Justin E. Herdman, representing the Northern District of Ohio, will be prosecuting the case. “Mr. Roche took tens of thousands of dollars earmarked for Native American children and families and put the money in his own pockets,” Herdman said in a statement released by the U.S. Attorney’s Office. McGuire admitted to applying for a Circles of Care grant through the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. The grant was intended to support mental health and wellness programs for Native families. On the application filed by McGuire, however, Roche made false statements, including the mention of a wellness department and a “positive paths” afterschool program. The programs never existed and the money was subsequently never used to support Native peoples. Additionally, Roche supposedly fraudulently listed employees that were never hired and have never been associated with the American Indian Education Center. “Federal funds provided through the Circles of Care grant administered by the Substance Abuse & Mental Health Administration are precious and invaluable to the communities and individuals they serve,” the Ohio Department of Justice website quoted Lamont Pugh III, Special Agent-in-Charge of the Chicago Regional Office of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of the Inspector General as saying. “The embezzlement, stealing, or intentional misappropriation of these funds is inexcusable and will not be tolerated.” From 2008 to 2012, the Education Center collected $1.4 million in government grants. According to the Center’s tax return, Roche collected $153,000 in salary and benefits in 2014. Roche’s charges contradict the movements he was a part of. He was a key speaker in the Oberlin campaign to change Columbus Day to Indigenous Peoples Day. Roche was also instrumental in organizing protests against Cleveland’s professional baseball team’s Chief Wahoo logo. He argued that the symbol continued to perpetuate the dehumanization of Native Americans. His indictment comes at a crucial time; negotiations of the logo were anticipated to take place before the start of the 2018 season. Members of the indigenous community have expressed fear that his charges may have discredited the message of the protestors in the eyes of the public. Roche taught Native American history at Oberlin College from 2005 to 2006. He could face a sentence of between eight and fourteen months in federal prison.

CONTENTS 07

NEWS

OPINIONS

City Manager Makes Final Pick for New Police Chief

Administration Revives Research Status

06 Integration of Athletics, 08 Hidden Gems Academic Benefits Community

Editorial: Exclusive Givernance Fails Studnets

The Oberlin Review | September 8, 2016

Gibson’s Boycott Denies Due Process THIS WEEK

ARTS & CULTURE

SPORTS

Peanut Sauce Project Explores Thai Education System

Yeowomen Volleyball Impress in Opening Tournament

On the Record With Andria 16 Football Faces CTE Epidemic Derstine, AMAM Director 12

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Ne w s

City Manager Makes Final Pick for New Police Chief

Anna Kozler

Elyria Police Sergeant Clarence “Ryan” Warfield was selected as Oberlin’s new police chief last week, filling the vacancy left by former Chief Juan Torres. Oberlin City Manager Rob Hillard helmed the search that began after Torres’ resignation in December. The final decision was made Aug. 29, bringing the summer-long selection process to a close. Warfield, who has served with the Elyria Police Department since 1994, won the position over 15 other applicants. “[Warfield] has demonstrated a complete understanding of police training and experience, understands the unique nature and culture of Oberlin, and believes the key component of the future of the Oberlin Police Department is building relationships and continuing to provide professional law enforcement services,” Hillard said in a press release. Hillard also credited Warfield’s decades of experience as a winning factor. According to Hillard, familiarity with the community was another key qualification. “He demonstrated a sense of under-

standing of the community as well as interactions in the college,” Hillard said. “That impressed me.” Elyria Police Chief Duane Whitely, who has served in the Elyria Police Department for 27 years and has overseen it for seven, also praised Warfield’s knowledge of Lorain County and his ability to connect with its residents. “[Warfield] is able to cultivate and keep relationships,” Whitely said. “I believe he cares deeply about the community, and that has always guided him and what he’s done as a policeman. He’s always been out in the public and working with the public. It’s just him. It’s just how he is. He’s an outgoing, friendly person.” Whitely said he felt confident in Warfield, pointing to his extensive work in the Elyria Police Department’s neighborhood impact unit and leadership experience as a field training supervisor. “With his personality and experience, it was for me somewhat expected that he would probably be picked,” Whitely added. “I think he’s going to do a great job.” Warfield said he is grateful to be granted the opportunity and is looking forward to this next step in his career.

“I am very grateful to my family, to the city administration, and to the police department and the Oberlin community for giving me this opportunity,” Warfield said. “I’ll do my best to work with the community [and] to work with the police department.” Although Warfield communicated some trepidation over leaving his department of over two decades behind, he is excited to take on this new role. “I’m really excited,” Warfield said. “I am happy. I think it’s an awesome, awesome opportunity.” Hillard navigated the selection process alongside a technical panel, with whom he reviewed the resumes of the original 16 candidates and eliminated nine. Following this first round, the panel conducted interviews with the seven remaining candidates, narrowing the pool to a final four from which Hillard selected Warfield as his top pick. “I have every confidence that Ryan will provide the leadership that will be embraced by the organization and the community,” Hillard wrote in a press release. “[S]election of a new police chief is not the end, but the beginning of making a posi-

tive difference in the City of Oberlin.” Community input also played a significant role in the selection process. Hillard conducted a series of five listening sessions in February and March, receiving feedback pertaining to the Oberlin Police Department from around 180 townspeople. Among the candidates considered for the position was Lieutenant Michael McCloskey, who took over as interim chief following Torres’ resignation. Torres had planned to step down in April but pushed the date up to Dec. 31 of last year due to a family member’s illness. McCloskey was still in the running as of this July but was not ultimately chosen for the position. Hillard expressed his gratitude towards McCloskey, crediting him for his service throughout the transition. “First, thank you to Lieutenant McCloskey for his leadership over the year,” Hillard wrote in a press release. “He provided stability and made progress on a number of projects during this critical time.” Warfield’s new position will be finalized following the completion of a background check and negotiations. A start date will be established thereafter.

DeCafé Changes Provide Increased Options, Longer Wait

Sydney Allen and Alexis Dill News Editors Eliza Guinn Production Editor

DeCafé is in line to expand its market into the current seating area as the Rathskeller reconfigures into a larger dining space. DeCafé now accepts meal swipes, a move that has brought a flood of increased traffic into the store. Dawn Maple, a dining manager at DeCafé, said that all planned changes are aimed to occur over fall break. “[W]e’re planning to expand the retail space in DeCafé — hopefully over fall break that will happen — and the seating will be in the Rathskeller, so you’ll be able to buy twice as many items as you can now,” said Maple. “Actually, I think it will be kind of cool.” The change comes after a controversial decision last semester to alter incoming student meal plan options, forcing all first-years to buy a 300-meal-a-semester plan — a number that seems excessive to some. “I think the dining service is nice here — they have good food,” first-year Tess Siciliano said. “But I think I would prefer to have a choice. I think you should decide how many meals you want a week. Sometimes

I go in for just a banana, and I feel like using a whole meal swipe is just a waste.” Daron Frederick, the building manager at DeCafé, said the change to meal swipes will allow students more dining options. “Meal swipes are now going to be used in DeCafé for groceries and meals,” he said. “You can only use one meal swipe per period, so … breakfast, lunch, dinner, and fourth meal across campus. It’s worth $7.50 to the student, and what that means is they can purchase $7.50 worth of groceries, and then if they purchase more than that, their swipe will take $7.50 off of the total dollar amount they owe.” Frederick added that using meal swipes will also get students additional benefits in DeCafé. “The custom-made sandwiches are typically priced at $6.25,” he said. “We are discounting those for the meal swipes only. If they come in and use a meal swipe, they can get that sandwich for $3.50. That allows them $4 of credit to spend on a drink or a bag of chips or some fruit or something like that. So if they use any other tender, the sandwich will be full price. We’re only discounting it for the meal swipes.”

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But some students still hold concerns about the new system, citing crowding and longer lines and waits in DeCafé at crucial meal intervals. College sophomore Devin White said that while he goes to DeCafé every day, the new waits have been an inconvenience. “I’d say I’m in DeCafé for about 40 minutes on the daily, just waiting in line,” he said. “I like the new meal swipes. That’s good. I can get a lot of food; it just keeps DeCafé a lot more crowded. I’ve been late to football meetings a few times because of DeCafé.” Dean of Students Meredith Raimondo spoke about the changes, highlighting the increased meal options the system would provide for students. She said that it would be a new positive force on campus. “DeCafé has implemented a number of short-term changes to try to improve the profitability of the space and improve the shopping experience for students and others who eat there,” Raimondo said. These dining changes are not the first Wilder Hall has seen. In fall 2016, DeCafé delayed opening by two hours — until 11 a.m. — and the following semester, the Rathskeller was abruptly closed. Last semester, a Dining Committee task force was created to

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Students stand in a line at DeCafé, where they can now use meal swipes to purchase food. Photo by Hugh Newcomb, Photo Editor

investigate student satisfaction with Campus Dining Services and possible alternative uses for different spaces. “The Dining Committee provided excellent input in the spring about the kinds of changes that [will] help DeCafé to provide the best options and services possible to its diners,” said Wayne Wood, general manager of CDS. “For visitors seeking booth seating, the Rathskeller is open from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m., and DeCafé diners are welcome to sit there while enjoying a beverage, snack, or meal.” However, some members of the Dining Committee say they were left out of the final decision making process. Business manager Ads manager Online editor Production manager Production staff

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“As far as decision making processes go, we found out by the end of the semester that we were basically talking to ourselves,” said Jack Rockwell, College junior and longtime CDS employee and student manager, and co-chair of the Dining Committee. “Even though the committee was staffed by people who work in CDS, they weren’t necessarily the people making the policy decisions.” The committee was open to all community members but primarily featured people related to CDS or dining, including CDS managers, dining hall chefs, student employees and managers, as well as representatives from athletics, student life, and Student Senate.

Corrections: The Review is not aware of any corrections this week. To submit a correction, email managingeditor@oberlinreview.org.

Administration Revives Research Status Nathan Carpenter Opinions Editor

Thursday, Aug. 31, 2017

Research Status, a program that awards grants to Oberlin Faculty, giving them the opportunity to conduct research on a full-time basis for a period of up to one year, is being reinstated in a more limited form this semester. The decision comes after a controversial announcement last semester that the Research Status program was being suspended indefinitely in a move to reduce Oberlin’s spending. Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences Tim Elgren and Dean of the Conservatory Andrea Kalyn emailed faculty in March to inform them of the suspension. While the email was ostensibly sent to save faculty the time of filling out applications for Research Status over spring break, many felt rushed in the decision-making process. “Email was flying among faculty members during spring break last year trying to figure out how did this decision happen; who really made this decision; is it really a final decision?” Mathematics Professor Jeff Witmer said. “Although I appreciate the desire to get something done in a timely fashion because spring break was coming up and you don’t want people to waste their time if the program is going away, the announcement could have been handled in a better way.” Immediately, faculty pushed back against the potential elimination of a program that many feel is integral to Oberlin’s mission. “It was read by many people as a signal from the administration that they suddenly started valuing our scholarship less,” said Professor and Chair of Hispanic Studies Sebastiaan Faber. “And we thought, ‘Well, that’s not right, scholarship is really important.’ It quickly became a more existential issue, right? What kind of institution does Oberlin want to be?” These concerns were expressed to the administration and Elgren said that faculty feedback has been important in planning for the future of the program, which has now been reinstated in a more limited form following a proposal by the College Faculty Council last spring. “It’s back, it’s healthy, it’s fine,” Elgren said. “It’s right on track. We didn’t miss a beat. But suspending it said that everything’s on the table. Faculty had the chance to say, ‘This is something that is really important to us.’” Though the specifics surrounding the revived program have yet to be worked out, Research Status, in its previous form, was typically granted to about five to ten professors each semester. Elgren maintains that putting the program off allowed Oberlin to budget to the program’s actual cost, as opposed to the most expensive possibility — an important distinction for a school that will face significant budget restrictions in the coming years. For those among the faculty who expressed disappointment at the suspension of Research Status, it’s expected they will consider its reinstatement a victory. However, some have said the confusion surrounding the initial announcement reinforces skepticism about the way important budget decisions are handled and internal communications made. “The fact that the decision was made and kind of rescinded or revisited shows that the way in which it was made was not ideal, probably,” Faber said. “For some people that is symptomatic of the way in which our current governing system is not working right because

Alex Vera, OC ’17, conducts research in Associate Professor of Chemistry Jason Belitsky’s lab. Photo by Hugh Newcomb, Photo Editor

those decisions should not have been made so rapidly. The bodies that made those decisions shouldn’t have been those bodies, and people should have been consulted more.” Faber sits on both the General Faculty Council and a task force that is examining different faculty governance structures. He says that Oberlin’s current governance system does not lend itself well to transparency on important issues like Research Status. “[The College Faculty Council] is a little bit of a black box sometimes, and it should be because personnel issues should be confidential,” Faber said. “One of the things we’re looking at could be a different body, … like the Student Senate, that would have public deliberations, would have legislative power, and would be more formally representative of the faculty than the College Faculty Council, which should look at personnel issues, but not at, for example, larger policy issues like Research Status.” Another issue, according to Faber, is that faculty members do not necessarily have any insight into Oberlin’s budget, what programs are on the chopping block, or how certain moves could impact the school’s long-term financial future. “Where to spend less is really hard to say for anybody in the institution,” Faber said. “Very few people have the real overview necessary to actually evaluate to what extent cutting somewhere will impact the mission of the College.” “I think traditionally, faculty governance and financial responsibility have gone on different tracks,” said Frederick B. Artz Professor of History Leonard Smith. “[Faculty] operate in a different domain. So I think that’s maybe a kind of structural issue that’s … going to have to be overcome, or the trustees and the administration are going to have to right the ship.” Processes guiding internal communications, which had already been a source of frustration to many before the abrupt Research Status announcement, also need to be addressed, Faber said. “I think there’s been a couple of occasions over the past year when the communication about decisions could have been better, for sure,” Faber said. “That said, I think most people would agree on all sides — administration, faculty, staff — that internal communications generally could be better.” Faculty and administration will work together throughout the fall to resolve the long-term standing of of Research Status. “In our taking of the temperature of the faculty thoughts, ... internal communication always comes up as an issue at all levels,” Faber said.

Oberlin Looking at $5 Million Deficit Continued from page 1

We’ve been thinking about this for a while and coming up with a plan for how to do that.” Dean of Students Meredith Raimondo said she hopes that these cuts can come in a way that won’t directly affect Oberlin students. “I think there are some things we will stop doing or cut, but I’m hoping that those are things that are sort of inefficient and unhelpful, so students either won’t feel them or actually will be glad they’re gone,” Raimondo said. As over 80 percent of Oberlin’s operating budget comes directly from admissions and student chargThe Oberlin Review | September 8, 2017

Security Notebook

es, this year’s lower admissions rate, in both the returning number of students and incoming new students, is the primary reason for this year’s deficit. This academic year’s target number for incoming first-year students was 805; the number met was 742. This semester’s total enrollment was 2,815 students, while the conservative target was set at 2,895 students. Newly appointed Vice President and Dean of Admissions Manuel Carballo says that his office is working closely with students and offices across campus to try to increase Oberlin’s admission and retention rates.

“A lot of these questions came before I showed up, but certainly I think one of my important roles will be looking back to see where numbers have been versus how those project looking forward,” Carballo said. “When we talk about issues of numbers, we are looking at the numbers of students coming into the freshman class and transfers, but also in terms of retention, and numbers of returning students. That can be students studying abroad, students transferring, and students not returning to Oberlin.” A copy of Canavan’s June email is printed in the Opinions section of this paper.

8:20 a.m. Staff reported a mirror torn off the wall in Wilder Hall’s basement men’s restroom. Photos were taken and a work order filed for repair. 10:21 a.m. A student reported the theft of their bicycle from the east side of Wilder Hall. The bike is a blue, 21-speed Giant with a back rack. The bicycle is registered and was locked at the time of theft. 1:23 p.m. Safety and Security officers and members of the Oberlin Fire Department responded to a fire alarm at Peters Hall. The alarm was activated by contractors vacuuming in the basement. 8:08 p.m. Staff reported vandalism to their work truck. Unknown person(s) wrote non-offensive words on the back of the truck with a black marker.

Friday, Sept. 1, 2017 8:30 a.m. A resident of Kahn Hall reported a suspicious person in the lobby of the building at approximately 8:30 a.m. Friday. A description was obtained and a check of the building was made, but no one matching the description was found. 12:30 p.m. Safety and Security officers responded to assist a staff member who was feeling ill from inhaling paint fumes in Stevenson Dining Hall. The staff member was transported to Mercy Allen Hospital for treatment. 2:34 p.m. Officers and members of the Oberlin Fire Department responded to a fire alarm in the basement of Mudd library. Smoke from burnt popcorn was the cause of the alarm, which was reset.

Saturday, Sept. 2, 2017 9:35 a.m. Officers and members of the Oberlin Fire Department responded to a fire alarm at a Goldsmith Village Housing Unit. Smoke from cooking was the cause of the alarm, which was reset. 11:14 a.m. Oberlin Police Department was advised of offensive graffiti painted on one of the two rocks in Tappan Square dedicated to the artistic expression of the Oberlin community. A painter responded and the graffiti was removed. 1:55 p.m. A student reported the theft of their bicycle from the bike rack just west of Price House. The bicycle is a men’s red, 15-speed Motobecane mountain bike. The bicycle was not secured at the time of theft.

Sunday, Sept. 3, 2017 1:47 a.m. Officers were requested to assist with an intoxicated student in the third floor bathroom at Dascomb Hall. The student was transported to Mercy Allen Hospital for treatment. 2:51 a.m. Officers were requested to assist with a student, ill from alcohol consumption, at Barrows Hall. The student was transported to Mercy Allen Hospital for treatment. 12:06 p.m. Grounds staff reported a large party on the east side of a Goldsmith Village Housing Unit, along with numerous beer cans and bottles on the ground. It is unknown what unit was hosting the party; an unknown individual cleaned up the debris. 6:27 p.m. Safety and Security officers and members of the Oberlin Fire Department responded to a report of a smoke detector activation at a Woodland Street Village Housing Unit. Residents explained that they were cooking when the detector began to sound. A work order was filed to install an exhaust hood for ventilation.

Monday, Sept. 4, 2017 10:18 p.m. Officers and members of the Oberlin Fire Department responded to a fire alarm on the second floor of Allencroft House. Steam from showers had caused the alarm, which was reset. The students were advised to keep the bathroom door closed while showering.

Tuesday, Sept. 5, 2017 11:16 a.m. Staff reported a bagged smoke detector in a room on the third floor of South Hall. A Safety and Security officer responded and observed a pipe containing marijuana residue in plain view. The bag was removed from the detector and the pipe was turned over to the Oberlin Police Department.

Ne w s OFF THE CUFF

Manuel Carballo, Vice President and Dean of Admissions Manuel Carballo is the new vice president and dean of Admissions and Financial Aid for Oberlin College. He arrived at Oberlin Aug. 15 with his wife Brooke Escobedo, who works in the Dean of Students office, and his four-year-old son, Julian. Carballo comes to Oberlin from Middlebury College in Vermont, where he served as the coordinator for multicultural recruitment and associate director of Admissions for six years and the director of Admissions for another six years. He graduated with a bachelor’s degree in Economics from Swarthmore College and a master’s degree in Education from Harvard University. Carballo was born in Costa Rica and has lived in Brazil, Colombia, and the Dominican Republic. This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

friends in Financial Aid. About this time of year, we have colleagues who are traveling all over the country, all over the world. We have a lot of fall visits where we go to high schools and visit students and a bunch of programs on campus as well. So we do a lot of recruiting talking about how wonderful Oberlin is. We do that until early November when we start getting applications, and at that point we switch over to reading applications. [We review] 6,000-plus, 8,000plus applications … to see who we think should be a part of the Oberlin community. We do a lot of work around reading those files, seeing what those students have to say, seeing what people in the community have to say about them, and trying to figure out what that fit might be. After we send out our decision letters, we go into recruitment. The goal is to basically talk about what Oberlin has to offer and find students who think that that matches up with what they’re looking for.

Sydney Allen

News Editor Why did you choose to settle in Oberlin? I am a product of the liberal arts. Home for me is Costa Rica, and I went to Swarthmore College. I originally chose Swarthmore because my sister was there. I have two sisters, and all of us went there. At the time, it was one of the few schools that offered engineering in a small, liberal arts setting. I ended up majoring in something completely different — I majored in economics and went off to grad school in education. But I’ve always loved the liberal arts. I spent the last 12 years at Middlebury College, also a small liberal arts school. I like the idea of the intentional community that we have at liberal arts schools. And from my days at Swarthmore — the idea that it’s not just about the education and that education is not just about the classroom education but about what else is there. In my Swarthmore days, we talked about how Swarthmore had started as a co-ed school, but [after] ... Oberlin. There were always little references to Oberlin and Oberlin’s commitment to social justice. So this is a place that I’ve always appreciated [and] liked for its wonderful academic commitments, but also for its creativity and commitment to social justice. I thought it would be a great place to be part of the community but also, quite honestly, a place I would love to see my son grow up, for all the wonderful things that it has. What specifically do you and the admissions office do? Our main goal is to bring in a fresh batch of students each year. And we work in conjunction with the Admissions Office in the Conservatory and our

What exactly are you looking for in Oberlin students? That’s on the students a little bit. If we’re doing our job right in the Admissions Office, I think it makes it hard for anyone in the community to see what an Oberlin student is. There are going to be some things that are commonalities — a passion for learning, a commitment to being in a small intimate community, an appreciation for sharing ideas. But we hope this is a place that attracts a lot of different kinds of people. Because if we say, “An Obie is this,” we are only going to get one point of view. To me, at the end of the day, the mix of very different types of people is what creates an interesting community. While we’re looking for that student that can impress our professors in the classroom, we hope that outside the classroom our students are going to be very different in some ways. An athlete and an artist, a musician and a scientist [might all be the same person, can come together and say, “This can be home for me”]. So we hope [those] are students from close and far, students who are very religious and those who are not, and students who might be very liberal and those who are conservative, so then we end up getting that exchange of ideas when [they] get here. Do you have any strategies for doing this job that are different from your predecessor? For me, it’s an opportunity to build on the work that [former Dean of Admissions Debra Chermonte] has been doing. I see my role as a little bit of a consultant. I get to come in with a fresh set of eyes and ask those questions that we may have already gotten answers to, but [that] maybe no one has asked before.

Photo courtesy of Manuel Carballo

Manuel Carballo, Dean of Admissions.

We have new leadership, so maybe the answers to some of those questions [are] different. I want to make sure we are doing things for the right reasons. Integrity is important. Oftentimes it’s seen as Admission’s role to bring in more applications. A lot of times people are saying, “Let’s double the application pool,” and I don’t quite think that’s the right way to do it. If you are doing that by bringing in more students who you think would be wonderful to Oberlin, then that’s a good thing — doing it the right way. ... Being able to pick from a better pool — that’s a positive. This year, Oberlin has had a drop in admissions numbers. Do you think that’s a fluke? What does it mean for this upcoming year? It’s important to look at that through the national numbers. For years, we saw more and more applications coming in. Once the Common App came in, it was easier to apply to more schools, so for years we saw more and more incoming applications, more students to pick from, more international students coming in. That made it a little bit easier. That landscape is changing. There are now fewer and fewer high school graduates and declining especially from areas where we historically have yielded more applications. While the population is growing in the South and the West, it’s a little bit declining in Ohio and the Northeast, places that might have a little bit more of that liberal arts mindset we have. Also looking at the Oberlin mindset of where we’ve been the last couple years, [there’s been] some bad publicity in the news, so our goal is to make sure we are continuing to to attract those great Oberlin students and talk about what a great place this is. Is it a longterm trend? Not yet. It’s been a year, a couple years where we’ve struggled with the numbers, but I think that’s what my role means. We still had the highest ap-

plicant pool in history this year. It’s not that we are hurting for students and hurting for numbers. It’s about really attracting the right kind of mix of students where we can ask some of those tough questions about financials of the College and making sure we’re bringing in a good number of students. [It’s] also showing we are committed to bringing in students who are a good fit who want to be here. Do you feel any pressure that 80 percent of Oberlin’s revenue comes from admissions? Absolutely I feel that pressure. I’m new; we have new leadership. More so than a pressure, I’d say that it’s an awesome responsibility. We’re the ones who get to introduce Oberlin to the world, to talk to prospective students and bring students to Oberlin. It’s exciting that that work is relevant. Enrollment, at the end of the day, is not just about the work of admissions. It’s really about the place we are talking about. In that, we are dependent on students to be our tour guides, our overnight hosts, we reach out to alumni who help us recruit and interview out there, our coaches, our professors. It’s how that all comes together with our wonderful student life on campus. Yes, it’s a lot of responsibility, but it’s also a shared responsibility. What are your priorities this year? What we do is tell stories. My job right now is learning about Oberlin and learning what it’s all about. I think right now that it’s important to share the news that Oberlin and the liberal arts are just as relevant today as they have ever been. We are getting more questions now about the value proposition of a college education. Parents are asking about the outcomes of a liberal arts education, so how we talk about that is important to us. It’s something that isn’t always understood out there.

Oberlin Community News Bulletin

Help After Harvey benefit concert

Kendal Showcases Art Exhibit

Land of surplus

Oberlin students will be participating in a benefit concert, “Help After Harvey,” in Cleveland with members of the Cleveland Orchestra at Severance Hall tonight. Proceeds from the concert will be donated to the American Red Cross and will go toward Hurricane Harvey aid efforts. Members of the Cleveland Orchestra will be taking time from their vacation week to perfom in the concert. The concert is tonight at 7 p.m. Tickets will be $20 for adults, $10 for students.

Kendal at Oberlin will be the temporary home to a variety of photographs from artist Selina Bartlett, the Allen Memorial Art Museum assistant registrar. The exhibit features photos from Vietnam, Cambodia, Namibia, and Botswana and depict scenes of daily life, animals, and landscapes. The series titled “Wanderlust: Images of Asia and Africa” will be on display until Sunday, Oct. 16. An artist reception will be held at Kendal at 2:30 p.m. Friday, Sept. 15.

The city of Oberlin has agreed to sell a portion of unused, surplus land near North Oberlin Rd. and 382 Stern Street. City Council officially assigned Oberlin City Improvement Corporation as the agent in the sale in an ordinance passed Tuesday. The sale could bring in up to $810,000 for the city, according to City Councilmember Kelley Singleton. The Oberlin City Improvement Corporation, headed by Sal Talarico, will get a five percent commision from the sale.

OPINIONS September 8, 2017

established 1874

Letters to the editors “Financial Update From Chris Canavan ‘84, Chair-elect, Board of Trustees”

Editor’s Note: The following is an email sent June 14, 2017 to the Oberlin College faculty and staff by the chair of the Board of Trustees. This was not submitted to the Review as a Letter to the Editors, but as it is addressed to the Oberlin community, we feel it appropriate to publish the text in full. To the Oberlin community: Oberlin’s Board of Trustees met last week. It was a bittersweet meeting because Oberlin is going through so many transitions. President Marvin Krislov will soon depart for Pace University. We bid farewell to Mike Frandsen, Sandhya Subramanian, and Debra Chermonte. But we also welcomed Oberlin’s 15th president, Carmen Ambar, and we’re lucky to have Alan Norton, Donica Varner, and Manuel Carballo joining us. I will become chair of the Board of Trustees on July 1, following Clyde McGregor’s six years in that role. Change can be exciting, but it can also bring anxiety. At Oberlin, as at most residential liberal arts colleges and conservatories, there is particular anxiety about finances. I know that there have been very thoughtful discussions among the faculty about Oberlin’s financial situation over the past several weeks. I understand that the Faculty Councils worked diligently through options for tackling our long-term projected structural deficits. Unfortunately, this coming year’s budget has been dealt an unexpected blow in the last month. As many of you already know, Oberlin’s primary source of revenue, student charges, will fall well short of our target because the incoming class is smaller than we expected and fewer students will return next year. There is no avoiding the financial impact of these shortfalls. Although we had already reduced budgets across the institution for next year, this shortfall in student charges will generate a deficit of about $5 million. We spent a great deal of time debating how to deal with this deficit, in conversations that involved both Marvin Krislov and Carmen Ambar. We hope that this enrollment shock is a transitory one, but we won’t know for sure until we have a lot more information. We do know that Oberlin is not alone; many schools have seen enrollment fall below expectations this year, which doesn’t augur well for the future. That’s why we decided that it would be irresponsible to let the endowment absorb the full brunt of this shock. Our budget must adjust to changes that could persist for the next few years. It is for this reason that the board has approved the administration’s recommendation of a budget that holds non-union salaries at their current level for the com-

ing year. This does not eliminate the deficit, but it makes the most significant short-term difference without eliminating essential services and positions and jeopardizing our educational mandate. The enrollment shortfall is a sign that Oberlin’s long-term financial model must change with the times. The cost of running institutions like Oberlin gets more expensive every year, while the pool of high-school graduates, which grew steadily beginning in the mid-’90s, will stay flat over the next decade. We must spend the next few years making important decisions that will ensure Oberlin’s financial strength well into the future. These decisions must be made thoughtfully and with broad consultation. In the meantime, the board has asked the administration, faculty, and staff to identify ways to shrink our structural deficit, either through higher revenue or lower spending, by at least 5 percent of the cumulative budget over the next 10 years. This is intended to give the Oberlin community the breathing room needed to think carefully and purposefully about Oberlin’s long-term financial model, and to avoid making future decisions under financial duress, which almost never leads to healthy decisions. We have not prescribed where those savings should be found. We will work with the administration, faculty and staff to make these decisions, not only because we believe in shared governance but also because consultation and deliberation always leads to healthier decisions. This is not the first message I wanted to send to the Oberlin community in my new role as chair of the Board of Trustees. But sending this message is easy compared to the difficult work that the faculty, staff, and administration will have to do over the coming weeks and months. The board is grateful for this work. I said earlier that change brings anxiety but also excitement. I know that Carmen Ambar will focus intently on Oberlin’s financial model, and that she is eager to work with you to keep Oberlin on firm ground for years to come. I also know that she shares our enthusiasm for Oberlin – for its incredible faculty and staff, its remarkable students, its committed alumni, and also for its enduring relevance to higher education and to social justice. These qualities give Oberlin the creativity, vigor, and resilience to deal with these challenges and to make the most of Oberlin’s incredible prospects. We feel very good about Oberlin’s future. On behalf of the trustees, I look forward to working with the rest of the Oberlin community. All the best, Chris Canavan, OC ’84 Chair-elect, Board of Trustees See Letters, page 7

Submissions Policy

The Oberlin Review appreciates and welcomes letters to the editors and op-ed submissions. All submissions are printed at the discretion of the Editorial Board. All submissions must be received by Wednesday at 4:30 p.m. at opinions@oberlinreview.org or Wilder Box 90 for inclusion in that week’s issue. Letters may not exceed 600 words and op-eds may not exceed 800 words, except with consent of the Editorial Board. All submissions must include contact information, with full names and any relevant titles, for all signers. All writers must individually confirm authorship on electronic submissions. 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 | September 8, 2017

Volume 146, Number 2

Editorial Board Editors-in-Chief Melissa Harris

Christian Bolles

Managing Editor Daniel Markus

Opinions Editors

Nathan Carpenter

Jackie Brant

Exclusive Governance Fails Students In an email from this past summer announcing to faculty and staff that Oberlin’s revenues would fall well short of targets and create a deficit of $5 million, incoming Chair of the Board of Trustees Chris Canavan, OC ’84, began with the salutation “To the Oberlin community.” It was a stroke of profound irony. For all that it contained — including discussion of decreased enrollment, sub-par student retention, a projected five percent budget shortfall over the next decade, and a salary freeze for the second consecutive year — the letter was most significant in what, or rather who, it omitted. Despite the grave financial implications for current and future students, we were never informed, and Canavan’s message explicitly excludes students from the decision-making process, saying, “We will work with the administration, faculty, and staff to make these decisions.” Also significant is the fact that, in the spirit of transparency and a duty to inform our fellow students, we’re publishing the email in full at left, a step rarely taken in our Opinions pages. The fact that students remain uninformed nearly three months after this letter was sent is a betrayal. Regardless of why the Board of Trustees and administration failed to tell us this, none of the possibilities are good — at best, this is ignorance, and at worst, deception. Students and their parents invest a tremendous amount of money in this institution, and that investment relies on the assumption that the services and programs students need will be around during their time here. The $5 million projected shortfall calls that assumption into question. When students previously protested financial changes by the administration, such as the tuition hike and financial aid adjustments implemented during the last academic year, we already felt that administrators were not fully honest with us. Then, however, it was mostly unsubstantiated, based on instinct and incomplete information. Now it is plainly clear. We wish we could say that we’re surprised, but this is exactly what students have come to expect. Again and again, the Board of Trustees and previous administrations have shut students out of the governance process, even as we have consistently called for more student involvement. With things as they stand, however, student resentment will only become further entrenched and cause yet more problems — some of them likely financial — for the administration. If students begin to see their programs of choice undergo deep cuts, such as those that occurred with the Cinema Studies department last year, do administrators expect them to stick around after they failed to inform students that those cuts were on the horizon? When prospective students ask us about financial accessibility and program funding, what do board members expect us to tell them? The worst part of this fiasco is that it places students, administrators, and board members in a catch-22: the longer students are forced to go without representation in higher levels of campus governance, the deeper resentment will grow, and the financial implications will continue to be disastrous. That said, the situation could change. We urge the Board of Trustees to add a student representative at the soonest possible opportunity. Doing so would go very far in allaying student concerns and serve as a show of good faith. And there is no shortage of tremendously capable and energetic students ready to take up the charge, just like those on the committee that hired President Ambar. There is no good reason that students shouldn’t be involved in governance, and it is a travesty that in the years leading up to these shortfalls, there was no student present to hold administrators accountable on behalf of their peers. When the time comes for programs to be cut, students must be an active part of and have meaningful authority in those conversations, as they will be the ones who know better than anyone else which programs are essential, just as they will be the ones to know which ones are not. To close last week’s editorial, we challenged the Board of Trustees and administrators to engage with driven students on campus and work together to benefit both students and Oberlin’s institutional resilience; now, it’s clear that with yet another chance to involve students, they shut us out instead. Last week, we asked for a seat at the table. This week, we demand it. Editorials are the responsibility of the Review Editorial Board — the Editors-in-Chief, Managing Editor, and Opinions Editors — and do not necessarily reflect the views of the staff of the Review.

Opi n ions

Integration of Athletics, Academics Benefits Community Lilah Drafts-Johnson Contributing Writer

After seeing yet another Facebook comment thread feud between studentathletes and non-student-athletes this summer, I felt that it might be prudent for me to take the conversation to a more productive space. The dispute was the same as it always seems to be: student-athletes were frustrated by the stereotypes placed upon them, while non-student-athletes were frustrated by the space taken up by student-athletes at Oberlin and the adverse side-effects that sports culture often perpetuates. As I enter my fourth year of collegiate track and field, I am well aware of the various issues with athletics on our campus. However, the apathetic and dismissive stances that many Obies take toward sport, both on our campus and in the world, worry me. I often encounter a pervasive misconception on campus that the practice of sport precludes the practice of activities held in high esteem at Oberlin, such as activism, academic excellence, and community building. For me, sport has always gone hand-in-hand with these ideals. As a female athlete, the practice of sport is political, regardless of whether I

want it to be or not. The decision to train my body in a way that enables speed and strength will always be interrogated, because muscularity subverts traditional feminine beauty standards. Running is my method of producing a counter-narrative to the classical conception of excellence in sport. I run to sever the connection between “strength” and “masculine,” to take up space in a male-dominated field, and to empower my teammates and other young women to do the same. Practicing a sport has also taught me to embody Oberlin’s motto, “Learning and Labor,” as I balance my academic workload with my athletic competitions. Perhaps most importantly, I run because I love to run. I love my team, my coaches, and the freedom I’ve found in learning to trust my body and shut off my mind for a few hours each day. Division III athletes receive no special benefits or scholarships for their practice of a sport; our commitment and love for the game is “pure” in that regard. Although the passion with which many athletes approach their sport is indistinguishable from the passion that musicians in the Conservatory approach their instruments, dedication to sport is often viewed as a meaningless pastime. Its intrinsic value — the lessons learned from a relent-

Harvey Hits Both Texas, Economy Jackie Brant Opinions Editor

On Aug. 26, I watched from Oberlin as Hurricane Harvey — a storm that would go down as one of the most devastating natural disasters in Texan history — destroyed my hometown of Houston. Harvey was so destructive because it was slowmoving; the Category 4 hurricane remained a storm up to 117 hours after landfall, a state record, and hovered over Texas for four days straight. The total damage is currently predicted to be between $70 and $90 billion; however, estimates have climbed as high as $190 billion. The destruction Harvey has caused to residents of Texas is devastating. Millions of people’s homes have been irreversibly destroyed, thousands of people are injured, and many roads and bridges are in desperate need of maintenance. However, the world still has yet to experience the full impact of Harvey on the international economy. It may seem heartless to discuss Harvey’s economic implications while so many people in the region are suffering. However, the storm’s economic consequences, if left unaddressed and underreported, have the potential to be as devastating as the physical and emotional damage Texas is currently experiencing. The refineries on the coast of Texas provide one-third of the nation’s crude oil. This in turn makes up a large percentage of the oil and gas that is both bought by U.S. consumers and exported to foreign countries. Because these refineries and liquid fuel pipelines were forced to shut down or were destroyed in Harvey’s wake, Texas is in a fullfledged gas crisis. Many gas stations have run dry, leaving millions without transportation. The shortage has also affected other regions of the country through the days-long shutdown of the Colonial Pipeline, which connects Houston to New York. The gas shortage was so bad that the EPA temporarily suspended gas regulations in Texas

in order for gas to be supplied more quickly. Furthermore, the gas price per gallon in North Texas rose from $2.14 to anywhere between $2.35 and $2.45 in just a week. Goldman Sachs reports that it will take months for refineries to begin producing at their pre-Harvey levels. This will have a huge impact on the nation’s GDP, as both exports and consumption will dip from the shortage of oil and gas. Moreover, if Harvey follows the trends of Hurricanes Katrina, Rita, and Sandy, Houston will see a major spike in unemployment, and hours worked by citizens of Houston will take a dive. The insurance industry will take a hit as well. Nearly 200,000 cars will have insurance claims, and millions of homeowners will file claims for damage caused by floods, fire, winds, and falling objects. The city of Houston is still in a state of emergency — physically, emotionally, and economically. Homes, cars, and livelihoods have been lost. People have died, and pets have perished or been left homeless. Infrastructure is collapsing. It is taking days to drive somewhere that normally takes 20 minutes. Gas shortages are stopping people from commuting to work. All these problems are being directly experienced and can be photographed. What cannot be photographed is the distress families will face from looming unemployment and the financial burdens those caught without flood or car insurance will have to bear. The fate of the oil and gas industry — the basis of Houston’s economy — is in question. The economic implications of business closures associated with the oil and gas industry are virtually invisible, but have the potential to drastically affect not only Houston’s job market but the national economy in general. It is easy to get caught up in the pictures dispersed across various social media sites. However, the damage from Harvey will affect people in more ways than meet the eye, and it will have lasting impact beyond Texas’ borders.

less pursuit of self-improvement — is often ignored. I am not urging all Obies to become diehard Yeo-fans overnight. Rather, I am suggesting that instead of dismissively saying, “Athletic culture is toxic” or “Oberlin is not a sports school,” we attempt to widen the lens through which we look at sport on campus and in the world. Denying the importance of athletics in our communities, let alone devaluing it, is unproductive to the ways that sport can shape communities for the better. Sport is a several billion dollar industry that captures the interest and attention of millions of people around the world. Instead of using sport as a campus-wide punching bag, we should be using sport as a tool to make positive changes within our community. The creation of the Sport, Culture, and Society course cluster this year aims to empower students to do just that. Courses integrated into the cluster will direct students to challenge their preconceived ideas about sport and think critically about the different social inequalities present in sport. Additionally, students enrolled in the Sport and Community practicum will complete service projects that use sport to bridge the gap between the College and city of Oberlin communities.

I encourage the student body and faculty to attend not only the athletic competitions that will take place this year, but also the events that this cluster will sponsor. Their upcoming “Athletics 101” panel discussion series — which will be open to the public and will feature student athletes, athletic administrators, and community members — aims to facilitate discourse about the tensions between Oberlin and the athletic community. Insight from the students who do not participate in varsity athletics will be key to understanding the issues most important to our community. Finally, to my fellow student-athletes: with the ongoing construction of the new wellness center, it is now more important than ever to reflect on the ways that we interact with and occupy our athletic spaces. In what ways can we can make these spaces more accessible to others? How can we change the negative aspects of our culture and ourselves to create a safer, more inviting athletic community? We have been afforded an incredible opportunity at Oberlin to be guided and shaped by the sports we practice in tandem with our academic and social pursuits. It is nothing short of our duty, then, to share these opportunities with our wider campus community.

City of Oberlin Recognizes Indigenous People Kate Fishman Contributing Writer

When I was in elementary school, my teacher read us Jane Yolen’s Encounter, an illustrated book displaying a Native American child’s perspective on the arrival of the Italian explorer, Christopher Columbus. Even then, I remember feeling confused. I had learned about Columbus as a man who ventured across the ocean and discovered a new land, but Encounter did not have that familiar tone of joyful new beginnings. I have since come to realize that while Christopher Columbus brought Europeans to the Americas, to see this colonization as a discovery is to focus on a Eurocentric perspective — it ignores those who were here first. When Columbus and his men arrived, they did not bring an exciting new beginning. Instead, they pillaged goods, ravaged bodies, and overturned the lives of the indigenous peoples of the Americas in what can best be described as a murderous conquest. Over 500 years later, on Aug. 21, 2017, the Oberlin City Council decided to replace Columbus Day with Indigenous Peoples’ Day, making Oberlin the first city in Ohio to recognize this new holiday. It is one small step toward mending a history of hate that began with Columbus’ arrival on Oct. 12, 1492. This recognition could not come at a more crucial moment for the Native American community. According to US News, a

quarter of Native Americans are currently living below the poverty line. In 2014, Native peoples were experiencing an unemployment rate of around 11% — double that of the rest of the population. The Dakota Access Pipeline is now being championed by a government that cares more for its economic agenda than the vitality of tribal lands. When nonNative Americans make decisions, the people who were here first are constantly left out of the narrative. This is a trend that started a long time ago. When Christopher Columbus arrived in what is now the Bahamas in 1492, he was greeted peacefully by a variety of local tribes. He went on to enslave the indigenous peoples in his gold mines for years while his men raped their young daughters. If workers fought back, their limbs would be cut off. Columbus was also the first slave trader in the Americas, contributing to a legacy of institutionalized racism that still prevails in today. Yet, when the Knights of Columbus — a fraternal organization that has today become representative of the Catholic rite — pushed for the establishment of a national Columbus Day in 1934, President Franklin D. Roosevelt conceded. Since then, although Columbus Day is nothing more than a holiday from school and work to many, there is one day a year on which a history of pillaging and murder is celebrated. But the history of silencing the Native American population is far more widespread than the wide-

ly accepted story of Christopher Columbus. Using the misnomer Columbus gave to the native peoples, the Indian Removal Act of 1830 under President Andrew Jackson sent the majority of Native Americans to reservations. Many of them died along the way, and those who didn’t were removed from society and forced into deeply substandard living conditions. Even today, literacy rates are down in these Native American communities while alcoholism is on the rise, and reservations have the highest rate of mental illness in the country. From Columbus’ time to the present day, economic opportunity has outweighed respect for the Native American population. In 1977, the International NGO Conference on Discrimination Against Indigenous Populations in the Americas posed a crucial question: What are we choosing to honor as a nation? Can we allow Columbus Day to continue to exist? Defenders of Columbus Day say yes, arguing that the ousting of the holiday is a slap in the faces of Italian Americans, denying them the celebration of their heritage. To them I say that American history is complicated. Having and keeping idols is complicated. Weighing good against bad is certainly complicated, and that is why we need to examine history with a critical eye. If the celebration of one’s heritage endorses the disenfranchisement of an entire See Holiday, page 7

Holiday Celebrates Heritage over Oppression

CARTOON OF THE WEEK Kathryn Blessington

Continued from page 6

people, maybe that heritage should be celebrated with a different icon. Italian-American heritage cannot be celebrated without acknowledging the fact that the first Italian to set foot in the Americas was a murderer who violently discriminated against the Native populations. ItalianAmericans have made many notable contributions to American history,

but choosing Christopher Columbus as the emblem of those contributions continues to silence the voices of America’s Indigenous peoples. As a nation, we must learn. We must be open to the histories of others and do our best to listen to them. We cannot speak for the most marginalized in our society; instead, we must be the conduit that allows them to be heard

while we listen. The residents of Oberlin showed that they listened when City Council renamed the second Monday in October Indigenous Peoples Day. It moved to celebrate heritage rather than oppression. Through this piece of legislation, it said, “We hear you. We are listening. And we will try to understand.”

Letters to the editors, cont. Continued from page 5

Gibson’s Boycott Denies Due Process To the Editors: In the Sept. 1, 2017 issue of The Oberlin Review, the paper’s Editorial Board lists a number of actions taken last year by the Krislov administration which “[paint] a picture of an untrustworthy, austere, and aloof bureaucracy” (“Ambar Provides Opportunity for Needed Change,” The Oberlin Review, Sept. 1, 2017). I agree with their choice of the word “untrustworthy.” But I strongly disagree with one of the reasons the editors cite for arriving at this adverse judgement. They criticize the administration’s decision to “[resume] business with Gibson’s Bakery after controversy that sparked massive student protests.” Ironically, just a few pages earlier in the same issue of the Review, a news article reports on the legal resolution of the Gibson’s case. Readers are informed that all three defendants pled guilty to attempted theft among other charges and that all three declared, under penalty of perjury, that the actions taken by Gibson’s employees to

prevent the attempted theft were “not racially motivated.” It is now abundantly clear that the College’s boycott of Gibson’s was disingenuous and utterly unwarranted. On Nov. 11, 2016, then-Oberlin College President Marvin Krislov and Dean of Students Meredith Raimondo issued a public statement in which they promised to “commit every resource to determining the full and true narrative.” But what Krislov and Raimondo conveniently failed to mention is that they had already told Campus Dining Services to stop doing business with Gibson’s. For many years, the College has purchased approximately $500 worth of baked goods from Gibson’s on an almost daily basis, according to a conversation I had with Dave Gibson. For a small, family-owned business, this amounts to a staggering, potentially bankrupting loss. But Krislov and Raimondo’s rush to judgment amounted to something even more egregious: a fundamental denial of due process. Surely, if anyone had proposed that the three defendants be suspended from classes while awaiting trial, the College would have rightfully refused, citing that foundation stone of American jurisprudence: the pre-

sumption of innocence. To deny the same presumption to the employees of Gibson’s is not only presumptuous. It’s evocative of the topsy-turvy value system in Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, where the Red Queen declares, “Sentence first — verdict afterward.” Here we come to the heart of my disagreement with last week’s editorial: the Krislov administration proved itself “untrustworthy” not because it belatedly rescinded its boycott of Gibson’s; the administration’s ethical failure was to have imposed this unjustified sanction in the first place. In the same statement that promised to uncover the “true narrative,” Krislov and Raimondo also vowed to “[explore] whether this is a pattern and not an isolated incident.” That question was answered in a November 15, 2016 Cleveland Plain Dealer story, “Oberlin College protest at bakery over, students hope for peaceful dialogue.” There, Oberlin Police Lieutenant Michael McCloskey revealed that the Oberlin Police Department looked at arrests for shoplifting at Gibson’s for the past five years to see if there was evidence of racism. Since 2011, there were 40 adults arrested

for shoplifting, and 32 were white. 33 of the 40 were college students. He then went on to add, “Gibson’s has the largest number of shoplifting cases in the city, right after Walmart.” The facts of this case are no longer in question. And yet, a counternarrative has taken hold, one that refuses to allow mere “facts” to get in the way. It’s embarrassing when one has to ask Oberlin students the same question one asks climate-change deniers: At what point do you accept the empirical evidence, even if that means having to embrace an “inconvenient” truth? Alas, even those who concede that the defendants violated the law, continue — stubbornly — to insist that there is “plenty of blame to go around” and that “both sides” are at fault. Really? Isn’t that what Donald Trump said about Charlottesville? The time has come for the Dean of Students, on behalf of the College, to apologize to the Gibson family for damaging not only their livelihood but something more precious and difficult to restore — their reputation and good standing in the community. — Roger Copeland Emeritus Professor of Theater and Dance

Review Breaks Tradition with Oxford Comma To the Editors: While I was impressed by the reporting in the semester’s first issue of the Review, I was jolted by the use of the Oxford comma, a stylistic change that has evidently been implemented since I left staff at the end of last year. I consider myself a dedicated fan of the Oxford comma in most situations. It provides rhythm, clarity, and fairness to lists. But this change in the style guide is objectionable for two reasons: First, it breaks with years of Review tradition. The paper has a continual problem with a short institutional memory, which is inevitable for a student newspaper with a transient staff. But should the staff toss aside old conventions at the whim of each new production editor? While staff members may only serve for a few years, many Oberlin residents, faculty, and alumni have been reading the paper for decades. The Review staff owes these faithful readers consistency. Second, using the Oxford comma lowers the prestige of the Review by diverging from other major newspapers. The Associated Press Stylebook, the accepted rule book for the newspaper industry, mandates the use of the Oxford comma. Yes, the Review’s style guide has often proved more progressive than the AP’s. The staff approved of the singular “they” long before the AP sanctioned it, for instance. But if the Review staff casts aside the AP’s expertise willy-nilly, it will lose the respect bestowed upon serious publications. I’ll admit, part of my displeasure may stem from bitterness; for years, I had to endure a pang of anguish every time I deleted a sweet little Oxford comma from a draft. I had hoped this suffering would bond generations of Review staff. Alas, I suppose we’ll have to gripe about the heat in the dungeonous office instead. To those comma devotees currently sputtering with indignation and girding yourself with syntactical examples involving strippers and politicians: I understand your complaint. But we must set aside personal preference for the overall well-being of the paper. — Sami Mericle OC ’17 The Oberlin Review | September 8, 2017

Layout and text by Lucy Martin, This Week Editor Backdrop Photo by Bill Badzo

HIDDEN GEMS

Credo

E q uestria n Tea m

Riding with the OC Equestrian Team qualifies as a club sport. The team rides at Equine Differences on Leavitt Road, a short ride from campus, and is open to riders with all experience levels. ocet@oberlin.edu

O C A e ri a l i s t s

Credo is an organization that connects music and faith and aims to create leaders through Christian mentorship, high-level musical training, and service to the community. They offer access to regional musical activities across the country. office@credomusic.org

Oberlin College Aerialists require 30 hours of professional aerial training, which can be accomplished during their Winter Term in Seattle. This is a place for those who like to hang upside down, climb off the ground, and perform daring feats in mid-air. oflyers@oberlin.edu

Photo courtesy of Credo Music

Photo by Lucy Martin

R u g by R h i n o s The Rugby Rhinos are Oberlin’s rugby team for women and trans people. No experience is necessary, and as a self-coached team, everybody helps each other learn and grow. @rhinosOCrugby on Facebook

Photo courtesy of Oberlin College Rugby Rhinos

Photo courtesy of Oberlin College Equestrian Team

Friday

B a l l e t O b e rl i n “Ballet Oberlin is a student-run ballet group,” Shai Wolf, head of the club, wrote to the Review. “If you want to dance, we want to have you! Our mission is mainly to queer up traditional notions of ballet — to make ballet accessible, welcoming, and fun for all.” swolf@oberlin.edu Photo courtesy of Ballet Oberlin

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Faculty Chamber Work on your writing “The Power of Youth “Moral Compass: Hillel Shabbat Dinner Football vs. Kenyon at the Writing Center to Change the World” Chabad Lunch and College Series Kosher-Halal Co-op starting today! discussion session Oberlin, OH Warner Concert Hall Learn” Service at 5:30 p.m. 1 p.m. (and live-streamed) Mudd library Wilder 110 Dinner at 7:00 p.m. Wilder 217 4:30 p.m. 12 p.m. 7 p.m.

Philosophy Talk: “Including Trans Athletes in Sports” King 343 4:30 p.m.

Layout and text by Lucy Martin, This Week Editor Backdrop Photo by Bill Badzo

HIDDEN GEMS

Credo

E q uestria n Tea m

O C A e ri a l i s t s

Photo courtesy of Credo Music

Photo by Lucy Martin

Photo courtesy of Oberlin College Rugby Rhinos

Photo courtesy of Oberlin College Equestrian Team

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Philosophy Talk: “Including Trans Athletes in Sports” King 343 4:30 p.m.

A r t s & C u lt u r e

ARTS & CULTURE established 1874

September 8, 2017

Volume 146, Number 2

Peanut Sauce Film Project Explores Thai Education System Ivan Aidun Staff Writer

The Peanut Sauce Project 2560, a documentary project with an eye toward the education system in Thailand and the marginalized groups within it, presented three documentaries in the Birenbaum Innovation and Performance Space Friday night. The project was organized by double-degree fifth-year Thanisa Durongkaveroj, who was joined by Matt Blankinship, OC ’17, Anna Treidler, OC ’17, and collaborator Bitong Suchritt. Durongkaveroj, Blankinship, and Treidler were all in attendance at Friday night’s screening to present the documentaries and discuss their experiences in Thailand. The project, which received XARTS funding, took its name from the current Thai Buddhist year, 2560, as well as a cultural mismatch that Durongkaveroj experienced when she first came to the United States from Thailand. “When I first came to Oberlin I was kind of surprised when people said they liked Thai peanut sauce, because I didn’t really know what that was,” Durongkaveroj said. According to Durongkaveroj, the sauce served with typical Thai food in the U.S. is used in only a few dishes in Thailand. She doesn’t consider it to be characteristic of Thai cuisine as a whole. “I knew I wanted this project to be about marginalized groups in Thailand’s education system, but through a crosscultural lense, so I felt like the Peanut Sauce Project was a pretty representative name,” Durongkaveroj said. For the first documentary, project members visited the small Ban Phot Community School in the rural Thai province of Phetchabun. The school serves 275 students from kindergarten through grade nine. Durongkaveroj, who had never been to Phetchabun, found the school through an online video of students playing Thai music and reached out to them through Facebook. “The [technology] teacher, who is

Matt Blankinship, OC ’17, fifth-year Thanisa Durongkaveroj, and Anna Treidler, OC ’17, spoke about their experiences in Thailand at a screening of their documentaries about Thailand’s education system Saturday night. Photo by Janet Wu

really into social media, responded the day after. … zthere’s [an almost] 12-hour time difference, otherwise it would [have been] instantly,” Durongkaveroj said. The film shows the school’s premises, a large courtyard surrounded by various classroom buildings. In the movie, Treidler notes that the buildings are wellmaintained, but probably would not be up to U.S. code. The school has a computer lab and a small library, but the principal told the project members that many of the books are outdated. He hopes to get funding for more and newer books, as he says reading allows for a deeper kind of learning than simply using Google. “There were a lot of ways you could probably tell that they didn’t have a ton of money, especially compared to American schools,” Blankinship recalled. “But it was also really clear what the priorities were in the school. There was a really strong priority on … good teachers.” The film makes it clear that the teachers and students form a community, and that the teachers know each student’s story and difficulties. The school gives out leftover food from lunch to students who may not

be able to get food any other way. In the film, the project members note that there’s a sense of shared trust and responsibility in the school dynamic. “It’s literally a place where the kids can be to feel safe. It’s really a strong community,” Blankinship summarized. The second film of the series followed the Peanut Sauce Project members to the Phetchabun School for the Deaf, a boarding school which serves not only Deaf students but students with an array of learning disabilities as well. The film begins with nearly two minutes of silent footage before introducing the school’s students and teachers. Project members interview some students, but their communication is very limited. Their questions need to be translated from English to Thai, then to Thai Sign Language, and then the students’ answers go back through this chain. “That school, at least for me, was the hardest part of this whole project, because it took a lot of patience and a lot of time to go through the whole process,” Blankinship said. Nevertheless, the school still has the same strong community as the Ban Phot

school. Durongkaveroj noted that although the students who aren’t Deaf can speak Thai, the entire community communicates through sign language. In the film, project members also comment on the teachers’ dedication. Since getting teaching accreditation is complicated, rural provinces like Phetchabun don’t attract many teachers from greater Thailand. Some students from Phetchabun taught project members some of the things they’ve learned in school, such as making artificial flowers and weaving baskets. “It was really cool to see some of the students kind of get into their element a little bit and feel really comfortable and confident teaching us how to do these things … It was good to see them feel valuable,” Blankinship said. “These students … I think in the greater society tend to be pushed to the side, and told they aren’t valuable. It was awesome to see them prove that wrong.” The third film deals with Thai people of Chinese descent, who make up over 40 percent of the Thai population, including Durongkaveroj. Project members interviewed various Thai Chinese people, including a noodle shop owner and several other people they met on the street. Many of the interviewees gave similar reasons for their families’ immigration: better education, more jobs, more food. One person quipped, “as long as you’re hardworking, you’re all set in Thailand.” It sounded like a Southeast Asian equivalent of the American Dream. But the relationship between Thai citizenship and Chinese heritage is complicated, since teaching Chinese language or immigration history is forbidden in Thai schools. “I wanted to [make] that history more present, because it’s kind of getting lost in Thailand’s mainstream education system,” Durongkaveroj noted. “We also have another path that our roots came from, and it’s important to acknowledge that. There’s a lot of ways that the Chinese culture is very present in Thailand, but formally we’re losing it slowly.” See Marginalization, page 12

New Technologies Foster Improved Sensory Experience at Museums

Katie Lucey Staff Writer

For thousands of years, museums have existed as the sole repositories of certain kinds of knowledge and culture. However, in this era of technological innovation and change, the sum of nearly all human knowledge, history, and widespread information can be accessed on the internet. Despite the leaps made by the likes of Google Images, technological innovations do not have to consign museums to obsolescence. New technology that makes art more widespread can raise fears that no one will want to go to physical museums anymore. But a great deal of the technology that raises these fears — such as technology that allows for the reliable, inexpensive replication of artworks — can also be integrated into museum exhibitions themselves to make those exhibitions more accessible and enhance the experience for all patrons. For example, in 2015, the Montreal Musée des Beaux Arts exhibited a large collection of Auguste Rodin’s works and incorporated replicas of some of the collection’s sculptures into the exhibit. One of the most fascinating aspects of Rodin’s work is the odd proportions that he used when sculpting the human form, which somehow look natural when a work is considered as a whole. In the exhibition’s final room, the Musée provided sculpture replicas that patrons were allowed — even encouraged — to touch. This gave blind and low-vision patrons the opportunity to experience Rodin’s art. Additionally, all museum-goers 10

had the opportunity to feel the proportions of the work and understand how strange they actually were, adding another dimension to their understanding of Rodin’s mastery of form. Since replicas made from casts are already being used by museums in this way, integrating 3D-printed objects into museum exhibitions seems like a natural next step. In fact, organizations including the Art Institute of Chicago have already done this, printing works from the museum’s collection to make them accessible to blind and low-vision patrons. Creating tactile experiences is not the only way that museums can integrate multi-sensory components into their exhibitions. Audio tours, which have become a modern-day staple of the museum experience, serve a variety of purposes. First, they allow patrons to experience the museum through sound, which enables blind and low-vision patrons to enjoy the galleries alongside sighted visitors. Audio tours also create an intrapersonal “choose your own adventure” narrative for every visitor who chooses to use one. Patrons can listen to the deeper analysis of every work of art that they come across, or save the audio tour’s enrichment for the works that most intrigue them. They can choose whether or not to follow the exhibition in the order that the audio tour suggests. Because the audio tours provide more information than could ever be included on the small cards typically presented beside each work of art in a museum, they can also help elucidate the curator’s intended message and bring out the thematic threads that the curator sees in the work.

From audio tours, which are already widely accepted, integrating other digital technology into museum exhibitions isn’t too far of a leap. Already museums are integrating touch screens, computer kiosks, and video devices into their exhibitions, all of which provide an engaging learning environment for patrons that transcends the “Do Not Touch the Art” museum cliché. For example, the Cleveland Museum of Art provides visitors with the opportunity to digitally delve into its collection with the ARTLENS Gallery, an innovatively interactive touch-screen experience. Oberlin’s own Allen Memorial Art Museum recently installed an in-gallery iPad preloaded with several videos, giving visitors a chance to explore various exhibitions and objects beyond the limited wall text. If a museum’s central functions are to conserve, collect, exhibit, and educate, then museums should embrace the many roles that technology can play in their institutions. Rather than fearing the impact that tomorrow’s technology might have on the survival of museums as institutions, we must look both to the past and the present and recognize that technology has already transformed the museum experience for the better. Although museums may seem like static places full of frozen moments outside of time, the truth is that they are constantly evolving. It is time to wholeheartedly embrace what technology can do to improve museums’ accessibility and their ability to educate, and revel in experimenting with new curatorial philosophies centered around the places where art and technology can intersect.

Sketch Comedy Troupes Deliver Lighthearted Performances silly, and was somehow made even sillier by how musically talented the Piscapo’s Arm company apparently is. One of the troupe members played guitar for this song, and every performer sang. The over-the-top enthusiasm that every performer brought to the song kept their concept fresh enough to stay funny to the last note. The audience was into it, too; at one point, a clapping rhythm started ––––––––––––––––––––––––––

The highlight of the night was “Eulogy Mad Libs,” which was about as funny as it sounds. … The acting kept the audience laughing throughout, and the payoff was spectacular. ––––––––––––––––––––– Doobie Ingenuity, one of two sketch comedy troupes that staged performances at the Cat in the Cream over Labor Day weekend, presented both live and pre-recorded sketches Friday night. Photo by Daniel Firebanks Russell Jaffe Staff Writer

Sketch comedy is a rare treat at Oberlin, but last weekend not just one but two sketch comedy troupes performed at the Cat in the Cream. On Friday night, Oberlin’s newest sketch comedy group; the self-styled “most innovative sketch comedy group on campus,” Doobie Ingenuity, gave a spirited performance to a nearly full house. The performers showcased some of the best skits from the group’s previous shows, introducing the audience to their brand of humor and hoping to inspire other prospective comedians to audition. In addition to the opening live performance elements of Friday night’s show, Doobie Ingenuity incorporated two video sketches that they had previously filmed and uploaded online. For these latter acts, the stage was cleared and the videos were projected for the entire audience to see. It was here, more than anywhere else, that Doobie Ingenuity was able to truly shine. With clever camerawork, Doobie Ingenuity created entirely original skits that could not have been possible in any other format. Those who missed the show can still catch some of these performances on Doobie Ingenuity’s YouTube and Facebook pages. However, despite the creativity in some aspects of the show, there was a disappointing lack of originality in others. The reuse of jokes ran rampant throughout the entire show. For example, in each skit, there seemed to be a single joke that stood at the center of the performance. Unfortunately, this often ended up being that skit’s only joke, with all subsequent humor merely The Oberlin Review | September 8, 2017

repeating some minor variation of it. I enjoy references to old jokes as much as anyone else, but this seemed a bit excessive. As a result, I found Friday night’s show to be hit-or-miss. ––––––––––––––––––––––––––

strange sex noises that they are hearing through thin walls. The audience was in stitches. The highlight of the night was “Eulogy Mad Libs,” which was about as funny as it sounds. The premise was simple: a Through clever cameraclergyperson has to quickly work, Doobie Ingenuity write a sermon for someone created entirely original that they didn’t know well, skits that could not have and their assistant helpfully offers them a Mad Libs book been possible in any so that they can complete other format. it. Although this sketch –––––––––––––––––––––––– was another extended sex joke that could have Ultimately, the greatest gotten old fast, the acting strength of Doobie Ingenuity was the heart that they put into their performance. The performers’ hard work on each original piece was obvious, and their passion clearly stood out above all else. Passion is far more important than any shortcoming, and their casting call will undoubtedly bring in a rush of new talent and ideas to truly help them live up to their bold goals of innovation. I am quite optimistic for the future performances of Doobie Ingenuity. Closing out the long weekend with a performance last Monday night was sketch comedy troupe Piscapo’s Arm, which also drew a sizeable crowd to the Cat in the Cream. Founded in 1998, this troupe is now old enough to be a college student in its own right, but age hasn’t slowed it down. When they introduced the show, the performers promised a “nice little breezy comedic romp,” and that was exactly what they delivered. Their first sketch, though a predictable concept for a college sketch comedy troupe, was hilarious in execution — an obviously distressed neighbor trying to study despite the loud,

kept the audience laughing throughout, and the payoff was spectacular. In case Piscapo’s Arm is intending to perform the sketch again, I won’t spoil the ending — I can only say that great things can be achieved through “the power of love and Mad Libs,” as the performers said themselves. Piscapo’s Arm also incorporated novel elements into their performance, closing out the night with a song rather than a traditional sketch. The song, “The Mullet Man Chorus,” was incredibly

up, and soon after that, people were waving their cell phone lights as though it were a concert. The next performances from Doobie Ingenuity and Piscapo’s Arm will certainly be ones to watch, especially given the new talent that both groups are actively recruiting. While the staple sketches and the acting are undoubtedly going to change, I am confident of two things: there will probably be more extended sex jokes in future shows, and if you’re looking for a lighthearted laugh, you will find it there.

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

On the Record with Andria Derstine, AMAM Director Andria Derstine is the John G. W. Cowles Director of the Allen Memorial Art Museum, which celebrates its centennial season this year. Derstine, a graduate of Harvard University and the New York University Institute of Fine Arts, is leading the museum into its next 100 years, beginning with centennial programming that highlights the contributions that individuals have made to the museum since its founding. Prior to her directorship, Derstine was an Andrew W. Mellon Fellow and Assistant Curator in the Department of European Art at the Detroit Institute of Arts. She is also certified by the Center for Curatorial Leadership in partnership with Columbia University. This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

Andria Derstine, the Allen Memorial Art Museum’s John G. W. Coles director, is celebrating the 100th anniversary of the museum’s completion with a variety of special exhibitions and programs. Photo courtesy of AMAM Interview by Julia Peterson Arts and Culture Editor

What is it like to be the director of the Allen Memorial Art Museum during its centennial season? Well, it’s wonderful. I am so happy to be here at this really important moment in time for the museum and to work with the staff and [other colleagues] on campus to really celebrate this important occasion for the museum. Turning 100 is not something that an institution does more than once, and of course it’s a very long span of time. So it’s a really exciting moment to be here for the centennial. How is the centennial season going so far? All of our exhibits this academic year are focused on the history of the museum and important aspects of donors to the collection. It’s wonderful to have these very important works on view in very focused exhibitions. Now that we’re in the centennial year, we’re very excited to have ... an exhibition that will be on view all year that highlights the contributions of Ellen Johnson, OC ‘33, who was a professor in the Art department and a very important person for Oberlin’s collections. Additionally, there is an exhibition about the Bissets, a husband and wife who were co-founders of the Maidenform company — the company that developed the Maidenform bra. They made their money in that area, then used it to purchase art. They donated 24 wonderful, very important works to the Allen during the 1950s and ’60s. And then we have a number of exhibitions that will be on view throughout both the fall and the spring that look at our Asian art collections and important donors to those collections. And we’re also very excited that this fall we have an exhibition about prints made by women during the museum’s first 100 years. In that space in the spring semester, we are excited about a loan exhibition that we’re doing jointly organized with Cornell University’s Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art, and we will have Rembrandt etchings on view for the spring semester. So it’s a really exciting year for us.

What sort of challenges do you think that museums all over the world might be facing 100 years from now? What challenges will the AMAM face in particular? One challenge that any museum encounters is space. We collect original works of art, and original works of art take up space. So space is a concern of ours. We’re thinking very much about how we can maximize our space — both the space in our galleries, where we can show the works of art, as well as storage space, so that we can continue to acquire very high quality original works of art. I think that’s something that all museums will be struggling with in the future. Certainly, museums all over the world struggle with funding issues. You always want to do special projects and special exhibitions and have special programs, and obviously it costs money to do that. We’ve been really fortunate at the AMAM to have a very dedicated donor base. We’re fortunate to benefit from many alumni who have passed through these doors over many decades and who have been very generous to the Allen. But I do think of things such as the recent talk, especially in the spring, around cutting federal funding for the arts — National Endowment for the Arts, National Endowment for the Humanities, and the Institute of Museum and Library Services. There are a lot of grant-making organizations that have been very generous. I think that the environment right now for federal funding for the arts is perhaps not as great as it once was. That is something that all museums — especially those in the United States — will need to take account of in the coming years. What are you most excited for in the next 100 years of the AMAM? What I’m most excited for is really how much more I think we can be doing for our communities. And I say that in the plural because ... we are doing a lot, I think, for the Oberlin College and Conservatory community, the faculty, the students, getting them into the museum, getting the artworks in our care built in to professors’ syllabi [and] built into classes. We also do so much with the local community. Between Toledo, OH, and Cleveland, OH, which are each about 45 minutes to an hour and a half [away by car] on either side of us to the east and the west, we are the biggest museum, ... and so we serve a lot of the surrounding counties as their local art museum, and we are really making a push to get more of our community members into the museum. When I think about 100 years from now, I’d like to think about the museum firing on all cylinders and having the museum deeply integrated into the College curriculum, but also serving a very broad community and people of all ages. And we certainly do this now — we have preschool students who

come in and senior citizens who come in — but I’d like to see the Allen 100 years from now as deeply engaged or more with the communities that surround us. If you could talk to any of the people who were instrumental in the early founding of the AMAM or the development of its collections, what would you have to say to them and what do you think that they would think of the museum as it is today? Of course, I’d like to think that they would walk through the doors of the AMAM and just be overawed at how wonderful it is and how much we have on view. That is one thing that I do think about very often — the fact that the collection has ... grown to more than 15,000 works of art in our care ... [spanning] 6,000 years of art and many of the world’s cultures. We have Aboriginal art, we have African, Asian, Native American, American, European, modern and contemporary, preColumbian, Islamic art — I truly think that we are a mini-Metropolitan Museum of Art. I would like to think that people who may have been here at the very beginning ... would come through these doors and be really amazed at the generosity of Oberlin’s alumni, many of whom were donors to the museum. That’s how we have this wonderful collection. If I could speak to some of them, ... I would certainly say, “Thank you,” because the museum truly has been built up by individuals. It’s individuals such as ... Clarence Ward, who was the first Director of the museum. He was also ... the first Chair of the nascent Art department. He also built the addition that was put on in the ’30s that now houses some of the Art department. But he really set the stage, from 1917 into the late 1940s, [for] getting the museum integrated into the curriculum and used in teaching. He really set us on our path. Charles Parkhurst is another person that I would love to meet. He was the second director of the museum. He had been a “monuments man”; he was one of the people tasked at the end of World War II with tracking down looted art in Europe. He was a co-founder of the [Intermuseum Conservation Association] that was housed in the Allen [for many years]. It moved into Cleveland [in 2003]. It was wonderful for the museum to benefit from having a conservation studio here on site for many, many decades. Of course I would love to have met Ellen Johnson, OC ‘33, ... who was great, great friends with people like Andy Warhol and Jasper Johns and Klaus Oldenberg and Robert Raushenberg, and who purchased works for herself ... and encouraged the museum to purchase works early in artists’ careers.

or community members who haven’t had a chance to visit the museum yet? The first thing I would want to say is that the museum, since it opened on June 12, 1917, has always been free and open to all. We don’t charge any admission fee, either for the museum in general or for special exhibitions. And some colleges let in the students of that particular college for free, but other people have to pay, and I think sometimes people do wonder, “Well, it’s a college museum. Is it open to the community?” Absolutely. You can come in and spend 10 or 15 minutes and not feel like you’ve paid [an entrance fee] and that you need to get your money’s worth and stay for two or three hours, when that might not be the time that you have. Talk about the three inscriptions on the front of the building: “The fine arts a heritage from the past,” “The fine arts a gift to the future,” and the big one over the doors, “The cause of art is the cause of the people.” What is the history of these inscriptions, and how do you interpret them in the work that you do here? They were put there in the spring of 1917. ... Just two months before the museum opened, they were finally decided upon and then carved into the stone of the building. ... The central one, “The cause of art is the cause of the people,” comes from a speech [by] William Morris, who was an artist in England in the late 19th century [and] a proponent of the arts and crafts movement. [Morris’s speech] was really about socialism, and that quote is a line from his speech. I think it’s just perfect for the Allen, because indeed we are free and open to the public. Art impacts people’s lives positively, and that’s what we want this museum to be doing. And I do often think about the fact that the museum was opened in June 1917 and that was just a few short months after the U.S. entered World War I ... April of 1917, was just at the time that those quotations [and] inscriptions were being decided upon. I think it is something that — maybe not overtly, but in some way — speaks to the trauma that was going on in the world at that time and the fact that art can really be something that is healing and that is a positive force for people around the world. For the two [inscriptions] that are on the sides, they aren’t quotes from William Morris, but I think they speak to the fact that a museum such as the Allen [is] looking to the past by virtue of what we collect, though we collect modern and contemporary art as well, but we’re also looking to the future. We’re here for the education of Oberlin students and of the general public, and that is what is creating the future. So I really do think those inscriptions are perfect for us.

What would you want to say to students

Marginalization in Education Focus of Peanut Sauce Project 2560

Continued from page 10

Blankinship spoke about his Chinese background: “I really feel like I’ve lost that connection in a big, big way, and so what Thanisa [Durongkaveroj] is saying about not feeling that part of her roots is fully acknowledged, that resonates with me,” he said. “I feel I’ve been successful in a lot of ways because my upbringing has been pretty American … I find it really hard to tease out a theme or a 12

thesis from all the interviews, because a lot of the things that are problems are also the reasons people move to Thailand.” College senior Leigh Schumann, who attended the documentary screening, felt positively about the work that the Peanut Sauce Project had done. “I feel like there were some stereotypes in my head that were challenged. I feel like each one of the films challenged a certain stereotype,”

they said. “I think the takeaway is that there’s a lot more to learn, and a lot we assume about other countries.” There are no further screenings scheduled for the Peanut Sauce Project’s documentaries, but Durangkaveroj intends to put them up online in a few weeks so that wider audiences can experience the project members’ work and learn about marginalized groups in Thailand’s education system.

FAVA Unveils Nature-Themed Exhibition Kirsten Heuring

The Firelands Association for the Visual Arts is an integral part of the arts community at Oberlin, offering art classes for both children and adults as well as organizing curated invitational shows, photography shows, and off-site exhibits of area artists among many other events. This fall, FAVA is showcasing two Ohio artists, Martha Gallagher Michael and Lisa Schonberg, until Oct. 31. Both artists have been placed side-by-side in the exhibition for their shared representation of nature in their illustrations. While nature is a common motif between the two artists, the two creators bring their subject to life in distinct and unique ways. Martha Gallagher Michael is a professor of special education and art education at Capital University. Her exhibit at FAVA, ReCollections, is a selection of pieces with two major themes: coming back to pieces she worked on in 2007, and repurposing various items in order to create new art. In 2007, Michael made a series of large, mixed-media pieces of birch trees using mediums including ink and newspaper. These are featured in ReCollections alongside a new series of small, square pieces. These include elements of her other works, painted and cut printing plates, and cellophane tape with images on it. She also includes words in some of these pieces. Her art style is playful, and the same can be said of her process. “It’s a very organic process for me,” Michael said. “I see what looks right, what also might have content impact, and that’s how I create.” She also likes to get

creative with names, and her art has titles like “One Nation Under… ”;“Art and Metaphysics”; and “Lost in a Crowd Except for My Face Paint.” Michael focuses on prints of leaves along with her birch tree motif. Lisa Schonberg, whose teaching focuses on printmaking, is an adjunct professor at Notre Dame College and Baldwin Wallace University. She also teaches at Zygote Press in Cleveland, where she has a studio. Schonberg’s body of artwork is comprised mostly of prints. She makes her own blocks either by hand in her own studio or through computer programs and laser cutting at Case Western Reserve University’s Sears think[box]. She rarely does “editioning,” the process by which printmakers recreate the same design multiple times. Instead, she favors making something new every time. “Most of my images are one of a kind,” she commented. Schonberg says she is “obsessed with patterns,” and it certainly shows in her work. Her collection Water, Earth, Wind is primarily inspired by topographical, wind, and water current maps. Much of her other work is influenced by places in nature she has visited, as well as various coral formations. She calls herself a “frustrated environmentalist,” and her art is “an homage to the earth.” While both Michael and Schonberg share nature as a muse, they have very different approaches and styles. Michael’s work is fun and playful, while Schonberg’s is more methodical. Michael uses so much mixed media that some of her work is even reminiscent of collage. Most of her pieces are colorful and inundated with intricate details. Schonberg’s work, on the

First Thursday

other hand, is more measured. Many of her works are monochromatic, and some have no colors at all. The printmaking process leaves intricate details of ink on paper, making the patterns she uses unique. Michael said she “plays,” while Schonberg described her creative process as experimentation. Jean Kondo Weigl, one of the curators of this exhibition, recalled the initial trouble she faced in arranging their work, as the two artists’ styles can be strikingly disparate. But despite using diverse approaches, the two artists share the element of the natural world in their works, which makes them a great duo. “We thought these two artists would make a good combination because of the commonality of their interest in nature,” Weigl said. The birch trees and the prints inspired by leaves and topographical maps complement each other well. Michael summed up another shared characteristic that brings these two exhibits together: “It’s all sort of connected to printmaking.” Though both artists use different aspects of printmaking in their art, the fact that they are both operating in the same tradition builds a continuity into the display. Seeing the cut-up plates used for printmaking alongside framed, abstract prints shows that though two artists can start off with the same techniques and themes, they can diverge in any number of ways. Though the artists have their differences, each piece plays effortlessly off the next. The collection is eclectic and colorful, and has something for every nature lover to enjoy.

CROSSWORD

Wordsmiths Puzzle by Daniel Markus Managing Editor 1

Text by Julia Peterson, Arts & Culture Editor Photo by Bryan Rubin, Photo Editor

ACROSS 1. Pine for 5. Austrian composer 9. Boxing match, for example 13. Why you might say “Eureka!” 14. Soothes burns 15. Metaphysical poet John 16. “A narrow Fellow in the Grass” writer 18. Radiate 19. Carving on a wooden pole, perhaps 20. Wrote “The Charge of the Light Brigade” 22. British ship prefix 23. North African country 26. Chimp expert The Oberlin Review | September 8, 2017

27. British special forces, abbr. 30. You might get confused in a conversation without it 34. R&R 36. Excreted by the kidneys 37. Two or three, say 38. Hooter 42. Ideal 45. 2003 film starring Will Ferrell 46. Author of 59. Across 48. Niqab wearer 49. Fuss 52. Upper limit 56. Utah senator Hatch 58. Before

59. “Pioneers! ____________” 62. Garners 63. Prance around 64. Opening poker bet 65. Sizes up 66. Disrespectful person 67. Final DOWN 1. Certain measurement 2. “Raining cats and dogs,” for example 3. Religious groups 4. Flaky white fish similar to cod 5. Prohibit

The Allen Memorial Art Museum hosted the opening “First Thursday” event of the academic year yesterday. This month’s event offered an evening of Chinese classical music performed on the guzheng by Ohio Heritage Fellow Weichih Rosa Lee. The performance complements the exhibition of Chinese paintings currently on view at the museum. “We haven’t had classical Chinese music at the AMAM in a long time, so this is a special treat,” Joan L. Danforth Curator of Asian Art Kevin Greenwood wrote in an email to the Review.

6. Golfer Ernie 7. Grounded 8. Eisenhower was one 9. Like an ill-fitting suit 10. Burden 11. Control-Z 12. Acne sufferer, perhaps 15. North America’s highest peak 17. Picture 21. World’s longest river 24. Bagel topping, perhaps 25. Hit HBO series, for short

27. Muslim mystic 28. Length times 1. Down 29. Stitched 30. Has six faces and twelve edges 31. Type of history 32. Toy gun maker 33. Turn a hide into leather 35. Syrup predecessor 39. The NFL has 32 40. Impulse 41. Bar offerings 42. Pulp Fiction actress Thurman 43. Bar bill 44. Tear-jerker, sometimes

47. “Chocolate, Midol, and a ______” 49. The Roman Colosseum, for example 50. Clay and silt are different types of these 51. Beginning 52. Fencer’s weapon 53. How to check for a broken bone 54. Grow weary 55. Weasley, Paul, and Jaworski 57. Not fake 60. Text msg. qualifier 61. Choose Editor’s Note: Solutions will run in next week’s issue. 13

Sp ort s athletes at Oberlin and to those who are not.

IN THE LOCKER ROOM

Yago Colás, Associate Professor of English This week, the Review sat down with Associate Professor of English Santiago (Yago) Colás, who enters his first year teaching at Oberlin. After a 25-year career at the University of Michigan, Colás decided to make the switch to Oberlin, where he can be closer to his family and offer his unique view on sports culture and society to students. His new book, Ball Don’t Lie, breaks down basketball’s various intersections with other parts of society, and his class, 13 Ways of Looking At Sports, tackles the different ways that people perceive and interact with sports and how that shapes their role in our lives. This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

As someone who writes predominantly about sports, how did you wind up coming to Oberlin? Well, the first reason is that my wife is a faculty member here and we’ve been commuting for nine years, so we’ve been looking for opportunities to end that situation. I gave a lecture through the Athletics department a few years ago about integrating athletics and academics on college campuses, and that attracted the attention of some faculty members, including some faculty members in the English department who were interested in my approach to sports as a kind of culture generator. [From there] we began to pursue the possibilities of getting a position at Oberlin in the English department. How does the nature of your job change as you move from one of the biggest Division I athletics programs in the nation to Oberlin?

There is a shift in size, obviously. I think on the athletics side, one of the things I’m really excited about at Oberlin is that because it is a Division III program and there are no athletic scholarships, it is easier to keep athletics in perspective and to release the positive potential that athletics has within an institution of higher education. Whereas at a place like Michigan, because of the size and the money involved, it can be easy to lose sight of what athletics are there for. On the academics side, I have only been here a short time, but [so far] I am very impressed with the students’ work ethic, [as well as their] interest and curiosity to engage in topics that may be familiar to them from an unfamiliar perspective. Considering you have a background in sports literature, what do you offer Oberlin that other professors may not? [Laughs.] Well, comparisons are odious, so I don’t

Yago Colás, Professor of English at Oberlin College. Photo by Alex McNicoll, Sports Editor

necessarily want to put that in terms of comparisons to other professors. [With that being said,] I think it’s clear that sports as a topic of academic study is not widely done on this campus. I think there have been a few exceptions here and there, but to have somebody on campus who is teaching primarily about sports and its various cultural accompaniments is something new. I think the opportunity for students, whether they are athletes, sports fans, or hold negative concepts around sports — it’s an opportunity to understand their experience to a central human activity in deeper way. In that sense, just like in any class, they get to know themselves and their relationship to the world in a more complicated and encompassing way. Sports also offers us an opportunity to scrutinize, discuss, and take action on issues of diversity, equity, and inclusion, something I’ve already seen from [my] own class is an important issue both to students who are varsity

Right now, your class 13 Ways Of Looking At Sports is predominantly comprised of athletes. Are you looking to change that going forward? I like to have a mix. I would hope that over time, students that aren’t varsity athletes come to see the value of studying sports from an academic view [because] it is such a central aspect to the human experience, and also because I think it’s an excellent topic for developing critical and intellectual abilities in a variety of disciplines. Sports involve economics, the hard sciences, the social sciences, and the humanities. I think there’s a lot for students who aren’t [varsity] athletes to gain from [sports studies], so I would like see that proportion shift a bit. I enjoyed [having a mix] at Michigan, and I think that it’s an important way for students to cross gaps that might separate them because of their different interests and experiences. In-class conversations are a great way to build community. Where do you see Oberlin’s sports culture fitting in with the greater Oberlin community? How do the social, cultural, and political aspects of both sides of campus interact? I think that’s an openended question that could go in a lot of directions. Oberlin is an institution of higher education, so students come here to learn, to learn how to learn, to learn how to think, to learn about themselves in the world, and to develop abilities

to equip them for the futures they want to create. The role of sports on campus should be to contribute to that mission. Now, I also understand that at Oberlin there is a strong tradition of commitment to social justice, and I think that sports can also play a role in that. There is a long history in sports of that being the case. Figures like Muhammad Ali or Colin Kaepernick or Megan Rapinoe have been outspoken athletes on [all sorts of cultural issues, from war to civil rights]. I think that that’s something we can talk about on campus, that students can learn about, and that students that are athletes and non-athletes can come together around. I also think, and this is something that we’re trying to do in the Sports Culture and Society cluster, that we can really bring it home. There is a great need in the city of Oberlin for resources, mentoring, and services of various sorts. In the cluster, we have students who are out in the community working in the elementary and middle schools and with the Parks and Recreation department to mentor the Oberlin youth who are underserved by public resources at the moment. Going back to the 19th century, there is a very strong tradition at Oberlin of physical education and athletics playing an important role in the formation of young people in a holistic way. Students who come to learn and students who come to pursue social justice interests are not just brains in vats — they have bodies. Understanding those bodies and incorporating them into their sense of themselves is a vital part of higher education.

Yeowomen Volleyball Impresses in Opening Tournament

Senior captain and defensive specialist Lola Gatti passes the ball as junior outside hitter Julia Ingoglia offers support in a scrimmage against Lorain County Community College. Photo courtesy of OC Athletics

Sam Harris The Yeowomen volleyball team began its season on a strong note at the River City Invitational in Marietta, Ohio last weekend. With a strong returning core built around three senior captains — Claudia Scott, Dana Thomas, and Lola Gatti — the Yeowomen are setting expectations and goals for this season. Erica Rau, who begins her seventh

season as head coach of the volleyball team, hopes to see large contributions from every class this season. “We have a very strong senior class, along with a lot of underclassmen who are going to play big roles this season,” Rau said, adding that this team exhibits “the most talent the volleyball team has ever had during [her] tenure.” Rau’s prospects came to fruition for the Yeowomen Friday, day one

of the tournament, as they won their first two games of the season against Emory & Henry College and Thiel College, with scores of 3–1 and 3–0, respectively. Sophomore Lexi Mitchell led the way with her impressive opening day play as a serious offensive threat with 29 kills and 7 aces over the doubleheader. Sophomore Samantha Lam also totaled 82 assists over the first two games. “We really want to see great energy and consistency throughout all of our games,” Thomas said. Other highlights from the two games included Thomas’s 19 kills on the offensive front and junior Emily Kelkar’s 18 digs on the defensive end. Thomas stressed that the team focused on gaining rhythm on the court. “One of our goals was to focus on making sure that defense and offense are in sync and performing well at the same time,” Thomas said. Unfortunately, the Yeowomen could not keep the ball rolling the second day of the invitational. The team fell to Transylvania University, 1–3, and later to West Virginia University Institute of Technology, 0–3, splitting their opening weekend overall. However, Thomas said that the team exhibited “much strength to build on,” despite the losses. “I’m still highly motivated and

excited for a successful season, and want to be a strong leader for others on my team,” Thomas added. With almost three weeks until they begin conference play, the Yeowomen still have plenty of time to continue practicing, experimenting, and discovering the best way to play both with their new first-years and without their five class of 2017 graduates. “It’s always a little weird starting back up without the seniors from last year,” Rau said. “But all of our firstyears saw some playing time this past weekend, and I expect that to only continue throughout the season.” Thomas, who expressed her high hopes for the season, is eager to see how the team will continue this year. “We would like to win more games this season and finish in the top half of our conference,” she said. “To do this, we really need to maintain our competitiveness level and mental toughness throughout the whole season.” The Yeowomen will be back today as they host the Oberlin Invite, one of many featured events of Oberlin’s homecoming weekend. The squad will face competition from Mount Aloysius College, Marietta College, and Defiance College during the invitational. Coming off a 17–16 record in their 2016–2017 season, Marietta College will be the biggest test for the Yeowomen.

Field Hockey Falls Short in NCAC Debut Against Kenyon

Junior midfielder player Meg Parker carries the ball past the opposing offense in last year’s Oct. 22 matchup against the Ohio Wesleyan University Big Red. The field hockey team has its first home game today at 5 p.m. on Bailey Field. Photo courtesy of OC Athletics Jackie McDermott Staff Writer

After winning its first home opener in five years in an exhilarating victory over Lindenwood University last Saturday, field hockey has endured a two-game slump, including a shutout 7–0 loss to North Coast Athletic Conference rivals the Kenyon College Ladies. Fatigue plagued the small Yeowomen squad as the Ladies used their laden roster to their advantage. “The biggest challenge we faced against Kenyon was their roster size,” sophomore forward

and midfielder Libby Royer wrote in an email to the Review. “They had the ability to constantly sub and get fresh legs on the field. We, on the other hand … [don’t] really have the ability to sub very often.” The offensive pressure came from numerous Kenyon players throughout the game, as six different Ladies scored goals throughout. An early first-half defensive save from senior Dillon Sebastian kept Kenyon off the board, but six minutes into play the Ladies were able to find the net. Kenyon scored again just two minutes later. However, Oberlin was able to quell the offensive pressure for the rest of the half.

“This game we saw how important it was to have confidence and keep our heads high no matter what the score,” Royer said. “We have an extremely dedicated group this year that is willing to fight until the last second during every game.” Fighting spirit wasn’t enough to keep the Ladies at bay. Kenyon notched five more goals in the second half for a final score of 7–0. Junior captain Kennedy Kline finished with nine saves after working the entire game in goal. Kline leads the team alongside fellow junior captain and attack Amelia Huang. Head coach Tiffany Saunders, now in her third year with the Yeowomen, spoke highly of the junior leaders. “Amelia and Kennedy are both very positive players that not only understand our team dynamic, but also have a very strong game sense,” Saunders wrote in an email to the Review. “Having them step up as juniors to fill the role of captainship is very exciting.” Kline stepped up right away as the team kicked off its season during its trip to Wisconsin last weekend. Kline’s strong performance in goal Saturday against Lindenwood helped lead the Yeowomen to a 5–2 win. The squad showed that it has made strides since last year in offensive production, as the Yeowomen outshot the

Lindenwood University at Belleville Lynx 17–7 with 14 of their shots landing on cage. In the lone goal of the first half, junior forward Jenna Gyimesi connected with sophomore midfielder Luisa McGarvey to put the Yeowomen up 1–0. The Oberlin offensive campaign heated up in the second half as Huang led the team with a goal and two assists. Huang assisted Gyimesi for her first goal of the year at minute 40. Later, Huang scored off of a feed from firstyear forward Reet Goraya. Huang returned the favor 30 seconds later, assisting Goraya for her first collegiate goal. Up 4–0, Oberlin earned their final point when Royer scored off of a pass from senior Dillon Sebastian. Each Oberlin goal was scored by a different player, and Saunders noted the team’s willingness to spread the ball around as a highlight of the game. “Seeing the squad share the ball on field and having multiple people take part in winning a game is so important to building a strong team,” she said. The following day, however, the Yeowomen couldn’t keep the momentum going. They faced stronger competition and more pressure than the day before, ultimately falling to the Concordia University Falcons 4–0. The Falcons got going early, scoring three goals and outshooting the Yeowomen 11–1 in the first half.

“In the first half, we could sense that we were falling apart a little bit,” Kline said. “But our attitude and the way that we treated each other didn’t falter and I think that’s why the second half of our game was a lot stronger.” After halftime, Oberlin held Concordia to just one goal with the help of Kline, who logged a season-high 13 saves. Royer also contributed a notable performance, leading the team with three shots. “I love to build memories and a family-like atmosphere, so exploring Milwaukee was a definite highlight over the weekend,” Saunders said. “Hearing the laughs and seeing the smiles while [the players] enjoy one another[’s] company is always a special moment.” Junior midfielder Meg Parker added a similar sentiment. “Our team is really unique in that our foundation is love,” Parker said. “That is the most important thing to our team — how much we love each other. Even if we don’t have the best record in the conference, I’d rather lose with this team than win with anyone else.” The Yeowomen will make their home debut and kick off Oberlin’s Homecoming festivities today at Knowlton Athletics Complex at 5 p.m., taking on the Christopher Newport University Captains.

MLB’s Departure From Traditional Values Detrimental to Culture

Alex McNicoll Sports Editor

From Aaron Judge’s 500-foot blasts to Aroldis Chapman’s 103 mile-an-hour fastballs, there’s something about Major League Baseball that departs from its place in the bedrocks of American society for over 100 years. While baseball, like all sports, is constantly evolving, its growing overreliance on statistics is rapidly changing the sport’s foundation. Baseball has always been a game whose allure lies as much in the time between actions as it does in the actions themselves. Since there is no game-clock, before each pitch there is a building anticipation, and until the final out, there is potential for something great to happen. All of the life that exists between plays has given the MLB the character and quirks that make baseball America’s pastime. Play calls and rally caps are baseball-specific necessities that simply cannot exist in any other sport. However, as the National Basketball Association and National Football League adapt to a sports culture that gets most of its information from ESPN SportsCenter highlights and online mixtapes, the MLB is moving toward a boom or bust play style. To say that home runs this year are up would be a monumental understatement. MLB teams are on pace to shatter the record of long balls hit in a season, which was set in the middle of the steroid era, by over 500. However, to trace the story of the MLB’s surge in homers back to its roots, we have to first start with the front office. Sabermetrics, which was popularized in the 2011 movie Moneyball, is the use of advanced analytics to value a player’s overall level of play, and it is sweeping the baseball world. General managers are changing the way they value players, which in turn is changing the shape of the league. The increase in home runs is only a small piece of the puzzle, as MLB teams are also set to break the record of strikeouts in The Oberlin Review | September 8, 2017

a season. Home runs and strikeouts have always been proportionally linked, there has never been a time in the history of the league that they have both been so inflated. This is the basis of a phenomenon that is referred to as the “fly-ball revolution.” To front offices that predominantly look at advanced statistics, a strikeout is no more detrimental to the team than a ball that is put in play but ultimately leads to an out. In other words, a player who does not hit for power, but always puts the ball in play, is considered less valuable than one who either strikes out, flies out, or hits a home run every time they are at bat. Both sides of the ball are seeing a complete makeover as MLB teams start to implement what is known as the shift. Sabermetrics encompass all aspects of baseball, including a player to hit the ball to a certain part of the field. If a batter does not have a history of being able to hit the ball to both sides of the field, then teams will move players from the left side to the right side. However, the easiest way to break the shift is to hit a home run, which is the one place a defender cannot be. Thus, players have even more reason to try and hit fly balls more regularly. The MLB was hit harder than any other professional sports organization by performance-enhancing drugs. But recently, many speculate that since the MLB cannot juice the players, they decided to juice the balls. “There’s a lot of people unhappy with the baseball, and I’m getting the same feedback,’’ New York Mets

Pitching Coach Dan Warthen said. “You’re seeing guys going opposite field, breaking their bats, and the balls are flying out. Multiple pitchers and coaches, such as Justin Verlander, David Price, and Terry Collins, have all claimed that the seams on MLB baseballs have been lowered. Lowered seams are proven to decrease drag, which would not only increase how fast pitches are being thrown, but also how far balls will go after being hit. The MLB has publicly denied changing the way it makes balls. However there is a wide-range for how high or low

the seams on an MLB baseball can be to still fit regulation. In fact, this range is so large that two MLB regulation baseballs hit with the same force at the same angle could vary in distance by up to 49 feet, according to FiveThirtyEight. As teams are in the midst of the final post-season push, batters are hitting balls further, and pitches are getting faster. While baseball plays are now inflated with 100-plus mile-an-hour pitches and mind-bending moonshots, it is the time between actions, not the actions themselves, that has taken the biggest hit.

SPORTS September 8, 2017

established 1874

Volume 146, Number 2

Football Faces CTE Epidemic Julie Schreiber Sports Editor

Senior forward Gwennie Gardiner fires a shot past the goalie in the Yeowomen’s 7–1 victory against the Bluffton University Beavers. The women’s soccer team looks to increase their win-streak to four when they play the Defiance College Lady Jackets this Saturday. Photo courtesy of OC Athletics

Yeowomen Dominate Opening Games Jane Agler

The Yeowomen continued their scorching start to the season as they toppled the Baldwin Wallace University Yellow Jackets 3–1 on Tuesday to remain perfect at 3–0. Their high-octane offense, which has already scored a North Coast Athletic Conference best of 14 goals this year, has been the driving force behind the best start to a season for the Yeowomen since 2008. Head Coach Dan Palmer, who enters his fifth season with the team, has transformed the women’s soccer program, leading them to their best threeyear stretch in Oberlin history with 24 wins. He has been happy with what he has seen from the offense so far, but is still looking to improve the overall tempo of their game. “We have some exciting attacking players and have added depth across our team,” Palmer wrote in an email to the Review. “We do need to stay disciplined on both sides of the ball and our new players must continue to adjust to the speed and physical nature of the college game as we start to play more competitive teams.” On Tuesday, the Yeowomen battled the Yellow Jackets to a 1–1 standstill through the first 45 minutes of play behind the roar of the Fred Shults Field crowd. It was not until the 71st minute that senior forward and 2016 First Team All-NCAC member Gwennie Gardiner broke the tie with a put-back score. From there, the Yeowomen cruised to a 3–1 victory as Gardiner notched another goal, raising her to an NCAC best of five goals thus far this season. To sophomore defensive midfielder Izzy Rosenstein, the team’s resilience is a huge improvement from where they were coming in to the season. “Our scrimmages before the season started were a little less organized,” Rosenstein said. “But in the first games, we’ve really started to come together

and play with each other.” The Yeowomen’s streak of success began Sept. 1 when they squared off against the University of Pittsburgh Panthers at Bradford. First-years ran the show as two rookies, midfielder Sydnie Savarese and forward Brittany Mendez, netted their first collegiate goals. Mendez, who earned the first NCAC Player of the Week for the 2017 season after a single week of collegiate level soccer, also played an integral role in the game against the Bluffton University Beavers. Her game-high three goals led to a 7–1 thrashing of Bluffton last Sunday. Mendez, who has remained humble in her hot start, is as happy to be playing as she is to be contributing at such a high level. “It was very exciting,” said Mendez. “I came in not expecting to play a lot, and then I ended up playing a lot more and scoring goals. It’s really new to me because I came from a team where I didn’t play so much.” All eyes fall on Sept. 23, when the Yeowomen will play their first conference matchup against the Ohio Wesleyan University Battling Bishops. Last season, the 7–8–1 team struggled mightily against NCAC foes, when they went 2–5–1. While the Yeowomen are already familiar with out-of-conference success, going 5–2 last year, they will need to ready themselves for brutal NCAC competition, including the Denison University Big Red, who they bested last year 2–1 to close off their 2016 run. The Big Red commanded the best offense in the conference last year, scoring 32 goals overall, and are 1–1 for the 2017 season so far. In the meantime, the Yeowomen will face off against the Defiance College Lady Jackets, who currently stand with a 1–0–1 record, including a loss against Heidelberg College and a tense win — decided by a tie-breaking goal in overtime — against Bethany College. The Yeowomen’s first away game will take place tomorrow at 1 p.m. in Defiance, Ohio.

A concussion crisis is consuming the game of football at every level, from pop-warner to professional nationwide. Football has suffered a major loss of support over the past few years, as disturbing information about the sport’s long-term traumatic effects on the brain has come to light. This decline in support, however, is not due to a drop in fans of professional football. The true threat to the future of football is the loss in youth participation, with parents becoming increasingly eager to pull their children out of the game. Participation in youth football is decreasing across the nation at exponential rates. In the past five years, Michigan has lost 57 high school football teams, California, 28, and Missouri, 24, according to the Washington Post. In Highland Park, IL, a suburb of Chicago, a once-popular youth football program called the “Little Giants” entirely canceled its upcoming season after only 11 registered, a steep decline from its usual 100-plus sign-ups. The shocking information surrounding football-related head trauma — its connection to Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy in particular — has without a doubt led to the striking surge in children withdrawn from football programs. CTE is a degenerative brain disease that causes depression, dementia, psychosis, memory loss, and/ or death, and is found in many athletes with a history of repeated head trauma. It originally made headlines 12 years ago after it was discovered posthumously in NFL players who had committed suicide, like Dave Duerson and Andre Waters. It has likewise been found in countless high school and collegiate football players. CTE is only confirmable in autopsies, and there is still much to be uncovered about the disease, but many doctors and neurologists have expressed concerns over the lingering traumatic effects of football on the brain. A recent study at Boston University confirmed cases of CTE in 110 of 111 brains of former NFL players, as well as 48 of 53 former collegiate football players. Dr. Bennett Omalu, who first discovered the disease, stated that allowing kids under the age of 18 to play football was “the definition of child abuse.” This is the type of information that athletes’ parents cannot ignore. In addition to a diminution in youth participation, football also faces potential loss of support on a professional level. Former NFL player and ESPN/ABC football analyst Ed Cunningham recently and suddenly resigned from his esteemed position as a college football broadcaster after years of observing the damage and trauma that the sport induces. He told The New York Times in a recent interview that while he still supported the sport, he could “no longer be in that cheerleader spot.” Cunningham appears to be the first professional football broadcaster to step away from the sport for safety concerns, possibly paving the way for other professionals to vocalize their own concerns. Ten years ago, Cunningham told The New York Times in a feature about football and head trauma that we’ve “turned a blind eye towards the violence.” A decade later, he’s finally following up on his word and contributing to the changing attitudes toward football nationwide. Alongside other football superiors, Cunningham doesn’t necessarily call for an end to the sport; he just calls for new safety modifications. In his resignation speech, Cunningham shared some of his goals for increased safety in the game, such as limited contact before high school football and softer helmet exteriors. Plans to increase safety measures may have the power to revive substantial support for the game, but as long as the harrowing evidence of CTE continues to develop and influence the parents and families of athletes, football will more than likely face its eventual demise. See Editorial, page 15