The Oberlin Review

Posters Call Upon Students to Boycott Course Evaluations

Rachel Choi

December 13, 2019

Conversations around the ethics of student-submitted course evaluations have surfaced after anonymous posters were put up around campus urging students to boycott filling out their evaluations. The posters argue that inherent implicit biases may cause unfairness and inequity in the evaluations, particularly ...

Tags: boycott, Boycott Course Evaluations, Caroline Jackson-Smith, Cindy Frantz, Course Evaluations, David Kamitsuka, evaluation, faculty personnel committees, implicit biases, Maisie Sheidlower, protest, psychology, Rachel Choi, SETs, Student Evaluations of Teaching, William Quillen

Independent Congressional Candidate Visits Oberlin on Listening Tour

Chris Gibbs speaks to Ohioans at The Corner Joint on Wednesday. Gibbs aims to run as an Independent in the fourth congressional district race in Nov. 2020.

Ella Moxley, Senior Staff Writer

December 13, 2019

Chris Gibbs, who is planning to run for Representative Jim Jordan’s seat in Congress as an Independent, met with potential constituents at The Corner Joint on Wednesday. Gibbs is currently traveling around Ohio’s fourth congressional district, which includes Oberlin, on a listening tour as part ...

Tags: 4th district, Chris Gibbs, congress, Ella Moxley, Ezra Andres-Tysch, ilana foggle, janet garrett, Jim Jordan, Listening Session, Ohio’s fourth congressional district, Sophia Herron Geller, The Corner Joint, Voters, voting

William Quillen Named Dean of Conservatory

Anisa Curry Vietze, News Editor

December 13, 2019

William Quillen has been hired as dean of the Conservatory after serving in the position on an interim basis since June 2018. In May, Oberlin launched a confidential national search for the position. Quillen was vice-chair of the Academic and Administrative Program Review’s Steering Committee, alongside A...

Tags: AAPR, Academic and Administrative Program Review, Ambar, bill quillen, Carmen Twillie Ambar, conservatory, Conservatory dean, dean, dean of the Conservatory, President Ambar, William Quillen

Makerspace Cultivates Student Creativity

The Oberlin Student Makerspace nestles itself in a nondescript room on Wilder Hall’s third-and-a-half floor. No larger than an office, the space is ergonomic; various workbenches, cabinets, and machinery rest flush to the walls, ringing a small carpeted space which rolling office chairs can cross easily — perhaps to grab a tool or part.

“There was no functional place for students to go and work on maker projects, where the idea is you have access to tools and can make things,” double-degree fourth-year Dirk Roosenburg said when asked about the origin of the space.

Roosenburg, along with College third-years Maeve Greising and Ellis Lane, act as the club’s officers, which costs a one-time fee of just $5 to join.

“The idea here is the makerspace doesn’t actually provide projects,” Roosenburg said. “We hold office hours that are completely open.”

Any student or faculty member can come to the space with an idea, regardless of their knowledge of the variety of tools, and receive guidance. Having a stock of consumable materials and over 200 unique tools on hand overcomes a major hurdle that many aspiring and lone makers face: access to resources.

Partnerships with community artists and makers are also on the horizon. One of these involves refurbishing electronics, such as turntables, for sale in local thrift stores.

Interested students can stop by Wilder 329 or email oc3d@oberlin.edu to pursue their creative desires with the Oberlin Student Makerspace.

Christo Hays, Production Editor

December 13, 2019

Tags: artists, Christo Hays, Dirk Roosenburg, Ellis Lane, feature photo, Hayes, Maeve Greising, Makerspace, Oberlin Student Makerspace, OSM, tools, wilder

City Council Rezones Land for Potential Retail Center

The preliminary site plan for a new shopping center at the intersection of Ohio State Route 58 and U.S. Route 20 in Oberlin. City Council voted to rezone the land for commercial development at its last public hearing.

Katherine MacPhail, Editor-in-Chief

December 13, 2019

Last week, Oberlin City Council voted 7–0 to rezone land at the intersection of Ohio State Route 58 and U.S. Route 20, opening up the plot to be developed into a shopping center by the Carnegie Management and Development Corporation. The vote followed a public hearing, which many community members wh...

Tags: Aliza Weidenbaum, Bryan Burgess, Carnegie Management and, Carnegie Management and Development, Carnegie Management and Development Corporation, City Council, City Council hearings, city tax, Heather Adelman, Mall, Oberlin City Council, rezone, rezoning, Ronnie Rimbert, Sharon Pearson, tax

Security Report

December 13, 2019

Friday, Dec. 6, 2019 1:14 a.m. Campus Safety officers and the Oberlin Fire Department responded to a fire alarm in the Talcott Hall basement. No fire or smoke was observed in the area. An electrician responded to replace the detector. 7:55 p.m. Mercy Allen Hospital staff requested transport for a student ...

Tags: Security Notebook, security report

OTC: Jad Abumrad, OC ’95, Creator of Radiolab, Dolly Parton’s America

Anisa Curry Vietze and Sarah Dalgleish

December 13, 2019

Jad Abumrad, OC ’95, is the creator and producer of some of the most popular public radio programs and podcasts, including Radiolab, More Perfect, and Dolly Parton’s America. Abumrad’s show Radiolab — previously co-hosted by Robert Krulwich, OC ’69 — airs on over 500 stations in the Unit...

Tags: Anisa Curry Vietze, audio, audio journalism, Dolly Parton’s America, Jad Abumrad, More Perfect, npr, Oberlin alum, obie alum, off the cuff, otc, podcast, public radio, radiolab, Sarah Dalgleish, WNYC

Student Voting Participation Higher Than Previously Reported, Says Professor

Associate Professor and Chair of Geology Zeb Page in his office. Page wrote a program to reconcile local student voting engagement numbers against data from the National Study of Learning, Voting, and Engagement.

Nathan Carpenter, Editor-in-Chief

December 6, 2019

Since 2012, reports generated by the National Study of Learning, Voting, and Engagement have calculated voter participation at Oberlin College as below national averages for college students across the country. Now, independent research undertaken by Associate Professor and Chair of Geology F. Zeb Page r...

Tags: Dave Brinker, Ezra Andres-Tysch, Institute for Democracy and Higher Education, Lorain County voter, Lucie Weismuller, Nathan Carpenter, National Study of Learning Voting and Engagement, NSLVE, NSLVE report, ross peacock, student voting, Tufts University, voting, voting Participation, Zeb Page

College Maintains “Minimal Exposure” to Fossil Fuel Investments

Katie Lucey, News Editor

December 6, 2019

Five years after the Board of Trustees published an official Resolution for Divestment and established the Impact Investment Platform, Oberlin’s endowment remains partially invested in companies that benefit from the production and consumption of fossil fuels. “Oberlin still has minimal exposure to f...

Tags: Amy Chen, board of trustees, divestment, endowment, finance, financial, fossil fuel investments, IIP, Impact Investment Platform, Investment Committee, investments, Jabree Hason, Jubreel Hason, Jun Yang, Katie Lucey, Leah Modigliani, Oberlin Student Finance and Investment Club, Oberlin’s endowment, Rachel Serna-Brown, Rebecca Vazquez-Skillings, Resolution for Divestment, sunrise oberlin

National Media Responds to Memorial to Palestinian Combat Victims

A memorial to Palestinians killed in a November attack by the Israel Defense Force was installed before Thanksgiving by student organizations Jewish Voices for Peace and Students for a Free Palestine.

Ella Moxley, Senior Staff Writer

December 6, 2019

Before Thanksgiving break, Oberlin students from Jewish Voice for Peace and Students for a Free Palestine erected a memorial for Palestinians killed in a Nov. 12 airstrike by the Israel Defense Force. The memorial commemorated the lives of 34 people — including eight children — killed in a round ...

Tags: Bahaa Abu el-Atta, Ella Moxley, IDS, Israel Defense Force, Jewish Voice for Peace, JVP, Memorial, Palestinians, SFP, Students for a Free Palestine

College Increases ExCo Stipend, Committee Offers Full Courseload for Spring

Arman Luczkow, Staff Writer

December 6, 2019

The Experimental College Committee’s compensation was increased by the Office of the Dean of Arts and Sciences last month, from $6,000 to $7,000 for the 2019–2020 academic year. In October, the five-student committee announced that they would need to reduce the number of ExCo courses to 50, due to...

Tags: Arman Luczkow, Bridget Smith, Caleb Knapp, Elizabeth Hamilton, Emily Spezia-Shwiff, exco, ExCo committee, Experimental College, Experimental College Committee, funding, funding increase, meredith raimondo, Office of the Dean of Arts and Sciences, Serena Zets, student compensation, student wage

HIV Peer Testing Center Reopens, Undergoes Changes

HIV peer testers conduct free, confidential tests for students. The HIV Peer Testing Center reopened this semester after roughly a semester-long hiatus.

Alexa Stevens, Staff Writer

December 6, 2019

After being closed for more than a semester due to changes at the state level, Oberlin’s HIV Peer Testing Center has reopened sooner than expected and reinstated its free HIV tests. However, unlike last year, student peer testers can only administer testing twice a month, when a Lorain County Public...

Tags: Alexa Stevens, cdc, DIS, Disease Intervention Specialist, Fiona Sherman, HIV Peer Testers, HIV Peer Testing, HIV test, HIV tests, HIVPT, Lorain County Public Health, Oberlin’s HIV Peer Testing Center, OHD, Ohio Department of Health, Peer Testing Center, Rapid HIV Testing Protocol, Sadie Munter