Julia Peterson, Arts & Culture Editor
October 6, 2017
Filed under Commentary, OPINIONS
When I was growing up in Montreal, Quebec, there was a shooting at the school that I would later attend. I mentioned it to some of my friends here in Oberlin last year, when the topic of gun violence had become urgently relevant yet again. When I told them the death toll, they were shocked that “only” one person had died.
And how could they not be, when according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, an average of 93 Americans are killed with a gun every day in the U.S.?
Since Sunday night, when a gunman opened fire on a concert in Las Vegas, NV, I’ve heard many American commentators and politicians say that now is not the right time to talk about gun control. It is a disingenuous argument that w...
Xander Kott, Contributing Writer
October 6, 2017
Filed under Commentary, OPINIONS
When the latest attempt to repeal the Affordable Care Act — the Graham-Cassidy bill — failed before reaching the Senate last week, many people were left wondering how the health care debate will move forward. If the past few months are any indication, the answer is nowhere.
Congress is so divided on health care that the passage of meaningful legislation on the matter is becoming more and more of a pipe dream. Republicans have campaigned on the idea of repealing and replacing the Affordable Care Act since it was first implemented seven years ago. However, even upon winning the presidency and a majority in both chambers of Congress, they have been unable to fulfill this promise. They have made three repeal attempts...
Alice Koeninger, Contributing Writer
October 6, 2017
Filed under Commentary, OPINIONS
Over the past nine months, the American Civil Liberties Union has taken a prominent role in fighting the Trump administration’s attempts to oppress marginalized communities across the country. Many of the ACLU’s battles take place in the courts and seem distant from everyday activism, but their outcomes impact daily life. The policies set down by this administration are so blatantly discriminatory that facing them as an individual can be overwhelming and terrifying — having institutional support from a group accustomed to fighting battles for civil liberties is both helpful and comforting. One of those battles is for one of our most important civil responsibilities: voting. Voting in a non-presidential election may ...
Kennedy Kline and Ua Hayes
September 29, 2017
Filed under Commentary, OPINIONS
When our field hockey team stood for the national anthem Saturday, it didn’t feel right. We didn’t feel proud to be standing for America because we didn’t feel that America offers anything worth being proud of. We’d felt this before: feelings of discomfort, confusion, and anger over being pressured to stand tall and strong in a display of unrelenting patriotism. At a certain point, we just couldn’t ignore the feeling anymore.
In August and September 2016, Colin Kaepernick, quarterback for the San Francisco 49ers, received an enormous amount of media attention after kneeling during the anthem before one of the 49ers’ football games. Immediately after, people demanded to know: Why did he kneel?
Sinc...
Ezra Andres-Tysch, Contributing Writer
September 29, 2017
Filed under Commentary, OPINIONS
Oberlin continued its dedication to civic participation, political activism, and social justice Tuesday as college students, faculty, and Oberlin residents lined up outside of Wilder 101 to hear executive director of Emerge Vermont Ruth Hardy, OC ’92, speak. The enthusiastic and sweaty audience packed the lecture hall, listening to Hardy discuss why women should run for office and why voters should support them.
Emerge Vermont works “to increase the number of Democratic women in public office.” Hardy is an elected official herself, serving as the chair of the local school board in Middlebury, VT. She got started in local politics because she wanted to introduce foreign language classes to Middlebury eleme...
Sheridan Blitz, Contributing Writer
September 29, 2017
Filed under Commentary, OPINIONS
I haven’t always been a vegan, but I have always loved animals. Even before I was aware that veganism existed, consuming animals for my own pleasure never made ethical sense to me. It wasn’t until around fifth grade that I was introduced to the concept of veganism and realized that there are no good reasons to not be vegan. The only thing holding me back from following through was myself. Thus began my journey of self-education about the impacts we have as consumers of animal products.
According to the documentary Cowspiracy: The Sustainability Secret, for every minute you spend reading this article, seven million pounds of excrement are produced by animals raised for human consumption in the United State...
Maddi Kimball, Ads Manager
September 29, 2017
Filed under Commentary, OPINIONS
“It’s a life-changing experience.”
Whether those five words prompt or end the conversation, they are likely embedded in any type of discussion about studying abroad. For me, the possibility of studying abroad during the spring semester my junior year of college definitely factored into my decision to attend Oberlin, and yet, guess what I’m not doing in the spring semester of my junior year? That’s right — I am not studying abroad.
Yes, you read correctly — I decided not to study abroad. When I was a first-year, I imagined how amazing it would be to walk the streets of Florence and take in the Renaissance-era architecture, hold koalas in the Australian brush, or laugh over tapas with new friends in...
Ezra Andres-Tysch and Harris Walker
September 22, 2017
Filed under Commentary, OPINIONS
Although it seems that the last election cycle only just ended, it is already time to start thinking about the upcoming races this academic year. While smaller in scale than the presidential race we all just endured, these elections are incredibly important — especially in such a politically fragile time.
This is why the Oberlin College Democrats, in partnership with local grassroots activist group Lorain County Rising, have invited every candidate for the Democratic Party’s gubernatorial nomination to speak at Oberlin leading up to this spring’s primary. These forums are an opportunity for Oberlin students and community members to engage with candidates for governor in a race that will not feature curre...
Daniel Markus, Managing Editor
September 22, 2017
Filed under Commentary, OPINIONS
Harvard University’s coat of arms is perhaps one of the most recognizable in the world today — bold, yet simple, a plain crimson shield with three books in the foreground, across them inscribed in bold serif a single Latin word: “veritas,” meaning “truth.”
I remember being in awe of the Harvard shield when I was younger. It seemed remarkable to me that any institution could be so prominent as to have “truth,” unbridled by any other words, as its motto. It also seemed noble — pursuit of the truth, regardless of the political consequences — something only suited to the most prominent educational institution in America, if not the world.
I wonder if Douglas Elmendorf, dean of the John F. Kenn...
Brittany Mendez, Contributing Writer
September 22, 2017
Filed under Commentary, OPINIONS
Last week, at the recommendation of my Philosophy professor, I attended a lecture by Dr. Rachel McKinnon titled “Including Trans Athletes in Sports.” I’m glad I went, because it challenged me to think more deeply about why we segregate sports by gender. Historically, Black athletes have performed better in sports, but if we split sports by race, most would consider this to be absurd. If this is true, why do we accept segregation of sports by gender?
McKinnon is an Assistant Professor in the Philosophy department at the College of Charleston and an international cyclist hoping to compete in the next Olympic Games. As a trans female athlete, she has faced many challenges in competing in organized athl...
Melissa Harris, Editor-in-Chief
September 15, 2017
Filed under Commentary, OPINIONS
One endemic problem I see constantly in college students — a problem I’m guilty of feeding into myself — is the pressure to push yourself everyday, treating each semester like a marathon that you have to run on your own. Some lock themselves in their rooms, spending hours on endless problem sets while others find themselves buried in Mudd’s eerily silent corners, reading stacks of assigned articles and books. This experience has been all too familiar to me throughout my time at Oberlin and, as I kick off my senior year with a capstone and honors project to tackle this semester, I’ve been isolating myself more than I would like.
In getting wrapped up in my research and personal stress, I sometimes forg...
Brittany Mendez, Contributing Writer
September 15, 2017
Filed under Commentary, OPINIONS
Have you ever been lured by statistics claiming that an institution is significantly more diverse than its competitors? If you attend Oberlin or any other college, you likely have. Many workplaces advertise themselves in a similar manner, which I experienced first-hand at an internship this past summer.
For my senior project last year, I interned in the Office of the Attorney General in Washington, D.C., shadowing attorneys in the public interest division. As a student considering a career in law, I hoped the internship would give me an accurate understanding of what life as an attorney would be like.
After my project officially ended, I was asked to continue interning over the summer and I happily accep...
