Commentary – The Oberlin Review

The Hotel at Oberlin’s Retail Space: This is Not a Metaphor?

May 10, 2019

Last Friday, the Review missed an opportunity to report on a truly remarkable piece of sensationalism: a gold Prius, driving through three panes of glass at The Hotel at Oberlin on Thursday, May 2. Here were all the makings of a great story: drama, action, intrigue, no one getting hurt — and yet my colleagues at this publication let you down. For the sake of “not enough facts” and “come on, this isn’t a story,” we settled on something like “a picture speaks a thousand words.” You can see for yourself the grainy cellphone image of the incident, published last issue. Technically, it gets the point across. But in the crash’s immediate aftermath, something struck me. As I stood there watching the b...

OSCA: The Problem and Opportunity

John Petersen, Contributing Writer

May 10, 2019

“Oberlin’s relevance as an institution is more important today than it’s ever been.” So said President Carmen Twillie Ambar in the pages of the Review at the time she became our 15th President (“Off the Cuff: Carmen Ambar, President of Oberlin College,” Sept. 1, 2017). I think just about every student, alumnum, and faculty member strongly agrees with her on this point. And at the same time, I think most of us have also been convinced that Oberlin College needs to tighten its belt in order to achieve financial sustainability so that we retain our ability to positively impact the world well into the future. So the question that the Academic and Administrative Program Review steering committee members and th...

Community Should Promote Oberlin’s Green Fire Station

Devlin O’Keefe, Julia McCormick, Bella Tuffias-Mora, and Clara Zucker

May 10, 2019

Founded in 1853, Oberlin’s Fire Station has a long history of assisting its residents in times of need. However, many are unaware that the Oberlin Fire Department is dedicated to the Oberlin community in ways beyond protecting its citizens from fire and accidents. As the City of Oberlin planned for a new station, they pushed for this facility to become the first LEED certified fire station in Ohio. LEED, which stands for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, is a program that awards certifications to newer buildings that are especially environmentally conscious. The program uses a point system; the more points the building has based upon green initiatives, the higher their rating is. As of 2009, th...

Ariana Grande Should Not Be Your White Queer Icon

Aly Fogel, Contributing Writer

May 3, 2019

A couple of months ago, I wrote an article for the Review about queer tropes in the music video for Ariana Grande’s song, “break up with your girlfriend, i’m bored” (“Ariana Grande’s Music Video Perpetuates Queer Stereotypes, Tropes,” March 8, 2018). Writing under the assumption that Grande was straight, I criticized the video for utilizing Grande’s kiss with a girl as a “plot twist.” This portrayal, I argued, fed into a common trope that delegitimizes and fetishizes queer women. The article was written a month after the video was released, prior to any sign of Grande coming out. Then, at the beginning of April, Ariana released a song titled “Monopoly” with her friend Victoria Monét, who is bisexual....

Mercy Nurses Deserve More Respect, Thanks

Jaimie Yue, Contributing Writer

May 3, 2019

As I approached the doors to Stevenson Dining Hall on Wednesday, April 24, a man stopped me and introduced himself as James. Clipboard in hand, he explained how the nurses at Mercy Allen Hospital were negotiating with hospital administrators and were considering striking due to being overworked and underpaid. Last week, the Ohio Nurses Association entered negotiations with Mercy administrators over issues concerning nurses’ pay. ONA also filed an unfair labor practice charge with the National Labor Relations Board against the hospital. Meanwhile, Oberlin’s Student Labor Action Coalition — a labor solidarity group — has been working with representatives from ONA to gain support. James was outside Stevens...

Career Communities Represents Positive Change, But Funding Must Be Accessible

Lior Krancer, Production Editor

May 3, 2019

My experience with the Career Communities Program was very valuable. As a member of the Nonprofit and Public Sector Career Community, I learned so much about career preparedness, networking, and interviewing. It really showed me how strong Oberlin’s alumni network is — there are so many Obies doing amazing things all over the country who are eager to talk to current students about their futures. Since I want to work in a competitive field, having specialized training to improve résumé and interviewing skills was indispensable. After multiple rounds of interviews with several organizations, I accepted an internship with The Brady Campaign to End Gun Violence, an interest group in Washington, D.C. That pr...

Academic and Administrative Review Process Not the Enemy

Lior Krancer, Production Editor

April 26, 2019

As of yesterday, a year has passed since President Carmen Twillie Ambar shared the list of Academic and Administrative Program Review Steering Committee members with the Oberlin community. The AAPR is daunting because it indicates that hard decisions will need to be made to secure Oberlin’s long-term financial future. However, the fact that we have a dedicated program to address our serious deficit shows that Oberlin’s administration understands the gravity of our current financial struggle. During this process, I have come to see a pattern of Oberlin students leveling sweeping criticisms of the AAPR rather than meaningfully confronting the potential danger we face. While there are plenty of reasonable concer...

All In Fundraising Efforts Are Essential for Scholarship Fund

Meg Parker, Photo Editor

April 26, 2019

In his most recent Netflix comedy special Kid Gorgeous, John Mulaney recounts the tale of how frequently his alma mater mails him requests for money. He jokes about how abrasive it was to receive a letter demanding money from his college. If you’ve seen the special, you’re familiar with his bit, if not, it goes something like this: “I just got a letter from my college, which was fun, ’cause mail, you know?” he says. “So I open up the letter and they said, ‘Hey, John, it’s college. You remember?’ I say, ‘Yes, of course.’ And they said… How did they phrase it? They said, ‘Give us some money! As a gift! We want a gift! But only if it’s money.’” The frustration and discomfort Mulaney jokes a...

Inadequate Facilities Unsafe, Inaccessible For Disabled Students

Zoë Luh, Contributing Writer

April 19, 2019

My most poignant memory from Orientation Week was calling my best friend crying because I thought I would have to leave this school. Classes hadn’t even started yet. There was no academic pressure, and there were many opportunities for social exploration. The reason I thought I had to leave Oberlin was because of its lack of accessibility. On the third day of orientation, I remember entering Hall Auditorium for the mandatory play, The OC. Even though the building isn’t as old as others on campus, it wasn’t designed with the needs of people like me in mind. As soon as I entered Hall Auditorium, I could smell mold. Mold is an environmental toxin that has especially adverse effects on people with chronic ill...

Students Must Address Entitlement, Be More Respectful, Appreciative of Hourly Employees

Marisa Kim, Contributing Writer

April 19, 2019

Dear Obies: I do not wake up at 6 a.m. every Wednesday to clean up your messes. I have worked for Campus Dining Services in Wilder DeCafé since my second week on campus. During my first semester, I worked as a stocker, and this semester I work as a line clerk. In that time, I’ve witnessed a consistent trend at Oberlin, which can best be encompassed by a recent exchange. The checkout line in DeCafé is always longest during the 10-minute transition periods between classes. Last Wednesday — with just a few minutes till 9 a.m. — the line wrapped around the store to the beverage fridges while I was manning the sole open register. Whilst trying to escape the line as quickly as possible, a student spilled h...

Strange Acquisitions: How We Got The Carnegie Building

Isabelle Smith, Contributing Writer

April 19, 2019

Many Oberlin students are aware of Oberlin’s rich history. Some even first heard about Oberlin in their high school history books. However, few students are aware of the captivating stories that Oberlin’s physical buildings themselves hold. In a previous Review article, College senior Kameron Dunbar detailed the interesting history behind Langston Hall and urged readers to discover not only the stories of how Oberlin acquired these buildings, but also the reasoning behind the names of certain buildings (“Community Should Reflect Upon History of College Spaces,” March 9, 2018). Another example of a building with a very interesting, yet mostly forgotten history is the Carnegie Building at the corner of W...

We Need To Fix Course Registration — Here’s How

David Mathisson, Contributing Writer

April 12, 2019

Course registration is obviously not the highlight of anybody’s college experience — and it’s especially bad at Oberlin. Course selection starts with a mess of overloaded but mandatory courses thanks to a large number of highly specific requirements. Faculty replace prerequisites with consent barriers so that qualified students are held at the mercy of overworked professors’ ability to respond to emails. Then, when students are unable to get into the courses they want because of consent barriers, they are forced to enroll in courses they aren’t actually going to take. That forces students with later registration times to enroll in classes they don’t plan to take, ultimately occupying spots in classes...