Hip-Hop Conference Meaningful to Many

This past weekend, Oberlin hosted a massive hip-hop conference - 6 Million Ways to Speak. Unfortunately, to half the campus, this was synonymous with 6 Million Ways to Complain. Several incidents of vandalism occurred. The Wilder game room was raided, the 'Sco pool tables were broken and numerous "tags" were left all over the 'Sco and various Concert Sound gear. If this had been a hardcore music fest, or Epitaph's Punk-o-Rama, the same things would have occurred. Okay, so don't knock hip-hop music, just knock all hard music, regardless of genre.

But wait, no one's really attacking the music. The music is just great. Well, the music (any music you love to hate, insert here) expresses the feelings of entire generations. And those feelings are valid and do not lead to criminal behavior, regardless of popular opinion. Remember when defense attorneys used rap music to explain their clients' misbehavior? "It was the music, Your Honor. If he hadn't been listening to the music..."

Lots of people in America have lots of reasons to be very angry. Hence, angry music evolves. But get real, people. Music is a positive, constructive force. And music festivals are just lots and lots of positive good energy slammed together. Right? Well, in theory, at least. Alas, theoretical living never really gets anyone anywhere. So it remains a sad truth that at music festivals, bad things happen. Girls crowd-surfing at punk shows get their panties torn off and get fondled. Random kids at hardcore shows get massive concussions from steel-toed, spiked boots to the head. A few phone booths at hip-hop shows get tagged.

Of course it isn't right. In fact, it's all quite wrong. But we happen to live in a really wrong world. A lot of people have a lot of reasons to be very angry and disillusioned. This is by no means condoning any negative actions on the part of "angry music" listeners. It is, however, asking that the bigger picture be scrutinized before little bits and pieces are torn apart and haphazardly scotch-taped back together. Or maybe that should be duct taped - some rolls of that disappeared this weekend along with all the cash in the gameroom and half the pool table balls.

The best part of the weekend was seeing the younger kids, at the shows and at the Lyricists' Lab open mic, completely, sublimely happy, watching and loving the older kids loving the music. Which is why this conference, despite some unfortunate occurrences, ended up rocking.

Want to Park Your Car? Good Luck.

Some things were never meant to be. Have you ever seen a pink elephant? Have you ever eaten a decent meal at Stevenson? Better yet, have you ever found a parking space anywhere near the Oberlin campus without painfully searching for what seems like hours?

It's sad, but in a small college town with a meager population of 8,000, it is as difficult to find a good parking space as it would be if you lived in major metropolitan areas like Boston, New York City and San Francisco. It may sound ridiculous, even appalling, but it's true.

Think about it. Let's say you're running a little behind schedule and you live far enough from campus that the only way to make it to class on time is with the help of your trusty automobile. Good luck. Want to park in that convenient lot located right next to King and Rice? Sorry, that lot is reserved for faculty members and visitors. Did you want to leave your car next to Finney Chapel? Think again. That lot is also reserved for faculty members and visitors. For that matter, try parking in that oversized lot behind Mudd. More often than not, you will find that all those spaces have already been filled, leaving you to find a space so far away from campus that you'll lose another five to ten minutes during your spirited jog to class. Keep in mind that you spent nearly 20 minutes searching for a place to park and the class you were so desperate to attend is almost over. Also remember that even if you were lucky enough to find a space near Mudd, you couldn't park there anyway - that lot is reserved for "staff only."

So last week, when the College added a third handicapped parking space to the King parking lot, it was almost funny. Never mind that the two previously existing handicapped spaces are always vacant, leaving both students and faculty members bitterly frustrated as they make their way to class. Never mind that the parking available to students on this campus is already woefully insufficient. If you think about it, the decision makes perfect sense: how else could the College and the Keystone Cops at the Security Office extort even more money from the already overtaxed student body without holding a monopoly on parking spaces?

It's sad. It's ridiculous. It's almost criminal. But you know it's true.

Editorials in this box are the responsibility of the editor-in-chief, managing editor and commentary editor, and do not necessarily reflect the views of the staff of the Review.

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