Dean of Student Life and Services Charlene Cole took a break from meeting with students about budget reduction to get married Saturday afternoon in Fairchild Chapel.
Charles Newkirk, Cole's new husband, is a builder and one of the first African-Amercan graduates from St. Mary's College in Maryland, where Cole was dean of students.
Cole and Newkirk met because Newkirk offered to build Cole a house when she first moved to Maryland from Arizona. They started dating about four years ago. When Cole was offered her position at Oberlin, they decided to move to Ohio together.
Cole and Newkirk held a reception at their home after the wedding. They are planning to go on a honeymoon during Spring Break.
Beginning next year, entrance to the 'Sco will be free unless bands are playing, said Charlene Cole, dean of student life and services.
"I think the 'Sco needs to be accessible," Cole said.
College junior Ian Kelleher, a programmer at the 'Sco, said that people have complained about the entrance price being 75 cents, when most people could find that amount of change in their couch.
"If it's free, they'll have nothing to complain about," he said.
Kelleher said that the money presently made from the cover charge goes toward the 'Sco employees' salaries. He did not know how the free entrance would affect the salaries.
Students hanging out at fourth meal and the 'Sco on Thursday night had ambivalent reactions. Many said that free entrance would not make too much of a difference in the number of people who go to the 'Sco.
"If the beer's free, it will make a difference," college first-year Pat Coleman said.
The Standing Committee on Pluralism and Equality (SCOPE) will meet on Friday, March 1, to clarify the revised charter the General Faculty Council created for them at the end of last year.
The March 1 meeting should clearly define what SCOPE's role in the reorganization of the Multicultural Resource Center will be.
Professor of Sociology and SCOPE chair Bill Norris said that SCOPE will probably play a major role in the College faculty's response to concerns voiced in last year's Multicultural Report about the state of Oberlin's cultural awareness.
An ad hoc task force charged with assessing Oberlin's drug and alcohol policy will soon be formed, according to Dean of Student Life and Services Charlene Cole.
Cole said that the rules governing drugs and alcohol, found in the Regulations Book, are inconsistent and that the section concerning room searches is, in laymen's terms, probably illegal. Cole said the rules need to "come to terms" with state and federal laws. She said it is inconsistent for the College to say it is upholding the law when, by its own rules, it can not confiscate drugs.
"It is illegal to own a bong. You can't possess something illegal. Drugs are not personal possessions," Cole said.
The task force will evaluate both Oberlin's drug and alcohol policy and its drug education and prevention programs.
Cole also wants Oberlin to develop a working relationship with the local authorities. She said it is important that the local authorities believe the College is doing what it can to enforce the law.
"Oberlin needs to come to terms with the fact that drugs are illegal." Cole said that she and President Nancy Dye both believe drugs and alcohol are a serious problem at Oberlin.
The committee will be composed of students, faculty and staff.
Copyright © 1996, The Oberlin Review.
Volume 124, Number 15; February 23, 1996
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