Review  chose to attack the character of Cole

To the Editor:

The Oberlin Review  has acted in an unprofessional manner in reporting stories concerning the Dean of Student Life, Charlene Cole. The articles lack the objectivity that characterizes good journalism, and the content of the articles is antagonistic, and borderline tablodial. The sensational approach the Review  has chosen to approach issues surrounding Cole, augment the audacity of Review  reporters who choose to advance their own agendas through the Oberlin Review . As I have been told by the editor, the Review  is the student's newspaper. Well, I am a student of Oberlin College and I would be ashamed to present the "Oberlin Enquirer," as representative of the student population.

Furthermore, the Review  has chosen to attack the character of Charlene Cole, and has implied through its articles that Charlene Cole is a manipulative, dishonest, and self-serving. The paper has advanced on a campaign of character assassination, without giving readers all the information concerning her past conduct, positive programs and changes she has instituted, and personal testimonies from students she has helped.

From the time Cole attempted to address the issue of drug abuse on this campus, and enforce the anti-drug policies of the College, Cole has been subjected to constant negative scrutiny.

Furthermore, Cole does not function in a vacuum. She has people to answer to also. Where is the scrutiny of President Dye for not responding to students' demands for information concerning the McNish issue. If Cole is not doing what the administration has demanded of her, do you really think the administration needs the outrage of the students to remove her from the payroll? Doesn't it seem all too convenient that no upper level administrator has anything to say?

The Oberlin Review  is an award winning collegiate newspaper that has been the pride of many current students and alumni. However, its current reporting indicates either an ineptness of its editors or an apathy of its staff.

Whether or not Cole policies are agreeable, as adults we have a responsibility to maintain a certain level of civility and dignity. Those qualities have not been exhibited in the most recent issues of the Review .

What are you going to do about that?

-Nakisha Heard, College senior

Cole is undeserving of personal attacks

To the Editor:

This letter is in support of Dean Charlene Cole.

As an aspiring journalist, I have read and studied several newspapers, magazines and other types of media. Your recent edition of the Review  hardly qualifies as journalism but rather fully qualifies as garbage.

The personal attacks on Charlene Cole were ridiculous and unfounded.

Wherever you are getting your backwards information from you need to eliminate he/she/it/ or them from your source list. Charlene Cole has accompanied so many good things during her time here at Oberlin that are truly undeserving of the treatment she is receiving now from the "student newspaper."

As for Hanna Miller, I hope that you do not think that outside of Oberlin you will be able to "get away" with personal attacks. You will be sued, for everything, including your last notepad and pencil.

Presenting a one sided story reminds me of a game I used to play in the second grade called "telephone." One person starts with a sentence at the very beginning and passes that sentence along to everyone in the room. Then the last person says out loud what his or her version of the sentence is, it always ends up to be something completely different from what was originally stated. If the Review  is turning away from being an award winning newspaper and turning into "telephone," then maybe it should not be viewed anymore as an informational paper but rather as liner for the insides of dog cages.

-Melody R. Waller, College senior

The nattering of self-serving administrators continues ...

To the Editor:

In any organization of substance, staff retention is a key success metric. Managements that fail to attract, retain and motivate key staff are shortly replaced. It is simply not possible to succeed at any complex endeavor if the principal assets of the institution make a habit of walking away.

I read this week of yet another senior staff departure-Lanna Hagge-who by any honest measure gave much of her professional life to Oberlin, and was likely prepared to invest the balance. Simultaneously, I read another lurid and vulgar anecdote about Dean Cole-Newkirk, with a pointlessly obscene quote from her husband who invokes the Oberlin version of the Twinkie defense. (Skepticism about the wrong people's behavior isn't rational, it's merely racist.) I don't really care what sort of flatware or barbecue patio Cole-Newkirk believes appropriate to her lofty role in life, but I certainly am unprepared to sponsor them. At least Leona Helmsley's sense of entitlement was self-funded.

An interesting analysis that perhaps the Review  might undertake is this:

a) Of the top 20 administrative positions at Oberlin, what percentage have turned over in the past three years?

b) How much has Oberlin paid out in headhunter fees during the same period?

c) What strategic imperative is served by this turnover?

The larger issues are:

a) Why are they leaving? Why won't any of the departed talk? Have you interviewed them on background?

b) How can the College resolve its strategic renovation without building a core group of committed senior staff?

My wife (OC '79 Art History and Heisman Hall of Fame) and I don't really understand why people like Lanna or Dick Levin (see last year's fiasco) can run afoul of the current management. By any objective measure they qualify as uniquely gentle, caring people. And it's not as though there is some stirring and brave re-engineering and restructuring process underway that inevitably causes staff fallout. Quite the opposite: the college bureaucracy grows like crab grass, the nattering of self-serving administrators continues unabated while the market value of an Oberlin education declines inversely to its inflating costs. At least the anecdotal reality ("I can't possibly take the job unless I have flatware, a new deck, a couple of kitchen appliances...") grows more entertaining. What the heck is going on?

As always, thanks for going to the trouble of posting the weekly Review . By the way, I presume the normal use value of the home furnishings and improvements are included in Ms. Newkirk-Cole's W-2 as taxable income.

-Drew Eginton, OC'79

Related Stories: