Administration must take action
Thanks for the memories
Witness what Oberlin has become
To the Editor:
Effective reporting requires some basic understanding of what your interviewee is trying to say. Hanna Miller's misquote in last week's Review shows such a lack of understanding. (Being already cautious of the Review's long history of misquotes, I asked Ms. Miller to call me back with confirmation of my quotes. I received no such confirmation call.)
Regarding Dye's reference to steady conversations about student concerns, Miller quotes me as saying that "[t]hose steady conversations have to be followed up by student actions." My comment actually focused on administrative and college action after years of communication between faculty, administration, and students - communication which has in my experience often been initiated by students.
In my conversation with Ms. Miller, I went on to express my belief that the President and the Dean of the College have influence in various circles, and while they alone may not be able to change every aspect of the college, they can use that influence to expedite the process and convince the skeptics.
It is interesting that Ms. Miller chose to add her own embellishment to my quote by adding "student" in front of "action." Perhaps this illustrates her own bias, as demonstrated in the editorial box which is the "responsibility of the editor-in-chief, managing editor and commentary editor." (Biases are fine, but let's be frank about them.) With the title "Dye's letter gives students a chance," she (and the other editors) used the editorial box to focus on the need for student actions following the President's letter. I, on the other hand, feel that administrative accountability and action in response to student initiatives are equally if not more important. President Dye's letter is but one step toward a commitment and implementation of action.
Dye's letter and the various student meetings, rallies and actions in the past few weeks should be placed in the context of a larger movement and a longer history of student action and pressure on the administration. The editors ask in their editorial box "The ball is in our court. Will we drop it?" This implies that response to Dye's letter and the past week's student gathering and agitation are the only forums and only motivations for action, when in reality various student groups have been working steadily on these issues - of faculty and student retention, Ethnic Studies, and the like - since the 1970s and before. My experience with the Asian-American Alliance and the Asian-American Studies Committee are only two out of many examples of groups who have devoted several years to these issues, and are just now witnessing some transient results - in my case, regarding Asian-American Studies.
I refuse to denigrate the actions and building blocks of the many students who have (or have not) survived Oberlin, and who began the struggle long before I arrived here. And for those who answer "if those channels and other groups were working, we wouldn't be having these coalition meetings," I agree. We as students need to revisit our coalitions. But let us not be tricked into believing this is the first time or will be the last time. For some of us, the issues at stake are not passing issues, by far. For some of us, these "coalition" meetings and responses to letters are not the only places for action.
For this reason, I do believe that certain sectors of the student population have given steady pressure and have exerted continuing actions toward changing this institution - and will continue to do so until our needs are met - and even then, we will stay vigilant in maintaining a critical eye on where more improvements and restructuring need to be made.
Students have done their part to a large degree. Serious conversations must be followed by effectively implemented actions on the part of the administration and relevant faculty committees on campus.
To the Editor:
(To the Oberlin College Men's Soccer team)
Last week I thanked a bunch of people involved with the soccer program. As is usually the case, some people were unintentionally left out: the reserve team and my assistant coaches. This does not reflect how I feel about their importance to me and to the soccer program. They are a major reason why the soccer season was a positive one for so many people. My assistant coaches, Albert Barroni and Scott McIver, were a blessing. They were a major help to me and the team and I truly do appreciate everything they did, and I know all the players feel the same. I also neglected to give my praise and thanks to the players on the varsity reserve team. They too are "winners." They worked their tails off in practice and in games, never giving up-no matter what. They rarely had any fans for their games, but their love for the game and pride in their team was evident because they played their hardest at all times. They had very few subs for many of their games and had to play out of position quite often, but this did not dampen their team effort. Myself, Albert and Scott are all very proud of them and enjoyed coaching them. I would also like to thank Dave Bechhoefer of the Review for his coverage of the Men's Soccer Team this year. It is often a thankless task, but I want everyone to know that I appreciate it.
To the Editor:
I have always embraced the type of open and honest communication advocated by Michelle Becker in her recent commentary (see Review Staff Box, October 16, 1997). As a former student actively involved in my residence halls, classes, extracurricular activities and other community needs, I believe in the Oberlin community. We look out for and help each other. Today, as an alumnus, a citizen of the town of Oberlin, a business owner, and especially as Assistant Manager of Oberlin's Computer Store, I still trust in this community. College or town, staff of resident, we are all members of a small honest community with international strength.
On Friday, October 10 at about 11:30 p.m. some students attending a party on Union Street witnessed a white car back into my new dark green car. The driver and passenger exited the house, hit my car, hesitated for about ten seconds, and then quickly drove away down Union Street. I could see and hear witnesses talking about the accident as it happened. I approached some of the witnesses on porch, but not one would tell me anything about the incident.
I was upset that this crime could occur in full view of about 18 people, and that not one of them would come forward. I tried to imagine the driver or passenger would give me an explanation later. I can understand an honest "oops" more than total silence. I trusted at least one of the witnesses on the porch, whom I see every few days, to be honest and tell me later what happened, but she has not. The hosts of the party, very cooperative and concerned, are still looking into this matter. I'm hoping they will be able to identify the driver and passenger seen exiting their party.
Leaving the scene of an accident was wrong. Withholding the truth only compounds it. I'm still counting on Oberlin, an honest academic community made up of honest students, to communicate to me the identity of the driver, with a simple explanation. We shouldn't have to burden The Office of Safety & Security, the Oberlin Police Department, insurance companies, or resort to reward money or judicial action, to obtain what each of us is capable of giving: an honest answer.
Copyright © 1997, The Oberlin Review.
Volume 126, Number 10, November 21, 1997
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