Passage of BD/SM charter a good step

To the Editor:

This past week, the Student Life Committee passed the charter of the BDSM Student Organization. This is a step of progress toward our establishing a chartered BDSM group on this campus. Because we seem to attract such controversy, we would like to open this discussion up to the community. We have been working to get chartered for the last three years, an unprecedented amount of time. Ours is the only charter to have been questioned to this extent.

BDSM is not something unique to the Oberlin campus; there are BDSM and leather organizations across the United States and across the world. There are a number of BDSM student organizations at other college campuses in the U.S. We are part of a larger interest community that is seeking to gain expression on the Oberlin campus.

BDSM is, by definition, a consensual activity, meaning that everything that occurs is done with the agreement and permission of all parties involved. Anything else is assault. BDSM is about exploring our personal limits, conceptions of our bodies, spirituality, alternative expressions of sexuality, and just good clean fun. It is not about harming anyone in any way. Despite all this, the BDSM Student Organization has been reduced to a discussion group.

We are, however, happy that after three years we finally are on the road to becoming a chartered student organization. Our charter is going to General Faculty in May, and we would like to engage the community in discussion. We will be having an open forum on Wednesday, May 6 at 4:30 pm in Wilder TBA. Everyone is invited.

We'd like further consideration before changing meal plan for the sake of merchants, students

To the Editor:

(This petition is currently being circulated throughout campus and the city. We are planning a town meeting, a few weeks from now, for students, local merchants, city government and Res. Life to discuss these concerns.)

We, the undersigned, agree with the college's desire to create a meal plan that is economically beneficial for the college and offers a variety of dining options. Despite the advertised benefits of the proposed changes, we believe there are several issues in need of further consideration before any major changes are made to the meal plan. As these changes will have a major affect both on Oberlin College students and the future of downtown business, we need to have a strong voice in the entire process of this change.

Whereas adequate input about the new meal plan has not been gathered from students, local merchants, city government, or other effected townspeoples, and whereas the majority of students will not be available to give such input during the summer, we are asking that the college postpone the implementation of the new- meal plan for one (1) year.

We are asking this so that next year:

• students can become more involved in the plan's development

• an outside consultant can evaluate the impacts of the plan on the Oberlin City business community

• the college can hold discussions with the city council, local business owners and other concerned parties to discuss the new meal plan's possible ramifications on downtown business

• environmental concerns (e.g. waste) can be examined further

• concerns about students not being exempt from board can be addressed

• the Marriott-College contract can be reviewed and it will be determined whether or not to engage with another contractor

• concerns of students receiving less value for the cost can be addressed

This petition contains the names of Oberlin College students, and local community members concerned about the consequences of the proposed meal plan. Only by delaying these changes and addressing the concerns of students and local merchants can the college ensure the fair treatment of Oberlin students and demonstrate it's concern for the economic vitality of downtown Oberlin.

-Brendan Cooney, College first-year