Non-vegetarians need to eat too

To the Editor:

(This is an open letter to CDS and all those concerned.)

Meat and its legitimacy is a controversial topic on this campus. So is an individual's right to free choice and personal decision on their lifestyles. Most Obies would probably agree that anyone should be able to find a food suitable to their taste.

Why, then, could I not find a hamburger? A hamburger is not a lot to ask for... a plain burger. Or another meat product. Tonight at fourth meal my options were a garden burger, a crispy patty, a vegan burger, and a grilled chicken sandwich, the last of which, at least in my opinion, is a poor substitute for food. The snack bar regularly offers hamburgers, cheeseburgers, bacon cheeseburgers, hot dogs, meatball subs, chicken patties, and gyros, but tonight (and frequently in the past) none of these foods were available. Vegans have a plethora of sandwiches from which to choose. I would like to request that at least one of these meaty foods be made available at each snack bar meal, since meat eaters should have an option as well, and because, in the real world, these sandwiches are not uncommon. I, and the undersigned, would like to seek equal dining options for the non-vegetarian community, if not this year, than in the future.

OC spirit lagging; teams need more support

To the Editor:

(This is an open letter to the Oberlin Community)

This past Sunday, the OC Women's Lacrosse Team accomplished a great feat, winning the NCAC Championship for the second year in a row, the third time in four years! This team has continuously proved itself to be one of the top teams in both the NCAC and at OC. CONGRATULATIONS!

Now guess how many OC fans there were at the championship? Only the team and four other people know that answer. Four-QUATRO- QUATRE- VIER!!! That's right- only FOUR fans showed up to cheer our team to victory. We should ALL be ashamed of that statistic (except for those four wonderful fans). This is a glaring example of one of the main problems surrounding Oberlin athletics- institutional support. There should be billboards all over campus informing people of any and all upcoming events on a weekly basis. This includes Conservatory, athletic, academic, and all other college events. There are about 250 athletes at OC and I would guess that they comprise about 90 percent of the fans at any athletic contest. Until we support the members of our College community properly, OC spirit will only be something we talk about, rather than truly experience.

-Chris Barker, Varsity men's soccer/tennis coach

Plenty of coffee in the county jail

To the Editor:

(Open Letter To Honors Illumination)

We've all heard the phrase "a liberal arts degree and fifty cents will get you a cup of coffee." Now, while it's hard to find a place that will sell you a cup of coffee for fifty cents anymore, it was even more difficult to procure one at the Post-Assembly Honors Luncheon thrown this very afternoon at Nancy Dye's Forest Street abode.

As if sweating out the entire assembly with god knows how many grumpy and zombified co-eds who, like myself, were wondering how this unseemly melo-melo came to be conveniently scheduled over lunch wasn't bad enough, in my weakened and perhaps naive state, I couldn't have possibly dreamed of the weird and depraved scandal that was to follow. If I knew to fear then what every decent citizen hopes they will never have to fear, I might have made the wise choice to eat at Stevenson (I know it sounds oxymoronic, but wait!) and avoided jeopardizing my entire college career and the lives & dignity of all my fellow students.

Upon arrival, along with a gaggle of soporific students and faculty, I was ushered around the back of Nancy Dye's house under a tent-like construction on the lanai whose only logical purpose could've been to save the neighbors from the eyesore of the food-and-caffeine-depraved... or vice versa. Now, I'll have to admit, on top of the cuisine minceur (the moral equivalent of the fox trot), I was indeed served a cup of coffee. But under the duress of hours of agitation and withdrawal (not to mention the stress of final papers, exams and the very real threat of nuclear war breaking out at any moment), one cup was not enough to keep my head above water. When one of Nancy Dye's personal valets passed by with a fresh pot, I asked to "please have some more coffee." "You've already had some," was her curt reply.

As most of you know, with coffee futures taking a recent nose-dive, Oberlin's portfolio has suffered a great blow. But that knowledge couldn't help me then; I knew I only had two choices, both of them Anarchy. The somnambulists to my right and left looked as if they might drop from exhaustion into their fruit-cups at any moment - they weren't going to be any help. So, I stuffed my pockets with veggie ravioli and some sort of melted sherbet that passed itself off as raspberry vinaigrette and hoofed it downtown as quickly as possible in order to fence my stolen victuals to any and every passerby until I had enough change to afford a cup of coffee at one of our local cafes.

To make a long story short and avoid any mention of conspiracy or poor investment management: I am writing this from a cell in the Oberlin County Jail where I have been since my arrest not more than five minutes after my departure from the doomed event; the charges against me, as they stand, are for disturbing the peace and vending pasta without a license. The Oberlin Police confiscated the entirety of my purloined lunch and slaked their own vicarious and sundry appetites with it (though I am happy to report they've all mysteriously come down with a nasty case of food poisoning).

Don't worry about me though. The coffee is good here and I get as much as I want.

-Ian Demsky, College sophomore