SMBD charter encourages diversity

(Note: This is a response to Professor Scofield's essay published last spring in the Review. He encouraged faculty members to reject the Sadism/Masochism Bondage/Discipline (SMBD) Student Organization charter.)

While Scofield correctly observes that "a college education is much more than what takes place inside the classroom-it is about young men and women growing into adulthood..." he fails to recognize that the SMBD club will do just that.

People are into SMBD, both inside and outside of Oberlin. They will not disappear even if you despise them, fail to understand them, or uphold values diametrically opposed to theirs. Therefore, a crucial part of "growing into adulthood" is learning to live peacefully with those who are very different from yourself. Learning to live with different and even dislikeable people requires trying to understand them, what their values are, and why they hold those values, even while you may continue to disapprove of them. This cannot be achieved when the "deviant" are silenced.

Refusing to charter the SMBD club is proactively shoving a section of the Oberlin community into the closet. Without a charter, an organization cannot receive Student Life Committee funding, making it virtually impossible to bring speakers or to build a resource library (i.e. to offer a way for others to understand the group). This renders the organization invisible and seals off an opportunity for understanding.

It essentially says that no one at Oberlin has to learn to live with these people because their lifestyle is wrong and should be expunged. The SMBD club is providing Oberlin with an opportunity to learn about what SMBD is and to debunk all the myths and pre-conceived notions that you may have about people who dress up in black leather and tie up their partners for pleasure. Scofield's essay demonstrates how little he knows about SMBD and how much he has to gain by listening to one of the club's speakers.

Scofield could have written his essay thirty years ago, only at that time he would have been encouraging the Oberlin faculty to reject a charter for a homosexual student group. He undoubtedly would have called gay students "deviant," claiming that homosexual behavior "does not positively contribute to the health of our community," and he would have worried over the fate of recruitment efforts. Scofield even could have written this letter over a hundred years ago, arguing that admitting black students would scare the white students away and compromise alumni donations. But there comes a time, even in the face of fear, to stand for a principle as opposed to the social custom of the day. And what attracted me to Oberlin was my belief that Oberlin stood for principles, even in the face of fear. (Isn't that what it means to be progressive?)

I think Oberlin should embrace diversity, even at the expense of repulsing those who crave homogeneity, rather than push a particular ideology onto its community. Learning is about being exposed to things you've never encountered or don't understand, even to things that make you uncomfortable or angry, so that you can arrive at your own conclusions and opinions. Once the SMBD club is given its chance to show others what they are about, there will still be those who do not understand, approve of, or like SMBD; but at least the entire community won't be prevented from learning about people who are very different from themselves.

I believe, that regardless of what your feelings are concerning SMBD, a sincere desire for helping "young men and women [grow] into adulthood" dictates that we grant the SMBD club a charter.

-Susan Dennehy, College senior

Review's poor coverage is a disservice to OC lax

To the Editors:

Last May the Women's lacrosse team won their second straight NCAC Conference Championship, an unprecedented event in recent Oberlin athletic history for any team. But the May 22 Review article and accompanying photo captions made several glaring mistakes, misidentifying the team in photos and misleading the readers through insufficient and incorrect reporting. If our championship lacrosse team does not get accurate and involved reporting, which will? Oberlin athletic teams deserve better.

Some corrections:

1. The article failed to mention two crucial goals in the final game against Denison, one by senior Atsuko Sakurai and one by first-year Mary Sara Salvania. Their goals and aggressive play on attack were instrumental to the win.

2. The article misidentifies Oberlin in two of the photos; Oberlin was in black, not white. Irit Altman and Rachel Maguire are the players in possession of the ball, on attack, and in black. Denison is in white and on defense.

In the future, a Review reporter and photographer in attendance at important games like the conference championships may help avoid these mistakes. In addition, it would most likely provide a more inspiring and rounded perspective of the game and tournament. The women's lacrosse team, and all Oberlin athletic teams, merit better press.

-Anne Ewens, OC '98 and former Co-Captain Women's Lacrosse Team

Oberlin College dining, parking, and piano policies rob students

To the Editors:

I have a couple of things to get off my chest. First of all, why does Oberlin make a policy of continually fucking its students in the ass financially?

Example 1: What the fuck is "munch money", "flex dollars", "Obie cash" or whatever trite fucking nickname CDS chose last summer to represent their newest greedy scheme for robbing us blind? Seriously, students all pay the same amount of money regardless of which food plan they choose (21, 14, or seven meal). "Obie Dollars" are non-refundable by the way, so you had better eat every damn thing in "DeCafe" or you are shit out of luck! According to the gospel of the "resident dining guide," this is part of the residential college educational philosophy. When we leave I certainly hope we will learn to appreciate that part of the higher learning process involves being willing to get ceaselessly screwed regardless of financial background!

Example 2: Parking! Parking! Parking tickets galore! Man, has anyone in their lives ever had so many parking tickets! Boy, didn'tcha think that paying that $30 for a parking sticker would save you the time, money and hassle of dealing with parking tickets? Bullshit! That little sticker is used so that both college security and the town police can identify you as a student. If they can identify you as a student then they can keep tabs on you during their hourly parking rounds. If you don't have a sticker, you can park wherever the fuck you would like to (trust me I've tried it)! Considering that there is practically no student parking anyway (and that amount is continually getting smaller-check the conservatory parking lot-half of the student spaces have been converted to staff spaces. Did they hire more teachers?) one is forced to park illegally. It's also a good bet that students are not going to protest those tickets which are conveniently added to ones term bill along with your "flex dollars"!

Example 3: It sure is great that we put brand new out-of-tune pianos in all the dorms! It's important that we foster the musical talents of our young drunk hippies at 2:00 in the morning when what everyone wants to hear is some badly played Tori Amos! Alright, maybe I'm being a little harsh- I mean hey, sometimes conservatory students use those pianos to practice when they can't get to the "Con." It's a good thing then, that we got rid of those old "Steinway" pieces of shit and paid through the nose to whichever piano store is "buddy, buddy" with Oberlin for some brand spanking new Yamahas!

I swear, you'd think this place was run by the Mafia or at least some small-time hoods! I don't mean to bitch and moan, and I'm sure that we're getting screwed in more ways than I have personally had the ambition to check into. However I think that it is extremely petty for a school to stick it to its students so blatantly- under the guise of educational philosophy! By the way, instead of building an environmental science building how about lets build a multi-tiered parking lot behind Harkness! I know- you think it sounds like a horrible idea. Well, just think about it for a while. Eventually I think you'll get the idea!

-Joe Friedman, Double-degree fifth-year