Debate concerning passage of the BDSM charter rages on, and the panel discussion Thursday night was greatly beneficial in providing an outlet for discourse. Through the debate, the opponents and supporters of BDSM eloquently stated their opinion. In light of such passion, it becomes clear, that regardless of the General Faculty's choice, there is certain to be simultaneous exultation and disappointment felt by the opposing sides in this issue.

One thing the debate was unable to provide was a right or wrong position to be considered by the general faculty. Yet the presentations by Professors Roger Laushman and Ron Kahn showed that there is an importance to this issue that transcends people's personal beliefs concerning BDSM.

Professor John Scofield deserves respect for his strength of conviction in the face of a crowd clearly in support of the charter. If there is one criticism to be made, it is that some supporters of BDSM were disrespectful of not only Scofield's opinion but in his presentment thereof. Snickering and whispers resonated throughout Scofield's speech, which was strikingly hypocritical by the charter supporters. It is Professor Scofield's responsibility to vote in his perceived best interest for the college. Yet, as often occurs at Oberlin, mainstream opinion was scoffed in open defiance of the paradox this presents.

Despite one's personal preferences regarding BDSM, one point was resoundingly clear: rejecting the club charter is potentially a very damaging precedent for future clubs. Defined as a discussion group, the BDSM should be chartered in the pursuance of equality of speech and assembly. Denying a charter to a controversial group is a potentially slippery slope towards inequity and restriction of speech.

Oberlin villains -- a myth

Charlene Cole-Newkirk was a bitch. Keith James is a negligent supervisor and has cost the College some enormous amount of cash in gas, using security vehicles to run his own errands. President Dye and her staff are conspiring to screw all CDS and janitorial workers on this campus. CDS and Residential Life conspired to create Wilder DeCafé as a way to try to feed us junk food and bilk us out of our hard-earned flex dollars with $5 boxes of cereal. The Review sucks.

We sure do like to point a lot of fingers on this campus.

Cole-Newkirk wasn't great at some of the things she did. She was considerably more than competent at others. James has excuses/reasons for many of his eyebrow-raising behaviors. The Administration has agreed to a generous contract with the UAW for another three years. And Res. Life asked for student opinions all along the way to the Dascomb renovation and Wilder re-creation projects. Last Spring, we at the Review begged you for feedback. The survey we ran in two issues was - we hope - recycled by the vast majority of you readers. It certainly didn't make it to us.

Students at Oberlin like to make things out to be much worse than they are. If we felt half as strongly about stuff as we whined about it, hopefully we would get off our duffs and open our mouths in the general direction of the folks who pissed us off. Maybe we would tell them directly what we thought. Maybe they would listen, amazed that someone actually came out and said something. And maybe, gasp, just maybe, there would be actual change, or at least a little bit of raised understanding. There are very few absolutely evil people here - telling folks what we really think is a helluva lot better than whispering under their hearing. No one here will shoot you for disagreeing with them, and confrontation is not automatically negative. This is one of the more protected places in the world for discourse to take place.

It's much easier to dismiss someone as a bitch or the administration ('scuse me, "the admin") as a bunch of old geezers who want to define our limits and control us rather than to talk to them. We either sit around and lambaste them at the lunch table or we scheme in our dorm rooms. You all certainly didn't write any letters to the editor about any social inequities this week. And we know that you've got more on your mind than that.

So, put up or shut up. People are not perfect. But, if someone or something makes you mad, do something about it. Tell them, write a letter to us . Don't just hang out with your mental clones and grumble about it.