The recent mood of Oberlin at large

To the Editors:

I'm writing in response to the controversy over the Oberlin Review's content this semester and how it reflects the recent mood of Oberlin College at large.

We like to generalize that people at Oberlin are not given to social pressures, (dress code, political views) but they are insecure and conformist in other ways. Depressingly, one of the first lessons students learn at Oberlin is that being indiscriminately friendly is uncool. I have been fortunate enough to work as an early arrival the past two years and I am amazed at the friendliness and optimism of most new students during orientation week. Several times this semester I have introduced myself to strangers in the dining hall, and they naturally assume I am a first-year. Most upperclassmen in my position take this as some kind of personal insult, because they themselves have been stigmatized long ago to recognize that only naive first years introduce themselves spontaneously. Certain comics, even the notorious Toupydoups that has taken so much abuse recently, tried to capture this social maladjustment in a strip (Feb '98). Everyone can relate but it seems worse this semester than ever.

Most freshmen manage to make enough friends before they are shrouded in insecurity to form a freshman clique, or else join a program house or student organization where acceptance and membership is comfortably granted through ethnic, religious or sexual classification. The process of meeting new people is eased in a setting where everyone knows why they are there (after all, I'm not just some random freak in the dining hall). I will perhaps be labeled a racist for this criticism, but I would ask why it is somehow not racist that my Caucasian presence would be considered unpleasant at an Asian-American Alliance meeting. These culture-themed dorms and organizations, while providing valuable diversity (in the form of movies, speakers, events, etc.) have the flip-side of ensuring that people on this small campus, who are inevitably going to run into each other all the time, become as isolated as possible.

Why do people take things so personally and in the worst light? Freshman cliques disintegrate into jealous gossiping, and social organizations bitch and moan amongst themselves about the intolerance of everyone else. Lighten up people! This will probably be the most tolerant and open-minded environment you will ever spend time in, so enjoy it while it lasts. Did you honestly go to a small school with a small community and classes to limit yourself to people identical to yourselves and form conspiracy theories about groups of perceived opposition? It seems that in the lack of unity over the activism of decades past we have turned in on ourselves. Does anyone honestly believe that Raphael Martin was trying to be intentionally racist in his review of the South Asian cultural show?

It would appear unnecessary to point out that there is no journalism school at Oberlin, but from the outraged letters I read in the Review one would think they were accompanied by subscription cancellations. I attempted to work for the Review for several weeks my freshman year but it was too unpleasant -it is difficult, time consuming work that must serve as its own reward. Its position parallels the sports teams here at Oberlin -you don't necessarily have to like what they do but at least respect and appreciate what they're doing. If all we do is bitch and moan about our dissatisfaction with certain institutions, where is the mutual respect and tolerance we seem to pride ourselves on as a school? If the South Asian Students Association didn't like the review of their show, maybe someone in their organization could have written a better and more illuminating one. Instead all I get to read the next week is some outraged accusations of racism. Did I learn anything from that? Perhaps "learning and labor" should be changed to "griping and self-absorption." I sincerely hope this doesn't turn out to be my Oberlin experience, but if students love this place as much as they claim, there ought to be a lot more sharing of the love.

--Evan Malsbury, College junior

S.A.S.T. responds to TWH claims: meetings are open

To the Editors:

(This is an open letter to members of Third World Co-op and the Oberlin Community)

The authors of last week's essay used S.A.S.T.'s name in support of their agenda and implied that our meetings are closed. They are not. We encourage anyone interested to attend, at 9 pm on Mondays in Wilder 205, regardless of whether or not they are a survivor. S.A.S.T. supports safe space for those who need it, but the purpose of our organization (and of S.I.C.) is to counsel and educate and not to provide safe space. We try to remain non-partisan so that we can serve the whole community. Since sexual assault affects persons of all races, genders and sexual orientations, it would be impossible for S.A.S.T. to exclude or protect members of any one group. We protect the confidentiality of our callers, but confidentiality and safe space are not the same.

--Jenna Webb, College junior,Sexual Assault Support Team

OSCA members care about issues of low income and minority students

To the Editors:

This letter is in response to the November 20 essay by Third World Co-op, "Challenging the Oberlin community to respect safe spaces." This is not to diminish or invalidate the concerns brought up; I share these concerns, and agree with the right of safe spaces to maintain their privacy.

However, I disagree with the statement that "the majority of OSCA members... don't even care [about the issues of low-income students and students of color]!" While I cannot speak for every OSCA member, I believe many of us do care. For example, at Keep Co-op, where I live and dine, we have monetarily supported La Alianza Latina, School of the Americas protest efforts, the OSCA Nicaraguan Sister Co-op, and OSCA member scholarship efforts (which would help low-income students to fund their co-op members). I believe these acts reveal a concern to benefit more diverse ends than those exclusively of a stereotypical white middle class.

OSCA also has an Accessibilities Committee to address these concerns. I am on this committee because I do care, as do the other committee members. If you have concerns or ideas, please bring them to the committee's attention; our purpose is to address them. All OSCA meetings are open to any OSCA member; e-mail or call me and I will let you know where and when we are next meeting.

Finally, on behalf of the Accessibilities Committee, I would like to invite any interested Oberlin student to attend one of OSCA's upcoming open houses, scheduled for Dec. 5 and 6. Whether you are a non-co-oper who is curious about OSCA, or an OSCA member who is unfamiliar with the other co-ops; whether you are concerned with physical disabilities access, socioeconomic access, or any other issue, we will try to provide the facts you need.

--Ann Karp, College sophomore, Keep Co-op

OSMP, KILLWHITEY: kill all white males

To the Editors:

For those of you who would be kind enough as to read this letter, I support the immediate death of all white males everywhere.

I am a member of the Oberlin Stalinist/Maoist Party, and of an underground marginalized community support network known to outsiders at the Knights of Illych Lenin's Legacy Who Have the Intention of Toppling Eurocentric Youth (KILLWHITEY). Neither of these groups are well-known on this campus, and the reason could not be more obvious: they are being ruthlessly repressed by white people, specifically heterosexual males who follow monotheistic religions and do not engage in BDSM. The Battle of Hastings, the Counter-Reformation, the assassination of William McKinley, the bombing of Hiroshima, the Red Scare and the Great Depression were all caused or carried out by white, heterosexual, monotheistic, non-BDSM males (WHMNBM); therefore, that entire community is at fault in all of those events.

White males are repressing the OSMP and KILLWHITEY because these groups attempt to undermine the support structures of the system which keeps white males in their present, artificial position of overlords of all creation. Witness the testimony of one John the Baptist, a supporter of the OSMP, on his experience with white males: "First, they looked at me. Then, they said 'hello' and kept walking." Obviously, this action on the part of the white males is an example of a pattern of vicious repression of already disadvantaged communities. First, they looked at Mr. the Baptist, greeting "Hello," which is merely an imperialist way of saying, "I spit upon your face, slave of slaves." Third, the white males continued on their way without comment, which is an indication that they will return later to further harass and debase Mr. the Baptist. Simply said, the white males were attempting to repress Mr. the Baptist because of his political standing as a supporter of supporters of allies of marginalized communities, such as Footnotes. Since all white males are exactly the same in every conceivable way (ETSIECW), the entire community is at fault.

Sadly, the minds of these genetic unfortunates cannot be altered, so they will continue to repress marginalized peoples such as the Willing Emigrants to Cuba unless drastic action is taken to stop them. We of OSMP and KILLWHITEY propose the immediate slaughter of all white, heterosexual, monotheistic males who do not enjoy BDSM (WHMMWDNEB) before their imperialist ways make us all feel as though we feel like we're inferior. We will not be silenced!

--S. Andrew Smith, Conservatory sophomore