Grim news has been coming from the Financial Aid Office in recent months. The classic fight between red and black has become one-sided. Red is winning.

This is a fact. And it is a fact that the College will begin enforcing need-sensitve admissions, a policy it approved years ago but hasn't enforced until now. The new policy stipulates that when admissions officers get down to the "marginal" talent in the applicant pool those able to pay are going to receive precedence.

So where do we go from here? That is the only relevant question left, and many Conservatory faculty seemed to be asking it at this week's faculty meeting.

"What do you want us to do now?" the faculty asked Vice President for Finance Andy Evans. Well, we pick ourselves up and ask what this change means. Without doubt, a move to need-sensitive admissions will mean the average Oberlin student in 10 or 15 years will be better-off than her counterpart today. What does that mean for campus community? What does that mean for diversity? What does it mean for talent at the Con?

At an institution that teaches students to reseach and investigate maybe Oberlin should do a little research of its own. Just because we have accepted need-sensitive admissions doesn't mean the issue is closed.

"We need to try to understand and investigate the implications ..." How many times have you heard that in a class discussion. But it's true in this case. How many students will the new policy affect each year? Will it affect the Conservatory differently than the college? Will it make racial diversity more difficult to acheive? Will it change the applicant pool Oberlin draws?

The College spends thousands of dollars a year reseaching how well high school juniors and seniors like the school's newest admissions tools. Hours of staff time have been dedicated to building the College's recruitment tools on the web. Perhaps some of this energy should be spent researching which of these students will be able to pay for Oberlin, and how need-sensitive admissions will change the community landscape in the future.

Class is a virtually invisible, but incredibly potent divider at Oberlin. Dressed in our clonish cords and sweaters it is easy to act like we are all the same here at Oberlin. But we're not. It's time to stop acting like we are. It's time to stop acting like the changes in admissions policies won't affect our ability to recruit "excellent students," as Dye contends it won't. She's right of course. Oberlin will still have its fair share of excellent students (whatever that means) but they will be a different set of excellent students than we'd have if money wasn't an issue.

It's time to own up and say honestly that the changes will have important implications, and begin investigating those effects.

Attitude is everything

The t-shirt industry has zeroed in on dominant athletic ideology with slogans like: "No pain, no gain," and "Second place is the first loser."

The themes are simple: Winning matters. It comes from effort, attitude and teamwork. Anyone who has played a sport can identify with the frustration of losing and not playing her best. They can also identify the rewards of being on a winning team, one that works together to compliment and push each other.

Mike Muska wants Oberlin sports as a whole to develop a winning attitude. For too long Oberlin athletics have tried to be above traditional sports mentality. Here at Oberlin we shouldn't care about winning. It is participation, growth and effort that counts. Maybe we're too nerdy to ever win. These kinds of attitudes make us losers before we take the field. Yet another athletic cliche proved true.

Since Muska took the reins in Philips he has been trying to breath a little of this winning attitude into sports at Oberlin. In this process many familiar faces have left, and new faces come. Without a doubt many of those coaches who are gone were caring, dedicated and talented teachers and coaches. Without a doubt they will be missed.

But at the same time when you're down you have to try something new. Losing teams don't get better without change. It is the means to improvement. Ask Ann Gilbert who is now coaching one of the most successful sports teams in recent Oberlin history.

The next generation of Oberlin athletes will have a different experience than those of today. They will appreciate the risks we are taking now.