Love still the best means to implement environmental policies

My experience at Econference 2000 in Philadelphia, PA during the first weekend of Fall Break was one of great inspiration and one that lead me to question my ethics in activating change. Along with 35 other Oberlin College students, I trekked to the University of Pennsylvania campus for this 3-day environmental conference with over 2,500 other college students from across the nation. The conference helped to strengthen my motivation and ability to make a difference in the world and fortified my beliefs in how to go about it.

The plethora of speakers and workshops at Econference 2000 served to remind me of the importance of saving our planet from destruction and the effect of our daily actions on the earth's health. I gleaned much worthwhile literature and resources that would be difficult to find elsewhere. I attended workshops in ³Environmental Careers², ³Genetically Altered Food², ³Building Alliances², and ³Zero Waste as an Economic Strategy², and gained valuable information from each one. ³Zero Waste as an Economic Strategy² was a phenomenal workshop because the speaker of the workshop shared a wealth of information about economic and environmental history and philosophy, advocating ways to work with the business world instead of against them. We heard Julia Butterfly speak from her tree in Santa Cruz, CA through a cellular phone that was amplified throughout the entire hall in which we sat. Her eloquent and beautiful speech literally brought tears to mv eyes as she praised the love of life and the importance of our individual responsibility above pointing fingers at others. She was the one speaker that I felt advocated love as a tool for change in place of anger.

This notion of using love instead of anger to implement change was aroused repeatedly in my mind during the conference. I felt that the majority of the speakers and participants in the conference incited anger and used aggression as the primary force of motivation. Many of the participants in the conference seemed to unite against a common enemy, ³the corporation², at which they pointed their collective finger and pugnaciously mocked. One can see the warlike nature of the conference in just some of title of the plenary sessions themselves: ³Fight the Power: Campaigns for Corporate Accountability,²³Choose Your Weapon: Selecting an Organizing Strategy that Ensures Victory,² ³Battles without Borders: Environmental Impact of the Global Economy.² This hostile separation created between the environmentalist and the corporation only encourages a climate of hate. When we make a monster out of an entity, as in the case of the corporation, it permits us to hate it because it is beyond our understanding. I believe this negativity and blame is counter-productive and is contradictory to what many environmentalists profess to value: the love of all life, and the idea that we are all interconnected; corporations included.

As children, we are often taught that when somebody acts in a hurtful way, we should dislike their action and not the person themselves. It seems that many have forgotten this basic principle in resolving conflicts when trying to achieve our environmental goals. Little can be accomplished when environmentalists brand big-business employees as ³corporate pig-dogs² and bigbusiness employees²dismiss environmentalists as ³crazy tree-hugger.² I believe that environmentalists can be the most effective when they approach their opponent on a common ground, recognizing their different agenda, and working together so that both sides can understand each other. It is by filling in the schism between the environmentalist and the corporation through common understanding, that a relationship can be created to ensure greater success for environmental causes in the future.

The simple fact is that most businesses will only change their detrimental ways when they are threatened economically. This is why boycotts and strikes work. Another viable strategy is to show businesses that being environmentally friendly can often mean being economically profitable. This was the premise on which the workshop ³Zero Waste as an Economic Strategy² was based. If environmentalists can appeal to business motives without judgemental anger, it is easier to sway their opinions in ecological favor.

Though I disliked the negative and aggressive nature that attempted to Unite and motivate the participants in Econference 2000, it led me to define my positions on initiating change and taught me many of the skills to do so. All in all, Econference 2000 left me better informed on issues, inspired by great ideas, and strengthened in my ethical position on being an activist.

--Adriane Dellorco, College first-year

Game coverage inpresses

Dear Editors;

I want to let you and your writers know how impressive your writing and coverage of the Oberlin games are. As a parent, far away (3,000 miles) from the action-the most I get to hear is a brief two sentence summary of the game from my daughter who plays field hockey. Of course this season in field hockey has not been much to ³write home about²-but somehow you writers soften the blow considerably and write with humor and positive thoughts that make us all feel a little better when games don't go our way. I find your writing marvellous-you must all be in journalism-and if not should seriously think about it-anyway-reading your coverage gives a lonely parent a tremendous lift and gives all Oberlin athletes hope that their next win is right around the corner.

Thanks so very much for making a very tough field hockey season bearable for a devoted parent and OC field hockey fan.

Keep up the outstanding work! You are all winners and deserve sports writing awards!

Best wishes,

--Carol Walker, Vancouver, B.C. Canada

Goldsmith shares vision for creative dean advising structure

To the Editors:

What follows is an open letter to the Oberlin Community, whose advice and support I seek in considering ways in which administrators might better enable students to capitalize on their talents and to attain their academic and personal goals. A little history is in order.

Thirty years ago, the deans that students knew came in two varieties: deans of women and deans of men. They were the keepers of reputations and propriety. It was a system that contributed to a fair amount of hypocrisy, and there are few individuals of any generation that lamented its passing.

When it became apparent by the early seventies that colleges would no longer function as though they represented the parents of their students (in loco parentis), deans took on another cast. In most instances, they became less the keepers of rules and became instead the means by which students negotiated the increasing intricacy of college bureaucracy. At the same time, the professoriate (along with society) was also in transition; faculty found themselves with growing demands (scholarly, familial) on their time, which left less time to attend to the personal (as opposed to intellectual) needs of students. A breach was created into which a growing cadre of professionals was pulled in order to see that students received the extra-academic support they needed to succeed.

The situation which has evolved at Oberlin does not altogether fit this portrait, and in many ways it is to the good. The faculty has remained committed to the all-around success of students to an unusual degree. And this has made the creation of a system of ³advising² deans a less pressing need. Instead of attending to the needs of individual students, the division of Student Life and Services has been free to attend to the nurturing of students as members of collectivities, in organizations‹and to very positive effect.

But even at Oberlin, I believe we are beginning to see the strain that has resulted from a lack of coordinated, individual support. The administration can seem anonymous and distant to many students; it is not sufficiently apparent that deans are sources of support in working through individual problems. While faculty advisers are an enormous resource for students, the multiple demands on professors means that there are limits to what they can do on behalf of students facing critical crossroads. I believe it is time for Oberlin to consider developing an administrative structure which provides every student with direct access to the administration. It can be done without growing the size of the administration, and without jeopardizing the support structures for individual student communities which have been a critical resource for attracting and retaining a diverse student body.

Advising dean structures on other campuses have taken on a very broad variety of forms; they are found at most first-rank liberal arts colleges. In many instances, they are made up of ³class deans²; sometimes this means a dean who permanently serves the junior class (for example), and thus works with a new class each year. In other instances, a dean is attached to a class and remains the dean for that class until graduation. But because a student's class at Oberlin is determined by the completion of hours rather than semesters in residence, it is not apparent to me that a system defined by class is right for us.

In some institutions, the system of deans is residentially based (also a poor fit for Oberlin, given the lack of continuity of student residential communities over a student's undergraduate career). At others, students are assigned to deans by some arbitrary designation, such as the first letter of their last name. Still others employee faculty for advising dean functions, relieving them of teaching responsibilities for a finite period of time to undertake administrative tasks. In many institutions, deans are both specialists and generalists, assigned to specific tasks as well as to function as all-purpose advisers to a group of students. A Dean of Students might have a group of advisees, as would assistant or associate deans. It may be that Oberlin would be best served by a hybrid system that draws upon the best of these systems. I will be seeking the advice of faculty, students and administrators in the coming months to determine the shape of a system that would best fit Oberlin.

Oberlin already has several administrators (particularly in the Offices of Academic Support Services in the College and of Student Academic Affairs in the Conservatory) who function as advising deans in many respects. But they are organizationally separated from other sources of student support (Residential Life, Counseling, Health Services, Safety and Security) which can make it challenging to mobilize coordinated solutions. What we need is an integrated, holistic system which has administrators working in concert with one another to ensure students' academic and personal success. Such a system should support and complement a faculty advising system, providing an additional net for those students who might too often find Oberlin to be impersonal. Advising deans should solve problems, interpret rules and regulations, mobilize resources and respond to crises in ways that pay heed to the particularities of a student's circumstances.

Many Oberlin students may never feel the need to call upon the resources of a dean. But others will, and for still others the fact that there would be someone who has a special responsibility to help ensure their success is sufficient in itself. I hope that the Oberlin community will enter into a discussion with me about this possibility, that the prospect of constructive change might be embraced, and that I will be the beneficiary of everyone's best thinking on the subject.

--Peter Goldsmith, Dean of Student Life

Vote yes for county youth facility

To the Editors:

On November 2nd, registered Oberlin College students should take the initiative and vote YES on Issue 17. A supportive vote will affect students who work in Oberlin, raising local income taxes from 1.7% to 1.9% for the next five years. However, the long-term social and community benefits will outweigh the nearly negligible tax increase; students earning $2,400 a year will only have to pay forty more cents a month for a facility that will improve the way of life for members of our community.

The proposed recreational center will serve as a healthy, safe and valuable resource for families, especially youth. This facility will be of even greater value during the summer months, when youth are in the most need of a facility for constructive activities. The center is designed to foster community by appealing to all age groups. The center will provide an option to the elderly sweltering inside their homes, parents dealing with cranky toddlers, and teenagers engaging in unhealthy behavior as a result of boredom. Parents will be able to wade with their children in the zero-depth pool, or play on the numerous water structures and toys, such as the 150-foot water slide. Senior Citizens can sunbathe near the volleyball court or swim in the six-lap pool. Teenagers can play soccer, baseball, or water polo. Thus the facility will provide diverse activities for all age groups and will encourage an intergenerational community.

The residents of Lorain County agree that this project will be an exceptional asset. The three primary issues at hand are safety, noise, and the tax levy itself, which the committee has taken measures to address. It has proposed wider sidewalks for the projected increase in traffic, improved gutters, crosswalks, and the installation of stoplights at the intersection of South Main and West Hamilton streets. To alleviate noise pollution, the recreational building, which will contain an indoor pool, bathrooms, and snack bar, will be located north of the outdoor pool and will thus act as a noise buffer to private residences. Further, the tax levy will affect the residents minimally; those making $24,000 dollars a year will only have to pay four more dollars a month-, Social Security, Retirement, and private investments will not be affected. Residents of Oberlin will also receive a 50% discount on entrance and membership fees; they will only have to pay $2.50 a day, or $100 for a summer family membership. The committee is also in the process of allocating funds for those who cannot afford these prices, but still want to use the center; no one will be turned away.

Hence, registered Oberlin students should claim responsibility for their community and vote YES on Issue 17. The improved social and community atmosphere of Lorain County will be beneficial to all of us living in Oberlin.

--P.J. Park and Laura Szabo-Kubitz, Students for Issue 17

Wealthy Harkies appropriate poverty

To the Editors:

If you're bourgeoisie and you know it, and you really want to show it, if you're bourgeoisie and you know it, clap your hands, clap, clap.

Have you ever wondered where all the wealth is on this campus? I mean most students are supposed to have very wealthy parents, upwards of 50 or 75 grand. I don't see very many outward signs of wealth on this campus. On the contrary, I see too many outward signs of poverty. If I didn't know better I would think I was attending retraining classes in a homeless shelter or a social service agency and not a $30,000/year private college. Too many students look like the homeless of America's big cities. The ones who wear second-hand, beat-up, tore-up clothes that seemingly are seldomly washed, and their wearers seem to have forgotten about soap and shampoo. I guess they are trying to cut down on water usage. It is either a noble sacrifice, or they fear a visit from Captain Planet. These exemplars of frugality seem to be clustered in places like Harkness, Tank, Keep, and the like. It seems that a preponderance of them live in Harkness. It exudes their frugality and low impact lifestyle. I guess that's why they have come to be called Harkies.

So where the hell is all the dough?!!! Well, if the preliminary data is correct, most Harkies emerge from the upper echelons of American society, at least financially. They may not be Trumps, or Carnegies, but their parents aren't likely to be taking orders at Mickey Dees either. Their lives must suck; just think of all the things to concern yourself with; reduce, reuse, and recycle, don't eat animal products‹those poor exploited animals, etc. The litany of other concerns is astonishing, really. Maybe that is why many of the wealthy folk on this campus dress down, they wish for the simplicity of the lower classes. Leave all those dreadful concerns behind and live the simple life with no worries. Well I've got a shocker for you, being poor is never simple or easy and it's the last thing anyone who has actually been poor or is wants to be.

If you're poor, you usually try pretty hard to give the impression that you're not poor. You buy decent clothes and you keep them in good shape. You bathe just as often as everybody else, etc. So, why in the hell do rich people on this campus appropriate poverty? Do they think it's a commodity that can be bought? Is it fun to pretend you're poor? Is it cool to wear tore-up clothes and dread your hair?

Poverty is not a coat to be worn at your discretion, nor is it en vogue or novel. In the US, poverty carries many stigmas, i.e., if you're poor, you don't work hard enough, you're lazy and a welfare leech, etc. All of these stigmas connote poverty with personal failure and do not account for structural factors; capitalism needs low-paid workers to produce low-cost goods and services for wealthy folk to consume.

If you come from a privileged background, stop appropriating poverty! Appropriating poverty is offensive to many ³disadvantaged² students on this campus; it trivializes their struggle against poverty and turns it into an object to be experimented with. It's not a fad, en vogue, or cool, but a difficult reality for a huge portion of America and the world. I'm sorry if you wish you were low class, but you're not, so cruise to the mall in your parents' Beemer, Benz, or Volvo and buy something from Ambercrombie & Fitch. Enjoy your parents' nice two-story house with the two-car garage and the white-picket fence in suburbia. While your at it, say hi to your pedigreed poodle, Fufu, for me.

--Yahya Ibn Rabat, College fifth-year

Watch your backpack

To the Editors:

I woke up to a surprise this week when I stepped outside to grab my bike and hurry to class, only to discover that my bike was missing. I really wasn't shocked, though; I knew I was taking my chances by dangling the lock on the handle bars when it would have been much more functional wrapped around the frame and bike rack.

Likewise, last year in Mudd when I watched some people walk off with my backpack, which had been so carefully concealed under a table, the feeling of helplessness was frustrating.

It's only taken four similar experiences (two TI-82's were goners, too) for me to learn this lesson, which I hope to instill in everyone else. Watch your stuff.

--Victoria Ravin, College junior