The Oberlin Review
<< Front page Commentary February 25, 2005

Student reflects on consent, other letters

To the Editors:

I was reading the poster on “safe and poor practices regarding consent” posted in nearly all the bathrooms and RA boards across campus, and I was reminded of the rash of rapes, real or alleged, that happened during the 2001-2002 year, and regrettably only now have I fully comprehended the vileness and inhumanity of sex crimes. This letter is not brought about by any personal experience but rather it’s the result of a series of thoughts inspired by those posters.

Whether you live in your practice room or you’re out drinking like the Bush sisters on payday every night of the week or whether you live a more moderate lifestyle, there are rules for conducting yourself properly. Many of these rules are supported by laws, but at heart these rules stem from the shaping of tradition and culture by many generations and above them stands the cardinal rule: when it comes to the body of another human being — perhaps one of the most revered and cherished creations in the Universe — if you don’t have permission to do something, don’t do it. This rule is easy to understand and easy to follow. We don’t violate others because we don’t want to be violated ourselves. If you cannot understand the magnitude of ignominy of a sex crime or the horror the victim experiences, simply imagine waking in the middle of the night to your mother jerking you off or tonguing your love button or your doctor giving you the shocker or licking your penis during an exam. Why is this disturbing? Because these acts were committed against the will, wishes and desires of the son, daughter or patient, and the perpetrators of these acts are people we are supposed to be able to trust, just as we are supposed to be able to trust our partners in any sexual act. How is it then that some of us, here in this very school, doing scholarly and everyday things like problem sets, writing papers, changing light bulbs, holding office hours, dancing, draining spit-valves, cleaning floors or constructing syllabi believe it’s okay to break this cardinal rule? Where does one learn that no means yes, or any answer or no answer means yes? How can the perpetrator of such a treacherous act live life afterward?

You cannot commit these crimes and call yourself well-educated, nor can you expect to loved, trusted or respected. You cannot treat human beings as blow-up dolls and expect to be treated as human yourself. To rape, molest or harass is to be hated. There is no justification and no excuse to circumvent the guilt of such a crime. Sex crimes can always be prevented: don’t commit them. They can never be forgotten, reversed or erased and only the strongest can forgive them.

Sex, or any kind of physical intimacy, should never be a goal or end in itself, only a means by which to share mutual affection and pleasure. Never, under any circumstances, should it be a means for violence, power, conquest or any type of oppression or injustice. There is no person at Oberlin unable to respect and celebrate the rights of other human beings. An institution and every single individual thereof, regardless of the duties and privileges of that individual, that enjoys the kind of standing and reputation that Oberlin does with the broad palette of experience contributed by every human being here should already have established a community free of such base and heinous atrocities.

–Karles Saucedo-McQuade
College senior


To the Editors:

Students for a Free Palestine is soliciting signatures for the divestment petition demanding that Oberlin College remove all investments in corporations that have contracts with the Israeli military. Divestment is proven strategy used as a part of the campaign that ended apartheid in South Africa. It is appropriate in the case of Israel to counter the billions of dollars our government supplies to Israel every year. U.S. aid to Israel from both government and private sources is essential in maintaining the occupation. Please sign the petition online at www.oberlin.edu/~sfp. If you don’t feel well informed enough to sign the petition, look for informational events around campus and please take on the responsibility of educating yourself! Ignorance is not an excuse.

Students for a Free Palestine’s Divestment Petition:

We, the undersigned, are appalled by the human rights abuses against Palestinians at the hands of the Israeli government, the continual military occupation and colonization of Palestinian territory by Israeli armed forces and settlers and the forcible eviction from and demolition of Palestinian homes, towns and cities. We find the recent attacks on Israeli civilians unacceptable and abhorrent. But these should not and do not negate the human rights of the Palestinian people.

As members of the Oberlin College community, we believe that our college should use its influence — political and financial — to encourage the United States government and the government of Israel to respect the human rights of the Palestinian people. We therefore call on the U.S. government to stop military aid and arms sales to Israel until Israel meets the conditions outlined below. We also call on Oberlin College to divest from U.S. companies that sell arms to Israel until these conditions are met:

1. Israel is in compliance with United Nations Resolution 242 which notes the inadmissibility of the acquisition of territory by war, and which calls for withdrawal of Israeli armed forces from occupied territories.

2. Israel is in compliance with the United Nations Committee Against Torture 2001 Report which recommends that Israel’s use of legal torture be ended.

3. In compliance with the Fourth Geneva Convention, Israel ceases building new settlements and vacates existing settlements in the Occupied Territories. (“The occupying power shall not deport or transfer parts of its own civilian population into territories it occupies”; Article 49, paragraph 6.)

4. Israel acknowledges in principle the applicability of United Nations Resolution 194 with respect to the rights of refugees and accepts that refugees should either be allowed to return to their former lands or else be compensated for their losses, as agreed by the Palestinians and Israelis in bilateral negotiations.

Students for a Free Palestine
–Roni Ginach
College first-year
–Lina Elbadawi
College senior
–Pegah Rahmanian
College junior
–Yussef Cole

College senior
–Robin Beck
College first-year
–Rachel Marcus

College junior
–Nina Sarnelle

College sophomore
–Lee Gargagliano
College junior


Editor’s note: this letter is in response to an article written in The Grape last year.

To the Editors:

I am writing this letter in response to the article by Samantha Goldstein on emergency contraception (EC) in the ER. The piece is well written and brings some very important issues to light; emergency rooms are not a good place to access EC. In addition, there are currently many forces at work trying to block women’s access to a broad range of reproductive health services.

It is time that students at Oberlin College get involved in protecting the rights of all women to plan their families. There are a number of initiatives in state and federal government that are actively working to block both services and information to men and women on what they need to know to avoid unwanted pregnancy.

That being said, I would like to remind the community that EC is relatively easy to access here in Oberlin. Student Health Services offers EC and we also have invited Family Planning Services to provide access through our clinic site. If you are not in Lorain County the best strategy for accessing EC is to call 1-888-Not-2-late for a nearby clinic that will provide EC. EC can be taken up to five days after unprotected intercourse and still provide good protection from pregnancy. Lorain County hospitals, for the most part, do not provide emergency contraception.

If you or anyone you know is interested in becoming active about the politics of reproductive health, please contact me by email or through Student Health Services.
–Laura Hieronymous
Health Services Director


To the Editors:

I want to welcome those students who voted here in Oberlin in the last election, as citizens of our town and as participants in our local decision-making process.

As a member of the Oberlin city council and as a lifelong voter here, I was thrilled to see the length of the lines and especially the student turnout. Although the four-hour wait was a challenge and the presidential results a crushing disappointment to many, the exercise in democracy was a gift and a hope for future elections.

I have been drawn back to election day by newly released data which I would like to share with you from the “Oberlin Votes!” organization:

—50 percent increase in votes cast.

—2,400 new registration/address changes (here are numbered the many students who chose to vote in Oberlin).

—93 percent voter turnout among registered non-student residents where lines were modest.

—75,000 Lorain County voter guides distributed, including to all local newspapers and libraries.

—Registered eligible voters at the Lorain County Jail.

—Involved 200 volunteers. Many of you not only voted here in Oberlin for the first time, but also spent hours in the above activities.

The impact of so many Oberlin College student voters remains to be measured as less well-known local issues present themselves at the polls. I look forward to dialogues concerning these issues.

I hope you will carry memories of the long lines you endured with great satisfaction and pride long after you leave Oberlin.

–Sharon Fairchild Soucy
Member, Oberlin city council
 
 

   


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