| << Front page | Commentary | April 8, 2005 |
Iraq: the cause for freedom, other letters
To the Editors:
My name is Ryan Silakoski, OC ’04. I was a reservist with the Marine Corps for three of my four years while at Oberlin College, having been discharged due to injury after graduation. I’m afraid that I do not have the time to keep up with all of the politically charged writing that takes place at Oberlin these days; however, one struck me this week while I read The Oberlin Review online. I read about the OC socialists commemorating the Iraq War, the things that were said and the beliefs they held. The one that struck me most, was Melissa Sanders stating: “People going to the Marines are not like you or me,” she added, “but even they don’t believe in this war.”
Am I really so different? Let me clue you in on some things. I am a U.S. Marine. Once a Marine always a Marine. I intend to go back to the Corps this October and fight if called upon. I do not want to go because I want to fight. No one necessarily wants war, despite the false bravado they may put forward as a facade to cover their fears.
However, I do want to go because I feel that my presence, my leadership of young Marines, will help save their lives as well as lessen any collateral damage caused to non-combatants. I do want to go because the cultural and social education I received at Oberlin College is something that I wish to pass on to our young troops so that they may better understand the culture within which they are now immersed. I do want to go because my comrades’ cause, which is mine also, is that of bringing freedom to a people.
Despite never wanting war, to say that the Marines do not believe in this war is wrong. Regardless of what political reason the Commander-in-Chief, Congress and other countries may have given to start this war, it is being waged today by the men and women on the ground in the name of freedom and that is a cause we Marines as a majority believe in. When you explore the reasons for any current military action, you must look at two important items: why did it start? Why does it continue?
The war started for foolish reasons. That much is clear. But it continues not because of politicians, but rather because the troops on the ground are willing to fight regardless of the political reason, for what has become their cause — the cause of freedom. A war may be started by politicians; but ultimately, it must be waged by the men and women on the ground. An army unwilling to fight is a politician unable to carry on a war. Unfortunately, all too often people do not realize that the cause of the politicians is not always the cause of those truly fighting the war. The cause with which it began is not the cause for which it continues as it is not the same people responsible for both. Do not be mistaken: this war may have been started by politicians under the ignorant guise of WMD, but it continues today at the hands of the men and women on the ground in hopes of freedom.
Are we really so different? I believe in saving lives. I believe in praying for peace, but also preparing for war should it come as history has shown it all too often does in one manner or another. I graduated from your college and now I spread what I learned about culture and tolerance to the people whom you believe are so different. I learned to follow my own path while at Oberlin, and now I follow that path as I am willing to fight a war for my cause — the cause of freedom.
If I am not like you, then I pity you. For I believe in life, peace, fighting for a self-developed cause and the establishment of a free people no matter the sacrifice.
–Ryan Silakoski
OC ’04
To the Editors:
By now most of you have read the Review article of March 18, 2005 discussing the architectural quirks of Noah 405.
While it was full of factual errors, what saddened us most was that an abiding semi-secret phenomenon has now been institutionalized, and thereby somewhat lessened. Because the Love Hole is a myth, the problem is not really about the facts. Despite this, the misrepresentations in the article are so far-reaching that they threaten to damage this myth and even the evanescent essence of Love. We, the undersigned, are writing to keep both the myth and the love alive.
The Love Hole was not “founded” (like a fraternity or the Republican Party). Did Columbus “find” North America? Unfortunately most Obies are not aware of the great flood of 1895, during which the waters of Lake Erie suddenly rose, reaching as far south as Wellington. The intrepid men and women of Oberlin College were forced onto the topfloor of Noah Hall – aptly named after the builder of the biblical ark – in order to stay dry.
Conditions were very harsh. Because they lacked clean drinking water, the students and faculty members drank grain alcohol that they distilled from corn they had rescued from the many surrounding fields. Because they could not build fires, they removed their wet clothes and huddled together under blankets in a cave-like hole that they hollowed out of the wall in one of the larger rooms. It’s a miracle that they survived, and an even bigger miracle that they ever left that hole.
The modern discovery of this hole by Mateo (who named it “zi luff hhhhole”), occurred 100 years later in September of 1995, long before anyone mentioned in the article had even been to Oberlin as a prospie. A little research could have turned that up. And although we’re not too concerned that the Review couldn’t figure out when Sam and Caleb graduated – on average they got it right – it’s too bad that they omitted any mention of their roommate Jeff. He was all love as well, and the rumors about him are all true.
We were puzzled when we read that the love hole was supposed to have “expanded on the... idea of an ‘active masculine social atmosphere.’” Masculinity had nothing to do with the spirit of the Love Hole. The love and fun that we experienced in that place were the opposite of the bizarro tough-guy attitude that is associated with masculinity in American culture. The active “OC” on the wall is also in no way male. It was painted on a slight angle to reflect the “forward leaning” activist nature of Oberlin College, its students, the poise of its athletes and the slight forward bend that precedes a kiss on a moonlit walk in the Arb or on the dance floor.
Most importantly, the Love Hole has never been about sex. It is about an extra-sexual (do we mean extra like extra-crispy, or extra like extra-terrestrial?) loving experience that we can’t really describe. What are the shapes or colors of time, love and fun? Also, we were drunk. Fully gonzo on life, on each other, on the glee of experiencing the inside of an architectural gift and maybe some other things, as well. We don’t remember. Unlike the article, however, the rumors are bursting with truth.
Finally, we understand that the article, flawed as it was, was based on an interview with a former resident of Noah 405 whom we’ll call Schmrichard Schmbraithewaite ’04 (to protect his anonymity). Why would a responsible reporter for an ordinarily meticulously edited newspaper base an article on information provided by a man who is called “Meathead” by all of his best friends, some of his family and at least one of his professors?
Like the true stories of the Love Hole, it remains a mystery. We can only hope that the current residents of Noah 405 — masculine, feminine, or otherwise — are active and able to enjoy the hell out of that room.
Love and Butterfly Kisses,
| –R. Samuel Hopkins OC ’01 –Caleb Stokes OC ‘01 –Jeff Price OC ‘01 –Mateo Massenet OC ’00 –William Singer OC ’03 –Jason Goss OC ’03 –Richard Braithewaite OC ’04 –Brendan Cody OC ’98 –Ian Atticus Maher OC ’01 | –Adam
Schoenberg OC ’02 –Zachary Fine OC ’00 –James T. Engelhardt OC ’98 –Casey S. Pickett OC ’01 –David Lessinger OC ’00 –Glenn Kaplan OC ’99 –Lucian Eisenhauer OC ’03 –Christopher J. Nytch OC ’00 |
To the Editors:
It is with great pleasure that I introduce to the OC community the Oberlin College Republicans, a student organization that was chartered many years ago, but which has been inactive in recent years...until now.
The first general interest meeting for the Oberlin College Republicans will be at 8 p.m. on Tuesday, April 12, in Wilder 112. I hope that any and all interested Obies stop by and become a part of this revived student organization.
To those readers hostile to, or perhaps uncomfortable with, the idea of a Republican student group at Oberlin, I make one request: never underestimate the benefit that may come of having a diverse set of opinions in one place. It is my hope and intention that the Oberlin College Republicans will work together with the OC Dems and other groups to stimulate political dialogue on campus and in town, a service which Oberlin sorely needs.
Once again, if you are interested in getting involved, please come to the general interest meeting on Tuesday, April 12, at 8 p.m. in Wilder 112. Thank you.
–Jonathan Bruno
College sophomore
To the Editors:
Week after week the Commentary pages of the Review are filled with talk of affirmative action and diversity at Oberlin. Are there enough minority students at the College? Are we doing all we can to encourage a racially diverse campus? And do all people, whether white, black, Asian, Jewish, Muslim, Christian or Martian, have a copy of the Enchiridion?
If nothing else, people from all walks of life, from all races and religions, can agree upon the fundamental truth that the Enchiridion is a work of extraordinary student literary genius. Once again, unfortunately, the Review has failed to report the numerous important goings-on of Oberlin’s student art and literary magazine, despite its constant good deeds and its clever blackmail attempts. How a college newspaper can report upon affirmative action without mentioning the Enchiridion, I do not know, but hopefully this letter can make up for this astonishing oversight.
The Enchiridion came out before Spring Break and those students who have discovered its joyous collection of student prose, poetry and photography breezed through their midterms and were cured of all physical ailments, which of course is the money-back guaranteed result of reading this magazine. Copies will continue to appear in Stevenson, Wilder and elsewhere, for Enchiridions reproduce asexually.
And what else has the Enchiridion been up to since last semester? Aside from collecting and publishing the best in student art and writing, the Enchiridion has brought the London Program back to Oberlin (yes, that was us), ended the evils of winter (for now), developed a free and renewable source of energy, freed Tibet and saved the world from Magneto on two separate occasions.
But what can you, the typical Oberlin student, do to keep the noble deeds of the Enchiridion alive? Why, it’s quite simple: you can submit to the spring issue of our illustrious magazine. We have extended our deadline to FRIDAY, APRIL 15 to give you extra time to send your poetry, prose, plays, screenplays, translations, comic strips, humor, photography, film stills and drawings to Enchiridion@oberlin.edu or WILDER BOX 29.
Submissions are completely anonymous to all but myself, the godlike business manager, and publication in the Enchiridion will bring you years of fame and fortune beyond your wildest dreams, unless your dreams are excessively wild, in which case you should write them down and submit them to us. So, submit to Enchiridion. That’s right, Enchiridion. You heard it here, Enchiridion.
The albino squirrel’s life depends on it.
–Harrison Demchick
College senior
Enchiridion Business Manager
To the Editors:
I am writing in response to the past debate on these pages regarding the Purchasing Committee's recommendation to stop purchasing Coca-Cola products due to labor rights abuses. I am a grad of ’02, and I want to provide some context to the Coca-Cola boycott debate that current students may not have.
It is ironic that a past writer to the Review has decried the fact that “the College has decided to boycott Coca-Cola. Not the students,” and argued that the College is not treating the students as adults. In fact, students created the Code of Purchasing, which provided the foundation for the stoppage of purchasing Coca-Cola products. In 1999, I was part of a group of students who did not want our tuition dollars going towards College-logo apparel which was made by child labor, in horrendous working conditions. We researched the issue and created an Anti-Sweatshop Purchasing Code of Conduct, working with other campuses across the nation to figure out the best language. We lobbied the administration (the Student Senate passed a resolution in support of the Code as well), we organized students on campus and held educational events like the Sweatshop Fashion Show. In the spring of 1999, President Dye agreed to enact the Code as College policy. Thanks to students’ efforts and the support of the College, we were the first private undergraduate college to join the Workers Rights Consortium, a national non-partisan monitoring organization now made up of 135 universities and colleges.
That is how the Purchasing Committee — which was the instigator of the Coca-Cola boycott — was created: to implement the Anti-Sweatshop Code of Conduct. We, the students, created the Committee so that it would be comprised mainly of students and had a lengthy process of communication and research of each corporation — precisely created to avoid the kind of dictatorial decision-making that the writer is so upset about. College students are really busy and we are not going to have time to mount referendum campaigns around every decision that the College makes. The Purchasing Committee is a mechanism that is transparent and student owned.
A lot of memories and progress made by students is lost when each class graduates. The intent of the Purchasing Code of Conduct was to set a foundation for future ethical and moral concerns regarding products purchased by the College — not just apparel. Finally, please note that any student can attend three meetings of the Purchasing Committee and then become a member of the Committee.
As an alumna, I have been thrilled to learn about the student-led initiatives such as the College Street redevelopment project and the environmental code — here's hoping students continue to get involved and make great things happen, not just rail on the sidelines.
–Katherine Blauvelt
OC ’02
To the Editors:
Education majors know that finding a full-time job teaching will be next to impossible if they don’t have connections. Teachers are being laid off left and right. Both are facts. Most education majors will have to subtitute teach. Good luck.
Why is a minister teaching 10th grade science? Why is an unemployed marketing major teaching first graders to read? Why is an unemployed ancient Greek language major teaching math? I’ll tell you why: it’s because in Ohio a substitute teacher can have a college degree in anything and if he has a friend in the school who will hire him — instant job! Never mind that these people never had the desire to be teachers! Let’s hire them anyway!
The schools try to “cover themselves” by saying these people have “short-term” sub licences — good for up to five days. In actuality, this only means that the preacher can teach 10th grade science for five consecutive days, then his friend in administration puts him in ninth grade math for one day, then back to 10th grade science for another five days. The cycle is repeated for the entire school year.
Why do I care? It’s because I graduated from Kent State University with a triple major in education. My combination was considered so grueling on the students that Kent doesn’t even offer it any longer. That is my dedication to Ohio’s children. I have a long-term sub licence as an Intervention Specialist from kindergarten to 12th grade and I can short-term sub in any subject or grade. But I don’t have “connections,” so am I called in to substitute teach? Oh sure, maybe three or four days a month when some principal somewhere can’t get one of their “non-education” buddies in for the day, they deign to call me. I have spoken to “pseudo subs” who have worked every single day this school year because they have a friend who is the principal or the secretary who calls in the subs, etc. One even told me it was a “whole lot easier than factory work.” In what universe is this fair to the students?
If Ohio was fair, just and cared about the education in public schools, then every Ohio school would be using an education graduate for substitute teachers (believe me, there’s enough of us out there). The unemployed marketer shouldn’t even be considered because that marketing major has no more idea about teaching reading than I have about marketing.
Schools try to argue that they need these non-educators on the sub list so they can be assured enough subs are available. This is a smoke screen. I have “made the rounds” of many schools to make sure my name has been included on their sub list. In striking up conversations with the office employees I have learned, on the average day, 20 to 25 percent of the subs on the list are called.
But what if the lists dropped every non-education major — let’s say doing this reduced the list by 50 percent (an extreme number). Simple arithmetic tells us that there would still be an excess of substitute teachers — but every one of them actually went to college to become a teacher!
Enough is enough! Write or call your senator and representative and demand that the first requirement for substitute teachers must be that they have a degree in education.
–Dean Livelsberger
Kent State University graduate
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