News Briefs

OSAP Solves Mother's Day Frustrations

Everyone struggles with the annual question of what to do for one's mother on Mother's Day. Candy is too clichéd and fancy jewelry is beyond the range of thrifty students' shallow pockets. However, while Ohio's springtime may bring muggy weather and mosquitoes, it also is accompanied by ubiquitous blooms of resplendent flowers. In an attempt to utilize the benefits of the spring bloom, the Oberlin Sustainable Agricultural Project (OSAP) will be selling over 50 varieties of perennials and 25 types of herbs on Saturdays from May 13 to June 17, offering a superb solution to those tearing their hair at the prospect of pleasing demanding moms.

Environmentally conscious sticklers concerned over the use of growth hormones need not fret, as OSAP's products are grown organically, using homemade soil mix, not to mention recycled pots. Moreover, the impressively varied range of flora boasts the imminently respectable honor of certification from the Ohio Ecological Food and Farm Association. The OSAP merchants chose June 17 as the ending date for their commerce as it falls just prior to Father's Day. "OSAP cares about dads, too," their press release reads.

Although OSAP has yet to select a permanent locale for their parent-pleasing business, students' eyes should be on the lookout for their conspicuous blue and white tent in the GTE parking lot as well as across the street from the Oberlin city parking lot, adjacent to the Municipal building. Market hours are Saturdays from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.

However, due to the sheer abundance of the desirable springtime bloom, OSAP only will be able to provide a limited amount of stock at their markets, lending truth to the old cliché, "the early bird gets the worm." Thus, as students cut into their studying time in frenetic search of the perfect gift for the annual veneration of their parents, OSAP's organically grown products may present the ideal solution for many.

-Nick Stillman

NOT WITH OUR MONEY! Stages Protest

On Friday afternoon, students gathered in Wilder Bowl to send Nancy Dye a simple message: get Sodexho Marriott out of Oberlin.

The protest, organized by "NOT WITH OUR MONEY: People Before Profits at CDS," was scheduled to include music, food, guest speakers and several theatrical performances. It was designed to express students' outrage over the fact that Sodexho Marriott, the company that provides food to the Campus Dining Service, is financially tied to the Corrections Corporation of America, the world's largest private prison corporation.

"NOT WITH OUR MONEY is demanding that the Sodexho Marriott Services terminates its association with the Corrections Corporation of America, or that Oberlin College terminate its contract with Marriott," said junior Ty Moore. "Furthermore, we demand that the College provide its employees with basic rights, health benefits and job security. Finally, we demand that the College offer students a more healthy selection of foods, foods that are organically grown and free of chemical contamination.

"The purpose of the protest is to apply maximum pressure to the administration to respond to those demands, particularly those related to the CCA and its work with private prisons. We want the College to set a date by which it will pull out of its contract with Sodexho. Until now, the administration has been stalling."

At press time, Moore added that he was expecting between 700 and 1,000 students to participate in the boycott by refusing to patronize any of the campus dining halls for a single day. To compensate the students for their losses, volunteer cooks at Harkness, Fairchild and Keep prepared food that was donated to the cause by all the Co-ops on campus.

Sophomore Jonathan Dexter, who spent all of Thursday evening preparing food in the Harkness kitchen, was too exhausted to speak coherently. "We've got a lot of bagels," he said. "We're working tirelessly, but it's for a good cause. I'd really like to say something more intelligent than 'it's a good cause,' but at 5:10 in the morning, I can't put together a rational sentence."

-Rossiter Drake