Next Week's Visit from Fred Phelps -- Ignore or Protest?

To the Editors:

I question the tactics of the anti-Fred Phelps organizing that has been taking place this week in preparation for his May 9 visit. Mobilizing groups of protesters, postering Tappan rocks, having a big picnic and a concert all sound like fun activities, but aside from the transparent "protest love-in" (this phrase taken from an e-mail sent out by protest organizers), they seem like exactly the opposite means of communicating diffidence toward Fred Phelps. Instead they attract the only environment where Phelps' message of hate has any chance at viability; polemicizing the situation into an argument gives Phelps room and audience to speak his message. Aside from his repugnant viewpoints, Phelps cannot be taken to be a man of vast stupidity. In other words, he cannot be expecting that Oberlin's campus is ripe to embrace his message. He comes here because he knows that we will react in the same childish ways we have in the past when Brother Jed has visited. He relies on a grain to go against for his visit to be successful, and unashamedly, it seems like we are again preparing to ante up to the challenge. If students show up to this Fred Phelps protest, you can certainly count on the tabloid-like local media outlets not being far behind.

E-mails from folks planning this rally are calling for "huge banners, posters, placards, etc. plastering Tappan Square with our queer selves - we can get bawdy, tacky and sisters of perpetual indulgence-esque." In case protesters get angry, the planners "have created means for folks to let out their frustration (i.e. write sentiments on balloons and then pop them, organize kiss-in, etc."

Protests such as the one being planned here on May 9th trivialize the real issue of homosexual discrimination and civil rights for all, not just a select few. It would seem more appropriate and more effective if leaders on campus would instruct their constituents and others they knew not to attend Phelps' visit. And if they feared that those who did attend would be swayed by his rhetoric, then perhaps an opinion piece written in a level-headed fashion after the visit would be the appropriate space for rebuttal. But that wouldn't be any fun. That wouldn't allow us our day in the sun (literally), and Phelps sure wouldn't be too happy speaking to an empty room.

--Josh Rosen, College junior

OPIRG Assistance Much Appreciated

To the Editor:

On behalf of many persons connected with the Oberlin Weekday Hot Meals Program, I would like to say thank you to the wonderful workers who helped at the Hot Meals site on OPIRG's Clean-up Day last month. Students and others involved did a tremendous job cleaning the Hot Meals kitchen and storage areas and organizing food-stuffs. All of us - Hot Meals Board members, the Program's cook and kitchen volunteers, and of course the nightly dinner guests - continue to benefit from what was done by that day's hardworking, enthusiastic crew, and from OPIRG's community support.

Again, thanks for the marvelous team effort.

--Nikki Memmott, Hot Meals Board Member

Suggestions to President Dye for Our Super College

To the Editors:

Imagine my surprise last Thursday when Mr. Byrne uses The Grape to launch a front-page propaganda campaign for Prez Dye, especially given my Review essay calling on Dye for a public accounting the following day! Dye - Byrne's interview does not fulfill my call for an unveiling of your vision for Oberlin. As emphasized in last week's piece, YOU need to clarify your position - I don't want you whining about being misquoted or misunderstood. Now for the points Dye made in the interview.

In expounding upon her statement, "What I have tried to do at Oberlin..." she outlined four points, which I address. On the intellectual issue, yes, Oberlin is intellectual, but scientific endeavors are not the definition of intellectual pursuits. Instead of building two new science buildings in the span of two years, what about social sciences or humanities? (I don't mean buildings per se, but improvements in those areas.)

With social sciences, one stone could kill two birds. If you are so concerned about town-gown relations and enthused about immersive learning, why not foster programs which get Oberlin students out into the community to help solve real-life problems? Consider the irony: this enormously rich institution is in one of Ohio's poorest counties. So why don't economics majors/honors examine economic development issues instead of running rational choice experiments year in and year out? Why don't sociology students research income and employment disparities right next door?

Re: humanities and buildings, why wasn't the studio art building you mentioned built in lieu of one of the science buildings? What about the medium-sized concert hall? Whoa! Why in the hell do we need that when the Jazz Studies department is housed in a virtually condemned building?! Oops, I forgot the Con is all about the music of dead white men - excuse my lapse of Eurocentric thought. This brings up the next issue - diversity.

If you honestly committed to "diversity and access," then why does the average need-based aid recipient receive 2.3 times as much grant money as their non-need-based aid counterpart, but 27 times as much in loan funding. Nor does it stop there, but extends to the parents. On average, the parents of the former take out loans worth 80 percent of those of the latter, and the former must accept a work-study job to make ends meet. These facts place the burden, especially long-term, onto those least likely to have significant absorptive capacities financially - need-based aid recipients and their families. (Note all figures computed from Office of Institutional Research data for '99-'00.) If your actions followed your words, then one could expect the wealthier non-need-based aid recipient and their parents to assume higher loan amounts and take less aid in college-funded grants. Need-based aid recipients could then receive these surplus grant monies; result - diverse student body.

Regarding curricular diversity, you speak of an "American Culture" program; what nonsense is this? Aha, Dye's Oberlin IS a bourgeois college wanna-be. (Ethnic Studies sounds too threatening, whereas American Culture implicitly includes white folk.) Besides, studying "various minorities in an American context" achieves two things. It retains an overall Anglo-European paradigm. Second, it compartmentalizes those experiences apart from global patterns of racism and white supremacy. In addition, the piece states Dye's confusion as to why students (i.e., people of color) accuse the College of false advertising. That shouldn't surprise anyone - people of color are sooo picky and unreasonable. Gosh, they expect us white folk to give up white privilege; isn't MLK day and our celebration of his "I Have a Dream" speech enough? What can't we all just get along?

Dye also whines about accusations of her underhanded dealings. Businesses are often accused of underhanded dealing; this college is no different - it is a business, after all. Similarly, "office politics" often enters into hiring, promotion and firing decisions, as it does in any business. That's what last year's Cox takeover was all about. Students had uncovered evidence that office politics played a role in selecting Mr. Goldsmith and they wanted a confirmation of that. Instead of offering an honest accounting of events, Dye played the politician and denied everything. I have indications that events (politicking not a takeover) may repeat themselves in upcoming searches. I eagerly await the outcomes to see if Dye will again play the politician. Although not everything can be public, it should all be above board.

Lastly, I would like to address Dye's protestations concerning the limits of her job. Regarding Dye's statement that it's "ultimately up to the faculty," although it's literally true, Dye can still play a role if she so chooses. She can argue for her vision as an honest continuation of Oberlin's progressive legacy; that's part of what a President does - lead. That's what LEADERSHIP is all about, Dye. As President, you can set the administrative tone and mold the institutional direction of this college if you so choose. I urge you to exercise leadership in this capacity. (Forgive my naiveté if you have already done so, because you sure as hell haven't done much to convey this to the community.) If as many faculty have such a high opinion of you and the job you're doing as I hear time and again, then why don't you build on those feelings of goodwill and genuinely continue Oberlin's progressive legacy.

--Yahya Ibn Rabat, College fifth-year

Car Questions? No Need to Leave Town or Computer

To the Editor:

I am a car person. I know more than most of my friends, who are tired of hearing about Citroens and Austin-Healeys, could possibly imagine. I have driven cars as normal as a Ford Escort and an Oldsmobile Delta '88, and cars exotic enough that you've probably never heard of them, like the British-built, Chrysler-440 V8 powered Jensen Interceptor or the supercharged Italian Lancia Beta Volumex coupe. In short, though my specialty is low-cost classic European cars, there's almost nothing I can't tell you on the general subject. And no, my Dad isn't a wealthy car collector. I come from a single parent household (Mom!) and everything I've learned and driven, I've experienced on my own.

About two years ago, I had a conversation with another student in a parking lot, where her Datsun simply wouldn't start no matter what she tried. After seeing other students drive around in cars that would almost certainly give them trouble (a blue Renault Alliance comes to mind), I thought it was time to put my experience and knowledge to good use. So for Winter term of '99 and for Spring semester that year, I wrote a 300-page used-car guidebook aimed specifically at College students (though it is written from an enthusiast's perspective). After a year of attempting to get it published and not getting very far, I've decided to make it available as a web site at: http://www.oberlin.edu/~akwanten.

The guide covers nearly all cars sold in America between 1975 and 1990. I chose these years because they fall into an area that most commercial car guides don't cover. Pre-1975 cars are the domain of classic car books, while post-1990 cars are covered in detail in publications like Consumers' Union guidebooks. I also figured that any student looking for a car probably doesn't have much money to spend if they're looking on their own. These years currently provide the cheapest cars on the market, since most cars from the late '70s and '80s are at or near the bottom of their depreciation curve. Makes covered in depth are: Acura, Alfa-Romeo, AMC, Audi, BMW, Buick, Cadillac, Chevrolet, Chrysler, Datsun/Nissan, Dodge, Eagle, Ford, Honda, Hyundai, Lincoln, Mazda, Mercury, MG, Mitsubishi, Oldsmobile, Peugeot, Plymouth, Pontiac, Renault, Rover/Sterling, Saab, Subaru, Toyota, Triumph, Volkswagen, Volvo and Yugo. Makes soon to be added are Suzuki, Fiat, Lancia and Jaguar. I have made a painstaking effort to include what you might find, even when it's very obscure, in the case of the Rover 3500, or when there's a lot of other information out there, as in the Honda Accord. The web site is not complete at the time of this writing, but all these entries should be up and viewable by Friday night. I will be adding sections on what to look for when inspecting and how to handle Used-car Dealers in the near future.

So if you're in the market or have questions about a specific car from the period, this is the place to go. I am also happy to give more general advice. I can be reached at Alexandre.Kwanten@oberlin.edu. You can also sometimes find me parking my car, a red 1974 MG B/GT, in front of Stevenson for dinner. Good luck, good hunting and feel free to e-mail (just be sure to put "Car question" as the subject).

--Alex Kwanten, College senior

Yet Another Satisfied Alum -- We'll Love It In a Few Years Too

To the Editors:

It is late April as I write this, and here in West Virginia, spring is well underway. My woods and my gardens are a lovely combination of spring plants in full bloom (or even past their prime), slightly later plants with lush leaf growth but no blooms yet and some slugabeds just beginning to break their dormancy. It reminds me of Oberlin students in the '40s: some with their term papers finished, some well into their research but without a word on paper yet, and some, of course, still trying desperately to find a topic.

Is it still like that, even with laptops and the Internet? I remember spring in Oberlin as a time of decided change in social behavior: a time for walks and lazy afternoons on a blanket in the Arb. I suppose that co-ed dorms have made dating much less dependent on weather and ambient temperatures. Another characteristic of spring was the temporary but distinctive aroma (a euphemism, if there ever was one) of manure being spread on the campus grass. Have we come full circle yet? Is B&G using organic fertilizer?

This vernal ritual even showed up in some lines in one of the annual Mummers Club productions. It must have "Front and Centaur," a post-war effort which began in a philosophy class. A student, hearing Descartes' dictum, "Cogito, ergo sum," decides to think of a centaur, and one suddenly appears to the delight (and consternation) of students and faculty (not to mention the administration). Those Broadway musical-type shows, fully staged, costumed and orchestrated and produced on the stage in Finney were the highlights of every spring and bring back many memories. I don't think my generation produced any Julie Taymors, but my housemate, Don Smith, directed the orchestra at Radio City Music Hall for 17 years and was brought out of retirement last fall to prepare their Christmas show.

Each time I return to campus for Alumni Council and Executive Board meetings, I am impressed by the quality of the students I meet and the talents they display. Oberlin was a great school when I arrived 60 years ago, and in those passing years it has continued to improve. Be proud to be an Obie, and store up all the memories you can.

--Hal Peterson, OC' 44, Executive Board, Alumni Association

Stevenson Provides Tasty Monthly Treats

To the Editors:

The Obie Bash will take place Friday, May 12, 2000, at Dascomb Bowl. Music will begin at 4:45 and food will be available from 5:15 to 6:45 for students. The following menu is what you can expect at the picnic: zucchini and rotini pasta salad, potato salad, tomato salad, vegetarian baked beans, fresh fruit salad, veggie tray w/dip, biscuits, potato chips, sundae bar w/toppings, big cake sheet cakes decorated at the picnic.

I would like to give my thanks to The Campus Dining Service staff for the incredible Spring Fling Dinner at Stevenson on Thursday, April 12, 2000. My son and I had no idea that something special was taking place that evening so we were very surprised to find this wonderful event. Once a month Stevenson Dining Hall has a special dinner with a different theme each time. In my opinion, exceptional quality and elegance must have been the theme for this event. With a meal of this type, you can usually judge the quality of the entire meal by the quality of the fish being served. When I tasted the stuffed flounder I knew immediately that this dinner was going to be something special. The flounder had a succulent fresh flavor that was perfectly married with the well-seasoned stuffing and cooked to the point of absolute perfection. The portobello mushroom stuffed ravioli with roasted red pepper sauce melted in the mouth. Grilled vegan kebobs delighted my palate, as did the asparagus with balsamic vinaigrette and honey glazed baby carrots. And dessert, I guess at this point you are probably saying, "How did she have room for desert?" Well I did. Vanilla tartan with fruit. Blueberries, kiwi and a symphony of delectables. There were also 10 oz. strip steaks and other dishes available. Rick, the manager that evening, was very cordial, as was all of the staff. Even a jazz group providing music was in Longman Hall. With the wonderfully created atmosphere, and the quality and presentation of the dinner, this was truly an evening to remember. Joan Boettcher has done a tremendous job with the product selection.

So, have a blast at the picnic and remember the once a month dining specials next year!

--Ayesha Wiley, Neuroscience Lab Animal Caretaker