Students
Deserve More Attention
To
the Editors:
I
would like to thank Nancy Dye for her recent letter to the Oberlin
community on the financial condition of the College. I understand
the fact that over the last few years, health care costs have risen
dramatically while the value of the Colleges endowment has
fallen (after steadily increasingly for several previous years)
according to the volatile nature of stock markets.
However, I still do not understand why the administration has chosen
to eliminate nearly all its internship positions, especially when
one considers that most interns earn relatively low pay and in most
cases require only preventative, low-cost health care. Since the
decision has been announced, it has been demonstrated that the labor
of interns is both greatly appreciated by the Oberlin community
and necessary to the operation of this College. While the Multicultural
Resource Center and Theater Department have secured their interns
for the short term, other interns (some of them Oberlin grads) still
face unemployment at the end of this semester.
As a member of the mens varsity soccer team, I am greatly
disappointed that Adam Evans will not be our assistant coach next
season, as the team had planned, because his position will be eliminated.
This spring I have come to value Mr. Evans as a coach, as a role
model, and as a friend. Like other interns, his presence adds to
the lives of Oberlin students. It is sad that Mr. Evans is leaving,
but it is outrageous that he will not be replaced.
Unfortunately, this particular administrative decision appears to
many students to be part of a larger and disturbing trend. This
College spends considerable resources polishing the image it projects
to prospective students; it also spends considerable resources convincing
its alumni to donate money to their alma mater. But to my frustration,
it seems to me that Oberlin College pays comparatively little attention
to students and their concerns while they are at Oberlin. For this
reason, I must question whether this College is committed to providing
a progressive and useful liberal arts education, or whether it would
rather be strictly a successful business.
William
Singer
College junior
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