Stealing,
Sledding and Oberlin
To the Editors:
Continuing with the theme of thieving Oberlin students
which as been a common thread in the past two Review issues, I would
like to comment on the problems the co-ops have with items ‘walking
away on their own.’ This is particularly a problem in the
co-ops which are within non co-op buildings such as Fairchild and
Pyle Inn/Asia House. Many non-co-opers have realized over the years
that it takes far less effort to steal from a co-op than it does
the CDS halls. There are also those folks who decide to ‘aquire’
midnight snacks and such from the co-ops. Every co-op I’ve
been in at Oberlin has had to purchase kitchen ware (bowls, cups,
plates, cutlery, etc.) at some point while I was there. Some of
this, of course, is the membership being careless about returning
borrowed goods, but I’ve certainly encountered random people
in co-ops late at night.
The fact is, Oberlin students steal things because they feel like
they’re getting ripped off. Granted, constant thievery increases
their being ripped off, but students at Oberlin took more pride
in what was going on around them, they’d be less likely to
trash it - ‘Wow! That CDS, they’re really here to look
after our best interests!’ Unfortunately, in the case of CDS,
there’s not much to take pride in. Was that undercooked burger
and those soggy french fries really worth $14.50?
And on a side note, the DeCafé would have a much easier time
holding on to trays if the college provided sleds to students during
the winter months. Perhaps students could check them out from that
equipment room in the gym.
Or better yet, because old habits die hard, they could keep a stack
of sleds in the DeCafé.
The college could even be really high-tech and set up a sled rack
out by Mt. Oberlin similar to those SmarteCarte things at airports.
Students could swipe their ID to release a sled. I bet cheap K-Mart
plastic sleds cost less than those trays CDS uses. The sleds could
be used in place of trays at the DeCafé and dining halls
during warmer months anyhow.
And the next building Oberlin builds should have a sloped grassy
bank on one side (preferably the north side - it’d catch those
winds off Lake Erie - and I mean way bigger than the one on the
back of the Environmental Studies Building) to facilitate sledding.
That had absolutely nothing to do with the point of the rest of
my letter, but I felt it necessary to bring that idea to the attention
of the Oberlin community.
–Tom Simchak
College Senior
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