Sidelines

Little facts you might be interested in

Davey D Headlines at "Hip-Hop 101" Conference

Hip-hop journalist Davey D, founder of the FNC Newsletter and the web site Davey D's Hip-Hop Corner, was the keynote speaker at "Hip Hop 101: The Foundation," a student-organized conference highlighting the origins of hip-hop culture held at Oberlin in mid-March.

His talk, titled "Hip-Hop Chronicles: Hip Hop and Hearing the Voices of Black Youth Oppression," set the tone for the event, intended to educate audience members about the realities of violence, poverty, police brutality, drugs, and crime that inspired hip-hop culture among urban black youth.

Other events included a performance by the world-famous breakdance group Rock Steady Crew, whose members also acted as judges in a breakdance battle competition.

Oberlin's hip-hop dance group And What!?!? planned this year's event.

Co-sponsors included Abusua, an organization for students of African descent, and the Office of the Dean of Students.

Practice, Practice, Practice

You know the old joke: How do you get to Carnegie Hall? Practice, practice, practice.

Scott Mello '02 practiced quite a bit. Then he had a bit of luck, to boot.

The tenor voice major made his Carnegie Hall debut March 25 as a featured soloist in Monteverdi's Gloria, with John Rutter conducting the New England Symphonic Ensemble.

Mello was "discovered" by a repre-sentative for Mid-America Productions, the company that presented the Rutter concert. The man, also a colleague of Mello's father, recruits Carnegie Hall soloists for the firm.

"He called my father and asked him if he thought I'd be available to sing," Mello said. Father then called son to prepare him for the news.

"My father likes to play tricks on people," said Mello, who's also pursu-ing a degree in music education. "For 15 minutes I thought he was kidding."

European Business Trip

A group of Oberlin students heads to Europe this summer for the Oberlin-in-Europe Euro Summer School, an intensive, six-week international business program.

The program is offered jointly by the Center for European Studies at the University of Maastricht and three leading European management schools: the HEC School of Management in Paris, France; Universita Bocconi in Milan, Italy; and Wirtschaftsuniversitat Wien in Vienna, Austria.

Students will spend their first three weeks in Maastricht, taking an International Business course taught by Professor David Cleeton, a recognized expert on European economic integration. He's also chair of Oberlin's economics department and international studies committee.

Students will then join other international students in Paris and take two other courses that are broken into modules and taught in succession at each of the other three campuses.

"It's a privilege for Oberlin to be affiliated with such an outstanding undergraduate business program," said Cleeton. "It's a unique opportunity for our students to experience firsthand the life and business cultures of Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, and The Netherlands."

What to Expect WhenYou're Graduating

Kimberly Jackson Davidson, dean of the class of 2001, had a big idea for her class.

She wanted to make sure graduating seniors knew what they needed to know before they graduated. Not the academics of their majors, but the more immediate -- and sometimes frightening -- stuff of life in the "real world."

Colleagues in other nonacademic departments on campus had similar ideas, and so Davidson organized Life after Oberlin Week, a series of workshops, presentations, and conversations focusing on emotional and practical issues faced by graduating seniors.

Topics included managing health-care insurance, starting a job search, living a socially committed life, ending old relationships and initiating new ones, planning for graduate school, managing personal finances, relocating, sustaining religious faith, and succeeding in employment.

The week presented "a wide range of expertise that I could not possibly provide students on my own," said Davidson, who will be dean of the class of 2005 starting next fall.

Nancy Dye Is Chair of the AAC&U Board

Oberlin College President Nancy S. Dye has been named chair of the board of directors of the Association of American Colleges and Universities. The announcement was made by the AAC&U last January.

Dye had been serving as acting chair since July 2000.

The AAC&U is the leading national association devoted to advancing and strengthening undergraduate liberal education. AAC&U advances its goals through a combination of continuing programs and grant-funded initiatives.

Founded in 1915 by presidents of liberal arts colleges, AAC&U now comprises 711 institutional members representing the entire spectrum of American colleges and universities: large and small, public and private, two-year and four-year.

In announcing Dye's election as chair, AAC&U President Carol Geary Schneider said, "Nancy Schrom Dye's commitment to strengthening and advancing liberal education could not be stronger, and her experiences provide her with an ideal perspective from which to lead AAC&U into the next phase of its growth and development."

Oberlin among Best Schools for African-American Students, Says Black Enterprise

Oberlin College ranks 11th out of 482 in the most recent Black Enterprise guide to the top 50 U.S. colleges and universities, published in the January 2001 issue.

Oberlin followed seven historically black colleges and universities -- and Stanford, Georgetown, and Columbia universities -- in the rankings.

Black Enterprise surveyed 936 African-American professionals in higher education to arrive at its top-50 list.

Schools included in the rankings are either well-known universities or accredited, four-year institutions with an African-American enrollment of at least 3 percent.

The magazine says its report is the "first list geared for black students that isn't based solely on the number of black graduates at a given college."

Oberlin was ranked 12th in the 1999 listings, the first compiled by the magazine.

We're Listening

Young people often complain that no one listens to them.

Seniors Joshua Rosen and Jeff Price came up with an on-air solution to the age-old complaint: i'm on the stereo, a radio program for elementary, middle, and high-school students in the Oberlin area.

The program airs Monday through Thursday from 5 to 6 p.m. on WOBC, 91.5 FM, the College's student-run radio station (webcast at www.wobc.org).

The show broadcasts interviews with students about local issues, jokes by elementary-school kids, and performances by local bands.

The show, said station manager and senior Ben Calhoun, embodies the unique spirit of WOBC.

"They're reestablishing ties to the community. That aspect of WOBC's programming makes us stand out against other college radio stations," he said.

Fulkerson Going Strong

J.S. Bach: The Sonatas and Partitas, a recording on the Bridge label by Professor of Violin Gregory Fulkerson, is one of the best released last year, according to The New Yorker.

The magazine included the recording in its short list, "Last Year's Strongest Classical Releases," published January 15.

Fulkerson, said writer Russell Platt, "combines a thorough knowledge of early-music techniques with the generous warmth of the mainstream tradition, filtered through the attentive ears of a first-class, new-music player. Every Bach fan will have his favorite among the classic recordings of these works, but this should be the universal second choice: no one makes you listen harder."