Nightly News-The correspondent called Oberlin "an almost perfect place" when the College was featured in a series on the high cost of higher education. Almost perfect, except for the high cost. Four years at Oberlin will now cost a student nearly $130,000, an amount in line with costs at comparable institutions. What, NBC asked, makes Oberlin worth such a cost? A world-class faculty, innovative programs, and top-notch students were the immediate answers. As one father interviewed put it, "I can't think of anything that I'd rather spend the money on."
USA Today-Oberlin's 57-year-old art rental program allows students to borrow original works of art and add a bit of culture to their dorm rooms. With a student I.D. and $5, any Oberlin student can rent a piece from the rental collection of the Allen Memorial Art Museum for one semester. Not only will Obies camp out all night in the museum courtyard to snag a favorite piece, they also respect the works they bring home. Since 1940, only one artwork has been damaged beyond repair. The rental collection, now comprising more than 350 works, was begun by Professor of Art History Ellen Johnson, who believed that all students should experience living with art.
Wheeling News-Register (Wheeling, WV)-Double-degree junior Jennifer Koh feels that it's "vital to give back to the community." Koh participates in many music outreach programs for children and works with inner-city school children in Chicago. This, in addition to giving world concert tours and carrying 17 hours of course work. She is not only an active Oberlin student, but also a celebrated professional violinist. "I feel very lucky," said Koh, "because my parents started me in tons of things and exposed me to a lot. It's important to me to continue outreach programs, to share what I was lucky enough to have when I was a kid." On her first impressions of Oberlin, which she entered at the age of 16, Koh said, "It was great. I loved it. I absolutely adored college from the moment I stepped onto campus." Being both a college student, majoring in English with a concentration in creative writing, and a concert violinist is a lot of work, Koh admits. "Its hard to always balance at times," she said, "but it's something I love. Everything I'm doing now, I'm happy to be doing."
The Washington Post-Associate Professor of History Gary Kornblith participated in the week-long "New Media Classroom" conference at New York's Baruch College. Unfortunately, he ran into a bit of a problem with the web site he was demonstrating. After discussing with the other participants the frustrations associated with using the World Wide Web as a resource for teaching history, Kornblith was moved to ask, "So, did we learn there are too many problems and we liked the old-fashioned way of teaching?"
First Things (New York)-What connection does Oberlin have to the Scopes "Monkey" trial? Professor and zoologist Maynard M. Metcalf (Class of 1889) gave expert testimony permitted at the trial. Darwinism, he declared, "is only a matter of the method He has chosen in creation." Some earlier Oberlinians, it seems, had little trouble in linking advances in science with their Christian beliefs.
Art & Antiques-Despite a commonly held belief, it is now known that many American girls attended school in the 18th and 19th centuries. It was there that a number of them learned needlework. After mastering the basics of darning, a student moved to the sampler, a study in embroidery which produced "samples" of basic stitches. Since so many girls acquired the rudiments of embroidery this way, antique dealers are now well-stocked with samplers displaying alphabets, numerals, and short, pious verse. Many of these industrious young girls put down their needles when higher education finally became available to them in the mid-19th century. One such place was Oberlin, where in 1838 the College first allowed its female students to take the bachelor's degree course with their male classmates. This larger victory for women effectively ended the long era of enchanting schoolgirl needlework.
Washington Jewish News (Washington, D.C.)- Oberlin it seems, is crunchy. "I don't like labels, but I'd call Oberlin or Carleton ÔCrunchy Granola' schools. Brown and Wesleyan are 'Extra Crunchy.'" This was the proclamation of senior Brian Melmed in an article on college slang. And what defines a "crunchy" school? A college with a laid-back, dressed-down, hippie flavor. A good number of Birkenstocks also helps.
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