On our current state and The Guide:
As you might have noticed, we’re transitioning to a new format that unfortunately didn’t quite get finished before our web designer left the country. He’s returning to Oberlin in early September and we will furiously work to get you an aesthetically pleasing site as soon as possible. We’re hesitant to put a hard deadline on something web related, but we’re aiming for sometime during the first week of classes.

Our redesigned site will feature a brand new section of F+L we’re simply calling The Guide. The project is a “by students, for students” guide to Oberlin. It will separate what you need to know from what you should know and supply you with some helpful things to understand about your college. A common gripe about the oberlin.edu site is that there’s too much disorganized information which makes it difficult to navigate. The Guide will digest important academic, housing, dining and the judicial process policies and procedures and organize them straightforwardly with the links you need to the official pages. It will also introduce you to the various departments and student organizations on campus. Needless to say, we will cover the drugs, sex and rock ‘n roll students bring to campus.

On our history:
Erica Lee ’11 and David Clark (now proudly ’12) launched fearlessandloathing.com in 2009. They wanted students to have a daily news source, writers to feel unconstrained by word counts, photographers to post high quality photo galleries and videographers to have a journalistic outlet.

In July before their junior year, David and Erica created a Top Secret document detailing their plan and met with key administrators they would need as contacts. The three day trip back to Oberlin was a huge success, and thankfully Keep Cottage was unlocked. They returned before orientation to prepare stories and plan their strategy to recruit writers. F+L went live on August 24th, 2009 to the tune of Eddy Grant’s Electric Avenue. The launch was a huge success, and thankfully North was unlocked.

That first year David and Erica dreamed of paying their writers. When they approached the Student Finance Committee for ad hoc funding, their request for writer compensation was rejected. The SFC made it clear that compensation was reserved for personnel essential to the operation of the news organization. Yes, David and Erica found it peculiar that writers weren’t considered essential, so they abandoned SFC and the chartering process. They decided to go independent from the College entirely and turned F+L into fearlessandloathing.com, L.L.C.

After having their delusions of grandeur smashed by the difficulties of going corporate (namely, finding funding outside of the student activity fee) F+L has managed to keep content quality high, though not at the daily rate once sought. Neither David nor Erica were prepared for, or even particularly interested in, the logistical end of running a news organization. David, a simple reporter at heart, wanted only to write. Erica, seeking a future in publishing, was less interested in managing writers than editing their copy.

Fortunately, for the students of Oberlin College, David and Erica no longer run F+L. Erica graduated and though still owner, David’s biggest lesson learned in two years was the importance of delegating to qualified and dedicated editors. F+L will launch this year for the first time as a truly team effort to bring you the news you need and the news you want. Helena Thompson (Editor-in-Chief), Aliza Rosenfeld (News/Arts), Danielle Shiv (Managing Editor), Sybil Levine (Risky Business), and Ruby Smith (Multimedia) are your new tireless champions.

On our name:
Now that Oberlin has jumped ship on their “Fearless” campaign it’s necessary to fully explain where our name came from. Five years ago the College decided to change from “Think one person can change the world? So do we.” to “We are Oberlin. Fearless.” Many students angrily perceived it as an attempt to shed our happy-go-hippie image for a less idealistic one that would attract students who actually get jobs after Oberlin and make money as alums, ostensibly to donate. This really wasn’t true, but it was still worth capitalizing on something everybody loathed. David, at the time, was reading Hunter S. Thompson’s Fear and Loathing: On The Campaign Trail of ‘72. Situation, inspiration and substance combined, and Fearless and Loathing was born.

On our independence:
Being independent comes at a high cost. Literally. Business models are tricky things nowadays for journalism and so we have essentially run out of pocket thus far. David and Erica’s dream of paying their writers has remained unfulfilled but not forgotten. This year, we’ll offer what compensation we can in the form of benefits. Write something for us and you’ll receive free coffee, hookah, tater tots and access to the bar in our office. Yes, we have a bar in our office – because we can…because we’re independent.

By not chartering, F+L placed itself in a unique position at Oberlin. Our refusal of money from the Student Activity Fee allows us to report on SFC and student government decisions from the only third party perspective on campus.

On our future:
F+L is set to take off this year. Our primary goal is to increase transparency, communication and accountability in regard to every aspect of the College. We ask for your support and that you work with us. If something hasn’t been said, our ears are open and you should always leave a comment.
The second major goal is to develop a sustainable business model so we can pay writers in cash instead of beer, if they prefer.

If you’d like to learn more about F+L, please stop by 170 N. Main Street. Check our Contact page for updated office hours. We’d like hear what information will help you during your time at Oberlin – whether you’re interested in joining or not. Most likely, there will be candy of some sorts.