Oberlin Participates in a Worldwide Campaign for Environmental Sustainability

October 15th, 2010
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By Julie Garber

Photos by David Roswell

On October 10, 2010, Oberlin college students and the surrounding community collaborated in a way never quite done before.  Similar to the traditional Day of Service event for freshmen, students came together in a joint volunteering effort. However, unlike the Day of Service, the “10/10/10” sites were all geared toward environmental sustainability.

The purpose of this event, which occurred worldwide, was to reduce carbon emissions in an innovative and more efficient manner.  Instead of having rallies or protests demanding emission cuts, this event aimed to involve people in their communities in a “Global Work Party”.   As explained by www.350.org, the brainchild of the event, such community involvement was meant to send the political message: “If we can get to work, so can you!”

Corey Harkins took the initiative to organize Oberlin’s 10/10/10 event. When asked what inspired him to bring this event to Oberlin, he enthusiastically explained, “I think service is so important in gauging our humanity.  Service is what makes us human.”

The Bonner Center and the Resource Conservation Team, both of which provided equipment, advice, tools, and money necessary for the event, cosponsored 10/10/10.  These service organizations show the countless ways that we can get involved in our community.  The Resource Conservation Team, for example, gets students to volunteer in protecting the environment while taking their interests into consideration.

The event began at 1:00 p.m.  About forty volunteers signed up through a pre-registration form, but many people just showed up to desk in Wilder Bowl and were sent to various sites.  Although some site leaders came a little late, by 2:00 p.m., every site had people working.

Sites included Full Circle Fuels, George Jones Farm, and the Johnson House garden.  Several students removed invasive species behind Kahn, while others audited energy at various locations throughout campus.   One group, in particular, changed light bulbs in Wilder.  Corey explained that changing 25 light bulbs would save about $4,000, even taking the price of the light bulbs into consideration.

A total of 7,347 people in 188 different countries participated in 10/10/10, making a huge splash and hopefully encouraging political leaders to work on environmental legislation.

The Living Machine

October 6th, 2010
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By Julie Garber

Within the A.J. Lewis Center for Environmental Studies is perhaps one of the most revolutionary developments in environmental technology today. An attempt to merge human custom with natural processes, the Living Machine is a recently developed system designed to imitate the natural purification of water by wetlands. That is, the Living Machine combines natural means of purification with mechanical and computer systems to take sewage and return it to an unpolluted state.

About ten years ago, Oberlin acquired its very own living machine for the A.J. Lewis Center.  It includes both indoor and outdoor components that work together to cleanse the building’s wastewater and allow for reuse. While the college’s Living Machine currently only works with water within the environmental building, staff hope to soon incorporate South Campus and the town of Oberlin in the Machine’s purification efforts.

Students and lab assistants maintain and monitor the machine, although it is mostly a self-sustaining system. Freshmen have opportunity to spend winter term on campus doing labs, testing, and monitoring.  Environmental Studies majors often create projects involving the Machine.

The Living Machine’s work begins in underground anaerobic tanks known as AN1 and AN2.  These tanks receive water from the building’s toilets and sinks, thus initiating the breakdown of wastewater.  Solid waste sinks to the bottom of these tanks, facilitating the flow of liquid, and anaerobic bacteria (microbes that exist without the presence of oxygen), break down organic wastes into ammonia, methane, and organic acids.

Next, the water enters closed aerobic tanks, or CA1 and CA2.  Unlike the aforementioned anaerobic tanks, the aerobic tanks allow oxygen to enter the wastewater.  Aerobic bacteria (microbes that require the presence of oxygen) continue purification and convert ammonium in the water into nitrite and nitrate, forms that can be readily taken up by plants.

The water then enters building’s greenhouse, where the open aerobic tanks are located.  The three open aerobic tanks are the most visually engaging and impressive aspects of the Living Machine, with masses of gigantic tropical plants extending from each tank.  Bacteria continue to convert ammonium to nitrite and nitrate.  The large plants serve to create a habitat for organisms present in the tanks.

As the wastewater flows into the Clarifier basin, suspended solids settle, forming a layer of “sludge” on the basin floor.  The sludge is sent to the Closed Aerobic tanks to nourish populations of bacteria.  Clear water is sent to the floor of the greenhouse, which resembles a sort of gravel wetland.  In the final step, water is sent to the Effluent Holding Tank, which is located outside and holds water for reuse within the building.

The magic of the Living Machine lies in its interactions between various ecological systems. Due to this clever manipulation, Oberlin’s Living Machine has proved to be not only an extraordinary waste treatment system, but also a remarkable tool for education.

Treasures of the Oberlin Public Library

October 3rd, 2010
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By Alexander Bianchi

A fully illustrated children’s book on the First Family, a Romance and Adult Paperbacks section spanning nearly half of the back wall, Oberlin Alums, and even some nifty convenience baskets are only part of the the magic of the Oberlin Public Library.

From the outside, the OPL is a generic, sterile and slightly unattractive municipal public building. However, it quickly became apparent that there was something afoot when I noticed the mural of parrots, tigers, and tropical flowers tucked away to the left of the building. Entering the library, I found myself in a large room of grey carpeting, white metal bookshelves, and florescent lighting. Obviously, it was quiet. Yet again, I raised an eyebrow when I happened to peruse the billboard, covered with posters advertising Reiki classes, Jazzercise, and an Autumn Celebration of Midwifery.

By the time I got to the children’s section, I realized that this was no regular public library. Near a sign advertising storytimes–which resume in October by the way–I came upon Deborah Hopkinson’s new classic, First Family. Yes, a fully illustrated children’s book depicting a typical day in the White House for Barack, Michelle, the girls and their dog Bo – for ages five to seven.

After getting my First Family fix, I set out in search of the heart of any library: the romantic novel section. The OPL does not disappoint. Much to my guilty pleasure, I found the Romance and Adult Paperbacks section to be more than adequate, containing nearly a wall’s-worth of books. And luckily for me, my favorite New York Times bestselling author Mary Balogh was in stock. This library contained her Slightly series, a number of books with titles beginning with the word ‘slightly’ and ending in such adjectives as sinful, scandalous, tempted, dangerous, and my own personal favorite, Slightly Married, in which a London aristocrat marries a random soldier so as not to be turned out of her home. “When strangers become lovers, anything can happen.” Go figure.

Realizing that I still needed to pick up something for a bit of light reading, I headed over to the Biography section, where my literary needs were met with five different biographies on Richard Nixon. Placing these tomes in a handy convenience basket that I found nearby, I moved onward, dreaming of the juicy reading that lay ahead. My glazed eyes quickly snapped into focus when they caught sight of a shelf bearing a sign that read ‘Free!’–which was, unfortunately, filled with nothing but pamphlets.

Feeling that I had only just begun to plumb the depths of this literary treasure trove, I decided to consult the staff. I was lucky enough to find Joseph Maiville ’07, the jovial reference librarian. Joseph, who naturally was kidnapped by the fencing team and confronted by a man wearing a bear suit when he was a prospective student, decided to stay after graduation because, as he says, “The community in the town makes it above and beyond most of the experiences I’ve had in my life. There are so many people here who have led incredibly interesting lives, and there’s so much art and beauty.”

Joseph also informed me that the library has “a huge circulation turnout because of the college students. You can tell when finals are coming up because students will come in and rent a bunch of Disney movies.” With that, we ourselves took a stroll over to the rather extensive video section. I found critically acclaimed TV series like The Sopranos and Six Feet Under, as well as theatre, British, African-American, “Vintage Hollywood” and fitness sections. I’m sorry to report that there were no Jane Fonda films available; however, I did find five prenatal yoga movies, which I promptly placed in my convenience basket alongside my Nixon bios.

Joseph also showed me some of the special rooms of the library. One such room is the Owen Room. Looking out onto the OPL garden, the Owen Room is filled with rare children’s books and is also an excellent place for solitary study. Next, he brought me to the Genealogy Room, containing a computer used especially for genealogy, walls of books about Oberlin and the history of Ohio, and Oberlin News Tribunes archives dating all the way back to 1885.

My time was almost up for the evening. I got a library card so I could check out my biographies and fitness tapes. It’s a remarkably easy process for Oberlin students–simply show the librarian your OCID and fill out a short form. Before I left, I was sure to ask Joseph one last pressing question that had been on my mind: is there an age limit on storytime? He replied, “It depends. How old is your inner child?”

For many of us Oberlin students, the answer is obvious, but be sure to consult the children’s librarian before showing up.

All photos by Alexander Bianchi.

Athletics Update: Sept 20-29

September 30th, 2010
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By Nick Perry

Goyeo.com

Football

Be prepared to spit out your coffee. Even if you’re not drinking any. Are you ready? The Oberlin football team…is 2-1! OC put up a school record of 622 yards of offense while steam-rolling Hiram 47-21 last weekend. Joey Zebelian ’11 passed 323 yards, hitting Danny Enright ’12 and Cory Kidd ’12 for 235 of those yards and two touchdowns. Drew Mixter ’12 rushed 108 yards on 15 carries, scoring once. If you’re not excited about this, you belong WAY too much at this school, and your patriotism and moral fiber may be called into question. This weekend is Homecoming against a nationally-ranked Wittenberg squad and we cannot be embarrassed. We have a winning football team now people, which means, as middle-Americans, we are all legally obliged to get obliterated on Natty Ice and hamburgers and yell obscenities at Wittenberg. International students: you’re exempted from the law, but we’d love to see you anyway.

THIS SATURDAY, 1 P.M. SAVAGE FIELD. TAILGATE STARTS AS SOON AS THE FIRST GRILL GETS THERE.

Men’s and Women’s XC

Both men’s and women’s XC participated in the Carnegie Mellon Invitational this past weekend. The men placed second out of a field of 16. Stephen Williams ’12 was the top runner for OC, placing 5th overall. He was immediately followed by two Obies, Derek Lange ’12 in 6th, and Eric Line ’13 in 7th.

The women placed first out of 14, led by first-year Molly Martorella in 5th place and Sara Terashima ’13 in 6th.

Next weekend, the teams head to the All-Ohio Championships in Cedarville.

Women’s Volleyball

Unfortunately, according to www.goyeo.com, the Yeowomen were strong enough to beat some Bishops, but then fell to other Ladies. I can only imagine what those other Ladies did to the Bishops. Since we last checked in, the team has dropped four of their last five, bringing their record to 2-15 (1-3 conference). The Yeowomen have two home matches coming up, October 2nd against Wittenberg (4 p.m.) and October 6th against Case Western (7 p.m.). Go show some support and get your Yeo Zone card punched! They’re giving you hats and shirts to watch cute girls in spandex spike balls–how can you say no?

Men’s and Women’s Tennis

The Women’s Tennis team traveled to Fredericksburg, VA last weekend for the ITA Regionals. Farah Leclerq ’13 led the Yeowomen, reaching the quarterfinals before falling to the second seed–some loser from Johns Hopkins. Leclerq and her doubles partner Ariel Lewis ’12 also reached the quarterfinals in the Championship Doubles Draw before losing to a couple of Washington & Lee bums.

The Men’s Tennis team began the 2010-11 campaign last weekend in Kalamazoo, MI at the ITA Regionals. Why one ITA Regional was in Virginia and one was in Michigan, I can’t answer. I speculate that they wanted to keep the boys far away from the girls, since everybody knows tennis players can’t keep their hands off each other. Highlights for the men were few and far between. Sam Towne ’12 was the only OC player to win a match, but he failed to advance to the elimination round. The Yeomen are home for the OC Invitational this weekend, so go check them out all weekend in the Heisman Club House.

Field Hockey

My biggest regret of this week was accidentally deleting an email from somebody associated with the field hockey team offering $20 to help in an unspecified way at their Wooster game on Wednesday. I would honestly pay the team to let me chase their hallowed balls. It doesn’t matter that they’ve lost their last two games and fallen to 4-3 (1-3 conference), I am still convinced they have more heart than any OC team to ever exist. They will get back to their winning ways and continue owning other girls in skirts on Saturday against Earlham. THE GAME IS HOME! BE THERE! 2 p.m. on Saturday.

Coincidence that the football and field hockey teams play their homecoming games at more or less the same time? I think not! Methinks the football team is worried about field hockey’s dominance; getting a little scared they might steal some thunder. But hey, I’m a lover. I’m more than willing to support my kind and slur at every foreign team playing at Oberlin.

Men’s and Women’s Soccer

Things continue to look glum here. The Yeomen have dropped to 3-7 after two close losses to Muskingum (2-1) and Earlham (1-0) last week. The Earlham game was one of the most frustrating sporting events I’ve ever attended. Poor refereeing, countless missed OC chances, a very questionable non-offsides call on the lone goal of the game, and my go-to companion for games left after 25 minutes. It’s easier said than done, but the Yeomen have just got to stop hitting the post so many goddamn times. No joke, the uprights were hit six times against Earlham, and what could easily have been a blow-out victory is a measly loss. Somebody has to step up and become a bonafide finisher, but who’s it gonna be?

The OC Alumni Game is this weekend, and the Yeomen get back in action next Wednesday against Wooster at Fred Shults Field at 7 p.m.

The Yeowomen have struggled to a 2-8 record, losing the second most frustrating sporting event I’ve ever attended last Tuesday to Heidelberg. After coming back from deficits of 2-0 and 3-2 to force overtime, a point blank Heidelberg goal in the third minute of overtime ended their epic resilience. After another loss to Earlham, the Yeowomen bounced back with a 3-2 victory over Bluffton on Tuesday, powered by goals from Hannah Combe ’13, Ryann McChesney ’12, and Charlotte Istel ’14. The Yeowomen travel to Allegheny this weekend before returning home next Tuesday to take on Muskingum at Fred Shults Field at 7 p.m.

Asian Market and Pizza Place Opening by Slow Train

September 25th, 2010
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By David Edward Clark

In four to six weeks, the East College Street Project will be complete and The Slow Train Café will no longer be the only draw for students to the east side of town.

The building behind Slow Train will have an Asian food market that will also serve Korean food to go.  Beside the grocery store will be a Tansu (a form of fancy Japanese cabinets) studio, and an accounting firm.  A barbershop and a psychologist’s office will be on the second floor, though there is still space left for another shop.

On the corner of Pleasant and East College, a local couple is opening a gourmet pizza parlor.  “They’re going to have like butternut squash and goat cheese pizza,” said Josh Rosen of Sustainable Community Associates.  They should be opening their doors by mid-November.

SCA tried its hardest to bring an Indian restaurant to Oberlin, with no such luck.  “It’s a tough climate for restaurants to go to banks and get business loans,” said Rosen.  “But I should add, there’s still one 1,600 square feet space that an Indian restaurant could go into.”

In addition to retail and office space, the East College Street Project contains 33 mixed income condos.  Over the summer, those who bought condos moved in.  “All the affordable housing rentals are already taken,” said Rosen.  Only eight condos are left that will be sold at the market rate.

In terms of the project’s LEED status, which measures a building’s environmental friendliness, SCA will not know their rating for sure for another six months.  However, Rosen is confident that they will achieve their target goal of LEED Gold.

For their next endeavor, SCA is “investigating a two to three megawatt solar project with the City of Oberlin and Oberlin College,” said Rosen.  “It just feels like energy is the next thing to do so that’s what we’re working on.”

SCA aims to stay local.  “It’s been our home and we’d like to keep working here if possible,” said Rosen.  They are also looking into development opportunities around the Cleveland area.

On October 9th, SCA is holding an open house in the courtyard behind Slow Train.  At 2 p.m., there will be tours of the entire project and at 6 p.m. there will be music, pie and cider for all.

Athletics Update: Sept. 12-19, 2010

September 21st, 2010
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By Nick Perry

Field Hockey (4-1) currently has the best record of the fall teams. Photo from goyeo.com

Football

The football team is off to an astonishing 1-1 start despite being on the road for the first two weeks of the season. OC won their season opener for the first time since 1997 with a 29-26 overtime win over Kenyon before suffering a 31-14 defeat to College of Wooster this past Saturday. Obviously, I have yet to see the team play, but from what I gather from scouring  GoYeo and through basic logic is that the defense and running game is struggling significantly; an unfortunate drawback for a passing offense that has racked up 500 yards in the past two games. Sophomore quarterback Josh Mandel has led a reasonably productive offense throwing for 6 touchdowns–including a 4 TD game against Kenyon–compared to 5 interceptions. The kid also threw for 335 yards against Kenyon. Pretty damn impressive–maybe we will win a few this year. OC football heads to Hiram next weekend before coming back for Homecoming weekend on October 2 against Wittenberg.

Men’s and Women’s Cross Country

All I know about cross country is that these OC teams throw damn good parties. I understand that competitors run distances considered dangerous for people of my physical fitness level and try to be the fastest to run these distances. But as far as scoring, qualifying for higher levels and uniforms, I’m totally clueless. So here’s what I gather about the men’s and women’s cross country teams up to this point using the least specific language I can so as to not insult XC jargon.

First, and I believe foremost, the men’s team have recently been ranked 31st in the nation by the United States Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA, which defeats the purpose of an acronym). An impressive feat for a homely little liberal arts college in Ohio with more hipsters than trees. Both the men’s and the women’s teams placed well at the GLCA Championships at Ohio Wesleyan last weekend, with the men placing first and the women second.

Both teams head to Carnegie Mellon next weekend to run train at the Carnegie Mellon Invite.

Women’s Volleyball

The Women’s (Oberlin doesn’t have Men’s Volleyball) Volleyball team has sneakily been playing matches almost daily over the past two and a half weeks and has managed to accumulate a 1-11 record, the lone win coming against Earlham last Saturday. The team plays Otterbein at home on Tuesday night at 7 before playing four matches at Hiram next weekend.

Men’s and Women’s Tennis

You may have heard about the Oberlin Women’s Invitational happening this weekend. Here’s what went down: Farah Leclercq ’13, Carolyn Ball ’12, and Ariel Lewis ’12 were women’s singles winners on Day 1. Both women’s doubles teams; Julie Christensen ’13 and Preeya Shah ’13, and Leclercq and Finley Gates ’12, were victorious as well. On Day 2, Shah and Gates each won her match, and Leclerq and Lewis were again both victorious on Day 3.

According to GoYeo, the Men’s Tennis team has no news except for John ’61 and Carl Erikson ’94 winning their seventh major title on the USTA Father-Son Circuit. And proud we are of them. But you may look forward to the Men’s Oberlin Invitational on October 2nd and 3rd.

Field Hockey

The field hockey team is fucking shit up! You probably didn’t know that, did you? They’re 4 and fucking 1 (1-1 in conference.)! With a goal differential of 22 to 6! I want to see everybody on Thursday the 23rd tailgating the hell out of the Kenyon game. GO OC GO OC GO!

Men’s and Women’s Soccer

Soccer is my favorite sport and, besides football and maybe field hockey now, really the only OC varsity sport that I’ll ever enjoy watching. As such, I’ve been to every men’s home game and all but one women’s home game. And no, it’s not always easy to go. The women have struggled to a 1-6 (0-0 conference) start after winning the season opener against Mount Union. They have only scored four goals for the season and have had immense difficulty keeping the ball out of their own half. Nobody seems to have a set position, as head coach Kristen Hayden continuously experiments with different players in different spots. Sadly, the winning formula is still mysterious to Hayden and the Yeowomen.

The men have staggered out of the gate as well. Fighting a number of injuries, the Yeomen have crawled to a 3-5 start (0-0 conference). They have been outscored by opponents 14-7 and have had difficulty finding a bona fide goal scorer. Justin Griffiths ’13 leads the team with 3 goals, but has been severely limited by a bad knee and–he probably didn’t know I knew this, but I’m a friend of his GF–a nasty abdominal hernia.

In the home games I’ve seen, the midfield has been the Achilles’ heel, getting consistently out-hustled and outplayed. They have lacked the chemistry to possess upfield, choosing to rush through balls and send long, ambitious passes to the almost always outnumbered forwards. The defense, anchored by captain Wyatt Hayman ’11, has been bailed out a number of times by keeper Zach Lipshultz ’11 but seemed to have made considerable progress over the last week in working out the kinks during the team’s 2-1 victory over Case Western on Saturday. People have actually showed up to the night home games, making some noise and heckling opponents like a mid-sized high school crowd.

This week, the men play Muskingum on Wednesday before coming back to Fred Shults Field on Saturday to take on Earlham at 7 PM.

The women play Heidelberg at 7 PM on Fred Shults Field on Tuesday and Earlham at noon on Saturday.

Civil Rights Focus on Constitution Day

September 19th, 2010
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By Shane Hisner

Thomas Perez. Photo by Shane Hisner.

Thomas Perez, the Assistant Attorney General of the United States’s Civil Rights Division, delivered an explosive Constitution Day speech in West Lecture Hall on Thursday. The longtime civil rights lawyer had no shortage of things to talk about in his speech titled, “Why we need a Civil Rights Division in the year 2010.”  From immigration to LGBT rights to the Americans with Disabilities Act, Perez eloquently laid out the causes that he has spent a career in public service fighting for.

President Krislov, whose friendship with Perez dates back to their time together in the Civil Rights Division over 20 years ago, introduced Perez as “the very model of a selfless public servant and an engaged and active American citizen.”

From the beginning, his tone was commanding. Perez was quick to lay out his position on the Constitution. “It is a document that is very near and dear to my heart.” He went on, “If we were to poll test some of the provisions of the Constitution today, they probably wouldn’t poll very well.” This assertion became the underlying theme of Perez’s address.

“There are times in our nation’s history when we are sailing into headwinds. Right now we are sailing into a significant headwind,” declared Perez. To drive his point home, he spoke primarily about cases he and the Civil Rights Division have worked on in the last year–cases that shed light on the pressing, even scary, issues confronting civil rights today.

He told stories of heinous racially-driven hate crimes–a father-son duo assaulting an African-American with a chainsaw in South Carolina, the police cover-up of a racially-driven murder of a Latino in Pennsylvania, a mosque burned to the ground in Tennessee, a re-segregated school district in Mississippi. “This isn’t America in 1969 and 1970. This is America in 2009 and 2010,” Perez emphasized after every story.

He spoke about the less blatant issues the Civil Rights Division addresses, such as predatory loans targeting African-Americans, an issue that strikes a chord for Clevelanders especially. His compassion was palpable as he spoke of the families “under water because of these toxic loans.”

Perez directly addressed the issues surrounding immigration in the Southwest, damning Senate Bill 1070 in Arizona as unconstitutional. “There is one quarterback when it comes to immigration, and that quarterback is the United States Government…because immigration decisions have foreign policy consequences, law enforcement consequences, humanitarian consequences.”

Perez, who has worked in the Civil Rights Division for the last four presidential administrations, had much to say concerning the traditional non-partisanship of the judiciary. “I was on the hiring committee (of the Civil Rights Division) in 1992 under the elder Bush, and in 1993 and ‘94 under President Clinton. Our mission was identical, and that was, ‘Hire the most qualified people.’”

That non-partisan tradition “broke down” under the second Bush. “The process was hijacked,” disclosed Perez, who emphatically expressed satisfaction in the Obama Administration for returning non-partisanship to the Civil Rights Division.

As to the question of why we need a Civil Rights Division in the year 2010, he was quite frank. “The first time I was asked that question, I didn’t take it seriously. Quite honestly, for me it was self-evident…I couldn’t understand why people would ask that question.” When the question continued cropping up in conversation, Perez says, was when he began considering it “part of his job to educate people about why we still need a Civil Rights Division.

“We have indeed made a lot of progress, and we should be proud of the progress we have made as a nation, but we have indeed so much longer to go. The journey to equal opportunity is a long journey and a hard journey, but it’s a journey we must go on to give meaning to the Constitution,” Perez asserted.

There was, perhaps, one hiccup in his otherwise inspiring presentation when a gentleman from the American Civil Liberties Union asked about Guantanamo Bay during the Q&A. Perez spoke vaguely. “We are attempting to move forward as fairly and constitutionally and expeditiously as possible.” He cited the contentious political atmosphere surrounding the issue as one roadblock concerning this issue.

His message to Oberlin students was a clear one. “We need people like you that are going to turn headwinds into tailwinds. I hope you use this university campus to have that robust debate about the meaning of the Constitution…We’re going to need people fighting for civil rights in the future. I hope you will be those people tomorrow.

Perez ended his speech with a dose of humor. “I’m getting old, I need a knee replacement, I’ve got no hair, and I need your help.”

Kahn Picture Tour

September 4th, 2010
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By Sybil Levine