Senior Class president Albert DeLapp ’14 in his football uniform.
Klaus’ ends gala Evan Brune and Morgan Sweeney News Editor and Collegian Reporter
Vaclav Klaus spoke on the topic, “Europe and America: Our Common Crisis” on Oct. 10, finishing off two days of celebration at the launch of the college’s Rebirth of Liberty and Learning Campaign. Born in 1941, Klaus survived Nazism and communism and took an active stance against the latter. He spoke about the European integration’s destructive influence on Europe’s economy, and how the European Union regulates far too closely to allow any real economic growth. Klaus talked about the noticeable similarities between the American and European systems. “The ideas leading to the weakening of the market economy and to the strengthening of the welfare state, with all of the inimitable consequences, come from this side of the Atlantic,” he said. Klaus said the only hope for Europe is a firm, principled resistance to the beliefs and philosophies that threaten it. The same holds true for the United States. Klaus’ example of peaceful, democratic leadership in the midst of an undemocratic world, is the reason College President Larry Arnn chose Klaus as the final speaker for the gala. “He carried on,” Arnn said, “as I have promised to our friends that we will do ... He has done the
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Vol. 137, Issue 7 - 17 Oct. 2013
www.hillsdalecollegian.com
Gaetano earns Ph.D.
The photos on the left and right are the two only known photos inside the historic musuem in Knowlton Hall, circa 1895.
Michigan’s oldest college newspaper
Micah Meadowcroft Assistant Editor
Fisk, DeLapp, & Swinehart:
The men who saved the museum Sally Nelson Opinions Editor Hillsdale College once had one of the best natural history museums of any college in the country. But two fires and almost 100 years of neglect, punctuated with theft, left the remnants of the Daniel M. Fisk Museum of Natural History’s former glory scattered across campus in boxes and drawers. After 13 years of work, professor of biology Tony Swinehart reopened the museum in 2011. Thanks to a recent grant from the Student Federation, Swinehart will be able to continue his renovation project with new carpet today and new display cases sometime in the near future. Professor of Science Daniel Fisk founded the Museum in 1872. But the 1874 fire that destroyed the main campus building incinerated much of what Fisk had started. “Rumor has it that the fire started in the museum, but it wasn't the museum's fault,” Swinehart said. “The college was putting up plaster and lit a fire to dry it.” Swinehart reopened the doors to the museum in the Strosacker Science Center on March 7, 2011, exactly 137 years after Fisk began digging through the ashes to find surviving specimens. The destructive fire
cemented Fisk's determination to continue expanding the museum. When the college built Knowlton Hall to replace the classrooms destroyed in the fire, Fiske established the museum on its first floor. From 1874 to 1910, the museum blossomed, drawing visitors from across the Midwest and donations from across the world. Former Hillsdale president Ransom Dunn even indicated in a letter that, as he rode across the country raising money for the college, he collected specimens for the museum. “There were literally thousands of specimens,” Swinehart said. “It was a campus icon. People wrote poems and short stories in the Collegian about the museum.” The Hillsdale Herald reported on Oct. 24, 1878, that: “The College museum grows as ever. Two Cobra de Capellos crawled all the way from Richard Lawrences in India, to Prof. Haynes’ for the benefit of science. The mummy’s head, now the property of the museum is the gift of Mr. Baggerly, of Quincy, as is also the complete skeleton of a Chinaman.” The college cosponsored an expedition to South America with the Smithsonian Institution and Albion College in 1880. The college received a letter from then U.S.
Above: Knowlton burnt in the winter of 1910. Below: Note the fossils in display cases in the charred remains of the museum.
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A professor skipped school last Thursday. He was at the University of Pennsylvania instead. And yes, he had permission. When he left, Matthew Gaetano was a professor in the history department. He has returned now, a changed man. He is Matthew Gaetano, doctor of history. Gaetano skipped school to defend his dissertation. That was the final step in a long process to earning his doctorate degree. Graduating from Hillsdale in 2005 and returning to teach in 2011, he has been working on the dissertation throughout his two and a half years of teaching here. Gaetano’s dissertation topic reflects his specialization as an intellectual historian: one who studies the history of ideas. “My dissertation is about the teaching of theology and metaphysics in the universities of the Italian Renaissance, particularly the University of Padua,” he said, slouched, staring at the ceiling as he tried to articulate years of study in a few sentences, “I’m mainly interested in how the thought of Thomas Aquinas may or may not have been integrated into a renaissance intellectual milieu.” At 10:30 a.m. on Oct. 10, Gaetano defended his research and the claims he made in his dissertation before a panel of experts. When informed that he had succeeded in defending his dissertation, he officially became a doctor. There will be a ceremony to
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Hillsdale’s hand in the ALDS Staff vs. staph Matt Melchior Collegian Reporter
Jack Butler Assistant Editor
Currently the Detroit Tigers are competing for the American League Championship and they can thank Hillsdale College alumnus Mark Beauchamp `93 and his friend John Bendzinski for their contribution in the division series. The Tigers were three innings away from being eliminated from the American League Divison Series by the Oakland Athletics. The Tigers trailed by one run in the bottom of the seventh when Victor Martinez put a good swing on a pitch. Josh Reddick chased the shot to the right-field wall and leaped to rob Martinez of a game-tying dinger, unfortunately for Reddick, Bendzinski and Beauchamp were already camped out under it. “I don’t think he had a chance,” Beauchamp said. “He made a great play, but I think he was about a half of a foot short. I did reach over the rail, but I think it was going to hit the pole.” Their first row seats in right field entitled them to any souvenirs that escaped the yard. However, on Martinez’s home run, Reddick thought the fans interfered with the catchable ball. “I don’t blame Reddick for being frustrated,” Beauchamp said. "Where the fans can affect the play, it can change the momentum. And it changed the momentum for them and changed the momentum for us," Reddick told Jim Caple of ESPN. “All you can look at as home-field advantage and it being absolutely frustrating that a fan can
On Sept. 26, Hillsdale College athletes received an email from athletic trainer Lynne Neukom. “We have had three cases of staph this week in our athletes. As so, all locker rooms, the weight/cardio room and the athletic training room will be bombed tonight. If your athletes have any food items, please ask them to remove them. If you have any questions, please let me know...” Staph had struck the Chargers. But when this Staphylococcus-spawned skin infection first appeared, the college was ready. “Staph is one of the most common infections we see as a health profession,” said Athletic Training Program Director Lynne Neukom. Brock Lutz, director of health services, agreed. “The staph is more widespread than it has been in incidences that I’m aware of, but that’s not odd. Staph is fairly common,” Lutz said. “It’s on our skin all the time, but most of us don’t notice.” An untended lesion on the skin usually provides the means of entry. A pre-existing response unit also complemented past experiences with the bothersome bacteria. “We’re part of the team: Don Brubacher, Rich Péwé, Dean Philipp, to really talk about what’s going on,” said Lutz. “It’s very similar to what we did last year with chicken pox.” As soon as this team learned what had happened, it acted to limit the spread.
Hillsdale College alumnus Mark Beauchamp and his friend John Bendzinski pose after catching a home run ball in game four of the American League Division series. (Courtesy of Russ McNamara)
“It’s nice to think I may have helped the Tigers win, but I haven’t been thanked by the coach yet,” Beauchamp said.
(Micah Meadowcroft/Collegian)
change the outcome of a game." A home run is one of few reviewable plays in Major League Baseball. Rule 3.16 in the official rules of baseball states: “No interference shall be allowed when a fielder reaches over a fence, railing, rope or into a stand to catch a ball. He does so at his own risk. However, should a spectator reach out on the playing field side of such fence, railing or rope, and plainly prevent the fielder from catching the ball, then the batsman should be called out for the spectator’s interference.” The umpires reviewed the play and ruled defendants Bedzinski and Beauchamp not guilty. Martinez’s home run would switch the momentum into the Tiger’s favor, meanwhile the Athletics would fail to score in the rest of the series and the Tiger’s would advance.
“We have to do a kind of double cleaning, do above and beyond what we can to best prevent what’s going on,” Lutz said. Neukom, who deals regularly with sick and injured athletes, also helped execute this strategy. “When something like this happens, we do extra cleaning to make sure we get everything, anything that’s contagious in nature,” Neukom said. That includes “fogging”–enclosing an area and then filling it with a vaporous disinfectant– potentially contaminated areas like the weight room, training room, and locker rooms. The whirlpools, popular among athletes for ice baths, were also closed during the peak risk of infection, through originally for technical issues. These cleaning procedures have, for the most part, successfully contained the contagion. “Anything like this is a collaboration between health services, the deans, and housekeeping. It was that collaboration that limited things to where they were,” he said. “It got taken care of and it was limited.” In fact, Neukom said Hillsdale actually gets less staph infections than other schools, partly because wrestling is not a sport at the college. As the nature of college and athletic life facilitate the spread of disease, most of the procedures undertaken to stymie such sickness are cleaning rigamarole, Neukom said. “Unfortunately, in the athletic environment, athletes sweat a lot, and you can’t help that,” she said. “But typically, we do all of this cleaning but you don’t know
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INSIDE Q & A: Steven Van Andel CEO of Amway talks about the `70s, liberal arts, and the business world. A2
The hellbound train Review of Cormac McCarthy’s recently-released screenplay. B1
A Few Good Men The campus volunteer group has plans to expand. A3
Arnn gets skyscreamed The college president finds himself in a sticky situation. B4 (Courtesy of A Few Good Men)
Candidate Profiles
Profiles of mayoral, city council and clerk candidates. A6
(Tommy Lundberg/Collegian)
News........................................A1 Opinions..................................A4 City News................................A6 Sports......................................A7 Arts..........................................B1 Features....................................B3
Why I don’t hate the Greeks Contrary to apparent popular belief, I do not hate the Greek system. A5 twitter.com/ hdalecollegian facebook.com/ hillsdalecollegian