Michigan’s oldest college newspaper
Roche revamp advances
Vol. 137, Issue 8 - 31 Oct. 2013
www.hillsdalecollegian.com
YAF celebrates freedom
Marcus Hedenberg Collegian Reporter
Casey Harper Spotlight Editor
The first phase of construction for the Roche Sports Complex arena is now complete. Students can now take full advantage of all the courts and the new fitness center. With the new facility, Athletic Director Don Brubacher said students have more opportunities to exercise, whether that be for recreational purposes or just staying fit. "It's safer, it's faster, and so much more convenient," he said. "You almost can't hurt yourself on this equipment." Along with the various cardiovascular and strength-based machinery, Brubacher said some free weight equipment was added recently as well. Chief Administrative Officer Rich Péwé emphasized that the old days of long wait times are gone. The fitness center prioritizes the general student body rather than sports teams. "If you've ever been down to the weight room at 3:30, it's pretty full. Even the cardio stuff," Péwé said. "But now, the varsity coaches won't have their athletes do free weights in the new fitness center. They'll go downstairs instead. There won't be times when it's inconvenient to exercise." Between the three new courts, students will have less reason to worry about interfering with sports teams. A schedule will be posted online detailing precisely at what times each athletic team is practicing. Even so, Péwé said he expects that one or two courts will be open most of the time for students. “Research indicates that if there's a group of guys or girls that wants to play pickup basketball, if they think a court is available and they show up, it's usually not available," Brubacher said. If they
Young Americans for Freedom will host their second annual Freedom Week starting Monday to commemorate the fall of the Berlin Wall. YAF will allow students to graffiti and tear down a 40 foot long, 12 foot high wall placed on the Quad. “We are trying to do the same thing, to get students back involved and tear down apathy,” YAF Vice Chairman Phil Wegmann said. “You have to take ownership of your education and take what you learned in the classroom and put it to work.” Student Federation will vote Oct. 31 on YAF’s request for $355 to fund the event. During lunch, students can pay $1 to graffiti the wall on Nov. 7 and $2 to take a sledgehammer to the wall on Nov. 8. “This is a good opportunity for people to see the effects of being conservative and celebrate a lot of victories in the cause,” Wegmann said. YAF is showing the conservative documentary “Agenda” on Nov. 12 as part of Freedom Week. “The movie is basically talking about progressive, socialist, and communist influences in the United States in the last 100 years,” YAF President Nathan Brand said. YAF is only in its second year as a club on campus. According to Brand, the club went from approximately 40 active members last year to about 100 this year. The club is young, mostly sophomores and freshmen and no seniors. “YAF is a great avenue for you to say ‘hey I’m a conservative, I stand for these principles, and I want to make a change,” Brand said.
See Renovation A5
(Caleb Whitmer/Collegian)
Water main bursts on Hillsdale Street Caleb Whitmer and Natalie deMacedo Editor-in-Chief and Assistant Editor A ten inch water main broke on Hillsdale Street late Tuesday morning, flooding the road and leaving buildings in the area without water. The pipe burst around 11:30 p.m. in front of Broadlawn, leaving an 8 by 4 foot hole in College President Larry Arnn’s front yard. He, along with the Ambler Health Center, Whitley Residence, the Paul House, the Mu Alpha House, Koon Residence, Delp Hall, and Lane Hall had either low water pressure or no water all. Mike Simons, a Water and Wastewater Treatment Plant officer, said these pipe bursts are not
Q&A with Kim Strassel Kimberley Strassel is a member of the Wall Street Journal Editorial board, and has written the Potomac Watch Column there since 2007. She’s a graduate from Princeton University, and started her work at the Wall Street Journal in 1999. Compiled by Sally Nelson and Amanda Tindall. How did you shift into journalism? When I was at Princeton, I got an after-school job watching the kids of a local couple. They worked for Dow Jones or the Wall Street Journal, and advised me to take a year out, since I was thinking of law school, just to try something before doing three more years of school. They knew I had written for a publication at Princeton. I got a lowly position at the Journal, and then I never left. I was there as a news assistant, then a reporter after a while, and then I asked to move over to the editorial page, which I’d long been interested in. Is going to D.C. really worth it? Absolutely. I’m in editorial writing because you want to effect positive change. It’s easy to look at D.C. and be
dispirited and feel a spirit of cynicism. Many Americans do. But that’s not going to change if we’re disconnected from it. Someone has to go and try to make it a better place, and the editorial page of the Journal tries to do that every day. There’s no reason why you have to be co-opted into Washington. I live an hour outside of the city, so that I have some distance from the town. The best advice I ever got before going to Washington was from my boss, who said, “You know, imagine that you are visiting another planet. Look at the people down there as though they’re an alien species. Observe them and report back on what they’re doing.” I do a lot of that in my column. A lot of the columns also tend to advise the alien species on what would be good for them. Do you think young journalists should start in news, so they have the experience of news before moving to editorial work, or do you think they can start immediately on the editorial page? I think it is a huge benefit to work in news in some capacity for a time, if you can. If it’s a school newspaper, a county newspaper, or the news side of a bigger paper, you need all the
atypical. “It is like when your bicycle chain breaks on your bike – it is only as strong as the weakest link,” Simons said. He said breaks happen more often in the winter, occasionally two at a time. As of Tuesday at 1:30 p.m., he was unsure of how long it would take to fix the break. “We always fix it as soon as possible,” Simons said. Brown water swept down both sides of Hillsdale Street and water pooled several inches deep at the corner of Hillsdale and College Streets. Students had trouble crossing the road with dry feet. Board of Public Utilities Water Superintendent Kevin Lawrence said city workers shut down six water valves around the break to stop the flooding. The shutdown stopped water flow to buildings on either side of Hillsdale Street. By 12:30 p.m., the
(Sally Nelson/Collegian)
situation. Senior Whittaker Dunn, a Jitters employee, said Jitters Cofee Cart was never affected by the line break. “But some girl walked in and asked if I heard about the water line break – her leg was completely soaked,” Dunn said. “Ironically, we are out of bottled water.” The break inconvenienced students who had classes at the time. “I had to walk all the way to Strosacker. The bubbler works but the bathroom doesn’t – garbage!” sophomore Albert Nakayama said. Some students made the best of the situation. “I appreciate the water main breaking because now Koon has waterfront property,” freshman Frank Cusumano said. “We might get a dock and a boat.”
Van Andel endows graduate school Stephen Van Andel graduated from Hillsdale College in 1978, currently serving on the Hillsdale College Board of Trustees. He On Oct. 10, Hillsdale College is the chairman of Amway, the announced the new name of the world’s largest direct selling busicollege’s graduate ness. program: the Van Pestritto added Andel Graduate that the program School of Stateswill continue to manship. Alumpartner with Van nus Stephen Van Andel. Andel provided “There will the lead gift tocertainly be an wards the endowongoing associament of college’s —Graduate tion of the student graduate program. student and faculty in the Hillsdale Colprogram with Mr. lege’s graduate Aurelian Brown Van Andel,” Pesprogram opened tritto said. “We in fall 2012 ofrecently had a fering a graduate nice reception the education in both political phi- week before the Gala to celebrate losophy and American politics. the opening and allow him to Graduate Dean Ronald Pes- meet and interact with our stutritto explained that Van Andel’s dents and faculty. We hope that financial contribution provides will be an ongoing thing.” for a substantial portion of the First year graduate student program’s funding. Aurelian Braun met Van Andel “The endowment allows us to during the student reception. have the resources to carry out “He was very humble and so the mission that the trustees have nice,” Braun said. “He said the given for the graduate program,” reason why he is promoting this Pestritto said. “His gift allows the program is because he believes graduate program to be funded that Hillsdale is one of the last off the earnings from the endow- stands for the republic.” ment.” Alex Anderson Web Editor
skills that you use in news. At the Journal, there is a strong tradition of reporting and reported editorials. I think if you came with no experience, you could certainly get it at the Journal. What I do fear is that there are a lot of organizations, especially that do editorials, where you don’t always have that strong journalistic background. You need that in the editorial world. Effective editorials are based on facts and arguments and you do that by picking up the telephone. It’s all the more important in a world of fast-paced news, because anyone can fashion themselves an editorial writer. Anyone with a computer can say, “Here’s my opinion on this. Here’s what someone should do.” We’re losing, to some degree, in this world of all of those opinions, some of the skills of a reported editorial and a factbased editorial. As a woman, has it been difficult to juggle being a wife
INSIDE A Hillsdale Halloween The college and community of Hillsdale are offering many Halloween events. A3
Intoxicating knowledge Professor of Chemistry Christopher Hamilton shares his love of brewing. B1
Obamacare The college administration is dealing with Affordable Care Act mandates. A5
Symbolism in Storytelling Masks in theatre department’s “Mirror” help tell a story and reveal character. B4 (Courtesy of Tirzah Ashmore)
flow had slowed to a lazy stream. Three pumps were removing water from the gaping hole. Fellow workers left to retrieve a vactor truck. The hose on the truck works similar to a ShopVac, Simons said. It sucked the remainder of the water out of the hole so workers could dig up the pipe to make necessary repairs. Simons explained there are only three workers in the main water line department of the Water and Waste Water Treatment, so workers from other deparments came to give assistance. “That’s what happens in a small town, we try to help each other out,” Simons said. Pat Loper, the main secretary in Lane, said she first received reports that the restrooms were not working around 11:30. Soon after, an email from Jill Draper went out explaining a massive water line break had caused the
and a mother and having a career and being successful? Would you say that it’s worth it to try? It’s totally worth it if that’s what you want to try. I get kind of bored with all these conversations about what women should or shouldn’t do. Do what you really want to do. Now, if you want a career, and you’re worried that you can’t do that, and if you worry that you can’t do that and be a good mom, that’s not true. You absolutely can. I love my job. I love being a mom. It isn’t easy. It’s like having two full-time jobs. Some people thrive on that. I do. I like the juggling editorial writing and talking to senators with kids, homework, and doctors. It’s a busy life. You shouldn’t think you’ll get eight hours of sleep every night, but you can do it. I think that’s what women fear the most. If I’m going to be a good mom, can I focus on my career?
See Strassel A5
“He believes that Hillsdale is one of the last stands for the republic.”
See Van Andel A2
Election coverage
Moon endorses Watkins for mayor. A8
(Anders Kiledal/Collegian)
News........................................A1 Opinions..................................A6 City News................................A8 Sports......................................A9 Arts..........................................B1 Features....................................B3
How to party with a prof We’re all members of the Hillsdale community. Let’s act like it. A7 twitter.com/ hdalecollegian facebook.com/ hillsdalecollegian