Basketball wins GLIAC title See A8
Vol.  135,  Issue  15  -  23  Feb.  2012
Michigan’s  oldest  college  newspaper
Santorum  skips  out
www.hillsdalecollegian.com (Sally Nelson/Collegian)
Student  syposium  sidelined  by  withdrawal  Marieke van der Vaart Editor-in-Chief
GOP  presidential  candidate  Rick  Santorum  backed  out  of  Hillsdale  College’s  Constitu- tional  Symposium  last  Saturday  night,  48  hours  before  it  was  scheduled  to  start.  Santorum’s  decision  came  after  a  frenzied  week  of  student  and  administrative  efforts  to  SXW WRJHWKHU +LOOVGDOHÂśV ÂżUVW forum  for  presidential  hopefuls,  including  hours  of  phone  calls,  sleepless  nights,  and  thousands  of  dollars  of  sunk  costs  for  the  school’s  administration.   “We  laid  the  groundwork  for  something  really  great  —  and  we  almost  did  it,â€?  said  Elliot  Gaiser,  Collegian  opinions  editor  and  Constitution  Symposium  Chair.  The  event  drew  cooperation  from  Central  Hall  to  Benzing  Hall  and  back,  at  a  time  when  al- most  all  upper-Âlevel  administra- tive  staff  were  in  California  for  a  National  Leadership  Seminar.  “I  wish  people  would  know  just  how  close  we  came  to  doing  a  thing  that  CNN  and  state  party Â
chairmen  couldn’t  do,â€?  Gaiser  said.  “If  anything,  it’s  shown  me  that  people  our  age  can  move  the  world  if  we  set  our  minds  to  it.â€?  The  story  of  the  event  includes  candidates’  campaigns  suggesting  dozens  of  different  dates,  days  of  “radio  silence,â€?  calls  to  staffer  upon  staffer  and  senior  state  politicos,  and  ulti- mately,  Santorum’s  withdrawal.   The  Plan Gaiser  said  he  considered  the  idea  of  a  presidential  forum  for  PRQWKV EHIRUH JHWWLQJ DIÂżUPD- tion  from  college  administrators.   The  green  light  came  after  Hillsdale  President  Larry  Arnn  cornered  Gaiser  in  Saga,  Inc,  at  the  beginning  of  February,  three  weeks  before  the  Feb.  28  Michi- gan  primary.  “Dr.  Arnn  looks  over  at  me  and  says,  ‘Dyou  think  you  can  do  this?’  I  say,  ‘I  can  gosh  darn  try,’  and  Dr.  Arnn  says,  ‘I  think  we’re  going  to  try  this,’â€?  Gaiser  said. That  week,  Gaiser  and  senior  Mike  Morrison,  juniors  Katy  Bachelder  and  Sarah  Anne  Voyles,  and  sophomores  Melika Â
Willoughby  and  Brianna  Walden  formed  a  Hillsdale  Constitutional  Symposium  Executive  Commit- tee  under  administrative  point- person  Production  Assistant  Victoria  Bergen  ‘11.  “The  six  of  us  would  walk  up  WR WKH SUHVLGHQWÂśV RIÂżFH 9LFWRULD would  join  us,  we  were  greeted  by  Natalie  Mock  —  all  of  us  graduates  or  students  from  the  past  two  years.  We  walked  into Â
'U $UQQÂśV RIÂżFH DQG VDW GRZQ at  his  table  and  worked  from  the  RIÂżFH RI 'U $UQQ ´ :LOORXJKE\ said,  laughing.  Provost  David  Whalen  said  the  administration’s  position  on  the  event  was  established  from  the  outset.  He  said  the  college  asked  that  each  candidate  be  invited  to  speak  and  the  event  disrupt  campus  life  as  little  as Â
See A4
Admissions  applications  down Patrick Timmis News Editor
(Sally Nelson/Collegian)
Applications  are  down  about  5  percent  from  last  year’s  record  numbers. Director  of  Admissions  Jeff  Lantis  and  his  team  have  pro- cessed  over  1,950  applications  so  far,  about  100  fewer  than  this  time  last  year. But  by  the  time  late  tran- scripts  and  letters  of  recco- mendation  arrive,  Lantis  said  he  expects  the  total  number  of  applications  to  be  close  to Â
ODVW \HDUÂśV ÂżQDO FRXQW RI DERXW 2,200. Lantis  attributed  the  dip  to  three  main  factors. “I  don’t  want  to  give  U.S.  News  and  World  Report  much  credit,  but  we  missed  the  listing  this  year  [due  to]  a  paperwork  glitch  with  an  organization  that  supplies  info  to  U.S.  News,  so  our  absence  there  may  have  had  an  im- pact,â€?  he  said.  “The  national  ad  campaign  that  was  run  last Â
See A2
'LJLWDO FDPSXV VXUYH\V FRQWDLQ VHFXULW\ Ă€DZV Emily Shelton Collegian Freelancer Student  voting  for  Outstand- ing  Senior  Man  and  Woman  closed  on  Sunday  night,  but  sources  told  The  Collegian  that  the  voting  website  might  have  skewed  the  results  by  allowing  for  discrepancy  in  the  outcome.  “It  just  goes  to  show  that  our  school  is  not  on  the  cutting  edge  of  technology,â€?  said  a  student  ITS  employee  who  asked  to  remain  anonymous.  “And  as  much  as  we  would  like  to  think  that  this  is  Hillsdale  College,  you  know  we’re  all  still  human  —  just  as  ÀDZHG DV WKH QH[W SHUVRQ ´  The  student  said  the  online  voting  process  through  Survey  Monkey,  a  voting  website,  has  two  major  glitches:  the  site  does  QRW UHTXLUH ,' YHULÂżFDWLRQ DQG by  clearing  the  Internet  History Â
cache,  people  could  clear  their  FRRNLH ² RU WUDFNLQJ ² ÂżOH allowing  them  to  vote  again.  “Anyone  could  vote,  and  they  could  vote  as  many  times  as  they  want,â€?  the  student  said.  “I  do  know  that  some  juniors  YRWHG DQG , GHÂżQLWHO\ WULHG WR see  if  it  would  let  me  vote  twice.  It  didn’t  ask  you  who  you  are;Íž  just  clear  your  cache,  and  vote  again.â€?  An  email  containing  the  link  to  vote  was  sent  only  to  students  with  senior  standing  —  all  568  of  them  —  but  that  allowed  recipients  who  are  not  gradu- ating  this  spring  to  still  vote  or  forward  the  email  to  other  juniors,  sophomores,  and  fresh- men  to  vote.  One  junior  student  with  senior  standing  said  he  voted  anyway.  “I  think  they  just  looked  at  how  many  credits  I  had  and Â
B4
A5
In  Arts..
Student Sculptor In  Sports... Pink Wave FACEBOOK.COM/ HILLSDALECOLLEGIAN
someone  to  abuse  it.â€? Wiseley  said  she  understood  that  others  could  vote  if  they  received  the  link,  but  she  hoped  it  would  not  come  to  that.  Nev- ertheless,  she  did  not  see  any  discrepancies  in  the  results. There  are  374  members  of  the  senior  class  and  305  votes  were  submitted. “I  did  not  notice  anything  out  of  the  ordinary,â€?  Wiseley  said.  “There  were  way  less  responses  than  there  were  members  of  the  class.  The  voting  was  re- ally  even.  It  was  a  really  good  cross-Âsection  and  the  numbers  were  really  well  dispersed.  So  it  would  indicate  to  me  that  there  was  not  a  conspiracy.â€?  “The  bottom  line  is  it  is  just  the  top  three  and  I  think  they  are  all  great  candidates,  and  the  fac- XOW\ PDNHV WKH ÂżQDO GHFLVLRQ ´  Wiseley  was  not  able  to  view  who  voted,  but  she  was Â
able  to  see  the  IP  address  of  each  vote.  Although  she  said  she  did  not  see  repeat  votes,  the  VHQLRU RIÂżFHUV PD\ GHFLGH WR return  to  ballot  voting.  “Maybe  we  will  do  a  ballot,â€?  Wiseley  said.  “We  just  thought  we  would  get  more  response  if  we  didn’t  do  it  at  the  Grewcock  Student  Union  and  polled  who- ever  came  to  lunch  that  day.  I  just  didn’t  like  that.  [The  issue]  is  on  our  agenda  for  our  next  VHQLRU RIÂżFHU PHHWLQJ DQG WKHLU recommendation  is  that  they  will  take  it  forward  to  the  next  class,  the  class  of  2013.â€?  Seniors  Nate  Jebb,  James  Manion,  Clint  Westbrook,  and  Ryon  Wiska  represent  the  men  –  there  are  four  nominees  because  Wiseley  did  not  see  a  good  breaking  point  in  the  results.  Seniors  Brittany  Baldwin,  Dina  Farhat,  and  Kelsey  Shunk  were  nominated  for  the  women.
Kirby  Center  celebrates  presidents
In  Spaces...
Alumnus Filmmaker
included  me  in  the  senior  class’  Design  Editor  Bonnie  Cofer  —  email  because  of  that.  I  voted  the  winner  of  the  competition  —  because  I  sensed  the  voting  said  she  noticed  the  polling  site  V\VWHP ZDV Ă€DZHG ² ZLWK PH allowed  for  repeated  voting. getting  an  email  and  all.  It  was    “I  think  it’s  unfair  and  that  mischievous  bothers  me.  I  of  me,  and  don’t  feel  like  I  probably  “With  the  system  they  it  was  a  fair  shouldn’t  win,â€?  Cofer  have  done  it.â€? are  using  now,  they  said.  “The  fact   Director  that  I  know  are  just  asking  for  of  Career  Ser- someone  to  abuse  it.â€?  the  system  vices  Joanna  was  abused  in  Wiseley,  the  that  instance,  advisor  to  the  —  Senior  makes  me  class  of  2012,  Bonnie  Cofer concerned  that  said  that  she  similar  things  and  the  of- might  have  ¿FHUV GHFLGHG happened  in  to  switch  the  voting  to  Survey  other  voting  processes  with  the  Monkey  this  year  and  pay  for  same  website.  I  wish  that  they  the  service. would  either  go  back  to  voting   The  college  also  used  on  paper  ballots  or  use  an  online  Survey  Monkey  to  select  the  system  that  required  you  to  sign  winner  for  the  senior  class  T- in.  With  the  system  they  are  us- shirt  design  competition.  Senior  ing  now,  they  are  just  asking  for Â
A5 A8 TWITTER.COM/ HDALECOLLEGIAN
Emily Reagan Collegian Freelancer
Kirby  Center’s  director,  in  a  toast.  “He  is  indispensable;Íž  however,  he  never  acted  as  Rule  number  24  of  George  though  he  was  indispensable,  Washington’s  “Rules  of  Civil- and  for  that  we  honor  him  ity  and  Decent  Behavior  in  tonight.â€?  Company  and  Conversationâ€?  Other  participants  echoed  VWDWHV Âł6XSHUĂ€XRXV &RPPHQWV Bobb’s  tribute  to  Washington’s  and  all  Affectation  of  Cer- humility.  When  asked  what  emony  are  to  be  avoided,  yet  quality  he  most  admired  in  the  where  due  they  are  not  to  be  QDWLRQÂśV ÂżUVW SUUHVLGHQW DXWKRU Neglected.â€?  Michael  Zak  pointed  to  his  Partygoers  took  those  in- restraint. structions  to  heart  at  the  Kirby  “He  could  have  been  a  Center  for  Constitutional  Stud- Cromwell,  but  he  chose  not  ies  and  Citizenship’s  celebra- to,â€?  Zak  said.  tion  of  Washington’s  Birthday  Others  said  they  draw  on  Feb.  20.  personal  inspiration  from  his  In  1879,  an  act  of  Congress  example.   LPSOHPHQWHG WKH ÂżUVW IHGHUDO A  clinical  psychologist  from  holiday  to  honor  an  American  New  Jersey  praised  Washing- citizen.  Today,  it  celebrates  the  ton  for  his  steady  model  as  VHUYLFH RI DOO WKH QDWLRQÂśV ÂżUVW D IDWKHU ÂżJXUH WR KLV \RXQJ citizens.  country.  A  local  college  stu- ³7KH YHU\ RIÂżFH :DVKLQJ- dent  joked  that  the  standard  of  ton  held  owed  its  existence  to  See A3 him,â€?  said  David  Bobb,  the Â
(Sally Nelson/Collegian)