Michigan’s oldest college newspaper
Vol. 138 Issue 20 - 26 March 2015
www.hillsdalecollegian.com
Residents skeptical of May road funding proposal Macaela Bennett City News Editor The complexity of the Michigan road funding ballot proposal deters many from wanting to vote said at a town hall Monday. Michigan state Sen. Mike Shirkey and Rep. Eric Leutheuser held the town hall at the Perennial Park Senior Center to inform local residents about the ballot proposal that will be voted on in May. At this time, they are two of only a few members of the state legislature holding meetings to explain the bill. “It’s a simple reason we’re here,” Leutheuser told approximately 100 attendees. “Our roads are bad.” If the proposal passes in May, about $1.2 billion more will go toward Michigan transportation annually, according to predictions Transportation. By 2018, about $7 million of that will go toward The proposal includes getting rid of Michigan’s sales tax on fuel and replacing the current ing 14.9 percent of fuel’s wholesale price. For example, when gas costs $2.40 per gallon, motorists will pay about 10 cents more per gallon under the proposed tax system, according to a report published this month by the Citizens Research Council of Michigan. Because the proposed tax is a wholesale cost, its added cost to consumers will depend on that price. Leutheuser emphasized that the tax includes a ceiling and tuate within that band and won’t change dramatically if the price of fuel spikes or dips. Also under the ballot proposal, the state sales tax, which excludes food and drugs, will rise from 6 to 7 percent, and car registration fees will increase. All of the money raised from the fuel tax will go toward transportation, and the sales tax will go into the state’s General Fund, School Aid Fund, and revenue sharing to local governments. Under the proposed tax syssdale County receives from the state for road work every year would increase by almost 70 County Road Commission Manager Stan Clingerman.
receives about $1.4 million per year, but this number would increase to approximately $7 milproposal passes. Most said they agreed with the need to raise money for transportation costs, but didn’t like the extras, like $300 million for schools and $100 million for state revenue sharing. “We had to add the Christmas ornaments of general funding and school funding, because otherwise we couldn’t get enough votes for the proposal,” Shirkey told concerned residents. Although both Shirkey and Leutheuser admitted the proposal ing Michigan’s roads, they said there is no simpler alternative that could garner enough votes for Michigan’s legislature to pass it. “Unfortunately, the ugliness of politics can’t be separated,” Shirkey said. Professor of Political Economy Gary Wolfram, who attended the town hall, said the ballot proposal does not have strong support right now, largely because it’s a complex bill. “If you just had a simple increase for funding the roads, it would pass,” Wolfram said. “But people’s instinct if it’s too complicated is to say no.” skeptical when it’s complicated,” Leutheuser said. “But this would be adding millions to the county on an ongoing basis.” Clingerman added this proposal is likely the “last best chance to do something for our roads.” said he is in favor of raising revenue for road improvements, but is not convinced this proposal is worth voting for. Shirkey told attendees Monday that because he voted to put the proposal on the May ballot, he will vote for it. Leutheuser, who was elected to the legislature after the proposal was added, declined to comment about his voting plans. Sessions said the town hall explained the intricacies of the ballot proposal well, and he plans to vote for it in May. “We need to do something, and this is a start,” Sessions said.
See Infographic A6
Tower Dancers have a dress rehearsal for their concert this weekend. See B1 for full story.
(Anders Kiledal/Collegian)
Tocco seeks to inspire, fund campus groups Evan Carter Web Editor Tocco will speak in Markel Auditorium on important prose poetry he has come across in his life in a presentation called “Prose, Poetry, and Psalms to Live By.” Like Tocco’s speech last year, Greek houses, sports teams, and campus groups will have the opportunity to earn money based on the percentage of group attendance at the event. Tocco said he hopes that students can take the poems he recites, which he described as modern classics, and live by the ideas within the poems. eryone who comes to this event like that,’” Tocco said. “These are tools and ideas that will help you deal with the vicissitudes of life.” portance of exploring different sources of wisdom can be seen in the habits of successful people. “The farther up the ladder you ple in high leadership capacity are those that have investigated and understand the dynamics of the many, many avenues for achievement,” he said. Tocco said he has been memorizing poems that impact him since he was an early teenager.
“I just memorize. These are what I live by,” Tocco said. “Anytime in life I come by something that is moving to me, that I think has worth and enduring value, I memorize it.” Tocco emphasizes the importance of giving back, and said people should give back as soon in a number of youth leadership organizations, and has been in13 years. In addition to his involvement in philanthropy or motivational speaking, Tocco is the owner of a private national marketing company that helps big industrial companies build factories in the United States, Canada, and art and writing poetry in his free time. Although he has many obligations, Tocco always makes time “My busy schedule is so I can make money so I can donate it to this place,” Tocco said. sdale in 2002 when he read Imhe called the college and asked to speak with the president, who at the time he didn’t know was Larry Arnn. “I knew I’d never get a call back if I didn’t offer to donate money,” Tocco said. Tocco soon got a call from Arnn. Tocco knew he wanted to
chose to give back was different lenge.” For 10 years, Tocco challenged the members of Greek houses and student athletes to athletic competitions in basketball, football, baseball, and tennis. Tocco had a winning record in the Tocco Challenge, winning seven out of 10 competitions. After the 10th Tocco Challenge, Tocco and the school administration decided to retire the event and last year, Tocco delivered a speech instead. “I did 10 challenges, and you might have noticed I’m not getting younger,” Tocco said. Last semester, Tocco approached the college to speak again. Tocco is passionate about spreading his knowledge with students, so in order to get more students at events, he has again offered cash incentives. currently allowing student groups to earn money in this Tocco prefers to give money in a way that will give the organizations useful information instead of just giving them a check. “Everybody wins. Nobody is left out of this deal,” Tocco said. “It’s not going to fund every organization, but it will help.” When Tocco gave his speech last winter, all of the seats in
and students had to sit in the aisles. This year, since Phillips is under construction, the event will be held in the larger Markel Auditorium. Tocco’s speech last year, and plans to attend this year, is Chi Omega Sorority. “Chi Omega is really thankful for his gift. It was really awesome,” President of Chi Omega Sorority Sophia Coyne-Kosnak erous person.” members said they also appreciated last year’s speech and benthe fraternity. “I thought it was great. I thought he gave an inspiring ard Caster said. “We are incredibly grateful because we use the money for leadership training In addition to using their money to pay for leadership from Tocco to set up the “Tocco
the fraternity’s yearly retreat.
dale and supporting its students as well as its message is crucial. important college in the nation. “This is how we will survive, by being excellent,” Tocco said.
Alumna publishes second book
Elizabeth Genovise, author of “Where There Are Two or More.” (Courtesy of Elizabeth Genovise)
Breana Noble Collegian Reporter Even in college, Elizabeth Genovise ‘06 loved literature, Associate Professor of English Justin Jackson said. Today, Genovise writes her own short stories. She celebrated the publishing of her second book, “Where There Are Two or More,” third.
“We were walking with several students, and they were asking, ‘What literature do you like?’” Jackson said. “I said British literature. She said American literature. I said, ‘Oh, you mean American writing. I don’t really think there’s American literature.’ She said, ‘American literature is just as good as British literature.’ I laughed, ‘Let’s play a game. I’ll name really good British authors, and you respond with really good American authors, and let’s see who wins.’ I’m thinking it’s a rigged game, so I thought I’d be funny. I started off, ‘Shakespeare,’ thinking we’re just going to end the debate with Shakespeare. “I don’t think I got the ‘eare’ of Shakespeare out of my mouth when she said Mark Twain. She was deadly serious. She had her eye toward American literature. It was really wonderful to see that she was willing to put forth an argument that Twain was every bit as good as Shakespeare.” Now, Genovise is writing her own American literature. which was published last year, “Where There Are Two or More” is a compilation of short stories. tion,” Associate Professor of English John Somerville said. “It’s especially nice to see how she’s progressed as a writer over the years. I’m eager now to see her newer stories.”
While the characters in her latest book range from children to elders and live far different lives than one another, their stories all take place in East Tennessee — where Genovise herself has resided for the past six years. “Where I live is near the Smoky Mountains, the national park,” Genovise said. “I strongly relate to place, so setting is really important to me. A lot of my characters have really powerful connections with setting, with “Where There Are Two or More” is a when a young child, Genovise said, “botches” Matthew 28:20: “And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” “It’s really representative of what happens in these stories because people connect to each other and rescue each other to grow or be more dynamic,” Genovise said. “I hope they recognize some universal truth. All of my endings have ambiguous endings so that these characters may be redeemed in some way.” Genovise used what she learned from pubone. “It was a little bit easier,” Genovise said. “I was able to get more material out there. My
See Genovise A2
Junior Tomás Valle and senior Devin Creed present their papers at the first LIT conference. See story on A3. (Andrew Egger/Collegian)
INSIDE
perform with both faculty and student choreography B1
Coldwater drive-in opens this weekend
Baseball wins home opener Connor Bartlett and Chris Mc-
No more computer science With the retirement of Rein Zeller, associate professor of computation and computer science, computer science ends at A3 Tower Dancers
down Albion 8-2. A8
Laughing for therapy Students do stand-up comedy (Anders Kiledal/Collegian)
ater. B4
No-go for the chapel the campus should not have a chapel. A5
“Night at the Museum 3.” A6
(Anders Kiledal/Collegian)
News........................................A1 Opinions..................................A4 City News................................A6 Sports......................................A7 Arts..........................................B1 Features....................................B3
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