Michigan’s oldest college newspaper
Vol. 142 Issue 10 - November 8, 2018
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Michigan voters approve marijuana legalization, other ballot proposals By | Nicole Ault & Carmel Kookogey Editor-in-Chief & Assistant Editor Michigan’s three ballot proposals passed in Tuesday’s election, though Hillsdale County voters weren’t on board with two of them. Nearly 52 percent of Hillsdale County voters affirmed Proposal 3, which will change several voting policies, and add an allowance for sameday voter registration. But 53 percent of the county voted no on Proposal 1, which legalized recreational marijuana throughout the state of Michigan, and nearly 48 percent voted against Proposal 2, which creates an independent redistricting commission. Mayor Adam Stockford expressed concern that the new proposals only serve to further complicate Michigan law. Proposal 2 and 3 together add 9,000 words to the Michigan state constitution. “In my personal view, more complicated laws are never a good thing for people,” Stockford said. Recreational marijuana is now legal — but Hillsdale has options Though recreational marijuana will remain legal statewide regardless, the city of Hillsdale could opt out of allowing businesses to sell marijuana by a simple majority vote of the city council, Stockford said. The Hillsdale City Coun-
cil is currently looking into the potential impacts of the legalization of recreational marijuana dispensaries and the legislation that might be required to opt out, said Hillsdale City Manager David Mackie.
the situation to allowing a gentleman’s club or a casino to be brought in. “I don’t see the city of Hillsdale being ready to want to cater to businesses like this.” Stockford said he doesn’t think the legalization will
or another.” But Scott Hephner, the police and fire chief for the City of Hillsdale, said he has great concerns from a law enforcement perspective. Drugged driving, youth overdoses, and crime rates have increased
On Tuesday, Michigan voters approved all three ballot measures. They elected Gretchen Whitmer as governor and Debbie Stabenow as U.S. senator. Flickr
See A6 for more election coverage. Stockford said the city has hired a firm to help it through that process. The new state law will go into effect in 10 days. “As far as businesses go, the state has given the option to opt out, to say at least for right now we don’t want marijuana businesses within city limits,” Stockford said, comparing
have an impact one way or another, although perhaps the area might see an influx of people from Ohio and Indiana, where recreational marijuana remains illegal. “No one’s going to be stopped from exercising their individual rights,” Stockford said. “I don’t think it’s going to have a big impact one way
negatively in places such as Colorado that have legalized the drug recreationally. As fire chief, he said, he’s also concerned about more residential fires as a result of high-wattage light bulbs used for growing marijuana, and butane used to extract oil from marijuana. “I foresee law enforcement
still being heavily involved in marijuana, just in a different way,” he said, adding that he doubts the argument that law enforcement will have more time. Eric Leutheuser said it will likely take a while before regulation and licensing roll out. “Frankly, I expect you’ll see a lot more people using it,” Leutheuser said. ‘Nonpartisan commission’ to redraw Michigan districts The second proposal on the ballot was a measure to set up a nonpartisan commission to redraw Michigan’s district lines every 10 years. The proposal passed with 61 percent of the vote in Michigan, according to ABCNews 12, though it was defeated by a slim margin in Hillsdale County. The commission will be composed of 13 members, randomly selected from the Michigan population. “Proposal 2 was most confusing because it sounded fair on the surface,” Leutheuser said. “Maybe it will be.” Leutheuser said the proposal would take effect after the 2020 census, and after that, the Michigan secretary of state will solicit people to be on the commission. Associate Professor of Politics Kevin Portteus said in an email that this proposition will put redistricting in the hands of these private citizens, “without regard for their competency” to make these decisions. “The complexity of redis-
tricting means that the commissioners will likely become the pawns of the secretary of state, who possesses the resources and expertise to ‘assist’ them in their work,” Portteus said. “It is highly likely that the secretary of state will effectively become the de facto district drawer for all legislative offices in Michigan.” Portteus pointed out that the newly-elected Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson, a Democrat, wrote a book arguing for the importance of state secretaries of state in 2010, entitled “State Secretaries of State: Guardians of the Democratic Process.” “She now has the tool to draw Democrat-friendly districts in Michigan, and to claim later that it was fair and nonpartisan,” Portteus said. Professor of Politics Thomas West agreed that Proposal 2 will likely create a biased commission. “Commissions like that are almost always a disaster for Republicans,” West said. “They typically are taken over and run by smart liberals, who tend to run circles around the well-intentioned Republicans who are usually easily taken in by non-partisan language thrown at them by their political opponents.” Hillsdale College College Democrats President Madeleine Hedrick said she thinks passing Proposal 2 was a good idea, and said she hopes it
See Midterms A2
‘A season for everything’ Hillsdale alumna becomes
Whalen to step down as provost, continue to teach By | Nicole Ault Editor-in-Chief Among the neatly-ordered piles on Hillsdale College Provost David Whalen’s desk is paperwork regarding accreditation, a graduate school program, faculty sabbatical
everything, as the book says,” Whalen said. “It’s probably time to return my concentration to students, to teaching, and to literature.” Hillsdale College President Larry Arnn said it’s “extremely likely” that Whalen will remain provost through the
Provost David Whalen will be stepping down from his role as provost within the next year, hoping to teach more English classes. Anders Kiledal | Courtesy
requests — and a stack of books on the pre-Raphaelites, two translations of Homer’s “Odyssey” he’s comparing, and a pile of English midterms he’s just graded. After serving as provost for nearly eight years, Whalen intends to step down to focus more on those last few items and teach more English. Whalen, who was the college’s associate provost for seven years before stepping into his current position, said the transition will probably take place sometime next spring, depending on what is most convenient for the college. “There’s a season for Follow @HDaleCollegian
end of the 2018-2019 academic year. Arnn said that he is consulting with Whalen and the academic deans in the search for a new provost. They have received nominations from the faculty, and “those nominated are all being considered,” he said. “David is one of the most important people to the college and to me, and it’s a very big deal for him to change his job,” Arnn said. “Everyone regards him very highly and trusts and admires him.” As provost, Whalen’s job has involved a variety of duties related to curriculum,
faculty, and students. “It’s a question I often get, so what does the provost do? I have several answers. One is, nobody knows, and I hope we can keep it that way, so no one can tell if I’m doing a good job,” Whalen said jokingly. More seriously, he said the provost is the chief academic officer for the college, taking responsibility for curriculum and faculty and overseeing departments such as financial aid, the registrar, the library, and the academic deans. He also has oversight of Hillsdale Academy. “The reason no one knows what provosts in general do is they have a quite varied portfolio of responsibilities,” Whalen said. “The provost tends to be a very adaptable position. You can get that position to do whatever you need it to do.” Joking that his two tools are “a mop and a fire extinguisher,” Whalen said his job is often unpredictable but also involves strategic planning and document writing. “There’s a great deal of coordination and management of initiatives and projects and developments of various academic sorts,” he said. After leaving the provost position, Whalen will likely remain in some kind of administrative position. Though yet unspecified, it will probably be advisory, regarding program development and planning, Whalen said. Arnn said the college would benefit from Whalen’s gifts and vision in that kind of administrative capacity, though he said he respects Whalen’s desire to spend more time teaching English. Whalen currently teaches one English class each semester, though it’s not required for his position as provost.
See Whalen A2
chief justice on West Virginia Supreme Court By | Nicole Ault Editor-in-Chief Beth Walker ’87 took office as a justice of the West Virginia Supreme Court in January 2017 — and two years later, in January 2019, she’ll become its chief justice. “It is such a huge honor to be selected by my fellow justices,” Walker told The Collegian. “It’s a really important leadership position in our court, and I’m incredibly honored.” The court’s five justices unanimously voted Walker into the chief justice position late last month. The chief justice holds office for a year, and her duties include overseeing other levels of court within the state, ruling on recusal motions in the court, and presiding over oral arguments, Walker said. West Virginia Supreme Court Justice Evan Jenkins, who’s known Walker for nearly 20 years, said Walker will be an asset to the court. “Beth is motivated by her respect for the law, devotion to the Constitution and love for the people of West Virginia,” Jenkins said in an email. “Soon to be ‘Chief Justice Walker’ is a strong leader with a reputation of hard work and deep devotion to fair and equal access for all. She is viewed by her colleagues on the bench and those who appear before her in court as being a person of honesty and integrity.” Walker’s election followed turmoil in the West Virginia Supreme Court: Earlier this year, the state legislature voted to impeach all five justices for lavish spending of state funds. Walker said she intends to address these concerns in her new leadership role. “In the past several months we’ve had some controversies about the supreme court, and so my goal is to help restore the public’s confidence in our supreme court,” Walker said.
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“I’m particularly focused on transparency and accountability and working closely with the legislature on budgetary issues.”
“a very good student, very serious about her work and about serving the college,” said Professor of History Tom Conner, who had Walker in
Beth Walker ’87 will be chief justice on the West Virginia Supreme Court in January. Beth Walker | Courtesy
In Tuesday’s election, a ballot measure passed amending the state constitution so that the legislature will be in charge of the state judiciary’s budget, rather than the judiciary itself. “This amendment will require us to present a budget and the legislature will have the final call,” Walker said. “So it’s going to be really important to establish trust and cooperation with the legislature, especially on budget issues, so that we can be responsible and so that taxpayers can be assured that we are handling their money appropriately.” At Hillsdale, Walker was
a few of his classes and knew her as a student worker in the admissions office while he was director of admissions. Walker was a member of the Chi Omega sorority and senior class president during her time at Hillsdale. She also helped start the student ambassador program and worked for The Collegian. Walker was personable and hardworking as well, Conner said, and has “fundamental integrity.” “I’m thrilled,” he said of her new advancement.
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