2.4.16 Hillsdale Collegian

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Funding for Flint Days before hearings on the Flint water crisis commence in Washington, Gov. Rick Snyder signed a $28 million appropriations bill in Grand Rapids. A6

Michigan’s oldest college newspaper

Dance honorary comes to campus After a year of setting up the honor society, the dance program provides more opportunities to perform and experience the art. B

Football wins Grant Teaff Award Chargers’ efforts in spreading awareness of youth suicide recognized by the Jason Foundation at NFCA convention. A10

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Vol. 139 Issue 14 - 4 Feb. 2016

Dunham ’07 joins House majority leader’s staff gree can be of value for those interested in politics. “An English degree at HillsWill Dunham ’07 start- dale was bad for my GPA but ed his new position as policy good for my basic ability to director for Majority Leader write a sound sentence, paraRep. Kevin McCarthy, R-Cali- graph, and argument,” Dunfornia, Jan. 21 after serving as ham said. “Without that basic the Republican Study Com- foundation, I probably would not be as great of a writer. I will mittee’s executive director. “What happened to him? be forever indebted to [Somerville] for that.” How did he end up Karr said doing something Dunham’s Hillslike that?” Profesdale degree consor of English John tributed to his Somerville said. “I conservative credon’t remember him dentials and skillexpressing any inset. terest in the world of “One of the politics.” things that is hard An English major when hiring is to at Hillsdale College, Will Dunham ‘07 is Dunham joined the now policy director for know the training people have 27 percent of college Majority Leader Rep. graduates who enter Kevin McCarthy, R-Cal- had in college in the workforce in a ifornia, in Washington, terms of critical thinking and field other than in D.C. writing skills,” what they majored. Karr said. “When Having taken Pres- External Affairs | we see Hillsdale ident Larry Arnn’s Courtesy College on the reStatesmanship course during his senior year, sume, we know they’ve got the Dunham felt himself pulled basic skills needed to come in to Washington, D.C., where and do the job well.” Somerville said studying he is now eager to step into a position that focuses on policy literature can help in any walk of life and develop a better permatters. “I love getting into the de- son. “You’d hope that the study tails, talking to the experts in various areas, whether they’re of English — and this isn’t on committees or think tanks necessarily so — develops in or universities, and getting on the lead of the policy detail,” Dunham said. “Politics is one of the most important things we do together as human beings. It’s certainly not the only but one of the best ways to improve the lives of the people around us.” Dunham’s boss Barrett Karr, deputy chief of staff for policy and floor operations, said Dunham’s conservative credentials were attractive for the position. “Will is very respected on Capitol Hill for both his talent in the policy area but also for the individual a sense of emhis personality,” Karr said. As the RSC, Dunham pathy, a capacity for thinking worked with brand manage- through sometimes difficult ment and member services, issues, capacity for clear combut his favorite part of the job munication. I say you’d hope,” — and what he lists as some of Somerville said. “Just because his greatest achievements — a person has a sophisticated has to do with policy: devel- appreciation for great music, oping a repeal-and-replace bill art, or literature doesn’t make for the Affordable Care Act, a that person a great person.” In the case of Dunham, comprehensive budget, and — who Somerville describes promoting legislation to protect religious freedom so that as personable, having a good Washington, D.C. employers sense of humor, and always are not required to pay for em- wearing a smile — it seems to have done him good. ployees’ abortions. “The last time I saw him a He said he could not do it without the ten-person team few years ago, he seemed unchanged,” Somerville said. “To he mostly hired. “I think that’s what I’m enter the world of politics and most proud of, assembling a be able to retain those qualireally great team and being ties, — maybe it is easier than part of that team — setting up I think — but it is a good sign.” Dunham attributed this to a team that cares a lot about restoring limited constitution- his degree and his faith. “I love studying beautiful al representative government,” things, which I got to do as Dunham said. In McCarthy’s office, there an English major at Hillsdale, is plenty to do with policy, and I think I have a strong Dunham says. He is partial- grounding in those things. ly responsible for setting the There is truth. Not everything 2016 House agenda and en- is relative, and politics is not suring regular order contin- simply a matter of who is the ues, moving bills through the most powerful,” Dunham said. committee process and onto “Those things have inoculated me against the cynicism that the floor. “One of the things I’m real- unfortunately affects a lot of ly excited about is pursuing the people here.” Through the capital’s cromajority leader’s goal of empowering every member to be ny capitalism and disilluan active legislator and bring- sionment, however, Dunham ing the ideas and passion that said he remains positive as he inspired them to run for Con- works in McCarthy’s office. “He is dedicated to doing gress and turn that into policy and eventually sign it into law,” something meaningful with the House majority, and I am Dunham said. Though reading and writ- excited and honored to help ing bills may not be the same him to do that,” Dunham said. as reviewing the great books, “We have a long way to go, but Dunham said an English de- I’m optimistic.”

Steve Masty gone but not forgotten

By |Breana Noble Assistant Editor

“Politics is one of the most

important things

we do together as human beings.”

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By |Sarah Chavey Collegian Reporter

Senior Anna Kucharski, senior Sophia Coyne-Kosnak, and junior Corianna Baier travelled to Honolulu, Hawaii, to dance in the halftime show of the NFL Pro Bowl. Jill Hardway | Courtesy

Chi Omegas dance in 2016 NFL Pro Bowl halftime show By | Philip H. DeVoe Assistant Editor While Hillsdale students meandered back to classes amid snow and rain, three arrived in Honolulu, Hawaii, for a week of sun, palm trees, and the intense rehearsing required of dancers in the halftime show of the 2016 NFL Pro Bowl. Junior Corianna Baier, senior Anna Kucharski, and senior Sophia Coyne-Kosnak, sisters in the Chi Omega sorority as well as experienced dancers, traveled to Hawaii Jan. 23 to Feb. 1 to perform alongside singer Rachel Platten, known for the hit song “Fight Song,” in the halftime show of the Pro Bowl, the NFL’s annual all-star game traditionally held in Hawaii. “I’ve always done things that are in a dance group and haven’t had to coordinate with a large performer,” Baier said. “You don’t know what will happen in a bigger

performance like this, which makes it exciting.” The girls were able to dance in the Pro Bowl through Jill Hardway, owner of the Hillsdale Gymnastic Dance and Cheer Center, who has taken groups of dancers to the game for the past three years Honolulu has hosted it. “I’ve always taken young dancers, but this year the production company asked for three older girls who could lead the younger dancers in learning and performing the choreography,” Hardway said. E2K, the production company in charge of arranging the halftime show at the Pro Bowl, needed women who were more experienced to help out during the rehearsals as well as dance in the show. Hardway, an alumna of Chi Omega, said she thought of Baier, Kucharski, and Coyne-Kosnak right away. “I knew they were leaders in Chi Omega and within

their dance teams, so I knew they would be perfect for the position,” Hardway said. “When there was a change in the choreography, the girls helped them understand. It was easy to get lost in the long rehearsal sessions, and they were very helpful.” The 250 dancers who took part in the halftime show rehearsed the choreography three times in five-hour sessions. The final session on Saturday, the day before the game, was a dress rehearsal including a marching band, drill team, hula dancers, and the headline performer. “It was extremely interesting to see just how much work goes into a three-minute performance,” Coyne-Kosnak said. “There were so many elements besides the dancers, and as a dancer, it was satisfying to see all the choreography come together into one piece where each group complimented the others.” T h e See Chi O A2

After graduating from Hillsdale College in 1976, Steve Masty befriended Russell Kirk, attended the University of St. Andrews in Scotland, wrote speeches for President Ronald Reagan, and spent several years in Afghanistan before returning to England to work for the Adam Smith Institute. He died last year on Dec. 26, the feast of St. Stephen, just two weeks after turning 61. Masty was born in Grosse Pointe, Michigan, on Dec. 12, 1954. He attended Seaholm High School in Birmingham, Michigan, where he was suspended for impersonating American Comedian W.C. Fields in a controversial skit. At Hillsdale, Masty developed a reputation as musical, poetic, and brilliant, but his friends also found him jovial. During his senior year, he helped create a campus game called “Snow-bomb” in which students dump a bucket of snow over their opponent’s head before the opponent launched a firecracker. He also joined an entire class in adding a fictional source to the bibliography of their research papers. The professor John Willson noticed and responded by commenting, “One of my favorite scholarly books,” or, “I keep this on my nightstand.” Harry Veryser, assistant to the president at the time, said Masty always noticed things differently. He one day called college President George Roche’s red, leather shoes “the ruby slippers.” In class, h e

See Masty A3

Writing a life

A moment with Paul Mariani

By | Amanda Tindall Features Editor How did you begin with biographies? My first biography was on William Carlos Williams. My mother’s family is from Paterson, New Jersey. I was working on my Ph.D., and

I went into a bookstore in Queens and I saw this book of poetry and it said “Patterson.” I thought: “Who in his right mind would write a poem about Paterson, NJ.” Because there’s the Passaic River there, which was sort of like Flint in a sense or lower Massachussetts, you know, an industrial city. My

American poet and author Dr. Paul Mariani speaks at the Center for Constructive Alternatives in Phillips Auditorium on Feb. 2. Rachael Reynolds | Collegan

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relatives—Aunts and uncles, great grandfather worked in the mills along the Passaic River. There was that connection with my mother’s family but I had studied to be in Victorian literature, but when I went to University of Massachusetts they needed someone in modern and I couldn’t believe my luck because that was exactly what I wanted to teach. I found myself reading more and more Williams, and I said, “this guy is good.” I just couldn’t get enough of him. But I said, “I’m not a biographer.” There were no courses in writing biography, at least then, so I thought I’d write a history of Paterson. How Williams came to write “Paterson.” I remember speaking with an editor at Oxford University Press who said, “I’m not interested in this book that you’re doing, but if you’re willing to write a biography of Williams, that’s something I’d really be interested in, and we could actually give you $1,000. Back then, salary was $10,000, starting out with a doctorate as an assistant professor. Anyway, I was in love with the idea. Obviously, it wasn’t for the money. So I said okay. I spent years researching and then writing it. I was lucky enough to meet the family:

two sons, daughters-in-law, the grandchildren. He grew up in the Rutherford area of New Jersey. To meet them, to interview them, I just fell in love with the subject. What was it about Williams that you loved? I’m from a working class background, the oldest of seven children. There was a guy who at the time that T.S. Eliot was writing “The Wasteland,” or Wallace Stevens was writing the poems for “Harmonium,” or Ezra Pound was writing the poems that would lead to the Cantos, you know, very complex stuff, here’s this poet who’s interested in the language of New Jersey. What did people sound like on the streets of New Jersey? Sort of like what Robert Frost was doing for New England. But being from New York or being from New Jersey, I mean, he got it. I wanted to be a poet myself, and that’s why I’ve done biographies only of poets. There weren’t many classes for this in the MFA, and the first way I got into them was through the manuscript: How the poet wrote this line or crossed out that line, etc. So I was learning two things: How to write a life, and how to write poetry. So that’s where it began. Besides the manu-

See Mariani A3

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