2.11.16 Hillsdale Collegian

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warrant issued for local resident Jason Hawkins of Litchfield remains at large and is considered dangerous after being charged with assault. A7

Michigan’s oldest college newspaper

Opinion: CCA grading needs to be reformed CCA paper grading appears arbitrary and unjust, and is protected by anonymity and lack of accountability. A

Women’s track ranked third in nation Several Chargers break school records at Hillsdale Wide Track Classic over weekend. A10

www.hillsdalecollegian.com

Vol. 139 Issue 15 - 11 Feb. 2016

Birzer builds on book success with Kirk biography By |Macaela J. Bennett Editor-in-Chief

Fox Business Network host John Stossel sits with Professor of Economics Ivan Pongracic on the set of “Stossel with John Stossel” during an interview about a free market versus socialized economy, set to air Friday, Feb. 12 at 8 p.m. Emmaline Epperson | Courtesy

Pongracic to appear on ‘Stossel’ Yugoslavia-born economics professor will appear on Fox Business Friday By | Philip H. DeVoe Assistant Editor Ivan Pongracic, professor of economics at Hillsdale College, is set to appear Friday, Feb. 12 at 8 p.m. EST on Fox Business Network’s “Stossel With John Stossel” program, where he will discuss Sen. Bernie Sanders’, I-Vt., democratic socialism from his perspective of growing up under a communist government. “He was recommended to us by a frequent guest of the show, so we looked into him, liked what we saw and invit-

ed him on,” Stossel’s Executive Producer Michael Ricci said in an email. Larry Ross, president of the Foundation for Economic Education and president emeritus of the Mackinac Center for Public Policy, recommended Pongracic when the Stossel producers asked Ross to find a free market economist who was raised under communism, according to Pongracic. Ross could not be reached for comment. Pongracic was born and raised in Zagreb, Yugoslavia, which was the second-largest city in Yugoslavia and is now the capital of Croatia,

while the country was run by communist dictator Marshal Tito, who practiced socialist democratic economics, the same economic system favored by Sanders, the 2016 U.S. Democratic presidential candidate. “It was a democratically socialist economy in the truest sense of the term. They had worker management where the workers controlled the factories, and the workers would democratically decide what the factory would do,” Pongracic said. “This was different from the rest of Eastern Europe, which had governmental central plan-

ning bureaus dictating what was to be done.” Although Sanders shares the same economic policy as the former Yugoslavia, Pongracic said they are completely different in reality. He said the way Sanders’ supporters emphasize the democratic aspect of the policy is disingenuous in that it implies a system where the people choose to have their property taken and given to the government. “Democratic socialism is in reality something like Yugoslavia or Venezuela — that would fit quite well. They

See Pongracic A3

Professor of History Bradley Birzer’s book about the man who first used the word “conservative” to describe the contemporary understanding of the political ideology seems well-timed during these presidential primaries where socalled conservatives dominate the Republican field. In “Russell Kirk: American Conservative,” Birzer presents a biography of the famed author of “The Conservative Mind.” Kirk was a leading intellectual who not only labeled the conservative movement but also influenced its early political leaders like Barry Goldwater and Ronald Reagan. Birzer describes Kirk as “too much a romantic to be good at politics,” but he illustrates Kirk’s political significance saying, “You couldn’t have had the Goldwater movement without Kirk, and you couldn’t have Reagan without Goldwater.” Undeniably, Kirk was a strong force in the mid-20th century, corresponding with many of the period’s big names: Wendell Berry, Flannery O’Conner, Goldwater, Herbert Hoover, and Malcolm X. And some with whom he regularly corresponded — like Ray Bradbury, Whittaker Chambers, T.S. Eliot, and Leo Strauss — lauded his work. Yet, by Kirk’s death in 1994, he

Who grades the CCA papers? Students frustrated with grading anonymity

By | Vivian Hughbanks News Editor Students say they are frustrated by one of campus’s biggest mysteries, according to a recent survey conducted by the Collegian. Students do not know who grades their papers for Center for Constructive Alternatives seminars, and they allege that the anonymity leads to inconsistent and what they believe to be unfair grading. The CCA office outsources the grading of some papers to qualified, yet unidentified, individuals who grade the papers and offer feedback. “Someone who has attended the lectures and has a lot of experience grading and writing is qualified to figure out if a paper is a good paper on the CCA,” Director of Programs for External Affairs Matt Bell said. Graders and their backgrounds are not disclosed to students participating in the CCA, and a list of graders’ names has not been released

despite requests by the Collegian. “The reason we don’t release the names of the graders is that they’re specifically hired just to grade,” Bell said. “We don’t want students going and asking them about their grades.” Anonymity creates an aura of mystery around the grading process that students say is frustrating. In a three-day survey of 100 anonymous students, conducted by the Collegian in February, only 11 respondents said they approve of grader anonymity. “Anonymous grades encourage careless, slipshod grading,” a student said. “A CCA grader might only see my paper for five minutes, but the grade sticks with me for years.” Fifty-nine of the respondents answered, “I disapprove. I want to know where the grades are coming from.” This element of anonymity sets CCAs apart from all other courses on campus, and

Do you find comments/ feedback on returned CCA papers helpful? Very helpful

Do you approve or disapprove of the anonymity of CCA graders? Other

I don’t care.

I approve. I don’t care who grades my paper.

14%

Satisfactorily helpful

19%

Somewhat unhelpful

25%

Very unhelpful/frustrating

24%

12% 11%

18%

59%

disapprove

I disapprove. I want to know where the grades are coming from.

Meg Prom | Collegian

Papers are supposed to be graded based on a student’s response to the prompt (worth 60 points); formatting, grammar, and clarity (worth 20 points); citations from at least three speakers (worth 10 points); and a logical, clearly-stated thesis (worth 10 points). The variety of people grading the papers requires extra effort to maintain equal application of grading rubric

to each paper, Bell said. “People apply rubrics differently, so of course there isn’t perfect consistency,” Whalen said. Bell said he and his colleagues at the CCA office review each paper’s grade to check for anomalies in graders’ application of the rubric. “If we notice the grader is a little tougher, we’ll look at some of their papers and m a k e See Grades A3

How would you describe the college’s grading rubric of CCA papers from your experience? 15% Very fair

3%

Somewhat helpful

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participating in the seminars is required for graduation requirements. “In a class, there is an instructor in front of you,” Provost David Whalen said. “There is a clear link between the person you know and the product that you get back. CCAs behave very differently because you’re not sure who is attached to what you’re getting back.” According to Bell, the majority of the graders have been faculty members or past faculty members. Occasionally, qualified staff members and Ph.D. candidates working on their dissertations have also been selected to grade. Graders are not required to have any specific expertise or familiarity with the CCA topic, but they must attend CCA lectures or watch them online. A grading rubric is provided to graders by the CCA office, and it remains largely consistent over most CCAs.

17% Somewhat fair 16% Fair 26% Somewhat unfair 17% Very unfair/frustrating 9% Other www.hillsdalecollegian.com

Rachael Reynolds | Collegian

had lost his momentum and much of his fame had faded. Since Birzer’s book was published last November, it has been reviewed by prestigious publications such as The Claremont Review of Books, National Review, The Wall Street Journal, and most recently The New York Times Sunday Review of Books in January. An important, though “unexpected” result of these reviews — according to Dedra Birzer, lecturer in history and Bradley Birzer’s wife — is that it’s forced discussions about Kirk and his accomplishments to reemerge. “It’s become an opportunity to bring Kirk back into the public consciousness,” Dedra Birzer said. With both the WSJ and NYT reviews featuring a summary of the life and work of Kirk more prominently than the evaluation of Bradley Birzer’s writing, large audiences are again exposed to the conservative intellectual. A few weeks ago, the Library of Michigan also included the book on its list of the 2016 Michigan Notable Books that highlights books published in 2015 about Michigan authors or about Michigan topics. In this case, Birzer’s book fits under both categories since Kirk was born and lived in Michigan. He also taught at Michigan State University and for a semester at Hillsdale College. Kirk’s wife, Annette Kirk,

See Birzer A3

Yuval Levin on foreign policy By | Kate Patrick City News Editor Yuval Levin is the founding editor of National Affairs, contributing editor to National Review, and fellow at the Ethics and Public Policy Center. He was the chief of staff for the President’s Council on Bioethics and a member of the White House domestic policy staff in 2005 and 2006. His most recent book is “The Great Debate: Edmund Burke, Thomas Paine, and the Birth of Left and Right.” Levin spoke in Dow A & B for the Dow Journalism Program at Hillsdale College Tuesday, Feb. 9. How did your Israeli heritage affect your conception of foreign policy? I don’t really know. I was born in Israel and lived there until I was about eight. I grew up in the U.S. mostly. It’s not something you ever entirely leave behind, and I’m sure it shapes the way I think about politics and policy, but the way I think about politics and policy is a very American way of thinking. What’s an American way of thinking about foreign policy? I think that American foreign policy has to be rooted in the same American principles that American domestic policy is rooted in. It’s rooted in the principles of the Declaration of Independence, and the equality of all mankind and a belief in democracy, and ultimately in some sense of interests and American needs and principles. Finding that balance is always a challenge, and that’s why it’s not an easy thing

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