12.1.16 Hillsdale Collegian

Hospital hires new ER director Dr. Donald Brock, Hillsdale Hospital’s new emergency room director, plans on leading staff through structural changes. A7

National Book Awards The Collegian reviews the top fiction, poetry, and young people’s literature books of 2016. B1

From plants to pancakes Politics Professor Ronald Pestritto and his family harvest sap for maple syrup from the trees in their own backyard. B4

Vol. 140 Issue 12 - 1 December 2016

Michigan’s oldest college newspaper

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Trump chooses DeVos over Arnn for Education Secretary

Anthony Esolen, translator of the “Divine Comedy,” will address the class of 2017 at Hillsdale College’s May commencement ceremony, Provost David Whalen announced Wednesday. Twitter

Anthony Esolen selected as 2017 commencement speaker By | Breana Noble News Editor Anthony Esolen, an internationally known translator and writer, will speak at Hillsdale College’s 165th commencement ceremony on May 13, 2017.

Provost David Whalen made the announcement Wednesday, after Esolen accepted the college’s invitation to address the class of 2017. Senior class officers said they chose Esolen to speak based on recommendations from faculty, peers, and alumni.

“I think he is going to give an impactful, powerful speech,” senior class President Jacob Thackston said. “It’ll be a speech to remember for the rest of our lives. That is what we wanted most of all.”

With help from President Larry Arnn, the senior class officers narrowed down a list of 24 names, deciding upon Esolen in September. Thackston

said several professors as well as Vice President for External Affairs Douglas Jeffrey recommended Esolen for commencement speaker. He was ultimately chosen because he would be an engaging speaker that could impart wisdom on the class of 2017 upon their graduation.

“We decided Esolen is the best fit,” Thackston said. “He is an incredible speaker.”

Esolen, a professor of Renaissance English literature and the development of Western civilization at Providence College, in Rhode Island has translated several classical works, including Dante Alighieri’s “Divine Comedy” with Modern Library Classics from Italian into English. His “Inferno” published in 2002 and “Paradise” in 2005. Some English professors at Hillsdale use his copies in their Great Books I classes.

“Commencement speakers have an impossible task,” Whalen said in an email. “Dr. Eso-

len is expert at rising to impossible but glorious tasks, as his beautiful translation of Dante demonstrates. I am delighted for the class of 2017, for the college, and for all who attend.”

Hillsdale’s class of 2015 officers actually invited Esolen to speak at their commencement, but he had to decline because of scheduling conflicts. British scholar Michael Ward, known for his study of C.S. Lewis’ “The Chronicles of Narnia,” spoke instead. Members of the student body also voiced their support for Esolen earlier this semester in the Sept. 17 issue of The Collegian.

Spring commencement won’t be the first time Esolen speaks at Hillsdale, however.

In 2012, he delivered a Center for Constructive Alternatives seminar lecture on “What is an Epic?”

“We had alumni tell us, ‘That was the best speech we ever heard,’” Thackston said.

Esolen is an editor and writ-

er for Touchstone magazine, which covers matters relating to religion, culture, and literature. His work has also appeared in the Claremont Review of Books, Magnificat magazine, Crisis Magazine, and The Catholic Thing. In the past, he has written a column for Inside Catholic’s website.

A Sept. 26 piece Esolen wrote for Crisis Magazine caused a stir on his campus.

In it, he criticizes secularism’s idea of “diversity” as a political movement that pushes for “homogeneity.” He argues real diversity is in the natural foundations of the human race such as in gender.

Following its publication, Esolen became embroiled with the meaning of diversity at Providence, Thackston said, which actually caused him to delay his acceptance of Hillsdale’s invitation to speak at commencement for two months.

See Esolen A3

College revises active-shooter response procedure Students still not permitted to conceal carry on campus Senior Joseph Klein, a member of Hillsdale College’s shotgun team, shoots on the shotgun range at the John A. Halter Shooting Joseph Kain | Courtesy Sports Center.

By | Breana Noble News Editor

Hillsdale College altered its procedures for active-shooter situations this semester, though it still doesn’t permit licensed students, including veterans, to conceal carry on campus, a topic in national discussion following an attack on the Ohio State University’s campus Monday.

After the Hillsdale Police Department changed its procedure for active shooters this summer, the college’s campus security office followed suit to align with the steps taken by city police, Director of Campus Security Bill Whorley said. Although college administrators discussed allowing licensed students to conceal carry on campus in the spring, following several shootings across the country, no such policy has been adopted, Chief Administrative Officer Rich Péwé said.

“It could happen,” Péwé said.

“We continue to think about that and listen to one another.”

Monday’s attack on Ohio State’s campus in which Abdul Razak Ali Artan, a Somali-born student at the university, injured 11 people by driving his car into a crowd and then stabbed individuals with a knife has increased discussion on campus carry and procedures for an active-shooter sit-

uation nationwide.

Ohio State’s security department recommended students remember to “Run, Hide, Fight” Monday when the campus went into lockdown. It is similar to the measures the college now teaches its employees called “Avoid, Deny, Defend.”

A product of Texas State University from research on shooting situations and their survivors, “Avoid, Deny, Defend” reminds people to avoid attackers, deny attackers access to their location, and defend themselves, if necessary.

“It’s very common sense, very basic,” Whorley said.

Hillsdale Chief of Police Scott Hephner said city police uses research on active shooter events to update its private protocol. City police also works with local schools and businesses to prepare for such situations.

“All of our officers are trained in responding to these situations, and we are always looking to update equipment that may be used in our response,” Hephner said. “These changes are to minimize casualties and decrease the time to stop the threat.”

Whorley said he works with city as well as county and state police to align the college’s procedures and recommendations with theirs.

Additionally, Hillsdale’s se-

curity office has implemented new initiatives to keep campus safe.

The department introduced the new Hillsdale College Emergency Response Team, or HCERT, this semester. It is a group of trained student volunteers that can assist with crowd and traffic control, first aid, and other tasks, during an emergency on campus.

Security also has recommended professors now close and lock classroom doors during instruction to prevent attackers from gaining access to them and their students.

Some faculty members, however, have criticized this policy, arguing locking class-

room doors is too much of a disturbance, Professor of History David Raney said. The doors in many academic buildings lock from the outside and require a key.

“It can disrupt class, when a student leaves to go to the bathroom and is locked out or when a student arrives late,” Raney said. “The professor has to walk over and open the door and interrupt class.”

But the topic of campus carry has been met with even greater controversy at Hillsdale.

While it is illegal for people to carry firearms at the Ohio State University because state

See Security A3

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Betsy DeVos | Courtesy

of Hillsdale College and the founder of the controversial private security firm Blackwater Worldwide, now named Academi. In 2009, the DeVos family also founded ArtPrize, an international art competition that featured the work of five art professors and students this year.

Most notably, Richard DeVos, Betsy DeVos’ father-inlaw, co-founded Amway with Jay Van Andel. Van Andel’s son, Steve, was a 1978 graduate of Hillsdale and currently serves as the chairman of Amway. In 2013, after he donated to graduate school scholarships and operations, Hillsdale named it’s graduate school of statesmanship in his honor.

Although Betsy DeVos previously didn’t hold a national presence, for years, she has been influential in Michigan’s Republican Party and educational reforms.

DeVos became involved with the state Republican Party in 1982, later serving as its chairwoman from 2003-2005.

During her tenure, she raised more than $150,000 on her own for President George W. Bush’s re-election campaign and even held a campaign dinner for him at her Grand Rapid home.

In 2003, DeVos started the All Children Matter PAC with her husband to promote school voucher programs and candidates who support them throughout the state. She has served on the boards of numerous school-reform initiatives, includ-

See DeVos A2

Junior Tony Wondaal earned his first individual All-American honor at the 2016 NCAA Division II Cross Country Championships.

Elizabeth Eads | Courtesy

Cross country runners make All-American By | Evan Carter Web Editor

Sophomore Mason Clutter, an employee of Hillsdale’s campus security, speaks into his walkie-talkie outside of the Howard Music Building. Natalie Meckel | Collegian Follow @HDaleCollegian

By | Thomas Novelly Editor-in-Chief Despite confirmation from politicos that Arnn was on President-elect Donald Trump’s shortlist for secretary of education, Hillsdale College President Larry Arnn said he was put at ease when Trump ultimately chose Michigan native Betsy DeVos Nov. 23.

“I had various discussions with various people along the way and thought [her selection] was likely,” Arnn said in an email to The Collegian. “I was relieved.”

Although she may not be the president of Hillsdale College, DeVos does have strong ties through her family and finances to the institution.

The 58-year-old billionaire philanthropist, GOP donor, and fierce advocate for school choice and voucher programs said in a statement after the announcement of her nomination that she is ready to “make American education great again.” Trump cited DeVos’ active GOP involvement and persistent education reform and school choice initiatives as the main reason behind his decision he chose her for education secretary.

“Betsy DeVos is a brilliant and passionate education advocate,” Trump said in a press release. “Under her leadership, we will reform the U.S. education system and break the bureaucracy that is holding our children back so that we can deliver world-class education and school choice to all families.”

Betsy DeVos is married to Dick DeVos, the heir to the billion-dollar Amway corporation and 2006 Republican nominee for Michigan governor. The DeVos family is known for its charitable giving.

With a lifetime contribution of more than $1.2 billion to philanthropic organizations, the family placed No. 20 on Forbes’ annual list of the top 50 givers in the country. Their roots in Michigan philanthropy run deep and also intersect with Hillsdale College.

Betsy DeVos’ brother is Erik Prince, a 1992 graduate

Senior Molly Oren and junior Hannah McIntyre earned All-American honors for the third year in a row, and junior Tony Wondaal earned his first individual All-American honor last month at the 2016 NCAA Division II Cross Country Championships.

The men placed 14th and the women 17th at the first NCAA championship both teams have gone to together since 2000.

The national championship race was Oren’s fourth in four years, making her the first Hillsdale athlete to never miss

a national cross country meet in the school’s NCAA era. Although Oren said she doesn’t dwell on her achievement, she said she thought about how she was running her last cross country race while she was racing it.

“Before the race Hannah was saying the team prayer, and she said something like it was Meri Didier’s and my last race, and I was like, ‘Oh gosh,’” Oren said. “Then, during the race, I would think to myself, ‘Molly, this is your last race, you’ve got to get All-American,’ especially when it was really hard.”

Oren said the fact that her collegiate cross country career is over hasn’t

See XC A9

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Obamacare makes enthusiasm he brought to campus finding sorority cooks more difficult

In brief: Former student remembered for

Security tests alert messaging system

By | Tim Pearce Assistant Editor Hillsdale College’s campus security office sent a mass alert to students and faculty to test its outreach notification system Nov. 4.

Although the system has been in place for several years, security routinely tests it to ensure that it is functioning properly.

“I’m continually seeking to improve the college’s mass alert system,” Director of Campus Security Bill Whorley said.

The system sends an alert by email to college email addresses and text messages and automated phone calls to primary and secondary numbers on student registration forms.

Hillsdale has two different alerts: outreach and emergency. Security sends outreach alerts to students and faculty for situations concerning campus activity such as weather disrupting class. Emergency alerts are for urgent or critical situations and are sent to the student body, faculty, emergency personnel, and all numbers on student registration forms.

Hillsdale College’s information technology services transcribes all student phone numbers and email addresses from registration forms into the system. Whorley can then send emergency and outreach alerts from anywhere he has service.

The text alert system, however, is only one aspect of campus security’s notification system.

Speakers in the top of Central Hall can broadcast information in the instance of an emergency, and alerts can also be posted on the college’s social media pages and website.

Whorley said security is also working with Hillsdale’s media department and the college’s security systems contractor, SimplexGrinnell, to broadcast security alerts displayed on television monitors in campus buildings.

Additionally, on Hillsdale College’s version of the Ellucian Go smartphone app, students can find contact information for campus security, the city police department, Michigan State Police, and other law enforcement and emergency response agencies.

Loeffler to share WWII stories

By | Anna Timmis Collegian Reporter A radio host of a nationally syndicated program on Radio Free Hillsdale 101.7 FM WRFH is speaking on his experience interviewing Pearl Harbor survivors Monday at 8 p.m. in Lane 124.

The Dow Journalism Program presents the lecture from “Hometown Heroes” host Paul Loeffler, who is also a sports broadcaster for Fresno State University and has done radio and TV broadcasts for ESPN, most notably for the Scripps National Spelling Bee since 2006.

“Paul Loeffler is a professional radio man who knows how to tell a good story — both as a sports broadcaster as well as an interviewer who extracts war stories from veterans,” John Miller, director of the Dow Journalism Program, said in an email. “That’s why we air his show on WRFH and why we think he’ll be a great speaker to meet in person.”

Loeffler will draw from his conversations with World War II veterans from across America. More than 400 World War II veterans have shared their stories on his radio show, 20 of whom are Pearl Harbor survivors.

“Loeffler will specifically focus on Pearl Harbor survivors,” WRFH general manager Scot Bertram said. “The lecture will include audio recordings of the survivors’ accounts so that the audience will be able to hear them in their own words.”

By | Thomas Novelly Editor-in-Chief Remembered by his peers as an exuberant member of the mock trial team, former Hillsdale College student Lucas Frerking committed suicide on Nov. 18 in his hometown of Waverly, Iowa, at the age of 23.

“He loved his time at Hillsdale,” Frerking’s father, Dave Frerking, said. “He may be most famous for being one of the only few regatta captains to make it across the pond and back in the annual fall naval battle.”

Lucas Frerking enrolled in Hillsdale in fall 2012. In his three years on campus, he was known for his spontaneous bursts of humor and enthusiasm among his friends.

Whether it was perfectly playing the role of a quirky witness in mock trial or enthusiastically running books back to their shelves as a worker in Mossey Library, Frerking adored student life at Hillsdale.

“Lucas savored his time at Hillsdale,” Frerking’s grandmother, Shirley Frerking, said.

“He absolutely loved it there.

He didn’t have enough good grades to keep his scholarships.

But after leaving, it seemed like things were getting better for him. What happened was a mystery.”

Shirley Frerking said after leaving Hillsdale, Lucas Frerking took a year off and worked at the library back home in Waverly and volunteered at his church. This year, he enrolled at the University of Northern Iowa, where he was continuing his studies in history and politics. Several days before his death, he dropped out.

“It was a mystery to me,” Shirley Frerking said. “That whole year off, he did nothing. But he was an active volunteer at the church. He set up the church before the services and cleaned it up afterward.

He didn’t seem depressed, just unambitious. It’s a mystery that this happened.”

Students who knew Lucas Frerking said he was a quiet, serious student in the classroom. But outside of it, he was far from shy.

Senior Gwen Hodge was

Pi Beta Phi loses second chef in 2016

Former Hillsdale College student Lucas Frerking died Nov. 18 at the age of 23 in Waverly, Iowa. Dave Frerking | Courtesy

on the mock trial team with Frerking during her freshman year. She said her favorite memory of him was when he was assigned the fictional role of “Rory the Ratcher Raptor” — an amusement park mascot who was in the wrong place at wrong time and ended up as a witness in a case.

“He wore these super colorful green clothes and spoke like Doug the dog from the movie ‘Up,’” senior Gwen Hodge said in between laughs as she recalled the memory. “None of the judges for the competitions could keep a straight face and burst out laughing. They gave him top ranks, naming him the best witness in the whole competition.”

Frerking was involved in mock trial at Waverly ShellRock High School and carried his skills to the Hillsdale team.

During practices and downtime between competitions, his teammates said Frerking’s ability to crack jokes helped cheer up everyone.

“If we didn’t win, he was always being optimistic,” Trimmels said. “He’d go around saying, ‘Don’t worry guys, we’ll get them next round,’ and would always have goofy observations and impressions. He was an incredible teammate.”

In addition to competing in mock trial, Frerking also worked in the campus library.

According to an obituary writ-

ten in his hometown newspaper, Frerking found solace when he was surrounded by thousands of books.

“He was an engaged observer of human nature,” the obituary stated. “An avid reader. A collector of words. And a consummate storyteller.”

Public service librarian Linda Moore was Frerking’s adviser when he came to Hillsdale.

She hired him that fall to work in the library because of his previous experience.

“He had a great sense of humor but was also a quiet and diligent worker,” Moore said.

Moore’s favorite memory of Frerking was during the annual “library olympics,” a multitude of competitions ranging from book cart racing to dashing to retrieve the proper book when given Dewey Decimal Classification coordinates.

“The students come up with all the games,” Moore said with a smile. “He was perhaps the most enthusiastic participant.

He was interested in things, and he was very fun to have around.”

Frerking was buried at Oak Wood Cemetery in Pella, Iowa, on Nov. 25. Condolences can be sent to 403 Second St. S.E., Waverly, Iowa, 50677.

“Luke will be greatly missed by all who knew him,” Dave Frerking said. “Each of us will carry a piece of his light in our hearts for the rest of our days.”

English department to switch from MLA to Chicago in the spring By | Morgan Channels Collegian Reporter Hillsdale College’s English department is switching from the Modern Language Association style guidelines to those of the Chicago Manual of Style next semester.

Associate Professor of English Dutton Kearney said the department made the switch because the eighth edition of MLA released in April essentially removes standardization from its formatting principles.

There is now no set format for in-text citations, and the MLA handbook asks only that students be consistent with whatever system they choose to invent, he said.

“The eighth edition has the lofty goal of being more flexible and responsive, but it goes about it entirely wrongly,” Kearney said. “Everything that we used to teach as required has now become optional.”

According to Purdue University’s online writing lab, the eighth edition of the MLA handbook “focuses on the writer’s strategy and individual decisions. The writer’s goal should be to provide a document and list of sources that is easy for readers to use so that the reading experience is informative and enjoyable.”

English professors met to discuss the new edition and decided it was time for the department to make the change.

Provost David Whalen said the school has used the MLA guidelines since before he arrived at the college in fall 1994.

“This eighth edition of MLA is a pretty major overhaul,” Professor of English Justin Jackson said. “The thought was if we have to relearn a style, do we really want to go with MLA? Chicago, or some form of this, is what most academia or most university presses use.”

Hillsdale’s departmental

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agreements require professors to enforce “correct and complete documentation of research sources.”

The changes to MLA, then, would also make grading papers more difficult because of the standard’s new subjectivity, Professor of English Dwight Lindley said.

“The new rule is almost that there aren’t rules,” Lindley said.

Additionally, Lindley said learning Chicago style will give students an advantage once they graduate. Although MLA is associated with literature, most academic journals use Chicago.

The change, however, is a long time coming, Jackson said. In 2009, the seventh edition of the MLA handbook removed the requirement of footnotes in papers. That raised a flag that the standards were drifting away from the scholarly approach Hillsdale wants, Jackson said.

“Chicago offers a far more thorough way of citing research,” Jackson said. “No one here hated MLA. They just changed so radically that we would have had to relearn it.

So it was time to switch.”

Students taking English classes may have to be more diligent in using Chicago style, Jackson said. That’s especially

true for freshmen, since many high schools teach MLA style.

Nevertheless, Jackson said the switch shouldn’t present too much of a challenge.

“MLA is a much simpler documentation style, so it’s much simpler to learn,” Jackson said. “Chicago is far more scholarly and superior.”

The English department will not be the only use Chicago style. The history department requires Chicago or Kate L. Turabian’s A Manual for Writers of Term Papers, Theses, and Dissertations. Other departments, like the philosophy department, allow students to decide which format to use, said Tom Burke, philosophy and religion chairman and humanities dean.

Although Kearney said the most important aspect of an essay is its content, requiring proper formatting teaches students to express their thoughts in a professional manner.

“Like the MLA, the English department is focused on making communication and analysis more important than formatting,” Kearney said. “But if a student takes care to format a document properly, it’s because its content is important to him or her.”

Hillsdale College’s English department is switching from the Modern Language Association style guidelines to those of the Chicago Manual of Style next semester.

Humboldt State University

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By | Kristiana Mork Collegian Reporter A narrow culinary market and regulations from the Affordable Care Act are two factors motivating the frequent turnover in the Hillsdale College sorority kitchen staff.

For the second time in a year, Pi Beta Phi sorority lost its cook and is now sending its members to the Grewcock Student Union for all meals at Bon Appétit. Pi Beta Phi’s cook, Valeri Beach, left the sorority Nov. 11, after she accepted a position managing the kitchen at her children’s school. “[Beach’s] kids were going to school 30 minutes away, so you can imagine how taxing that was for her family,” said Rebekah Dell, assistant dean of women and Panhellenic Council adviser. “This was an opportunity that was better for her and her family.”

Beach is the third in a string of cooks to leave Greek houses over the last year. In February, Pi Beta Phi and Chi Omega both lost their cooks for similar reasons, Dell said.

“Finding someone that’s looking for part-time employment and has the desire to cook 10 meals a week is challenging,” Dell said. “So we’re looking for someone with the skillset that’s an excellent fit and is looking for a 27-hourper-week position. That really narrows the field.”

The Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare, also made sorority cooking positions more difficult to fill, Dell said. Pi Beta Phi used to pay cooks hourly on a schedule of nearly 40 hours per week, but the college changed its policy when employees working 30 hours per week became eligible for full benefits under Obamacare. Since Hillsdale’s part-time positions are not benefit-eligible, Dell said, the college limited part-time employees to 27 hours of work per week.

“The difference between 27

DeVos from A1

ing the Alliance for School Choice, Advocates for School Choice, the American Education Reform Council, the Education Freedom Fund, Choices for Children, the Great Lakes Education Project, and the American Federation for Children.

DeVos’ appointment has numerous Republican politicians throughout Michigan applauding Trump’s decision, including Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder.

“I compliment President-elect Trump for his selection of Betsy DeVos as Secretary of Education,” Snyder said in a statement. “Michiganders know the passion Betsy has for reforming education in a way that puts kids first. Betsy’s appointment will mean great things for Michigan and for children around the nation as she takes her no-nonsense commitment to empowering parents to the highest levels in Washington.”

Although DeVos’ appointment aligns with Trump’s campaign platform to expand school choice, her affiliations with pro-Common Core or-

“I very much approve of her.

I’m very glad she has said what she has since her appointment on Common Core.” ganizations suggests disagreement with Trump’s repeated stance against the controversial national academic standards. DeVos was a former board member of several pro-common core groups, including the Foundation for Excellence in Education, a group

and 35 hours a week is significant for someone, if they could go somewhere else and work for 35 hours,” Dell said.

Until Pi Beta Phi finds a replacement cook, the women will eat at the cafeteria in the student union or order from local restaurants.

“I like that we eat up the hill,” Pi Beta Phi President senior Rosie Ellison said. “You get to see more of people. Often, meals are those social times where you can spend time with your independent friends, and your Greek friends, and everyone else.”

“The difference between 27 and 35 hours a week is significant for someone, if they could go somewhere else and work for 35 hours.”

David Apthorpe, Hillsdale Bon Appétit Management Company general manager, said although he expects some challenges with the increase in patrons, he is finding ways to make the dining hall functional.

In addition to opening up the private dining room, Apthorpe said he is looking into expanding dining options.

“As enrollment continues to rise, maybe we look at a different model for lunch,” Apthorpe said. “Perhaps a swipe exchange, where maybe there’s another location that has a limited variety of cold options, so we can siphon some of the business from the dining room to another location.”

Dell said she expects the position to be filled by winter semester. led by former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush that aimed at promoting school choice as well as Common Core.

DeVos took to her website and personal twitter account to defend herself, and stated that she has never supported common core.

“Have organizations that I have been a part of supported Common Core? Of course.

But that’s not my position,” DeVos wrote on her personal website. “Sometimes it’s not just students who need to do their homework.”

She solidified her stance and stated, “I am against Common Core — period.”

But some national conservatives remain skeptical, decrying DeVos as secretary of education. Frank Cannon, president of anti-Common Core group American Principles Project, said in a statement leading up to the news of DeVos’ appointment that her affiliation with Common Core makes her a very “Jeb Bushlike pick.”

“This would not qualify as ‘draining the swamp,’” Cannon said. “And it seems to fly in the face of what Trump has stated on education policy up to this point.”

While DeVos was Trump’s final pick for secretary of education, the Senate still need to approve her, after Trump is inaugurated.

Arnn, who was endorsed by Parents against Common Core when his name was being considered for secretary of education, said he doesn’t find her previous stance problematic and that he is sure she’ll do a great job as education secretary.

“I very much approve of her,” Arnn said. “I’m very glad she has said what she has since her appointment on Common Core. I have not spoken with her, but I wrote her a note of congratulations.”

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Alumnus reviews In brief: student resumes to Co-author professors to debate put them ahead liberalism, By | Nathanael Meadowcroft

A Charger football player falls onto Muddy Water Stadium’s synthetic turf field with the ball, during the Nov. 12 football game against Lake Erie College. Madeline Barry | Collegian

College plans to replace football field turf By | Breana Noble News Editor Charger football’s 2016 season was its final with the GLIAC, and it may be its final with Muddy Water Stadium’s synthetic turf field.

This season marks the field’s tenth year, the amount of time the field was expected to last, Chief Administrative Officer Rich Péwé said. During the summer, annual inspectors of the facility flagged it as in need of replacement within the next couple years. Over time, the turf field compresses less, hardening the ground and increasing the likelihood of injuries.

“It still plays well, but I think if we tried to go another year, we would regret it,” Péwé said.

Activity on the field, as well as exposure to sunlight and heat, hardens the synthetic grass and breaks down the material. To compensate, more rubber is added. Now the pieces of recycled tries fills a majority of the field, Péwé said.

“We expected it to last eight to 10 years,” Péwé said. “It gets used all the time, so we’re getting a great return on investment.”

Ideally, the college would replace the turf this summer, and it is already in discussion about funding the project, Péwé said.

In 2006, the college paid about $6 million for its field made of ambient ground rubber and washed silica sand from ProGrass LLC, and Péwé said he is hoping to spend less than that.

“It’s gotten more competitive, since then,” Péwé said.

Péwé said the college has liked working with ProGrass.

It is, however, trying to purchase the new field at the best possible price. That partially depends on the type of field the college chooses.

Over the past decade, tech-

nology has expanded the options of turf material, including more eco-friendly options and those that don’t use crumb rubber in synthetic turf after the rise of health questions concerning potentially harmful elements like benzene, mercury, arsenic, and lead were sometimes found in it.

New technology has especially benefited baseball and soccer fields, Athletic Director Don Brubacher said, but the synthetic turf on Hillsdale’s field remains the best available for football, he said, though fill-in materials have changed somewhat. Some fields are also now putting pads underneath the layers of turf, rubber, and sand to give the field more bounce to protect from injury and increase the facility’s longevity.

“I think there are better products than there were, and we’ll look into them,” Péwé said.

Otterbein added that the job done by whoever installs the field also contributes to the quality of the field.

Only the top of the field, however, is being replaced. The base and drainage, which continue to work well, will remain, Péwé said.

The Ken Herrick Outdoor Track surrounding the football field is also getting older.

It was installed about 17 years ago, and the college has looked at replacing that, as well, as its surface hardens. It recently repaired asphalt spots underneath certain sections of the mondo-surface track.

“That should buy us some time,” Péwé said.

Péwé said the college is discussing moving the outdoor track to where the Simpson Baseball Field is to give the football field more space to play soccer and rugby. Baseball

would then go to Hayden Park.

The college is also looking into creating a building with wallto-wall turf where the old tennis courts sit. It would allow sports teams to practice inside during the winter and be available for recreational use.

In the past, Hillsdale was a leader in new advances of field technology. In 1980, it was one of the first colleges in Michigan to put AstroTurf, essentially carpet, on an outdoor field. Injuries increased substantially, because it didn’t have the “give” of normal grass, Péwé said.

“Players would get burns,” Péwé said. “They would get turf toe, where it goes into the thick carpet, and it dislocates, and it’s hard to heal.”

Around 2000, the college removed the AstroTurf and grew a special type of developed grass that wouldn’t freeze during the winter months.

It, however, required a lot of maintenance, frequent mowing, and one whole grounds worker to care for it.

“You had to baby it,” Péwé said. “You could only play on it six times a year, so they hardly practiced on it.”

But all the care lead to another type of the grass growing, creating patches of weaker material. The college replaced the field, but it happened again.

That’s when it got the synthetic turf field.

It has fared well, Péwé said.

The turf decreased the number of injuries, increased speed, and was usable for football, other sports, and general student use.

Otterbein said of the football fields on which the Chargers have played, Hillsdale’s is his favorite.

“A lot of the fields have a sliding surface,” Otterbein said.

“This one has good grip. It’s good for playing the game.”

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Anthony Halter chair in American history, the Constitution, and the Second Amendment — said he, however, disagrees. He said the college’s “one-size-fits-all” approach is “short-sighted,” especially when it comes to not permitting students who are veterans from carrying on campus.

“You end up effectively excluding a number of students who are eminently qualified and well-trained to be able to respond to a situation involving some kind of campus shooter,” Raney said.

Beyond safety, Raney said he and some of his colleagues have discussed how the college’s campus carry policy hurts the credibility of the institution that markets itself as “Pursuing Truth and Defending Liberty Since 1844,” he said.

“The college essentially opens itself up to hypocrisy on this issue by, in fact, seriously limiting a student’s ability to exercise a constitutional right,” Raney said.

Péwé said the policy, however, rests within the mission statement of the college.

“What’s the essence of the college? Truth, liberty, high moral character,” Péwé said “It’s important we carry out the mission and do so in the most effective way. We want to be safe and effective and have responsible people who want

Former Cuban dictator Fidel Castro dies Former Cuban leader Fidel Castro died at the age of 90 on Friday. His death prompted a national nine-day mourning on Saturday and has been met with mixed reactions across the globe. His ashes will travel across the island and be buried in Santa Ifigenia cemetery in Santiago de Cuba.

law forbids it, Michigan law prohibits campus carry only for the unlicensed and in classrooms and dormitories. As a private institution, Hillsdale, however, can add restrictions of its own.

The college does allow faculty members with concealed pistol licenses to have a firearm on them when not in a classroom, though it requests they notify Péwé’s office. This allows faculty members to be able to defend themselves, students, and colleagues in the case of an emergency and when first responders haven’t yet arrived, Péwé said.

Other than that, the college recommends students and visitors save the guns for the college’s John A. Halter Shooting Sports Center. The security office has a gun safe for students living on campus to store their weapons. It is also planning to build a separate holder for the increased amount of archery equipment students are bringing to campus, Whorley said.

Permitting faculty members to carry and forbidding students from doing so on campus aims to balance safety and security, Péwé said.

“We’re not interested in it being a gun-free zone,” Péwé said. “We’re trying to be practical.”

Raney — who is the John

5

things to know from this week

-Compiled by Jordyn Pair

Senior Writer Despite having a 96 percent post-graduation placement rate for the class of 2015, Hillsdale College students face tough competition once they leave campus. Christian Tracy ’99 said he wants to help.

Tracy works in corporate development and strategy at chemical company LyondellBasell Industries and has helped economics, finance, and accounting Hillsdale students improve their resumes this year. He is also looking for possible intern applicants for his company in Houston, Texas, to give Hillsdale students an advantage.

“I want to make people aware of what their options are because I didn’t feel like I had a great sense of that when I came out of school,” Tracy said. “As alumni, it’s something that we can do to help the current students, especially those of us that have worked in big companies that are constantly looking for good people.”

Tracy contacted Assistant Director of Career Services John Quint earlier this semester, offering to help students with their resumes and provide advice. Quint reached out to economics, finance, and accounting students with GPAs of 3.5 or higher to let them know.

“I was ecstatic to have him reach out to us,” Quint said.

“It was completely unsolicited, and that really sums up the type of energy that we have out there with the alumni base.”

Tracy said he has learned from personal experience that Hillsdale students may not have as many opportunities leading up to graduation to find jobs as students at other schools.

“They found themselves at the end of graduation having to really work extra hard to try to compete against students from other schools that had internships over the summer,” Tracy said. “We need to get ahead

of that. They need to have internships, certainly in their junior year, but even something analytical and quantitative during their sophomore year.”

LyondellBasell tends to recruit talent from big colleges around Houston like Texas A&M University and the University of Texas, but Tracy presented a few resumes of qualified Hillsdale students to LyondellBasell’s hiring department for potential internships.

“It’s hard for a little school like Hillsdale to get into that mix, so it’s really up to people like me who have a relationship with the school to put qualified students forward,” Tracy said.

But even then, Hillsdale students can be at a disadvantage, he said.

“It’s still extremely difficult, because you do get a lot of students from Texas A&M who have had one or two years of internships already, are very focused on accounting or finance, and have a lot of training in those areas because they don’t have quite the core requirements that Hillsdale does,” Tracy said. “That’s still really tough to sell to management.”

For those reasons, students said they appreciate Tracy’s help.

“He really wants to help Hillsdale students out to the best of his ability,” senior Mackenzie Dickhudt said. “I really appreciated his earnestness about the job search. He encouraged me that it was never too early to start looking for a job.”

Tracy has spoken with Quint about improving Hillsdale’s support network.

“A lot of people give money to the school because of the ideology, and if those people are willing to give their money and a lot of those guys are business owners, my guess is they’re going to be very willing to help the students out to find employment,” Tracy said.

“That’s my grand vision and something that I hope that I can help with in the future.”

Psi Chi needs student help to bring community Christmas joy

to do that as a deterrent.”

But Raney said the policy shows that the college doubts the responsibility of its students.

“In the end, it boils down to trust,” Raney said. “Does the institution trust its faculty?

Yes. Does the institution trust its staff? Yes. Does it trust its students? At this point, the answer seems to be no.”

Although Péwé said the college does have concerns over liability when it comes to campus carry, Raney said the college could also become culpable, if an active shooter situation were to occur and a student couldn’t defend him or herself, though he or she is legally eligible to do so. Individuals must be at least 21 years old to have their concealed pistol license in Michigan.

“It deprives them, not only of a constitutional right, but a natural right to protect themselves, to life,” Raney said.

“That should not be a problem at a place like Hillsdale...We need to make sure theory and practice come together as one.”

The chance of an active shooter situation happening on campus, however, is low.

Nevertheless, Whorley said it is important to be prepared.

“In any scenario, you should respond calmly, reasonably, and without panic,” Whorley said. “We’re trying to get people to stop and think.”

By | Cecelia Pletan Collegian Reporter Psi Chi, Hillsdale College’s chapter of the international psychology honors society, is seeking to give local families a merrier Christmas.

In its largest outreach efforts ever, the honorary is partnering with volunteer organizations in Hillsdale to give back to the community. Psi Chi is holding an Angel Tree program with the Domestic Harmony women’s shelter to bring gifts to children in families that struggle with domestic abuse as well as collect gift wrap. It is also working with the Head Start preschool program to collect books for children.

Angel Tree is a program for the children of the women helped by Domestic Harmony.

Volunteers pick up an ornament with a child’s name and a list of a few presents that he or she wants. They buy presents for the child and bring them back with the ornament.

“Domestic Harmony works with families, oftentimes women, who are really starting their life over, so they’re becoming economically independent from their former husband or partner for the first time,” said junior Hannah Brewer Psi Chi philanthropy chair. “They have a hard time providing basic needs for their kids, so sometimes their kids wouldn’t get very many presents for Christmas, if anything at all. We just want to be able to fill in for them and be able to help.”

Students can get an ornament at Psi Chi’s table in the Grewcock Student Union

during mealtimes through Friday. Students should deliver presents to the union by Dec. 14.

Brewer came up with the idea of teaming with Domestic Harmony, after volunteering at the shelter last year.

“I thought this year that we should get students involved and just have them see that there is a way for them to help our community,” Brewer said.

Students unable to assist with the presents can still bring Christmas joy to the families, though. The honorary is collecting Christmas gift wrap in residence halls until Wednesday for Angel Tree gifts.

“Even just one roll from each person in the dorm would be a ton and would make such a big difference,” Psi Chi Vice President junior Sarah Milback said.

Students can also donate books in dormitories and Greek houses until Friday to Hillsdale’s Head Start preschool. A donation box will also be in the union on Thursday and Friday.

Head Start is a federally funded program that prepares children ages three to five for kindergarten by providing educational as well as health and nutritional services.

“We’ve been learning in child psychology this past year how important it is for underprivileged children to learn how to read,” Psi Chi President junior Mikaela Overton said.

“That’s kind of what we wanted to target with the Head Start book drive here, to just be able to get some books for them for Christmas.”

Plane crashes in Colombia killing 71 A plane carrying members of Chapecoense, a Brazilian soccer team, crashed into Colombian mountains Monday.

Of the 77 passengers aboard the plane, only six survived: three team members, two crew members, and a journalist. The plane crashed, after the jet ran out of fuel.

Somali refugee attacks Ohio State University A Ohio State University student used a car and a knife to attack other students Monday. Eleven people were injured. Abdul Artan, a Somali refugee, was killed by campus police officer Alan Horujko. Authorities believe Artan was inspired by Islamic State group propaganda.

‘Gilmore Girls’ revival comes to Netflix After nearly a decade since their final episode, Lorelai Gilmore (Lauren Graham) and Rory Gilmore (Alexis Bledel) returned to Stars Hallow, Connecticut, in ‘Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life’ Friday. Four 90-minute episodes premiered exclusively on Netflix.

conservatism

By | Brooke Conrad Collegian Reporter The Lyceum is holding a debate between Professor of Philosophy Nathan Schlueter and former Hillsdale College Professor of Economics Nikolai Wenzel on their political philosophies Thursday at 4 p.m. in Phillips Auditorium.

Wenzel, a libertarian, and Schlueter, a conservative, wrote and recently published a book together called “Selfish Libertarians and Socialist Conservatives?” in which they defend their respective views.

It was published in November by the Stanford University Press.

Wenzel and Schlueter taught a class on the same discussion during the springs of 2010 and 2011 in which they studied several authors, including economist Friedrich Hayek, Aristotle, Catholic priest Thomas Aquinas, legal scholar Robert George, and economist Murray Rothbard.

The texts and discussions from the class largely inspired the book, Schlueter said.

“We looked at the sources, as we were teaching the class, and we realized there’s no book out there that does what we’re doing here,” Schlueter said.

“There are lots of little books on different elements of the debate, but there is no book that actually brings them together in a serious argument.”

The professors will explore several issues at the debate, including to what extent economic analysis can understand political reality, the scope and limits of government authority, what it means to be a citizen, if there is such a thing as the public good, and how one should approach modern policy issues like immigration, marriage, and education. The floor will be open for student questions,during the last part of the debate. “[Schlueter and Wenzel] are both really thoughtful and intelligent scholars and professors who have really looked at both sides carefully,” Lyceum Treasurer junior Lara Forsythe said. “In writing the book together, they both had to come to grips with the other side and really study it. You can expect a very thoughtful debate.”

Wenzel said he is looking forward to returning to Hillsdale for the debate.

“Hillsdale is exactly the kind of receptive audience I look forward to talking to, and we really want to look at libertarianism and conservatism with a spirit of inquiry,” Wenzel said.

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As Thackston applies for top 10 law schools, he said he hopes to learn from Esolen’s experience in such controversies.

“He has faced liberal academics,” Thackston said. “For us to hear from someone who has faced that culture at the university level first hand will be valuable for us.”

Esolen has also published eight works of his own with a ninth being released on Dec. 7 called “Real Music: A Guide to the Timeless Hymns of the Church.” His latest books are “Reflections on the Christian Life: How Our Story Is God’s Story,” “Ten Ways to Destroy the Imagination of Your Child,” and “The Politically Incorrect Guide to Western Civilization.”

Arnn said Esolen is a fine choice for the class of 2017’s final lecture at Hillsdale.

“He is an eloquent and learned man, who knows what commencement is all about,” Arnn said in an email. “He will be great.”

Free Stock Photos

The Sauk’s Christmas show begins Thursday The Sauk, a local theater in Jonesville, is performing “The Best Christmas Pageant Ever,” beginning Thursday at 8 p.m.

The show, based on the book

by Barbara Robinson, follows the tale of a church pageant in which the rambunctious Herdman children are cast as the leads.

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Online: www.hillsdalecollegian.com Editor in Chief | Thomas Novelly Associate Editor | Kate Patrick News Editor | Breana Noble City News Editor | Philip H. DeVoe Opinions Editor | Anders Hagstrom | Joanna Kroeker Sports Editor | Jessie Fox Culture Editor | Hannah Niemeier Features Editor | S.M. Chavey Design Editor | Grace DeSandro Web Editor | Evan Carter Photo Editor | Madeline Barry Senior Writers | Andrew Egger | Nathanael Meadowcroft | Ramona Tausz Circulation Managers | Conor Woodfin | Finn Cleary Ad Managers | Adam Stathakis | Aidan Donovan Assistant Editors | Stevan Bennett, Jr. | Jordyn Pair | Joe Pappalardo | Josh Paladino | Katie Scheu | Tim Pearce | Brendan Clarey | Madeline Jepsen | Michael Lucchese Photographers | Ben Block | Catherine Howard | Emilia Heider | Jordyn Pair | Luke Robson | Andrea Lee | Lauren Schlientz | Madeline Fry | Nicole Ault | Nina Hufford | Rachael Reynolds | Sarah Borger | Zane Miller | Hannah Kwapisz | Sarah Reinsel Faculty Advisers | John J. Miller | Maria Servold The editors welcome Letters to the Editor but reserve the right to edit submissions for clarity, length, and style. Letters should be 450 words or less and include your name and number. Send submissions to ahagstrom@hillsdale.edu before Saturday at 3 p.m.

Arnn 'relieved' to be staying at Hillsdale , we should be too The opinion of the Collegian editorial staff Larry P. Arnn told the Collegian he’s relieved he didn’t get picked for Secretary of Education, and the student body should be relieved too.

To those excited by the prospect of Arnn becoming Secretary of Education and flushing our corrupt education system, don’t fret. Michigander Betsy DeVos is a great pick, and will bring Hillsdale plenty of publicity: her brother, Erik Prince, is a 1992 Hillsdale College grad and the founder of Blackwater Security Company (now called Academi). Her fatherin-law, Richard DeVos, cofounded Amway with Jay Van

Andel, whose son Steve Van Andel graduated from Hillsdale in 1978. The Van Andel Graduate School of Statesmanship is named for Steve Van Andel, who has made notable donations to Hillsdale as an alumnus.

She’s also indirectly promoted dozens of aspiring artists through her family’s creation of ArtPrize, an international art competition held in Grand Rapids. Just this year alone, five Hillsdale professors and students were able to showcase their work at to an international audience at the competition.

But DeVos is more than just a friend of Hillsdale. She’s a staunch advocate for school choice and reform, and believes children should have more options than public school or pricey private academies. She’s served on numerous boards pushing school reform, she’s anti-Common Core, and she even has Arnn’s stamp of approval: he said he “very much” approves of DeVos. To lose Arnn would be nothing short of devastating for Hillsdale. Under Arnn’s leadership, charitable gifts to the college have increased by

95 percent and we’ve gotten the Knorr Student Union, the Searle Center, Bon Appetit, renovated dorms, and expanded departments.

Arnn embodies the vision and mission of Hillsdale. Every time Arnn stands up to speak, he inspires us with the courage to pursue the good, the true, and the beautiful, and he reminds us why we do what we do here at Hillsdale.

Even though the prospect of an Arnn-less lunchtime cafeteria is inviting, we should be thankful he’s still here to lead us.

Good riddance, Castro

Trump’s picks should put America First

opposed to everything Donald Trump ran on: that the Iraq war was a mistake, regime change made us less safe in the Middle East, including in Iraq,” Paul said. “I don’t know how a President Trump could appoint someone who’s diametrically opposed to everything Donald Trump ran on. Some of that goes for Giuliani as well.”

Senator Bob Corker (R-TN), although a less interventionist choice than Bolton and Giuliani, has said the U.S. should oppose Russian expansion into Ukraine. Corker also said that Russia has too much unchecked influence in the Middle East.

Mitt Romney, another potential pick for Secretary of State, called Russia the “number one geopolitical foe” in 2012. This is far from Trump, who has advocated a close relationship with Russia.

These potential choices for Secretary of State will lead the U.S. into four more years of foreign entanglement at the expense of American lives and dollars.

Trump’s meeting with Gabbard could be a signal that he feels discontent with establishment neoconservatives.

He should consider Gabbard for Secretary of State. She has military experience and foreign policy views that align with Trump.

Gabbard is a major in the Hawaii Army National Guard. When Gabbard was a member of the Hawaii House of Representatives, she volunteered to serve in Iraq and chose not to run for reelection to continue her military service. Even while serving in Iraq, she was against the war.

Gabbard fights against military involvement in the Middle East. She opposes the war in Syria and fears that further involvement will escalate tensions between Russia and the U.S. Trump could also consider former Democratic Senator Jim Webb for Secretary of State. He was a first lieutenant in the Marines and served as the U.S. Secretary of the Navy. He supports friendly relations with Russia and a decreased U.S. military presence in the Middle East.

Trump has promised an “America First” foreign policy.

Establishment Republicans will not deliver on that promise. Only someone dedicated to peace and non-intervention can put America’s interests first.

President-elect Donald Trump’s foreign policy views break from Republican orthodoxy, so his Secretary of State appointment should too.

Trump has criticized the war in Iraq, opposed the war in Syria, and favored friendly relations with Russia.

Trump needs to search beyond neoconservative Republicans to find candidates more in line with his policies.

On Nov. 21, Trump met with Representative Tulsi Gabbard (D-HI) whose vision for American foreign policy is more in line with Trump’s than most Republicans. Trump requested the meeting to discuss Syria, ISIS, and the Middle East in general.

"I felt it important to take the opportunity to meet with the President-elect now before the drumbeats of war that neocons have been beating drag us into an escalation of the war to overthrow the Syrian government," Gabbard said.

She’s right to be concerned.

And she’d be a great choice for Secretary of State.

Trump’s other potential picks for Secretary of State oppose his policies toward Russia and Syria and represent the same neoconservative foreign policy approach that has dominated Washington for decades.

Top picks for Secretary of State include former United States Ambassador to the United Nations John Bolton, former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani, and former Governor of Massachusetts Mitt Romney.

Bolton is the biggest threat to Trump’s “America First” foreign policy.

Recently, he has supported regime change in Syria, Iraq, and Iran.

“Either a new state must be created out of the wreckage of Syria and Iraq, or some other durable approach must be found,” Bolton wrote in the New York Post on Nov. 13.

On Nov 17. Bolton said, “The only long-term solution is regime change in Tehran.”

He also expressed concern about Russia in the same New York Post article.

“Russia’s influence in the [Middle East] is higher than at any time since the 1970s,” Bolton wrote.

Senator Rand Paul (RKY) has fought against the appointment of Bolton and Giuliani, calling their Mr. Paladino is a junior foreign policy too hawkish.

Bolton, he said, “is politics and journalism.

Fidel Castro and Vladimir Putin in Cuba. Wikimedia Commons

By | Joshua Lee Collegian Reporter Fidel Castro, the fiery revolutionary who defied American presidents for half a century as Cuba’s supreme leader and brought the world to the brink of nuclear war, is dead at age 90. His brother and successor Raul announced the death via Cuban state media Friday.

“The tyrant is dead,” chanted jubilant crowds of Cuban Americans in Miami’s Little Havana. Clanging pots and the waving of Cuban flags shaped a celebration decades in the making. Many cheered the death of the man who may have been the most important Latin American leader of the 20th century.

In 1959, many cheered not his death, but his success, as Castro and his ragtag rebel army entered Havana victorious.

Soon, however, they began to flee as Castro’s communist reign took everything, from their possessions and heritage to their loved ones and freedoms. This paradox defines the experience of the Cuban people with Fidel Castro and his brutal dictatorship.

Fidel Alejandro Castro Ruz was born August 13, 1926, in Biran, Cuba to a Spaniard plantation owner and his maid, who married only after Castro’s birth. He was known as an

Hillsdale prepares for Hell Week

By Joel Haines

By | Joshua Paladino Assistant Editor

unruly and boisterous student who often fought with peers and never hesitated to criticize teachers he did not respect.

Later in Havana as a law student, he immersed himself in radical politics and took part in the violent exchanges between groups supporting and opposing the strongman presidency of Fulgencio Batista.

His first taste of revolutionary violence came when he joined the unsuccessful expedition of 1947 to oust General Rafael Trujillo, a military dictator of the Dominican Republic.

Returning home, he joined anti-Batista circles and ran for congress in 1952. Castro had a real chance of winning until Batista staged a bloodless coup that overthrew the constitutional government. As a self-described “man of action,” Castro turned away from the ballot and embraced the bullet.

After a failed attack in 1953, on the Moncada army barracks in Santiago, Cuba’s second largest city, Castro went to prison, but not before delivering a dramatic courtroom speech in which he famously declared: “History will absolve me.”

Granted amnesty and exiled to Mexico, Castro and his brother Raul gathered a small group, including an Argentine doctor named Ernesto “Che” Guevara and made plans to invade Cuba.

By 1959, they had amassed a peasant army that forced Batista

from power.

Castro, then 32, paraded his way through Cuba to Havana, promising democratic elections and a more “humanistic government.” Not long after, Castro showed Cubans a more radical side of himself by executing hundreds of Batista loyalists. He also revealed his obsession with, and deep hatred for the United States and what he saw as its domination of Cuba since the Spanish-American War of 1898. “The Americans will pay dearly for their actions,” he wrote. “When this war is over, a much longer and greater war will begin for me, the war I am going to wage against them. I realize this is my true destiny.”

True to his word, he embraced Communism and established close ties with the Soviet Union.

He urged the Soviets to place ballistic missiles in Cuba, just 90 miles from Florida - a threat that led to the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962. He never got his missiles but he remained a persistent problem for American presidents, sparking economic embargoes, refugee crises, CIA assassination plots - and even plans to destroy his popularity by making his beard fall out.

Castro’s understanding of propaganda and image, especially on television, enabled him to retain the loyalty of his people even under the harshest economic periods. His trademark olive-green military

fatigues and mastery of words in thousands of speeches, often lasting hours, suffused many Cubans with a hatred of the United States.

Millions, however, were forced to flee Castro’s brutal 49 year dictatorship. During his nearly five decades of of rule, Castro built a repressive regime that violated basic human rights and punished all forms of dissent. Human rights groups have struggled to count all of Castro’s victims.

The Cuba Archive Project has documented thousands of deaths by firing squad, including those of children. Nearly 80,000 have died in attempts to escape the island and join the virtually 2 million Cuban exiles and immigrants living in the United States.

Even friends of Castro, including Huber Matos who fought as a general in Castro’s army, left their beloved island with a sense of betrayal.

Shortly after arriving in Miami and joining legions of Castro opponents there, Matos told Worldview magazine, “I differed from Fidel Castro because the original objective of our revolution was ‘Freedom or Death.’ Once Castro had power, he began to kill freedom.”

Mr. Lee is a junior studying politics and journalism.

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It’s time to raise Trump voters are the bar for voting courageous, not racist survey, over 60 percent of By | Noah Weinrich Special to The Collegian Americans do not know the length of a senator’s term, and In the wake of the election, nearly a third cannot name many critics are debating the the vice president. Two-thirds merits of the electoral college. don’t know the names of any They’re right, our voting system Supreme Court justices. is flawed. But they’re looking in Yet we’re subject to the the wrong place. The flaws lay leaders they pick. in the voters, not the electors.

To become American According to the Annenberg citizens, immigrants must Public Policy Center, one third take a naturalization test. This of Americans cannot name contains simple questions, a single branch of the U.S. such as “who vetoes bills?” and government, and two thirds “how many justices are on the of Americans cannot name all Supreme Court?” Immigrants three branches. have to answer only six out The state of the 2016 of ten questions correctly. If electorate is grim. Studies have this test or a similar one were consistently shown that the necessary to register to vote, average voter has little grasp on voters would have to inform the reality of American politics. themselves. If we require this This helps explain the travesty test for immigrants to become of this year’s election season. citizens and vote, why shouldn’t In order to fix our uninformed we require it for all voters? voting base, states should Of course, any test for voting administer a civics test for all is historically perilous. Before registered voters. the civil rights movement of the Some voters should not vote. 1960s, state governments in the In 1991, political scientist South instituted literacy tests as Samuel Popkin even created a method for disenfranchising a name for them: “low- black voters. In accordance information voters.” A low- with the Equal Protection information voter decides Clause, all state governments based on which candidate must ensure that any civics test is more attractive, which does not discriminate on the candidate is more relatable, or basis of race, class, gender, or even which candidate appears any other category. at the top of the ballot.

Many critics of civics tests Low information voters hurt say that these tests will bring politics. They pull the lever for back discrimination. Despite unfamiliar candidates, often the ugly history of racism in electing poor leaders. Low America, we can move beyond information voters often do not these fears in 2016. Ethnicity even understand the office for does not matter for a simple 10-question test. which they are voting.

If we administered such a Just look at the numbers: According to a 2011 Newsweek test, we could make sure voters

understand how our republic works, regardless of class or education. Do you really want the voter who can’t name the executive branch to pick the president? That goes against every principle of good selfgovernment.

Some may argue that any form of civics test goes against civil liberty, but if we have the right to vote, don’t we have the duty to vote well? Voting is just as important as national security and jury trials, but we make sure that we select competent soldiers and jurors.

Why can’t we have competent voters? A 60 percent passing grade on basic questions of government should not be difficult for anyone who took U.S. government in high school.

A required civics test is a hard sell for any self-respecting “small-D” democrat. We’re conditioned to believe that the everyman knows what’s best for us all. But what if not every man does?

Maybe this is a problem with education. Maybe our public schools have failed to create good citizens on a national scale. But until we fix the problem, can the republic survive ignorant citizens?

Millions of voters have never taken the time to look up their congressman, senators, or even vice president. To choose well in the ballot box, perhaps we have to choose who gets a ballot.

Mr. Weinrich is a junior studying politics.

Girls should get a four year dorm By | Madeline Fry Columnist When Jessie Kopmeyer was a freshman, she told her parents she was ready to drop out of Hillsdale. Her older sister gave her a piece of advice: before you go, reach out to one person.

After she recognized a student she barely knew sitting in AJ’s Cafe, Kopmeyer plodded up to say hello. Then, two years later, Kopmeyer is a resident assistant at the college and that student is a mentor and one of her best friends.

Freshman year is a formative time for college students, one that is difficult to navigate without older students to model what life in college should look like. Ideally, this is the function of a freshman’s RAs, but two people cannot carry the responsibility of effectively mentoring an entire hall.

If Hillsdale offered women’s dormitories that included students from all four years, women would have more opportunities for those essential mentorship relationships and the ability to foster and maintain community throughout their time in college.

Dean of Women Diane Philipp said the administration discusses integrating female dorms almost every year, but the consensus is for maintaining the status quo.

“Probably the number one reason is just the programming,” she said. “The programming for freshmen women is more specific in what they do—meet and greets, you know just getting to know their community, their class—than it is for guys. The guys will tell us that freshmen guys and junior guys kind of do the same thing in their activities. But girls don’t.”

Even heavily involved RAs can’t always provide the support freshmen need.

For freshmen men, this is not so great a problem. They have the opportunity to live in one of three mixed-year dormitories: Simpson, Galloway, or Niedfeldt. Freshmen women, with the exceptions of their RAs, live together in either MacIntyre or Olds.

Dean of Men Aaron Petersen said separating the freshmen

men in the same way was discussed about a decade ago, and students’ defense of mixedyear dorms was passionate and universal.

“They said, ‘It’s very important. We need that mentoring,’” Petersen said.

“They used things like ‘iron sharpens iron.’”

In order to alleviate the stress of adjusting to dorm life, the college provides a variety of resources for freshmen. But an incoming student’s greatest help comes not from the college, but from other students.

“There are few places that provide key opportunities for mentorship like dorm living,” senior Eli West, an RA in Simpson dormitory, said. “Where else do you have the opportunity to live right next to younger guys or girls whom you're also working with, spending free time with, eating meals with, and doing practically all the exciting and mundane things with in between?”

By January of freshman year, about 35 percent of women will join sororities and pick up bigs who will step into that mentorship role for them. But the majority will not.

According to studies, women are twice as likely to suffer from both depression and anxiety than men. Dr. Lucia Gilbert of Santa Clara University researched the importance of mentors to female students and found that they are effective: more so than men, women rated same-sex mentors as being important to their professional development.

Unfortunately, many women are too afraid to seek out mentors. “An overwhelming 63 percent of women in our study reported that they have never had a formal mentor,” a study produced by Development Dimensions International reported. “According to the hundreds of women who responded, it isn’t because they aren’t willing to mentor; it’s that they are not being asked.”

Most freshmen, like Jessie Kopmeyer, are uncomfortable reaching out for help unless they’re pushed to do so.

Freshmen take classes mostly with other freshmen, and when they live only with other freshmen as well, opportunities to develop close relationships

with upperclassmen are scarce.

Taylor University, a private liberal arts college in Indiana with around 2,000 students, has eight dormitories, half of which are co-ed, and all of which have students from all four years sharing the same space.

Julia Camara, who graduated from Taylor this year, said the university’s community was the strongest she’s seen.

“Mixed years in the dorm served as a great way to integrate new students into the community and helped detract from discrimination or segregation,” Camara said. “Having upperclassmen down the hall helped with the maturity level of underclassmen and provided a great outlet for mentorship.”

The idea of mixed-class women’s dorms does present a logistical issue at Hillsdale.

The largest upperclasswomen dorm is Benzing, which holds only 56 students. By contrast, Niedfeldt, the smallest men’s dorm, holds 50. Perhaps there simply isn’t the space for a mixed-class women’s dorm of Galloway- or Simpson-like proportions.

But due to a recent lack of housing for male students, Chief Administrative Officer Rich Péwé said a new men’s dorm could begin construction in late 2019. If men were moved to current campus dorms, like Koon, the new residence hall could become an experimental mixed-class women’s dorm.

Freshmen women could even live on their own halls, so they could share first-year experiences but still live under the same roof with older students.

Mixed-year dorms provide a simple and effective avenue for peer-to-peer mentorship.

If the women’s dorms were integrated in the same way as the men’s, perhaps freshmen women would have not only a smoother transition, but also more opportunities for the personal growth that is the central purpose of our time at Hillsdale. For women like Jessie Kopmeyer, sometimes it just takes one older student to change an entire college experience.

Ms. Fry is a junior studying French and journalism.

Trump speaks at a campaign rally. Wikipedia

By | Ryan Murhpy Special to The Collegian My hairdresser is expecting to be fired because she voted for Donald Trump.

So far, her boss, who took five “grief ” days off work following the election, has demeaned, ignored, and – the real cherry on top – unfriended her on Facebook.

Across the country, other bosses and CEO’s are on witch-hunts to oust any Trump voters. Other voices are chastising Trump’s entire voter base. But making snap judgments about 62 million Americans’ character based on their ballot is poor judgment.

I did not vote for or against Trump based on any inflammatory comments made. I voted for him because his principles and policies most closely match my own.

This is not a popularity contest, contrary to what your average rioting millennialwho-presently-hates-theElectoral-College might believe. I say “presently” because if Bernie Sanders decided tomorrow that the Electoral College is the greatest thing since free sliced bread, those millennials probably would too.

Imagine the election results were flipped with Clinton capturing 270 electoral votes and Trump winning the popular vote. Those same Democrats would be singing the Electoral College’s praises, probably asking where they could apply to attend this prestigious university.

But the flavor of the day is to hate on the electoral system and call Trump voters racist,

homophobic, misogynistic, xenophobic scum of the earth. In true wishy-washy fashion, Democrats are failing to realize this name-calling is counterproductive to their self-professed dogma of tolerance.

Hillary ostracized voters by infamously labeling them “deplorables.” If the Democrat establishment would like to snub even more potential voters, be my guest. But the data supporting their claims (like the data supporting their “high” likelihood of winning the White House) is a farce.

Citing clear election data, MSNBC’s Joe Scarborough admitted that millions of Americans who voted for Obama, not once but twice, voted for Trump this time around. And you’d like to tell me that those who voted for an African-American are racist?

Even left-wing propaganda extraordinaire Michael Moore agrees that claiming half of Americans are racist bigots is nonsense.

Does racism exist today?

Yes. But it’s not exclusive to one political persuasion, nor is it as widespread as they would have you believe.

Is half of America out to get minorities, gays, and women with Trump as their Pied Piper? No. Google defines a racist as “a person who believes that a particular race is superior to another.” Trump has never once implied that whites are superior. Rather, he believes America’s sovereignty and citizens’ safety take precedence over incorporating as many immigrants into society as possible without effective screening. Trump isn’t a racist;

Talk money to me: Don’t buy books from the bookstore By | Kate Patrick Financial Columnist

and Abebooks.com, beating out more well-known online sellers like Amazon.com and eBay.com. I’ve had great experiences with both.

Rentals can also be a more viable option than buying from the bookstore: renting textbooks is often cheaper than buying, especially with regard to math, science, and economics texts. Most online sellers offer rental options, and some will cover your shipping costs. The one thing to watch out for is deadlines: all sellers require you to return your rentals by a specified date, so if you rent a text make sure you don’t have to return it before finals.

And don’t forget about the library. If you’re majoring in history, English, French, or Classics, chances are you can find some of your required reading in the Mossey Library — this semester alone I checked out at least a third of my books from Mossey. Watch out, though: the library might not carry the exact edition you need, which may cause problems in class, depending on your professor’s standards and requirements.

The bookstore can be great: the employees are friendly and helpful, and if you need Hillsdale paraphernalia, that’s the place to shop, but don’t buy your textbooks from the college. You’re already paying tuition, room, and board — why spend a fortune on books when you can get the right edition in good condition somewhere online for so much less?

In just a couple weeks students will be flocking to the bookstore to sell back their books, hoping to get, at most, half their money back on the fortune spent on textbooks in August. Some will be lucky to get one dollar back on that $15-novel for an English class. But there is a better way: Don’t even buy from the bookstore in the first place. Take advantage of online booksellers to stock up for the spring semester, and you’ll save at least 50 percent of your money.

Don’t pay $18 for a new copy of Robert Fagles’ “Odyssey” from the bookstore. Don’t even pay $13.50 for a used one. Amazon is selling that edition for $10.97 right now, and you can buy it used from Abebooks for $3.48. If you buy from the bookstore, you lose money. Lots of it.

Trust me — as a history major, I spent less than $100 on books this semester by buying entirely from online sellers. If I’d bought everything from the bookstore, I would have paid more than $300. Of course some majors — like math majors, for example — require expensive textbooks that will be pretty expensive no matter where you buy them. But if you want to save money in all your other classes, ditch the bookstore.

Search engines like bookfinder.com and bigwords.com scour the web for the best deals on books, so they do most of the hard Ms. Patrick is a senior work for you. Often the best deals are from obscure sites studying history and like BetterWorldBooks.com journalism.

he’s a nationalist.

It’s difficult to convince Democrats that Trump’s comments aren’t racist, simply because today’s “politically correct” definition of racism is so radically all-encompassing.

If we’re defining racism as any comment with potential to hurt feelings of any member of any minority, then we might as well be The Racist States of America. The real issue is that Democrats and Republicans define racism differently.

Degrading an individual because of race is abominable.

I will never defend anyone who thinks it’s okay to belittle African Americans because of their skin color or scream at Mexicans to go back over the border. That is racism. But those on the left conclude that deporting illegal immigrants is racist. Newsflash: that is not racism. Someone who breaks into your house can’t expect to just become part of the family.

I’m all for welcoming legal immigrants with patriotic intentions, but I’d rather not jeopardize my and my fellow Americans’ security to avoid hurt feelings.

Americans who voted for Trump are sick and tired of being demonized.

Any Democrat who thinks continued name-calling will somehow draw these voters back into the liberal fold is misguided. Go ahead, keep calling us racists. It shows the continued hypocrisy of the “tolerant” left, and, likely as not, it will only strengthen conservative voting ranks in 2020.

Ms. Murphy is a sophomore studying politics and journalism.

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www.hillsdalecollegian.com

Tax exemptions save small businesses thousands By | Josh Paladino Assistant Editor

Left to right: Renee Goshorn holds a dog at the Hillsdale Humane Society shelter; a HHS cat paws through her cage.

Brooke Conrad (L) and Tessa Nardozza (R) | Collegian And Courtesy

Neglecting to neuter, feeding strays fuels problem of cat and dog overpopulation in Hillsdale County area By | Brooke Conrad Collegian Reporter It is not uncommon for the Hillsdale Humane Society to receive calls from people who have 90 cats living near their homes.

“People are just tired of the cat over-population,” said Renee Goshorn, the shelter’s manager. “They’re swarming.”

Dog and cat over-population in Hillsdale and surrounding counties is not a recent development. Litchfield Veterinarian Dr. John Lobdell said he has observed the over-population in the county for decades, especially with cats.

Cat populations can multiply very quickly. A conservative estimate from the Branch County Humane Society is if two cats have two litters each year over the course of eight years, and around 2.8 cats survive per litter, they and their offspring will produce 2,072,514 more cats.

Natural animal reproduction is not the only reason for the overpopulation, however.

According to Goshorn, county citizens contribute to the problem by feeding stray animals they find on their farms, and by neglecting to spay or neuter them, either out of ignorance of the problem or being unable

to afford such an operation.

Goshorn said the Hillsdale Humane Society currently takes in around 300 cats per year. The shelter is usually at about 100 cats over capacity on any given day, as many people, without notice, simply drop off cats in the shelter’s outdoor pen.

Stray dogs are not as abundant in the area, in part because, according to Lobdell, most people assume cats can fend for themselves better than dogs can and so they kick them outside.

Hillsdale County has attempted to reduce the number of stray cats and dogs through two spaying and neutering programs, Barc and Catsnips, both of which operate through grants and community fundraisers. Barc charges $30 to $35, and Catsnips charges $20, which are both much cheaper than the usual clinic cost of $100.

The Branch County Humane Society also contributes to the cause through a monthly program in which they spay and neuter 15 to 20 stray cats and then release them. Hillsdale College students and other volunteers help out with the program each month. The initiative is based on an idea similar to that of the national Trap-Neuter-Return program, which attempts to reduce stray

animal populations nationwide.

The Trap-Neuter-Return program is, in Lobdell’s opinion, very helpful in reducing the population, and Branch County Humane Society Manager Jan Nageldinger thinks it is just now catching on in the area. But according to owner of Hillsdale Veterinary Hospital Dr. Kim Baker, the Trap-Neuter-Return program has not been as effective in the county as people had hoped.

“The population can rebound so quickly,” he said.

“Take just a couple of reproducing cats, and it doesn’t take long for the population to go up.”

Even though cats are more abundant in the area, there are still many dogs that need a home, and a lot of people in the area choose to buy dogs from a breeder instead of adopting them from the Humane Society.

According to Animal Control Deputy John Gates, dog breeders in the county often try to sell their dogs at the fairgrounds or on social media sites as a way of making money. But since there are no laws concerning animal litters in the county, the only thing Animal Control can do about the so-called “puppy mills” is make sure the dogs are healthy, properly vaccinated, and prop-

erly housed.

“It’s not illegal, even though it may be immoral or unethical,” he said.

There are no laws in the state of Michigan concerning cats either, since the state considers them to be feral animals. Animal Control deals only with dogs, and the most they can do with cats is tell people to spay and neuter the ones they find.

Also, as temperatures decrease throughout the winter, people often call Animal Control to come check on the cats living near their homes, and Gates said that about 90 percent of the time he responds to a call, the animals are not in danger of harm.

Unless dogs show very aggressive tendencies, Animal Control transports strays to the Branch County Humane Society, and about 60 percent of these dogs are returned to their owners. Nageldinger said that over the past decade, Animal Control has greatly reduced the number of dogs it euthanizes, putting down only 7 in the past 5 years, all of which were “very aggressive.”

Despite efforts in the county to reduce cat and dog over-population, Goshorn said the prospects of alleviating the problem are not very positive.

“Spaying and neutering is the only way out,” she said, “and most can’t do it.”

Local Comic Shop Day promotes small business By | Kate Patrick Associate Editor On this year’s Local Comic Shop Day, shoppers at local comic shops bought comics for half off; participated in buy one, get one free deals; and picked up special edition comics and pamphlets of the latest news from the comic universe.

Local Comic Shop Day is like Black Friday for Hero’s Nest, Hillsdale’s comic book shop, but it’s also akin to Small Business Saturday.

The best part of the event at Hero’s Nest was the grab bag: customers received a brown paper bag of “goodies” with any purchase from the store.

Inside were coupons and gift cards to local businesses, a free comic book, action figures, and candy.

Shop owner Alison McDowell said the point of Local Comic Shop Day is to support local shops, and said that while Hero’s Nest welcomed an average turnout of customers,

the shop also saw a 10 to 15 percent increase in sales compared to the average business day.

“There’s been a great response,” McDowell said.

“That’s the heart of our business: doing all the community events and supporting the community.”

McDowell opened Hero’s Nest Aug. 9 when the previous comic shop and screen printing business, Alternaprint, moved back to Chicago. She kept some of Alternaprint’s comic collection to sell, then started purchasing her own inventory.

Alternaprint was mainly a screen printing business that sold comics on the side, but McDowell said solely selling comics at Hero’s Nest has been a very successful venture.

“Business has been pretty solid, and it’s turning up, actually,” McDowell said.

Hillsdale College senior Aaron Schilling was unable to visit Hero’s Nest on Local

Comic Shop Day due to a conflict, but frequents the store weekly after discovering the shop at the Source.

“They have a pretty good selection,” Schilling said. “I like to collect used stuff, and the shop has a lot of good stuff from the 80s and 90s.”

Hero’s Nest’s success comes from the direct market approach — which is the comics distribution network, based on a non-refundability model that only stocks comics most likely to sell nationwide or in a particular community, and “archives” surplus inventory for “back issue” releases — but also from active involvement in the community.

Apart from Hero’s Nest’s participation in other national comic events — like the annual MeggaXP comic con in Jackson, Michigan — the shop participates in local events like Awesome Autumn and will walk in Hillsdale’s annual Light Up Parade and host Santa Claus. The shop also regu-

larly allows other businesses to use the shop space for their own events.

McDowell said Hero’s Nest is in the process of starting its own screen printing business to meet local demand for custom-made T-shirts. She originally wanted to stock only Hero’s Nest T-shirts, but couldn’t find anyone to print them, so she said her husband decided to print them himself.

“He mentioned [our project] to a customer, and within 24 hours we had 20 different businesses messaging us about printing shirts,” McDowell said. “So he will be working on that.”

As Hero’s Nest continues to expand and succeed, McDowell said she plans to host a grand opening in a couple months. She regards her shop not only as a resource for local comic readers, but as an invaluable contributor to reviving business in the city of Hillsdale.

Hillsdale’s property tax exemption programs will save businesses hundreds of thousands of dollars over the next decade.

These programs are designed to encourage development of buildings that are unoccupied or wearing down.

“We want, overall, for Hillsdale to become more attractive for new businesses to relocate,” said Kimberly Thomas, Hillsdale City Assessor.

In October, the Assessing Department hosted a class to educate citizens and government employees about the qualifications, application process, and benefits of property tax exemptions. Thomas said she hoped the class would teach employees how to properly apply exemptions and the public how to fully take advantage of the opportunities that these programs offer.

Property tax exemptions, such as the Commercial Rehabilitation Act and the Obsolete Property Rehabilitation Act, have contributed to some of the major business start-ups and renovations happening in Hillsdale.

When the Hillsdale Market House changed to the Hometown Hotspot, it received property tax relief for the renovations. The business is located in a Commercial Rehabilitation Act District.

In these districts, businesses that are at least 15 years old are eligible for exemptions to renovate buildings. The Hometown Hotspot will be exempt from $40,000 per year

in property taxes for up to 10 years, according to Thomas.

Thomas said she does not view these exemption programs as cuts to the budget.

If anything, she said, they will help increase tax receipts by attracting new and more diverse businesses to Hillsdale.

Normally, when the value of a property increases, so do property taxes, but these programs freeze tax rates at their current level for a certain number of years.

So, when Market House increased the value of its property through improvements, it was not penalized by having to pay higher taxes on the more valuable property. This also means that the more owners increase the value of their properties, the more they will save on taxes.

Thomas said these exemptions are meant to encourage development that would not occur otherwise.

“In order for someone to qualify for one of these programs, the property owner has to specify in their application that without a tax break they would not be able to afford the project,” Thomas said.

The new apartment complex on 42 Union St. is receiving property tax exemptions under the Obsolete Property Rehabilitation Act. This will save the property owner $20,000 a year in taxes for 12 years, according to Thomas.

In order to qualify for OPRA, the property has to be located in an OPRA district, and the city assessor has to deem the property obsolescent. Broad Street Downtown Market used OPRA for its construction.

HUB hosts holiday bazaar By | Julie Havlak Collegian Reporter Hillsdale United Brethren Church (HUB) is hosting its annual Christmas bazaar Sat. Dec. 3.

The traditional holiday event will host roughly 20 vendor tables, which will feature everything from wreaths to strawberry popcorn, and tupperware to stocking-stuffers.

Organized by HUB’s women’s ministry, the bazaar does not have an entrance fee for customers. The $25 rental fee for vendors will go directly into the church’s benevolence fund. This fund is available to anyone in the community in need of emergency funding, according to director of the HUB’s women’s ministry Christina Jensen.

Though the bazaar is only reaching its third year this season, the HUB used to hold a larger Christmas sale in the early 2000s. Jensen said she helped revive the Christmas sale after returning to Hillsdale and to the church that she had attended on and off since high school.

“It was something that I thought was missing, and I wanted to get it going again,” Jensen said. “[The old Christmas sale] would be full of tables, with plenty of things happening for people to come in and browse and shop. And not

only that—you would have fellowship.”

The bazaar will be decorated with Christmas trees and strings of lights, Jensen said.

“It is more than just selling local stuff,” Jepsen said. “Our church mission statement for the HUB is to know Christ and make Him known. Opening up our church to things like this allows the public to come in and not only shop for Christmas, but also get to see some of our facilities. Hopefully, somehow inadvertantly, we can bring them back for our Christmas service, and bring them back into the church.”

One of HUB’s tables will be hosted by the Alpha Omega cookie walk fundraiser, said Alpha Omega executive director Shawn Noblit. The booth will sell boxes that buyers can take down to the Alpha Omega Care Center to fill up with cookies. According to Noblit, because the Christmas bazaar is scheduled on the day of the Hillsdale Business Association’s annual Christmas scavenger hunt, the bazaar is expected to benefit from foot traffic, hopefully increasing sales.

The Christmas bazaar will be from 9:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m.

All are invited to attend and join HUB to get in the holiday spirit of giving.

‘It’s a boy! It’s a girl!’ Teen students care for baby simulators in parenting class Cassiey Smith holds a CAPA robot baby simulator.

Josephine von Dohlen | Collegian

By | Josephine von Dohlen Collegian Reporter In an effort to shed light on the responsibility of parenting to teens, Hillsdale’s own Child Abuse and Protection Awareness organization brings the RealCare baby program to local classrooms.

Aligning with each high school’s specific curriculum, CAPA loans robot baby simulators to individual teens for a weekend, giving them the opportunity to have extensive hands-on experience in caring for infants.

These RealCare babies weigh eight pounds and are loaded with extensive sensors that check to see if the student provides proper care for the baby.

The settings on the baby allow for the student to experience as many real life circumstances as possible. The babies need to be changed, fed, and burped on a fairly frequent ba-

sis, and will even wake the student in the middle of the night for attention. These advanced sensors will even notice if the baby has been left in a car seat for extended periods of time.

The simulator babies come at a high price of about $1,000, which includes accessories such as a carseat and diaper bag loaded with all the supplies a student might need.

Christie Campbell, executive director of CAPA, receives computer reports of the student’s interactions with the baby at the end of each weekend. Those reports will tell her the number of things that the student missed, in addition to any reports of abuse.

The babies will shut down under abuse of any kind. If the student does not support the baby’s head at all times, abuse may be detected.

While the RealCare baby assignment directs its efforts toward child abuse prevention, the teenage pregnancy

prevention factor also comes into play.

“I think it gets in a little bit of both,” Campbell said. “The students get a very real life experience and it is not an easy thing.”

Debbie Price, consumer sciences instructor at Reading High School, teaches a parenting class that focuses on essential education elements for parenting, since teens have often not been brought up in the best environment for parenting.

Price said the RealCare baby assignment is more about understanding the care involved in raising a child, and teaching young adults about this life-altering responsibility.

Price has been teaching this unit for about 30 years. Before CAPA came in about 15 years ago and donated the babies, they would send students home with eggs or sacks of flour for the weekend instead.

15 year old, sophomore Ju-

liet Faby said she was kind of scared when she received her baby boy for the weekend.

“I don’t want to not support it, especially because this is a real life simulation and it’s worth a lot of points,” Faby said.

Alli Mischke, also a sophomore, agreed with Faby.

“I’m excited, but not excited about the crying because I like sleep,” Mischke said.

The students at Reading High School cared for their babies well, averaging about 88 percent. Campbell said that CAPA places their goal at 80 percent, and most of the time the classes meet the goal.

At the end of the long weekend of childcare, Campbell said that most students are quite eager for her to take the babies from them.

“I find a lot of the students tire of the baby at the end of the weekend, ” Campbell said.

“They say things like, ‘You can have these back.’”

www.hillsdalecollegian.com

New ER director fights for quality care in small towns By | Lillian Quinones Collegian Reporter In his entire career as a physician, Dr. Donald Brock, D.O., has never driven less than an hour to work.

Since moving to Hillsdale this past September, Brock has contemplated riding his new tractor to work. Though the new emergency department director at Hillsdale Hospital jokes about the idea, Brock relishes in the possibility because it means that he has finally found his home in a small community.

Brock joined Hillsdale Hospital as ER director after the hospital switched contracts to Brock’s provider, Island Medical Management, a national provider of physicians in emergency departments and urgent care centers. Brock is currently the midwest regional director for Island Medical Management.

“I’ve had the opportunity in my role as a regional director to work all over the country, from Alaska to Louisiana, and I’ve seen that small communities sometimes don’t get the care and the quality physicians that they deserve. The opportunity for me to live here and raise the bar related to ER medicine and trauma is very rewarding and refreshing to me,” Brock said.

When Hillsdale Hospital administration approached Island Management for their services, Brock visited the hospital in his role as regional director. Working out of the Detroit area, Brock was not looking for a new job when he first visited Hillsdale.

After falling in love with the community hospital, however,

Brock applied for the emergency director position and kept his title secret from the majority of the Hillsdale ER team, who were unaware of his management position during his first couple weeks practicing.

“A few people did know that he was in charge, but from the very beginning Dr. Brock was part of the team, asking questions and listening,” Jessica Wright said, an ER nurse who has been working at the hospital for over ten years.

Wright said she couldn’t be happier with Brock as ER director, especially since he will lead the department through structural changes. A couple years ago, the ER department unsuccessfully tried to change how patients were received at the hospital. Under the leadership of Brock, the ER department will again undertake the implementation of a different paradigm of processing patients.

Wright explained that for over 90 percent of patients, their first face-to-face interaction with a physician is through the ER department.

It is critical that the ER team makes the patient as comfortable as possible and streamline their next step in care. She thinks Brock’s engaging personality and his team player attitude is perfect for guiding the department through the transition.

“Dr. Brock listens and addresses our concerns, reassuring us that we’re going to make this something we can accomplish without fear, and giving us that light and encouragement to lead us forward,” Wright said.

However, Brock’s passion wasn’t always the ER. His orig-

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El Cerrito’s renovations create new atmosphere By | Scott McClallen Collegian Reporter El Cerrito’s Mexican restaurant in Hillsdale is undergoing complete renovations to their building, nearly doubling their floor space and adding a full bar with a 70-inch television.

Rocha repainted the interior, redid the floor, added more tables, and catered to larger groups by increasing seating room for 80 more people.

“I wanted to provide for sports teams and organizations so that if football players want to come here to have drinks with their teammates, they don’t have to be split into three or four tables,” El Cerrito’s owner Adam Rocha, said.

Rocha purchased five new

County veteran hall of fame to induct Hillsdale College graduates, among others By | Philip H. DeVoe City News Editor

Dr. Donald Brock. Donald Brock | Courtesy

inal focus in medical school was to specialize in obstetrics and gynecology to deliver babies. After observing the Chicago police wrestle a man high from drugs onto a hospital cart, Brock realized the ER department contained all the action.

“I do something that very few people do, I get to save lives. In the ER, there’s not a day that goes by where you don’t make a difference in the life of a patient,” Brock said.

Brock has expanded the Hillsdale Hospital ER staff with new physicians and nurse practitioners, and has started making process changes in how the department runs to ensure patients receive the best possible care.

Finally realizing his dream of serving a small community with quality healthcare, one of Brock’s greatest joys has been having a relative come up to him and say, “thank you for taking care of grandma.”

On Dec. 7, the 75th Anniversary of Pearl Harbor, veterans from or with a link to the Hillsdale County area will be inducted into the Hillsdale County Veterans Hall of Fame, while others will receive awards recognizing them for their service.

“We want to do everything we can to pay respect for veterans, and one of the best ways is to sit down and talk with a veteran, and hear his stories,” said hall of fame founder Roger Yoder.

Included in the list of honorees are many veterans with a connection to Hills-

Hillsdale’s preschools offer variety of educational opportunities By | Kaylee McGhee Assistant Editor Parents in the Hillsdale area have a wide variety of options when it comes to choosing the education for their preschool-aged children.

More than five preschools are located in Hillsdale, each of which offers a unique educational and developmental program. Among these are Mary Randall Preschool – a laboratory school that offers a theme-based curriculum, and Countryside Montessori Preschool – a preschool based off the Montessori philosophy of education, providing a child-centered approach.

Affiliated with Hillsdale College, Mary Randall is a tuition-based program that serves members of the community as well as faculty of the college.

“Mary Randall is a bridge between the college and the community,” director of Mary Randall Sonja Bindus said.

Originally named Hillsdale Nursery School, Mary Randall was founded in 1929 in the basement of Mauck Hall. Like the college, it has a deep history of promoting a liberal arts education, even among children, according to Bindus.

“Mary Randall is a staple of education,” Bindus said.

Mary Randall’s themebased curriculum has been developed over time, according to Bindus, and is unique to itself.

“We have a special program because we’re the ones who created it,” Bindus said.

It provides children with a solid base of math, science, phonics, motor development, and social skills, according to Bindus. Each activity is looked at developmentally and planned with a specific goal in mind. This approach is beneficial to children because fulfilling these objectives gives them a sense of accomplishment. The thematic approach also helps young children achieve higher levels of learning, according to Early Childhood News, a professional research resource for teachers and parents.

“We set kids up in situations to learn how to be a student,” Bindus said. “They learn the structure of the day, and most importantly, how to be away from home.”

As a laboratory school, Mary Randall stands out from other preschools in the area.

College students are able to participate in the preschool program by volunteering or registering in one of the many early education courses offered.

“College students learn how to build a curriculum, and this is unique to Mary Randall,” Bindus said. “Because we have so many students helping out, we are able to do so many activities typical classrooms can’t do.”

Mary Randall is a multiage classroom, with children ranging from two years and nine months to five years old.

“This is an important aspect for us because it provides students with an opportunity to learn from each other,” Bindus said.

Another local preschool – Countryside Montessori – is dedicated to a child-centered approach to education. Coun-

“I’m less interested in the content of curriculum than what he’s learning on an emotional intelligence level.” tryside adheres to the Montessori philosophy of education, which according to Public Broadcasting Services, focuses on letting children learning at their own pace. According to PBS, many parents choose Montessori schools because they believe it helps their children acquire leadership skills and independence in general.

According to Diane Smith, director of Countryside Montessori, education takes place in an environment specifically prepared to answer the needs and curiosities of a child. Independence, self-discipline, and free choice are important components in the Montessori classroom, where the child directs their learning and progresses at their own pace, according to Smith.

“When a child learns at their own pace, they are motivated to learn, they find a joy in learning, and they have a firm foundation,” Smith said

televisions, including a 70 inch high-definition television mounted behind the bar to stream sports games, and to change the atmosphere to more closely resemble that of a bar.

Rocha also added a full bar, although it is not open yet, and may be hiring a bartender when the bar is opened. The restaurant is awaiting a shipment of bar stools.

Finally, Rocha is planning weekly drink specials pointed toward students, such as college night for students.

Rocha said that once all renovations are completed, he planned to have a grand opening weekend with drink specials to celebrate the occasion.

in an email.

Countryside encourages interaction with a real environment, allowing the kids to grow food in a garden and feed chickens and other animals in the barn located at the preschool.

“The children understand that what they are doing is real, it is important and that they are contributing to the class,” Smith said in an email.

“Doing all these tasks independently with self discipline always takes people by surprise.”

Countryside’s curriculum focuses not only on this critical hands-on application, but also on practical life, sensorial skills, language, mathematics, and cultural studies.

Countryside seeks to create an environment that is calm, happy, quiet, and where children are able to learn and are free to direct their learning, according to their website.

Many parents have found a similar environment at Mary Randall.

Andrea Martin, a local parent, has had her son enrolled in Mary Randall for two years, and said her expectations have been surpassed.

“The genuine warmth and caring of the teachers — that’s my favorite thing,” Martin said. “It’s contributed to my son’s sense of belonging. He knows he’ll be missed if he’s not there.”

According to Martin, the teachers and college volunteers have done a good job of creating that environment.

“That environment is more important to me than how he does on a test,” Martin said.

“I’m less interested in the content of curriculum than what he’s learning on an emotional intelligence level.”

Martin said that when they are walking around town, students will recognize her son and stop and greet him by name.

“That’s what is most valuable,” she said. “The love and attention he receives at Mary Randall is incredible.”

According to Bindus, the staff of Mary Randall hopes to continue serving the community and college by providing an exemplary educational program for young children.

“Mary Randall is a legacy of this community,” Bindus said. “It always has been.”

dale College specifically. 1LT Wilbur M. Brucker Sr., of the U.S. Army, attended Hillsdale College in 1932. He served in France during World War I and, after returning home, became Attorney General of Michigan.

1LT Jason Gehrke, of the U.S. Army Reserves, graduated from Hillsdale in 2007 and served in Afghanistan during Operation Enduring Freedom.

He was awarded a Bronze Star Medal and a Douglas MacArthur Leadership Award, among others, for his service.

The event will be held in Phillips Auditorium from 7:00 p.m. until 8:30 p.m. and emceed by nationally-syndicated talk show host Paul W. Smith.

Community leaders and Jonesville area residents pose during the Rail Trail ribbon cutting. Larry Jose | Courtesy

Four years and $400,000 later, Jonesville’s Rail Trail opens to bikers and hikers By | Scott McClallen Collegian Reporter Cutting the ribbon with a pair of giant wooden scissors was the last step in the grand opening of the Rail Trail in Jonesville after four long years of preparation.

The $400,000, 1.4 mile paved trail begins at the intersection of state Route 99 and Gaige Street, heads north, and ends at an old bridge over the St. Joseph River. The Rail Trail was built as part of an initiative by the Michigan Department of Natural Resources to encourage active lifestyles and an appreciation of nature.

The Hillsdale County Headwaters Recreation Authority has planned the construction of numerous trails across Fayette and Hillsdale Township in order to connect them without utilizing dangerous highways.

The idea for the Rail Trail began under Jonesville’s past village manager Adam Smith in 2012. Smith had already purchased the discontinued railroad property from the Michigan Department of Transportation, assisted by a state grant.

Smith, aided by the Spicer Group, an engineering and architecture firm based out of Saginaw, applied and received for a natural resource trust fund grant from the Michigan Department of Natural Resources which covered construction costs.

“We received a 26 percent match for total construction costs funding $296,000,”

said Jonesville city manager Jeff Gray. “Our local match was $104,000, in addition to the Jonesville Rotary Club’s $12,000, which was funded through the Hillsdale County Community Foundation’s “love your community” grant.

This grant funded the installment of a pavilion, some park benches, trash receptacles, and a map sign. Don and Donna Playford also generously donated to the trail.”

Both the excavating and architecture firms that won the construction bids were Michigan-based companies.

Construction for the Rail Trail was completed by Parrish Excavating based out of Quincy, Michigan.

“It was a competitive bidding process,” Gray said. “But we were happy that local business won them. They did an outstanding job on the project.”

Tanya Moore, the landscape specialist assigned to the Rail Trail, did everything from writing the grant to designing the path.

“It was a long process. I requested the grant in April 2013, which was accepted in December of 2013. We began trail construction early 2014 when weather permitted,” said Moore. “The real challenge was the number of entities we were working with, from MDOT to MDOT Railroad, to the city utilities office. We were all anxious to finish this trail, and we worked together to make it a reality.”

Gray believes the new trail

will strengthen the community, and is grateful for aid from Michigan’s federal resources.

Local resident Loretta Carpenter regularly walks her dog, Buddy, on the Rail Trail. Mrs. Carpenter explained why she supports public funding for trails such as this.

“The trail was built to preserve nature and to encourage exercise,” said Carpenter.

“In today’s culture, it is often hard to escape the business of everyday life because we are constantly connected and communicating through social media and texting. But projects like this encourage solitude with nature. The Rail Trail is a reminder to live in the moment.”

The ten foot-wide Rail Trail was designed as a paved trail so that it would be accessible to more people.

“Part of the natural resource trust fund grant is to meet universal design standards so that users of all abilities are able to use the path,” Gray said.

“Keeping grades flat and paved assures that more people are able to experience the trail.”

The Hillsdale County Headwaters Recreation Authority, formed to explore recreational opportunities, is composed of Jonesville, Fayette Township, Hillsdale, and Hillsdale Township. This group is working on more scenic pathways meant to connect the cities from within. The Rail Trail was only the first phase. The next phase plans to go outside of the city limits and connect these communities to each other.

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Sports

Follow @HDaleSports for live updates and news

Women’s Basketball

Men’s Basketball upcomiNg

FRIDAY, NOV.

Hillsdale

25 CarsonNewman

Thursday, dec. 1 at SagiNaw valley 8:00 pm saTurday, dec. 3 at wayNe State 3:00 pm

73 61 StatS Dylan Lowry Ryan Badowski Stedman Lowry Rhett Smith

SATURDAY, NOV.

Hillsdale

26 Kentucky Wesleyan

21 ptS, 2 reb, 1 aSt 7 ptS, 8 reb, 1 aSt 7 ptS, 3 reb, 3 Stl 7 ptS, 2 reb, 1 aSt

Saturday, Nov. 19 NCAA Division-II Championships at St. Leo, Fla.

1st-Adams State 2nd-Grand Valley State 3rd-Colorado Mines 14th-Hillsdale

Women’s Swimming

Results

Friday, Nov. 18-20 University of Chicago Invite 1st-University of Chicago 2nd-Depauw University 3rd-Hillsdale

Men’s from A10 yond the arc. Hillsdale is 4-0 this season when shooting 50 percent or better from the field and 0-2 when falling short of that mark.

Despite their below-average offensive performance, the Chargers trailed 57-54 with 5:57 remaining in the game.

But the Panthers, who had won 33 straight home games entering Saturday’s contest, scored 15 straight points over the next 3:33 to put the game

Hillsdale Mercyhurst

Allie Dewire Brittany Gray Michele Boykin Makenna Ott

SUNDAY, NOV.

Thursday, dec. 1 at SagiNaw valley 6:00 pm saTurday, dec. 3 at wayNe State 1:00 pm

13 ptS, 5 Stl, 2 reb 11 ptS, 5 reb, 1 aSt 7 ptS, 3 reb, 1 aSt 7 ptS

Results

Upcoming

Upcoming

Friday, JaN. 13 vs. Malone, Urbana, Ashland at Canton, Oh. away.

“They are a very talented team and a very athletic team,” Tharp said. “They got downhill on us in transition.

We did a poor job of matching up in transition, and then they fed off a few of our transition mistakes that we made defensively.”

The Panthers shot 52 percent (28-of-54) from the field and 58 percent (7-of-12) from beyond the arc. Tharp said Kentucky Wesleyan’s hot 3-point shooting was a result of the Chargers focusing on

keeping them out of the paint.

“It was a risk that we had to take,” Tharp said. “We rolled the die and that’s what they did.”

The Chargers were unable to pick up both wins against tough opponents, but they still see the positives.

“The final score might not have been that close (against Kentucky Wesleyan), but we were a shot away from tying it up at one point,” Neveau said. “To know that we’re right there and we can compete with those kinds of teams is

68 63

Allie Dittmer Maddy Reed Brittany Gray Morgan Blair

Women’s Cross Country

17th-Anthony Wondaal-30:58.8 52nd-Joseph Newcomb-31:40.2 81st-Caleb Gatchell-32:12.8 86th-Nick Fiene-32:16.8 128th-Luke Daigneault-33:05.3 146th-Joseph Humes-33:20.3 149th-Nathan Jones-33:25.4

Hillsdale

27 Slippery Rock

StatS

StatS

Stedman Lowry Rhett Smith Nate Neveau Dylan Lowry

Men’s Cross Country

Results

upcomiNg

26

62 76 65 77

StatS 17 ptS, 3 reb, 2 aSt 15 ptS, 4 reb, 1 aSt 13 ptS, 3 reb, 1 aSt 10 ptS, 1 reb

SATURDAY, NOV.

Saturday, Nov. 19 NCAA Division-II Championships at St. Leo, Fla.

1st-Grand Valley State 2nd-Adams State 3rd-Western State 17th-Hillsdale

17 ptS, 10 reb, 2 aSt 12 ptS, 15 reb, 2 aSt 12 ptS, 6 reb, 3 Stl 9 ptS, 5 reb, 4 aSt

14th-Hannah McIntyre-21:00.8 20th-Molly Oren-21:15.1 107th-Allysen Eads-22:36.0 139th-Amanda Reagle-23:01.2 156th-Addison Rauch-23:15.9 183rd-Meredith Didier-24:03.1 193rd-Kate Vanderstelt-24:19.8

Track and Field

Friday, dec. 3 SVSU Holiday Classic at University Center, MI

good, but we also have to find a way to get over that hump.”

The Chargers will need a more balanced effort Thursday against Saginaw Valley if they want to pull out the upset. In each of Hillsdale’s four wins this season, at least four players have scored in double figures.

“Having a balanced attack is really important,” Lowry said. “Especially when we get our bench to do good things, that helps a lot as well.”

Taking better care of the basketball will also prove key.

In their two losses this year, the Chargers have averaged 15.5 turnovers per game.

“The games that we’ve struggled in and that we’ve ended up losing have been our highest turnover games,” Neveau said.

It’ll take a balanced effort — but not just on offense — for the Chargers to be successful.

“In the best games that we’ve played, everyone’s contributed. Not necessarily in scoring, but rebounding and even taking care of the ball,”

Neveau said. “When we’re able to get contributions from everyone — whether it be points, assists, rebounds, taking a charge, the little things — that’s when we’ve been able to have success.”

If they can accomplish those things, the Chargers are confident they can knock off the Cardinals.

“If we’re solid we can definitely make it a game,” Lowry said. “We’re definitely good enough to beat them.”

Track and field head to first indoor competition of the season By | Jessica Hurley Collegian Reporter The cross country season came to a close last week, and now Charger track and field is gearing up for its first indoor meet this weekend, Dec. 2 and 3, at Saginaw Valley State University’s Holiday Classic meet.

Last year’s indoor season was highly successful for the women’s squad which finished second in the GLIAC conference — a national runner-up.

The men’s team came in third in the GLIAC. Head coach Andrew Towne said he’s optimistic about the

upcoming season, and so are his teams.

“The season has a chance to be similar, especially on the women’s side,” Towne said.

The teams have been training hard since September, under the diligent guidance of the coaching staff.

“It’s been a really good fall across all the groups,” said Towne. “We continue to really make an attempt to individualize everything, which requires a lot from all the coaches, but is really good for the kids.”

Assistant coach Nathaniel Miller said that after months of preparation, both teams are

ready to start competing.

“We’re excited to finally get things going,” Miller said. “It’s been a long preparation. We’re ready to go and we’ve been ready for a while.”

The program added three new staff members this year, though two of them have coached at Hillsdale in the past. Towne said the adjustment to the staffing change has gone well.

Stargell Williams, the new throws coach, is one of the additions to the team. Williams is from Tallahassee, Florida, and attended Florida State University where he threw shot

The Hillsdale College women’s track squad runs a distance event at an indoor meet last season.

Anders Kiledal | Collegian

put. Since graduating, he has interned as a coach and came to Hillsdale for his first experience coaching on his own.

“I saw that Hillsdale was a good program — one that I wanted to be a part of. It’s also a great place to start my career,” Williams said.

With a technical-oriented coaching style, Williams is taking things back to basics and said the athletes have adjusted well to new conditioning and practice. Williams said he’s especially excited for the weight throw this season.

“I want us ultimately to be ready for conference and nationals,” he said. “That’s where I want us to step up.”

Towne said he feels the team is the most balanced it has ever been, and emphasized the importance of quality over depth. He said the quality of athletes across all event groups is what led to success last year.

The program asks its athletes to commit themselves to developing every day, rather than focusing on outcome, in order to reach this level of quality.

“We expect the athletes to strive to be a better version of themselves every day — better than they were the last day.

That’s what the fall is about. I think our team mantra is excellent,” Miller said. “The team is at a point where they understand the success of the season depends on developing our-

Senior Sergio San Jose Lorza crosses the finish line at an indoor meet last season. Anders Kiledal | Collegian

selves every day.”

Traditionally, the team travels to Findlay for the first meet of the season. This year Towne wanted to switch things up.“I feel good about where we’re going. Findlay has been a good meet for us over the years…

There’s a lot more options now.

I felt it was in our best interest to compete at Saginaw,” Towne said.

Everything the teams do is to prepare for the NCAA Division-II national meet scheduled for March 10 and 11.

CHARGER CHATTER: JULIA WACKER Julia Wacker is a freshman center on the Hillsdale College women’s basketball team from Palatine, Illinois.

How long have you been playing basketball?

I have played organized basketball since second grade.

Of course, growing up with two older brothers, I had been exposed to it beforehand.

What drew you to the sport?

I was always that kid who was a part of every park district league available. There was really no particular reason I

started playing basketball, but I continued to play the sport for a couple reasons. First, the reason anyone continues to play a sport, I play for the love of the game. Second, support from my older brother influenced me to stick with it.

I am today. I look forward to continue that growth both on the court and off as a Charger with a new team of exceptional athletes and people.

What was your high school basketball career like?

It is a much faster paced game in general, and it is a much larger time commitment, of course. The players are stronger, faster, and more talented. The team is also a much tighter unit as a result of the aforementioned differences.

I was blessed to be a part of an exceptionally talented high school team, who brought me lots of opportunities in the world of basketball.

Because of their talent, I was able to grow into the player

How does playing at the college level differ from high school?

Do you like the change?

Yes. I am the type to always look for a new challenge and college athletics is obviously a challenge.

Why did you decide to play for Hillsdale College?

My initial interest in the school was probably the same reason anyone is interested in Hillsdale — the values it holds and the quality of education I would receive here. As a recruit, I immediately felt like a part of the family, which is why I ultimately decided to commit.

You’ve had a successful start so far. What are your goals moving forward this season?

I obviously want to become a better player in all aspects of the game, so I can be a bigger asset to the team. More specifically, especially since this is my freshman year, I want to learn as much as possible from the older players in order to grow. They have a lot to teach me, and I have a lot to learn.

— Compiled by Kayla Stetzel

A9 1 Dec. 2016

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Hillsdale ranked No. 2 nationally for academic success among Division-II competition By | Breana Noble News Editor Hillsdale College tied for second nationally in the NCAA’s Division II for college academic success ratings released Nov. 17.

Even with a Princeton Review academic rating of 93, Hillsdale earned a 98 percent academic success rating for the student athletes who graduate within six years of enrolling at an institution of higher education, according to data from those who enrolled in college between 2006 and 2009. That is an increase from 93 percent for 2005-2008. Scoring higher than 90 percent, Hillsdale also was one of 26 institutions to receive the President’s Award for Academic Excellence, doing so for the fifth year in a row when the award was introduced.

“To have this kind of ASR ranking should be a natural result of what we are trying to accomplish in our athletics program,” Athletic Director Don Brubacher said. “It simply means our athletic program fits the college as it should be.”

Point Loma Nazarene University in California took first in Division II with an academic success rating of 99 percent.

Hillsdale tied with Bentley University in Massachusetts and Saint Michael’s College in Vermont.

The Princeton Review — which uses student surveys and college information concerning hours of study, quality of students, professor evaluations, class sizes and student-professor ratio, and college resources to provide institutions an academic rating between 60 and 99 — gave Bentley a score of 85 and Saint Michael’s 83. Point Loma Nazarene doesn’t have an academic rating.

Hillsdale was one of two institutions in the GLIAC to receive the President’s Award.

The University of Findlay had an academic success rating of 90.

Hillsdale also earned a rating higher than any institution in the GMAC, the conference it will join along with Findlay starting July 1, 2017. Cedarville University earned a 93 percent academic success rating and Davis and Elkins College a 91 percent.

If all four institutions in the GMAC continue to have high academic success ratings, the conference will be one of two to have four institutions receiving the President’s Award for Division II. “GMAC would be noteworthy for academic success,” Brubacher said.

The academic success rate also evaluates colleges by sports. Women’s basketball, cross country and track, softball, tennis, and volleyball also received an academic success rating of 100 percent.

The academic success rate is unique in that it includes student athletes who transferred from another institution and don’t receive scholarships. The federal graduation rate for student athletes doesn’t include those students. It also includes athletes who left an institution with a good academic standing, while the academic success rate doesn’t.

In a comparison of Hillsdale’s academic success rates to the average federal rates, Hillsdale’s student athletes outperformed by 20 percent or more in nearly every sport. Women’s basketball had the largest difference with a 35-point spread.

The football team also had a substantially larger graduation rate than the average federal rate. Its 97 percent academic success rate crushed the 73 percent federal average.

Head Football Coach Keith Otterbein said Hillsdale recruits players who are academically driven and focused. GPA and standardized test scores are the first admissions criteria coaches evaluate, he said, and they make it clear to recruits that Hillsdale’s academics are rigorous.

Members of the Hillsdale College women’s basketball team take time out of their day to attend study tables in the evening last week.

Madeline Barry | Collegian

“I marvel at our students,” Otterbein said. “To do what they do in the classroom and then come down here by choice and go through what they go through physically, mentally, emotionally to invest in the athletic side of it, it’s amazing they can keep everything at such a high level.”

The 31 freshman football players this year had a 3.74 high school GPA and an average ACT score of 29.6.

Finding so many athletes that can achieve academically what Hillsdale requires and still compete at a championship-level, however, is a challenge, since Hillsdale is unique in Division II in that regard, Otterbein said.

“No one is Division II has done it,” Otterbein said. “We’re setting the tone and the bar of

XC from A1 set in yet and that the emotion of everything coming to an end probably won’t hit her until the end of her outdoor track season.

“I’m sad, but I’m happy because it was a really good career,” Oren said. “I’m thankful for the coaches and all of my teammates.”

On the men’s side, the Nov. 19 race was also the last collegiate cross country competition for seniors Joe Newcomb, Caleb Gatchell, and Luke Daigneault.

Head coach Andrew Towne said he thought the national meet went really well.

“The first time you’re there, I mean you can prepare for it and try to be ready for it as much as possible, but until you’re there it’s just different,” Towne said of the men.

“There’s always things that you wish could have been a little bit better, but then there’s always things that you didn’t expect that went really well too.”

After not getting off the starting line fast enough and being “buried” at the line, the men battled throughout the race, with members of the team gaining anywhere from 40 to 132 places throughout the race.

The men’s 10K course consisted of three loops, with each including a large hill at the beginning and a lot of turns throughout. Wondaal said the course was tough, but also that the race was his best performance of the season.

“The race went out really fast and I had to tell myself ‘don’t panic, these guys who are still ahead of you are even more tired at halfway,’” Wondaal said. “I slowed down 20 or 30 seconds in my last 5K, but I still caught 30 places.”

Newcomb, Gatchell, sophomore Nick Fiene, and Daigneault rounded out the team’s top five. Possibly due to the difference in terrain of the two courses, the men’s average time was 46 seconds slower than their time two weeks earlier at the regional meet.

Towne also said he was happy with the women’s performance.

“It was obvious we didn’t have the depth that we’ve had in years past, we’re still very quality oriented,” he said.

“There’s nothing this team could do about that. I thought they competed really well.”

how you go about doing that.”

In fact, Hillsdale’s students are educated at an institution that the Princeton Review rates among some of the most prestigious colleges in the country. Hillsdale’s 93 rate outpaced Harvard University’s 87 and Cornell University’s 91, while just shy of the 94 given to Brown, Columbia, and Princeton universities.

Brubacher said Hillsdale’s academic program gives the athletic program the opportunity to recruit high achievers and succeed in the classroom.

“We are working with the assumption that it will not create a competitive disadvantage for us,” Brubacher said. “The results, at this point, indicate we can compete competitively with high academic standards.”

He pointed to the increasing historical success of the baseball, cross country, softball, and track teams in recent years, as the teams recruit players with even higher GPAs and test scores.

Once on the team, players continue to have academic requirements to meet. Many sports teams have allocated study table times to work on homework.

The football team also has freshmen and upperclassmen who need the assistance meet with their position coaches every other week for grade and attendance checks. Athletes that need help with time management can also work with the football team’s chaplain, Father Duane Beauchamp.

“By us investing our time and energy in it, they under-

stand that this is important,” Otterbein said.

Otterbein, however, mostly credited Hillsdale’s professors who actively work and engage with student athletes as well as upperclassman players who set an academically minded example for younger players.

“They’re not just dumb jocks,” Otterbein said. “Our kids really do want a good education. They choose hard.”

And ultimately, the dedication student athletes exhibit in the classroom and on the field, track, course, or court aids them after graduation, Otterbein said.

“They go out in the real world, and they kill it,” he said.

“It’s a step slower than what student athletes have to do here.”

SWIMMERS PLACE THIRD AT COMPETITIVE CHICAGO MEET By | Morgan Channels Collegian Reporter

Freshman Addison Rauch runs during the 2016 NCAA Division II National meet in St. Leo, Florida. Elizabeth Eads | Courtesy

Two years ago the women’s team placed second at the national meet, and last year they placed third. This season they struggled with injuries — including an injury to freshman Arena Lewis who was expected to compete in the team’s top three — and only had seven runners available to race in the national meet.

Towne said he believes with continued development of the team’s non-seniors, as well as next year’s recruiting class, the women’s team could be “markedly better” next year.

The women’s 6K course consisted of a 4K loop and a 2K loop, each with a large hill at the beginning. Like Oren and Wondaal, McIntyre said that the national course was difficult, but she also said it wasn’t anything the women hadn’t prepared for throughout the season.

“Hillsdale is named Hills-

dale for a reason,” McIntyre said.

After McIntyre and Oren, sophomore Ally Eads, junior Amanda Reagle, and freshman Addison Rauch rounded out the team’s top five. Like the men, the women ran slower than they had at the regional meet by about 30 seconds.

While a handful of runners have continued their training to try to run a fast time at one of the early indoor track meets, many of the runners are taking time off from running.

“Whether you’re talking cross country or track, it’s a long year for our kids,” Towne said. “Getting away from some of the high-intensity stuff, some of the race-pace type stuff, some of the actual races, and being able to recharge [is important].”

The Hillsdale College swim team made an impressive splash in Chicago at the three-day event that prepares the women for GLIAC competitions. The University of Chicago hosted 14 teams for the eighth annual Phoenix Fall Classic from Nov. 18 to Nov. 20.

For a young team, Hillsdale’s swim team made its college proud. The team finished the weekend with a total of 421 points.

Sophomore Anika Ellingson, proving herself a force to be reckoned with this season, claimed first place in both the 100-yard and 200-yard breaststroke races. In the 100-yard race she finished with a time of 1 minute, 3.45 seconds, just 0.10 seconds shy of her personal best.

Ellingson joined sophomore Tiffany Farris, senior Emily Shallman, and sophomore Suzanne DeTar to win first in the team relay race.

Freshman Danielle LeBleu is yet another young Charger who came close to breaking school records as she took third in the 1650-yard freestyle ad 200-yard IM races.

“One thing that stood out to me in Chicago was how

amazing the team mindset was during the meet. A lot of people had lifetime bests or were close to it, and that kind of positive energy had a chain reaction effect on the team and how we raced each night in finals,” Ellingson said.

Head coach Kurt Kirner said he believes this was the best midseason meet that he can remember in quite a while for the Chargers.

The team spirit has grown during this season — each girl on the team cheered for the others as teammates achieved major milestones throughout the event. Dickhudt said that she has loved watching her teammates swim so well, and she shares in the excitement of the team.

“A single person’s triumph was celebrated continually as a triumph for the team.

And honestly, that’s what makes big meets like Chicago and GLIACs so much fun,” Ellingson said. “I feel that sharing each other’s accomplishments brings us so much closer than a lot of other things we do as a team.”

According to Ellingson, while everyone else is on Christmas break, the team has about two weeks at home before flying to Florida for a training trip.

“We’ll just keep swim-

ming,” Dickhudt added.

Kirner said the women train through finals and then they head home and train with their clubs or HS teams while home. He also gives the team online workouts that they can do over break.

“We will really step up water and dryland workouts.

Training over break is a door-die situation so to speak,” Kirner said.

On Jan. 3, the team will head down to Ft. Lauderdale to train for the second half of the season.

“This trip consists of a week and a half of intense practices, usually twice a day, that push us to our physical boundaries to help us get that extra training in before we begin our taper for our conference meet” Ellingson said.

While the team is in Florida, they also focus on weight lifting after the swim practices, Ellingson said.

Kirner emphasized that the team must make time and create the effort to sustain them through GLIACs. “If they are unable to keep up with the demands necessary over break, then the season for them individually will fall far short of expectations,” Kirner said.

The Hillsdale College women’s swim team placed third out of 14 teams at the Pheonix Fall Splash a the University of Chicago on Nov. 18 and 19. Kenzi Dickhudt | Courtesy

Charger Anders Kiledal | Collegian

Track starts indoor season The Chargers will head to Saginaw Valley State University this Saturday to start the season. A8

1 DEC. 2016

Hillsdale Athletics ranked No. 2 for academic success Hillsdale earned a 98 percent academic success ranking for student athletes. A9

Swimming makes a splash in Chicago The Hillsdale College swim team placed third out of 14 teams at the Pheonix Fall Splash. A9 Madeline Barry | Collegian

Kenzi Dickhudt | Courtesy

The Hillsdale College men’s basketball team starters take the court during their first game of the season at Valparaiso.

Brendan Miller | Collegian

HILLSDALE SPLITS FINAL NON-CONFERENCE GAMES The Chargers, 4-2, open GLIAC play at No. 2 Saginaw Valley Thursday

By | Nathanael Meadowcroft we can play really with anybody,” head coach John Tharp Senior Writer said. “But as soon as we get The Hillsdale College men’s away from who we are or what basketball team wrapped up its we are, then we’re in big trounon-conference schedule last ble. So we’ve just got to stay weekend against its toughest within our principles.”

Carson-Newman entered opposition of the season — Friday’s game against the so far. Thursday, the Chargers will take on the No. 2 team in Chargers coming off a 111109 overtime win over Lincoln the country.

The Chargers knocked off Memorial — a team that lost in the Carson-Newman Eagles the D-II national champion73-61 on Friday before fall- ship game last season and was ing to the Kentucky Wesleyan ranked second in the nation Panthers 76-62 on the second before losing to Carson-Newday of a back-to-back Satur- man.

“Carson-Newman a really day. Hillsdale will open its good team,” said junior guard GLIAC schedule tonight at 8 Stedman Lowry, who scored p.m. on the road against the No. 2 Saginaw Valley Cardi- 13 points on 5-of-11 shooting. nals. The Chargers hope the “The fact that we were able to lessons learned last weekend get a win against them was help them earn what would be huge.”

The Chargers fell behind their biggest win of the season.

“The way that we played 10-0 in under three minutes, Friday, we demonstrated that but tied the game at 21 with

9:56 remaining in the first half.

Hillsdale led 41-30 at halftime.

“The first four or five minutes of that game, there was a little bit of an adjustment to their speed and athleticism,” Tharp said. “For whatever reason, we were just a little tight.”

Carson-Newman was averaging over 100 points per game before playing Hillsdale.

The Chargers held the Eagles to 61 points on 47 percent field-goal shooting.

“We really settled in and we controlled the tempo, which we had to do against that team,” Tharp said.

The Eagles cut the deficit to three points on multiple occasions in the second half, but each time time the Chargers re-extended their lead.

“It showed something about us that we were able to dig deep when we needed to,” said sophomore point guard Nate

Neveau, who finished with 9 points and 4 assists. “Other teams are going to make runs in games and you’ve just got to continue to do what you can and fight your way back.”

Four Chargers scored in double figures. Redshirt freshman point guard Dylan Lowry led Hillsdale with 17 points off the bench on 6-of-9 shooting.

Junior guard Ryan Badowski added 15 points and senior forward Rhett Smith scored 10.

Hillsdale’s balanced attack vanished on Saturday against Kentucky-Wesleyan.

Stedman Lowry scored 21 points on 8-of-17 shooting but no other Hillsdale player scored more than seven points. The Chargers shot 44 percent (24of-55) from the field and just 26 percent (7-of-27) from be-

Junior guard Stedman Lowry led the Charger offense on Saturday with 21 points.

Brendan Miller | Collegian

See Mens A8

Women’s basketball goes 1-1 at Thanksgiving Tournament, heads into conference play By | S. M. Chavey Features Editor

With 44 seconds left in the game, sophomore forward Brittany Gray put up a 3-point jump shot to set the Chargers ahead.

Carly Gouge | Courtesy

Following a 22-point win over Wisconsin-Parkside on Nov. 19, the Hillsdale College women basketball went 1-1 at the Ashland Thanksgiving tournament, giving it a 5-1 record, so far.

The Chargers struggled offensively against Mercyhurst on Saturday, but beat Slippery Rock University with a strong final quarter on Sunday.

“We’re just in a better position this year compared to last year at this point,” head coach Todd Mitmesser said. Though the team started with a 4-2 record last year, the early competition has been stiffer this season. “The teams we’ve played this year are better. The GLIAC is very, very tough and we can’t have an off night against anybody.”

Tonight, the Chargers will take on Saginaw Valley State University (4-1) on the road.

Going into the fourth quarter of the Slippery Rock matchup, the teams were tied at 48 points. They battled back and forth, tying the game three more times in the quarter.

With 44 seconds left, sophomore forward Brittany Gray put up a 3-point jump shot to pull ahead.

“That was a huge part of the game, a turnaround,” sopho-

more guard Michele Boykin said. “It came right down to the last second, and it was hard to keep them contained, because it was such a close game. Going into the game after a tough loss, we all knew we had to be positive, to know it’s a new day, and we can’t win them all.”

Though she missed most of last season due to injury, Boykin played 30 minutes of the SRU game, with both senior guard Becca Scherting and sophomore guard Allie Dewire out for injury.

“It was very stressful. Since it was my first college game in that kind of situation, it was very mentally draining and physically draining, but I feel like I matured, and we all did through that game because we didn’t have our main guards in,” Boykin said. “It was a different type of game for me. I was the leading point guard, the one calling the plays. Overall, it was a good game for all of us. We out hustled the other team.”

Junior center Allie Dittmer led the team in scoring with 17 points and 10 rebounds. Junior guard Maddy Reed rebounded a career high of 15 and scored 12 points.

“We executed well at the end of the game, which we kind of struggled with last year,” Reed said. “We made some free throws at the end when they started to foul, and those were

really important. I think it was kind of a good way to end our non-conference part of the season.”

The SRU game followed a tough loss against Mercyhurst, who beat Hillsdale by eight points last season.

“They shot the ball better.

They shot, I think, 58 percent, and we just didn’t execute things the way we wanted to defensively. We made too many errors offensively,” Mitmesser said. “We made some nice plays, but too many errors to make up for our defense.

Mercyhurst is a good team: they have six seniors, they’re well-balanced, and they use their experience well.”

The Chargers started the second half with an 11-point deficit. Though they matched Mercyhurst in points in the second half, they couldn’t recover.

Dewire’s 13 points were a season high, Gray scored 11, and Reed grabbed 11 rebounds — a career high before the SRU game.

“They were a good team going in, our best competition so far. They also played a pretty aggressive defense, and we knew we had to handle the pressure of their defense,” Reed said. “Even though we lost, we learned a lot from the loss and were able to come back the day after and get the win, which is a hard turnaround, especially

with two key players out.”

On Nov. 19, the Chargers took home a big win against Wis.-Parkside, pulling from their deep bench to tire out the opponents.

“I know we ran them a bunch. That was our main goal: to run the opponents off the court. That was what we focused on during preseason, getting in shape and being able to run,” Boykin said.

According to Reed, their aggressive defense helped them develop a lead, and once they got started they didn’t let Wis.Parkside back into the game.

Reed, senior guard Morgan Blair, sophomore forward Makenna Ott, and Dittmer each scored double digits to help lead the team to victory.

Tonight, the Chargers will battle one of the top GLIAC teams, Saginaw Valley, who beat Hillsdale in both games last season. On Saturday, they’ll play Wayne State, another GLIAC team.

“Saginaw on Thursday is the defending GLIAC North champions,” Mitmesser said.

“They have a really nice team back this year: a lot of experience, an all-American post player, the freshman of the year last year. We played them very close both games last year, so we’re going to have to execute and continue to get better Thursday night.”

B1 1 Dec. 2016

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Grace DeSandro | Collegian

National Book Awards 2016: American literature in review Life turned literature loses steam in Whitehead’s historical novel

Daniel Borzutzky’s poetry of exploitation impoverishes the reading experience

By | Katie Scheu

Assistant Editor

By | Hannah Niemeier Culture Editor

The National Book Award selection panel pulled no Borzutzky writes poetry about punches with their poetry modern America. Amazon winner this year. But Daniel prose-poetry — his long Borzutzky’s achievement was lines, frequent parallelism, a political victory, not a po- and wide-reaching scope of etic one. subject matter — are nothIn “The Performance of ing new to American poetry: Becoming Human,” Daniel Walt Whitman’s expansive Borzutzky’s National Book long songs to America swept Award-winning collection, readers up with a similar ferpoetry is a political weapon, vor. But while Whitman drew a bombshell meant to ex- the darkest corners of his plode Americans’ delusions country into about their the spirit privileged of growth position in that he bethe world, lieved was and to the essence shame readof America, ers awake to Borzutzky’s the suffering America both within is nothing and without more than the borders a “rotting of their “rotcarcass ting carcass” economy.” country.

In a coun“This is a story about dip- try built on injustice and lomatic protections,” writes maintained by bureaucracy, our already abrasive poet. privatization, and exploita“The children were eat- tion (an unholy trinity that ing the bushes outside of serves as the source and subtheir former houses that had ject of Borzutzky’s rage), a been crushed by The Bank of poem can be no more than a America,” laments Borzutzky macabre “bedtime story for in “In the Blazing Cities of the end of the world.”

Your Rotten Carcass Mouth.”

Other poets are swept up There is little room for in Borzutzky’s whirlwind, as beauty in this dystopian well. Echoes of Allen Ginsview of America, and no berg’s “Howl” are repurposed time for subtle poetic devic- for a new era: “I am with you es. Borzutzky’s poetry is full in Rockland” becomes “I am of long lines, frequent paral- with you Mr. Miyagi in Pasalelism, and page after para- dena,” itself a throwback that graph-heavy page overflow- mashes together genres in a ing with newsreel images of poetics of chaos. John Berdarkness, death, and destruc- ryman’s “Dream Songs” flash tion.

Borzutzky’s style of

“There is little room for beauty in this dystopian view of America, and no time for subtle poetic devices.”

See Poetry B2

Enslaved, abandoned, bloodied, shackled, but never conquered. This is Cora, a slave picking cotton in antebellum Georgia, an escapee disappearing into assumed identities, a free woman emerging in the far north.

Colson Whitehead uses historical, pre-Civil War America as a backdrop for Cora’s story, but his plot hinges on a highly-fictional version of the Underground Railroad: his characters escape the south through subterranean steel tracks and rickety cars chugging north rather than through the network of abolitionists and safe houses. When Whitehead attempts to make a statement about slavery’s lasting effects and cultural implications, his proclamation loses its credibility and weight amid fictionalized history.

Cora’s mother, Mabel, birthed her in a slave’s cabin, and abandoned her daughter for the dream of freedom 10 years later. When Cora

Whitehead retells the story of the Underground Railroad.

Amazon

reaches adulthood, she flees bondage, trading one life of horror for another. She escapes Georgia, riding the underground railroad to South Carolina, where she finds herself living in a town where doctors secretly practice eugenics and institute dangerous medical experiments on fellow members of Cora’s race. Before she can warn her new friends, Ridgeway, the slave catcher who failed to return Mabel to Georgia, discovers Cora, forcing her to run again.

She finds refuge in an North Carolina attic, hiding in a few square feet of dust and suffering months of silent tedium. When Ridgeway discovers her, her confidants are hung, and Cora begins a journey back to Georgia in her slave catcher’s wagon until a trio of runaway slaves intercept and kill her captors.

Together, the fugitives progress further north, settling in Indiana until the pattern repeats itself — they are safe until they must escape again.

Cora’s story reaches its abrupt ending in Michigan.

After she descends into the underground railroad one last time, propelling herself in a handcar for miles, she finds genuine freedom: “Cora put miles behind her, put behind her the counterfeit sanctuaries and endless chains.”

Cora’s escape is gripping, and the other stories revolving around the underground railroad compliment her own to provide it due context. To tell these tales, Whitehead unravels each narrative with graphic detail that saturates every scene.

The (nameless) narrator accounts for slavery’s violence with screams tearing from soundless pages, its injustice with images staining the

See Fiction B2

Politics prevails over literature in this year’s awards By | Mark Naida

Collegian Freelancer

of Racist Ideas in America,” the reader knows what the book will contain. This narrative may be true, but lectures are less effective than original storytelling.

These books follow the tradition of slave narratives that speak about hardship and provide insight into the political and social climate. This does not mean that such books cannot be beautifully written or that they cannot be important in shaping the views of Americans. Books about injustice and struggles with cultural and racial identity have the possibility of shaping the future of our country. But they should not be given awards for literature on their political merit alone. We need a higher standard for our books than retribution for past crimes.

We could turn up our noses and say that the National Book Award doesn’t matter. We have had to do this with the Nobel Prize for Literature, which has given its award to Svetlana Alexievich, a journalist, and Bob Dylan, a songwriter, in the last two years. Neither of these people even claimed

to be writing literature. The National Book Award should mean more to us. It matters to the nation. It sets the pulse.

The Selection Panel decided that excellence in writing equates to political forcefulness. But the best literature does not follow an agenda; it forms a world through the expression of a truth that does not deny, but instead transforms culture.

The mission of the National Book Award is “to celebrate the best of American literature, to expand its audience, and to enhance the cultural value of good writing in America.”

The Selection Panel did not accomplish its goal. It bowed to culture and media, enshrining confessional books in the canon of American literature.

These are books that, because of their award, will be purchased and read by hundreds of thousands of people. The Panel used their position as the arbiters of the American literary pulse to dilute culture, instead of holding the beauty of the written word up to the nation.

Race relations meet the graphic novel By | Molly Kate Andrews Collegian Freelancer

“March: Book Three” Kendi teaches young people charts the concluding events the history of race relations in of John Lewis’s memoir of America. Amazon his participation in the civil rights movement of the 1960s. the people and events are John Lewis, Georgia state historical, they become deRepresentative and former humanized by the cause. The civil rights activist, joins au- narration reads like my eighth thor Andrew Aydin and illus- grade history reader, shovtrator Nate Powell to enumer- ing its agenda so far down ate the woes of the black man my throat I thought I might in pre-voting rights America choke.

Now the cartoons would be in the style of a classic comic cool if it were a book on any book. The first two books of other subject “March” chart up for any Lewis’ upother award. bringing and However, it introducseems ill-fittion into the ting that a civil rights comic book cause. This would win installment a national completes award for Lewis’ graphliterature. I ic memoir, don’t mean ending with to cheapen the signing the history of the the by dismissVoting Rights Act of 1965 by ing the book, but doesn’t it President Lyndon B. Johnson. cheapen it to turn it into a A memoir that reads like a comic strip?

It seems that this political pamphlet, this book book got selected more for its lacks literary appeal.

The book begins with the agenda than its literary merit.

The National Book Award bombing of the 16th Street label promised an adventure Baptist Church in Birmingstory ripe with exciting plot ham, Alabama on Sept. 15, and engaging narration and 1963, and follows the strugcharacters that my 14-yeargles of civil rights activists old self would have enjoyed. to depose Governor Wallace and win the Alabama vote for Instead, the novel delivered the blacks. Author and pro- a politician’s memoir in cartagonist, Lewis interprets the toon form. Kids spend all day events depicted in bold black long in school getting govand white cartoons on every ernment-approved history. page. As the images depict the People aren’t ill-informed of violence of the movement, the book takes the form of a list See Literature B2 of grievances made against civil rights activists. Though

“The novel delivered a politician’s memoir in cartoon form.”

CULTURE CORNER Reviewers recommend past National Book Award selections:

Amazon

Fiction: Johnson’s chronicle of the horrors of the Vietnam War was selected in 2007.

Nonfiction: Subtitled “Salvation and Snake Handling in Southern Appalachia,” Covington’s account of his faith was nominated in 1995.

Amazon

Amazon

Poetry: A finalist for 2016, Gizzi’s collection reflects on the “digging into sound” that grounds his musical lyric poetry.

Young People’s Literature: Sherman Alexie’s 2007 award established this coming-of-age novel as an instant classic.

Amazon

Compiled by Hannah Niemeier

Writing is, as Joan Didion states in her essay “Why I Write,” “an aggressive, even a hostile act.” In forming words into sentences, stringing them into paragraphs, and lacing those into chapters of books, a writer participates in a sort of coercion. The writer’s goal is to show something to the reader through force of talent. Books, however, should not perpetuate a political and literary culture that continues to cast blame for past crimes.

This year, the National Book Award selection panel decided that violent books with strict political agendas are the most important. Three of the winners — Daniel Borzutzky, Ibram X. Kendi, and Colson Whitehead — have dragged the conversation about race relations further through the desert of American popular literature. These books all speak about cultural identity and the systematic oppression of targeted races as they turn a scornful eye toward those they

blame for this injustice.

Borzutzky overtly claims that his poetry is about oppression, not art: “I was thinking about those who cannot survive the brutalities of our rotten economies,” he said about his collection “The Performance of Becoming Human.” Whitehead’s rewriting of the Underground Railroad brings historical oppression to bear on fiction. Kendi’s subtitle to his graphic novel for young adults provides nothing less than “The Definitive History of Racist Ideas in America.”

That is not to say these books don’t matter. They are products of the climate of contemporary literature, born in an age obsessed with race and identity, fueled by the institutionalization of these modes of thought in many English departments. They are products of a culture that has sacrificed storytelling for strictly didactic narratives that replace the transcendent for the social trends of the time.

This oft-repeated narrative is neither original nor enlightening; picking up a book subtitled “The Definitive History

YOUNG PEOPLE’S LITERATURE:

Wikimedia Commons

FICTION:

POETRY:

Culture

B2 1 Dec. 2016

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on campus this week

In review: Hillsdale music duo ‘Q Curius’ drops new beats this week By | Ryan Burns

Collegian Freelancer

In the downpour of a cold November evening, while the trees bent to a 45 degree angle, I had the privilege of listening to an album that is best described as torrential.

“Abrasive Materials” is the debut, full-length album from Q Curius, an electronic rap duo composed of senior Joel Calvert and alumnus Forester McClatchey ’16, which will be available on all music streaming platforms. Calvert describes the project, which is over nine months in the making, as his “little thesis,” but this hardly begins to describe the intensity of Calvert’s and McClatchey’s work.

From a technical standpoint, the album synthesizes the duo’s individual talents.

McClatchey, an English major, is without a doubt in his element composing intricate bars that resemble the works of Wallace Stevens, Lynette Roberts, and Andre 3000 (of OutKast fame) in equal measure. Undergirding these poetics are Calvert’s own melodic intricacies, which both pulse underneath and soar above his beats. These range from the atmospheric instrumental “LiquorChikenHorse” toward the front end of the album, to the alarming cacophony of “Sitting Stiller,” Calvert

said of the album’s composition.

“This album only exists because of the weird mechanism of artistic collaboration. I’d make a track and hate it and doubt it’s appropriateness for the project. Forester would reassure me, work his art, and then add his voice to it. When it returned, each song would be an entirely different piece than what I sent out to him,” Calvert said. “There’s a certain purity to collaboration like

Lennon grieve both the loss of themselves and each other with the utmost vulnerability, here and throughout the album. Lennon sings on “Make The Rules,” “Flood every vein in my heart, / And you tell me this is love, a holy sin,” a poignant, double-edged future wish and nostalgic recollection. Calvert begins the aforementioned song with a slightly off-kilter beat, catching the listener off guard and accentuating the feeling of un-

“Assimilate what I can’t relate, What I can’t escape, I span the grate, Try to celebrate what elevates.”

- Q Curius that.”

McClatchey speaks on the opening track, “Most Hated Man,” to his isolation from genuine love as he sings the chorus with, and to, Catherine Lennon, McClatchey’s girlfriend and a prominent contributor to the album. “I’m missing you, but I’m tied with pride / Vicissitudes are all I do / You miss the way that I tell you why.” McClatchey and

natural confusion which McClatchey emblazons upon the instrumental with his lyrics — “I’m at the end of a montage: / Making order while I’m mixing up a loss.”

In bringing on the voices of junior Mark Naida (in “ETC”) and alumna Catherine Coffey ’16 (in “Subsubculture” and “Needles or Leaves”), Q Curius does not so much craft a linear storyline, but a

tension between their voices of despair and McClatchey’s sincere desire to abate detachment. Though Naida’s hook was recorded in a single night in Calvert’s basement and Coffey’s contributions were recorded in the same span of time, they sound foreign to the tone of each song on which they feature. And yet their imparted work blends seamlessly with the barrage of emotions. Naida belts on “ETC,” “They burn everything I am, / And what little I have,” speaking for McClatchey, who sings on the same track: “Assimilate what I can’t relate, / What I can’t escape, I span the grate, / Try to celebrate what elevates.” There is an abundance of meaning in this interplay — McClatchey’s resignation is expressed through Naida’s vocals, yet McClatchey struggles to move beyond such despondency in his own words.

“Abrasive Materials” is not merely a composite of parts — it is a masterful unity, a cohesive whole wherein no element can be separated from another. The album is neither solely a showcase of Calvert’s undeniable skill as a producer, nor is it solely a spotlight on McClatchey’s opaque and masterful use of metaphor. Q Curius have produced art that proclaims anxiety in its fullness. Every track intends to turn the listener inward, considering the album’s deeply

Poetry from B1

The music department will perform Handel’s ‘Messiah’ at College Baptist this weekend.

Phil DeVoe | Collegian

Choir and orchestra perform Handel’s ‘Messiah’ By | Phil DeVoe

City News Editor

The Hillsdale College Choir, Chamber Choir, and Symphony Orchestra will perform George Frideric Handel’s “Messiah” at College Baptist Church Dec. 2 through Dec. 4.

“The ‘Messiah’ is a special opportunity and I am very excited to be a part of it,” sophomore Alex Pankow, a member of the chorus, said.

The choirs and orchestra have joined to perform the oratorio once every four years since 2000, but this year’s is the first complete performance.

Professor James Holleman said small sections have been cut in previous years — in 2012, for example, he chose to omit an aria, a chorus, and an orchestral interlude.

“This year, the choir was learning the music very quickly, and the voice faculty wanted to add the aria back, so I said we might as well perform it to completion,” Holleman said.

Holleman explained that understanding of “Messiah” as simply a collection of arias, reprieves, and chorals — meaning cutting one or two would not be discourteous to Handel’s message — is an incorrect one.

“It’s a consistent biblical narrative, so the story is incomplete if sections are left out,” Holleman said. “Why be so close and not do it in completion?”

The decision to perform the complete oratorio also reflects a higher quality of musicianship, according to Teacher

of Music Debbi Wyse, who is an organist and a leader of choir rehearsals for the performance. She said she has admired the effort put forth by the 170 members — 130 in the choirs and 40 in the orchestra — of the performance.

“We really have a solid group this year; top-notch kids,” Wyse, who has been on the Music Department staff for all four prior performances, said. “It’s a great way to showcase everyone’s hard work.”

Holleman, who is directing both the choir and orchestra, said he has employed certain

assigned some choral movements to the larger college choir and some to the smaller chamber choir.

Composers of the Baroque period, like Handel, used an element called basso continuo to fill in harmonies with a keyboard instrument. Holleman has replicated this through the use of not only the organ but also a harpsichord, played by visiting Associate Professor of Music Theory Daniel Tacke.

“Personally, I am very excited to hear Professor Tacke play harpsichord — he is doing an outstanding job of that,” Wyse said.

Holleman said most conductors of the Messiah will “wobble” through the music, despite Handel’s preference of moving through it briskly.

Not only will there be no intermission during the show — in part because of the limitations from the size of College Baptist Church — but the performers also will not take breaks between movements.

“I keep it connected and move along so we don’t become stuck in it,” Holleman said.

The performances are at 7:30 p.m. on Dec. 2 and 3 and 3:00 p.m. on Dec. 4. All three performances are sold out, but there are wait lists in the event of cancellations.

Music Department staff are encouraging students on the wait lists or who have already been granted tickets who can no longer attend the performance to contact the Sage Box Office and release their names, so others can get seats for the performances.

The choirs and orchestra have joined to perform the oratorio once every four years since 2000, but this year’s is the first complete performance. points of contrast throughout the performance, such as the variation in soloists and the use of basso continuo. Instead of having a single tenor or soprano sing all tenor or soprano parts, he has assigned solos to 36 students.

“I’m matching their abilities, whether they’re music majors or not, which balances it and gives them the opportunity of having a solo at a level with which they will succeed,” Holleman said.

This diversification of solo parts also mimics the tradition of Handel’s time — during his own production of Messiah, Handel used 28 soloists.

Furthermore, Holleman has

by, an appropriation of a poet who was himself fascinated by the fragmented nature of human experience.

These poets, dismissive of traditional poetry as they may have been, drew the brokenness of their existence into a greater whole (even T. S. Eliot, the poet of brokenness par excellence, shored these fragments against his ruins, in the famous line from “The Waste Land”). They found meaning, or at least sympathy, in man’s universal experience of confusion, disappointment, and despair in the modern world.

But Borzutzky’s mission is to raze the whole rotten system to the ground: “Sorry, sing the bankers to the proletariat, you don’t really exist right now / A glitch in the system / Nothing that can’t be fixed / By a full-scale overhaul / Of absolutely everything.” Or “We say that in this country the mouth and the lips rent the present tense to the humans who rummage through the garbage in the bodies of the ghosts.” Or “And the bureaucrats allocate $643,000 so that in the next narrative we will become other than what we are.”

And the “frugal bureaucrat poet” himself is not exempt from this excoriation. After

Fiction from B1 unillustrated chapters.

This illustration allows readers to witness Cora’s tragedy, but Whitehead’s book is so full of fictional elements distancing it from historical reality that it lacks the credibility needed to make a statement about slavery, its enduring ramifications and its cultural implications.

Whitehead does attempt to make such a statement when he slips into the first person plural for the first and only time near the end of the book, which otherwise uses the third person.

“A horseshoe puckered on Sybil’s neck, ugly and purple,” Whitehead writes. “Cora thanked the Lord that her skin had never been burned in such a way. But we have all been branded even if you

Senior Joel Calvert and Forester McClatchey ‘16 release their debut album this week. Joel Calvert | Courtesy

personal lyrics their own interior balance. It is a connection between persons, an experience that transcends the separation between artist and audience by appealing to the highest beauty, which is love, and the harshest pain, which is separation from it.

If “Abrasive Materials” could be summarized in a handful of words, it would not be the album that it is, because it spans an infinitude. The album itself is not an infinitude, though it “contains” artistic

all, who is he to speak of pain in his life of privilege, feeding off the “rotten carcass economy” like a vulture and dedicating his life to an illusion of beauty through his work?

“Memories of my Overdevelopment” suggest that the core of this work is guilt: “I have run out of all my imperialist shampoos” … “I look vulgar lately” … “I have nothing to do I want to suffocate myself in the most painless way possible” … “I want to talk, today, about my overdevelopment.”

This critique of the spoils of capitalism is later extended into critiques of country, class, and race relations. Borzutzky writes powerfully of the struggles of immigrants and refugees in war- and poverty-torn countries. And while their suffering is certainly pitiable, the contrast between their lives and the lives of those in cushy capitalist America is what truly pains Borzutzky, especially since he — rather guiltily — belongs in the ranks of the “unitedstatesian” (his word) privilege he despises.

“The immigrant is a racially ambiguous stateless poet from a country whose name for unitedstatesians is hard to pronounce,” he writes in “The Gross and Borderless Body.”

But this compelling glimpse into the poet’s interior struggles is drowned out in the fury of Borzutz-

can’t see it, inside if not without.”

This is the only use of the pronoun “we” in more than 300 pages of text — 300 pages telling a story about the Underground Railroad so removed from historical fact that its plot hinges on a railroad built literally beneath the ground. For Whitehead to simply define slavery’s effects and declare them harbored by a non-specific “we” — does he mean himself? escaped slaves in the pre-Civil War era? all African-Americans? anyone with enslaved ancestors? — within the context of a highly fictional story damages his point.

With such a departure from history, it’s hard to believe an unwarranted statement that makes such a large claim about a national tragedy afflicting real people.

“multitudes”; it is its poetic breadth, the immensity with which the listener can feel the artists’ longing, mourning, and becoming, that makes it inexhaustible. It is alienation and its overcoming. It is love, and its absence. It is a torrential downpour, a life-raft in its ensuing flood, and more than a story. As McClatchey sings in the chaotic swirl of “Kairos,” “Whatever happens, narrative don’t come before affection.”

ky’s ceaseless depiction of destruction. This glance into the motivations of the poet could have lended sympathy and relatability (and poetry) to a book that now reads as a self-righteous, self-hating, deadly serious shame session for America. “The Performance of Becoming Human” is a call to repentance for sins modern Americans may or may not have committed, delivered at maximum volume and peak drama.

Burzotzky’s mistake lies in his assumption that ugly words are the only way to express suffering. With the hammer of his words, Borzutzky sacrifices sympathy at the altar of shame and shock value. Guilt, repentance, and forgiveness for shortcomings are certainly universal themes that can and should be explored through the self-searching voice of poetry. Poets awaken readers — sometimes softly and subtly, and other times at the top of their lungs — to other lives, experiences, and worldviews beyond their own. Borzutzky’s voice, however, is no wake-up call; it is a bullhorn in the ears of an American readership that is increasingly deaf to empathy and understanding for others. How can we hear one another when even our poets are screaming?

Literature from B1 the white man’s abuse of the black man. These days, kids know that slavery was evil; they know that segregation was a bad thing. Why are we harping on this, demonising the mistaken ideas of the past instead of creating something new for the next generation? We ought to be awarding books that are original and fresh, ones that appeal to more than political agendas. Lewis told the National Book Award committee that he told this story for every kids who needs a hero.

However his heroes fail to compel the audience, overwhelming them with dogma.

In short, the book lacks the literary depth and subtlety that ought to be expected from a National Award winner. It only took five pages for me to pinhole the agenda of the entire book, and there were still another 250 pages to go.

B3 1 Dec. 2016

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Coffee-driven entrepreneurship Hillsdale senior grows coffee beans and business in Haiti By | Scott McClallen Collegian Reporter Coffee fuels billions of people globally each morning, and is accessible at almost every fast food restaurant, home, and business around the world. Senior Zack Schultz isn’t just fueled by it, he owns a coffee business in Haiti, and knows about everything from planting the seeds to the final packaging.

Schultz first discovered the coffee industry through missionary work he did in Haiti with his family. They helped at tent-city relocation spots, where rural families gathered for free food and tents offered by nongovernmental organizations.

“So many people were sleeping in the streets that the government had to close half of them down,” Schultz said.

The government worked with churches and food distribution programs to relocate these people to less-populated areas. For six weeks, Schultz helped build short-term relocation homes and developed relationships with these people.

“Haiti was originally a French slave colony,” Schultz said. “The French love their coffee, so they brought over their best beans to plantations. When Haiti became a free state in 1804, the people kept France’s coffee, which is considered the gold standard of coffee.”

Founded in 1991, Mission Discovery aims to “meet the physical and spiritual needs of the world’s poor” according to its mission statement. It offers construction, ministry, and medical aid trips to Africa, the Bahamas,

the Dominican Republic, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, Jamaica, Mexico, and the United States.

“Our main effort is to inspire hope and help the Haitian community as best we can,” Mission Discovery secretary Katie Oliver said. “Together, our staff and participants have built several churches and continue to construct and set foundations for future church buildings. We have drilled water wells and led medical mission trips as well.”

Schultz said he realized the biggest tool for introducing people to Christ is by meeting a need.

“If they are hungry, they won’t listen to anyone. Being there, I saw their problem was that they didn’t have jobs because they didn’t have working knowledge to start operations,” said Schultz.

Schultz and one of his Haitian friends, Ancias Joseph, met with Rebo Coffee Company, the largest Haitian coffee producer, over Christmas break in 2015.

Rebo told Schultz they only sell domestically because they don’t have the supply to meet global demand.

Growing up in Haiti, Joseph watched people deforesting Haitian land until it was barren in the late ’80s and early ’90s. Notwithstanding, Schultz and Joseph still found buyers for their coffee, as well as a seed supplier. Joseph’s family had land in Haiti they weren’t using, so the two planted seeds on it.

They taught farmers about the growing process, which the farmers applied to the 5,000 trees planted. After the first harvest this coming June, the farmers

will gather and replant the seeds in the spring to use all 24 acres.

While building short-term relocation homes, Zack found another morning motivator in addition to his serving heart: he developed a taste for coffee, and he reached out to local friends and farmers to find out more about Haiti’s coffee business.

“When democracy came to Haiti, people were allowed to do whatever they wanted with their land. Before, you had to go to the mayor’s office to get a permit to cut a tree down on your land.

This brought devastating effects to the countryside,” Schultz said.

Central government control suppressed entrepreneurism within “private property,” discouraging businesses like Rebo Coffee Company.

Haitians live mostly at subsistence living, but are disconnected from most markets, both foreign and domestic. Schultz and Joseph’s business said they aimed to “connect the dots of the market,” according to Schultz, by distributing their seeds to other local farmers who were interested in joining their coffeegrowing business.

“It is devastating to Americans to see the third world in general, but most understand that it is the third world because … people don’t know how to make money well,” Schultz said.

“Americans can just bring knowhow, what little I have, to learn more about coffee, to educate myself and themselves, and to connect the channels between the people in the city to the countryside farmers who have land.”

Senior Zack Schultz owns a coffee-growing business in Haiti. Zack Schultz | Courtesy

The two are currently working with eight to 10 farmers holding 10 hectares, which is 24.7 acres. They are looking into export, import, and transportation value into the U.S. The two plan to reinvest their seeds back into their company to exponentially increase their product, possibly to sell through a private label, because their 5,000 seeds don’t even fill their whole land.

“I would prefer a coalition of farmers working together to create a higher standing of living for their kids, and to increase the lifespan for future generations.

It’s much less about the financial gain,” Schultz said. “What’s most important is these people’s lives that can be greatly impacted by an idea. I feel blessed for this opportunity, and to go into business in a different country.”

Schultz said that the hardest part for him was the physical distance from the project, as well as inexperience.

“Working and going to school leaves me with no time to check on our site,” Schultz said. “I’m 21, I have no background in international business. I’m just learning as I go.”

Highlights of higher education at Hillsdale

Registrar Douglas McArthur works at his desktop. According to McArthur, three of Hillsdale’s most popular classes are Classic Children’s Literature, Theology of the Body, and Readings in Power, Leadership, and Responsibility. Madeleine Jepsen | Collegian

By | Cecelia Pletan Collegian Reporter It’s 6:59 on a dark morning, midway through the semester.

Groggy students hover in front of their laptops in dorm rooms, the Grewcock Student Union, and coffee shops across campus, fingers poised, ready to press the single button that will decide their future for the next three months. The countdown begins, and in an instant, a quiet, unanimous click resounds all over campus. Surroundings grow silent in the wait, and minutes which feel like millennia drag by. Students rub their eyes as WebAdvisor buffers endlessly. Countless clicks of the refresh button later, classes for next semester show up full, even if they had 20 or 30 spots open beforehand. Class registration

has begun.

According to Registrar Douglas McArthur, three of the quickest classes to fill up on registration morning are Classic Children’s Literature, Theology of the Body, and Readings in Power, Leadership, and Responsibility. Though they are all 400-level classes in their departments, these “bucket-list” classes appeal to students regardless of their majors.

Part of the classical education minor, Classic Children’s Literature is a discussion-based class with a strict 15-student limit to ensure close classroom dynamics.

“I don’t know about the couple of years before I started teaching it, but I think since 2012 it’s been full every single time, and in fact, every time

Syrup from B4

Boilers typically have many people delivering sap to them, and they set up creative, artistic means to boil the sap down.

“Everyone has their own unique setup, and they’re very proud of that, and they’ll show you that,” Ronald Pestritto said. “The days sap runs, they could be up all night boiling it.”

While Anthony Pestritto said his family theoretically could just throw the sap into a pot and boil it off, it would take several hours, especially with the large amount of sap they collect.

“The boilers have methods. They don’t just stick it in the pot and boil it off.

They boil it off at just the

be cleaned after being emptied.

While Ronald Pestritto and Raney both said they enjoyed collecting, boiling sap is a much bigger process.

“Like any hobby, people get into it and really go crazy. We don’t have time for that,” Ronald Pestritto said.

There’s a fine line between sap boiled not long enough versus sap boiled too long, and over- or under-boiling could result in bad syrup.

“Other than consuming it, the most interesting part is the boiling of the sap to produce syrup because it does require attention to detail, finesse,” Raney said.

we’ve opened up for another section, those have been full as well,” Associate Professor of English Daniel Coupland said.

The class requires students to read children’s stories from authors such as the Grimm brothers, Hans Christian Andersen, Lewis Carroll, and A. A. Milne.

While the stories may be simple, Coupland said that the students still encounter the same kinds of themes found in adult literature: friendship, human nature, redemption, and the nature of good and evil.

“What makes this class unique is that it’s one of the few classes where students are actually coming back to a text another time,” Coupland said.

He explained that as readers get older, they bring more experience to the fairy tales they grew up reading and “get more” out of rereading them.

Coupland has been teaching

Coupland said, “And yet, Grahame uses these four animal characters to show us humanity.

It’s a really, really powerful book.”

The study of human relationships seems to be a common theme throughout these popular classes. Students spend weeks trying to secure spots in Professor of Philosophy Nathan Schlueter’s Theology of the Body class, a 400-level religion and philosophy elective which requires students to read and discuss the teachings of Pope John Paul II about morality, love, sexuality, and marriage.

“Here, students can see how their whole liberal education — philosophy, theology, ethics, politics, history and literature — bears upon concrete human experience and upon real, practical choices,” Schlueter said.

A natural development out of a Roman Catholic theology class, Schlueter agreed to teach

Music from B4

gle to balance school life and music firsthand. Many of her violin students enter Hillsdale planning to continue on to graduate school, making it difficult for them to manage time.

In fact, she said this is one of the challenges facing the music department going forward: the question of how to deal with classes of students who are getting smarter and more focused on postgraduate education.

“As the core is getting larger, we are trying to figure out what to do to make sure music students have room to participate in music,” Knecht said. “They need that element in their life, and it’s a balancing force that we need to figure out.”

The other aspect of Holleman’s vision of building the program’s size was recruitment. The establishment of Stacy Jones’ position as the music department’s liaison with the admissions office helped prevent prospective students from “slipping through the cracks.”

Instead of actively searching for new students, the music department — through Jones — is contacted by admissions when a prospective student expresses an interest in music. Holleman explained this is because of the school’s unique mission.

Professor of Music James Holleman directs the orchestra in rehearsing “Messiah.” Philip H. DeVoe | Collegian

enjoy the class, though. As an end-of-semester project, Schlueter requires his students to present on a “cultural artifact” through the lens of what they’ve “[‘The Wind in the Willows’] may be one of learned. He said this is definitely the most powerful books on human friendship ever his favorite part of the class.

“I have seen excellent prewritten in the English language. And yet, Grasentations on topics ranging hame uses these four animal character to show us from Plato’s ‘Republic’ to Taylor Swift’s video for ‘Blank Space,’” humanity. It’s a really, really powerful book.” he said, adding that the students bring some “much-needed culat Hillsdale since 2006. He said the Theology of the Body class tural criticism” to his classroom. his favorite work to teach is “The for the first time in 2014, as long Another class which explores Wind in the Willows,” by Kenas at least 15 people signed up. relationships and the human neth Grahame.

Then, almost 60 people wanted state is Professor of Law Robert “I would suggest it may be to enroll. Now, three years later, Blackstock’s Readings in Power, one of the most powerful books both of the two sections offered Leadership, and Responsibility. on human friendship ever writfilled up the day they opened.

As the class reads famous literaten in the English language,” It’s not just the students who right temperature, move it along at just the right speed,” Anthony Pestritto said.

After collecting every morning for several weeks last spring, the Pestrittos only ended with 6-8 gallons of the syrup. It was a low year for sap, but Ronald Pestritto said it was plenty for his family to consume and give away.

“It’s neat that we’re getting the syrup from our own trees,” Anthony Pestritto said. “There’s something about that. I wouldn’t call it work. It’s cold and sometimes it’s wet and miserable, but there’s a lot of times when you’re just out in the woods collecting sap, and that’s nice.”

“If the student doesn’t share the philosophy of Hillsdale, they probably will not be a good fit no matter how much effort we put into recruiting them,” Holleman said.

Knecht said the music staff is committed to producing a good program, which in turn encourages students to join.

“If we don’t work hard to produce a good program and a good department, we won’t have a job, because nobody will sign up,” Knecht said.

“As better players joined our program, the program has looked better, and ultimately, it’s become easier for us to recruit students.”

The completion of Howard Music Hall in 2003 and other improvement of facilities has helped in a similar way, showing prospective students that the college and the department treat musical studies seriously.

“Without this building, we would not be doing what we are doing,” Artist and Teacher of Music Debbi Wyse, who was hired in 1981, said.

“We have some of the best pianos and practice rooms in the whole nation.”

Wyse said she noticed this in a specific way when a visiting artist who had performed at colleges across the U.S. remarked that Howard’s facilities were some of the best she had ever seen. Furthermore, Wyse added that the completion of the Christ Chapel will launch the department into a new level, as it will free the department from the limitations of Markel Auditorium.

Today, Knecht said the music department dedicates itself to retaining music students and keeping them happy, fitting with Holleman’s vision of the music department as not being mutually exclusive of the rest of Hillsdale.

“We really do treat every student seriously and do what we can to make sure these individual students or groups thrive,” Knecht said.

“We never take for granted the dedication needed to keep the program alive.”

ture and history texts, students must confront humanity in its best and worst states, and from that, learn how to make choices with a better understanding of what it means to be human.

“We’re looking for two things: what is the world we live in? For all its good and its ill, let’s get as clear a view as we can get,” Blackstock said, “And then how good can it be? And those people who live the good life, who make a good thing of their lives, what are they doing? How are they doing it? How do we make ourselves as fully human as we can be? You know, that is a high, good goal.”

Ronald Pestritto’s whole family helps tap maple trees and collect sap. Pictured above: Angelo, Anthony, Carmelina, Dominic, and Sebastian Pestritto. Ronald Pestritto | Courtesy

B4 1 Dec. 2016

www.hillsdalecollegian.com

Tapping into nature’s liquid gold By | S. M. Chavey Features Editor David Raney, professor of history, refuses to eat store-bought syrup. He’s grown accustomed to syrup that originated in his own backyard, boiled down from the sap of maple trees.

“Whatever flavoring they use in storebought syrup bears no resemblance. The flavor is off ... It’s thicker, gooey, and inconsistent,” Raney said.

Raney hasn’t collected sap from his own trees for several years, but he did introduce Professor of Politics Ronald Pestritto to the idea while they were out hunting together a couple years ago.

“I wonder if this is the kind of thing I could do on my own property,” Pestritto said.

“Sure, absolutely! It’s a lot of fun and very rewarding, but demanding on your time and often on your energy,” Raney said, assuring Pestritto it was certainly a feasible operation for Pestritto’s primarily-wooded 25 acres.

Some weeks later, Pestritto invited Raney to walk through the woods of his own property to identify the best maple trees for tapping, and in 2016, Pestritto started tapping trees.

Pestritto begins the process in late winter, when the temperatures freeze each night but rise to mid-40s during the day. It’s the thawing effect that creates the best sap. If the temperatures don’t freeze at night, the prolonged thaw will result in an off-flavor of the syrup.

Spotting maple trees is easy, Pestritto said, but finding the maple trees that produce the most sap can be a challenge.

“It’s a science, but it’s definitely an art too,” Raney said. “There are a lot of variables that go into just how much sap a tree will produce.”

As he prepared to tap trees last year, Pestritto often brought leaves and bark to Professor of Biology Ranessa Cooper, who would then help him identify the best sap producers.

“I was never very good at biology in

Professor of Politics Ronald Pestritto taps maple trees in his yard to make maple syrup for his family and friends.

Ronald Pestritto | Courtesy

school, but I’ve learned more about botany than I ever thought I would learn,” Pestritto said. “We’re very conservative because we want good sugar producers.

We don’t want to adversely affect the health of smaller trees, and right now we’ve got all the sap we can handle.”

Even after finding the best sap-producing sugar maples, the Pestrittos use 160 taps on about 100 trees — and still don’t end up with that much syrup. The best sugar maples have only about 2 percent sugar content in the sap, which

means 40 gallons of sap will only make a single gallon of syrup.

During peak season, all but the oldest and youngest of Pestritto’s eight children routinely wake up early to begin collecting sap. The oldest, sophomore Anthony Pestritto, usually takes the sap to the boiler later in the morning or at night, but he occasionally helps collect it as well.

“It’s a crisp, fresh feeling,” Anthony Pestritto said. “You’re moving around and the sap is very cold, very clear. It’s enjoyable to be out. Most of the time it’s not too cold. Hopefully it’s not raining. Hopefully it’s not a massive, soggy, muddy mess, but especially if it froze the night before, everything is crisp and clear. It’s very refreshing.”

The Pestritto family usually collects the day’s sap within an hour. They all go out together on a tractor, park the tractor near a grove of sugar maples, and empty the blue bags from the trees into buckets on the tractor. Once they’ve collected from about half the taps, they take buckets of sap back to the garage to empty into a large container on a trailer.

Half of the family stays to transfer the sap from the buckets to the container while the rest go out to finish collecting.

“It’s just a fun thing to do,” Ronald Pestritto said. “It’s at that time of year, late February into early April, where spring’s not here yet, but people are tired of winter and are starting to go stir crazy.

This is an activity that gets you outside, and all the kids are involved in an activity together. It’s unusual to find something like that.”

Once the Pestrittos have collected, they deliver the large container of sap down the street to a man who boils it.

The sap is clear and looks just like water, but the sugar concentrate requires it to be treated like a perishable item; it must be covered, and the container must

See Syrup B3

Professor of Music James Holleman directs George Frideric Handel’s “Messiah” while Artist and Teacher of Music Debbi Wyse plays organ. Philip H. DeVoe | Collegian

A 20-year crescendo in the music department By | Philip H. DeVoe City News Editor This weekend, 170 members of the Hillsdale College music department’s symphony orchestra and two choirs will participate in three performances of George Frideric Handel’s “Messiah.” Onethird of the school — roughly 500 students — regularly participate in the music department and one-quarter are members of ensembles.

In 1997, however, only 50 students were in the music department. Today, there are 50 violinists alone in the department. Though the school has grown by about 300 students since 1997, it is the efforts of music department staff such as Professors of Music James Holleman and Melissa Knecht, who are midway through their 20th year with the department and college, that have resulted in the massive change from a struggling program to a thriving one.

When Holleman interviewed for the position of orchestra director in 1997, he said he was surprised when then-Provost Robert Blackstock asked him what makes a good department chair. He said his answer was confusing and unclear, because it took him off guard. Blackstock allowed him to return the following Monday to reanswer.

“When I came back, I said to him: ‘Vision. Having a vision of what’s possible, and then figuring out what it takes to make it happen,’” Holleman said.

His appointment was a conscious and directed effort by the administration to improve the struggling music program. When Holleman was hired, the department had 14 full-time and adjunct professors and put on 20-25

shows per year. Now, there are nearly 40 faculty, and more than 100 performances each year.

Holleman clarified that the plight of the department was not due to a lack of care on the part of the administration. In fact, he said his employment showed that the college hoped to change the program for the better.

“Furthermore, anyone who knows anything about the liberal arts knows the importance of music,” Holleman said. “Really, it was just a lack of all sorts of elements, such as the timing or the type of students we were recruiting.”

Holleman said his vision for the department was to recognize that Hillsdale was a liberal arts school and rebrand the department around that idea. Students in the music program at Hillsdale do not have to be music majors, and can still participate in other activities outside of the music department.

Most music schools, like the ones the music faculty attended, require their students to dedicate all of their time to music, and this was, to a degree, how the pre1997 Hillsdale music department was. Holleman said he realized this was preventing those who were musically talented but not interested in a music degree from joining the ensembles.

“One of the keys to our success was opening our doors to every student on campus,” Holleman said.

“There are students who are not music majors but perform at high levels, and we need to be able to tap into that without them having to throw up their hands and say they don’t have time.”

Knecht has seen this strug-

See Music B3

Ronald Pestritto’s children, Angelo, Anthony, Dominic, and Sebastian Pestritto, help tap a maple tree. Ronald Pestritto | Courtesy

Dugan Delp By | Josh Paladino

What is your favorite outfit?

What’s your fashion pet

Anything camouflage.

peeve?

Anytime someone wears

Who are your fashion influ-

clothes that don’t fit or is

ences?

barefoot in public.

Justin Hyman and Tommy Hilfiger.

What’s your favorite season for clothing?

Where are your favorite

Fall. You can wear a lot of lay-

places to shop?

ers and the colors are nice.

J. Crew, Lacoste, and Scotch and Soda.

If your T-shirts were to get into a fight, which one would

What’s your favorite article of

win?

clothing?

I went to Pongracic’s concert

My gold shoes.

and bought a Maderia T-shirt, so that one would win.

Josh Paladino | Collegian

Josh Paladino | Collegian