Hillsdale Collegian 11.30.17

Michigan’s oldest college newspaper

Vol. 141 Issue 12 - November 30, 2017

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Tax bill could target endowment, cost Hillsdale thousands By | Breana Noble Editor-in-Chief A proposed tax could force Hillsdale College to pay up to $700,000 a year to the federal government.

As part of the Republicans’ $1.5 trillion tax package, a new endowment tax would make private, nonprofit colleges and universities pay 1.4 percent on their yearly endowment income if the endowment is equal to $250,000 or more per student.

It would affect nearly 70 institutions nationwide, including Hillsdale College and much of the Ivy League. The House passed the bill on Nov. 16, and the Senate voted Wednesday along party lines to open debate on the tax plan. A vote on the bill could occur by the end of the week.

Hillsdale’s current endowment is $548 million, which breaks down to approximately $364,000 for each of the college’s 1,507 students - surpass-

ing the $250,000 minimum.

Based on how the law defines an endowment’s income, Patrick Flannery, vice president for finance and college treasurer, estimated Hillsdale could pay as much as $700,000 a year if the legislation passes. The college operates on a $121 million annual budget.

“Even a half million dollars per year, that’s enough to have an impact on how much money you can get distributed to general operations for the college,” Flannery said. “It’s something that we will have to think about: How are we going to make up for that?”

For now, Flannery said the college is waiting to see what Congress decides.

Matthew Spalding, associate vice president and dean of educational programs for the Allan P. Kirby Jr. Center for Constitutional Studies and Citizenship in Washington, D.C., said the tax comes in response to a general outrage

among members of Congress that schools with large endowments are using much of them, not to benefit students, but more like investment funds.

“At that point, that endowment becomes something different,” he said. “If there is to be an endowment tax, it should only apply if the amount in the endowment fund exceeds that which is needed to support exempt purposes, such as direct asset use or providing financial support for students.”

Spalding added that a broad perception that much of academia support a liberal agenda may also contribute to the support behind the proposal. An overwhelming majority of Hillsdale’s endowment supports scholarships, academic programs, and faculty, Flannery said.

He became aware of the intended tax days prior to the plan being introduced in the House on Nov. 2, and he has

By | Nic Rowan Assistant Editor

stipulated that Meijer would have to develop the land within 10 years of its signing, should the corporation choose to buy the land, according to Hillsdale City Attorney John Lovinger.

Board members and Fayette residents expressed concerns that the proposed agreement with Meijer seemed too rushed and without further deliberation, it could not sign the agreement in good conscience.

“I think we need more information and need to do more work on this,” Board Trustee Alfred DuBois said.

According to Michigan state regulations, the state can

take up to 30 days to approve a 425 agreement, making Nov. 30 the absolute last day that Fayette could sign the agreement for it to be filed this year.

Since the board voted 2-2 deadlock and board supervisor John Kalusniak was not present at the meeting to cast a tie-breaking vote, the township will not be able to decide on the issue until at least next March, according to Hillsdale City Manager David Mackie.

“If Meijer finds it difficult to deal with a community, then they might decide that community is not open for business and walk away,” Mackie said See Meijer A6

Township deadlocks on Meijer vote Meijer will not be able to come to Hillsdale County, not this year at least.

Following a deadlock vote at a special meeting held by the Fayette Township Board on Nov. 29, the future of a 425 agreement that would have allowed Meijer to purchase and build a grocery store on a property located off M-99 remains uncertain.

The agreement would allow for revenue sharing between the city of Hillsdale and Fayette township; Fayette would provide Meijer the land, Hillsdale the utility services.

Additionally, the agreement

been in discussion with members of Congress since then.

College President Larry Arnn joined him in some high-level meetings prior to Thanksgiving break.

Spalding said he opposes the tax in general on principle. He said the taxation of endowments to influence universities sets a dangerous precedent that threatens their independence.

“In general, there should be an area of activity outside of government reach that serves higher purposes of society beyond that reach, and private education has long been one of those,” Spalding said. “If the federal government establishes a tax on endowments for colleges, I fear there are other activities that under another Congresses and other administrations government will tax and by doing so regulate, and that could be more threatening to Hillsdale.”

Adding to that, the legislation does not exempt

non-Title IV institutions, such as Hillsdale, that do not receive government money.

A majority of the universities and colleges affected by the tax, however, do take federal subsidies. At some of these private, nonprofit schools, they account for up to 70 percent of their income, according to Spalding.

Princeton University, whose $23.8 billion endowment is one of the largest in the country (Harvard University has the largest with $37.1 billion), received $420 million in tax breaks on its endowment income, federal research grants, and capital-gains exemptions in 2011, according to The Atlantic. That year, its endowment was $17 billion and accounted for almost half its nearly $1.4 billion operating budget.

“Since Hillsdale receives no federal funds or grants whatsoever, Hillsdale’s position is distinguishable on policy grounds,” Spalding said.

“Hillsdale and other colleges that are not taking the federal government’s money should not be subject to a tax on an endowment that was raised from private sources Spalding said he has made several suggestions to policymakers, including removing the tax entirely, rewording it, or inserting an exemption for schools that refuse government subsidies. He also said an alternative to the tax is to cut the number of government subsidies going to these institutions.

Arnn agreed in an email: “The government subsidizes a thing with one hand and then taxes it with the other. Why did they not simply decrease the subsidies? What they do carries the implication that only the government can get bigger.”

See Endowment A2 Pexels

Gelzer Hardware begins move By | Breana Noble Editor-in-Chief Demolition work began at 115 E. Carlton Road this week for the new location of H.J. Gelzer & Son Hardware Inc. The hardware and sporting good company in downtown Hillsdale will move just a couple of blocks for a larger and more open space, more room for parking, and the opportunity for further expansion.

In doing so, the company is investing more than $700,000 and a year in time to construct a new building with a grand opening next summer.

“We’re looking forward to securing the future of this business,” said Andrew Gelzer, the great-great grandson of the company’s founder, Henry J. Gelzer. “We are happy and

honored to reinvest in our community.”

The expansion is indicative of a trend of recent investments in Hillsdale, City Manager David Mackie said, including from the industrial companies such as Paragon Metals as well as smaller businesses such as Rough Draft.

Mary Wolfram, the City of Hillsdale’s head of economic development agreed: “This is a huge statement of confidence in the city. A current business owner is willing to invest to rehabilitate a building and expand. They must think business is going to be good in Hillsdale.”

The company demolished a two-story building on the new property built by its previous occupant Alson’s Corp. on Monday. On the existing con-

crete floor, it will construct a new nearly 12,000-square-foot retail space that will offer approximately 30 percent more inventory.

A parking lot being built to the north, south, and west of the building will offer space for customers with trailers.

It also is giving some updates to the original five-story warehouse that the business will use for storage and receiving deliveries. Its 125,000 square feet will provide space to expand in the future, too.

“We’ll have room to grow the business for the next 40 years,” Gelzer said.

The company’s furniture store, which has used the warehouse on the new property since the company bought it in 2011, will stay in the downtown.

Hillsdale resident Ed Clark performs with the Dale Vaughn Band on Nov. 18 at Here’s to You Pub & Grub. Madeline Fry | Collegian

See Hardware A7

Volleyball rides home court to G-MAC tournament win By | Michael Lucchese Senior Writer Hillsdale College volleyball won its first-ever G-MAC tournament on Saturday, November 18, overcoming the Findlay Oilers in a hardfought 3-1 championship victory at the Dawn Tibbetts Potter Arena.

This is the fourth conference championship the Chargers have won in the program’s history. Their success extended their winning streak to 21 matches and improved their overall record to 28-3.

“We just took the tournament one game at a time and played as a team,” junior rightside hitter and G-MAC Player of the Year Paige VanderWall said. “It was important for us to treat each game as a normal game instead of part of a special conference tournament.”

Hillsdale began tournament play with a 3-0 sweep of the Davis & Elkins Senators on Nov. 16.

Head coach Chris Gravel said that a deep bench was Follow @HDaleCollegian

important to Hillsdale’s success in the tournament, and that was on display against the Senators — every player in the line-up saw time on the court.

Freshman middle hitter Allyssa Van Wienen made seven kills for a personal hitting percentage of .600. VanderWall made eight kills of her own for a .417, and supplied eight digs for the team. Senior outside hitter Jackie Langer achieved a career-best hitting percentage of .889, making eight kills on nine attempts.

Langer was awarded conference player of the week for her performance in the tournament.

“She’s so deserving of it,” VanderWall said. “She has been such a consistent offensive weapon for us as well as a great defensive player.”

The next day, the Chargers overcame the Walsh Cavaliers 3-1 to advance to the tournament finals.

Langer led the Chargers’ offense again with a season-high 22 kills. Junior outside hitter Kara Vyletel followed with 13 kills and six digs of her own.

VanderWall also performed well, scoring 12 kills and 15 digs. Sophomore middle hitter Hannah Gates also made 12 kills, a new career-high.

Overall, the team had 68 kills and a .284 hitting percentage to Walsh’s 33 and .085.

Freshman setter Lindsey

11 digs, and 55 assists. Mertz was awarded freshman of the year by the conference office, making her the third player in Hillsdale history to win this distinction.

“Our future looks bright, thanks in part to our freshmen,” head coach Chris Grav-

The Chargers celebrate on the court after their G-MAC tournament victory on Nov. 20. Todd Lancaster | Courtesy

Mertz also played well against el said. “The upperclassmen the Cavaliers, with three kills, have done a great job assimiwww.hillsdalecollegian.com

lating the young players to the program.”

The Chargers clinched the conference title the following Saturday, defeating Findlay 3-1.

The opening set of the match did not go Hillsdale’s way — Findlay won it 25-22.

The Chargers rallied after that to win the next three sets 2514, 25-17, and 26-24.

“The two biggest things that made the difference this tournament,” freshman libero Madie Schider said, “were our teamwork and our will to win.”

Hillsdale’s defense showed both of those qualities against Findlay. Sophomore libero Taylor Wiese had 22 digs to lead the defense, followed

by Mertz with 14 digs of her own and 44 assists. Schider also contributed to Hillsdale’s back row, making six digs and scoring a service ace.

Blocking was another strong element of the Chargers’ defense. Findlay made four during the match, while Hillsdale made 11 total. Van Wienen had six block assists,

followed by Gates with four.

VanderWall once again led the team’s offense, with 15 kills and a .378. Langer had 11 kills, eight of which came in the critical fourth set, and Van Wienen made 10.

Hillsdale will face Findlay a fourth time this season, in the NCAA regional quarterfinals on Thursday afternoon at Lewis University in Romeoville, Illinois.

“Honestly, we’re making very few changes in how we’re preparing for regionals,” Gravel said. “We’ve got to stay cool and just continue going at it in practice.”

The winner of Thursday afternoon’s match will progress to the regional semifinal and play the winner of a Rockhurst-Bellarmine matchup.

VanderWall said that the team is confident looking ahead to the regional tournament.

“We’ve played Findlay already,” she said. “We’re going to use what we’ve learned about them to play tough and pick out their weaknesses.”

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A2 Nov. 30, 2017

Secret ‘superhero’ Thomas Burke ’04 remembered By | Breana Noble Editor-in-Chief Sometimes people only learn about the great accomplishments of a person after they die.

This was true for many of the friends and family of Thomas Burke ’04, who died at the age of 35 on Nov. 12 in Leesburg, Virginia, of injuries sustained after a fall. Despite his young age, the 10-year CIA veteran was highly decorated and one of the most accomplished officers of his generation, his parents and friends told The Collegian after speaking with former colleagues.

“It’s a weird thing to realize that your friend who you thought was this Clark Kent was Superman the whole time,” said Jordan Gehrke, Burke’s longtime friend since high school when they both attended a Student Statesmanship Institute summer camp in Lansing.

Burke had top security clearance, so many of his accomplishments are too secret to be disclosed at this time. Most of his friends and family, including his mother, were unaware he even worked for the CIA until a year ago when he was given permission to share that he was leaving the agency. He told them he was working for the U.S. State Department.

Although friends and family said his work in special operations surprised them, his patriotism and dedication to serve his country was not.

His mother, Cindy Burke,

economics and earning a minor in political science, Burke played soccer for three years while Hillsdale had a Division II varsity team.

After that, he channeled his passion for Former CIA operations officer Thomas Burke ‘04 the game died at the age of 35. Jordan Gehrke | Courtesy into coachsaid he was ambitious from ing Hillsdale a young age and knew he High School’s soccer team. wanted to enter into public Running the boys hard — service. He also had a heart literally five miles — each for service, she said, recalling practice, Burke and his friend a time when her son saw coats turned a losing team into state on sale at the mall when he championship finalists. There was in high school. was not a dry eye at the team’s “He went in the store and banquet, Cindy Burke said. bought a coat,” his mom said.

“They set an example for “I said, ‘Why did you buy a the boys,” his father Tom coat?’ He said, ‘I don’t know.

Burke said. “They would not Maybe somebody someday make them do anything they might need that.’ Wow. He was wouldn’t do. They taught them always thinking how he could discipline, what it takes to be a help other people. I remember man. They always dressed up it hanging in his room, and in coats and ties as coaches for one day, I looked in, and it the games. I think that speaks was gone.” to his character.”

Cindy Burke said he never Thomas Burke also pledged told her to whom he gave the to Alpha Tau Omega fratercoat but that it went to somenity, volunteered with Big one who needed it.

Brothers/Big Sisters, interned Thomas Burke chose to atin the White House, and tend Hillsdale College because earned the respect amongst he wanted to study Austrian his peers to be elected senior economics. class president. He graduated In addition to studying magna cum laude in 2004

Nowrasteh argues for immigration

with a Bachelor of Science.

Despite such credentials, Joe Wloszek, Burke’s Simpson Residence suitemate who graduated in December 2003, most fondly remembers his time with “Burkie” for all of the pranks they would pull on each other.

After Wloszek humorously protested against an unfair team-up done by Burke and their roommates toward him, Burke said: “We are going to be friends for life.”

They did, and Burke would often call his friend from college with a new phone number in a foreign country just to check in. Wloszek was one of the 12 family members and friends who were with Burke at the hospital when he died.

Burke also studied abroad for a semester at Oxford University. While traveling in Europe at that time, he met members of the military in France. Seeing their dedication and service greatly aspired him, Cindy Burke said.

Following graduation, Burke took an examination to go into the CIA, but he missed the cut by one person, according to his mother. Emblazoned by the events of 9/11 he experienced as a sophomore at Hillsdale, he sought to serve his country in the new U.S. Department of Homeland Security in Washington, D.C., for two years, according to his parents.

After working with the CIA on a project, the agency hired Burke almost immediately as an operations officer. He was deployed across Europe, the

Middle East, and South Asia, typically in combat zones. He became fluent in Farsi. In his patriotism, Burke collected and reported classified information, putting his country and colleagues ahead of his own life.

“I wanted to help create an environment where Americans could be safe to live their lives [and] not have to worry about their security in the process,” he once said, according to his obituary.

His friends and family said they knew this about him, despite not knowing exactly what he did to pursue that mission.

They said they saw his heart for service play out in his interactions with them instead. When Burke and Gehrke connected again in Washington, D.C., they would meet on Sundays three times a month at Clyde’s restaurant in Georgetown for several years to watch football and talk for a couple hours.

“If the conversation was going well, we might stay longer,” Gehrke said. “He was the type of person you could talk about anything with. He was that sort of charismatic figure: He cared deeply about not the most popular person in the room, made sure they had a seat and that they were noticed. He made you feel loved.”

His faith was an important part of his life, his father said.

He said he realized the impact of this when a CIA colleague who served with his son in Pakistan approached him at his funeral in Washington,

D.C. “She said, ‘When we would get together, Thomas would pray for us. He would pray for all of us,’” Tom Burke said.

“That really blessed me to learn about him, because that is something he would not share.”

After leaving the CIA, Burke pursued several projects based on connections he had. He intended to work for a private intelligence company in the United Kingdom to be closer to his girlfriend, Sarah Ganslein.

In addition to her and his proud parents, Burke is survived by his sister Amanda and numerous aunts, uncles, and cousins. He was laid to rest in Washington, D.C.’s Congressional Cemetery, the country’s first national burial ground.

The family is holding a celebration of his life on 11 a.m. on Dec. 8 at Christ the King Church of Oxford in Michigan with an hour to greet with relatives and friends prior to the service.

In lieu of flowers, contributions can be made to the Wounded Warrior Project or to Hillsdale College for the Thomas Peter Burke Endowed Memorial Scholarship. His friends and family are hoping to raise $50,000 or more for the scholarship.

“I would love it if 20 years from now, there were young people benefiting from his life,” Gehrke said, “because frankly, we’re all still going to benefit from his life for a long time.”

The G.K. Chesterton Society meets at 8 a.m. on Mondays.

Wikimedia Commons

Cato Institute expert says there is a net benefit By | Emma Cummins Collegian Reporter Immigration advocate Alex Nowrasteh came to Hillsdale to discuss immigration in a talk titled “Why the best argument against immigration is still wrong,” on Nov. 16.

Nowrasteh is a leading immigration expert at the Cato Institute and has traditionally been in favor of immigration, seeing it as a net benefit for the country.

Nowrasteh opened his lecture with an appeal to his own fallibility.

“One of the things I’m obsessed with beside social sciences is whether I’m wrong or not,” Nowrasteh said. “I spent my career [about nine years or so] on the topic of immigration at the Cato Institute. I’ve been arguing on peer review evidence and academic journals that immigration is a huge positive for the immigrants for Americans, for our economy and society as a whole.”

Nowrasteh has seriously considered arguments against immigration and continues to keep an open mind.

“If the facts change I will change my mind,” Nowrasteh said. “I don’t want to die on a hill of principle for no reason.”

The talk was heavily centered on economic arguments to make Nowrasteh’s case.

Nowrasteh discussed wage premiums, exogenous shocks, and other economic terms in depth during the lecture.

Nowrasteh used one particular example of the immigration of about 1 million Soviet

Jews into Israel in the 1990s.

Nowrasteh believes this is a perfect case study of diverse immigrants not leading to a country’s demise.

While Nowrasteh provided many economic arguments for why immigration is a net benefit, he explained why various arguments regarding culture are less than compelling.

According to Nowrasteh, the social division caused by immigration would keep government small in the country and limit the welfare system.

“Diversity introduces less solidarity. As a result of less solidarity people like each other a little bit less. We want to help each other a little bit less. The good thing from this is that means we also don’t vote for welfare as much,” Nowrasteh said. “If you don’t like people around you as much as you use to, you are less likely to vote for policies to help them. This is one of the reasons why the largest, most complex welfare states are in homogenous countries.

You would call this the positive externality of racism.”

Nowrasteh spent the rest of the evening systematically going through the arguments against immigration, and ended with what he considered to be the best argument against immigration.

“The best argument against immigration is that they will somehow kill the economic goose that lays the golden eggs by overturning institutions or whatever makes us wealthy. In the long term, potential costs of immigration

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outweigh the large, immediate, huge economic benefits of it.” Nowrasteh said. “I believe that the historical evidence, the economic freedom score evidence, exogenous shock data, policy opinions, assimilation evidence, and a lot of recent case studies in American history suggest probably not. I am fairly confident that they won’t.”

Some audience members did not find Nowrasteh’s argument to be completely satisfying.

“The issue that I have with Nowrasteh is the premise that he starts with,” senior Razi Lane said. “If you start with the premise that economics should drive all areas of public policy and then you evaluate your culture kind of in the sense that fracturing is actually a good thing and that a fractured society is the best society just because it leads to smaller government, I think it’s too narrow of a view.”

Others, however, found the use of data and economic indicators to track the success of immigrants particularly persuasive.

“I had slightly different opinions on what he was bringing up and his opinions but he’s fairly convincing in his arguments,” junior Marcus Koperski said. “It was very informative. The data collection he had with regards to whether or not it changed economic freedom when immigrants came into the culture is definitely something I’m going to look into.”

New G.K. Chesterton Society studies British author weekly By | Joel Meng Collegian Reporter At 8 a.m. on a Monday, while many students are still sleeping, the members of Hillsdale’s G.K. Chesterton Society gather for their weekly meeting. Chesterton was a British author, poet, theologian, and journalist.

“It’s ironic that we meet at eight in the morning,” said freshman Seth Winters, co-consul of the society.

“Chesterton liked to say ‘Daybreak is a never-ending glory; getting out of bed is a never ending nuisance.’”

The Chesterton Society was founded this semester by Winters and his co-consul, sophomore Maggie Vangieson.

Winters said he started the group because of the impact Chesterton’s work had on him.

“Chesterton is my favorite author and has a big influence on my day-to-day life,” Winters said. “His work is very wonder filled, and he is a staunch defender of truth.”

Vangieson said she discovered Chesterton in high school and bought many of his books last summer. She says she decided to go to a conference put on by the

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American Chesterton Society, where she met Winters.

“When I heard he was starting a Chesterton society, I had to get involved,” Vangieson said.

A typical meeting consists of around 10 members gathering for breakfast and then reading an essay or short story by Chesterton paragraph by paragraph around the table before discussing it. So far, the society has tackled several works including “On Running After One’s Hat,” “On Lying in Bed,” “A Defense of Skeletons.”

“We did the skeleton essay for Halloween,” Winters said.

Students said they appreciate the format of the meetings.

“It’s cool hearing the stories out loud,” freshman Patrick Mitchell said. “It helps the mystery come alive; you hear the inflections.”

It is the beauty of Chesterton’s work, members say, that they have come to appreciate throughout their studies.

“Chesterton writes in a way that doesn’t draw attention to himself,” sophomore Emma Trist said. “He draws out the beauty in the most normal unassuming thing like rain.”

Others say they want to understand Chesterton because

of the authors he influenced.

“I come because Chesterton is quoted by many of my other favorite authors,” Mitchell said. “Understanding Chesterton helps me to understand the authors he influenced, like Evelyn Waugh and C.S. Lewis.”

Vangieson said her vision is to help expose Chesterton’s work to other students.

“We want to share Chesterton with the campus because he’s brilliant and he talks about many of the things we study here: God, truth, and the good life,” Vangieson said.

Despite the healthy numbers of the society, both Vangieson and Winters said they would like to see more students attend.

“Right now, we just add chairs and if there’s too many people to fit, we just sit farther away from the table,” Winters said.

Vangieson said anyone is welcome to come.

“Chesterton is accessible, and whether you’ve read him or not, you’ll learn something,” Vangieson said. “He’s challenging and makes you think, but he’s enjoyable along the way.”

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Fundraising phonathon hosted inhouse for first time by college

By | Ben Dietderich Collegian Reporter Hillsdale College administrators have called the new in-house Phonathon method a success. Nov. 15 marked the conclusion of the first college phonathon run without the assistance of an outside fundraising company. Director of the contact center, John Papciak, said the recent phonathon significantly outraised previous phonathons.

“We are around $80,000 better off than we were last year at this time across the board for all three phonathons,” he said.

The exact numbers pertaining to amounts raised will be released upon the end of the Hillsdale College fiscal year next summer.

“We have estimates but we don’t want to be specific just yet,” Papciak said. “The reason we hold off is because many people pay via pledges so we want to have the money in hand before we count it.

Oftentime, it’s more than we anticipated.”

Following the college’s opening of the contact center in the fall of 2016, the college has worked towards running the Phonathon without the assistance of an outside compa-

ny. The college reduced costs by using their own software, hardware, and personnel to run the Phonathon.

In addition to reducing costs, running the Phonathon in-house allowed the college to simplify the training process by using students already working in the contact center.

“We had about 35 to 40 of our student workers work the phonathon,” Assistant Director of the Contact Center Mary Margaret Spiteri said.

“It was easy to incorporate our training into what our agents learn all year around.

This made it very effortless for them to work the Phonathon.”

Senior student contact center employee Jackson Ventrella said he learned a lot from the experience.

“It was a new experience for me. For the first time we were the ones making the outgoing calls,” Ventrella said. “Overall, I really enjoyed talking to people and getting to know friends of the college.”

In addition to the student Contact Center workers, the college also had parents and athletes make phone calls for their own Phonathon campaigns. Each group targeted a different audience and

fundraising area. The athletes volunteered to call alumni to raise money for athletic programs. Parents called previous supporters of the college to support the college endowment. The student Contact Center workers mainly called subscribers of the Hillsdale College newsletter “Imprimis” with the goal of both raising awareness and funds for the college’s Barney Charter School Initiative.

Spiteri said the inclusion of the Barney Charter School Initiative reflects a recent push by the college to expand their influence in education.

“The initiative is trying to raise a substantial amount for their endowment. They want to open 50 schools; they’re at around 16 right now,” Spiteri said. “ Most of the people we called were Imprimis subscribers and had never heard of it before. We were educating them, asking them about their views on public education.”

Spiteri said she believes further information translates to more funds in the long run.

“In the long run if people are asking for more information, eventually they’ll give money. That’s because it’s such a great cause,” Spiteri said.

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Endowment from A1 An overwhelming majority of the endowment is to support academics, Flannery said. Half is for scholarships, a quarter is for academic programs, and 15 percent is for faculty chairs.

Flannery added that only about 0.2 percent of Hillsdale’s endowment goes toward “nonacademic” purposes. This piece is for awards for students and faculty such as Professor of the Year and the Emily Daughtery Award for Teaching Excellence, which are presented at spring and fall convocations respectively.

“But I could argue that 0.2 percent is academic in nature,” Flannery said. “It helps people.”

Every year, Hillsdale spends about 5 percent from its endowment, slightly above the more popular 3-4 percent, Flannery said.

“The main reason for that is that we want students going here today to benefit as well as be able to save enough for the students down the road to benefit,” he said.

With the endowment tax, however, the college could pay the equivalent of 27 full-tuition scholarships in taxes each year.

Spalding said that would be harmful, though the college could manage it. Its

creation, however, opens up the opportunity for future Congresses to change the tax amount and threshold, which could cause problems in the future. He added that it may also deter other institutions from growing and enlarging their endowments, as well.

If it comes to removing the endowment tax or passing the tax-cutting bill, however, Arnn said he does favor the plan.

“I hope they pass the bill, even with that stuff in it,” he said. “It is a still step in the right direction.”

Flannery said the idea of an endowment tax has been floated for several years, and he said he thinks now that it is in the tax plan, it is unlikely to disappear.

Spalding, however, is hopeful for its removal if the bill goes to a conference committee between the House and Senate. He said many congressmen were unaware that the tax would affect institutions such as Hillsdale before he spoke to them.

“I am cautiously optimistic that this will get corrected in conference, if it gets to conference,” Spalding said, “but they are all very aware that Hillsdale is harmed by it.”

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Hillsdale handles learning disabilities professor-to-student By | Scott McClallen Assistant Editor Hillsdale College may not have an official office for helping students with learning disabilities, but they do have something even more effective, according to students.

Dean of Men Aaron Petersen said the respective dean’s office have handled dysgraphia, dyslexia, ADD, and ADHD, and have always “had success just talking it through,” and finding the right accommodations.

Former student Alex Pack said Hillsdale’s process streamlined the bureaucracy of receiving accommodations for learning disabilities.

“The whole accomodation break from the mold is all about making it easier on everyone,” Pack said, explaining that he talked and submitted his doctor’s letter to the dean’s office before his first class on campus.

Pack said telling his professors about his accommodation was like informing them of a preferred nickname.

“They usually responded, ‘Oh, just let me know what you need,’” Pack said.

Pack was diagnosed at age 8 with dysgraphia, which impairs handwriting ability and fine motor skills. Then, his way of learning shifted toward technology to supplement his non-intelligent recall memory, which Pack explained as “the ability to remember things without any connection,” he said. “Intelligent Recall Memory, in contrast, is the ability to remember things with a connection.”

But he said that technology makes his life a lot easier.

“Technology is a huge help — you have to remember less,” Pack said. “For example, think of an iPhone. Without it, you would have to remember so many phone numbers and addresses.”

Pack said he had put off fulfilling his language requirement, because having taken three years of Spanish, he knew it would wreck his GPA due to non-intelligent recall memory for vocabulary.

“There are different ways to learn a language,” he said.

“When I do learn a language, I’ll use an app like Duolingo that integrates me more with how the language is spoken, rather than just memorizing vocabulary.”

Pack said dysgraphia makes him think differently,

5

things to know from this week

-Compiled by Brooke Conrad

which isn’t necessarily bad.

“Dysgraphia makes how I understand the world and use words different,” he said. “I wouldn’t take medication to make me normal. I think it’s better; I find myself finding logical processes much more interesting and more complex.”

Pack requested accommodations for typing instead of writing essays during exams, and time and a half to complete them, though he said he rarely uses it.

“No one wants to read handwritten essays, and it’s easier for professors to grade,” he said. “I just put my computer on airplane mode, and make it easy for the professor to see my screen to make it obvious I’m not cheating.”

Pack said that in his experience, Hillsdale has done an exceptional job catering to students with learning disabilities.

“Hillsdale did as much as they needed to do — the professors were happy to work with me, and to educate me,” he said.

Petersen also highly commended the college’s staff.

“Our professors here are outstanding with meeting the needs of students, and always have been,” he said. “One of our great strengths as an institution is the professors and their willingness to help.”

Petersen recommended students reach out to their professor and ask for extra time on their exams. Sometimes the two work it out, he said, but typically the professor encourages the student to work with the deans.

To help with this, Hillsdale offers an online accommodations request form asking for contact information, a medical assessment of the disability no older than three years old, a description of the disability, and the sought accommodations.

Petersen said the online form benefits freshmen the most because they are unfamiliar with the campus and faculty.

“A few incoming students reached out to my office this summer regarding accommodations,” he said. “They either called directly or submitted the online form. We had initial conversations in the summer and reconnected in the fall upon their arrival.”

Petersen said his relationships are built on the person, not on their disability.

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“Students typically have figured out what accommodations reasonably address their disability by the time they come to college, which is helpful,” he said. “I am impressed by how hard students will work to not let their disability be a block to success.

We want to partner with them in that.”

Petersen encouraged students to reach out for help early.

“We work closely with each student in determining a reasonable accommodation, then notify the professors accordingly, and the professor will meet the accommodation,” Petersen said. “If there’s strong need after that, students shoot me an email saying, ‘Hey Dean, is there any way you can shoot out emails to my new professors this semester?”

Petersen said the dean’s office keeps such matters confidential.

“Professors, students can expect confidentiality and privacy here,” Petersen said.

“Sometimes students share their disability issues directly

“If there’s one thing people can visibly see about me having ADD is that I’m a bit more quirky and outgoing.” with their professors, and I think professors typically appreciate the students’ openness.”

Petersen said Hillsdale’s community helps encourage students to seek help if they are struggling.

“Residence hall life, with its tightly-knit communities, provides help to students with disabilities,” he said. “They will find encouragement to come to the deans if they are struggling in a class, or in some way.”

Petersen said he had no experience with any student trying to abuse accommodations.

In fact, he said some who are given accommodations rarely use them.

Sophomore Montie Montgomery did not immediately

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disclose having ADD to the deans because he hadn’t had problems at Hillsdale.

Although he could qualify, Montgomery said he had never asked for extra time on tests at Hillsdale.

“I went to public school my entire life. There, things were a bit different,” he said. “I never had to ask for extra time, I just took longer times on my tests and quizzes because you get to a point on a quiz or test and you look at the words and you’re like, ‘I really don’t want to do this anymore.’”

The boring format of standardized tests at public school negatively affected him, Montgomery said.

“But here, they structure tests differently. It’s a lot more writing-based, from my experience, and there haven’t been standardized tests,” Montgomery said. “It’s generally been really easy for me to get done in the standard amount of time. Sometimes, I even finish ahead of schedule.”

Montgomery was diagnosed at age 6. The doctors prescribed him Adderall, but he switched to Metadate because Adderall dulled his personality, he said, and he’s been on it ever since.

“I was reading very early; learning was never really hard for me,” he said. “Part of that was because my parents put me on medication at a young age.”

Montgomery said Metadate helped him, but as he grew older, it lasted for a shorter period of time.

“Here, you’re not wading through school, and then have homework. It’s like you’re constantly working on everything,” he said. “And so I’m up to 2 a.m. quite often trying to take 17 credit hours, trying to learn a new language, and being involved in so many extracurricular activities.”

Montgomery said his medicine wears off around 3 p.m.

— usually before he’s even out of class.

He said his hardest struggle was taking foreign languages, which he also couldn’t complete in high school.

“I love reading, but when it comes to foreign languages, it’s like I have to rewrite the entire book. Latin has been easy for me — I can conceptualize that, and it mirrors English,” he said. “But with Spanish, it dragged my GPA down,” Montgomery said. “I don’t think it’s necessarily because I have ADD, but I think Scientists urge worldwide ban on glitter Environmental scientists are concerned about glitter harming animals. Microplastics are known to contaminate the ocean and the Great Lakes, and seven states have already banned microbeads in products such as facial scrubs and body washes.

it played a role in it.”

Montgomery said having ADD didn’t preclude him from pursuing strong academics or club roles at Hillsdale. In fact, he said college was easier for him than high school.

“Classes in general here are hard, but, you know, I like challenge, and it hasn’t held me back,” he said. “The classes aren’t hard enough to the point I can’t do them. I still have a good GPA, I’ve been on Student Federation for the past year, and I’m running for vice president now, and I have countless leadership roles on campus.”

Montgomery said his ADD isn’t obvious.

“If there’s one thing people can visibly see about me having ADD is that I’m a bit more quirky and outgoing,” he said.

“Like, not in a way that’s bad at all, but I jump around with my sentences, unless I have it in front of me.”

Montgomery said he would like to get off the medicine in the future, when he’s not in school and hopefully working at a thinktank in Washington D.C., a job which he thought would complement his personality and ADD. “I think working someplace like the Cato Institute would be a good thing for me because I’m very extroverted, but also decently introverted,” he said. “I’m an [Extraversion, Intuition, Thinking, and Perception on the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator], so I think ADD helps because I can just spout out a bunch of random stuff and keep a conversation going for two hours.”

Montgomery also said Metadate has negative side effects.

“I think I’m medically addicted to it,” he said. “I get incredibly moody when I’m not on it. I think it had a really negative effect on some of my friendships here that I would lash out at. So I’m not a big fan of the pill, even though it helps. I think it’s significantly altered my personality.”

Montgomery hopes to eventually follow the path of his dad, for financial and health reasons.

“I’d like to be off it in nine to 10 years. I know my dad has ADD, and I’ve never seen him take a pill for it,” he said.

“And he does just fine.”

New allegation arise against Rep. John Conyers Deanna Maher, a former staffer of U.S. Rep. John Conyers, D-Michigan, accused Conyers of three unwanted sexual advances. Other sexual allegations against Conyers, including a settlement with another former staffer, prompted a congressional investigation last week.

In brief:

Play ping pong for philanthropy By | Hannah Niemeier Senior Writer

Alpha Tau Omega will host its first ping pong tournament Saturday, Dec. 2, at 11 a.m. in the Grewcock Student Union.

“I noticed the traffic at the ping pong table has increased this semester, so I thought it would be a fun way to play for a good cause,” Steve Sartore, ATO’s philanthropy chair, said.

The tournament will begin with a round of pool play, and contestants who win two out of three games will advance to a single-elimination bracket. Sartore said the final structure of the brackets will depend on how many people sign up, but there will be a chance to buy back into the bracket after double elimination in pool play. Grand prize is a $50 Amazon gift card.

All proceeds for the event will go to InvolvedDad, an organization that aims to get separated fathers back into their families and communities.

“We’ve been working with InvolvedDad for two years now,” Sartore said. “It’s a small organization so our dollar goes a long way toward helping them out.”

Tickets are for sale in the Union throughout the week for $4 in advance, or $5 at the door.

Film club gets funding, fed swears in president By | Emma Cummins Collegian Reporter The Student Federation approved funding for the Actuarial and Film and Production clubs on Nov. 16.

The first proposal came from the Actuarial Club, a pre-professional club for students interested in pursuing a career in the actuarial sciences. Actuarial science utilizes both mathematics and statistics to calculate risk primarily in the insurance and finance industries.

The club asked for $300 to provide pizza, utensils, and drinks for their meetings next semester. The math department had previously funded these expenditures, but the club hopes to use math department funding for the speakers and allocate federation money to food.

The federation approved the full funding unanimously.

“We’re incredibly thankful,” treasurer and sophomore Jarret Ochsendorf said. “This is a good lookout. We hope to start using those math funds to get in some speakers and help get our name out there a little bit.”

The Film and Production Club asked for $540 at the meeting. Since the club lacked basic filming gear, President Kayla Stetzel came to the federation with a list of the essentials that the club needs to succeed.

Stetzel’s request was granted and the federation approved full funding.

“We are very happy to get the full funding,” Stetzel said.

“With this gear, we are now an actual club. We’ve been doing things on campus but now with this gear we have stuff to show people. We can actually work with it, we can actually train people. So it’s really exciting.”

The Student Federation announced results from the elections via email to campus on Nov. 16. Junior Natalie Meckel will serve as Student Federation president and junior Kolbe Conger will serve as vice president.

MPR severs business ties with Keillor Minnesota Public Radio announced on Wednesday that it will terminate contracts with Garrison Keillor, due to allegations of “inappropriate behavior” with one of his co-workers. Keillor hosted “A Prairie Home Companion” for four decades.

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Online: www.hillsdalecollegian.com Editor-in-Chief | Breana Noble Associate and Design Editor | Katherine Scheu News Editor | Jordyn Pair City News Editor | Kaylee McGhee Opinions Editor | Joshua J. Paladino Sports Editor | Stevan Bennett Jr. Culture Editor | Madeline Fry Science & Tech Editor | Madeleine Jepsen Features Editor | Jo Kroeker Web Editor | Chandler Lasch Web Manager | Kolbe Conger Photo Editor | Matthew Kendrick Senior Writers | Brendan Clarey | Michael Lucchese | Hannah Niemeier | Joe Pappalardo Circulation Managers | Finnegan Cleary Ad Managers | Danny Drummond | Matthew Montgomery Assistant Editors | Nicole Ault | Brooke Conrad | Josephine von Dohlen | S. Nathananiel Grime | Scott McClallen | Mark Naida | Nic Rowan | Crystal Schupbach | Anna Timmis 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 jpaladino@hilldale.edu before Saturday at 3 p.m.

Pro-Palestinian speech should be protected By | Cal Abbo Special to The Collegian Free speech advocates frequently criticize college campuses for their outlandish protests of right-wing speakers and anti-speech demonstrations. While these complaints certainly have merit, freedom of expression is in danger of encroachment from a much more influential institution than organized college students: the Israeli lobby.

Israel’s Knesset, the country’s unicameral elected legislature, passed a law in 2011 that penalizes “persons or organizations that boycott Israel or the settlements,” according to Haaretz. The Knesset passed the law in response to the growing Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions movement crafted to garner international awareness and support for a free Palestine.

The article noted that anyone “calling for the boycott of Israel, including the settlements, can be sued by the boycott’s targets.” The legislation not only violates freedom of expression, but John Locke’s famous notion of the right to disposition of one’s property in any way one wishes.

Boycotts against oppressive regimes similar to Israel’s military rule in the West Bank have a robust and powerful history. Gandhi’s followers refused to consume British goods and held large gatherings to burn clothes. China’s May Fourth Movement featured a boycott of Japan, resulting in a 40 percent reduction of Japanese exports to China. Nelson Mandela and the African National Congress implemented many successful boycotts to oppose South Africa’s apartheid state.

Anti-BDS legislation isn’t the Jewish nation’s only departure from natural rights.

Israeli legal code is wrought with similar free speech infringements. For example, Palestinians can be prosecuted for posting a picture of a murdered loved one on Facebook based on how many likes and shares the post has.

Moreover, a controversial ‘anti-terrorism’ law passed in 2016 obscures the legal difference between legitimate, peaceful protest and association with terrorist organizations, opening the door for even more free speech abuses.

As solutions to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict appear more and more futile, the presence of civil disobedience and peaceful protest is evermore imperative. Banning peaceful forms of dissent is a bad political tactic and clearly antithetical to free speech principles. Unfortunately, this disastrous policy has been spreading around the world.

In Feb. 2016, the U.K. passed a law making it illegal for any entity receiving public

funding to refuse to buy goods from illegal Israeli settlements. These bodies would not only lose their public funding, but additionally face “severe penalties” if they violate the statute, according to The Independent.

In Oct. 2016, France’s highest court upheld a conviction of a dozen activists who advocated sanctions and a boycott of Israel in order to end the occupation. The extremist criminals wore shirts lettered “Long live Palestine, boycott Israel” and handed out fliers insisting that “buying Israeli products means legitimizing crimes in Gaza.”

The issue made the leap across the pond into a significant minority of U.S. state legislatures over the past few years. Here in Michigan, a law signed earlier this year stipulates that state agencies “may not enter into a contract with a person… unless the contract includes a representation that the person is not currently engaged in, and an agreement that the person will not engage in, the boycott of a person based in or doing business with a strategic partner.”

Last year, Andrew Cuomo, the Governor of New York, issued an executive order requiring all agencies to cease dealing with businesses and organizations that support BDS. Even worse, the American Israel Public Affairs Committee targeted the U.S. Congress earlier this year by writing a bill to criminalize BDS. The bill would have amended existing law so that, according to the ACLU, an individual or business could suffer a “minimum penalty of $250,000” and a “maximum criminal penalty of $1 million and 20 years in prison” for participating in the boycott.

Before reaching the public eye and faltering, the bill had 234 co-sponsors in the House and 43 in the Senate.

As a result of a Texas anti-BDS law, some Hurricane Harvey victims must agree to an absurd clause when applying for a relief grant. In Dickinson, Texas, the application reads, “the Applicant: (1) does not boycott Israel; and (2) will not boycott Israel during the term of this Agreement.” Basing hurricane aid on political alignment is an unambiguous subversion of free speech and a clear example of discrimination.

With rampant, despotic persecution of Palestinians in the West Bank and economic strangulation in Gaza, peaceful activists have turned to economic boycott, but they continue to struggle against powers that be. Even if people approve of the military occupation of the West Bank, at least support Palestinians’ right to speak against it.

Cal Abbo is a freshman studying the liberal arts.

The opinion of The Collegian editorial staff

Booths in A.J.’s Café, classrooms in Lane Hall, and study rooms in Mossey Library are about to become the hottest commodities on campus. As papers, projects, and finals start to take over your life, it’s important to remember that there are 1,507 other students on campus.

We have become too accustomed to hoarding classrooms for ourselves and reserving coveted tables for hours on end with our laptops, bookbags, cell phones, or pens. It’s so much a part of our culture

that we don’t even seem to think twice about it, and we’re all guilty.

This semester, however, we should be more cognizant of how our seemingly inconsequential actions affect our peers.

Of course, if you need to leave your items in your claimed space to grab some lunch or run a quick errand, nobody should blame you for this. This is one of the greatest benefits of our collective adherence to the Honor Code.

On the other hand, we must

be careful not to abuse this trust. Just because we can use our laptops as $500 reserved signs doesn’t mean that we should.

Instead, if we need to leave a public study space for more than an hour, even if we plan to return, we should pack our bag and take it with us, leaving the space open for somebody else to work.

Similarly, we should be willing to share larger study areas, realizing that others face similar deadlines and stress levels.

If you have a classroom or a large library table locked down on a Saturday, invite somebody looking for a table to join you. More than likely, you will both throw in headphones and lose awareness of the other’s existence, or you may make a new study buddy.

We are all on this journey together, and the opportunity to walk alongside each other on the path and help out in small ways along the way is something we should embrace.

Endowment taxes hurt liberal arts education By | Michael Lucchese Columnist Hillsdale College should be worried about the Republicans’ tax reform plan.

Although many conservatives celebrated the passage of the bill through the Senate Budget Committee, they ought to oppose the bill’s introduction of a university endowment tax.

If passed by Congress, this bill would impose a 1.4 percent tax on the investment incomes of universities with endowments at or above $250,000 per student. According to reports, this new tax would affect about 70 institutions — including Hillsdale College.

Our endowment is $548 million, and there are roughly 1,500 students enrolled here.

That means there is about $360,000 in the endowment for every student, qualifying Hillsdale for this new tax.

The U.S. tax code is overcomplicated and desperately in need of reform. Many measures in the Republican plan deserve support, such as cutting corporate taxes and reducing the number of tax brackets, but the proposed endowment tax is not such a measure.

Republicans intend this new tax to help pay for the

tax-reform package. University endowments are a convenient target for new taxes, because the Republican base views the academy as one of their great adversaries in the culture wars.

R.R. Reno, the editor of “First Things,” defended this new tax as a weapon for the culture war. He thinks that it should be even higher.

“Cultural power has become concentrated in a narrower and narrower class of people, and the institutions that serve (and perpetuate) them have become arrogant and detached,” he wrote online earlier this month.

According to Reno, many of the problems in the country can be traced to a dereliction of duty by the academy.

Tenured radicals and socialist professors corrupt the youth, Reno argued, and therefore deserve this tax as a punishment.

“Taxes have consequences.

Raise taxes on something, and you’ll get less of it,” he wrote. “That’s exactly why the tax on super-sized university endowments is wise. We need less elite snobbery, condescension, and civic irresponsibility, which means we need less elite education.”

Rank-and-file conservatives seem to agree. In a recent Pew Research Center poll, 58

percent of Republican voters said they believe that institutions of higher education are negatively influencing the direction of the country.

As insane as campus culture can be, congressional Republicans should stop exploiting anger at the academy to make ends meet.

The university endowment tax will disincentivize growing institutions and punish established colleges — such as our own — which uphold the values culture warriors claim to defend.

Thanks to the generosity of friends of the college, Hillsdale has a remarkably large endowment for an institution of its size. Provost David Whalen told The Collegian in 2013: “It is not too much to say the endowment is what permits the independence of the college. If the college did not have the endowment it would not be able to afford students’ scholarships.”

The proposed endowment tax challenges Hillsdale’s prized independence. The 1.4 percent tax may seem like a meager number, but the costs of running an educational institution can add up. On top of that, any time a new tax is introduced, Congress could raise it at any given time in the future — meaning that this proposal could set a danger-

ous precedent.

Grove City College, Wyoming Catholic College, and other schools that refuse to accept government funding are looking to achieve the same kind of independence we have. Even if their endowments do not trigger the tax yet, the tax could still make it harder for them to grow.

Conservatives ought to look to encourage this growing movement rather than stifle it. Legitimate complaints against the academy are complaints about institutions which have forgotten their purpose, not the idea of scholarship or liberal education.

Reno and other conservatives support the endowment tax insofar as it hurts their enemies. Hillsdale College, on the other hand, is trying a different approach. To take back the academy, we’re offering an alternative to its relativism and intolerance.

America needs more elite education, not less. We should be trying to redeem the academy and restore its purpose.

The endowment tax inhibits that mission, and the Senate should remove it from the final version of their tax-reform bill.

Michael Lucchese is a senior majoring in American studies.

Catalonia can’t survive without Spain By | Abby Liebing Special to The Collegian Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy of Spain has set Dec. 21 as the date for new elections in Catalonia after the Catalan Parliament declared independence on Oct. 27.

After Catalonia declared independence, chaos erupted.

Catalan President Carles Puigdemont left for Brussels before he could be arrested and charged with acts of rebellion and sedition. The Spanish government took away Catalonia’s autonomy and tried to enforce Article 155 of the Spanish Constitution.

Now, Rajoy hopes to have a turnover in Catalan public offices with new elections.

To understand the recent movement for independence in Catalonia, it is essential to know a little history about the autonomous state. The Catalan region of Spain has been different and somewhat independent from the rest of Spain, because it ran its own economy, spoke its own language, and held to Catalan traditions for almost 1000 years.

But during General Francisco Franco’s dictatorship from 1939-1975, the Catalan state was suppressed. It wasn’t until the Spanish Civil war and the 1978 Spanish Constitution that Catalonia regained its autonomy. Since then, Catalonia has become even prouder of its separate identity and traditions.

Catalonia continued its growth as an autonomous state and became very prosperous. It now contributes about 25 percent of Spain’s GDP and has the wealthiest economy among Spanish states.

With a healthy economy, proud heritage, and language, a movement for independence

arose in Catalonia.

Irati Bilbao, a 28-year-old doctor from Bilbao, Spain, said she believes that the movement for independence originated mainly from a few liberal leaders in Catalonian government.

“The problem with this is that in Catalonia there has emerged a liberalist movement that believes that they can be a free state outside of Spain that, to date, is not legal since the constitution does not contemplate it,” Bilbao said.

Scott Musser, an American who lives in a small town outside of Madrid, agrees that the independence movement

“Leaving Spain would be a foolish decision for Catalonia...” is driven largely by radical Catalan leaders.

“Less than half of the Catalans want independence from Spain, and I would estimate that less than 5 percent of those outside of the region want them to be independent as well...Unfortunately, the few radical leaders of the Catalan Parliament are the ones driving the train,” Musser said.

But Catalonia still held a vote for independence on Oct. 1 and Spanish police were sent in to stop the vote. The police violence caused a stir throughout Spain and the EU and caused people on both sides of the independence issue to react strongly.

Bilbao was concerned that the police violence during the vote actually strengthened the independence movement.

“Also after the fights and blows that the Spanish police

distributed to the people, the Catalans have become very angry and people who before would have voted no [to independence] now they say yes,” Bilbao said.

After the illegal vote there was considerable opposition to the independence movement by other Catalans and people outside of the Catalan region as about 1 million people marched in Barcelona on Oct. 8 to protest the vote and promote unity and peace.

“Spain as a whole, recognizes that Catalonia is good for Spain, and Spain is good for Catalonia,” Musser said.

“Way more turned out to promote peace and unity than did those who wanted independence.”

Catalonia is in violation of the Spanish Constitution, and according to article 155, preventative measures can be taken to keep Catalonia from breaking with Spain. Article 155 has never been enforced but it gives the Spanish Government license to take any necessary measures to keep communities unified under the Spanish Government.

After the Oct.1 vote, the Spanish government gave President Puigdemont the opportunity to retract the unofficial declaration of independence before they enacted article 155 and took over Catalonia.

Instead, on Oct. 27, President Puigdemont called for a vote in the Catalan Parliament and the vote was in favor of independence. So independence was officially declared.

The Spanish government quickly swooped in and took over Catalonia, taking away its autonomy, and charging many of its leaders with criminal acts of rebellion, sedition, and misuse of public funds.

Puigdemont disappeared to Brussels, claiming he was going to muster European

support, but Madrid issued an EU-wide warrant to send Puigdemont back to be tried.

Rajoy has called for snap Catalan elections to be held on Dec. 21. Puigdemont and other pro-independence leaders have not been banned from running, which means there is a possibility of them being able to take the majority of parliament seats again and strengthen the independence movement more than ever.

But if the December elections are won by the independence movement there would most likely just be a repeat of the current chaos. The Spanish Government is not going to let Catalonia simply leave, especially when there is significant support for unification.

Leaving Spain would be a foolish decision for Catalonia since it would also be leaving the EU. Catalonia had a strong economy until the movement for independence.

About 7,000 businesses and banks are considering moving out of Catalonia if it becomes independent. For many international businesses it would be too risky to be located in a newly independent country separated from the EU. If Catalonia could separate from Spain, the economy could weaken.

But the Dec. 21 elections will be the next step in determining the strength and possibility of an independent Catalonia. If the current pro-independence leaders are not banned from the election there is still a chance that the independence movement could move forward until Catalonia is separated from Spain.

“The truth is that we are all expectant and waiting to see what happens, but we have to solve it quickly,” Bilbao said.

Abby Liebing is a sophomore studying history.

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Read a children’s book this Christmas break By | Philip Berntson Special to The Collegian “A childhood without books — that would be no childhood. That would be like being shut out from the enchanted place where you can go and find the rarest kind of joy.” So claimed Astrid Lindgren, the prolific Swedish writer who authored the iconic Pippi Longstocking series.

Lindgren grew up on a small farm in rural Sweden.

She played and played and played with her siblings, until she thought she would die of fun.

She knew the people in her life intimately...she experienced a childhood without distractions. Before the days of cell phones and streetlights and television sets, all Lindgren had were the fairytale Swedish woods, the pastures and the barns, her siblings and

her friends.

In her late 30’s Lindgren began to write. She wrote about her childhood. She wrote about her pranks, her farm, the woods and the food and the family. And she brought to life some of Sweden’s, and the world’s, most beloved characters and stories.

What is it that appeals so much to adults about children’s books? It is that we, even as adults, still feel an attraction to them, as if their innocence and simplicity were a magnet for our jaded and disillusioned souls. Lindgren’s characters — boys and girls so full of spunk, ferocity, strength, and kindness — represent something we feel we have lost.

As children, we appreciated the imagination and adventure of the stories, but we lacked a sense of their overall vision and depth. We were thrilled by “Watership Down”,

By | Madeline Fry Culture Editor When our parents said “go,” my three brothers and I raced downstairs into the living room. We tugged our stockings off the mantle, treasuring each chocolate goodie from Santa and eyeing his empty cookie plate and half-drunk milk glass. By turns, we shucked gold and green-wrapped presents with festive tags marked “from Santa.” Overjoyed by the Star Wars Lego sets and that new American Girl doll, we turned to our parents.

“Thanks, Mom and Dad!” We never believed in Santa Claus. But growing up, I didn’t miss him much. To us, he was both a historical figure and an imaginary character. We should all embrace the joy of Santa this way, not as our annual chimney sweep.

We kids celebrated the real Santa Claus, the third-century bishop from modern-day Turkey who dispersed his hefty inheritance among the poor, delivering not Lego sets but bags of gold to those who needed them. On Dec. 6, the day of his death, we celebrated St. Nicholas’ Day. Every year, a lovely friend from church, an émigré from Holland, would knock on our front door, and in what is evidently a Dutch tradition — don’t ask me why — she would hover in the doorway singing “Sinterklaas Kapoentje” and pelting us with ginger cookies.

We read books on St. Nicholas and admired the good bishop and never had to ask mommy how the holy man was still alive and kicking.

Parents who tell their children the truth — that the jolly old man died some 1700 years ago — build camaraderie with their kids. I appreciated that my parents respected me enough to be honest with me, and the truth became an

inside joke between us.

With four kids bumbling about the house, they also saved themselves the hassle of stowing away wrapping paper and devising excuses for why Santa decided against the $400 bike this year.

Encouraging children to emulate St. Nick also inspires good behavior more than warning them to keep off the Naughty List. Let’s be real: Kids know that Santa’s gifts will always materialize under the tree, temper tantrum or not.

Some of you will sadly shake your heads and call me an angry elf. CNN accused the United States Air Force of similar surliness last month after it “shattered the magic of Christmas for millions of children” by tweeting that Santa wasn’t real.

On its official Twitter account, the Air Force told two of its bases to drop a feud by threatening no Christmas presents — because Santa is a phony. After the Washington Examiner reported the tweet, the Air Force revisited its joke to avoid Scrooge status.

It tweeted, “Santa is real,” and tagged the North American Aerospace Defense Command, which, it said, tracks Santa’s sleigh ride. Despite the change, CNN still charged the military branch with playing “Grinch.”

Even “All I Want For Christmas Is You” singer Mariah Carey won’t deny the existence of Kris Kringle.

“Santa comes every year!” she told BuzzFeed this month.

It’s much more popular to be a Santa believer than a Grinch. The name of Santa Claus sells songs (“Santa Baby,” anyone?), empties shelves of toys, and inspires unnecessary trips to the shopping mall, where — dare I say it? — he sits on a throne of lies.

Those who believe in sharing the myth of a chim-

ney-hopping Santa will offer this primary objection: Santa Claus is a source, and inspiration, of children’s imagination.

He is. But only if they know Santa Claus is an imaginary figure.

We tell children stories to move their imaginations.

We read them fables and C.S. Lewis and Where the Wild Things Are. Children know these stories to be fiction, but they still appreciate the fantasy. Distinguishing between imagined worlds and the one we inhabit doesn’t detract from their curious sense of wonder.

So Santa Claus doesn’t have to rally his reindeer to engage our curiosity. I knew fairies weren’t real either, but that didn’t stop me from making homes for them in the garden.

In eight-year-old Virginia O’Hanlon’s famous 1897 letter to the editor of a New York newspaper, she asks for the truth: “Is there a Santa Claus?”

The editor, in prose that should inspire a reader of any age, tells the young girl not to lose faith. His response is the most-printed newspaper editorial to this day.

“The most real things in the world are those that neither children nor men can see,” he writes. “Nobody can conceive or imagine all the wonders there are unseen and unseeable in the world.”

But what if we reserve our faith in the unseen for virtues, like love and trust, or religion?

What if we were to choose it rightly, and keep it, forever?

If Santa is real, all children must learn the truth and grow up. If he is an imaginary fellow, we can believe in him always.

So no, Virginia, there isn’t a Santa Claus. But that doesn’t mean you can’t leave him cookies.

Lighting Ceremony in North Adams the last three years.

Our residents look forward to hearing and visiting with these talented students, and we look forward to 2018 and asking them to sing, while riding on our fire truck, from

the library to the village fire department for hot cocoa and cookies. We are thrilled to have them participating with our community residents.

Badger and Toad row a boat in “The Wind and the Willows.”

Flickr

a spellbinding quest featuring talking bunnies and dreadful predators. We laughed at “The Phantom Tollbooth”, a wacky tale of a bored young man caught up in a magical land and the adventure of a lifetime. We smiled at the foibles and tomfoolery of Toad and Badger in “The

Wind in the Willows”. They appealed to our imagination and our youthful craving for adventure, and they offered a lens through which that inner spark of imagination, inherent in all children, could glow.

Now, we are older. We live busy lives. We study and we hang out and we exercise and

we try to make our way in this crazy college universe. But we don’t play anymore. Perhaps we can’t. Perhaps we have lost that imagination, that inner spark which paints the world with wonder and our lives with adventure.

Yet still, even after our coming of age, the books of our youth not only maintain their fun and adventurous tales, but offer even more substance to the adult reader.

Now we understand Hazel, the protagonist of “Watership Down”, in light of the epic heroes Aeneas and Odysseus, and are inspired by his sacrifice and bravery. We can sympathize with Milo of “The Phantom Tollbooth,” as he navigates through “the doldrums” — representative of life’s dreary, boring, and ho-hum days. We gain a fresh understanding of loyalty and friendship through the comradery of the characters in

“The Wind and the Willows.”

Author’s like Lindgren, Richard Adams, and Kenneth Grahame have offered more to the world’s literary legacy than history often credits them.

They captured the magic of childhood — the wonder and the fun. And they taught us, at a malleable young age, some of life’s most important lessons, ones we carry with us to this day.

As Hillsdale students, we can get so caught up in the intricacy and complication of knowledge and truth that we often miss out on it’s simplicity and beauty. So I challenge you to pick up a copy of your childhood favorite this Christmas break and get reading.

Forego, for a while, “The Politics” and “The Confessions,” and lose yourself in the sacred simplicity of youth.

Philip Berntson is a sophomore studying the liberal arts.

No, Virginia, Santa isn’t real Giving on Tuesday isn’t enough

Madeline Fry is a senior studying French.

Letter to the Editor

Dear Editor,

Thank you to Brant Cohen and other students from the Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia Music Fraternity for singing Christmas Carols at our annual Community Christmas Tree

Rick Beach is the president of the North Adams Village.

By | Nicole Ault Assistant Editor Shoppers who spent a little too much on Black Friday and Cyber Monday had the chance to opt for a feel-good fix on Giving Tuesday this week.

Dubbed #GivingTuesday, the annual social media movement claims to “kick off the charitable season” by encouraging people to donate to charities around the world on the Tuesday after Thanksgiving. For the most part, it crops up as online donation portals that allow you to help your favorite cause with the click of a mouse.

Giving Tuesday supports some good causes, but it isn’t the best way to be generous.

Rather, its promotion of simple online donations can be a form of materialism itself — encouraging us to act as though money and things will solve people’s problems and to support organizations that do the same. And it can distract us from giving our greatest immaterial resource: the time we could spend volunteering and building relationships in our local communities.

Online giving is becoming more popular. According to the latest M+R Benchmark Study of nonprofit giving metrics, online giving revenue in 2016 increased by 14 percent over 2015 totals. And the Network for Good’s Digital Giving Index found that about 30 percent of online donations on their platform in 2015 — nearly $250 million to more than 40,000 nonprofits — took place in December.

Despite generous intentions, the money you’re donating probably won’t have the effects you imagine — and might even wreak unintended havoc.

Most of the third-party charitable organizations that handle your money don’t use it to the most helpful ends, argues “Poverty, Inc.,” a 2014 documentary produced by the Acton Institute. They often flood money or goods into an impoverished community, stripping the local people of the ability to help themselves and glutting a market that would otherwise work smoothly on its own in the long run, the film points out.

For example, the film criti-

cizes the trendy TOMS shoes organization, which donates a pair of shoes to a poor person for every pair bought in the U.S. The slip-on shoes used to be made in local Argentinian communities. But with free ones coming in, local shoemakers found themselves out of business.

A church sending eggs to Rwanda and the U.S. government dumping free rice on Haiti created similar problems, the film explains — putting local people out of work by giving them goods they could produce themselves.

Ultimately, the film demonstrates, projects and organizations like these are all too common, and they do more harm than good. By flooding impoverished markets with goods, even well-intentioned charities aren’t just hurting the economy but also treating poor people as if they’re incapable, material consumers, not creative entrepreneurs worth the investment of our time and effort.

The problem affects domestic charity efforts, too.

“Our society … has been all too willing to write off some subset of our neighbors, seeing them as burdens to be managed at minimal expense.

We must reject this,” writes Arthur Brooks, president of the American Enterprise Institute, in his discussion of American poverty in his book “The Conservative Heart.”

Instead, he argues, people should be treated as assets who can create value and who want to earn their success — and that requires investment of our time to help them.

Thoughtless material giving makes a condescending assumption, what Covenant College professors Brian Fikkert and Steve Corbett, authors of “When Helping Hurts,” call “resource paternalism.” By dumping goods or money on a community, we’re implying that the local people can’t help themselves with their own creativity, skills, and hard work — that they need to subsist on our excess goods.

Moreover, material giving assumes that poverty is a material problem, which is true only to an extent. Certainly, physical needs should be met

with physical goods like food and clothing, especially in the wake of disasters. Providing material goods can be an effective ministry, but as a long-term solution, it won’t suffice.

“Poverty is rooted in broken relationships,” write Fikkert and Corbett. The solution, then, is in building relationships, not just making sure the poor have the food and clothes they need.

And that requires a lot more work than a one-click bank-account transfer or sending a check in the mail.

It requires your time and involvement, especially in your local community, where you can sustain lasting relationships.

Local volunteering is inconvenient in the holiday season, but it’s much more rewarding. Forego a few hours at the shopping mall to spend time working at the local food pantry, sorting clothes at a pregnancy center, or tutoring a nearby student. Make a meal for a family at your church.

Get to know your neighbor, and find out if they need yard work or a babysitter.

Love your actual neighbor — someone within your reach, whose needs you know and with whom you can build a long-term relationship with.

An hour of volunteering is worth $24.14, according to the Independent Sector — far more than the average millennial wage. But regardless of monetary value, volunteering is a better method of self-sacrifice. It’s more reflective of Christ, who took time to dine with the poor and the sinners and talk with children and humble women, and who’s supposed to be the center of attention this time of year.

It’s not wrong to give on #GivingTuesday. If you do it next year, take the time to research the organizations you donate to. Make sure they treat poor people as creative, talented, and capable, and that they seek to establish relationships.

Give money, thoughtfully — and don’t be satisfied with your generosity till you’ve given away a lot of your time.

Nicole Ault is a junior studying economics.

GOP tax plan will raise wages and employment By | Noah Weinrich Special to The Collegian Ed Fryar, an Arizona chicken farmer, will add nearly 50 percent to his workforce next year — but only if the House tax plan becomes law.

The bill will help millions of Americans and small business owners pay less in taxes, and its corporate cuts will help bring jobs and taxes to the United States.

Business tax cuts aren’t just good for millionaire business owners these days. Most U.S. businesses, particularly small businesses, are set up as “passthrough corporations,” meaning their owners pay personal income tax on the profits instead of corporate tax. The House bill will drop that top

rate from 39.6 percent to 25 percent — a massive break for successful small businesses.

Ed Fryar owns a chicken company and was recently interviewed for National Public Radio’s Marketplace. With the pass-through tax cut, one of the bill’s business tax cuts, he will be able to pay down his business loan in one year instead of three. And when that’s paid off, he will add 500 to 800 employees to his current 1700-man workforce.

That kind of growth will raise wages, employment, and tax revenues at the same time.

The bill’s corporate tax cut is also a great boon for business. The tax cut from 35 percent to 20 percent will help bring corporations and their tax revenues back to U.S. shores. The drop will make

America competitive with other countries, almost all of which has a far lower corporate tax rate on paper (though its effective tax rate is only slightly higher than that of other countries).

Between the corporate and pass-through tax cuts, the House bill provides serious incentives for large businesses to continue to operate and for small businesses to start up in the United States. If President Donald Trump signs the bill into law, U.S. businesses and wages could grow faster than they have in decades.

The bill also improves personal income taxes.

Sophomore Joshua Waechter’s column from the Nov. 16 issue of The Collegian, “GOP tax plan harms most Americans,” misses the mark on this point.

He says that the removal of certain itemized deductions will hurt most Americans, but that’s not true. Those removals only affect the upper classes and the other reforms in the bill balance it out for everyone else. The bill simplifies the tax code and promotes American business and wage growth for all.

Waechter argues against several reforms that eliminate deductions in order to simplify the tax code. But the vast majority of Americans don’t use any of the affected deductions.

He says that capping the property tax deduction at $10,000 would hurt many Americans. But the average American only pays about $2,100 in property taxes. This proposed change would only

affect Americans living in high-tax states with homes worth over half a million dollars. It’s not exactly a big hit for Joe Six-Pack.

In fact, 70 percent of Americans use the standard deduction, which means they don’t take any itemized deductions like property tax deduction. Waechter claims the bill “eliminates necessary deductions for millions of middle-income and lower-income Americans.” That’s simply not true, when 70 percent of Americans don’t take any of the deductions mentioned in the column, and the ones that do are mostly upper-class.

The tax bill doubles the standard deduction while eliminating the smaller “personal exemption.” It’s a complicated tradeoff, but it

basically evens out for most Americans while simplifying the tax code in the process.

And with the expanded child tax credit, many lower-income singles and families will save on taxes.

The facts back this up: the Joint Committee on Taxation shows that the tax plan would be either beneficial or neutral for the 92 percent of Americans for five years. And after five years, it would still help most Americans.

This sweeping reform benefits all income levels and cuts through the nightmarish red tape of the IRS tax code.

Come April, most Americans’ taxes will be easier than ever — and they’ll probably even save a little. It’s what the GOP has promised for decades.

If the bill passes the Senate

A6 Nov. 30, 2017

www.hillsdalecollegian.com

Five Mich. counties begin roadside drug testing program By | Joshua J. Paladino Opinions Editor The Michigan State Police, in cooperation with local police departments, began a pilot roadside drug testing program on Nov. 8.

The program allows police to request that motorists suspected of driving under the influence of drugs submit to an oral fluid test. The mouth swab will test for cocaine, cannabis, heroin, methamphetamine, and prescription drugs.

Five counties are participating in the pilot program: Berrien, Delta, Kent, St. Clair, and Washtenaw. The program will not affect Hillsdale County.

The trial period for the program will go until Nov. 8, 2018. At that point, the Michigan State Police will have 90 days to analyze the program’s effectiveness and send a recommendation to the Michigan legislature about whether to expand or discontinue the program.

The program gets its authority from Public Acts 242 and 243, which Gov. Rick Snyder signed into law in 2016.

Special First Lt. for the Michigan State Police Jim Flegel said the Michigan State Police started the program in response to a 32 percent rise in drug-related traffic fatalities from 2015-2016.

“We’re hoping to give law enforcement another tool to assist them in detecting impaired drivers on controlled substances,” Flegel said. “If this program is successful after one year, then we will expand it to additional counties, and if it continues to be successful, I can foresee this program being implemented to all law enforcement agencies in Michigan.”

Flegel said the oral fluid pilot program is only a preliminary measure, just like a breathalyzer test. If the preliminary oral fluid test shows positive results, then officers can take suspects into the police department for a blood test, he said.

“If we can show the oral fluid is accurate, then it might not only be a preliminary test, but could also potentially be an evidentiary test,” he said.

Other law enforcement experts do not believe the oral fluid test is accurate enough to convict people of driving under the influence of drugs.

“There’s about a 25 percent false positive rate. So anything where the science can be 25 percent wrong, they shouldn’t be doing,” said Steve Miller, retired sergeant for the Canton Police Department. “The testing is not needed.”

Miller said officers should be able to determine whether someone is driving impaired without a test.

He also raised concerns about how the new law will affect medical cannabis patients.

“If an officer pulls a patient over, they’ll smell marijuana in the car, and then ask them to do a roadside swab test,” Miller said. “Well if you’re a

medical marijuana patient, then you’re going to test positive.”

Miller said the positive test result does not necessarily indicate whether the medical cannabis patient has the mental and physical ability to drive. This is because the active drug in cannabis, THC, can remain in saliva for 24 hours or longer, even though THC only remains active for about an hour after consumption.

“Even though officers have no visible signs of impairment about the person, you’re gonna get people sucked into taking the test, which just like a portable breath test, is a civil infraction if you refuse to do it,” Miller said. “Our advice at the medical marijuana law firm is to not take the test. If they truly believe you’re under the influence of narcotics, they can still take you in.”

The fine for refusing to take the oral swab test is $200.

Frank Straub, director of strategic studies for the Police Foundation, said citizens, specifically medical marijuana patients, shouldn’t worried about being tested arbitrarily.

He said officers must meet the same burden of proof to administer the preliminary oral fluid test as they do for the breathalyzer test.

“It can’t be the primary test out of the box,” Straub said.

“Officers have to have reasonable suspicion to pull a car over to begin with.

After having pulled someone over, they have to notice certain behaviors, at which point they can administer a field sobriety test.

Based on the results of that field sobriety test, they then can request a breathalyzer or oral swab test.”

In response to the idea that medical cannabis patients will fail the oral fluid test, Straub said the test kit can be calibrated in such a way to differentiate “current use” from “residual markers” of cannabis consumption.

On top of these requirements, only specially trained officers, known as drug recognition experts, or DREs, have the authority to administer the preliminary oral fluid test, according to Flegel. There are 27 DREs working in the five participating counties.

Straub said people shouldn’t be fearful of driving due to marijuana legalization, but he also believes police officers should have the tools they need to address potential threats to public safety.

“I don’t know that we’ve necessarily seen dramatic increases in traffic-related fatalities as a result of marijuana legalization, but it is certainly something we need to be mindful of,” Straub said. “The focus is impaired driving, and so I think from that perspective, any steps that we can take to ensure the safety of people on our roads, the better off we are — within the parameters of the law and the Constitution.”

“We’re hoping to give law enforcement another tool to assist them in detecting impaired drivers on controlled substances.”

The City of Hillsdale is selling the abandoned hotel in downtown Hillsdale. City of Hillsdale

Abandoned hotel to be purchased, renovated By | Nolan Ryan Collegian Reporter The City of Hillsdale is negotiating a contract with a company looking to purchase the Keefer House, an abandoned hotel in downtown Hillsdale.

Director of Economic Development Mary Wolfram said the city is is working with the unidentified company to negotiate a price and a business proposal. Wolfram said the development agreement includes certain “benchmarks” the company is required to accomplish within two years of the purchase.

She said the city hopes these requirements will help restore the Keefer House — located on Howell Street — into a hotel once again.

Through the Tax Increment Financing Authority, or TIFA, the city bought the Keefer House in October 2016.

“TIFA purchased the properties of the Keefer House and Dawn Theater in 2016 in the expectation of having them returned to their original scope and purpose, as a hotel and downtown entertainment venue,” said Robert Socha, TIFA board member.

Wolfram said the city hopes to reinstate the Keefer House as a hotel.

“The reason we bought it was to find a developer and develop it into a hotel, maybe apartments” she said. “We bought it because it had been sitting empty and there was no attempt to develop it for many, many years. It died an inglorious death.”

Wolfram said Hillsdale had to buy the property, because searching for developers is only possible for properties the city owns. In its search for potential buyers, TIFA submitted a Request for Proposal, or RFP, this past March. This is a document that asks po-

tential buyers to send business proposals.

When nothing came of the RFP, TIFA submitted a Request for Qualifications, or RFQ, in September. This determines the eligibility and possible success of potential buyers.

“We got two qualified statements back,” Wolfram said. “We are pursuing the better of the two.” This entire process has taken a great deal of time, as it has been over a year since TIFA bought the Keefer House. Wolfram said these processes, however, are necessary.

“People criticize government for how long everything takes, but there’s a reason for it,” she said. “The TIFA board only meets every other month. It’s a group of volunteers from the business community.”

The Keefer House itself was built in 1885 and functioned as a hotel until 1965,

when it became a rooming house. It ultimately closed in the early 2000’s. According to Hillsdale’s Historic Walking Tour, the building “has three storefronts facing on Howell Street and extends along North Street all the way to the mid-block alley.”

The hotel boasts famous guests such as sharpshooter Annie Oakley and scout William “Buffalo Bill” Cody.

According to the Historic Walking Tour, it has 54 guest rooms, as well as a dining room and two saloons. It was the site of many social events, including weddings and dances.

Wolfram said the Keefer House contributes to the historic worth of Hillsdale.

“Our entire downtown is on the national register of historic places,” Wolfram said.

“That is because we have so many historic buildings in our historic district. The Keefer House is apart of that.”

World-famous local guitarist to perform Christmas concert By | Brooke Conrad Assistant Editor David Youngman, a local guitarist who was named the International Finger Style Guitar Champion in 2015, will hold a solo concert next week at Free Methodist Church, debuting Christmas arrangements from his latest album.

A Michigan native, Youngman moved to Hillsdale 11 years ago with his wife, Liz. In 2014, he was the first to place in three of the biggest finger style competitions in the world in a single year, and in 2015, he won both the International Finger Style Guitar Championship and the Indiana Finger Style Guitar Competition. He will perform Dec. 3, 4, and 5, with tickets costing $10 at the door.

Youngman incorporates both finger styles — plucking the strings instead of strumming — and percussive elements into his music in order to “layer” the sound and give the impression that multiple musicians are playing. Growing up with little exposure to musical variety, Youngman now tries to incorporate many different musical genres into his compositions.

“I had this thought, what if someone was influenced by every genre — jazz, rap, metal, punk rock, classical, bluegrass, just kind of everything. For finger style that works really well — you can go a lot of different directions, and it’s still cohesive because it has a solo sound.”

Youngman began teaching himself to play guitar when he was around 12-years-old and took his first formal lessons

Hardware

from A1 Construction is expected to last six months from the demolition with an additional four months dedicated to building retail space and training employees. Gelzer said the new store could open as soon as June though more likely July or August.

Gelzer said the new location will provide a more convenient and open shopping experience and material handling like that at Home Depot or Wal-Mart instead of the “hermit crab” feel of its downtown store.

“Here, you don’t need a

at Spring Arbor University, where he majored in trumpet performance, with guitar as a secondary instrument. A year after graduation, he sold his trumpets and took up guitar, partly because he could not practice the trumpet in his apartment, and also because the trumpet would require him to find a band.

“I kind of connected with the guitar more,” Youngman said. “I’m more of a composer, so the instrument almost doesn’t matter; it’s just about expressing something.”

Youngman developed severe tendonitis in his hands and forearms while working on his degree and touring Michigan during the summer with his “jazzgrass” trio.

“I felt called by God to do this, and now what — I can’t play,” Youngman said. “I looked for doctors, physical therapists, teachers, anyone who could help.”

Youngman studied the Alexander Technique, an educational process that aims to help one avoid unnecessary muscular tension by retraining bodily movements.

Then in 2013, Youngman wanted to build his reputation as a guitarist and signed up for the three biggest finger style competitions he could find. After placing several times between 2013 and 2015, Youngman now focuses on teaching guitar at Spring Arbor and composing his own music, and he said he plans to leave competitions behind.

“They really mess with your head,” he said. “It was hard to write music; I felt like it had to be complicated and hard, and it got to the point guide once you get the lay of the land, but when you first walk in, it’s a little intimidating,” Gelzer said.

Being on M-99, or Carleton Road, will also be beneficial, he said. It will avoid the confusing one-way streets in the downtown and the slow business days that come when the city closes down N. Howell Road for parades or other events.

“We’ll be in a convenient location and in control,” Gelzer said.

The building into which the store is opening has a significant history. William T. Buchanan & Sons Screen

Professional guitarist David Youngman will perform at Hillsdale Free Methodist on Dec. 3, 4, and 5. David Youngman | Courtesy

where I didn’t want to sit down and write anything.”

Youngman said the most rewarding part of making music for him is seeing how it impacts other people.

“When someone says something like a loved one died in their family and my music is their go-to music, that surprises me and gives me purpose,” he said.

Jeanette Plummer has attended Free Methodist for almost 12 years and said she gets to hear Youngman solo at the church a few times a year.

“I always love to hear David play,” Plummer said. “He has a special ability to breathe new life into well known classics…David has the gift of focus. Whatever thing he chooses to put his mind to, he pours into until he has refined his craft hundreds of times over.”

Dave Turner, associate pastor of Free Methodist Church and director of both youth and worship, said that Youngman often helps the praise

band come up with creative ways to approach a hymn for Sunday morning. He said they first bonded over music about 10 years ago.

“He does things with guitars that most people can’t even fathom,” Turner said.

“You know how painters make up their own colors when painting — that’s how he approaches guitar; he’ll find a way to make it sound the way he wants it to sound.”

Youngman has attended Free Methodist church since he moved to Hillsdale and plays the drums for the Sunday morning praise band.

He also teaches his three sons guitar.

“I’m now pushing toward more arts-type venues, just trying to push the artistic level and just being original. I don’t like to get boxed into some mold of being a Christian guitarist. I want there be this attachment of ‘I’m pursuing high art in my music.’”

Door Works moved to the spot in 1895 and was the first screen door factory in the United States.

This move marks the hardware store’s second move in Hillsdale since it came to the city in 1921. It was originally located next to the Keefer Hotel building. It relocated to the store’s present location in the mid-1820s.

Wolfram said she has heard concerns from residents over Gelzer’s vacating five storefronts in the downtown.

She said she is not worried, however.

“We can actually use the space,” Wolfram said. “We

actually have a shortage of available of space for downtown stores. We don’t have many usable spaces.”

Wolfram said only a couple of storefronts in the downtown are habitable right now.

Most that sit vacant are undergoing renovations, because their buildings are in need of repairs.

That is just even more good news for Gelzer’s Hardware.

“We’re a busy business,” Gelzer said, “and we enjoy great support from the city of Hillsdale and our neighbors.”

City News

www.hillsdalecollegian.com

(left to right) Officer Dusty Zimmerman and Sgt. Steven Pratt show off their beards. Lillian Quinones | Collegian

Growing beards and giving back The Hillsdale Police participate in No Shave November to raise money for charity By | Lillian Quinones Collegian Reporter This year, Hillsdale City Police are extending their beards of No Shave November to Don’t Shave December in support of Child Abuse Prevention and Awareness, or CAPA, a local organization dedicated to protecting the wellbeing of Hillsdale’s children.

“We are officially in our second year of participating in No Shave November and it’s all about donating money to CAPA so that we can pass it on this time of year,” Chief Police Officer Scott Hephner said.

To formally participate in

No Shave November, male police officers must pay a fee to grow a beard and female officers are encouraged to donate. Every year the police department must receive approval from the city council to waive their no-facial hair policy. Recently it was decided their fundraising campaign for CAPA would continue into the month of December.

With the mission of eliminating child abuse and neglect in Hillsdale County, CAPA is the primary non-profit which the police department supports and Hephner sits on its Board of Directors.

“There is a good mutual relationship between CAPA and the Police Department to

New hair salon offers unique experience By | Ben Dietderich Assistant Editor Animal skulls, African face masks, alternative rock, copious christmas decorations, and a barber chair.

Welcome to Hair Upstairs, the newest addition to Hillsdale’s saturated salon scene.

Nestled above two other hair salons on North Howell Street, Hair Upstairs is the fourth hair salon situated on that city block alone.

Despite having been open since January, the barber shop’s owner and sole employee, Todd Ricketts, installed his self-made wooden store sign this last summer and only recently finished decorating his shop. What began as an empty room with a lone barber chair and mirror, now feels more akin to a hair shop one might find near an African jungle.

When he’s not cutting hair, Ricketts often hangs outside on the sidewalk. There, his long shaggy hair makes him easy to mistake for a retired rockstar. But in truth, he’s been cutting hair in Hillsdale his whole life.

“I’ve been cutting hair for 38 years,” Ricketts said. “I started working for my father at Hair Harbor in 1982. I was the honorary hair dresser for the Kappa Kappa Gamma sorority back then.”

Ricketts said he has always had a good relationship with his customers from the college.

“I used to tell the older guy students to bring a six-pack, and they’d show up after 5:30 p.m. and just hang out whether they were getting a haircut or not,” Ricketts said.

“I worked on a lot of students and faculty back then.”

Freshman Matt Pfeifer said he enjoys getting his haircut at Hair Upstairs because of the stories Rickett tells.

“I like to go there, get a quality haircut, and hear his stories,” Pfeifer said. “He gives off the vibe of kind of an ’80s rocker with his hair and his raspy voice.”

Freshman Chandler Penn said he had a similar experience.

“I was recommended by friends and was surprised to find such a well-priced haircut and a cool guy behind it all,” Penn said.

Ricketts doesn’t just cut male hair either — he also specializes in hair color.

“I’ve actually been asked by my hair color provider to instruct other stylists on my coloring techniques,” Ricketts said.

For Ricketts, hair styling runs in the family genes. His parents were stylists, his sister is a stylist, and his son works at Identity right down the street.

“Every hair dresser is completely different,” Ricketts said.

“We don’t feel pressured about working in the same business.

In fact, I’m proud of my son.”

Although Ricketts isn’t a hunter, he has lined the salon’s walls with animal skulls.

“I picked up the dolphin head in Mexico, the rest I actually sawed off from the animals and boiled myself,” Ricketts said. “There’s a couple from Africa — a goat, a bear, and even some pigs I ate for dinner.”

Owner of Hair Upstairs, Todd Ricketts, stands in front of his collection of African masks. Ben Dietderich | Collegian

protect Hillsdale’s youth. They have supported CAPA not only with No Shave November but also by making sure runners and bikers are safe in CAPA’s annual Magic Ride and Super Hero 5K Run/ Walk,” Madeleine Ahlbrecht said, a Hillsdale College student who started volunteering for CAPA in January.

“Our philosophy is that if we can prevent children from being injured and neglected now, the goal is that our services won’t be needed in the future,” Sergeant Steve Pratt said.

With the news that he can keep his beard through the month of December, Pratt has mixed feelings toward his

facial hair.

“It’s horribly itchy, and I’m old so a lot of it’s grey. But I like it,” Pratt said. “Also, I think it’s unlucky to shave and you’ll never find a more superstitious bunch than policeman.”

Pratt’s colleague, Officer Dusky Zimmerman described his hairless chin as a “work in progress,” to which Pratt chimed in, “Let’s just say that his lack of a beard doesn’t hinder his charitable donation.”

Setting his ambitions high for Don’t Shave December, Pratt said, “I’m going to try and get some braids.”

A7 Nov. 30, 2017

Meijer from A1

Hillsdale resident Penny Swan voiced her agreement and, before the board voted, urged it to take into account the welfare of the local community.

“My fear is that if you turn this down, Meijer will walk away and the residents of Hillsdale and Jonesville will lose out,” she said.

Fayette’s decision went in opposition to a decision made by the Hillsdale City Council at a Nov. 20 meeting. There, the 425 agreement passed unanimously.

Mackie said the agreement could potentially bring in $80,000 to $100,000 a year in revenue via taxation for the city of Hillsdale, and an additional $300,000 a year in utility payments to the Board of Public Utilities.

Additionally, Meijer had agreed to pay for the expansion of a water main pipe on M-99, at the cost of $600,000.

“We see that as an economic development opportunity for both the city and the township, as small businesses could eventually hook onto that main,” Mackie said.

The proposal for the 425 agreement initially garnered significant pushback from Hillsdale business owners.

After Market House owner Brett Boyd stressed the value of local business at a Nov. 6 meeting, the council decided not to decide on the issue that night.

Following subsequent social media backlash against Boyd and the city council, and mayoral elections that focused heavily on the value of economic development in Hills-

dale, the proposal returned to the council agenda at the next meeting.

Councilman Bruce Sharp, who initially opposed the agreement, said he would “always support local business.” He said the flood of emails and phone calls about the decision made him change his mind for the good of the community.

“I’ve had a lot of people approach me and they seemed to be in favor of this,” he said at the Nov. 20 meeting. “It’s a tax base for us. It’s a tax revenue.”

Mayor Adam Stockford abstained from both voting and discussion, as his employer, Elwood Staffing Services, often recruits with Meijer.

Before the vote, Boyd once again asked the council not to undermine local businesses by passing the resolution. Boyd said that he did not appreciate the vitriol directed against him and his employees and asked that the community and council respect him as he respects them.

“I’ll never apologize for defending my family,” he said. “At the end of the day, I respect you for your time. I respect you for your investment in our community.”

Boyd added that even if Meijer does challenge him and other local businesses, he hopes the community will stand fast behind him.

“I encourage you, whenever possible, try to shop local. It’s in the best interest of everyone,” he said.

All of this debate — both in council chambers and on social media — is now moot, as the 425 agreement is stuck in limbo until Fayette can vote out of deadlock.

Boutique opens in 42 Union Street also hopes to provide men and children’s clothing in the near future.

Nell’s Nest is open Monday Hammers are swinging and through Friday, excluding register bells are ringing as Wednesday, from noon to 6 42 Union St. undertakes new p.m.; Saturday from 10 a.m. to projects and renovations.

5 p.m.; and Sunday from noon Since 42 Union opened last to 4 p.m. spring, creativity and interest Another spot at 42 in the remaining, vacant Union will soon be ocrooms in the building have cupied by “resident artist peaked with local busiof Hillsdale,” according nesses and entrepreneurs. to Hubbard. Heather “My vision for 42 Tritchka — known for Union was to be the bridge her work on the Winston between the college and Churchill statue in the the town, because there Grewcock Student Union are some incredible people and the Winona statue in who do deserve a place Mrs. Stock’s Park — will to gather,” owner Marty be opening a studio in one Hubbard said. of the open spaces.

As Rough Draft cus“The public will be able tomers have wandered the to just come in, watch her halls of 42 Union, some work, and ask her quesmay have noticed the tions,” Davis said. “Her renovations and activity door will always be open, purposed for new busiso you can just watch her nesses occurring in several sculpt.” of the back rooms.

Two vacancies remain “Down the hallway, it for other entrepreneurs used to be just a storage interested in renting space space, but within the last in 42 Union. two months they’ve made “42 Union has come the rooms into offices, so together naturally. We they’ve sectioned it out didn’t have a plan. So, into three different areas,” if someone walks in the Rough Draft co-owner Nell’s Nest, a women’s clothing boutique, recently opened in 42 Union door and says, ‘I’d like to Haley Talkington said.

St. Isabella Redjai | Collegian do a dress shop,’ I say, ‘Well, Nell’s Nest, a women’s have their gift prepared and I have this space here.’ They clothing boutique, took one of two main purposes: comfort and trendiness. wrapped in store. either give me the thumbs-up the open rooms and opened “I’m very picky about Within the next year Nell’s or go somewhere else,” Hubfor business on Nov. 18.

Nest will also begin a screen bard said. “I have two blanks Its owner, Charnelle Davis, fabric makeup. It has to meet a certain standard of softness, print service, which will left, but I’m in no hurry to fill started the business in her or we’ll send it back to the provide Greek life students to home two years ago, workthem.” manufacturer,” Davis said. order T-shirts with selected ing out of her basement and primarily using Facebook to “And we only hold products logos and patterns. Nell’s Nest

By | Isabella Redjai Collegian Freelancer

make sales.

She said she chose to move to 42 Union in order to make a connection with the community and “let the college guys and gals know I’m here!”

“Come in, have a cup of coffee, and shop,” Davis said.

Davis said Nell’s Nest has

manufactured in America.”

The boutique also has a unique feature for holiday shopping, where a shopper may fill out a wish list in-store or online, and Nell’s Nest will keep the wish list on file. Any family members or friends can access the wish list and

A8 Nov. 30 2017

www.hillsdalecollegian.com

Follow @HDaleSports for live updates and news

Volleyball

Men’s Basketball sunday, nov.

thursday, nov. 30 at trevecca nazarene

26

Hillsdale

79

Upcoming

Upcoming 8:00 PM

Stats

Gordon Behr Nick Czarnowski Dylan Lowry Nate Neveau Stedman Lowry

14 pts, 7 reb, 7 ast, 4 blk 13 pts, 2 reb, 1 stl, 1 blk 19 pts, 1 reb, 2 ast 10 pts, 5 reb, 4 ast, 2 stl, 8 pt, 3 reb, 2 ast,

Women’s Basketball Results

sunday, nov.

19 at ferris state: 82-78

55

Upcoming

thursday nov.

30 at Trevecca Nazarene 6:00 pm

Chargers collect toiletries for Cincinnati ministry By | Stevan Bennett Jr. Sports Editor When Hillsdale College athletes leave hotels on road trips, they make sure not to leave any of the travel-sized toiletries in their rooms. This isn’t a budgeting technique created by college students to save a few bucks, it’s a part of one of the athletic department’s revived service initiatives.

In conjunction with the NCAA Student-Athlete Advisory Committee, or SAAC, and the Great Midwest Athletic Conference, Hillsdale is taking part in the Athletes Collecting Toiletries program, which encourages collegiate athletes to gather their unused complimentary toiletries at the end of road trips, so that they can be passed on to those in need of them.

Senior Dugan Delp, student president of Hillsdale SAAC, said it’s a nice way to make an impact, without having to ask fellow students for monetary donations.

“At Hillsdale and a lot of the other schools in the G-MAC, athletes are also involved in greek life and other organizations which do a lot of philanthropy work and fundraising,” he said. “Because of this, it can be hard to dig into the students pockets again.”

Delp said each team has a collection box in their respective locker room, and at the end of the year they will send the toiletries to Over the Rhine Living Waters Church, in Cincinnati, Ohio, which will then pass them on to those in need.

“It’s really cool, because they are a really good Chris-

Saginaw Valley

tian organization and they stand for really great things,” Delp said. “They’ve grown really well, and they’re all about, for instance, taking in homeless adults and teaching them the skills to be independent.

One of their pillars is the dignity of the human person... and these little toiletries really help to cut their cost.”

According to head women’s tennis coach and SAAC advisor Nicole Walbright, the initiative comes as part of the G-MAC’s grander push toward community service.

“I think it is a great concept,” she said. “The conference does an excellent job to promote doing work outside of athletics. Most all SAAC groups do work to increase volunteering, support local charities, and enhance the student-athletes’ well-being in avenues other than sport alone.”

Although Walbright said most teams don’t have travel-heavy schedules in the fall, she expects the various teams will collect a substantial amount of personal-care products.

Delp said SAAC representatives on each team are in charge of reminding their teammates to grab their extra items before they leave. He added that knowing where the products are going helps encourage players to take the small extra step.

“It’s not hard to just grab those extra things and bring them into the van,” he said.

“Plus when people know about Over the Rhine, and how impactful they are...they are more compelled to actually do it.”

Friday, Hilldsale

nov.

17

Walsh

03 01

and Stedman Lowry playing during his recovery, the Chargers needed someone to step up and score.

Enter sophomore point guard Dylan Lowry, who scored 19 points on 6-8 shooting with 2 triples including a half-court heave as the shot clock expired.

“Dylan is really good in ball-screen situations. Because of some of the pressure, we played both point guards

SEASON LEADERS Kills Digs Aces Assists Blocks

Kara Vyletel- 353 Taylor Wiese- 571 Taylor Wiese- 35 Lindsey Mertz- 1,049 Alyssa Van wienen- 15

03 01

Upcoming

thursday, nov.

30

Calvin Invite TBA

EQUESTRIAN TEAM LOOKS TO QUALIFY FOR REGIONALS By | Hannah Niemeier Senior Writer

When freshman Marina Bone browsed through her pictures from this semester’s equestrian competition, she realized her team was doing Hillsdale College proud, right down to their ribbons.

“The colors of ribbons we win are always red, white, and blue — for first, second, and fourth places,” Bone said.

“We always think that’s funny, because it’s so Hillsdale. It just happens to work out that way, but there’s a couple pictures of us like that, where we look very American and very Hillsdale.”

Bone is the lone freshman on a six-woman equestrian team that has brought home plenty of ribbons from their four meets this fall — putting them in a promising position for their next two chances to qualify for regionals next semester.

At their last meet in Albion, Bone won 1st and 2nd places in her jumping and flat course events, respectively, continuing a trend from throughout the season. Junior Genevieve Chiara placed fifth in her flat course class, a victory that gives her enough points to have a chance at regionals in the spring.

For the uninitiated, the moving parts of a equestrian show can be dizzying, but Chiara described the point of all events in the meets as a test together. They complemented each other,” Tharp said. “He is really talented offensive player and he really helped us break them down.”

Despite Dylan Lowry averaging just over three points per game through the first six games of the season, his teammates were not surprised by his scoring ability.

“We are not a team where one guy is going to always carry the load,” Neveau said.

“Our last game, Dylan Lowry stepped up for 19 points when some other guys were limited.

1:30 PM

Saturday, nov. 18 Hillsdale Findlay

Swimming

of riders’ showmanship.

“You’re getting judged on your own equitation or rider ability,” Chiara said. “You need 36 points, which you earn by placing, to point up into a new division, and also to qualify for regionals.”

Riders can’t lean on their relationship with their horse in proving their showmanship; the horses are chosen by electronic draw.

This is one of the sport’s most significant challenges, head coach Danielle Cole said.

“They’re not allowed to pick up the reins until they break the ring of the show arena,” said Cole, who has coached the team for five years. “That can be intimidating. They have to learn to ride anything and everything, because every horse is a little bit different, which is a challenge at any level.”

Preparing for the unexpected takes up much of their time in their weekly lessons at Cole’s horse barn, Premier Equestrian Center in Hudson, Michigan.

“Lessons involve a lot of troubleshooting and drilling so things that went wrong in the last meets won’t happen again. We do a lot of ‘if-then’ scenarios: If something happens at a meet, how will you respond?” Cole said. “The les-

The talent and ability is there but the opportunities aren’t there always. We will continue to see other guys step up.”

Behr proved he can shoot the ball as well. The big man, who averages only 4.3 points per game, added 14 points on 6-9 shooting with 7 rebounds, 7 assists, 3 steals, and 4 blocks.

With new players stepping up, Czarnowski said that the number of scorers on the team causes issues for opposing teams.

“On any given night, we

compete as much as possible — that brought both Bone and Chiara to Hillsdale.

“The team size is unique to Hillsdale compared to Grand Valley and University of Michigan and other large

to get that many points is really significant.”

Chiara said that besides advancing to regionals, another goal for the year is building the team for next year by encouraging people to take

Hillsdale College equestrian has already seen success this year as it prepares for regionals. Hillsdale Equestrian | Courtesy

son program is very tailored to the individual student and the things they struggle with.”

It is this personal lesson time — and the chance to

teams where there are 20 to 50 people on the team,” Bone said.

Bone, who has been riding since she was 5 years old, started in the “novice” class, a few levels of competition higher than Chiara, who started in the “beginner” class after coming to Hillsdale with experience in dressage, a different form of English riding.

But the transition has been a fruitful one; she said each form of riding develops different skills. Like other members of her team, she has been able to advance through levels of competition quickly because of the arena experience that the small size of the Hillsdale team.

“Because our team is so small, you get to ride every show, which gives you a chance to point up quickly,” Chiara said. “We compete against basically every school in Michigan: Michigan State, University of Michigan, Central, Western, as well as smaller schools like Adrian and Albion. At those bigger schools, they don’t ride every week because there are so many people on the team.

One of the shows this semester, we were ranked fifth out of 10 or 15 teams there. That’s awesome for a team with only six riders who only compete in three divisions. To be able

the one-credit class the college offers — whether or not they have time and interest in competing.

“We do a lot of fundraising and other things on campus, but at the same time, we still get a lot of, ‘Oh, we have an equestrian team?’” Chiara said. “We know there are more riders at Hillsdale, but they’re surprised to find out that you don’t need a horse or a bunch of other equipment to be on the team.”

But as they prepare for their final meets, the team’s focus is on earning those red, white, and blue ribbons.

“I expect we’ll have several team members qualify for regionals,” Cole said. “You need 36 points to qualify, and everybody is well on their way. Actually, I’ll be surprised if everyone doesn’t qualify for regionals.”

Some riders have their sights set even higher; if one of them places in the top two at regionals, this year’s team could be the first to send a team member to “zones,” the level of competition before nationals.

The equestrian team will travel to Willowbrook Farm in Plymouth, Michigan, Jan. 20 and 21, for their next meet, hosted by the University of Michigan.

don’t know who is going to be our leading scorer,” he said.

“That is dangerous for the other teams.”

And the smothering Hillsdale defense should also worry opposing teams. The Chargers held Saginaw Valley to 16 points in the first half, making it three games in a row in which they held an opponent to under 20 points in one half of play.

With two weeks left of classes, the Chargers’ academic load increases in proportion to the time the team

spends traveling.

“I am always worried about this time of year for us, because of the academic rigor. The week leading up to break is brutal with tests and papers,” Tharp said. “We see the pale faces, the blank stares. We wear it as a badge of honor to a certain degree.”

G-MAC play begins this week with the Chargers playing Thursday at Trevecca Nazarene University on Thursday and at Kentucky Wesleyan University on Sunday. And after a successful non-confer-

ence schedule, Tharp believes his team has played teams with different specialties to prepare for G-MAC opponents.

“Saginaw and Ferris State like to pressure. Lewis has big-time scorers, we knew they were going to zone us a bit, Southern Indiana a heralded program with scorers and athletes and quickness,” Tharp said. “We hope we are ready and battle-tested.”

Members of the Hillsdale College equestrian team gather after a show earlier this year. Hillsdale Equestrian | Courtesy

MBB from A10

thursday, nov. 30 ncaa midwest region semifinal at romeoville, ill

Sports

www.hillsdalecollegian.com

A9 Nov. 30, 2017

MEN’S TRACK PREPARES FOR INDOOR SEASON By | Regan Meyer Collegian Freelancer The Hillsdale College men’s track and field team has always strived for excellence.

The 2017-18 season is no different.

As for how they reach that level of excellence, head coach Andrew Towne says it has to do with the coaching staff and its relationship with the athletes.

“It’s pretty simplistic in a lot ways,” Towne explained.

“We’re asking of them the same thing that professors and the administration would ask of the kids. We want their absolute best.”

Towne has witnessed some of his athletes give their absolute best in the cross country season this fall. All of his cross country runners also participate in distance events for the track and field season.

“We’ve had a really challenging fall for men’s cross country,” Towne said. “We battled through some injuries, but along the way, the guys did a really good job of focusing on the process and what we need to do to become

Swim

from A10 her catch me on this last lap.’”

Ellingson went on to place second in the 200 breaststroke at 2:23.55 after shaving almost three seconds off her time in the preliminaries.

She then broke her own record, pulling a lifetime best time of 2:12.20 in the 200 IM, finishing ninth. Ellingson said her performance at the Phoenix Fall Classic will set her up well for the Calvin invite this weekend and the G-MAC Championships in February.

“Humans aren’t built to move well in the water. Not to get too sciency but Anika has mastered the ability to move more fish-like,” Kirner said. “Her body movements are more undulating than many of her competitors.”

The medley races benefitted from Ellingson’s strength.

She, freshman Katherine Heeres, sophomore Catherine Voisin, and junior Suzanne DeTar worked together for a strong second place and shattered Linda Okonkowski’s 2009 school record by a second and a half with a time of 3:52.84. The same women took on the 200

better. I think that will carry over into track very well.” assistant coach Richard White echoed Towne’s sentiment concerning the distance runners.

“The distance team is looking really strong. In cross country, it wasn’t as apparent because there is such a large leap from high school cross country, going from 5,000 meters to 8,000 or 10,000 meters,” White explained. “But, now we get kind of a sneak preview at how well everyone is doing. And it’s easier for them to get back on the track and run similar distances they had been running for 4 years of high school.”

Those track and field athletes not running cross country have had good success in the pre-season.

“What we call the ‘fall track program’, so kids that are sprinters, throwers, hurdlers, jumpers, they’ve had a really good fall,” Towne said. “I think we’re really well prepared for the season.”

The team graduated six seniors this past year, although Towne believes the eight incoming freshmen will fill those gaps.

“Anytime you lose seniors, you hope to replace them with talented kids, which in a lot of cases we have. Certainly, you lose experience as well,” Towne said. “Those were a good group for us. They did a lot of really good things. But I think we’ve rebuilt ourselves a little bit.”

Towne also credits captains and seniors, Nathan Jones and David Chase, with filling the shoes of the past leadership.

“We want people that personify what our program is about,” Towne said. “The major theme we talk about all the time is Excellence. We want our kids to be good people, good students, and good athletes, doing their best all the time. Ideally, your captains personify that. Nathan really personifies what Hillsdale Track and Field really is and David as well. Basically, we want our captains to be good examples.”

Jones sees his team as well-rounded and excited for the season to start.

“This year we’ve got a lot of experience, especially with the junior and senior classes,” Jones said. “We need to utilize that and I think we’ll get a

medley and came in third place with a time of 1:48.23.

Other teams of relay racers

conquered their events as well. Heeres, Wilkens, LeBleu, and DeTar took fourth

Sophomore Danielle LeBleu was part of the 800 freestyle team, which finished fourth this weekend. Zoe Hopkins | Courtesy

big boost being home for Conference Championships, both indoors and outdoors we get to host.”

As for the those with less experience, Jones is optimistic about their role in the team as well.

“I think we have a pretty solid freshman class,” Jones said. “The distance side we’ve got a few different guys that will make a difference. On the track side, it’s a little bit of a smaller class. Adam Wade is a 800m runner. I think he has a lot of potential, and then we’re going to get Konnor Maloney from the football team.”

One such freshman, Morgan Morrison, is a distance runner from Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. He says that while transitioning from highschool to college sports isn’t without its challenges, there are definite upsides to college sports.

“Overall the biggest thing is mileage,” Morrison explained.. “We just run more in college. The atmosphere is a lot more chill. You don’t have to go out and try and win every race. The races that matter are at the end, the

in the 400 freestyle in just 3:39.19. Freshman Hannah Wilkens, Heeres, Houghton, and sophomore Danielle LeBleu finished fourth in the 800 freestyle at 7:58.27.

The Chargers performed especially well in the butterfly events. In the 200 fly, Wilkens finished seventh at 2:12.19, Houghton ninth with a season-best 2:08.18, Voisin tenth at 2:15.04, and senior Peyton Bowen fifteenth at 2:16.46.

“Coach told me to take a risk with this event because I had qualified for finals,” Houghton said. “It’s my best event and I have a really good feel for the race, so I went out strong and that kickstarted my energy for the rest of race.

Seeing my whole team leaning over the edge of the pool and hearing them yell me on was a fantastic feeling of support and encouragement.”

The 100 fly saw another four Hillsdale swimmers.

Voisin took ninth with a season best time of 57.89, Houghton eleventh at 1:00.23, sophomore Allie Matti twelfth at 1:00.27, and junior Tiffany Farris fourteenth at 1:00.39.

The Chargers finished

Senior Lane White competes at last year’s Wide Track Classic.

Evan Carter | Courtesy

championships.”

And the championships are just one of the things the team has set its sights on this year.

“Goal number one would be win a conference title in the G-MAC. Number two is let’s see everyone take where they are and just get better,” Jones said, “See an improvement across the board from year to year and even within a strong in the backstroke and freestyle events. Heeres took a season-best fourth place in the 200 backstroke at 2:08.21 while Matti pulled a lifetime-best ninth place at 2:09.32. Freshman Emma Rao had a season best in the 50 freestyle after taking 11th place at 24.98. Mary Vita swam in for 15th place in the 200 freestyle at 2:00.45, a lifetime best time. Voisin also had a lifetime best in the 500 freestyle at 5:29.15, earning her 16th place.

“The team came together as a strong supportive and collaborative group,” Kirner said of his team’s energetic performance.

Houghton said she thinks the team’s energy and zeal in supporting each other was bolstered by the multi-day style of the meet: “Chicago was a multi-day commitment versus an afternoon dual meet, and that helped us mentally switch gears from school to meet mode,” Houghton said. “We could be all there with each other, just swimming.”

The team will next compete at Calvin College Nov. 30 through Dec. 2.

season. Because everytime you step on a track, it’s an opportunity to showcase what you’ve done and get better.”

The team will have an opportunity to work toward that conference title and improvements with its first meet at the SVSU Holiday Open on Dec. 1.

Cross from A10

however, was the mud, which was so slippery it felt like running on ice.

“If I didn’t have Kyleigh I would have finished even worse,” said Eads, who described the atmosphere at Nationals as if the fans were having a sacrifice.

The results heartened the team because they boosted them back into the national discussion, after finishing 17th at nationals last year.

The work isn’t done for cross country women, however. They go from one season to the next, alternating from cross country to track.

Training for it begins soon and the first meet will be in mid-January.

“That race didn’t show what our full potential was, but it was step one of us getting back on the national radar,” Eads said. “Last year, we didn’t place any where that people would know about. This year, seventh is a way to start going into track, people will say, ‘Oh, Hillsdale is back, I guess.’”

Women’s track to open season at Saginaw Valley By | Anna Timmis Assistant Editor

Hillsdale women’s track team kicks off the 2017-18 season on Saturday at Saginaw Valley’s Holiday Open. Head coach Andrew Towne said that, while starting out with a new team dynamic provides a challenge, the Chargers have a “balanced complete team.”

Senior team captains Rachael Tolsma and Victoria Wichman said that meets allow the team to set the baseline for the rest of the season.

While getting closer to the championship season training will be lighter, but will be competing while still in heavy training, which helps the team measure their progress.

“Even if we do poorly, we find out what we can improve,” Wichman said. “If

we didn’t executed our race, jump, or throw the way we want to, this meet is a good start to feel out how we can compete physically.”

“We’ve been training since about June for this meet in December,” Tolsma said. “It’s the first time we get to compete in a while.”

The majority of the team will attend the meet, Wichmann said, while the rest of the season, the team will often be split up for meets. “This is the time when we finally get to the results of that work,” she said.

Freshmen Zalonya Eby, Kajsa Johansson, Carmen Botha, Maria Luea, and Calli Townsend will be competing in Saturday’s meet. Sophomore Alyssa Viola, who was injured last season, will compete for the first time on

Saturday.

Wichmann said at the first meet the younger teammates learn how to mentally prepare for bigger college meets.

“As a senior, you know how to mentally prepare...For a lot of our younger teammates,

“Even if we do poorly, we find out what we can improve.” this first meet is creating a foundation for competing mentally and physically,” she said.

Towne said the older members of the team have been good leaders, and “the

freshmen are talented and have done a good job readying themselves.”

Luea noted her older teammates’ dedication and hard work provided inspiration.

“I’m really just excited to learn a lot more in my events because I didn’t have a lot of formal training so a lot of it’s still new, which is fun,” Luea said.

Wichmann said that Towne and the team were excited for the meet and the season, and the level of enthusiasm from the start promised a good season.

“I like their personality as a whole,” Towne said. “I think they’re very assertive, competitive, no matter how talented you are, will lead you to some good success. They’re probably one of our most competitive in a couple years.”

Senior Alex Whitford vaults at a meet last year. Evan Carter | Courtesy

Charger Chatter: Ashley Moran What are your events?

I’m in the mid-distance sprints, so normally I do the 100m, 200m, and the 4x4, and sometimes I’ll do a 60m indoor, but primarily the 200m and 4x4. I came in to Hillsdale in that group, and I thought about moving into the short sprint’s group, nothing longer than a 200m, but just the 400m suits the way I run a little bit better, and that’s all I did in high school, as well, so it’s just what I have always done.

Charger Athletics | Courtesy

Ashley Moran is a senior from Grand Rapids, Michigan. She is a member of the Hillsdale College track and field team.

What tends to go through your head most during a race?

The one thing I love most about track is I think a ton before the race, my mind is racing, I can’t stop thinking,

to the point where I can sometimes make myself sick because of how nervous I am, but the moment that I’m on the track, and physically running, my mind goes blank.

I don’t think of anything and that’s what I love about it.

For the first time I can’t think and just do, and a lot of times that’s when you run your best races.

What is your pre-race routine?

I try to get a lot of sleep and just take good care of my body and normally the night before we do a lot of mobility work and stretching. A lot of it for me is just relaxing I do better when I just haven’t a lot on my plate and not a lot of stress and really just sit and not do anything, which

is hard, but I think it really helps my mind not race or get overwhelmed.

Is there a specific coach who has influenced you the most throughout your running career?

I had a coach in high school, she ran for a Division III school and was an amazing sprinter, so she really got me into track and really saw my potential. Of all the coaches I’ve had, I would definitely say Coach Towne here at Hillsdale is the best coach I’ve ever had. Especially for me, he knows me more on a personal level, which really helps him to analyze my performance and also analyze how I am doing in other facets of life.

When I really struggled my freshman year with track,

he still believed in me and I think to have a coach see your potential and believe in you when you don’t believe in yourself is huge, and I never really had that with other coaches, so I think he has made my track experience so much better.

What is your dream city to live in after graduation?

Charleston, South Carolina. I think it would just be relaxing. I need a life that is very relaxing, very calm and peaceful. There’s so much going on at Hillsdale for everyone, so I just have this vision of the beach and a chill life, so that would be the ideal situation.

What’s your favorite AJ’s ice cream flavor?

Peppermint bark, got it last night.

When do you start listening to Christmas music and what is your favorite Christmas song?

Definitely before Thanksgiving, and Silent Night is always a good one. It’s always so peaceful.

What is your favorite Hillsdale tradition?

Gingerbread Wars. It’s always really fun and everyone is super happy.

-Compiled by Josephine von Dohlen

Charger Charger Chatter Ashley Moran, a senior from Grand Rapids, Michigan, talks about her pre-race routine, her dream city, when she starts listening to Christmas music, and her love for gingerbread wars. A9

NOV. 30, 2017

Indoor Track Men’s and women’s track prepare to open indoor season this weekend.

A9

Hillsdale Equestrian The Hillsdale College equestrian team has enjoyed a successful season already and now has turned its eyes to regionals.

A8

Hillsdale went 2-0 as the hosts of the Hillsdale Lanes Thanksgiving Classic. MaryKate Drews | Courtesy

MEN’S BASKETBALL OPENS SEASON 6-1 By | Mark Naida Assistant Editor

As Hillsdale College students set off for home after classes on Nov. 21, the Charger men’s basketball team was gearing up for the Hillsdale Lanes Thanksgiving Classic. After two wins over Lewis University and Purdue Northwest University in the event, head coach John Tharp sent the players home to spend Thanksgiving with loved ones.

“I wanted them off campus for just a little break,” he said.

And though some of the players were unable to get home, they didn’t go hungry.

Because when the Hillsdale College basketball team says they are a family, they mean it.

“We really value the family atmosphere of our team,” said junior point guard Nate Neveau.

“The majority of people who live close by were able to go home but some of us went to Coach Tharp’s for dinner.”

After suffering its first loss against the Ferris State University Bulldogs, ranked No. 3 in the nation, the team showed that though it can

boast of a 6-1 record, there is always room for improvement.

“We played a fine first half, a poor second half. Our lack of offense affected what we were able to do on the defensive end. We talked about toughening up mentally when we got back,” Tharp said.

After shooting 50 percent from beyond the arc in the first half, Hillsdale headed into the locker room at halftime trailing 35-33. But Hillsdale’s first half defensive toughness, which forced 8 Bulldog turnovers, didn’t continue. In a six-minute stretch during the second half, Ferris State erupted for 19 unanswered points.

Even with senior guard Stedman Lowry shooting 80 percent from three point range for a team-leading 18 points, Ferris State’s run was insurmountable. The Charger forwards had their work cut out for them against D-II All-American center Zach Hankins, who led the Bulldog offense with 13 points in the contest.

Five days removed from their first loss of the season, the Chargers took the floor at Dawn Tibbetts Potter Arena

and overcame an 11-point halftime deficit to pick up a quality 71-58 win against

Junior Nate Neveau leads the Chargers with six assists per game this season. MaryKate Drews | Courtesy

Swim shines at University of Chicago, takes third place By | Katherine Scheu Associate Editor A swimmer never wants to see bubbles float across her lane — that means a competitor is ahead. But bubbles were all the swim team could focus on as they labored toward third place of 14 at the threeday Phoenix Fall Classic held at the University of Chicago Nov. 17-19.

“Our coach had this little game,” junior Anika Ellingson said. “We tried to get bubbles.

If you beat a certain time that he had written down for for you on the board, you got a bubble.”

The strategy worked. The

chargers racked up nine season best times and four lifetime best times. Without the bubbles, and the wild energy the team encouraged each other with, the wins may not have been as abundant.

“Every time one of our girls was in the pool, our seats on deck were empty and the end of the lane was full,” junior Grace Houghton said. “Knowing that we’ve all worked hard side by side and endured all the same practices and school assignments and stress means that performing represents so much for all of us. We can be proud of each other and really know why because we’ve been

Lewis University.

After a defensively-lax first half, the lessons learned

through the same thing.”

Ellingson was named the G-MAC Women’s Swimming Athlete of the Week after her performance in Chicago. She dominated the 100 breaststroke with a first-place, season-best time of 1:03.25.

As Ellingson waited in her full-body suit to dive in for the final round, she said she knew that her trial times slotted her for second place.

“I wanted to try and win the 100 breast for the third year in a row. I didn’t want to let my girl beat me,” Ellingson said. “I saw that I was ahead of her on the last turn, and I said, ‘okay I’m not going to let

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Junior Grace Houghton competes in a meet earlier this season. Zoe Hopkins | Courtesy

“It really started last year, from the loss at Ferris State hit he came off the bench and home for the Chargers.

“Our first half against Lew- put up big numbers,” he said.

“He is finishing around the is was not good. Then we got tough,” Tharp said. “Defensive rim, his post up game is pretty darn good, we want more retoughness has got to be the bounds out of him but he has key to be successful.” done a nice job posting deep In the second half, the and using his body well. He Chargers held their opponent gives us that inside threat.” to 20 points, forcing 10 turnCzarnowski credited his overs and holding the Flyers teammates with his impresto 35 percent sho oting from sive performance. the field.

“They can’t put too much Stedman Lowry, playing attention on me because if through the pain of a broken they do, we have a lot of guys big toe, shot 6-12 from bewho can really light up the yond the arc for a team-high 20 points. Junior forward Nick scoreboard,” he said. “Every time I catch the ball in the Czarnowski added 12 points post, I know that I can throw and 9 rebounds and Junior the ball in any direction and forward Gordon Behr filled one of my teammates can the stat sheet with 9 points, 5 score it.” rebounds, and 2 blocks in 35 After that win and a minutes.

Thanksgiving feast, the The next day, the Chargers Chargers returned to action were back in action against this past Sunday on the road Purdue Northwest to pick up against Saginaw Valley State a 66-55 win in which their stout defense held the Pride to University where they pushed their record to 6-1 with a 7918 points in the first half.

Czarnowski fought hard in 55 victory.

With senior guard Ryan the post for the Chargers and Badowski playing limited finished with 21 points and minutes due to an ankle 7 rebounds while adding 2 blocks and 3 steals. Tharp was sprain suffered during the win against Purdue Northwest impressed with the performance of the seasoned big See MBB A8 man.

WOMEN’S CROSS COUNTRY FINISHES SEVENTH IN NATION By | Jo Kroeker Features Editor Walls of women run the flat circuit, yelling at each other, and fans in body paint and underwear cheer their team on, and sometimes jeer at competitors.

Through the commotion, senior Hannah MacIntyre, Hillsdale’s highest-ranking runner and first four-time All-American, emerged fourth in the nation, running what coach Andrew Towne called probably the best race of her career.

“She’s someone who has really continued to try to get to better all the time,” Towne said. “She was in the mix to be national runner-up until about 15 meters to go.”

The Hillsdale College women’s cross country team finished seventh place at the Division II Nationals — a meet that’s unlike any other race the team runs all year.

“One of the best things these girls did was put us back where we belong in the discussion,” Towne said.

“When everybody writes you off, it’s difficult to stick your nose back in and say this is who we are.”

The Division II is not the typical cross country meet, Towne said. If the team ran it 10 times, Towne speculated, about half those times the team would finish in seventh, and the other half it’d finish between second and fifth.

“It was probably the worst showing of who we are, not for lack of effort, but it’s really hard to prepare people,” Towne said. “There’s so much going on, you just see blurs of people, it can be very intense.

It takes a little getting used to.”

Colorado’s Adams State University won, followed by the usual suspects, who came in close together: University of Mary (2), Cal Baptist (3), Chico State (4), Alaska Anchorage (5), and Grand Valley State University (6). Four Midwest region teams made it into the top 20: GVSU, Hillsdale, Walsh (10), and Northern Michigan University (13).

“Anytime you finish seventh in the country, that’s pretty darn good. For us, of our top seven, six of them come back, so we’re a really young team,” Towne said.

Only MacIntyre and freshman Kyleigh Edwards raced their best race of the year, Towne said, probably the team’s lowest total this season. At the conference meet, by contrast, it was the best race to date for four to five women.

When MacIntyre made All-American last year, which means top 40, she came in 16th after setting a goal of 15th. This year, she aimed for 2nd and came in 4th, jumping 12 spots.

“I didn’t settle, and that was the best race I’d ever had, just in terms of happiness

with how I took things mentally,” MacIntyre said. The difference this time was that the voice she normally hears when she races, “This is good enough,” was silent. Instead, she heard, “Go for second.”

At about the 3K mark, MacIntyre said she felt like she could pass the group of girls with whom she was running, something she never feels, especially at nationals.

Afterward, she said her parents told her they had been watching the race live, and at the 3K said some Hail Mary’s for her.

“It was by the grace of God that race went so well,” she said.

Like the other racers, MacIntyre had to cancel out the distractions around her.

“Everybody is amped, there are people running around in their underwear with full-body paint on, it’s very tribal, I hate those cowbells,” MacIntyre said. “We do not need more cowbell, could you make me feel more like a herd animal right now? I’m already feeling very vulnerable. Please don’t ring your cowbell at me.”

After the gun went off, Eads said the team got out so quickly they couldn’t maintain their positions. The packs of two didn’t stay together, meaning some of the freshmen had to run by themselves. Eads biggest concern,

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Culture Katherine Scheu | Collegian

Food gathers family: Lessons from my grandma and green beans By | Katherine Scheu Associate Editor When I started rationing my protein bars the week before Thanksgiving, I knew I needed a trip home.

I fantasized about my mother’s cooking as I gnawed on the last of my cement-like energy bars and scarfed down quick dinners of scrambled eggs. Surely my family’s fridge would bulge with Kroger’s top selection of apples, kale, chicken, and gouda, and mom would have a steaming dish of something delicious on our table the moment I walked in the door.

A crock pot of pulled pork sat on the counter when I rolled into Clarkston around 9 o’clock. All my Thanksgiving break dreams were coming true.

And then Wednesday came. My sisters and I scavenged around the kitchen and made ourselves breakfast and lunch, but dinner proved a fiasco. The holiday company had arrived, and my parents wanted to order takeout, hoping to minimize effort and mess on the eve of the year’s most intense day of cooking.

It sounded easy, but then we had to pick a restaurant.

I wanted Chinese. Lilly vied for Mediterranean. Betsy announced her need for pizza.

I wanted Chinese. My mom reminded us that one family member is sensitive to MSG and two others need gluten-free options. Dad hoped to keep the order on the inexpensive side.

I wanted Chinese. My grandfather didn’t want to drive far to pick up our meal.

I just really wanted Chinese.

An hour later, as I begrudgingly stuffed chicken shawarma into a pita, I realized how much family complicates everything, especially something as simple as food. I’m used to grabbing a turkey club from A.J.’s Café or zipping down to Bon Appétit whenever I want, and suddenly seven other people were hollering out their opinions on what we eat and when we eat it. I found myself wishing I could retreat to Hillsdale, fry an egg in Mauck’s kitchen, and move on with life. Anything to whisk me, the sage soon-to-be college graduate, away from my beloved family who takes an hour to order dinner.

On Thursday I sat and snapped green beans with my grandmother, and we started

talking about the Thanksgiving dinners she enjoyed as a little girl. She talked about Gra, my great-greatgrandmother, who would stir together an oozing mound of her signature mac-and-cheese for any special occasion. It’s the best mac-and-cheese my Uncle Danny has ever tasted, I heard him reminisce from the other side of the room. A close second, though, is the bubbling crock of mac he had from a local shop in his Manhattan neighborhood.

My grandmother and I ventured on to more family stories as we filled up our bowl with trimmed beans.

She and her brothers used to snack on fresh-picked tomatoes they had rubbed on the cow’s salt lick at the family farm. Her grandmother always made her mother black

walnut cake on her birthday.

Every story she told was about food. I guess sentiment melds with flavor to forge a special, long-lasting kind of memory. As we cooked and baked, I started looking outside myself to see the family who raised me and who, thankfully, stands by my side today and those who aren’t with us anymore.

I rarely think about my mother’s grandmother, my Great Grandma Read. But every time we dish up the applesauce at Thanksgiving dinner, I remember how she and her husband built their home together; how, as a child of the Depression, she saved everything; how she sheltered her daughter and granddaughters after a divorce; how she loved Indiana University Basketball, the Yankees, Dalmatians, and

peppermint candy.

I thought for a moment this Thanksgiving that our tight kitchen buzzing with many voices might eliminate any chance at a peaceful, home-cooked holiday meal.

But, as usual, my family proved me wrong. We didn’t make it to turkey-carving time without a few arguments, but we did connect as a family and remember our loved ones as we made Thanksgiving dinner.

I’ll be driving home again in a little more than two weeks. Christmas joy will abound, as will family drama about food, gifts, tradition, and much more. If Thanksgiving taught me anything, it’s to relax, forget about my oh-so-prestigious, know-it-all college self, and just be with my family.

The Michigander ‘in the middle of the American century’ By | Madeleine Jepsen Science & Tech Editor A portrait of former Republican Sen. Arthur Vandenberg hangs in the U.S. Capitol’s Senate reception room — a rare honor bestowed upon only nine senators — in part due to his role in establishing the Marshall Plan, the United Nations, and NATO. Although he was also a writer of newspaper columns, speeches, and books, he never wrote a memoir.

In October, the executive chairman of Meijer Inc., Hendrik Meijer, published what he described as the first comprehensive biography of Vandenberg. Meijer, who will come to campus to speak about his book Feb. 27, argues Vandenberg’s bipartisan cooperation in his 23 years as a senator has been underappreciated and serves as an important example of collaboration in the today’s divisive political climate.

Meijer captures the importance of Vandenberg’s early jobs and work experience as the editor of the Grand Rapids Herald. From the influence of the harness-making business run by Vandenberg’s father to his high-school speech competitions, Meijer traces Vandenberg’s distinguished and opinionated eloquence — a trait later developed in his editorial columns and political speeches — back to its roots in his early life.

Vandenberg gradually

gained political prominence through his influence in the newspaper industry and through his stump speeches for Republican candidates.

Meijer describes the series of political events leading up to Vandenberg’s initial appointment and later re-election to the Senate, balancing the details of Michigan and national politics as Meijer describes Vandenberg’s ascent to his dream job of senator.

In part, Meijer’s own knowledge of the state as a Michigan native augments his balance of local and national events. As a fellow resident of Grand Rapids, the “Furniture City,” Meijers expertly integrates Vandenberg’s ambitions with the growth of the metropolis.

During his tenure in the Senate, Vandenberg became a prominent figure in foreign policy. Though Vandenberg was an isolationist at the onset of World War II, heeding George Washington’s advice about foreign policy, he ultimately chose to put the best interests of the nation ahead of political affiliations.

“I am hunting for the middle ground between those extremists at one end of the line who would cheerfully give America away and those extremists at the other end of the line who would attempt a total isolation which has come to be an impossibility,” he said of his desire for compromise at a GOP confer-

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Senior Elise Clines prepares a work of art.

Ryan Murphy | Courtesy

Clines sells her artwork online.

Evan Clines | Courtesy

Clines poses with her painting.

Evan Clines | Courtesy

Elise Clines’ vibrant spirit shines through art By | Nicole Ault Assistant Editor

Scrolling through Elise Clines’ online art business is like walking through a candy store of pretty watercolor designs, printed on everything from home decor to notebooks to outerwear. Her designs tend to be chic and feminine — but her most popular item? A popsicle-patterned men’s T-shirt.

“A guy named Omar from Mexico is currently sporting my popsicle T-shirt,” Clines said, laughing. “It taught me you don’t always know what a customer is going to want.”

Clines is still figuring out the business world: She just launched Elise Clines Art and Design in June, selling her designs through a company called Threadless that handles shipping and manufacturing for her.

But she’s no stranger to entrepreneurship.

“As a kid, if I made anything, I wanted to figure out how to sell it,” she said, remembering that she sold

handmade greeting cards and candied almonds in grade school. She used to read books on how to start your own business, but she “never got around to it” till a few months ago.

With a broken toe limiting her job options this summer, Clines decided it was time to plunge into an endeavour that she’d long held in the back of her head.

“I just love beautiful things,” she said. “And I’ve always wanted to own a stationery store. This was kind of the first step.”

Some of the prints she sells are watercolors she’s done in past years, but she whipped up others this summer during a 30-day challenge to create a new piece of art every day.

It took her from one to three hours to finish a design, she said.

As an art major, Clines said she’s excited to apply skills she’s learned in class, where she’s demonstrated her love and talent for creating beautiful things.

“Elise is very spirited about

what she produces,” said Lecturer in Art Sam Knecht, who’s taught Clines’ watercolor and other classes at Hillsdale. “There’s a lightness and freshness of touch that’s very engaging in her work. Her art is who she is ... She loves life and learning, and it shows up as ingredients in her work.”

Clines’ artwork includes natural landscapes, floral patterns, and paintings of bunnies, fruit, and popsicles.

“I like to make the simple things extra beautiful,” she said. “Life should have pretty things.”

Before Clines even kicked off her business, her love and skills for crafting pretty things were in demand among her friends.

Victoria Fassett ’17 said she asked Clines for several of her watercolors — including a zebra and a landscape from the Dominican Republic — and has them hanging in her room.

“Elise is really talented,” said Fassett, who encouraged Clines to start her business.

“I’ve loved being able to

watch her grow in her artistic ability.”

Fassett added that it’s neat to buy artwork from an upand-coming artist she knows personally, noting that she plans to do some Christmas shopping on Clines’ site.

“We always have spaces to decorate, like dorms or homes,” Fassett said. “It’s cool to have the opportunity to support artists that we know.”

Though school makes it hard for Clines to devote a lot of time to her business, Clines said she hopes to have a more hands-on role in the future, and she wants to sell more stationery products.

For now, Clines said, she’s happy just that people are buying things. She hopes to grow the business, but she’s never intended it to become her full-time occupation.

“I’m proud of myself for starting — I’m really motivated to keep it going and flourishing on the side,” she said. “I will never be able to stop making things. I know I’ll always be making things, and the business motivates me.”

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Culture

Ta-Nehisi Coates’ new book explores race and politics. Wikimedia Commons

The bleaker the berry

The tragedy of Ta-Nehisi Coates’ hopeless identity politics By | Nic Rowan Assistant Editor In middle school, my friend Danny Cannon told me a story about race. As a 3-year-old, his younger brother had embarrassed his mother in a Safeway. While she was scanning junk food, he was studying the guy bagging the groceries. This man happened to be black.

Danny’s brother had never seen a black person before, but he was impressed with the man’s darker glow, especially in comparison to his own pastiness. So he offered a compliment.

“Hey. Nice skin,” he said.

When Danny told us that story, we pounced on him with cries of “Ohhhh that’s so racist! How did your brother not know he can’t say that?”

Of course, 3-year-olds can remark on skin tone and no sane person will assume malicious intent. It’s only when an adult does the same that we call it hateful. After all, there’s something cold and economical about complimenting inherent skin qualities.

According to essayist Ta-Nehisi Coates, the slave market mentality has always dominated the black experience in America. Change only occurred under Barack Obama’s presidency — and only for a brief time — when black skin became one of the coolest commodities in the country. Coates’ new book “We Were Eight Years in Power: An American Tragedy,” a collection of essays originally published in The Atlantic, chronicles the rise of black America under the calm guidance of the first black president and bemoans its loss to President Donald Trump, whom Coates calls a racist and mysteriously, “the first white president.” Published this October, “Eight Years” seeks to explain how the white man’s fear of successful black people led them to elect a Twitter-wielding firebrand as Obama’s replacement.

At the same time, “Eight Years” eulogizes a period when American arts focused almost exclusively on the glory of black skin. These were the years when rapper Kendrick Lamar called himself a “proud monkey” in his song “The Blacker the Berry” and comedian Jordan Peele satirized a cultural obsession with the physical superiority of black skin in the movie “Get Out.” For his own part, Coates published “Between the World and Me,” a No. 1 bestselling memoir advancing his theory that “our bodies are our selves, that my soul is the voltage conducted through neurons and nerves, and that my spirit is my flesh.” Blacks, he argued, must prize the security of their individual bodies above all else. After all, the body is all there is.

Coates’ theory of black bodies pervades all of his work, and “Eight Years” is no exception. Before each essay, Coates includes what he calls an “extended blog post” explaining how his work fits into his presumption that there is nothing in this life great-

er than bodily security; the glorification of the body is the greatest end to which a man can attain. Coates argues that this glorification culminated in eight years of “Good Negro Government” under Obama.

The actual essays themselves are fine, except for the gargantuan novella-length ode to Obama, “My President Was Black.” Aside from that self-indulgent love nest, The Atlantic editors rein in Coates’ tendencies to wax elegiac or browbeat his readers with repetitive sentence structures. He rightfully rips into institutions and people who have mistreated those in poverty and in prison, all the while serving up a cultural framework that hinges on checkpoints as wide-ranging as deepcut Nas references and repurposed W.E.B. Du Bois allusions.

But as much as he admires Du Bois, by repurposing the Jim Crow-era reformer’s words, Coates consistently trips over his own Timberlands. For although a public agnostic, Du Bois wrote with a preacher-like conviction that all blacks are connected in a spiritual realm, that all is like an ocean, all flows and connects; touch it in one place, and it ripples at the other end of the world. Du Bois begins his opus, “The Souls of Black Folk,” with the phrase “Between me and the other world” and seeks to accept the question issued from the whirlwind: How does it feel to be a problem?

Coates pushes Du Bois’ project further. He tries to answer the question. Participating in that spiritual world demands humility and the acknowledgment that human intelligence cannot always understand the cosmic order.

But humility is not enough for Coates. He needs answers and reparations for injustice, both of which he knows no black person (or any person who has suffered) will receive, at least in this life. And that means cutting out that “other world” which gave Du Bois and so many others hope for peace.

Hence that lonely memoir title. Hence this new tragedy.

When Coates borrows the phrase “Good Negro Government” from Du Bois, he loses the fullness of its meaning.

Du Bois was talking about ordinary black people organizing and associating in a way so civilized and coherent that it troubled the old Southern aristocracy. Coates is mourning the loss of a president who was so cool that he didn’t always wear a necktie to press conferences and clothed his daughters in J. Crew polos bought full price at Tyson’s Galleria. Du Bois’ writings aspire to a unity sought not just by blacks but by anyone who believes in the dignity of a people. Coates’ work just reflects a bitter sort of materialism.

If all that should matter to blacks is the security of the body, then Coates has nice skin, but his philosophy offers nothing more.

Orchestra repertoire promises holiday cheer By | Jo Kroeker Features Editor After the Hillsdale Symphony Orchestra plays Dvorak’s off-the-beaten-track 8th Symphony, it’ll sprinkle holiday cheer with Christmas music during its winter concert, which runs Saturday to Sunday.

It’s rare, but the calendar presented an opportunity for Christmas pop music this year, according to Professor of Music James Holleman. Last year, the orchestra couldn’t follow through with its winter

repertoire because of the “Messiah” performances and a trip to D.C. happening in January, but this year, the rehearsal schedule is different.

Despite these conflicts, the students still had a certain positive spirit about the Christmas music, Holleman said.

So this year, the orchestra will delight audience members with renditions of the first suite from Tchaikovsky’s “The Nutcracker Suite,” Leroy Anderson’s arrangement of carols in “A Christmas Festival,” and music from “The

Polar Express.”

“This concert has really nice balance between the heavy, academic classical in the first portion and then at the end, fun Christmas music, while still being real orchestra repertoire,” concertmaster junior Joshua Brown said.

“The Nutcracker is the most fun, complex thing to listen to of the music we’re playing. It’s something you don’t often get to hear from a full orchestra.”

Brown, who admitted the orchestra cheated by two rehearsals on the “no Christmas music before Thanks-

giving” rule, said he has fun playing the selections because it doesn’t happen often and won’t become a yearly orchestra tradition.

That’s because when the orchestra has a four-concert cycle, Holleman said he is typically hesitant to spend some of it on Christmas music.

“There’s a lot of repertoire we need to play, we need to experience,” he said. “It really fell into place this concert: The rehearsal schedule, everything. I think it’s going to be a lot of fun. I think the audience is going to love it.”

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denburg, whom Meijer dubs the “man in the middle of the American century,” had the context of two world wars as a lens for looking at the growing tensions with Russia and shifts in global power.

“In a sense we are a tragic generation, despite our blessings and our place in the sun,” Vandenberg once told colleagues. “We have been drawn into two world wars.

We finally won them both, and yet we still confront a restlessness and precarious

peace. Something has been wrong. It is our supreme task to face these present realities, no matter how much we hate them, and to mend the broken pattern if such be within human power.”

Ultimately, Meijer depicts Vandenberg as a pivotal figure in creating the bipartisan consensus that paved the way for the Marshall Plan, the United nations, and NATO. Even while portraying Vandenberg as a model for fostering bipartisanship, however, Meijer

does not gloss over the pride and ego that were sometimes evident in Vandenberg’s words and actions.

By portraying Vandenberg’s shortcomings along with his triumphs, and by weaving descriptions of his personal life into the whirlwind of Senate politics, Meijer’s biography serves as a near substitute for the political memoir of bipartisanship and cooperation that Vandenberg was never able to write himself.

ence to decide a position about peace plans.

Vandenberg strongly opposed Franklin Roosevelt’s New Deal and, according to Meijer, nearly single-handedly defeated Roosevelt’s costliest pet project, a Florida canal meant to reduce shipping time between Gulf Coast ports and the Atlantic Seaboard.

After World War II, Van-

Theater professor wins award for distinguished achievement

By | Madeline Fry Culture Editor Professor of Theater James Brandon says he’s a little too young for a lifetime award in theater, but the judges at the National Communication Association don’t seem to think so.

On Nov. 17, Brandon received a Distinguished Achievement Award for Scholarship, Pedagogy, and Performance at the association’s annual conference in Dallas, Texas.

The award’s three categories reflect his achievements in various aspects of theater, from presenting academic studies to developing unique teaching methods and directing plays.

Brandon said he was surprised and pleased to receive the award, but the honor isn’t just for him.

“Yeah, it’s my award, but people recognize it for the work here at Hillsdale,” Brandon said. “To me, of course it’s important to my career and my professional development,

but it’s also important that our name is out there. And I want to promote the scholarship, and the teaching, and performance that happens here.”

This semester Brandon teaches courses on understanding theater and theater history.

“He knows the material he teaches backwards and forwards,” senior Elena Creed said. “I’m often wowed by his ability to rattle off historical and theatrical facts, names, and dates. His pool of knowledge is so deep and is obviously indicative of a life dedicated to learning and study.”

Junior Austin Benson has also taken classes with Brandon.

“What sets him apart as a professor is the infectious energy that he brings to the room,” Benson said. “I think the root of it all is the fact that he cares so deeply about what he’s teaching.”

In February, Brandon will direct the Tower Players Production of “The Seagull”

Professor of Theatre James Brandon holds his award.

Madeline Fry | Collegian

by Anton Chekhov, which follows the growth and conflicts of four artists.

“He is a very sure director,” Creed said, “and leads his creative team and actors with a firm grasp of what the final product should be and the steps needed to get there.”

One thing that distinguishes him as a professor, Brandon said, is his focus on the study of theater as a discipline, not

just a trade.

“We really take seriously the sort of idea that students of theater need to be students of ‘theater,’ not just of their craft but of the whole history and the literature and the criticism,” he said. “We say, ‘You’re training to be a human being. And by the way, you do some theater while you’re here.’”

Reanimating the dead Why classics majors learn to speak ancient languages aloud

By | Chandler Lasch Web Editor While senior John James searched for the words to describe his title within the Active Classical Languages Club, he rattled off a number of terms, all in Greek, before settling on one that he said translates to something like “prince” or “chief speaker.”

The growing club offers members a chance to speak, rather than just write, dead languages such as ancient Greek or Latin, so they can practice a skill often ignored in classes.

“The idea is sort of to get the language into habitual use, generating sentences rather than merely recognizing them,” James said. “It’s a different function in the brain, if you can recognize words in real time as someone is talking to you.”

Members of the Active Classical Languages Club gather every Thursday at 8 p.m. to practice Latin and half an hour later to practice Greek. About five to 10 students attend weekly.

James said he was inspired to dedicate more time to spoken language both by a threeweek spoken Greek intensive that he participated in this summer and by Professor of

Classical Studies Joseph Garnjobst, who emphasizes spoken Greek in his classes.

“It’s an experiment,” Garnjobst said of his unique approach of teaching Greek.

“Bringing Greek to active use gives the students one more tool to absorb the language.

They have a better idea of the thought behind the text when they use the language actively.”

He said he began this experiment in the 2015 fall semester, with rewarding results.

“We had an impromptu Platonic dialogue in Greek on the relationship between honor and virtue,” Garnjobst said. “We were able to do that because of a semester and a half of work. That makes it worth it right there.”

Last year Anne Begin ’17 reaped the benefits of spoken Greek by working with some members of the club to create and practice Greek vocabulary lists. Now Begin, who majored in the classics, is furthering her studies at the University of California, San Diego. She said she improved her language skills by working with other students here at Hillsdale.

“Being a part of a community like that is always very fun because people

know different things and are interested in learning different things,” Begin said. “With classics, there are so many different facets that you can spend your whole life exploring.”

Garnjobst said studying classical languages has intrinsic value, but can also provide a combination of technical and problem-solving skills that are valuable in the workplace.

“Those together are a big win,” he said “They bring problem-solving skills to the table and find solutions where they were not previously apparent.”

He said that while some classics majors go on to attend graduate school or teach at the primary or secondary level, most do neither.

“Some marry and raise a family,” he said. “If they’re bringing their liberal arts education into raising children, that’s a success.”

James said club events are in the works, mentioning a field trip, such as shopping, that would involve instructions spoken in Greek. The club may dedicate a day to translating Koine Greek, using a familiar text from the Bible.

The club has worked with fables from easy Greek readers.

“Those are great because

you know when everyone gets it,” James said. “They’re like, ‘Oh, the punchline makes sense now!’”

As a classics major who said he will likely teach in the future, James explained that speaking Greek aloud helps a speaker to understand the language better, taking the language from a code to be translated to a more accessible means of thinking and speaking.

“One of the main objectives is to get common words – like ‘to be’ verbs and pronouns – to have their own slot in your brain rather than an English equivalent that you translate.”

For alumni like Begin, classical language skills translate into a better understanding of the modern West.

“By studying the Classics, you have access to so much of Western literature because everything is built on classical authors,” she said. “Reading Homer, you’re getting back to the foundation of things like the ‘Aeneid’ and then ‘Paradise Lost’ and Dante, all that stuff. So much of what you read – even in the modern world with things like Harry Potter – all harkens back to the classics.”

B3 Nov. 30, 2017

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Science & Tech

Untangling the proteins in Parkinson’s disease

Senior Madi Moore is working as an intern in NASA’s History Office. Madi Moore | Courtesy

Student research helps to develop diagnostic tool, research model

By | Madeleine Jepsen Science & Tech Editor Parkinson’s disease, a neurodegenerative disease that results from the death of dopamine-releasing neurons in the brain, affects more than 10 million people worldwide, according to the Parkinson’s Foundation. Although the disease includes a variety of symptoms, patients often experience shaking or tremors, slowness of movement, or trouble balancing.

For the past two summers, senior Taylor Zimmer worked as a research intern at Van Andel Research Institute, working with a specific protein related to Parkinson’s disease to help develop a diagnostic test and model of the disease.

Although approximately 60,000 new cases are found each year in the U.S. alone, according to the Parkinson’s Foundation, there is no definitive diagnostic tool for Parkinson’s disease, and the exact mechanism behind cell death remains unknown.

“Currently, if you were to go to the doctor, there are

no tests they can give you to diagnose the disease” said Katelyn Becker, a senior research technician in the lab where Zimmer worked. “They will look at your symptoms and take a good guess, and they’re right about 70-80 percent of the time. This is because the symptoms are overlapping between different neurodegenerative diseases, and unfortunately by the time the symptoms are noticeable, the damage to the neurons is already done.”

Although the symptoms are similar between different neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s disease and Parkinson’s disease, the progression and cause of the diseases in the brain are very different. This can make drug trials difficult, Becker said.

“A drug might help with Parkinson’s disease, but when you have patients with other diseases in the study, you wouldn’t be able to see the effect, so that limits our analysis of what’s working,” Becker said.

In turn, distinguishing effective drugs for Parkinson’s

Senior Taylor Zimmer spent the past two summers researching Parkinson’s disease. Taylor Zimmer | Courtesy

disease could help researchers determine the mechanism by which the disease causes neuron death in the brain.

Zimmer’s work focused on a single protein, alpha synuclein, a protein that is thought to be involved in vesicle transport at the juncture between two neurons. The misfolded alpha-synuclein protein, however, forms fibrils that clump together and are thought to cause cell death.

Zimmer spent one summer working with variations of the alpha-synuclein protein to see if one of them could be used as a part of a diagnostic tool for Parkinson’s disease.

Alpha-synuclein fibrils are able to seed the growth of more alpha synuclein fibrils from native monomer alpha synuclein.

Examining the effects of various mutations on this seeding ability could prove useful to determining whether alpha synuclein fibrils can be used as a biomarker of Parkinson’s disease.

“For example, if a biological sample from a PD patient contained small amounts of alpha synuclein fibrils, you could take that sample and test the seeding ability,” Zimmer said. “If it did seed, that would say that they had PD. If it didn’t grow at all or had a long lag time for growing fibers, then they don’t have PD.” Zimmer said of the variants she tested, she was able to identify one variant that showed promise for use as a diagnostic tool. She also helped improve a protocol for quickly weeding out variants that were not candidates for

use in this test “That’s kind of a never-ending project because there are thousands and thousands of variants,” Zimmer said. “At the very end of the summer, I got one out of the eight that I tested that seemed like a really good candidate.”

This past summer, Zimmer continued her work with the alpha-synuclein protein, this time developing a way to fluorescently label the protein so it could be studied and observed in cells. She said it was the first time that this labeled alpha-synuclein protein was made into fibrils using ultrasound, and she had to determine whether this method of tagging the protein would interfere with its ability to form fibrils. She then examined the seeding capability of the tagged protein when added to cells.

“First, I had to go through the process and see how well the labeled alpha synuclein grows into fibrils in vitro,” Zimmer said. “You have to characterize its growth before you can test it in other models.”

Becker said the Ma laboratory, which focuses on prion mechanisms in neurodegerative diseases, will continue working to create a model of the disease and potential diagnostic tools.

“We’re trying to work at it from all angles —there isn’t a good Parkinson’s disease model yet, so that’s really limiting when you’re trying to figure out the cause of a disease,” Becker said. “Unfortunately that just one of the huge challenges with the research we’re doing right now.”

Manipulating model microbes: Student studies biofilms By | Crystal Schupbach Assistant Editor

Senior Michaela Miller spent her summer researching biofilm growth of Rhodobacter sphaeroides — an environmental microorganism with history as complex as its spelling.

She presented a poster summarizing her project Nov. 4 at the Western Michigan Regional Undergraduate Science Research Conference at Van Andel Research Institute in Grand Rapids, Michigan.

Over the summer, Miller spent roughly 7-10 hours a day in the lab at Hillsdale College growing and examining sphaeroides because it is the ancestor to all gram-negative bacteria.

These are organisms that often happen to be pathogenic, while sphaeroides itself is not.

“It’s good to study because the more we learn about the way biofilm grows, the more we can learn about pathogens in the end,” Miller said. “It’s a model organism, meaning it is studied often and has good systems that can be applied to other bacteria.”

Growing organisms in biofilms on coverslips allows for group interactions between the bacterial cells. Certain chemicals called auto-inducers are sent out and help parts of the organism perform group-based behavior.

“In some cases, this makes them more resistant to things like antibiotics and harder to kill,” Miller said.

She wanted to study the quorum sensing, or signaling systems, of sphaeroides.

Miller focused on measuring the effect of additional acyl homoserine lactone, a chemi-

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Science in the news -Compiled by Madeleine Jepsen

cal that prevents bacteria from aggregating, and its effect on the live-to-dead cell ratio in her biofilms.

When she grew the biofilms, she grew some normally as a control, but she added extra AHL to others. She stained them to distinguish live and dead cells on the coverslip where the biofilms grew.

The stain colored the living cells green and the dead cells

first time the experiment had been done in this particular way.

“A lot of the techniques we used in this experiment have really not been used, as far as we know, or frequently used, outside of Hillsdale,” Miller said.

During her junior year, Miller assisted Stevan Lukich ‘17 and her now-research adviser Francis Steiner, biology

Senior Michaela Miller presented her research on biofilms Nov. 4 at Van Andel Research Institute. Michaela Miller | Courtesy

red. She then used software to quantify the live to dead cells.

Miller found that additional AHL does not seem to have an effect on the biofilm growth, or the live-to-dead ratio of sphaeroides. She originally predicted that the addition of AHL would affect the aggregation of the bacteria more.

“I think the reason that that’s not what happened is because the bacteria does produce this chemical naturally, and we just added extra, so I’m assuming there’s a threshold concentration,” Miller said. “When it reaches that, it doesn’t affect it anymore.”

She said the research was still successful sine it was the

department chairman, by writing up the live-dead staining protocol in which biofilms could be stained without disturbing their growth on the coverslips.

“Her working out that staining procedure was very advantageous,” Steiner said.

“Her quantitation in her research was excellent, and she realized she needed to normalize her data.”

Seniors Genevieve Chiara and Lydia Siepel were both able to use the staining protocol in their research last summer as well while working in the same lab as Miller and seniors Monicah Wanjiru and Steve Sartore.

Personalized cancer vaccines move to human trials A cancer vaccine developed to attack tumors advanced to human trials earlier this month. The vaccines, custom-made for each patient, mark an advancement in both cancer treatment and personalized medicine, the researchers said. The patient’s tumor is analyzed for particular mutations that distinguish cancerous cells from healthy cells, and those genetic markers are compiled onto a strand of RNA and injected into the body so the patient’s immune system can learn to target and destroy cancerous cells.

“I love all the processes associated with lab work — how you become friends with the people you are working with,” Miller said.

Chiara added that the environment in the lab was relaxed and the researchers were always willing to help each other out, from taking turns grabbing coffees for the whole group to giving advice about their individual projects.

“I found a helpful article with a procedure explaining that an efficient way to grow biofilms is to replace the media with fresh broth after 4 hours of adhesion and then let them continue to grow overnight,” Chiara said. “Michaela and Lydia also followed that procedure.”

Chiara and junior Christine Ausherman also accompanied Miller and Steiner to Grand Rapids to present their own posters at the conference.

Miller said fellow undergraduates, recruiters, and graduate students were all interested in learning about other people’s research and that it was not a critical environment. She added that she learned many important things from her summer research.

“Sometimes you’re not always going to see what you expected to see or what you hoped to see,” she said. “That doesn’t mean your research is a failure.”

She said she now sees many directions that the project could be taken, which is a success in and of itself.

“In the future, I think we could completely knock out the gene that produces AHL and see sphaeroides truly with AHL and truly without,” Miller said.

Genetically modified bananas may resist deadly fungal disease Panama disease, caused by a fungus that attacks the roots of banana trees, may not affect a type of genetically modified banana, according to a study published in Science. The modified trees were given genes either from wild banana trees or from nematodes, and some showed complete resistance to the fungus, which is resistant to fungicides and chemicals. Panama disease has devastated many banana crops globally, and the new resistant bananas may help quell the threat to Cavendish bananas grown in South America.

Liberal arts in space Student internship at NASA blends English, history, and science By | Chandler Lasch Web Editor One might expect a physics or math major to intern at National Aeronautics and Space Administration Headquarters in Washington, D.C., but senior Madi Moore is proving that English majors can do important work in the space industry, as well.

As a participant of the Washington-Hillsdale Internship Program this semester, Moore works in the NASA History Office, which is part of the Office of Communications. Moore said that being an English major frequently comes in handy on the job.

“It’s excellent,” Moore said of the internship. “It’s a great opportunity for any humanities major.”

She writes posts for NASA’s social media pages and assists with publications, which can include helping copy editors look through primary documents and making sure copyright data is submitted to the Library of Congress.

In addition, she sometimes helps with social events, such as a recent International Space Station Day, where she greeted and helped people with registration and was also able to attend talks about NASA history and meet some astronauts.

She wrote an article for the history office’s quarterly newsletter, giving her a rare opportunity to conduct research within the NASA archives.

Her article explained the history of centrifugal space stations, which are shaped like wheels to produce artificial gravity with centrifugal force, both in reality and in science fiction.

“That’s definitely where my English major has chiefly come in,” Moore said. “But you would be surprised how long it takes to write a well-researched, interesting Facebook post. You have to be accurate or people will call you out, and you have to be interesting or people won’t read it.”

Moore’s research on NASA’s history has led her to discover several interesting stories, but she said one was particularly intriguing.

In early missions on the International Space Station, astronauts drank powdered coffee, customized with their preferred amounts of cream and sugar, which they mixed with water.

However, Italian astronauts missed the espresso they were used to having back home and objected to the powdered mixture. This led an Italian company to invent an espresso machine that works in zero gravity, and an Italian astronaut made a cup that also worked in space.

“I thought it was hilarious how extensively the Italians

New 3-D printer 10 times faster than its commercial predecessors Researchers at Massachusetts Institute of Technology developed a desktop 3-D printer that uses a new method of printing, allowing the team to completely assemble handheld objects within several minutes. The new printer uses heat to feed a polymer material through a nozzle at high force, whereas older printers assemble the printed material using two wheels that push material through at limited speeds. The researchers said the new printer may eventually have applications in emergency medicine.

were invested in their espresso,” Moore said.

Moore found the internship after searching online for an opportunity at NASA and said it wasn’t easy to find. She added that she was inspired by recent movies she watched that made her want to work at NASA despite not being a science major.

“I saw ‘Interstellar’ my freshman year,” Moore said.

“It made me think whether I should be a physics major.

The movie reminded me of the wonder that I felt when I was a kid and wanted to be the first woman on the moon, and how much I liked space.”

She said that watching “The Martian” was similarly enlightening.

“I was very intrigued by that movie because it represented individuals at NASA who were not scientists, like administrators and communication officers,” Moore said. “I was surprised to realize there must be a lot of jobs at NASA that were not scientists. That’s basically where I started my search.”

Assistant Professor of English Benedict Whalen, Moore’s academic adviser, praised her thoughtfulness in pursuing this internship. He said an English major working NASA may seem unexpected, but didn’t strike him as too surprising.

“She was uniting seemingly disparate interests and talents,” Whalen said.

He said that this internship is an excellent example of uniting different components of the liberal arts and finding truth by studying them together as they ought to be studied.

Rebecca Charbonneau, an intern at NASA who works closely with Moore, said she admires and enjoys working with Moore.

“She’s certainly one of the most insightful and clever people I’ve ever worked with,” Charbonneau said. “She really is a unique person. I think she’s going to do really really cool things in the future.”

Moore said that she is not certain where she’ll work after she graduates, but that her time in Washington, D.C. has helped her realize what she wants in a career. She added that she is passionate about the space industry and excited about the future.

“I think that the space industry is on a rise and that people should take it more seriously in the future,” she said. “I think it will come into play very soon. It’s overt in pop culture and science, as we can see now with the rise of space-related trends in fashion and film. It seems very clear to me that the American imagination is returning to space, and I would encourage people to pay attention to that.”

Nanomaterial may protect electronics from hackers An inexpensive nanomaterial, molybdenum disulfide, may provide a new level of hardware security, according to a study published in Nano. A thin film of the material, only a fraction of the width of a human hair, gives the material unique light-scattering properties randomly within different portions of the layers.

According to the New York University researchers, the molybdenum disulfide could be used as a security primitive that couldn’t be duplicated, providing a higher level of security for hardware.

Features

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B4 Nov. 30, 2017

From across the pond, down under, to the mitten

Members of the golf team from England and Australia on adjusting to life stateside

By | Abby Liebing Collegian Reporter Hillsdale is not known for attracting large numbers of international students, but two Hillsdale golfers, sophomore George Roberts and junior Liam Purslowe, have crossed hemispheres to attend Hillsdale.

Coach Nathan Gilchrist said the golf team looks for qualified athletes around the world.

“We have recruited students from all over the globe,” Gilchrist said. “Every year we are looking for students willing and able to be student-athletes at Hillsdale College. Thankfully, the school attracts only those who are serious about the education.”

Gilchrist noticed that both Roberts and Purslowe had the academic talents and athletic abilities to fit in well at Hillsdale.

Roberts is from Portsmouth, England and grew up playing golf and soccer. For many years, Roberts dedicated his time to soccer, but then in high school he began to focus on golf.

“I used to play futbol, or soccer, back in England and that was my sport, and then I had a change of heart, really.

I was pretty good at soccer, I don’t want to brag,” Roberts said.

He appreciated that golf was an individual sport.

“I wanted to move the pressure from external to just me,” Roberts said.

After concentrating on golf for years, Roberts looked for schools where he could continue playing. That’s when he found Hillsdale.

“It was for golf,” Roberts said. “I looked for the highest academic and Division II golf and Hillsdale came up, so I applied and the coaches had great interest...so it all fell into place really.”

Moving to a new continent all the way from Portsmouth, England, Roberts admitted that he missed home when he first came.

“I did get pretty homesick, but I soon found my good circle of friends, and yeah, I’m still here,” Roberts said.

He said he found the golf team to be a good fit and loved the team’s dynamics.

“It’s like our own little brotherhood inside the overall family of the campus,” Roberts said. “It’s our own tight circle where we really trust each other...that’s what mainly kept me here when I was homesick the first semester.”

Roberts said that acclimating to the unique Hillsdale atmosphere was the biggest cultural change for him when he came to the States.

“Hillsdale is a slightly different place than any other place...but honestly, I love it here. It’s just such a nice place to get away and study,” Roberts said.

Roberts loves golfing, and though he doesn’t see himself doing anything serious with it after graduation, he enjoys the opportunity to compete now.

“For me, it’s just an enjoyable thing,” he said. “Takes me out of studying. Takes me away from all the stress of school.”

Even though they are all the way “across the pond,” Roberts said his parents have been very supportive, and his Mum texts him very regularly. But it’s not always easy for him to be so far from his

family and friends.

“There’s no real lifestyle changes at all,” Roberts said.

“Obviously I am more than 3,000 miles from home and it’s a different country, a slightly different language...but honestly it’s just being away from people you can speak to and truly trust...Other than that it’s pretty good.”

Like Roberts, one of the other members of Hillsdale’s golf team grew up playing golf and came all the way to Hillsdale to keep playing. Liam Purslowe is a junior from Perth, Australia, and since the university at home didn’t have the same athletic opportunities, he came to Hillsdale.

Purslowe also likes the culture of Hillsdale — and even likes being far away from home.

“Golf is what attracted me over here…[and] being so far away from home,” Purslowe said. “Hillsdale is a small school. I like the idea of being a name rather than a number, so that was probably the main defining factor in deciding to come here.”

While missing home, Purslowe said he never got

Cozy Kooncerts join folk, gospel music with prayer By | Joe Pappalardo Senior Writer There’s a story about a prostitute who couldn’t enter a church even after she converted to Christianity because of her profession. Not to be deterred from prayer, she tied knots in a blanket and offered each act up to God. Her physical acts of prayer inspired sophomore Luke Woltanski, a Koon resident assistant, to play music in the dorm’s lobby every Saturday.

“The difference is I’m not a prostitute,” he said.

“Kooncerts” are weekly concerts in the men’s dorm, offering students a brief respite from their labors. Every Saturday, a few residents gather in the lobby to play music for anyone who pays the dorm a visit. The idea started as a play on the dorm’s name, but as a Catholic outreach

minister, Woltanski made it a reality.

One Saturday in November, Woltanski wore ripped jeans and slip-ons and sat on a couch with a harmonica mounted on his acoustic guitar. After passing around a notebook in which audience members can write prayer intentions — which Woltanski refuses to read out of respect — the musicians launched into a five-song set.

“It’s going off of the principle that you can offer up work that you do, you can offer up music that you play, or homework you do, to God,” Woltanski said.

He played alongside sophomore Dalton Sala, with freshman Noel Schroeder joining them on tambourine for numbers like “Swing Low, Sweet Chariot.” They insisted the audience join in the chorus, while Schroeder pulled

Visiting Assistant Professor of Classics Carl Young served in the U.S. Army and specializes in Plato and Nietzsche.

Alexis Nester | Collegian

up the lyrics on his phone.

“Do you want to do a solo on the tambourine?” Woltanski asked Schroeder.

“That’s not a thing.”

“We could make it a thing.”

Rather than preparing a set, the musicians asked the audience for song suggestions, usually gospel and folk music, and closed with “Man of Constant Sorrow” from “Oh Brother, Where Art Thou?”

Woltanski said that in previous performances they had sometimes picked a key to play in and improvised music and lyrics to it.

“I think music made with people on the spot is the purest form of music, because it’s something that you hear once and never hear the same way again,” Sala said.

The three musicians only had an audience of four, but after the fifth song they explained the little Koon lobby

could be packed with 15 people. The event spread by word of mouth and could become a central element of the dorm’s community, according to Sala.

“We have a lot of really passionate music people, and I think that could be part of our culture in the future,” he said.

The dorm’s small yet open environment has played a key role in drawing residents to the event, according to the audience members. Most keep their doors open all day, making it difficult to avoid Woltanski’s harmonica.

“I wanted to get closer to the guys in the dorm because there aren’t a lot of us here,” freshman Kenneth Skoug said. “Getting to hear some of the guys I live with play music is pretty fun.”

Visiting Assistant Professor of Classics Joshua Fincher speaks 10 languages. Alexis Nester | Collegian

desperately homesick.

“I was far enough away from home that it was like, at the same time you realize you are homesick, but you know that you can’t go back, so it actually sort of helps in a way,” Purslowe said. “It’s not like you can jump on a flight or drive there, or something like that. I knew I was going to be a long way away, and that was the decision I made, so I sort of had to get over it pretty quick. You can’t really sit there and dwell on it.”

Back home, he attended the local university for several months, and so entering the small Hillsdale community was quite a change.

“I had seven to eight months to do something, so I went to university at home, to a 60,000 person university,” Purslowe said. “So then coming to Hillsdale it was like I actually saw the same person twice in a week.”

Along with a much smaller community, Purslowe had to make other small adjustments to American life: driving on the wrong side of the road and to the cold Michigan weather.

“Being on the wrong side

Child from B6

the mastermind of everything here.”

Helms has been spreading Christmas cheer through OCC since he was three years old.

“My mom thought it was a cool project, so I’ve been doing that for a very long time,” Helms said. “At the beginning of high school I was invited to become more involved with the project through a local group leader.”

Helms’ involvement taught him more about the elaborate, behind-the-scenes efforts of Operation Christmas Child.

Despite being a Christmas project, there is work to be done all year round. Helms explained that after distribution is completed, thank you cards are sent in February.

Following that, in April, May and June, all of the planning for the next year begins.

Then, once church leaders are contacted and networking is completed, the big push for the operation occurs in late October and early November.

With such a long history and involvement of packing shoeboxes, Helms wanted to continue the tradition.

of the road also doesn’t help… the weather. That was a bit of a different one. I mean it’s a good 100-degree difference at times,” Purslowe said. “Where I’m from it’s probably similar to southern California,” Purslowe said, “So middle of summer it’s 110-115 and then you come here and in the winter it’s like 10 [degrees].”

But Purslowe actually liked adjusting to some of the extreme differences between Michigan and Australia.

“If I’m going to come and do the experience four years away from home I may as well make it the complete opposite, in terms of weather at least,” Purslowe said.

And overall Purslowe loves the feel of Hillsdale and community here.

“I just like the main concept of being a small school and you know people’s names and things like that, and it’s just nice,” he said. “To be honest it’s a homely feel. That’s one of the best things about it, I think.”

“When I came here, freshman year was all out of whack.

But this year I thought it would really cool to bring that project that I love so much to my school. I proposed it to the Galloway RA team as our charity event and they help me connect to different people on campus,” said Helms.

This year he was finally able to bring the project to Hillsdale. Helms, now a sophomore, is not an RA of Galloway, but his role as organizer has kept him very busy.

“I organize all of the booth set-up, booth break down, booth design, asking for different forms, basically anything I can to just let people know about the project. It’s not that I really need to sell it, it’s inherently cool and fun.

It’s more of a matter of letting people know about it. They end up having a fun time that they didn’t expect,” said Helms.

And now all of those 165 shoeboxes packed by Hillsdale students, have the possibility of being received by a young child, just like Celina’s younger brother.

“I’m super grateful for everyone’s support and participation,” Helms said.

Lecturer in Classics Scott Lepisto operates a podcast called Itinera. Alexis Nester | Collegian

Meet the three new professors of the classical studies department

By | Alexis Nester Collegian Reporter A former soldier, a polyglot with command of 10 languages, and a podcast creator are three of Hillsdale College’s new hires in the classical studies department this semester.

After serving in the U.S. Army from 1998 to 2004, Carl Young received his bachelor’s in classics at the University of New Mexico and his doctorate in classical studies at Duke University, where he taught for a year before coming to Hillsdale.

Young, a visiting assistant professor of classics, specializes in philosophy, especially the works of Plato and Nietzsche, and currently teaches introductory Latin, 300-level Greek, and Greco-Roman literature and culture.

Young became familiar with Hillsdale through his father’s “Imprimis” subscription. The first in his family to leave Richmond County,

South Carolina, he came from a long line of law enforcement officers and was expected to follow suit. Instead, he pursued a career in academia.

Young met Professor of Classics Laury Ward while pursuing his doctorate at Duke University. When Ward accepted a position in the classics department, Young began to research Hillsdale and found himself drawn in by the mission statement.

“I told Professor Ward that she got my dream job,” said Young. “I am so gracious to her, as she kept me in the loop about Hillsdale, especially job opportunities.”

Young enjoys the communal spirit of the campus, especially the veterans’ community. Additionally, he appreciates students’ willingness to dive into tough topics.

“I love the random conversations that you can fall into,” said Young. “I’ve been very delighted and surprised by

the students here as well. If a controversial subject comes up in class, Hillsdale students really get in there and have it out. I love that.”

Young is not the only new professor who appreciates the students’ willingness to dive deep into difficult subjects.

Joshua Fincher grew up in Washington state and attended the University of Washington, where he got his bachelor’s degree in classics.

He then got a Master of Arts, Master of Philosophy, and doctorate in Classics at Yale, where he also served as the student-faculty liaison. He taught a seminar on classical heros for a year at Princeton.

Fincher, a visiting assistant professor of classics, has studied a total of ten languages: English, French, German, Chinese, Greek, Latin, Hebrew, Sanskrit, an ancient Eastern-Iranian language called Avestan, and Ugaritic, used to study the

Hebrew Bible. He uses these to engage in comparative study of ancient texts, looking for cultural connections and commonalities between civilizations.

According to Fincher, college education should expose students to the material and teach them how to learn. He said he hopes college education provides students with the tools to create their own worldview.

“One thing that I like about Hillsdale is that there is a much more positive attitude about the process of worldview creation,” Fincher said.

Fincher found his passion for teaching as a freshman in high school, where he helped his fellow classmates with studying advanced history.

As a junior, he interned as a teaching assistant for a high school U.S. history course.

Since that time, Fincher knew he wanted to work with students.

“I picked this job because the sort of intense intention that I pay to students in helping them through these educational journeys, which, at larger schools, is valued in what people say but not in practice,” Fincher said. “It is good to know that Hillsdale wants the same things that I do for education and for students.”

Scott Lepisto hails from Michigan. He received his bachelor’s in Classical Languages and Literature from the University of Michigan, and then his Masters and doctorate from the University of Southern California. Lepisto is interested in the concept and use of logos in prophetic speeches, specifically when characters give voice to the divine.

Lepisto, a lecturer in classics, currently teaches beginning and intermediate Latin, as well as an advanced seminar on the letters of Seneca, a

Roman stoic and philosopher.

One of his strengths includes analyzing literature. He emphasizes this in his classes through demonstration and question-and-answer-style teaching, which he talks about on his podcast, Itinera.

“I think about this Itinera podcast as an approach to the field. It makes it seem more accessible,” Lepisto said. “Give me a text and I will show you what is so cool about it.”

He teaches the skills of analysis, which he hopes students can then apply to art and texts across time.

When asked about his favorite part of Hillsdale so far, Lepisto said that it’s the students.

“I love the students, they are very virtuous and working hard is a norm,” said Lepisto. “This is a bright group in general.”

Editor’s note: Itinera can be found on iTunes and Twitter @ scottlepisto.

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B5 Nov. 30, 2017

Student sports journalists seeking to make names for themselves By | Sydney Anderson Collegian Freelancer

When the Hillsdale College men’s basketball team took their talents to the big stage against Michigan State University on Nov. 3, they weren’t the only ones hitting the big leagues.

Aspiring sports journalists — and sports fans from a young age — sophomores Nathan Grime and MaryKate Drews were able to sit on the sidelines with professional media. From photojournalism to print to radio, a core group of Hillsdale students are making names for themselves on campus as budding sports journalists, shooting games with professionals, contributing to baseball blogs, and hosting radio shows.

“The Michigan State game was the first time I got to experience a more professional atmosphere,” Grime said.

“I got to sit at the media table and be there for the postgame press conference where Tom Izzo was talking, which was a really cool experience.”

Drews, whose favorite sport is basketball, agreed.

“Everything is in such close quarters, which makes it feel totally different from shooting another sport like football,” she said.

Drews’ father, a photographer who took pictures of her and her brothers at sporting events, sparked Drews’ passion for photography, but it took a little pestering. By high school, she said, she finally decided to give it a try, and was glad she did.

“He was completely selftaught — aside from a single night class he took — but is

completely brilliant when it comes to the camera, so naturally I am doing my best to keep up with him,” Drews said. “He has been so gracious with teaching me everything he knows. If it wasn’t for him, I don’t think I would be anywhere close to where I am today, and I will forever be grateful for that.”

Drews photographed the Michigan State vs. Indiana football game this past October. She found a Detroit-based sports photographer named Mike Mulholland who shoots for the Lions, Tigers, and Wings, as well as Michigan State. He was extremely gracious, she said — even letting her use one of his lenses as she shot on the sideline.

The weirdest part, she said, was how natural shooting the game felt.

“During that game, I couldn’t picture myself really ever doing something outside of sports,” Drews said. “The only time I got a little too giddy is when I turned to my right during the third quarter and Tom Izzo was a foot away from me.”

The giddiness is nothing compared to the feeling she said she gets seeing her final product.

“I love the idea that photography is a way to freeze a moment in time forever,” Drews said. “The reason I focus mostly on sports photography is because athletics has always been something I’ve enjoyed. Being inside a gym or on a field with a camera in my hand is probably the most comfortable I have ever felt.”

Like Drews, Grime’s lifelong love of sports — and of his home team, the St. Louis

Cardinals — inspired him to pursue sports journalism.

“Watching them when I was a little kid, I really started to have interest in sports journalism, because I would watch games on TV and then write game recaps,” Grime said. “I’d show those to my mom and she would act like I was giving her the news of what happened in the game.”

know it.”

Several other students on campus pursue sports journalism through radio broadcasting at WCSR, Radio Free Hillsdale 101.7 FM, or both.

Sophomores Martin Petersen and Jake Sievers co-host a show on Radio Free Hillsdale called “Charger Rundown.”

The half-hour show, which usually airs on Wednesdays,

“During that game, I couldn’t picture myself really ever doing something outside of sports. The only time I got a little too giddy was when I turned to my right during the third quarter and Tom Izzo was a foot away from me.”

Grime has covered Hillsdale football this year as an assistant sports editor for the Collegian. He also writes editorials and blog posts for a St. Louis Cardinals’ blog.

Through his writing, he said he hopes to expand the network of readers and one day land a job in this field.

“It can be a little bit daunting at first because you think, ‘How am I going to get to the point where this is my professional job one day?’” Grime said. “But really, in my limited experience and talking to other people that have made it, they say to do as much as you can to get things published, and you’ll get there before you

recaps Hillsdale College sports from the past weekend and previews the upcoming games. They also interview two athletes each week from every sports team in season.

Besides “Charger Rundown,” Sievers also hosts an hour-long show called “The Has Beens,” where he and two juniors talk all things NFL and present a five-minute rundown of the important national sports stories of the week. He always closes with Hillsdale College sports updates.

A Hillsdale native, Petersen has had the chance to work with WCSR since he was in sixth grade.

“I really got interested because of my love for sports and sitting down and talking with other people about them,” Petersen said. “I always liked listening to how different broadcasters and journalists took different approaches to things. I even used to mute the TV and do the broadcasting on my own.”

Petersen said working with local sports radio personality Andy Brown from WCSR has allowed him to take his interest to new levels.

“It’s a lot of fun working with Andy,” Peterson said.

“I really like doing color commentating for basketball games with him. I think that’s where I have the most fun because it’s live action, it’s right in front of you, and you get to think on the fly.”

Sievers, also a lifelong sports lover, said he realized in junior high that he was good, but not good enough to be a professional athlete. The next best thing, he reasoned, would be to talk about sports on TV or the radio. He acknowledged, however, it won’t be easy to get there.

“I know it’s going to be tough to get a job in this field because it’s so competitive and because so many people are talented and want the same thing that I do. But it’s my passion, it’s always been my passion, and so I’m just gonna go for it and whatever happens, happens,” Sievers said.

As competitive as this field is, Matt Melchior ’15 proves it’s possible to break into it.

Melchior even started working in sports early, while still in college. Now, he is a Premium Sales Manager for the Detroit Lions and is responsi-

ble for the sales and retention of all premium hospitality inventories.

With the help of Career Services, Melchior landed a sales job in minor league baseball the spring of his junior year, first with the High Desert Mavericks (Single A affiliate of the Seattle Mariners) and then after a season with them, he worked with the Toledo Mud Hens (AAA Affiliate of the Detroit Tigers) and the Toledo Walleye (ECHL affiliate of the Detroit Red Wings).

Working with Toledo teams meant regular commutes to the city and special arrangements with his professors.

“The professors and the college were extremely flexible allowing me to work full time as a student while completing my coursework,” Melchior said.

After a year with the teams in Toledo, he reached out to a director with the Detroit Lions, and when an opportunity arose, he took the job.

“Hillsdale did an incredible job at putting me in touch with the right people. Getting a big job is great, but getting the right job and working with great people is more important,” Melchior said.

For current Hillsdale students pursuing the same field, Melchior’s story is an encouragement to keep going.

“The sports industry has allowed me to meet some really great people and have some great experiences,” Melchior said. “I love what I do.”

Move in, move out, move in again Why on-campus residents decide to switch housing.

Simpson Residence. Collegian Sophomore Jessica Chen plays chess with 6-yearold Elizabeth Sumnar. Madeline Fry | Collegian

Students play Hillsdale kids in first-ever Chess Fest By | Madeline Fry Culture Editor A six-year old chess player slides out of her chair after finishing a game.

“I’m getting good at this!” she says.

“Yes, you are,” agreed sophomore Jessica Chen, who has just finished explaining how to defend vulnerable pieces. “You’re excellent.

You’ve improved a lot since this morning.”

The pair has played two games on a flat, vinyl chessboard at a square table in the corner of A.J.’s Café. After her win, 6-year-old Elizabeth Sumnar jumps up to find her father, Chris, who sits down to play her next. He says he’s learning too.

Sumnar’s skills are impressive for a 6-year-old, Chen says, but she admits to having let her win both games.

“You have to be subtle about losing,” Chen says.

“You have to play badly without teaching them to play badly.”

At Chess Fest, the first partnership between the Community Sports Outreach GOAL Program and the Chess Club, students taught children the strategies of chess the morning of Saturday, Nov. 18, in the Grewcock Student Union.

Rain falls heavily outside while a few college students sit at square tables explaining chess, turn by turn, to half a dozen children. Some parents, all fathers, watch as their kids play and pick up strategies along with them. One father is Assistant Professor of Politics Matthew Mendham, who watches his son David compete against another child. He says he brought David for his first chance to practice chess at an event with new opponents.

A few tables down, Assistant Professor of Philosophy Ian Church plays against Don Tocco, a donor and frequent speaker at the college.

In all, six tables host chess matches. Senior Sam Cassels, the president of the Chess Club, said the small number of attendees gave students the opportunity to provide oneon-one instruction.

When he plays against kids, Cassels shows them moves to avoid and but lets them choose their next steps.

He sometimes goes easy on them.

“That depends on how much I like the kid,” he jokes.

Actually, he says he evaluates children’s levels of expertise as they play against each other. If the kids are learning, he’ll encourage them by giving them a win.

Junior Gill West tries a

Six children from Hillsdale got one-on-one instruction from members of the Chess Club. Madeline Fry | Collegian

different coaching strategy.

When he plays against a boy named Parker, who is about Sumnar’s age, their match lasts a full hour. Whenever it’s Parker’s turn, West shows him the three best moves he could make and lets him pick. Their match ends as a draw.

“I realized at the end I was about to win,” West said. So he reined in the strategy, and neither player got a checkmate.

Win or lose, learning chess helps children, according to Chen, because it teaches them analytical thinking.

“Also,” she adds, “it makes you look smart.”

Junior Caroline Andrews, the leader of the Community Sports Outreach program, said the purpose of the event was reach out to a new demographic of the community.

Not all students enjoy athletic activities, but some do like chess. The International Olympic Committee even recognizes chess as a sport.

“This ultimately contributes to the overall goal of our program, which is to support the extracurricular activities put on for kids in our community,” Andrews said.

“We want to inspire and lead kids to actively engage their minds and bodies in their free time.”

By | Joe Pappalardo Senior Writer The first semester of college can be an experiment gone haywire for some students.

For those who aren’t happy with their living situations, the release of housing forms initiates the perennial scramble to defect once again.

Between fall 2016 and spring 2017 semesters last year, 44 students switched to a different on-campus residence. Students may consider the option of moving back on campus or moving to a different dorm residence.

Of the 44 from last year, 35 were women according to Dean of Women Diane Philipp. Nine of the women who switched were freshmen.

Aide to the Dean of Men Rita Conrad said there were only nine men who switched residences last year, but did not have information on their years. The data from previous years could not be retrieved because the school shreds its paper records and overwrites the online housing information each year.

Dean of Men Aaron Petersen confirmed that freshmen can switch dorms between their fall and spring semesters.

Other residences, he said, are only allowed in extreme cases, such as fraternity members filling empty beds in their respective houses.

Petersen explained that it was permissible for off-campus residents to move on campus, but current on-campus students are only permitted to shift between other on-campus residences.

In the case of junior

Laura White life at McIntyre Residence wasn’t ideal. About a week into the school year the transfer student asked to move into Whitley Residence because she had heard there were other transfer students and her current situation “just didn’t seem like a good fit.”

Since making the transition, she said she’s been happy with her current residence.

“It has been very nice living in a residence hall with people in a similar situation as me,” White said. “I’ve enjoyed it a lot.”

White initiated her move

decided to switch around the end of October, and has been living in Whitley for a month.

“The community bathrooms and high beds in Olds Residence made it difficult for me to live comfortably there while I was recovering,” she explained.

Freshman Declan Williamson also elected to move into another dorm. Williamson, a Simpson resident, will move into the vacant room in Koon Residence next semester. He’ll be joined by sophomore Luke Grzywacz, who lives in the Suites Residence.

“Most of my friends live in Koon,” Williamson said.

“I spend more time there than in my own dorm.”

Williamson requested Simpson Residence as a freshman because it was “nice and new.” After making friends with Koon residents, he decided he preferred their “laidback” community and “less cramped” rooms.

Petersen noted that students, especially men, might not take advantage of an opportunity to change because of the time it takes to settle in.

“Even if they could switch the roommate they have, they’ve learned how to work out that situation,” he said.

“They’d prefer not to restart that process.”

Freshmen are also restricted to the three main men’s residences on campus, the dean said.

“We don’t let freshmen live in the Suites,” Petersen said.

“We don’t release students off campus when there are beds available on campus.”

Students who changed residences between 2016 and 2017 Total: 44 Women: 35 Men: 9 Freshmen women: 9 by contacting Associate Dean of Women Rebekah Dell, who informed her there was an open room in Whitley. After talking to Judith Schellhammer, Whitley’s House Director, White was able to transfer her belongings to the other dorm.

“It was honestly a very simple and uncomplicated process, and housing was very helpful throughout it all,” she said.

Though White is a junior by credits, she explained she’ll likely be at Hillsdale for three years to finish the core and courses for her major.

White’s roommate in Whitley, Leahi Johsens, is actually a true freshman, but she also switched dorms after surgery on her broken arm. Johsens