Hillsdale Collegian 3.4.2021 by The Hillsdale Collegian

Junior Blake Newberry balances a stack of Oreos on his forehead for a "Minute To Win It" challenge in the ongoing homecoming competition. Andrew Dixon | Collegian

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Vol. 144 Issue 21 - March 4, 2021

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Off-Campus Coalition takes the lead in Spring Spirit Week By | Sofia Krusmark & Elizabeth Troutman Culture Editor & Collegian Freelancer With the Off-Campus Coalition in the lead at 280 points, Spirit Week is approaching its climax. The 17 competing teams have two remaining competitions before Mock Rock on Saturday night. WhitWatWay, last year’s homecoming winner, is in second place with 215 points. Simpson residence is in third with 190

points. OCC, which formed its coalition in the fall of 2018, took the lead after winning the trivia competition on Wednesday night. What will it take for them to win? Consistency, said senior and OCC team member Ben Weide. “We know Mock Rock is huge, but we also know that we need to be in a good position going into it and we need to continue to place in as many competitions as we can,” Weide said. “And we’re pretty confident. We have some good stuff in the pipeline.”

The photo competition will take place on Thursday and the volunteer hours will be tallied on Friday. Mock Rock will be on the football field at 7 p.m. on Saturday. There, the homecoming king and queen will be crowned and the winning team of Spirit Week will be announced. After homecoming was canceled last fall, the Alumni Association decided to host a separate alumni reunion in late May, while Spirit Week replaces the traditional homecoming week. The goal of Spirit Week is to focus

Renovations start at Dow Conference Center By | Madeline Welsh Collegian Freelancer

Renovations on the Dow Conference Center began this week, kicking off a construction project that is expected to conclude in the fall of 2021. Dow Hotel Director of Hospitality Aaron Tracey said in an email that the Dow A and B conference room, as well as conference rooms F and G, are being renovated. “A and B is very outdated and

does not match the aesthetics of Searle, Plaster, and other renovations at the Dow Center,” Tracey said. “Room G and Room F are in need of a renovation as well.” Tracey said the renovations will not affect guests staying at the Dow Hotel, and the impact on students will be minimal. Guests, students, and faculty can expect noise from the construction site during the day as the project progresses. The main consequences of

construction is a temporary loss of three conference rooms while Dow A and B and conference rooms F and G are out of commission. However, Gillespie, Searle and other spaces are still available for conferences and events. “We still do our best to host your event where possible,” Tracey said.

on school community and spirit, said junior and Student Activities Board Big Events Leader Luciya Katcher. Though not the traditional homecoming week that typically happens in the fall, the Spirit Week competitions included the annual banner competition, Mock Rock, a photo competition, and a race to complete the most volunteer hours. The biggest changes, Katcher said, include replacing the traditional wing eating competition with minute-to-win-it, a

series of minute-long challenges which took place Tuesday night, and hosting Mock Rock on the football field instead of inside the Roche Sports Complex. “Even though we've thrown Spirit Week at a weird time, in the middle of midterms with no football game, and there've been all these obstacles, the student body was willing to rise to that and still bring the spirit and bring this excitement that makes being here fun,” said sophomore and SAB team member Meg Scheske. In the past, Mock Rock judges

have factored in thematics such as lighting and confetti. Katcher said this year, the judges’ primary focus will be the dancing. “It’s more about how well you can put together the routine and wow the judges,” Katcher said. “We are trying to get the feel of a Friday night football game where we say, ‘come out and get cozy with your friends. Come out with blankets.’” For the minute-to-win-it games, the contestants were

See Spirit Week A2

Scott Atlas receives the Freedom Leadership Award from Hillsdale College President Larry Arnn. Courtesy | Emily Davis

See Dow A3

Charger pitcher Toth throws no-hitter By | Calli Townsend Sports Editor

Junior pitcher David Toth’s no-hitter, and seven home runs by the Chargers’ lineup, set the tone for the upcoming Hillsdale College baseball season. The Chargers opened up with a four-game sweep on the road over Maryville University last weekend. “We expect to be pretty good,” head coach Eric Theisen said. “It was a fun weekend and I’m not surprised at all that that’s how it went.” The Chargers outscored their opponent 20-8 in the four-game series, proving the team’s young

talent with home runs from freshmen Jeff Landis, Aidan Brewer, Lewis Beals, and sophomore Cooper Peterson. Saturday, Feb. 27 (Game 1): Hillsdale, 5, Maryville, 2 The Chargers started off the game with two runs in the top of the first. After adding another run in the third, they had a 3-0 lead heading into the bottom of the sixth when Maryville found a spark in its offense, scoring two runs. The Chargers answered with a pair of home runs from Peterson and Landis in the seventh and eighth innings to secure the win. Senior pitcher Andrew Ver-

brugge got the win after facing 23 batters and striking out eight. Junior pitcher James Krick came in during the eighth inning to get the save, striking out three. “It felt pretty normal,” Verbrugge said. “I think the exhibitions took a little bit of the nervousness out of it with it having been the first game.” Saturday, Feb. 27 (Game 2): Hillsdale, 1, Maryville, 0 When Toth took the mound for game two against Maryville, throwing a no-hitter wasn’t on his mind.

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On Monday, Martin Petersen and Stefan Kleinhenz, who host Marty and Stef in the Morning on Radio Free Hillsdale, guest hosted the Michael Koolidge Show, which is syndicated across Illinois. Courtesy | Scot Bertram

Atlas given Freedom Leadership Award By | Haley Strack Assistant Editor Scott W. Atlas received Hillsdale College’s highest honor, the Freedom Leadership Award, at a National Leadership Seminar in Phoenix, Arizona on Feb. 18. “We’ve given it to Ronald Reagan, and we’ve given it to Margaret Thatcher, and we’ve given it to Clarence Thomas,” Hillsdale College President Larry Arnn said at the event. “That means leadership, which takes courage toward freedom, which has a generosity to everyone it touches — and I’m proud to present it to Scott Atlas.” Atlas, a senior fellow at Stanford University’s Hoover In-

stitution, is a signer of the Great Barrington Declaration, a petition written by epidemiologists that calls for alternative strategies in fighting the COVID-19 pandemic and seeks to minimize the social and economic harm of lockdowns. His work was instrumental in the college’s decision to host its commencement ceremony in person last July. “I am, of course, highly honored to be on the list of winners,” Atlas said in his acceptance speech. “Hillsdale’s National Leadership Seminar program was founded with a specific mission: ‘To foster enlightened leadership and inform decision making for America’s third century by communicating the fundamental

principles of freedom and order on which western civilization is based.’ The pandemic has been a tragedy, no doubt, but it has exposed profound issues in America that now threaten those very principles of freedom and order that we Americans too often take for granted.” In June 2020, former President Donald Trump selected Atlas to serve on the White House Coronavirus Task Force team, where Atlas was accused of spreading misinformation and propagating lies about the pandemic. But according to Victor Davis Hanson, senior fellow at

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A2 March 4, 2021

Getting to know the Homecoming Court

Michaela Peine

Random fact: When I was twelve, I took third place in the Minnesota State Fair Mooing Competition. Three years later, I put this award on a resume to apply for my first job...they asked me to explain my "mooing award," and I somehow still got the job.

Cal McNellie Random fact: I worked in the meat department of a local grocery store and can make better sausages than you can ever dream of making.

Allison Schuster Random fact: I tried out to be my high school mascot but the head didn’t fit over my glasses so they made a special position for me because nobody had ever tried out and not gotten it before.

The Lamplighters' senior women's honorary nominated eight new members last week, six of whom are pictured. Top, left to right: Juniors Maya Kaniaupio, Sophia Spinazze, and Sarah Haught. Bottom, left to right: Juniors Sonya Wirkus, Gladys Oster, and Rachael Kiti. Andrew Dixon | Collegian

Jonathan Burton

Eliza Miller

Michaela Stiles

Griffin Vigneron Random fact: I am banned from all Kappa Kappa Gamma-sponsored events.

Micah Perry Random fact: I was the third best bowler on my high school’s JV bowling team.

Lamplighters women's honorary initiates eight new members By | Alexis Daniels Senior Reporter Lamplighters, Hillsdale College’s honorary for senior women, initiated eight new members from the class of 2022 this past weekend: juniors Sarah Haught, Rachael Kiti, Sophia Spinazze, Elizabeth Hughes, Reagan Linde, Sonya Wirkus, Maya Kaniaupio, and Gladys Oster. The honorary was founded in 1949 in response to an all male honorary that existed at the time. Senior Claire Lupini, a current Lamplighter, said this makes the honorary unique. “The women at the college knew that they deserved to be honored for all that they had contributed to Hillsdale and then founded Lamplighters,” Lupini said. “The reason that Lamplighters is so unique today is that Hillsdale is one of the only schools in the nation in which you can have an honorary just for women.” Lupini said Lamplighters selects students based on outstanding character, service, leadership, and scholarship at Hillsdale. It “functions to honor women,” and they build community with one another to celebrate, according to Lupini.

Barrett Moore

Random fact: Growing up, I always dreamt of becoming a Marine Biologist. I got half-way there: I’m marrying a Marine, but I’m no biologist.

Random fact: I’ve been told I have “pianist fingers.”

Julia Pletan

Andrew Shaffer

Random fact: My childhood nickname among my family members, especially my parents, was "Punk."

Taryn Murphy Random fact: When I was eight the CEO of Minute Maid came to my lemonade stand and bought a glass.

“Due to COVID-19, we have not been able to get together that often this year, so I am uncertain of what it would be like in a normal year,” Lupini said in an email. “I have gained a different and exceptional community and have been blessed to be among these women.” Junior Rachael Kiti is one of the new members. She received an email about applying earlier this year, and when she was accepted, women in black gowns came to where she was seated in the Grewcock Student Union and swore her in. “It was awesome,” Kiti said. “My friends are so happy, so it feels like it’s a graduation.” Kiti said she believes she was chosen for the honorary because of her work with international students on campus. An inter-

national student herself, Kiti knew how these students struggle to integrate into the campus. She has been coordinating an international student mentorship program to help them settle in and provide connections for them in the town community and on campus. “Their needs are quite different,” Kiti said. “They're not only coming to a new country, but everything else is just different. Now the relationship between the international students and the community and the school is very strong and very friendly.” Junior Maya Kaniaupio is also a new member. She said she believes Lamplighters chose her because they look for students who have very diverse experiences with leadership on campus. “I'm in Chi O, and I've had

"I have gained a different and exceptional community and have been blessed to be among these women. "

some leadership positions within the house,” Kaniaupio said. “I also work for GOAL right now and I'm helping basically oversee all the programs, so I'm not attached to one specific program.” Kaniaupio said she looks forward to getting close with the other women in the honorary and seeing what they are involved in. “I think something I love about Hillsdale is everyone that I know on campus is so passionate about whatever they're doing,” Kaniaupio said. “One of the things that unites us is that we're all very invested in whatever it is that we do. And I'm really excited to get closer with them and hear more about what they found at Hillsdale and what's really blessed their experience here.” You don’t get into Lamplighters because you want to gain something, but because you want to give something, Kiti said. “Do something you want that will keep you up at night, something that you really care about, because that one thing will make your life,” Kiti said. “Do it at your best, do it with all you are. And that means if no one honors you for that, you still have done and served a purpose that satisfies yourself, and that's already a big honor.”

Student Federation grants $7,170 to two clubs By | Genevieve O'Gara Collegian Reporter

Jolene Estruth

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Random fact: I am a first generation college student!

Random fact: My high school graduation cake had a picture of Tim Allen’s face on it.

Random fact: I like to sing opera!

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Random fact: I have never broken a bone (knock on wood).

Dominic Bulger

Random fact: Most people think I am an English major. This is fairly understandable, given that I hang out with a lot of English majors, I work for the Writing Center...However, contrary to popular opinion, I am a music major, and merely minor in English.

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The Student Federation granted full funding to the first club proposals of the semester at its meeting on Feb. 25. The Lyceum and Catholic Society both received the funds they requested. “The clubs do hard work to get their funding proposals to us and then we go through it and find that, unsurprisingly, the clubs here are well-run and well intentioned,” sophomore and Student Federation Vice President Thomas MacPhee said. “We granted full funding without much debate or issue.” According to MacPhee, Jonathan Meckel, president of The Lyceum, requested $650 for the club, which provides students and faculty regular opportu-

Spirit Week from A1 asked to complete five to six challenges, each in less than a minute. Tasks included blowing cups across a table, stacking as many Oreos as possible on one’s head, sliding an Oreo from one’s forehead into his mouth, and sucking as many beads as possible with a straw out of one cup into another. SAB is considering continuing doing minute-to-win-it in place of the usual wing-eating contest every year, due to its popularity. “Minute-to-win-it was really great because it was something different that we tried,” Scheske said. “There's a lot of energy and that kicked the week off in a good way.” Simpson won the competition with a total of 90 points with

nities to discuss serious topics or issues. The club requested the money to reimburse four dinners held over the semester—each estimated at a cost of $100—that provide a chance for club members to discuss the books they have been reading. The club also requested money to buy the books the members read. Because the reading list is not easily found in the library and because participating students take time out of their schedule to participate, the club wanted to give the books as gifts to the members, MacPhee said. The finance committee recommended giving the club $400 and suggested that the remaining cost be paid with a $10 member fee for each dinner. After listening to the concern that fewer students might participate in the dinners with the additional cost, sophomore

representative Regina Gravrok proposed an amendment to the finance committee’s recommendation to give the club full funding. The amendment passed, and The Lyceum received $650. Catholic Society Vice President David Strobach said his club requested $6,520 to cover the cost of the talks, “Freedom and Purpose: Jesus Christ and the Fulfillment of All Desire” given by Sister Miriam James Hiedland and Fr. James Burns in January, as well as the cost of the silent retreats given by the Miles Christi priests for the men and women of Catholic Society in February. The federation granted the request in full. “As a partnership, student clubs and the federation work together to improve campus life, and both sides saw this as a fitting match thanks to its

Olds and Cross Country finishing in second and third place, respectively. Olds always has an enthusiastic presence in Homecoming week, and this year is no exception, said freshman and Olds resident Orlagh O’Donohue. “It's so fun to see how much it impacts the community and how I've grown so much closer to so many people really that I usually wouldn't have seen,” O’Donohue said. Kappa Kappa Gamma did not participate this year, and Delta Sigma Phi and Delta Tau Delta dropped out on the third day of competitions. Simpson, who lost homecoming last year for the first time in seven years, is hopeful to take the win on Saturday, said senior and head RA Tom Howell.

“It'll take a lot of practice from the guys, it'll take a lot of demos, and it'll take guys who are willing to put in the work, but I think most importantly it will take guys who have a lot of energy and just want to go out there and have fun,” Howell said. Senior and OCC team member Patrick Mitchell added that Spirit Week is a time for all parts of campus to participate in activities together. “Off campus residents have a reputation for isolation, or just the belief that they’re separate from the rest of the campus,” said Mitchell. “I think that this just proves that wrong, that we are a united front and we can come and perform for all the tournaments just like any other dorm, or sorority, or fraternity.” The most important aspect,

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deeply formative components,” Strobach, a former member of the federation, said. “It was a pleasure to work with the federation who demonstrated great professionality and diligence to help improve campus life.” The federation also announced it will host a town hall meeting on March 4 at 8 p.m. in the Formal Lounge. Representatives will be available to listen to concerns and opinions of the student body and answer questions. MacPhee said all students are welcome to share their opinions or to come and listen. “This is an opportunity for students to make their opinions clear to their representatives, and conversely, for representatives to better understand the opinions of their constituents,” MacPhee said.

though, is the community and spirit that Spirit Week creates, added sophomore and Simpson resident Matthias Rhein. There has been a decline in participation this year because of the move to the spring semester, he said, but an increase in campus camaraderie. “It’s a lot of delayed bonding that could have happened early on, and at this point, people are already in their own friend groups, whereas homecoming last year was where I made most of my friends,” Rhein said. “I think that homecoming and Mock Rock and all these events are something that campus dearly needed and I wish that it would have happened last semester. It’s amazing how much campus, at least last semester, lacked without it.”

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March 4, 2021 A3

'Anything goes for the Icelandic chicken'

Biology professor talks homesteading and raising chickens at Mossey Library lecture By | Emma Cummins Senior Reporter If you visited the homestead “Antique Stonehope,” you would soon be surrounded by Icelandic chickens, turkeys, and, if you were really lucky, a wheat field. Assistant Professor of Biology Christopher Heckel grew up on a dairy farm in Litchfield, Michigan, but he now spends his free time raising “viking chickens” and doing other homesteading projects with his family. Antique Stonehope, homesteading, and his chickens were the subject of Heckel’s talk, “How to Raise Viking Chickens, and Other Stories from a Wannabe Homesteader,” put on by the Mossey Library faculty in the Faculty After Hours series on March 2. “We moved out to our property about five years ago and thought we wanted to have chickens,” Heckel said. “We learned that raising chickens is kind of hard. The Icelandic land race are

known for being pretty tough birds. They survived in Iceland; they ought to do well in Southern Michigan.” Heckel gave the audience a run-down of the birds’ origin story. “These chickens brought the Vikings with them to Iceland in the 10th century,” Heckel joked. “They remained there in isolation until the 1930s.” It wasn’t until 2003 that this particular type of chicken was available in the United States. After starting off with other kinds of breed, Heckel said he decided to try the Icelandic chicken for its unique traits. The chicken is both “hearty” and “self-sufficient,” which meant that there was more room for error in taking care of them, according to Heckel. “This doesn’t mean we don’t have to feed them, but in the summer time they are constantly scratching, finding their own food. They take several laps

around the farm every day,” he said. “I don’t like it when they cross the road, but they do sometimes.” The color and comb variations of the birds are also an attraction for Heckel. “We’ve got reds, we’ve got blues, we’ve got browns. We’ve got all kinds of variety,” he said. “The color of the adults are so varied. We have no idea what the chicks are going to look like when they’re older, other than being nice yard art.” Because the Icelandic chicken is a land race, rather than being bred, they are usually more colorful and varied in appearance. Animals that are bred often look more uniform. “Anything goes for the Icelandic chicken,” Heckel said. Another unique trait about the Icelandic chickens is that they have retained much of their natural instincts, especially when it comes to “broodies,” hens who have just layed eggs.

“For so many commercial breeds of chickens, those instincts to be a good mother have been bred out while focusing on producing a bigger bird or making bigger eggs. Those instincts have been lost,” Heckel said. “The Icelandics still have those primary traits. They make great mothers.” This means that raising chicks is much easier with this kind of chicken. “Mama hens are the best way to raise chicks,” he said. “It’s a load off your mind, that as long as there’s food and water, and you may not even need that, you will have well-raised, healthy chicks.” However, their instincts can also make it difficult to keep track of the birds. “We love our chickens. We love this particular type. They’ve got all their instincts,” he said. “But that does leave some downsides. You can’t control when they hatch eggs and they roost really high.”

The chickens will also “hide” the eggs they’ve laid from Heckel and his family, as the birds still have the instinct to reproduce. “Icies are really picky. They really want their privacy,” he said. “They’re hiding eggs from you because they’re trying to reproduce.” Senior Jack Shelley, who is interested in homesteading and has even owned his own bees, said the lecture gave him a new interest in Icelandic chickens. “Dr. Heckel’s presentation was very informative,” he said. “I went into it with no clue as to what an Icelandic chicken was, and left wanting to raise a whole flock.” Heckel also gave the audience some practical tips for how to raise the chickens. A hopeful homesteader would need space, a high roosting area, food and water, a chicken coop, and nesting boxes for laying. Heckel also mentioned that fresh eggs, if not washed, can stay fresh for up to two to three

weeks. “All chickens when they lay their eggs have a bloom on the shell. That’s a coating of beneficial microorganisms that seals that egg up and keeps it fresh so that spoilage organisms don’t make their way through the shell,” he said. “It’s a biological protection.” The Icelandic chickens are particularly easy to raise and each bird produces about six eggs a week. These tips were particularly useful to senior Paul Esposito, who hopes to have some sort of farm or homestead in the future. “My great-grandparents had a farm that was sold from the family long ago,” he said. “I grew up hearing stories about the old family farm, and being here at Hillsdale has opened me up to the rural life even more. I’m hoping that maybe sometime in the future I can try to rebuild my family’s farm life, and learning about homesteading seems the perfect place to start.”

Debate team sweeps tournaments By | Maggie Hroncich Assistant Editor The Hillsdale College debate team won awards in both Lincoln Douglas and parliamentary debate competitions this past weekend. The tournaments, which are online due to COVID-19, were hosted by Bowling Green State University in Ohio and Ithaca College in New York, respectively. Matthew Doggett, assistant professor of rhetoric and director of debate, said the success this past weekend is a continuation of successes this academic year. “We did really well in the fall semester. I think we had three tournaments that we won as a team,” Doggett said. “We won at the largest non-national

tournament and had a lot of people place. And then this past weekend everybody but about three people won some type of award, so it’s been a pretty cool year.” Senior T.J. Wilson won first place in open Lincoln Douglas and first place speaker at the tournament hosted by Ithaca College. Wilson said out of the 17 individuals competing in open Lincoln Douglas, four of them were from Hillsdale, with three of the Hillsdale students making it to the elimination rounds. “For me, the overarching favorite part of the weekend is that there were a lot of really close rounds, and that I was able to luckily win them all,” Wilson said. “I think my favorite moment was having three different people from Hillsdale advance

to elimination rounds, so we had the opportunity to have won first and second place. Unfortunately, two of them lost in split decisions, which was really sad, but I got to avenge them.” Senior Erin Reichard, along with her partner, junior Tavio Pela, won parliamentary debate at the Bowling Green tournament. “I think one of the best parts for me this tournament was that Tavio and I did a lot of practicing,” Reichard said. “With parliamentary debate you go in and have 15 minutes to prepare a case, so we did a lot of prepping and I think it really paid off this tournament. We were able to go into rounds with great cases that we had worked on with sources we had previously researched and it was very rewarding.”

Students plan new spring break mission trip after Intervarsity cancels program By | Merrit Pope Collegian Freelancer In response to Intervarsity Ministries canceling the annual spring break mission trip, six students have taken the initiative to lead their own mission trip to give students the same opportunity to serve the community and share the gospel. Junior Stephen Whitney, one of the leaders of the initiative, said the mission trip has always been a great way to expose Hillsdale students to the surrounding community. “We feel the need to continue this mission trip and continue to support the community and the local churches in our area,” Whitney said. “We are hoping this will be a time for students to grow in their faith, in Christian community, and become more aware of the needs here in Hillsdale.” Junior Shelby Tone, the main leader of the trip, said the plan for this year’s mission trip is to perform the same activities Intervarsity has done on past trips but

Dow

on a smaller scale with necessary adjustments due to COVID-19 precautions. “We’ll be serving people in the community and hopefully bringing joy and the good news after what was a very long and likely difficult year for a lot of people,” Tone said. “We’ll be helping out with projects that various GOAL leaders, like Crossroads Farm and A Few Good Men have directed us to, and reaching out to local churches to see if people in their congregations need help with yard care, dog-walking, painting, or clean-up. Mixed in with this service will be prayer walks, devotionals, time for reflection, intentional bonding, and testimonies during small-group sessions.” Both Tone and Whitney agreed that COVID-19 is impacting the trip and limiting the variety of ways they can serve the community. “Usually, we like going to nursing homes and visiting the elderly in the area to play music, but that's not practical current-

ly,” Tone said. “Likewise with schools: we’ve visited nearby preschools and special education schools before, but not this year, which is really unfortunate. There are just ways to serve that aren’t open to us at this point.” Whitney echoed Tone’s sentiments, noting that this year’s trip falls on the one-year anniversary of the lockdown. “Ironically, this trip will mark the one year anniversary since COVID-19 shut down the country. I was on the trip last year and it was the highlight of my year,” Whitney said. “Despite COVID-19, we were still able to partner with local churches and community members to finish the trip. I think that this has given us perspective on this year’s trip. Last year we had to trust that the Lord would provide all that we needed for us as COVID-19 descended on the nation and he did.” The leadership team is currently planning an agenda for the trip and said it hopes to share more details soon.

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Improvements have been steadily made to the Dow for a number of years, but some areas remain untouched. “Dow A and B were built in 1967, and when you walk in there, you feel like you’re in 1967,” Tracey said. Plans for renovation are very grand, according to Tracey, particularly for Dow A and B. They include a glass ceiling to allow for natural light, a grand stairway on the north wall, a fireplace on the south wall, and banquet seating for 120 people, Tracey said. Mark Bacci, project superintendent for the renovation, said the vision will not start to come together until April. For now, the crew is focused on demolition. “We will begin setting new structural items in mid- to late April,” Bacci said. “At that point, you will be able to start seeing what the end product will look like.”

The Dow Center is currently being renovated. Evalyn Homoelle | Collegian

Caleb Ramette, Rachel Kookogey, and Nick Treglia hosted The Loft's first live broadcast over Parents' Weekend. Rachel Kookogey| Collegian

'The Loft' broadcasts live from union By | Anne Ziegler Collegian Freelancer The Loft student radio show broadcast live from the Grewcock Student Union during Parents’ Weekend last Friday. The show’s three hosts — junior Rachel Kookogey, senior Caleb Ramette, and sophomore Nick Treglia — discussed crazy news stories, interviewed students with their parents, and hosted game shows from 12 p.m. to 12:30 p.m. The idea for the live broadcast came from senior Asa Hoffman, production manager of the show. He hoped it would provide a way for The Loft, and the student-run radio station, Radio Free Hillsdale, to interact with campus more. “People forget that we exist,” he said. “It feels like we’re disconnected from the rest of the campus.” Rather than promote the show through the usual means, such as putting up posters and relying

Atlas

on word of mouth, the live union show gave The Loft a chance to promote WRFH to the student body and visit with parents in-person, according to Hoffman. Various guests joined the show throughout the lunch period. Former radio host and senior Philip Andrews came on with his parents. They competed against each other in trivia. Other students participated in “the Florida man quiz,” in which the hosts tell three “Florida man” headlines — two true, one fake — and the guests have to guess which statement is the lie. Station Manager Scot Bertram was producing the show back in the studio during the broadcast. Kookogey said she was pleased with the event. “We have a lot of parents and people in the community who listen to the show, so it was great to have the opportunity to share with the student body what our show is all about,” she said. Kookogey noted that while

the event was fun, it was also challenging. “You have to be prepared,” she said. “Because it’s live, you don’t have the chance to edit.” Treglia agreed. “If jokes don’t land, you can’t take them out,” he said. “You have to know what you’re going to say and know it’s going to be good.” Despite the uncertain nature of the job, Kookogey, Treglia, and Ramette rose to the occasion, according to Hoffman. “I thought it was great,” he said. “The show did a great job carrying on its persona to a live show.” Despite the stress of timing and transitioning from segment to segment, the team pulled off the event with professionalism, he added. “It was a coordinated effort and they engage really well with people,” Hoffman said.

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the Hoover Institution, military historian, and visiting professor at Hillsdale, history will support Atlas’ conclusions. “Dr. Atlas’s recommendations that have guided some of the former Trump administration’s reactions to the COVID-19 pandemic were always guided by science,” Hanson said in an email. “Contrary to hysterical attacks on his character and expertise, Atlas’s proposals often reflected the consensus of a number of brilliant Stanford Medical School immunologists, epidemiologists, and biologists who similarly had argued that the country could weather the virus with proper precautions but without shutting down the nation's entire economy and incurring staggering human costs in greater missed medical procedures, increased suicides, and more spousal, family, and drug abuse.” Atlas, a senior advisor of health care for three presidential campaigns and an advisor to several members of the U.S. House of Representatives, has faced criticism for speaking out against the harsh restrictions states have placed on citizens as a result of the pandemic. “I was and I remained stunned and a little bit fright-

ened at the acquiescence of the American people to these destructive, arbitrary, and wholly unscientific rules, restrictions, and mandates,” Atlas said. “This crisis also exposed what we have all known existed, but we tolerated, although I think Hillsdale didn’t tolerate it as much as everybody else. But the rest of the country tolerated, for years, the bias of the media, the suppression of academic freedom on campuses, the lack of neutrality in big tech, and now more obviously than ever, the politicization of science. Ultimately, the freedom to seek and state the truth is at risk here in the United States.” After receiving a bachelor’s degree in biology from the University of Illinois in Urbana-Champaign and a master’s degree from the Pritzker School of Medicine at the University of Chicago, Atlas served as a professor of radiology and chief of neuroradiology at Stanford University from 1998 to 2012. He is the author of several books, including “Reforming America’s Health Care System.” Thomas West, the Paul Ermine Potter and Dawn Tibbetts Potter endowed professor in politics, said he first became familiar with Atlas during Atlas’ time as a COVID-19 advisor in

the Trump administration. “I was impressed by his public statements on COVID-19,” West said. “He is one of a small band of scientists who is really trying to follow the evidence on COVID-19. I admire two things especially about him: first, his strong dedication to real scientific inquiry as opposed to submitting to the media-driven consensus, and second, his courage in standing up against the united forces of the politicians, the media, the professoriate, and the medical bureaucracy.” One of four epidemiologists contracted to advise the college’s 2020 in-person commencement ceremony, Atlas was the “toughest of them all,” Arnn said. According to Arnn, every great thing in human history is done by somebody who does it by love, and Atlas is no exception. “He’s a cause for optimism,” Arnn said. “I didn’t know him before this came up, and so that means that I, and all of us, every one of us, has discovered a brave and brilliant man. The only correct conclusion to draw from that is that there must be more — and we are stronger by knowing him.”

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A4 March 4, 2021

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The Weekly:

Don’t take Spirit Week too seriously The opinion of the Collegian editorial staff The casualties of the COVID-19 pandemic include last fall’s homecoming. By the grace of Hillsdale College and its stellar Student Activities Office, however, students now get to enjoy a student-centered version of the centuries-old tradition. “Spring Spirit Week,” as it’s called, wasn’t designed to boost the egos of Simpson residents. (They are large enough already.) Nor was

it meant to give our dancers, visual artists, and trivia nerds a chance to show off. And because the rebooted homecoming does not include alumni visitors, it isn’t for them, either. The most important reason we host a spirit week is to unite the campus through friendly competition. Too often, students involve themselves with only their cliques, dorms, and

teams. By emphasizing and celebrating those individual groups and their particular differences through healthy competition, students have a chance to create a meaningful and memorable week. In years past, however, homecoming week has gotten a little too intense. Students have suffered injuries. With strife over banner positions and Mock Rock practice space, this year’s spirit week

Softball is better than baseball

coach tries to rotate everyone in, giving boyfriends and parents an extra reason to stay through the whole game.

By | Reagan Gensiejewski Softball is better than baseball. It isn’t even a close call. After working all the way up from T-ball to captain of a NCAA Division II softball team, I have come to this conclusion through hardwon experience. The sports look a lot alike to the casual observer, but true sports fans will appreciate the factors that make softball a better game. Here are five reasons why softball is better than baseball.

Students visit with each other as they walk near Central Hall. | Facebook

Forget social constructs: Don’t say hi to everyone you know on campus

By | Anna Katherine Daley Picture this: it’s a Monday morning at Hillsdale College and you are walking from Mossey Library where you’ve just printed a paper for your first class of the day. As you walk under the colonnade towards Lane Hall, you pass approximately 15 people. You smile at a handful, enthusiastically greet a couple, and awkwardly divert eye contact from the rest. Some of the people you diverted eye contact from are people you don’t recognize at all, but some of them are people you’ve had hour-long conversations with, some you may have once considered close friends. It seems that there is a “statute of limitations” of sorts for when you do and do not have to say hi to someone you know up the hill. This pointed avoidance seems to defy social norms and certainly goes against the advice that my mom gave me growing up. As she raised me in the heart of South Carolina, my mom always stressed to my sister and me that you should always say hi to people you know, no matter how long it has been since you’ve last seen them. She explained that not only was it just the polite thing to do, but that it would likely brighten their day a little bit and ease the tension of not being sure if one of you should say hi. If I mentioned to her that I saw a friend from first grade at Target, but avoided saying hi to them, she’d be disappointed and encourage me to “have some guts” next time. But at Hillsdale perhaps it is necessary to go against these social norms. Maybe you have to divert eye contact to survive. Even in the first week of freshman year alone, you likely meet about half of your class, and have extended conversations with many of them. You may never speak to these people again, but should you greet them in the dining

hall? Is it your civic responsibility as a Hillsdale student to say hello to every person you know? I would argue probably not. I asked junior Susannah Green what she would do if she was walking along the colonnade by the library and passed a person she hadn’t talked to in forever. “I’d probably just throw them a soft smile or I would just pretend I don’t see them. I always do that with so many people.” Senior Jessie Collins had a similar opinion. “I hate standing in line with people in the cafeteria and feeling like I have to talk to them. I am here for business only.” Senior Clayton DeJong disagreed and said that he says hi to people he has never spoken to just for fun. When I brought up the statue of limitations to junior Joal Burtka, he responded: “I can see your point, but it’s stupid. I’ve come up to people in the dining hall and hugged them because they looked like they were having a tough time.” While it certainly never hurts to spread some good cheer every once in a while, that does not take away from the fact that we go to a school of about 1600 students and the average student has probably met at least a third of them. If we said hi to every person we’ve ever had an extended conversation with, it would be exhausting. Sometimes the best solution is to forget your mom’s advice and just divert eye contact. According to Green, there is one exception to this rule, however. “The time I never ignore people is when I am leading a tour as a student ambassador. I say hi to everyone because it makes me look really popular.” Anna Katherine Daley is a senior studying rhetoric and public address.

is already looking just as intense. In times like this, it’s easy to let tensions flare and feuds escalate. Instead, let charity and kindness guide your actions. Be cheerful, spirited, and courageous in competition. Be humble in victory and gracious in defeat. As spirit week charges onward, remember its purpose: spirit, not Spartanism.

1. Intensity: Blink your eye and you might miss a play. Because a softball field is smaller than a baseball field — 43 feet between the mound and the plate, and 60 feet between the bases rather than 90 feet — players must make quick decisions and fast moves. You’ll never see a softball player jog from home to first. A smaller field also allows fans (or crazy softball dads) to sit closer to the action, so they can really get in the umpire’s ear after a bad call or chew out the coach for a terrible pitch sequence. A smaller field lets fans not just watch the game, but be a part of it. 2. Speed: Softball is just seven innings, so it packs the drama of a nine inning baseball game into a shorter period of time. Every out carries more significance. Not only is the pace of play quick, but softball games don’t drag on for hours. Runners can’t lead off before the pitch, which avoids the tedium of pick-off attempts. This speeds the game significantly. Softball has the mercy rule. If a team is up by eight or more runs after the fifth

4. Slapping: This technique adds a new element to softball. A left-handed batter performs what looks like a funky dance in the batter’s box, running towards the pitcher and hitting the ball simultaneously. The best slappers can place the ball over the first baseman’s head, or right behind second base. By the time the ball is fielded, the slapper is so fast, she is standing at first less than two seconds later. Imagine if Ichiro could slap. Lethal. Unfortunately, he plays an inferior sport.

Junior outfielder Reagan Gensiejewski of the Hillsdale College Softball Team. Courtesy | Camryn Olson

inning, a dull game comes to a rapid conclusion. Softball also has the international tie breaker for extra innings to keep the game short. The last out from the seventh starts on second, giving teams a better chance to score and end the game. Softball is so quick, it doesn’t need a mid-game stretch to keep spectators interested.

3. Participation: Softball has fewer players, and flexible substitution rules that allow more options for coaches who

enjoy strategy and more playing opportunities for athletes. Less players, less laundry. Anyone off the bench can enter the game, for as long as they want. The best part of the rule is that there is no limit on how many players can be substituted in, and where they go. This means that the coach can play every player in every game, at any position. Additionally, the pitching motion in softball doesn’t require athletes to take required days off, which means pitching staffs are smaller. A good

5. Cheers: Every sport has fired-up players and fans but softball cheers bring a different enthusiasm to the game. There is a cheer for every situation, every play, and each player has her own. They have the power to change the momentum of a game. Baseball by contrast, is stoic. Showing emotion is frowned upon. Break into a taunting cheer, and you might be clocked in the head next at bat. Not in softball. If a girl hits a homerun, you’ll even see a bat flip. Females will lose their voice from a game, and are encouraged to. There is one cheer every softball player lives by from the moment they first pick up a bat: “If it was easier, they’d call it baseball.” Reagan Gensiejewski is a junior outfielder on the women’s softball team studying rhetoric and public address. She is an assistant editor for the Collegian.

Dear Catholics at Hillsdale: Be a light to home parishes By | Maggie Hroncich The year was 258 A.D. and St. Lawrence was condemned to a slow, agonizing death by the prefect of Rome. He was roasted alive: tied above a grill and slowly spun over a fire. But his devotion to his faith made him hardly able to feel the flames, and he reportedly joked, “Turn me over, I’m done on this side!” Thus, St. Lawrence joined the multitude of other Christian martyrs in the early church. Among them was Perpetua, who was devoured by wild beasts in an arena, and St. Stephen, who was stoned to death for his faith. It is difficult to learn about these early Christians without imagining their disturbance if they could see the church today — closed, restricted, or empty in many states, while grocery stores, liquor stores, and restaurants do their best to remain open. While Catholics in Hillsdale are fortunate to have relatively normal Masses and church offerings, the same can not be said of churches worldwide. California’s ban

on indoor church was only lifted this past February, and services still remain severely limited. In the early weeks of the spread in Italy last spring, churches were open to tourists, but not to worshippers. Even in places where

the Christmas Mass that is normally packed. The priest excused the poor attendance by saying it was OK to refrain from Mass as a result of COVID-19 anxiety. But does that same anxiety prevent people from doing other

“Grocery stores are highly trafficked, restaurants are as full as capacity rules allow, and there are waiting lists at salons and barbers — so why are church pews across the nation so empty?” Mass has been allowed, many dioceses chose to shut down or limit access, and many parishioners chose not to attend because of COVID-19 anxiety. As we head back to our home parishes during spring break, Catholic Hillsdale students should be prepared. When I was home during Christmas break, I was shocked at how empty the pews at my church were, with barely 45 people attending

essential activities? Going to church and receiving the sacraments is the most essential duty of a confirmed Catholic. Canon law states that Sunday must be observed in the universal Church as the primordial day of holy obligation (Can. 1246 §1). Additionally, members of the Church have the right to receive the word of God and the sacraments (Can. 213), which can’t be received via Zoom or a Facebook lives-

tream. While exceptions exist for those especially at risk or unable to attend Mass (Can. 1248 §1), healthy Catholics have no reason to skip; nor do bishops have reason to deny access to the sacraments. It is easy to get caught up in fear about COVID-19, but we are a year into the pandemic, long past the initial “two weeks to slow the spread” campaign. Grocery stores are highly trafficked, restaurants are as full as capacity rules allow, and there are waiting lists at salons and barbers — so why are church pews across the nation so empty? During the stress and grief that results from a pandemic, the Church should be a place for believers to turn to for relief and hope. It should not be perceived as a threat. When you go home for spring break this year, don’t be afraid to encourage others to fill the pews of your church. It’s our right and duty as Catholics. Maggie Hroncich is a sophomore studying politics. She is an assistant editor for the Collegian.

Opinions

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Letter to the Editor:

March 4, 2021 A5

Texas National Guardsmen assist a driver stuck on snow and ice during the extreme winter weather in Abilene, Texas in February 2021. | Wikimedia Commons

More students ought to participate in student government By | Brandt Siegfried, Tom MacPhee & Isabella Maciejewski Two weeks ago, Cal McNellie authored an opinion in the Collegian which criticized the Student Federation for purchasing a ceremonial mace. In his piece, he included numerous facts which misrepresented the truth. On this occasion, the Student Federation officers feel compelled to respond. McNellie grounded his argument in the federation’s mission statement, which says that it “shall exist to allocate student fees for the purpose of improving campus life.” He claimed that purchasing a ceremonial mace contradicts this mission, but we adamantly disagree. As officers who are currently serving our second and third years on the federation, we are intimately familiar with the mission statement. We understand that the most impactful gifts from the federation to the college are those with longevity in mind. The ceremonial mace that we purchased last semester promises to be a relic which will represent student government at Hillsdale College for the next 300 years. Certainly, this is fitting for a student body which prides itself on our self-governance. Additionally, as a counter argument to our purchase, McNellie cited the fact that homelessness exists in Hillsdale County. During the last few years, the federation has been involved in numerous philanthropic ventures. Just last semester, the federation sponsored the Outdoor Adventure Club’s half marathon which raised nearly $5,000 for SPARC, a community organization dedicated to serving families who have children diagnosed with developmental disabilities. The federation also has a standing philanthropy committee dedicated to exploring such projects. Furthermore, McNellie cited a dubious opinion poll that he conducted on campus in which 75% of the students questioned said that they oppose the purchase of a ceremonial mace. His sample size was only 75 students, which is too few for a statistically significant poll. We also question the objectivity of the polling methods and questions. Regardless of methods,

however, we believe McNellie’s piece unveiled a deeper problem at Hillsdale’s campus: apathy for student government. Though it might not seem like it to the uninformed observer, the decision to purchase a ceremonial mace was thoughtful and deliberate. The federation planned how to spend its budget surplus for more than a year and a half, and not a single student came to a meeting to share their opinion on this matter during the public comment period. Despite coverage in the Collegian, the establishment of a special committee, and an opinion poll for the student body, student interest in the Federation’s $109,000 surplus and budget was virtually nonexistent. Despite widespread exclamation across campus for the mace decision, not a single student showed up at the next federation meeting to speak out. That’s an indictment of our campus-wide interest in governing ourselves, and it’s the story of every federation meeting. Only on rare occasions do students participate in public comment or come to watch for the sake of staying involved, despite the fact that meetings are advertised in the Student Activities Office email. We are going above and beyond to make sure students know what their student government does. Two weeks ago, we hosted a funding proposal workshop to teach student groups how to request funding from the federation and eight clubs were represented. Tonight at 8 p.m. in the Formal Lounge we are hosting our first ever Student Federation Town Hall meeting. We invite every Hillsdale student to join us for a Q&A session and individual meetings with representatives. Please, come learn about student government and let us know what you think so we can serve you. Brandt Siegfried is a junior studying history. He is the president of Student Federation. Tom MacPhee is a sophomore studying economics and accounting. He is the vice president of Student Federation. Isabella Maciejewski is a junior studying economics. She is the treasurer of Student Federation.

Hey Green New Deal, don’t mess with Texas

By | Logan Washburn After weeks of catastrophic, sporadic blackouts across the state of Texas this February, many have cast blame upon traditional energy sources. We are told that “green” energy sources such as wind power are reliable, and that the true fault lies behind conservative energy policies in the state. However, other evidence suggests that so-called “green energy” is one of the main reasons behind this crisis. Traditional energy sources simply couldn’t keep up with the demand caused by failing “green energy.” Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer blamed conservatives in Texas for the winter fallout. “The bottom line is, Texas thought it could go it alone and built a system that ignored climate change,” Schumer claimed, according to The Blaze. “I hope they learned a lesson.” Schumer attempted to use Texas as an example of what could happen if states don’t acquiesce to the demands of climate change advocates. “When we build power, when we build anything now, we have to take into account that climate change is real, or people will have to be caught the way the people in Texas were,” he said. The climate alarmism used by Schumer closely resembles the language of the Green New Deal put forward by Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., in 2019. The Green New Deal claims that “human activity is the dominant cause of observed climate change over the past century,” and that “a changing climate is

causing sea levels to rise and an increase in wildfires, severe storms, droughts, and other extreme weather events that threaten human life, healthy communities, and critical infrastructure.” Wind turbines account for 24% of power generated in Texas, according to NBC, while natural gas accounts for 56%. Because most power in Texas isn’t supplied by “green”

“In Texas, wind power only bore 24% of the energy demands before the storm – and still failed, creating disastrous results. The Green New Deal proposes that America place 100% of its energy demand on such power sources.” energy sources, many, like Schumer, have argued that traditional energy sources are to blame for the power outages. However, there is one flaw within this argument. When one looks at actual energy production, wind power is the source that failed the most during this disaster. The Wall Street Journal published a chart, released by the U.S. Energy Information Administration, which explains the following:

Just before the beginning of this winter weather, between Feb. 7-Feb. 9, wind power dropped production by more than 300,000 megawatt hours (MWh), and natural gas increased production by more than 350,000 MWh. As soon as the bad weather hit on Feb. 10, natural gas increased production by 231,700 MWh, in an apparent effort to compensate for the preemptive drop in wind power. During the storm, wind turbines were only able to increase power production by 85,700 MWh, after an unexplained plummet in energy output beforehand. According to The Wall Street Journal, throughout the course of this event (Feb. 8 and Feb. 16), wind power production dove 93%, while gas production skyrocketed by 450%. Natural gas took over where wind power failed. While natural gas did compensate for the lack of wind power to an extent, Texan infrastructure was not prepared for extreme winter weather conditions. Joshua Rhodes, an energy researcher at the University of Texas, spoke to the news outlet the Austin-American Statesman about the shortfalls of natural gas during this crisis. “The major difference between what happens in the summer and what’s happening now is competition for natural gas. If too many people are trying to consume natural gas, it can depressurize the lines and if that pressure drops too low, they’re no longer able to operate,” Rhodes said. “The whole system isn’t really set up to deliver what we’re demanding of it.” Wind energy production

dove sharply, necessitating a sharp increase in natural gas production, which the current infrastructure wasn’t prepared for. However, it’s unsurprising that this intense winter storm caught Texas off guard, considering that there have only been a handful of notable snow incidents in the state’s history. While natural gas lacked the capacity to respond effectively, this lack in capacity was triggered by the initial failure of wind turbines. One of the main proposals of the Green New Deal is to place all of the American energy demand upon sources like wind power. The bill would see America “meeting 100 percent of the power demand [sic] in the United States through clean, renewable, and zero-emission energy sources.” In Texas, wind power only bore 24% of the energy demands before the storm – and still failed, creating disastrous results. The Green New Deal proposes that America place 100% of its energy demand on such power sources. As Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) said on Fox News, “this shows how the Green New Deal would be a deadly deal for the United States of America.” The measures proposed by the Green New Deal, such as complete reliance on sources like wind power, have proven to fail under extreme conditions. The mantra “Don’t Mess with Texas” still rings true today. The Green New Deal has no place in the Lone Star State. Logan Washburn is a freshman studying politics.

God creates through the natural process of the universe

A response to biologist Sean Carroll’s Hillsdale lecture on chance and the existence of life By | Blake McAllister & Jordan Joseph Wales The Psalmist writes, “I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made” (Psalm 139:14). In a recent Zoom talk hosted by the Natural Sciences division, biologist Sean Carroll, vice president of science education at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, pointed out the extraordinary role played by chance — tiny chances — in human development, such as when DNA mutates during copying. Given the “chanciness” of our development, things begin to look rather bleak for the claim that God “made” us. This, at least, is how Carroll took it. It is, of course, silly to think that this is an either/or issue: that babies are either made by God or through chancy natural processes. Christians believe it can be both. There need be no incompatibility between divine intentions and chance. So why does Carroll think it one or the other? Some think that for any physical outcome to count as intended or designed by God, God must intervene in the natural order. But this is not

the only means for God to accomplish his designs. God can also create through the natural order by establishing a system that leads to his intended end. But what if the natural order is “chancy” or random? Perhaps it is not the natural processes per se that rule out divine intentions, but the fact that such processes involve chance. To assess this, we first have to figure out what we mean by “chancy” or “random.” Not all possible meanings of “randomness” are incompatible with determinism — the position that the laws of nature and initial conditions logically entail the conditions at all future times. For instance, philosopher Elliot Sober explains that, when evolutionary theory calls genetic mutations “random,” it means only that, “There is no physical mechanism . . . that detects which mutations would be beneficial and causes those mutations to occur.” Mutations can obviously be “random” in this sense even if determinism be true; and if determinism is true, then God can providentially bring about certain outcomes simply by setting up the dominos and knocking down the first one. But what if the laws are

indeterministic? Then events will be “random” in the sense that initial conditions and physical laws do not logically entail one particular outcome. However, it remains possible for indeterministic outcomes to be intentionally brought about by God in at least three ways. The first view, called “Molinism,” ascribes to God “middle” knowledge of how things would happen were God to actualize certain states of affairs, even in genuinely indeterministic processes. According to Molinism, God knows what you would freely choose were you given a choice, even without that choice being determined by prior factors. Knowing how indeterministic things will shake out depending on when or where or how he starts the process, God can providentially guide indeterministic processes to accomplish his intended ends, all without interrupting the natural order. Chance and divine intention can thus be harmonized. On a more Thomistic model, God stands to the world somewhat as an author stands to a book. The difference between a novel and God’s creation is that what

happens in the book isn’t real, whereas the story God writes is real. Now, within a story, events and substances stand in causal relations to one another. This is akin to the creaturely order of secondary causation whereby events or substances cause one another in accordance with the laws of nature. The causation occurring within a story is to be distinguished from the way in which the author causes the story to exist. The author’s work is not just another event within the story; it is the event behind the story that provides for its being. This is the order of primary causation. God, through his act of primary causation, is able to bring about any sequence of events he deems fit, including ones whose secondary causes are indeterministic. He can determine the outcome of random events to the last detail or only occasionally. But his activity is not that of a puppet master working a marionette; it is more fundamental, at all times sustaining a chancy universe, and sometimes determining where the chances will fall. Then there’s also the worst-case scenario for God. “Open Theists” maintain that God lacks foreknowledge of

future contingents, and so he cannot accomplish his designs infallibly. What happens in the universe is chancy in the deepest sense. Even still, it is possible for God to set up the laws such that, in all probability, he will achieve certain outcomes (e.g. the emergence of life). Such outcomes still occur by divine intention. Like a slot machine that favors the house, the outcome is intended, although the path there is chancy. And so in a variety of ways an outcome can be intended by God — brought about by him for a specific purpose — even if there are natural causes of that event and even if those natural causes are indeterministic. Why, then, is it so tempting for Carroll to infer purposelessness from chanciness? The inference comes so naturally to him he doesn’t seem to realize he’s making it. This implicit philosophical position is called “scientism,” commonly referring to the creed that scientific facts are the only real truths. Hence, if science doesn’t (or can’t) demonstrate purpose or intent in a process, there isn’t any. Alas, scientism so defined is self-refuting. The claim that

all truths are scientific facts is not itself a scientific fact! It is a philosophical truth if it is true at all, in which case scientism can only be true if it is false. Ouch. It may be that the natural world is all there is and, thus, that the chanciness observed in nature is in fact taking place in a purposeless world. Our point is that the science itself, even the fact of probabilistic processes, doesn’t tell us that. So what is the place of wonder in a chancy world? Consider what God accomplishes through evolution: the universe is a vast kaleidoscope of life and beauty, an ever-shifting manifestation of the goodness of God, whose infinity cannot be expressed in any one thing but expresses itself inexhaustibly in the endlessly new configurations and combinations of the things he has made. Christians should wonder at the chanciness of the cosmos and allow that wonder to draw them towards the Creator God. Blake McAllister, Ph.D., is an assistant professor of philosophy. Jordan Joseph Wales, Ph.D., is an assistant professor of theology.

City News Hillsdale Hospital expands chronic pain treatment center

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A6 March 4, 2021

By | Virginia Aabram Assistant Editor The Hillsdale Hospital has expanded its pain-management capabilities by increasing care providers and a new, renovated space for treatment. With the expansion and move to the third floor on Feb. 15, the clinic is now called the Center for Excellence in Pain Management and specializes in non-surgical and non-prescription methods of reducing chronic and acute pain. According to Rachel Lott, director of marketing and development at Hillsdale Hospital, the center “has been moved up to the third floor and now has its own dedicated space with multiple rooms for our patients, with multiple places for them to be seen and be treated.” It’s an expansion of both space and providers, she said. “The clinic has been very popular with patients in our community, and we even have a lot of patients who come

from outside of our community to receive care,” Lott said. “We saw there was a need for more care to be available for pain management, and we needed to expand what we were able to offer, as it was taking people quite a while to be able to get scheduled.” The hospital brought on J.J. Fontana to serve as a Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetist in addition to Andrew Biegner, who has served as a CRNA at Hillsdale Hospital for over nine years. A CRNA is an advanced practice nurse specialized in administering anesthesia and other forms of pain management. Biegner and Fontana guide patients first through identifying the source of their pain and then create specialized treatment plans. “The hospital has given us a good portion of the third floor of the hospital, and added not only additional providers in J.J. Fontana but also in adding support people from receptionists to our insurance

authorizers and medical assistants to essentially double our team so that we can see more patients and decrease our wait time,” Biegner said. According to a press release about the changes, “Hillsdale Hospital’s interventional pain management team provides a multi-disciplinary approach to relieve, reduce and manage pain to improve patients’ quality of life. The team first obtains a diagnosis that pinpoints the exact cause of a patient’s pain. After that, the team and the patient discuss interventional treatment options that diminish pain instead of masking it with narcotics or opioids.” Because of the addiction risk associated with high-powered pain killers, the focus of the pain clinic is to find alternative ways to manage pain. “The more that we can manage this type of pain, without opioids or narcotics, the less risk there is for folks to have any sort of addiction issues,” Lott said. “We know

County health agency purchases mobile clinic By | Luke Morey Collegian Reporter

The Branch-Hillsdale-St. Joseph Community Health Agency received a mobile clinic on Feb. 10. Health Officer Rebecca Burns said the agency is finalizing insurance and getting Motor Vehicle Records for the members of the staff who will be driving it, so it has not been mobilized yet. “The agency identified a need for a mobile clinic around 2010,” Burns said. “We know that some of our clients have transportation limitations and would be better served if we could come to the

town in which they live.” Initially the clinic will be used for COVID-19 testing and vaccinations, but eventually Burns said they plan to use it for standard immunizations and other public health services. “Our plan is to have a two person team assigned to the mobile unit: a nurse and clerk,” Burns said. “We will also have other staff members cleared to drive the unit when needed.” Kali Nichols, the personal health and disease prevention director, is the head of the staff that will be using the mobile clinic once it is operational. She said the current team

of nurses and technicians are already trained for the programs that the clinic will be utilizing. “It’s possible that we might need to make some policy or procedure adjustments given the limited space and nature of the mobile unit, but overall our team has the knowledge to run it,” Nichols said. Nichols hopes the clinic will provide a sense of comfort and trust in the community. “I hope that people will begin to see and recognize this big white van and know that we are here to serve and support them in every capacity that we can,” Nichols said.

The mobile unit van will help distrubute COVID-19 vaccines. | Facebook

the opioid crisis is a huge issue in America right now, and here as well. We’re providing an alternative for people so that they don’t have to choose between either living with pain or opioid or narcotic forms of treatment.” According to Biegner, the CRNAs at the clinic do not prescribe medication, and can assist primary care physicians in helping patients off opioids and narcotics by tackling the root of their pain. “There are situations where narcotics are appropriate, but there are a lot of patients who have been chronic opioid addicts who need to be assisted,” Biegner said. In providing the treatments that we provide, we can assist our primary care doctors in allowing patients to come off narcotics and increase their activities, get people back to work, and increase their quality of life.” The treatment available at the clinic depends on the root cause of the pain, but usually involves some kind of

injection of steroids or anesthetics to block signals from the nerves responsible for the pain, according to the hospital’s website. They will also be offering a new treatment called “radiofrequency ablation,” which uses radiofrequency energy waves to create heat on specific nerves that temporarily suspends their ability to send signals to the brain. “We can remove the pain generator with RFA, and the results last anywhere from six months and in some patients up to two years,” Biegner said. “But I’m seeing most patients looking at six to 12 months of significantly improved pain management.” The goal of these kinds of pain treatments is to help people function normally. Biegner said that they have “small victories and large victories,” meaning sometimes the goal is to help a patient be able to walk to the mailbox or go to the store without pain, and sometimes it’s to take away pain completely.

“We’ve had stories from our pain clinic of patients who have gotten up off the table pain-free for the first time in years at their first appointment,” Lott said. “And that is huge for people. It makes such a difference to not have to live with that kind of pain. It affects your family life, it affects your work life, it affects everything. So for individual patients that can truly be life-changing.” Biegner said the best part of his job is relieving people from pain that has been lowering their quality of life for years. “I took care of a patient who had chronic headache pain in the back of her head for 10 years,” he said. “After we did the injections for her, she gets off the table and literally hugs me. So I think that the most gratifying thing for me is when I see we’re making a difference in people’s lives.”

Dining room at Sharon’s House of Pancakes under construction. | Facebook

Sharon’s House of Pancakes scheduled to open March 18 By | Elizabeth Troutman Collegian Reporter

Sharon’s House of Pancakes, located inside Market House Supermarket, is set to open to the public on March 18. Brett Boyd, owner of Market House, had the idea to add breakfast food to the market’s offerings, and named the restaurant after his grandmother, Sharon. “I’m a big breakfast lover. I love breakfast and especially you know high-quality good breakfast. I happened to cross paths with Wayne and we talked about the idea, and it just really picked up momentum,” Boyd said. Wayne Babcock, former owner of Olivia’s Chop House and Saucy Dogs BBQ in Jonesville and house di-

rector and cook at the Alpha Tau Omega fraternity house, will manage Sharon’s. Babcock and Boyd have been friends since they were teenagers, and they said they are excited to work together to bring breakfast food to the residents of Hillsdale. “I’m really excited to go get some pancakes and support Wayne’s new restaurant,” freshman ATO member Paul Miller said. “Monday to Friday are my favorite days because at 5 o’clock I get to eat the greatest meals ever cooked by Wayne. He is considered a father of the fraternity, as well as a brother,” junior ATO member Harrison Baer said. Customers will order their breakfast at the restaurant, then find a table at

the new seating area across from Sharon’s where their food will be brought to their table, similar to the service at Panera Bread. “Our pancakes are stateof-the-art. They are top of the world. They’re gonna be nice, thick, fluffy, and fresh,” Babcock said. Sharon’s will be open Tuesday to Sunday from 7 a.m. to 1 p.m. “Everything’s going to be made in-house. Here at Market House, we have a state-of-the-art bakery, and we are going to be making our own homemade biscuits,” Babcock said. “We’re using Biggby coffee, the best coffee in town. We will make our own pancake batter, our own jellies and jams.”

Jonesville clothing store was first to sell Carhartt brand in nation By | Calli Townsend Sports Editor

David Pope said. “We gave it to Carhartt and they now have it in their museum in Dearborn. They framed it and put it up on the wall.” The Pope family still works closely with Carhartt salesman Peter Cook, who said relationships are important in conducting business. “Hamilton Carhartt used to say, ‘If I don’t make a friend when I make a sale, I’ve

change in trends over the last several decades as the company expanded its clothing line. “They used to make the old brown work clothes, the coats and pants and bibs that they’d wear on the farm or construction site or for power lines, and they always wore the brown,” David Pope said. “Then they came out with black because a store in New York City downtown said I like those because

that wasn’t brown and it was for the city in New York for the young people.” Carhartt now offers clothing for all conditions, from the extreme cold to heat and flames. The company even sells baby clothes and accessories for dogs. According to the Carhartt history on its website, this change came about in the ’70s and ’80s.

and Asia, who value refined details and design that remains true to Carhartt’s brand DNA.” Although the brand has grown, it still maintains its durability and classic look. “In addition to bib overalls, many garments in today’s product line have historic roots,” according to the site. “The Carhartt Archive holds ads for the legendary Carhartt Chore Coat (known historical-

try to serve our customers. If we don’t have something, we’ll get it for them if we can, and we alter it and gift wrap at no When Hamilton Carhartt charge. These are things that first set out along U.S. 12 to independent stores have done sell his new workwear more for years, but a lot of them just than 100 years ago, he stopped aren’t round anymore. in Jonesville, Michigan, where His son Jim credits the local he sold his first product to community and its loyalty for David L. Powers, the founder allowing his family to stay in of Powers Clothing store. business. Powers Clothing, estab“I think it’s like supporting lished in 1890, has since the diners and local restauthen not only maintained its rants and that mentality of a longstanding relationship with The Carhartt section in Powers Clothing. Calli Townsend | Collegian person,” Jim Pope said. “They Carhartt, but also its family shop local, dine local, and keep business. Fourth generation it all here.” store owner David Pope now He said even several Hillsruns the business with his son dale College graduates have Jim and daughter Marcy. come to their store in recent “My grandfather had told years to get suits for their me that Hamilton Carhartt, weddings. when he was just starting out, “In 2019, I think we did would go out on the railroad three weddings for graduates or on horse and buggy and and a couple of them still work come down U.S. 12, which at at the college,” Jim Pope said. that time was Sauck Indian “All three of those weddings trail, and just go town to town had suits that they purchased and sell his wares,” David Pope because they were all going said. “Then he’d go back and into the world to start working make up whatever he’d sold and could use suits so they did and ship it on.” that route.” Carhartt traveled from failed,’” Cook said. “Dave and the black kids are starting to “The Carhartt brand bely as the ‘Engineer Sack Coat’ Even in the modern times Dearborn, Michigan, where I have a good relationship, he’s wear them. ” came popular with consumers or simply the ‘Coat’) dating of technology and online his company’s headquarters done a good job. People are David Pope said Carhartt outside blue-collar trades back to 1917. The coat remains ordering, David Pope said his are still located. David Pope buying into this small business told the store owner that he during the 1970s and 1980s,” largely unchanged to this day.” efforts in serving his customsaid while the company has and big dreams, and people would have to order a thouthe site said. “More people Much like Carhartt’s ers are still worth it to him, grown in the last century, he began to learn about the brand traditional roots, the Pope and he’s always glad to do it. still maintains a good relation- have a chance, but you have to sand of the black jackets in be doing it right. You better be order for him to produce as big names in the hip-hop family strives to maintain the “Who knows what tomorship with the family-owned willing to go all in and that’s enough of them. The store music industry started to wear excellent customer service that row’s going to bring, but I’ve company. all about customer service. He owner agreed and was able to Carhartt. Interest expanded idenepent small town stores been doing it for over 50 years, “When we were going does that.” sell them immediately. across the pond in Europe, are known for. and I’ll keep going,” he said. through things for our cenWhile Carhartt remains a “To me, that was the start of leading to the creation of the “We do everything we can tennial celebration, we found family-owned company creat- the modern Carhartt,” David Carhartt Work In Progress and I think that’s why we’ve a check that was made out to ing gear for American workers, Pope said. “That was the first label in 1989, which is targeted been here for as long as we Hamilton Carhartt in 1892,” David Pope said he’s seen a time they ever made anything toward consumers in Europe have,” David Pope said. “We

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Local mental health center recevies $3.8 million grant By | Josh Hypes Collegian Freelancer LifeWays Community Mental Health in Jackson announced it will receive almost $4 million in federal funding after being certified as a Community Behavioral Health Clinic by federal regulators. Lifeways will receive a total of $3,886,311, giving it the ability to expand its services in Jackson and Hillsdale. This funding is a result of the Excellence in Mental Health and Addiction Treatment Act authored by Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.) and Missouri Sen. Roy Blunt (R-Mo.). This law established new CCBHCs, which allow the company to expand its behavioral health and addiction treatment services. Companies certified under the CCBHC designation are required to provide 24/7 crisis services including outpatient mental health and substance abuse treatment services. Immediate screenings, risk assessments, diagnoses, care coordination with emergency rooms and law enforcement must also be included. “The CCBHC designation requires us to integrate physical and mental healthcare into a single location. Through this new funding we will be able to open up our services to more uninsured or underinsured individuals and expand our integrated systems,” said LifeWays Public Relations Coordinator Rebecca Calkins.

The crisis services will be open to anyone, regardless of insurance “if they are going through a self-defined crisis,” said Calkins. “They will be able to talk to a crisis clinician as well as a peer support specialist who is someone who has experience with a mental crisis or substance abuse in recovery,” said Calkins. Sen. Stabenow said the funding provides “momentum” to fund mental health services across the nation. “This historic funding increase will allow more Michiganders to get the help they need in their community. It also provides major momentum to fully fund certified behavioral health services across our country,” said Senator Stabenow. The grant money allows the facility to provide more services to the community. “LifeWays is now able to provide comprehensive 24/7 access to community-based mental and substance use disorder services, treatment of co-occurring disorders, and physical healthcare in one single location to any individual, regardless of their ability to pay or their place of residencesaid Maribeth Leonard, CEO of LifeWays. “This comprehensive healthcare approach is the fulfillment of our vision for the people of our communities, who we are honored to serve.”

LifeWays Community Mental Helath will receive at $3.8 million grant. Courtesy | LifeWays Community Mental Health

March 4, 2021 A7

Hillsdale Academy Pro-life club at a rally in Lansing. Courtesy | Olivia Tritchka

Student starts county’s first high school pro-life club By | Elizabeth Troutman Collegian Reporter Olivia Tritchka, Hillsdale Academy sophomore, founded Hillsdale County’s first high school pro-life club at the beginning of the 2020-21 school year. Tritchka said she was inspired after attending Protect Life Michigan’s Life Advocacy Training program over the summer. “One speaker challenged us and asked ‘What are you going to do to go back to your hometown?’” Tritchka said. Tritchka said she returned to school in the fall with a new sense of purpose. She decided not only to start a club at Hillsdale Academy but also to work to bring clubs to other schools in Michigan. There are 6-15 regular members of the group. They started holding meetings at 7:30 a.m. on Thursday mornings, and have now moved to Friday lunches. “We are the next generation, and we have to stand up against this,” Tritchka said. “That is what motivates us.” The club uses Protect Life

Michigan’s high school club meeting outlines for guidance. Meetings include apologetics and practice responding to pro-choice arguments. Vice President and senior Maggie O’Connor said they have been working on mastering the scientific argument that life begins at conception. “Proving that life begins at conception is almost the bedrock of justifying being prolife because if the baby was not a human, then abortion would not be wrong,” O’Connor said. Hillsdale Academy teacher Julie Budd was honored to be asked to be club adviser. “It is so encouraging to see young men and women passionate about saving lives, changing hearts, and securing equal rights for all human beings!” Budd said. “Members have accompanied the Hillsdale College Protect Life group to Jackson to share the pro-life message on the streets, have prayed in front of Planned Parenthood in Jackson, and most recently participated in the March for Life in Lansing. The group had planned to attend the March for Life in D.C. before it was canceled a

few weeks ago.” O’Connor addressed questions about the necessity of the club at an overwhelmingly pro-life school like Hillsdale Academy. “Almost everyone knows they’re pro-life, but sometimes they can’t articulate it,” she said. “If you’re talking to someone about abortion, this person could potentially one day consider abortion, and this could be the conversation that stops it and saves the baby’s life. You’re speaking the truth and that has to be effective.” The club decided to use photography of abortion victims in their outreach. O’Connor said that people often become vegetarians after watching the killing of animals, so they may become pro-life after seeing the reality of what abortion is. Tritchka entailed her outreach approach, which led to a mind change. She talked to a man who believed that life begins at conception, but had a different view when it came to pregnancies that were a result of violence. “He did not completely understand that regardless of the circumstances, it’s the same

human. He actually started crying when he finally made the connection,” Tritchka said. “Through the Holy Spirit, we were able to help that man understand.” Tritchka said moments like those are what get her out of bed in the morning and motivate her to brave the cold to change hearts and minds. “There’s a lot of cognitive dissonances that a culture doesn’t know fully about abortion,” O’Connor said. “We ask ethical questions to people who are pro-choice and it makes them think.” Tritchka and O’Connor are on Protect Life Michigan’s “Justice Ride” this week touring around the country to do outreach on college campuses. Budd said the passion that these students have for life is an inspiration to the pro-life movement. “This group of young students have a desire to share the message of life with people and to do it in a heart-felt and loving way,” she said. “These kids are determined to not just stop abortion, but to make it unthinkable.”

Council debates resolution on government overreach By | Callie Shinkle Study Break Editor Tensions ran high at Monday’s Hillsdale City Council meeting after Councilman Robert Socha introduced a new resolution regarding government overreach. The resolution, originally published on Socha’s Facebook page on Feb. 25, addresses government overreach during the COVID-19 pandemic as well as the recently proposed House Resolution 127, which could increase firearm registration and limit the amount of legally allowed ammunition. A condensed version of the resolution was soon added to the meeting agenda. The resolution opposes “the passage and enforcement of any trailer bill, or any bill, or any executive order, or any departmental order, or any other order, mandate, or law which infringes on the general rights of life, liberty, and property, ordained by God and enumerated in the United States Constitution and the Constitution of the State of Michigan.” The resolution, if passed, seeks to ensure that if the Michigan legislature, governor, U.S. Congress, or president infringed on the rights guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution and the Constitution of Michigan, then the city of Hillsdale would prohibit its employees

Thursday

High: 37 Low: 19

from “funding and enforcing the unconstitutional actions, and will encourage general resistance to state and federal enforcement of the same.” More than 30 people came to support the resolution at the Monday meeting and during the time for general public comment, the gathered supporters were vocal. “I’m speaking in support of Councilman Socha’s resolution protecting our Constitutional rights,” Hillsdale resident Penny Swan said. “Y’all took an oath to uphold the state of Michigan Constitution and the Constitution of the United States,” Swan said. “COVID-19 has been a litmus test as to the agenda of the political party of our governor and the political party of our president of the United States, and how they want to skirt our constitutional rights via this virus. I’m all for limited government, but at times, our government needs to step up and protect our constitutional rights.” Other residents agreed. “I think this resolution is a thing that we as a public, and you as a council, which is also voted in by the public, need to recognize, because when it comes to the Constitution, it’s the most important contract we’ve ever seen,” Reverend Dennis Wainscott said. Karla Adams took the podium to comment, “A smile, a breath of fresh air,

the simplest of things that make all the difference on the worst days and the best days. How can a country so educated misrepresent the citizens it serves?” She continued, “To see House Resolution 127 in the process, our money being spent while we’re locked down wearing masks, unable to even communicate with our family out of fear that we’re going to kill each other, and watch our rights be stripped, is an abomination.” Tim Martin addressed the council as well. “I’d like to thank Mr. Rob here for standing up against what the norm seems to be today,” he said. “I hope you guys can realize and understand what we’ve all said about swearing to uphold the Constitution. All of you are sitting there because of us and not because of you. I want you to remember that. None of you are doctors and none of you are here to protect us from this little virus. You’re here to do exactly what we hired you to do and that’s not it.” Jon Beckwith also addressed the council. “I’ve been taking a course on the Constitution now for a year at Hillsdale and I’m amazed what I didn’t know. And I think it’d be good for everybody in Hillsdale who has any public service...to start taking courses on the Constitution so you know what you’re doing. Most

people don’t and they get themselves in trouble,” Beckwith said. Mayor Adam Stockford addressed the animosity that arose during public comment. “Do you look at this council like we’re enemies of yours?” Stockford said, emphasizing that the council seeks to uphold the Constitution. “I think we’ve been pretty strong on upholding constitutional rights here. We’ve been holding public meetings. We didn’t require you to wear a mask to come in here.” Socha also commented on his resolution. “I did not put this on the agenda to be a ‘yes’ or ‘no’ vote yet; I wanted it on the discussion table,” he said. “I didn’t want my fellow councilmen and women to feel like this was something imposed on them. I wanted it to be able to be thought through thoroughly.” He continued, “I did propose it with the intention of it being dressed as a resolution just so that we here in Hillsdale can let our elected representatives at the state and federal level know that enough is enough and that they’ve crossed too many lines and that we’re not going to be the ones to abrogate our responsibility to self-rule.” Other council members also commented on the

resolution. “This gives us a chance to consider what kind of resolutions we want to have. In my opinion, the kind of resolutions we should do, we should be very disciplined about the kind of resolutions that we do. They should be very few,” said Will Morrissey, councilman and former professor of politics at Hillsdale College. “If we do a lot of them, that cheapens each one that comes out.” Councilman Greg Stuchell also expressed reservations about the resolution. “I think you’ll look long and hard to find someone in this county that isn’t for our Constitution. This is a very red area, and we all love it,” Stuchell said. The question, like Dr. Morrissey said, is focused versus broad, because the other responsibility we have, we’re building the city back, and to build that back, we’re taking grant money to do some of that work. Now, these people don’t play fair. We all know that. So how do we make the point and still protect our community, protect our rights, protect public housing?” Socha addressed this concern. “I want the money. I know we gotta play the game on a level. I mean I want to see our streets rebuilt,” he said. “It offends me, the idea that we might compromise on principles because we might lose a few dollars.”

Hillsdale Seven-Day Forecast: Spring Weather Continues Friday

High: 40 Low: 21

Saturday

High: 39 Low: 20

Sunday

High: 44 Low: 29

Monday

Tuesday

High: 53 Low: 37

High: 58 Low: 44

Councilman Bill Zeiser offered a middle-ground approach. “Had Councilman Socha’s resolution gone to a vote, I would’ve voted for it, because you can’t vote against the Constitution, at least not in this town, but that said I think on substance a lot of what Councilman Morrissey said is correct, and I think we need to understand the difference between a matter of principle and a matter of process. I think that we need to all think about how profound our founding documents are.” Following the night’s discussion, the council voted 7-1 to send the resolution to the operations and governance committee for further discussion and editing. “I do think that we’re all on the same page, and you’d be hard-pressed to find a place where people care so much about the Constitution,” Zeiser said. “But you know, even people like Hamilton and Jefferson had arguments about policy. This is not an argument about whether the Constitution is good, it’s an argument about policy. So if Jefferson and Hamilton argued about that, you know, certainly there’s room for that here without being adversarial.”

Wednesday

High: 57 Low: 43

Information courtesy of the National Weather Service

A8 March 4, 2021

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Science & Tech Instead of spending time on their phones, Wyoming Catholic College students ride horses, among other activities. Grace Pfeifer | Courtesy

Catholic college rejects modern technology Wyoming Catholic College’s technology policy does not allow students to have cellphones on campus By | Elizabeth Bachmann Features Editor An instructor holding a foreboding plastic bag greets Wyoming Catholic College freshmen. “Put your phone in,” the instructor says, indicating the open Ziplock. After parting with their most-loved appendage, the students embark on a three week camping trip through the Wind River Range—or the more rugged Teton Mountains—, which they navigate using old-fashioned paper maps and the stars. Even students who manage to sneak their phone on the trip don’t get an opportunity to use them. “That is the first detox phase,” said Glen Arbery, president of Wyoming Catholic College. “If students took their phone, it wouldn’t work up there. That is their introduction to classmates and our technology policy. By the time they get back down they have been weaned.” Wyoming Catholic College is located in rural Lander, Wyoming. Home to only 185 students in a town of only 7,000 people in southwestern Wyoming, it is already disconnected from the fast-paced, modern world. But the college is even more unique — and disconnected — in its technology policy; its students must leave their phones at home and consent to Wifi-free dormitories. Students are allowed to bring laptops, and can use them with Wifi in the library, and each dorm has a phone that students may freely access. But otherwise, Wyoming Catholic creates an environment where students are intensely present only to the people, places, and ideas that exist directly and physically before them. This technology policy has undergirded Wyoming Catholic’s pedagogy since its inception, according to Arbery. In 2005, when founders of the college first delineated the policy, there was no such thing as a smartphone, a touch-screen laptop, or an iPad.

Arbery said that the decision to remove cell phones from students was made to improve the college community. “It seemed like flip phones and texting have a simply observable effect on people,” Arbery said. “As soon as texting became common, our sense of place changed. That is, the philosophical element — the way you are present — is degraded by being expected to answer texts or a ringing phone.” Arbery added that the influx of new and even more comprehensive hand-held technologies over the last fifteen years has reaffirmed the college’s decision. Arbery has closely followed the neurological effects that smartphones and screens have on the human brain, and now “we are so happy that we made the decision when we did.” “We wanted to reestablish a sense of being present with the people you’re literally around even if they’re not who you prefer to be with,” Arbery said. Grace Pfeifer ’20, sought out Wyoming Catholic College for its unique position, and was convinced to attend after she was caught out in a thunderstorm while riding horseback up a mountain during a visitation week. The horses spooked and raced wildly down the mountain and back to the shelter of their barn. “It was one of the most terrifying experiences, but also I had never felt so alive in one single happening,” Pfeifer recalled. “I was feeling everything with my whole body and all my emotions, and plus it had been a good week of reading interesting and engaging things, and of poetry expanding our imaginations. I just thought, ‘I want to go somewhere I can feel alive.”’ Pfeifer said that attending Wyoming Catholic College was exactly what she anticipated, and that the technology policy largely facilitated her deep and constant interaction with real people and real life. “It just seems like there was such a creativity that can often be stifled by using a phone too

much,” Pfeifer said. “It felt like people were so creative with their time. It was typical on weeknights or weekends the guys would come over with their guitars and we would all sit around and sing, and look at the stars — the stars were always really gorgeous — and drink coffee.” Pfeifer transferred to Hillsdale College after her sophomore year at Wyoming Catholic because she felt the desire to test her faith and principles in an environment where not

to share memories, and, of course, has plenty of telephones for each student to call home. “Certainly, the joke is on tech, because we can get what it is offering without getting so hooked on it,” Meluch said. “We want you to be able to call your mom here.” The administration is not stoic about the policy to its students, either. Glenn Arbery is currently teaching a class on the origins of modernity and its connection with technolo-

“Everything they’re learning is not already mediated to them through technology.” everyone thought exactly like her. However, Pfeifer said she retained the sense of creativity and presence that the no-tech policy fostered. “It did feel weird coming to Hillsdale,” Pfeifer said. “There was that feeling of lack of creativity and lack of energy to do more. I felt freedom from this, but then not really an ability to connect right away with all the people around me because I felt like I was coming from such a different walk of life.” Recent Wyoming Catholic graduate and current admissions officer for the college, Elizabeth Meluch, emphasized that the professors and faculty at the college are by no means puritanical luddites. “We like to think we are not doing it out of fear but rather love of something else,” Meluch said. The school uses technology where it sees fit, and replaces it where it is unnecessary. For example, Wyoming Catholic uses Google drive for document sharing, Google photos

gy that includes sophisticated arguments about the advantages of technology. On the flip side, assigned reading for all students at the college includes things like

Cal Newport’s “Deep Work,” and Nicholas Carr’s book “The Shallows: What the Internet Is Doing to Our Brains.” The latter is an expansive text in which Carr explores how the internet has changed the human mind and human experience. Carr’s exploration stems from his own personal feeling that 10 years of technology have made it harder to think and read deeply. He explains it evocatively: “Once I was a scuba diver in the sea of words. Now I zip along the surface like a guy on a Jet Ski.” In order to educate a generation of scuba divers rather than Jet Skiers, Wyoming Catholic focuses student’s learning, reading, and information gathering on real things. Their mode of learning is reading great books and having direct encounters with the natural world. A big component of their education is learning outdoor survival skills, like old-fashioned paper map-reading, stargazing, and horsemanship. Arbery emphasized that students come to know things through their senses and imaginations. They are actually presented with the natural world, and thus are able to understand what they are reading in terms of that experience in the natural world.

“Everything they’re learning is not already mediated to them through technology,” Arbery said. “We want to get them out of the virtual, man-made world as much as possible and to give them the direct experience of what we call God’s first book, the ‘Book of Nature.’” Maluch already did not have much of a “soft-spot” for technology when she first arrived at Wyoming Catholic College in 2014. But she said it is amazing to watch as technology immediately loses its asphyxiating stranglehold on students — even those who enter the college truly addicted. “You see students glued to their phones during the whole six hour bus ride up to the mountains,” Meluch said. “When the two weeks are over and we pull them out again, they laugh at them, they pull them out and think, “I don’t need this.” Undoubtedly, disconnecting from the fast-paced Jet Ski’s of the digital world to descend into the silent murk of the earthly depths is not easy. “To feel that disconnected-ness can feel sort of frightful,” Pfeifer said. “But you have to push past it. It takes a grit to say no to it and realize there will be a greater good

Grace Pfeifer ‘20 enjoys the view after a hike while attending Wyoming Catholic College. Grace Pfeifer | Courtesy

COVID-19 mutuations present no threat, prof says Coronavirus variants increase rate of transmission, but will not affect lethality

By | Luke Morey Collegian Reporter With COVID-19 dominating the world, the fact that the virus mutates has brought fear to many. But this is a natural phenomenon. “All viruses experience evolutionary change as they move through populations of infected individuals,” said Silas Johnson, associate professor of biology. According to National Geographic, one COVID-19

mutation surfaces every 11 days. “The rate of genetic change for coronaviruses is relatively slow compared to other RNA viruses,” Johnson said. “The rate of change for coronaviruses is about half as fast as influenza and about one-quarter the rate of HIV.” Johnson identified three prominent coronvirus mututations. “For SARS-CoV-2, three major variants have captured recent news attention,” John-

son said. “These three variants were first isolated in the U.K. (B.1.1.7), South Africa (B.1.351), and Brazil (P.1).” “This small number likely vastly underestimates the true number of variants currently circulating around the globe,” Johnson said. The U.K variant moves through hosts much more quickly than the dominant strain, increasing the rate of community spread. As reported by National Geographic, the variant is 50% more trans-

missible than other forms of the virus. Regarding the U.K. variant, Johnson said that the mutations found may impact transmissibility, but that more work needs to be done to confirm this. But what causes these mutations? According to National Geographic, mutations may occur through chronically ill patients. Scientific American reported that after a U.K. patient was treated with con-

valescent plasma—a treatment derived from COVID-19 antibodies—the virus rapidly evolved and mutated, eventually killing the patient. Although these mutations sound alarming, Johnson said there is no reason to fear. “At this point in time, there is no evidence to suggest that any of these newer variants are more lethal than the original variant,” Johnson said. Johnson added that there may be complications with how the different mutations

respond to the coronavirus vaccine. “There is some evidence to suggest that the mRNA vaccines are just as effective against the B.1.1.7 variant compared to the original variant,” Johnson said. “However, they may have slightly reduced efficacy against the B.1.351 variant. More work needs to be performed to confirm vaccine effectiveness against all variants.” PIXABAY

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Basketball

Men's basketball advances

March 4, 2021 A9

Sophomore Patrick Cartier drives to the basket in a game versus Cedarville. Anthony Lupi | Collegian

to G-MAC semifinal game By | Christian Peck-Dimit Collegian Reporter The Hillsdale College men’s basketball team crushed No. 8 Trevecca Nazarene University in the quarterfinals matchup of the G-MAC Championship tournament. The win came just 48 hours after the Chargers closed out their best season of conference-play in the history of the program with a win over Cedarville University. “There have been some excellent teams and some excellent players that have come before them, so it’s hard for me to compare what this team has done,” head coach John Tharp said. “With everything that’s happened from a pandemic standpoint, these kids have stepped up and responded to all the different challenges that we’ve faced.” Saturday’s game was also senior night for the Chargers. The team honored graduating senior guards Connor Hill and Davis Larson with a pregame ceremony. “We knew it wasn’t going to be the last home game, but especially for me and Connor, we’ve been here for five years, which is a year longer than most students have in their college experience, so I think that just makes it special,” Larson said. “Everything we’ve been through with coach Tharp and all the other guys, when you look back, it’s something special, the Hillsdale

program, there’s nothing like it.” On Tuesday, the No. 1 Chargers used a dominant second half to crush No. 8 Trevecca at home, earning them a berth to the G-MAC tournament semifinals on Friday at 5 p.m. Trevecca didn’t let the Chargers roll over them without a fight. Hillsdale struggled in the first half, shooting only 37% from the field, and entered halftime with only a six point lead. “I wasn’t pleased with how we played in the first 20 minutes, I didn’t think that we played with the pace or intensity that we needed to,” Tharp said. Last year, Hillsdale was in a similar No. 1 versus No. 8 matchup, but was upset by Kentucky Wesleyan University, a feat the Chargers did not want to repeat. “Last year, we got upset by Kentucky Wesleyan, they were a pretty good team, and they hit a bunch of shots against us,” Tharp said. “I think in that first half, Trevecca hit some tough shots on us late in the shot clock, and I think we kind of panicked for a quick second, but I think we really showed our dominance in the second half.” The Chargers were dominant in the second half, shooting 75% from the field and 83% from three in the final frame. The team also dished out more team assists,

grabbed more team rebounds, recorded more team steals, blocks, and fast break points than Trevecca. Cartier led the way for the Chargers, following a first half where he shot 2-8 from the field with a 6-8, 16-point final frame. “It’s been kind of a staple that we’re not last year’s team, that we’ve matured since then,” Cartier said. “It was a little bit of coach Tharp’s hype speech, and I also thought we were moving the ball a lot better.” All in all, the Chargers beat Trevecca by 31 points, earning the right to host a semifinals game against Malone University on Friday. “They’re the leading offensive rebounding team in the league, and one of the leading scoring teams as well,” Tharp said. “They are great at transition basketball, they play fast, they run some great stuff for their kids, so we’ve got to keep them out of transition.” If the Chargers beat Malone on Friday, they will earn a spot in the conference tournament finals on Saturday, giving Hillsdale a chance to win the G-MAC tournament for the first time in program history. “This team has really shown that they’ve been tough,” Tharp said. “The thing I really like about this team is that we’ve truly been a team.”

Volleyball

Gannon knocks Hillsdale to No. 5 By | Hannah Cote Assistant Editor The Hillsdale College Chargers’ season has been defined by three-set sweeps and a rolling streak of victories, but last weekend, they suffered their first loss. Before Hillsdale fell to Gannon University, they beat Ohio Dominican University with a solid victory (25-15, 25-22, 25-17), that would set the foundation for the Gannon match. “ODU played a great defense, which forced us to up our game,” Gravel said. The following day, the Chargers beat Gannon in the first set 25-15. They looked to sweep yet another opponent in three sets, but Gannon was quick to make adjustments and triumphed in the following three sets, with final scores of 22-25, 22-25, and 18-25. “On the outside, it will probably affect our No. 1 ranking,” Gravel said. “We’re not very good at losing, so we don’t handle it well since we don’t do it often. But that’s probably a good thing because right now it feels like everything is wrong.” The loss did affect their ranking, pushing them from No. 1 to No. 5 in the DII AVCA.

“I don’t know if it was a mix of fear and not wanting to lose instead actually wanting to win, but they just performed better than we did,” junior outside hitter Karoline Shelton said. Though the team destroyed Gannon in the first set with tough serves and strong defense, the Chargers lost ball control and were lacking in their offense by the next set. “They also found ways to capitalize on some of our weaknesses and we weren’t able to recover quickly enough to change the outcome,” senior middle hitter Allyssa Van Wienen said. The volleyball team is known for its resilient mental and physical toughness, but once Gannon took control of the court, its toughness was challenged. “When one person breaks down, it’s contagious,” Gravel said. “We just went back to the drawing board and talked about how we need to be strong individuals. Although we have a strong mentality, this was a wake-up call that we can’t take it for granted.” Shelton agreed that the team is constantly working on being better individually so that they all can support one another on the court. “This is such a team sport, and it sounds cliché but we’re only as good as our weakest

Freshman Maizie Brown spikes the ball versus Gannon last weekend. Anthony Lupi | Collegian

link,” Shelton said. “If one person isn’t performing well, it affects us and throws off our rhythm because we rely on one another so much.” Although this loss upsets the Chargers’ perfect record, they were itching to take back a victory, and that is exactly what they did Tuesday afternoon. The Chargers went up against No. 12 the University of Findlay, and beat them in three sets, 25-18, 26-24, and 25-13. As the second set tied at 24-24, it seemed that the Chargers might lose a match once again, but Shelton pulled through with the final kill. She ended the night with 13 kills, and Van Wienen ended with a team-high of 16 kills. “I think after the loss, we all really have a fire under our belts,” Shelton said. “These next games should be good because we have something to prove.” The team is back on the road this weekend for the final two regular season games, with an improved record of 11-1 overall and 9-0 in the G-MAC. They will play Cedarville University on Friday, March 5 at 1:30 p.m., and Ohio Valley University on Saturday, March 6 at 1 p.m. “After this past week, my impression is that I really wouldn’t want to be the team that we play next,” Gravel said.

Softball

Chargers finish weekend 4-3 By | Megan Williams Collegian Reporter The Hillsdale College softball team finished 3-1 in West Virginia this past weekend. Defeating Glenville State University, University of Charleston, and West Virginia State University, the Chargers lost only to Shepherd University on Friday afternoon. Senior Dana Weidinger earned back-to-back G-MAC Pitcher of the Week awards after going 3-0 this weekend. Weidinger pitched two complete games, the 7-0 shutouts against both Glenville and Charleston, and pitched relief to earn the 4-3 win against West Virginia. Weidinger struck out 20 batters and only gave up seven hits, three walks, and one run over those three games. The weekend culminated in the team’s final win against West Virginia, with the Chargers defeating the Yellow Jackets 4-3 in an extra-inning, walk-off win.

Trailing 3-2 in the bottom of the eighth inning, senior Madison Stoner hit a single to the outfield, which allowed seniors Natalie Stepanenko and Sam Catron to score and overtake the Yellow Jackets for the win. Freshman pitcher Erin Kapteyn had her first career start in the action-packed game against West Virginia on Saturday. Head coach Kyle Gross said that she performed remarkably well, especially for her first start. “She pitched 5 strong innings and only gave up 2 hits before the fifth inning. It was a great first start for Erin,” Gross said. Kapteyn said that the only difference between high school and college pitching was the added pressure that came with a collegiate team. “It was nerve-wracking because as a senior in high school, you’re the oldest girl on the field, but as a freshman now, I’m going up against some girls who are 23,” Kapteyn said. “But my team

was so supportive. I could hear them all when I was on the mound.” Gross said the team focused on consistency with their defense and hitting, and those skills were demonstrated with their success this weekend. Senior first-baseman Emma Johnson said that the players were simply becoming more comfortable in the box, which allowed for their offensive improvement. “Our coach would remind us before games to just be comfortable because we knew what we were doing,” Johnson said. “We put a lot of swings in during practice last week and focused on being picky with our pitches, so we were really happy with our performances.” The Chargers will be traveling down south this weekend for three double-headers against Queens University Charlotte at 1:30 p.m. and 3:30 p.m., Augusta University 1 p.m. and 3 p.m., and Erskine College at 1 p.m. and 3 p.m.

Junior Elaine Townley reaches for a ground ball in last weekend's game. Courtesy | Camryn Olson

Baseball NO-HITTER from a1

“Going into the game I wasn’t really thinking about it, it just felt like a normal game,” Toth said. “But by the fourth inning I realized I had a chance.” This was the first no-hitter in recent Hillsdale history, according to Theisen. “We’ve never thrown once since I’ve been here and I think it’s my 11th year. I’m sure at some point in this program’s history someone would’ve thrown a no-hitter, but we only have stats from ’98 on,” Theisen said. “He’s fun to watch and his teammates get excited watching him.” Toth faced 22 batters, striking out 10 of them. As for the rest of the batters faced, he credited the defense behind him for helping him achieve the no-hitter. “It’s a lot easier when you have the guys behind you, a few of them made some awesome plays,” Toth said. “Junior Rob Zurawski made a great play in the first inning. Their three-hitter hit a line drive and he caught it, and that was just in the first inning.” The Chargers’ lineup faced a pitcher of similar talent. Maryville’s Kaleb Huxford struck out seven of the 27 batters faced. Landis was able to capitalize on a mistake in the top of the second with a homer to right field. “It was a heck of a pitchers’

battle there,” Theisen said. “It was a fun game to watch.” Sunday, Feb. 28 (Game 3): Hillsdale, 4, Maryville, 2 The Chargers returned to the field the next day in the same fashion, with two runs in the top of the first. One came on an RBI from freshman Joe Hardenbergh’s single to center which scored Beals, followed by another single from Landis to score Zurawski. In the fourth, Brewer hit a home run to make the score 3-0. The Chargers extended the lead in the fifth with a pair of singles from Zurawski and sophomore Cody Kanclerz which set Zurawski up perfectly to score on an error later in the inning. Maryville answered with a triple for two runs, but it wasn’t enough to overcome Hillsdale’s established lead. Sunday, Feb. 28 (Game 4): Hillsdale, 10, Maryville, 3 As if the Chargers hadn’t proven their talent by the fourth game on Sunday, they finished the series with a dominant 10-3 win, with six runs coming in the top of the ninth. Beals became the fourth Charger to hit a home run over the weekend in the top of the first, giving Hillsdale a solid start. Their offense went dormant until the eighth inning, when Zurawski singled with bases loaded for two RBI. Krick followed with a sacrifice fly to score Peterson, making the score 4-1.

“Our lineup is scary from top to bottom,” Theisen said. “There’s no holes.” Maryville showed a glimmer of hope with a two-run inning in the bottom of the eighth, but once the Chargers returned to the plate, they regained control. Brewer hit his second home run of the weekend for two RBI. After an error and a pair of walks, bases were loaded when Landis came up to bat. He hit a grand slam to end the game, 10-3. “Obviously that’s another cool thing to have during a game,” Verbrugge said. “Having the whole game be that close game kinda keeps you on your toes, but once you get ahead by a lot it gives you more comfort. I think that was the perfect end to a good sweep. It got us ready and excited for the next one.” The Chargers will travel to Springfield, Illinois, on March 5 for another four-game series against the University of Illinois Springfield. Friday’s game will begin at 1 p.m. CST. The teams will return to the field for two games on Saturday, and the final game will be on Sunday. “That could be a preview of two of the top teams in the region,” Theisen said. “They’ve received some votes for top 25 and they’ll be pretty good. It’ll be a fun weekend and we’re looking forward to it.”

Charger

A10 March 4, 2021

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Women's Track & Field

The Charger women's track team won their second G-MAC Championship in a row last weekend. Courtesy | Scott Huck

Back-to-back conference champs By | Meghan Schultz Collegian Reporter

The Hillsdale women’s track and field team dominated the G-MAC indoor championship on Feb. 26 and 27 with 188 points, winning the conference and securing their second consecutive year as champions. While the women’s team won last year by just over one point, they overtook Findlay by 40 points last weekend. This is their third win of the last four seasons. “Winning the indoor title was a great accomplishment,” senior Kajsa Johansson said.

“It felt great to see everyone putting their all into it for the team as a whole.” Johansson set a new school and G-MAC record in the 200 meter dash, taking first in 24.26 seconds. She also took second in the 60 meter dash in 7.62 seconds. “Winning really showed us all how important every individual is to the team, and how much our responses to any given event impact the outcome,” Johansson said. Senior Zalonya Eby and sophomore Dakota Stamm also placed in the 200 meter dash, finishing second and third in 25.32 and 25.75 seconds, respectively.

Men's Track & Field

“The 200 went really well,” Stamm said. “It was a lot of fun to be on the podium with my teammates.” Stamm also won a title for the women’s team in the 400 meter race and took first in 57.63 seconds. Freshman Shura Ermakov, who received G-MAC Female Freshman Athlete of the Meet, finished second behind Stamm in 58.62 seconds. Ermakov took sixth in the 60 meter hurdles in 9.33 seconds as well, becoming one of four Chargers to place in that event. Eby and Stamm later joined junior Alanna O’Leary and sophomore Judith Allison in the 4x400m relay. In last year’s

Chargers finish fourth in conference championship By | Meghan Schultz Collegian Reporter

The men’s team finished in fourth place at the indoor championship. The 4x400m relay runners, freshmen Jamahl Burke and Sean Fagan and sophomores Benu Meintjes and Ian Calvert, took the team’s single conference title in 3:21.20. “We wanted to do better, but everything didn’t go as we wished it would,” Meintjes said. “But that’s normal, no one always performs as they should. It’s still good as a team, making progress in the right direction.” Burke also took second in the 400-meter dash in 48.82 seconds and fourth in

the 200-meter dash in 22.37 seconds. He received G-MAC Male Freshman Athlete of the Meet honors and G-MAC Freshman of the Year award. Fagan took second in the 60-meter hurdles in 8.19 seconds and fifth in the 400-meter dash in 49.74 seconds. “I wasn’t happy with my 60 hurdles, because I was going in with the top seed time,” Fagan said. “But it’s alright, it was close. I still got eight points for the team.” In the 400-meter dash, Meintjes finished fourth in 49.62 seconds, and senior Adam Wade took seventh. In the 800-meter run, Calvert took second in 1:57.55, followed by three additional Hillsdale runners. Junior Ben Raffin made a career-best mark of 5.01

Junior Ben Raffin clears the bar in pole vault on Saturday. Courtesy | Scott Huck

meters in the pole vault, taking third. In the triple jump, freshman Joshua Nichols set a personal best at 13.72 meters, and sophomore Charlie Andrews made a seasonal best of 1.92 meters in the high jump. “I’m really happy with the guys and the girls,” head coach Andrew Towne said. “I didn’t think the guys quite showed where we’re actually at right now, but I thought the ones that we had there performed really well.” Raffin is the only member from the men’s team who will travel to Birmingham, Alabama, for the NCAA Division II National Championship meet in two weeks. He will compete in pole vault, in which he is currently ranked ninth.

championship when Stamm was waiting to run the anchor leg of the 4x400m relay, the announcer said that the event would decide the outcome of the conference. “This year, the meet was exciting, but it was a little bit more comfortable to know that it wasn’t down to the 4x400,” Stamm said. “It wasn’t, ‘Oh my gosh, we have to win this event to win this meet.’ It wasn’t as stressful, and I really appreciated that.” Seniors Calli Townsend and Maryssa Depies, and junior Claire McNally each took runner-up in their events, the 800, 3000, and 5000-meter runs. Sophomore

Meg Scheske took fourth in the mile, leading three other placing Chargers. “Anytime you go into a championship, there’s a lot of different people that play a role,” Towne said. “Every point is really important.” Sophomore Emily Gerdin won the triple jump with her best mark, 11.56 meters, and took fifth in the long jump at 5.34 meters. Senior Alyssa Viola made a career-best mark of 3.22 meters in eighth place in the pole vault. In the weight throw, junior Nikita Maines took third with a throw of 15.81 meters and freshman Juliet Bernard took fifth at 15.07 meters. Maines

Women's Basketball

placed fourth in the shot put ahead of freshmen Katie Sayles and Peyton Panka in fifth and sixth. “We’re really happy with the girls,” head coach Andrew Towne said. “That’s kind of what we expected on paper going into the meet.” Several Chargers will travel to Birmingham, Alabama, for the NCAA Division II National Championship meet in two weeks. Johansson will compete in the 60 and 200-meter dashes, and then join O’Leary, Ermakov, and Stamm for the 4x400m relay. Junior Nikita Maines will compete in shot put and senior Maryssa Depies will race the mile.

Women's basketball brings 2020-21 season to a close on Saturday By | Tracy Wilson assistant Editor The Hillsdale College women’s basketball team brought the season to a close in a game against Cedarville University on Feb. 27. Though the Chargers lost 92-72, the end of the season brought about a chance for reflection and goal-setting for next year. Head coach Charlie Averkamp said he considers this year to be “100 percent a success,” given the team’s persistent attitude throughout the season. “At the beginning of the year, we had no idea if we were gonna be able to play games, practice, or really spend time together,” Averkamp said. “We ended up playing 21 games as a team. We really grew and that, to me, defines a success.” At first, the team was unsure how COVID-19 restrictions would affect their season. Senior guard Jaycie Burger said she feels the team was lucky to have the opportunities they did. “We were really grateful to play,” Burger said. “I know that Hillsdale worked really hard this year, especially the administration and the athletic training staff. No team ever had to sacrifice their practice for another team, so we were thankful to be somewhere where people would take our team into account and help us to have a great year.” Another big change for the team, apart from playing during the pandemic, was playing under a new coach. This year was Averkamp’s first year as head coach at Hillsdale, and he said he couldn’t have asked for a better group

of people to lead. “It was an exciting time and challenging, taking over during the COVID era,” Averkamp said. “We changed a little bit offensively and defensively so I thought the kids did a great job buying into a new system on how to play and I’m really excited for their growth and what they’re going to do in the future.” Sophomore forward Arannai Sysum said she was grateful for Averkamp’s positive attitude, always seeing the potential in the team, and never giving up. “You think it would be really hard for someone to come in from a coaching position where he was super successful, and then to come to a program where we’re struggling,” Sysum said. “He has handled it with such grace. Even in the games that weren’t super close, he never hesitated to call a timeout to draw up a play. He cares for each of us individually and understands that we all have different needs.” Averkamp said many of the players showed improvement this season, including sophomore forward Sydney Mills, who averaged a double double, and junior guard Lauren Daffenberg, who he said played her best basketball. “By the end of this year, Lauren was really confident in her shots and moving the basketball,” Averkamp said. “I’m really proud of her.” Averkamp said Burger’s performance stood out to him, and he enjoyed watching her grow over the course of the season. “I thought she was playing the best basketball of her college career in the last five or six games,” Averkamp said. “That’s really what you want

to see for a senior going out, playing as good as she was. I’m really happy for her that she was able to do that.” Burger said the highlights of her season were winning against Lake Erie, winning against Trevecca, and scoring a triple double. “Overall, I’m really thankful for this season as a whole,” Burger said. “I felt like we improved as a team a lot and the coaches really pushed us to be better. Our culture took a huge step in the right direction.” As a senior, Burger said she still feels like the end of the season hasn’t set in yet. “It still doesn’t feel like I’m graduating yet,” Burger said. “I’m reflecting on how lucky I am to be a part of this program. I’m looking forward to seeing what the team does in the next couple of years.” Sysum said although the team’s record this season was similar to last season’s record, she is proud of the team for the ways they’ve grown. “The improvement, at least to me, has been astronomical,” Sysum said. “What Coach Averkamp has been able to bring to the table has been huge, in how he’s been able to develop us as players and focus on our individual talents.” Overall, the team enjoys celebrating the day-to-day successes, which Averkamp said make him excited for future seasons. “Watching each of them succeed is a big thing for me,” Averkamp said. “There’s things we work on in practice and when you watch them do it in a game setting it’s fun to celebrate those successes. A lot of games we were very competitive, so for me that’s very encouraging for the future.”

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March 4, 2021

Sophomore Matthias Rhein (far right) is pictured with his 14 siblings, parents, nieces, and nephews. Courtesy | Matthias Rhein

One plus one equals 14: The ‘boundless love’ of big families By | Tracy Wilson Assistant Editor

Despite what many students learn in their elementary years, one plus one can actually equal up to fourteen. At Hillsdale, students who come from big families aren’t hard to come by. I interviewed five students, each with at least eight siblings, to hear about what it was like growing up in a big household. Sophomore Hannah Cote, the third oldest out of ten kids, said it was always normal for her to meet new siblings. “I went to all four of my younger brothers’ ultrasounds to wait to see if it was a boy or girl,” Cote said. “Every single time they said ‘Oh, it’s a boy,’ I cried. When my mom was pregnant with my sister Lucy, who was the first girl after me, I didn’t go to the ultrasound because I was fed up at that point. The doctor said, ‘Where’s Hannah? It’s finally a girl.’” Although Cote had to wait a while before getting her first little sister, she said being the only girl in between six boys came with perks. “One time, when it was just me and the six boys, we were going to McDonald’s and my mom asked for six boy toys and one girl toy for the Happy Meal. They totally messed it up and gave us six girl toys and one boy toy,” Cote said. “That was the best day of my life, because I got six My Little Ponies, and my brothers all had to share one Transformer.” Freshman Lizzy Borobia, the second oldest of eight kids, said for most of her early years, she only had two siblings and considered her family to be small. As she got older, her family started growing once they started homeschooling, and decided to move from California to Michigan. Instead of flying, they drove. “It was the four of us, at the time,” Lizzy said. “We were in our little minivan. We drove across the country and would stop in hotels. My sister Cecilia was a baby, so she would sleep in the one bedroom and the rest of us would sleep in the main hotel room.” Sophomore Katy Borobia, the oldest of the Borobia bunch, said sometimes her younger siblings have a difficult time making sense of their age difference. “It’s really confusing for my sister Helen that Lizzy and I are her sisters because she thinks of us as the same age as our mom,” Katy said, laughing. “She’s always arguing with us about whether or not we’re kids too. She says we have six kids and four grown ups.” Sophomore Matthias Rhein, the eighth out of fourteen kids, said his older siblings had a lot of influence on his upbringing, from daily activi-

ties to taste in music. “Basically, my oldest siblings were the main ones that my parents raised, and then I was raised by my older siblings,” Rhein said. “My sensibilities and sense of humor is very much like a 90s teen.” Having younger siblings is a new experience for Rhein, as four of his younger siblings were recently adopted from Ukraine. “I’m not used to having

are adopted as well. As a result, she said, many of her siblings are close in age. “My parents are really strong Christians so they felt a strong calling to do that,” Green said. “They saw that a lot of kids need homes and families and they saw that as a way to show the love of Christ.” Faith also plays a big role in Cote’s family life. Her mom converted to Catholicism

feel bad for them,” Cote said, laughing. “They think it’s this awful thing sometimes, and it’s actually really fun.” Lizzy Borobia said her experience having a big family has allowed her to appreciate the differences and similarities between her siblings. “I definitely think that, especially in a big family, you can see such a spectrum of personalities and gifts and it’s amazing to see how special

college. “I remember my oldest sister filming me on a camcorder, asking me about my day to send to my older brother,” Rhein said. “My other brother Tim, who was about twelve, came down and broke all my legos. I famously went up to my mom and said ‘Tim broke my legos,’ and my mom, as the saint she is, said, ‘I don’t care.’ I ended the video by going back downstairs to keep

Junior Susannah Green (top middle) is pictured with her 12 siblings and their spouses and children. She is the fifth Green to attend Hillsdale College. Courtesy | Susannah Green

Freshman Lizzy and Sophomore Katy Borobia are pictured with their six other siblings. Courtesy | Lizzy Borobia

Matthias Rhein cuddles with his siblings. Courtesy | Matthias Rhein

Sophomore Hannah Cote is pictured with her 10 siblings at her older brother’s wedding. Courtesy | Hannah Cote

baby siblings because I was always the baby sibling,” Rhein said. “They’re all siblings themselves and so it was really amazing to bring them into the house and share with them things we take for granted. They loved having good food and being warm and going to the beach, and things like that.” Junior Susannah Green, the eleventh child out of twelve, said that being one of the youngest siblings allowed her to grow up with many role models. “I looked up to my older siblings a lot and there were always people to hang out with,” Green said. “They showed me the ropes and I would just follow along. The four oldest are all girls so it was nice to have my sisters as examples. They always took me under their wing, and they still do.” Seven of Green’s siblings

when she met her dad, and after that point they came to the decision to accept as many children as God would allow them. “I think this goes for every big Catholic family, but we see children as a gift,” Cote said. “It’s really sad to see newly married couples who don’t want kids at all or only want one boy and one girl. It’s actually not up to us, and I think my family has loved having kids and babies in the house. That’s the whole purpose of marriage.” Despite what many people might think, Cote said that having a lot of siblings can be a great blessing. She said she has never wished her family was any different. “A lot of people, when they figure out you have nine siblings, ask ‘How do you do it?’ But that was just normal for me. I would see other families and would kind of

each person is even within one family,” Borobia said. “I know that today society says, ‘It’s too big to feel special or for your parents to care about you,’ but it’s totally the opposite. In such a big family there’s so much love between each person.” Her parents’ ability to provide for each one of her siblings has shown her the depth of her parents’ love for her, Lizzy said. “I think there’s something really amazing about the sacrifice my parents make because they want to take care of every one of their children in every way they can,” Borobia said. “Their love is so boundless.” Rhein said one of the challenges for him, growing up, was having to share with so many other people. He recalled a memory from when he was five years old, and his oldest brother had just left for

playing legos. My parents gave us a lot of tough love and put things in perspective.” One of the biggest rewards for Rhein was seeing his older siblings forge lives for themselves that he could aspire to follow. “Seeing the different paths a person can take and still be a good person is one of the most inspiring things to me,” Rhein said. “Watching older siblings come home from college and watching them change has really affected my understanding of maturity and how I want to grow and what I want to be as an older person.” As time goes on and his siblings move farther apart, Rhein said, his family has had to come up with unique ways of staying in touch. “Every single time one of my siblings has a baby, which is pretty frequently now, some of the younger siblings get

sent out to help the mom with the baby,” Rhein said. “I’ve been sent out three or four, maybe five times in the past few years. That’s been one of the best bonding experiences.” In addition to having the younger kids help out, Rhein’s family holds yearly family reunions and uses an app called Family Wall that allows them to privately share pictures and videos. Green said her family uses a group chat where they message daily. Her family now has 22 members, including nephews and in-laws. “My mom tries to encourage us all to come home for Thanksgiving,” Green said. “A lot of them live nearby so we see each other. My parents raised us to know that family is the most important thing and to prioritize friendships with each other.” As the fifth member of her family to attend Hillsdale, Green said sharing the Hillsdale experience with her siblings has brought them together in a special way. “It’s a really cool bond we share because we know all the quirky things about Hillsdale,” Green said. “When I was a freshman I was here with my two older brothers, and that brought us a lot closer. It’s nice because some of them are going to be living here long term, so I’ll always have a reason to come back after I graduate.” Katy Borobia said as she grows older, she can see parts of herself in her younger siblings and would love for some of them to follow in her footsteps. Above all, she wants them to succeed in whatever path they choose. “I don’t want them to do exactly everything I’ve ever done, but I would love for some of them to go to Hillsdale,” Borobia said. “In general, I want them to know that I want them to do what they’re supposed to do. They’re different people than I am.” Cote said that her experience having many siblings has made her want to have a big family of her own, if that’s what she is called to do. “It’s the Lord’s calling over my life, and that’s something I want to run after full force,” Cote said. Rhein said he would recommend his experience to anyone considering having a big family. “I think a lot of people value a lot of the wrong things in life,” Rhein said. “Being in a big family, you’re always with the dying, too. When people are dying, they never regret monetary things. They always say things like, ‘I wish I had more kids. I wish I had more people here.’ Raising kids is, I think, the best thing you can leave behind. Those who can, should.”

B2 March 4, 2021

“Minari” follows a Korean family in rural Arkansas in the 1980s. | Facebook

Review: ‘Minari’ exemplifies the tenacity of the American immigrant By | Victoria Marshall Science & Tech Editor There is something uniquely American about moving to a new place and starting over. This trek can be filled with excitement, dread, but most of all, hope — hope that things will get better, and that what you want will materialize. This hope marks Lee Isaac Chung’s Korean-American film, “Minari,” which tells the story of a young Korean family moving from California to rural Arkansas during the Reagan years. The film is partly autobiographical, as Chung based it on his own experience as a Korean American immigrant kid growing up in the Ozarks. Chung’s magic is in his translation of the specific to the universal. This juxtaposition of universal and specific is ever present, but subtle, as the viewer is captivated by the Yi family’s story. “Minari” takes its title from an Asian plant known for its hardiness and ability to grow anywhere. This is a fitting metaphor for the Yi family, who are characterized by their strength and resilience throughout various trials. Jacob Yi, the father, played by Steven Yeun, has worked for 10 years at a poultry farm sexing baby chicks. He has saved enough money to purchase a large plot of land in Arkansas with a dilapidated mobile home on wheels. He has dreams to start a Korean vegetable farm on the land, and make money selling the vegetables to Korean immigrants. His wife, Monica Yi, played by Yeri Han, is dealing with culture shock and overwhelmed at living in the middle of nowhere. Their children, older sister Naomi,

and 7-year-old David, who struggles from a heart condition, are both excited and apprehensive about living in a new place, but unsure how to handle the tension between their parents. To placate his wife, Jacob flies his mother-in-law, Soonja, all the way from Korea

by telling him he can do anything he wants, including run. At one point in the film, Soonja tells David he is a strong boy, and this championing gives David the courage he needs to manifest this strength. David becomes an American boy himself. Chung tells the Yi family’s story with a characteristic gentleness. Many scenes are filmed from the perspective of the children, or if the viewer were looking through the window of the Yi’s home. Delicate shots of Arkansas grasses glowing in the afternoon sunlight give the film a dream-like quality. This gentleness softens the harsh themes in “Minari,” allowing humor to pervade the film and refresh the viewer. At the end of the film, when Monica feels like giving up on her husband because they don’t have enough money to live, Jacob exclaims, “The children need to see their father succeed at something!” The agony in this statement reveals Jacob’s fear of failure and desire to take care of his family. Jacob’s resolve is cracking, but he still clings to the hope of a better life. Monica misunderstands Jacob’s drive, believing that he cares more about farming than his own children. In one of the last scenes of the film, Monica finally recognizes Jacob’s dream is only a means to an end, and that end is to free his family from want. Monica then resolves to help her husband. “Minari,” with all of its specificity, is a universal human story. It is an immigrant story. Jacob and Monica, David and Naomi, like others before and after them, struggle because of the hope of a better life—the hope of the American dream.

“‘Minari’ takes its title from an Asian plant known for its hardiness and ability to grow anywhere. This is a fitting metaphor for the Yi family, who are characterized by their strength and resilience throughout various trials.” to live with them. Soonja is as unconventional as she is delightful. She curses, watches Korean wrestling, and plays cards. When David complains, “She’s not like a real grandma. She doesn’t bake cookies,” Soonja shrugs. Part of the delight of “Minari” is watching Soonja’s relationship with her grandchildren evolve. Due to David’s heart condition, he is told over and over again by his parents, “Don’t run.” This frustrates David as he wishes to be a strong, rambunctious boy. Soonja encourages David

Orchestra to perform in Christ Chapel By | Meg Patrick Collegian Freelancer Hillsdale College’s Symphony Orchestra will be performing a special concert dedicated to exploring the acoustics of Christ Chapel on March 6 and 7. James Holleman, director and conductor of the orchestra said that he wanted the chance for the orchestra to become more accustomed to the acoustics and to be able to adapt to the unique challenges of each section. “To allow each section to develop as a unit, which will be beneficial when we do put all sections together for the full symphony orchestra.” Holleman said. Holleman plans on

highlighting each individual section of the orchestra with selections for woodwinds, percussion, strings, and a brass ensemble. The concert will also feature one of the music department’s finalists in the Concerto/ Aria Competition, soprano Emma Dawe. Dawe said the purpose of the concert was to create and share beautiful things. “The opportunity to perform live music in front of an audience is absurdly rare these days, and the ability to gather and be artistic together, to do what humans do together, is so important.” Dawe said. Dawe will be performing “Lascia ch’io pianga” from Handel’s “Rinaldo,” which she said will present a very

full, yet slow and swelling sound, able to be heard over the entire string orchestra. “This piece is very special to me and my development as a singer and performer, and I’m really looking forward to sharing it with my friends and family about the need to create and share beautiful things.” Dawe said. Cellist Koppany Bodor said he is looking forward to playing Josef Suk’s “Serenade for Strings.” “What I love about the piece is the opportunity for various string solos throughout the piece, so each string instrument is featured in some way.” Bodor said. Admission is free. Performances are Saturday at 8 p.m., and Sunday at 3 p.m.

Local artist spruces up Jilly Beans By | Meghan Schultz Collegian Reporter

By | Calli Townsend Sports Editor

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Jilly Beans Coffeehouse owner Mary-Ellen Sattler brought life to the walls of her downtown Hillsdale shop through scenic nature murals full of birch trees and animals. Sattler asked her niece Danielle Musch, a nursing student at Grand Valley State University, to paint two murals on different walls. Musch finished the first in August 2020 and the second in January 2021. “It does make it a little bit cozier,” Sattler said. “It gives people something to talk about. People will come in just to see them, because it’s just so neat. It makes looking at those walls so much more pleasant.” During the first COVID-19 shutdown, Jilly Beans moved to a different location in Hillsdale. The shutdown was spent getting

and nowhere to put it.’” Throughout four visits to Hillsdale and 24 total hours of painting, rolling purple mountains behind birch trees with soft yellow leaves and a moose standing in deep green grass came to life in the back hallway of the coffeehouse. “She was a good sport about it,” Musch said. “She told me I had creative freedom, but she wanted a moose. That was my only instruction.” Sattler named the moose Danielli after Musch finished the painting. “I can’t even tell you. I’ve always loved mooses,” Sattler said. “Mooses, that’s a word for me. I think they’re a beautiful, majestic animal.” After Musch did so well on the back hallway’s mural, Sattler asked her to help break up the expansive space in the front of the coffeehouse with another

Jilly Beans owner Mary-Ellen Sattler recruited her niece, Danielle Musch, to paint a mural in the Hillsdale Jilly Beans. Collegian | Andrew Dixon

ready to open the new shop. “We thought it looked beautiful, but it needed something,” Sattler said. Musch worked on the first mural during last year’s summer break. “She reached out to me one day saying, ‘Hey, I have a big wall, and nothing to put on it,’” Musch said. “And I was like, ‘Hey, I have paint

mural. Now, growing out of grass painted above the baseboard, tall white birch trees with green leaves line the walls and stretch above customers at their tables. A bear holds on to the trunk of a tree with a beehive hanging from its branches. “I walked in, and it just reminded me of home

WHIP marches on, By | Merrit Pope Collegian Freelancer

In the midst of a pandemic and its burdensome ramifications, America underwent an election cycle brimming with scandal and allegations of fraud. With all this considered, as well as the recent capitol storming, many may be wondering how the post-election landscape has affected the experience of students who are currently studying in Washington, D.C. through the White House Internship Program, otherwise known as WHIP. “It’s very quiet — people aren’t out,” said junior Lily McHale, who is currently working for a senior fellow at the Hudson Institute and researching our America’s nuclear deterrent systems. “We arrived on the twelfth, after the riot on the sixth.” She said that it was around Jan. 13 or 14 when the national guard came, closing streets and making a huge perimeter around the capitol. McHale said that she still sees every day some of the 25,000 troops were stationed in D.C. On the day of inauguration, all bridges and entrances into D.C. were closed. People were allowed to leave, but they could not come back in. Despite the large presence of security measures, fences, and the National Guard, WHIP has been able to continue without considerable difficulty. “It hasn’t necessarily affected anyone negatively,” said Jennifer Lesnau, the undergraduate program coordinator for WHIP. While some internships were delayed by a few days and some classes were done remotely leading up to the inauguration, she said that things are “all good, all

around.” Junior Chase Bufkin, who is interning for Senator Cindy Hyde-Smith of Mississippi, echoed this sentiment, saying that while the capitol does have a large military and police presence, it has not been “too destructive to daily business.” David Azerrad, assistant professor and research fellow at the Van Andel Graduate School of Government, did not think the recent political drama had significantly affected the WHIP experience either. “D.C. has clearly seen better days,” said Azerrad. “But the fencing and the soldiers are confined to a small part of the city and the restaurants are open, albeit not at capacity. Like I said, the city has seen better days, but it remains quite livable.” Regarding the COVID-19 situation and whether it had affected the WHIP experience, Azerrad said that while certain adjustments were made, the overall experience was not altered in any significant way. He added that classes have been in person since the fall semester, the Kirby Center is open, and Hillsdale in D.C. has been operating as normal. “Some of the WHIP students have to do their internship remotely so they don’t go into the office,” Azzerad said. “We’ve taught in person pretty much the whole time with the exception of the end of the spring semester of 2020 when COVID started. We didn’t know what it was, so we had to finish the semester off soon.” Lesnau said that COVID-19 had affected the experience more so last semester than this semester, noting that even students from last semester said they

because I just love the outdoors,” said junior Lily Van Wingerden. “I really loved how it livened up the shop. It provided a very sweet atmosphere that I really appreciated.” The honey-hungry bear isn’t the only detail Musch included in the mural. Besides other animals, different initials and symbols significant to Sattler are etched into the artwork. “Just little things that maybe people wouldn’t expect unless they got up really close to it,” Musch said. “And then the more you look, the more you see.” Some of Musch’s hidden notes are the names of her and Sattler’s dogs, the word “coffee,” and the date of Jilly Bean’s opening. She also added Sattler’s parents’ names to a cardinal in the back wall’s mural. “I’m sure I haven’t found them all in the front mural,” Sattler said. “She won’t tell me what they all are.” Musch used plaster to create the texture of the trees in the front of the shop. She finished the second project in just 10 hours over her Christmas break. “I was really struck with how realistic it looked, especially texture-wise,” junior Alex Dulemba said. “It looked like they went out to find some birch trees and took some bark off and placed it on the wall.” Musch sketched out only a couple of the trees and worked with Behr paint. A level was the most technical thing she used, she said. The mural brings a family element to the coffeehouse, according to Sattler. Parents and grandparents bring children to see and touch the murals and look for the hidden messages. Sattler hopes these murals won’t be the last her niece contributes to the shop. “I just really want to get the word out and have people come in, even if they just want to look at the murals,” Sattler said. “Bringing this building back to life was a huge thing for Hillsdale.”

did not feel that their experience was negatively affected. While there are some COVID-related policies in place at the Kirby Center and certain things the students cannot do, there are still plenty of great events that are replacing these missed opportunities. As McHale said, there are “some events that would have happened without COVID,” but there are “lots of good replacements” such as the recent professional development events that students on WHIP have been able to attend. These events, which Bufkin referred to as “adulting meetings,” provide valuable networking opportunities and consist of discussions led by staff on independent living, financial advice, and other topics offering post-grad guidance. Students are also hopeful for the opportunity to meet a Supreme Court Justice, something they were not able to do last semester. Both McHale and Bufkin said that the results of the election has not influenced their experiences. McHale said that she was planning on going to D.C. no matter who was elected, and that the change in office has not affected her experience at all. In fact, coming to D.C. has sparked her interest in politics again and has put it back on her radar for possible career options. “It’s cool being in the center of things and seeing how it works,” she said. Bufkin shared a similar opinion. “We’re living in a very historic moment right now, and D.C. is the place to witness it,” he said.

Features

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The Brothers Baer

Seventh sibling attends Hillsdale

March 4, 2021 B3

Waterman’s secret

Egyptian roots

Waterman Dorm used to be a women’s honors residence. Courtesy | Hillsdale College

By | Alexis Daniels Senior Reporter

Left to right: Harrison, Logan, and Kenton Baer. The Baer brothers get weekly meals together in SAGA. Courtesy | Brothers Baer

By | Christian Peck-Dimit

Collegian reporter Though large families are something of a common occurrence at Hillsdale College, attending Hillsdale seems to be a Baer family tradition. Senior Logan, junior Harrison, and freshman Kenton are the fifth, sixth and seventh Baer siblings to attend the college. “Our parents were pretty clear that we could go anywhere, but this was the school that they would encourage and help us the most to go to,” Logan said. “I had seen how this place treated my siblings, and how they turned out after the fact, so I thought it was a pretty good gamble.” There are ten total Baer siblings, all of whom grew up in the suburbs of Chicago where they were homeschooled by their mother, Donna Baer. “She taught us everything herself. She’s one of my biggest inspirations in life, not only for what she’s already done for me, but what she’s continually doing,” said Harrison, often called Harris by his brothers. Both Donna and her husband Steven attended Brown University, where they managed a house. According to the brothers, the house seemed as if it were constantly filled with children. “It was a lot of fun, every little corner of the house had something different going on. You really had your options. You could go hang out with a lot of people if you wanted,” Kenton said. “School days were fairly hectic. We had my dad working in his office, and my mom teaching us. Usually she’s teaching four or five kids at a time, so she

had her schedule throughout the day of who she would teach when.” Despite the fact that so many Baer siblings have attended Hillsdale, all three said that they made their college decisions independently. “My mom and dad have always loved Hillsdale. They believe in the principles it stands by,” Harrison said. “They’ve always been willing to send their children to any school that they wanted to go to, but my mom and dad have really pushed for their kids to strive for success in college, and they thought Hillsdale was the best place for us to do that.” That being said, Hillsdale wasn’t an easy or straightforward choice for all of the Baers; it began far from the top of Kenton’s list. “Initially, I didn’t really want to go to Hillsdale. I just knew that most of my family went there, and that I was kind of expected to go there, so that kind of threw me off,” Kenton said. “During my junior year I visited, and I liked a lot of the people there, but if I’m being honest, Hillsdale was not my first choice.” After spending a semester in online community college at Cincinnati, Kenton transferred to Hillsdale, bringing the Baer count up to three. Kenton said that so far he has not experienced any regret over choosing Hillsdale, though he mentioned that the school work is sometimes difficult. Now, about halfway through his first semester at Hillsdale, Kenton said that he enjoys having a little extra brotherly love on campus. “It’s definitely nice having them here. From what I’ve heard, freshman year is hard for a lot of people. It’s definitely nice having two siblings here who have been through it already,” Kenton said. As each of the trio arrived

at Hillsdale, they had their own unique experiences dealing with familial comparisons. Logan, the oldest current student, said that he had no trouble separating himself from comparisons with other siblings. “The closest sibling above me who went here was Salem, and she graduated in 2016, so some of the upperclassmen had known her, but they never treated me like anything but my own person,” Logan said. Harrison said his experience was quite different from that of his brother, though he is far from unhappy about this. “When I first got to Hillsdale, the first questions that I got asked were, ‘Oh, you’re a Baer?’” Harrison said. “I got compared a lot to older siblings like Trenton and Salem, but the comparisons are honestly awesome, because Trenton and Salem are two of my favorite people.” Harrison said that when his younger brother arrived on campus, he began to experience this even more. “Ever since Kenton has gotten here, everybody says that we look exactly alike, but it’s pretty funny because that comparison with my older brother Logan has never been made,” Harrison said. “A lot of times when I tell people that Logan is my blood brother, they don’t believe me. It’s pretty funny the diversity that you can get from one’s family.” Though Logan and Harrison are closer in age, Logan said his two younger siblings are much closer with each other than they are with him. “Kent and Harris run in somewhat different circles than me. For most of my time here, I was either a Neidfelt or Whitley guy,” Logan said. “I never really forayed into Greek life and all that, so in terms of our circles, there

tends to be a venn diagram with my siblings.” Although they mentioned that professors and friends alike mix up their names every once in a while, the Baers love being at school together. “It’s honestly so awesome. I walk into the library and I’ll see one of them on one side and another on the other. It’s just funny to see that we’re all working hard and at the same time we’re able to reconnect from where we came from and just enjoy each other’s company as a family,” Harrison said. “My mother also asked if we could all get one meal a week together. We usually do it, but not always. Sorry mom.” Although he has only been on campus for a couple of months, Kenton said that he finds time to hang out with his brothers quite often, particularly Harrison. “On the weekends, Harris and I tend to hang out. We play a lot of basketball together through the week. I’d say I see Harrison more than Logan, but I definitely catch Logan around a lot,” Kenton said. They said that while Hillsdale is certainly a challenge, the three Baer brothers find that the family tradition of coexisting on campus is far from difficult to uphold. “Harrison, Kenton, and myself all have such different personalities, there was no feeling that anyone was expecting us to fill a role, which was nice,” Logan said. “I think we all have a healthy respect for understanding that we’re different and just because we’re siblings doesn’t mean that demands that we all share the same identity.”

Unassuming Waterman dorm, renowned for its kindly English majors and afternoon teas, holds a deeper history than most would suppose. The secret history behind Waterman dorm even includes an unknown connection with Mesopotamian archeology. Waterman Residence was dedicated alongside Olds Residence in October 1961. The dorm is named after Alice Mabel Waterman, who graduated from Hillsdale in 1906. Ms. Waterman was married to Leroy Waterman, a 1900 Hillsdale graduate who became a renowned archaeologist and lecturer. Leroy Waterman taught Hebrew language and literature at Hillsdale for eight years in the theology department. His discoveries in Mesopotamia made significant contributions to biblical history. According to the Hillsdale alumnus catalog, Leroy’s most important discovery was of “the three superimposed, buried cities of Akshak, Opis, and Seleucia, where he uncovered the old wall of Nebuchadnezzar, and what is said to be the Ziggurat, or Tower of Babel.” Given the Waterman family’s strong dedication to learning, it is no surprise that the women’s honors dorm was named after Alice Waterman. The college bought the building in 1960 for $37,500, and dedicated it the following year as a “residence for upperclass, independent women ... run on the honor system,” according to a 1964 Collegian article. The residence, however wasn’t officially registered as an honors dorm until 1968. A series of changes in 1968 allowed women over the age of 21 to move off campus after obtaining a B average for seven semesters. Today, such a rule might seem outdated. However, this led to the decision of creating a women’s honors dorm. “A new type of Honors Dorm was suggested to

Dean Isbell earlier this year by a group of students,” according to a March 14, 1968 edition of the Collegian. “This implies that women with 90 credit hours, approximately a 3.0 cumulative average, and who have proven themselves dependable will be permitted to live there … Dean Isbell feels the privilege of living in an Honors Dorm will provide a new goal for women students.” Though Waterman is no longer a dorm with a specific GPA requirement, the Waterman women of today maintain a culture of excellence. Waterman’s love of tea has remained consistent for the past 60 years. According to past editions of The Collegian, Waterman’s tradition of taking tea had been an annual event. A Collegian article from the spring semester of 1964 said “The living room was attractively decorated for Valentine’s Day with twigs and Valentine cards arranged on the mantle; the dining room table was set off with a center-piece of white and red carnations. Tea, coffee, and cookies were served.” Heather Schultz ’98 lived in Waterman during her junior and senior years of college. Schultz said her favorite part of living at Waterman was spending time with the other women who lived there with her. “I made just wonderful friends who are some of my closest friends from college still, and I’m very thankful for that,” Schultz said. “I also really enjoyed the home atmosphere. Though during her time, Waterman did not have annual events like the historic Waterman tea, Schultz said the women of Waterman were always creating community with food. “There were people in the house who were so gifted at hosting dinners and just being very gracious, beautiful hosts and we would make meals sometimes and have people over,” Schultz said. “And that was wonderful.”

Alum pursues the ‘goods,’ the true, the beautiful By | Erin Kulmatiki

Collegian freelancer “It was more or less through a fun, happy accident that I am now slinging Turkish rugs in the United States.” Ah, yes. The American Dream, or at least an iteration of it which Evan Gage ’14 describes as “objectively quirky.” Gage Goods is a “social slash business experiment” which, vitalized by the aforementioned rug-slinging, originally grew out of Gage’s desire to foster mutual human understanding and respect via material goods. “Objects have a significance deeper than their immediate, physical qualities,” Gage said. “And I think connecting people to those things, to the stories of the people who made them, creates kind of a dense relationship with the thing.” To clarify, Gage did not attend college with the intention of starting a business. Upon graduation, however, he was struck with the real-

ization that so many of his thoughtful and competent friends felt far behind their counterparts at other institutions, who did not spend four years “reading Chaucer and doing the other very helpful things one does while living in a tundra.” “It seems to me better to read Chaucer than to spend the only four years of your life you can dedicate to your intellectual development purely on, you know, worshipping at the idol of Mammon — or at least preparing to,” Gage said. However, Gage’s sympathy for the ‘Tragic Hillsdale Graduate’ did not have an immediate outlet. Instead, he did “what many Hillsdale kids perceive as their only option” ; he took a Fulbright English teaching assistantship in Turkey. From there, he taught at a classical school, and then went to graduate school. “I really liked those things. They were really incredible things. But I continued to have this thought that was like, ‘Man, it stinks. Like,

wouldn’t it be cool to create some sort of a thing for people that didn’t fit into those niches in a way.’” So naturally, he began Turkish rug-slinging. Long story short, Gage got lost in Antalya, Turkey. A group of English speakers found him and invited him to a dinner party. Gage went to the party, “a rollicking good time,” and met some Americans who were staying in Turkey through the Fulbright Program, which they encouraged him to apply for. “At the end of the night, we all toasted to my returning to Turkey,” Gage said. “On a certain level, I was just like, it can’t hurt. I’ll throw together an application and we’ll just kind of see what happens. And I got it.” After graduating from Hillsdale in 2014, Gage lived in Tokat, Turkey. “I was really moved by Turkish culture and people and fell in love with the cultural encounter there,” Gage said. Later, Gage went to graduate school at the University of

Notre Dame to study Eastern Christian material culture. He admits that this was “a cheeky way to be able to get back to Turkey.” During the summer of 2018, Gage learned Turkish in Azerbaijan on a scholarship. “In between my experiences in Turkey and Azerbaijan, I had been exposed to people who sold rugs and began to learn a bit about them,” Gage said. Gage returned to America that fall with “quite a few rugs,” which he sold to friends. He later figured out that he could sell them on Craigslist for more profit. “I sold my entire inventory,” Gage said. “I was almost surprised — I didn’t intend to do a business thing, but accidentally found that there’s a way of doing it.” Eventually Gage had to face the nightmare of incommensurability head-on and choose between a Ph.D program and continuing to sell rugs. He chose the latter. While on another scholarship in Turkey in the summer of 2019, Gage took

the opportunity to travel the country and find rugs, along with several other recent Hillsdale graduates. Upon returning in the fall, he founded the company Gage Goods. “As I was thinking about the name of the company, I realized I don’t want to just do rugs,” Gage said. “At the end of day, it’s also perhaps a quiet nod to Larry Arnn. The good that I hope I purvey is not ultimately a rug, but human community as life together.” Luckily, Gage had “some notion of the human good” by the time he graduated from Hillsdale. “Everything about Hillsdale is why I’m doing the rug stuff now,” Gage said. “It’s because I took classes with Dr. Gamble and Dr. Birzer that I came to care very deeply for the stories of people unlike myself. Because I took classes with Dr. Jackson, I became capable of doing nuanced readings of pieces of art including, you know, material woven arts.” Gage cites his Hillsdale

friends as the reason that Gage Goods worked. “My really good friend Sally Nelson, who graduated in my year, is an incredible photographer,” Gage said. “She wanted my project to succeed, as she donated hours of her time to taking good photographs. That high quality of work she contributed from day one gave me this huge leg up, and I looked legitimate.” Many of Gage’s first sales were to friends from Hillsdale, and Gage Goods has thrived on that initial momentum. So now what’s his move? Gage’s big vision is to “provide a place for smart kids to do interesting, meaningful, and intellectually stimulating work.” The TL;DR in Gage’s own words: “It’s a rug company that just wants to save the world — or at least Hillsdale students.”

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Features

March 4, 2021

The remains of the late, great Michigan Southern Railroad rots on Monroe Street. Andrew Dixon | The Collegian

Turning back track of time: By | Sean Callaghan Collegian Freelancer The scene is Monroe Street, Hillsdale, MI. Standing on the platform of the old depot, you wait and listen. When will it arrive? “That eerie sound of a train whistle blowing triggers memories of a distant time in the past when 40 or more trains per day ran through Hillsdale County, with 22 routed through the city of Hillsdale,” local historian Dan Bisher wrote in his history of Hillsdale, titled “Faded Memories.” It all started in 1843 when a young surveyor in civil engineering took a gamble. With the help of a few colleagues, he invested in the town’s train line, the Michigan Southern Railroad. In September of the same year, the state of Michigan ran out of funds, leaving the project unfinished. Entrepreneurs and the founders of Hillsdale, Henry Waldron,

Discovering Hillsdale’s historic railroad

John Cook, Charles Ferris, and Charles Mitchell then bought shares at 42 cents on the dollar. Within a few years, the railroad was booming. The Michigan Southern railroad started with a total of only 10 trains, running a line from Monroe to Adrian, Michigan. Speeds reached a maximum of 14 mph. “The engines weren’t very powerful so when they reached big hills, since Hillsdale county has the highest elevation, the conductors would have people actually get out and push,” Bisher said. As resources became available, the line extended further west to the city of Hillsdale. Such a development opened the eyes of Hillsdale residents to the outside world. Throughout its use, the town’s railroad operated as both a freight and passenger train. The farmers of Hillsdale and the surrounding counties used their wagons

to haul loads of crops to the depot. Before the depot, farmers needed to travel south to Fort Wayne, Indiana, or other distant areas to reap the benefits of their crops. Warehouses lined the streets to keep up with the demand. As a result, 40 trains passed through Hillsdale county daily, and 22 through the city of Hillsdale. By 1852, the Michigan Southern Railroad connected to Chicago in the west, turning Hillsdale County from the end of a route to a major stop along the train line. The presence of the railroad influenced the culture, economy, and life of the Hillsdale community. Log cabins transitioned into luxurious residences. Hotels, saloons and other lower establishments of the community diminished as commerce increased and the line expanded. The railroad also transported the students and faculty of Hillsdale College during semester breaks. As

the 1860s rolled around, the train was a reliable means of transportation during the Civil War and even up through WWII. During the Civil War, historian Anne Buzzel notes, the train carried “5,000 barrels of flour daily.” The depot also housed many curiousities. In 1907, President Theodore Roosevelt stopped there on his way to an address in Lansing and gave a speech to a gathering crowd of Hillsdale residents from the end of a train. Foreigners also frequently used the railroad to travel west. The depot hall was often filled with endless chatter — ranging from German and French to Polish and Russian — as folks waited for the train. As the railroad prospered, Waldron and his colleagues sold the railroad to a gentleman named Ray Gould. Along with the struggle for power and control over the railroad came the clashing of

and a jeweler. When you were younger, what did you want to be when you grew up? This. I’ve been pursuing this pretty much since high school. What is one thing you believed as a college student that you still believe today? You have to own your education. It’s not up to professors or anybody to give it to you. They’re there as a resource, but at the end of the day, you own your education. What is one thing you believed as a college student that you have since changed your mind about? I no longer believe in the works of Ayn Rand. I don’t think Objectivism has any

realistic value. What is one memory from your childhood that stands out to you? I had a very unique childhood because I’m a hemophiliac. Because of the time I grew up in, I spent the majority of my childhood in the hospital. I don’t have the same kind of memories that a lot of kids have. Because of what hemophilia does and the dangers it presented back then, I never did boy scouts or played sports. My childhood was very different from most people. What is the most memorable gift you’ve ever received? A Halcyon enamel box. It had a portrait of Charles Dickens on it, who is one of my favorite authors. That, the violin that my grandmother gave me, and my tattoo from my eldest son. Those are probably the three most special gifts I’ve been given. What is one of the nicest things one of your students has said to you? That’s a daily occurrence. One of them has said I’m very approachable and they can talk to me about almost anything. Who is one playwright you think is underrated? Horton Foote. He wrote the screenplay for “To Kill a Mockingbird.” However, he has written some incredible

plays. How would you spend $1 million? I would buy myself a Ford F-150, an Indian Vintage Dark Horse motorcycle, and the rest I’d set aside for my kids. What is one memory with your kids that is special to you? It’s different for each kid. With my eldest son, he did the tattoo on my arm. With my eldest daughter, it would be just playing the guitar with her. With my youngest son, we occasionally play Minecraft and video games together. With my youngest daughter, she’s gotten interested in jewelry. Does your tattoo have special meaning? My eldest son was bugging me about a birthday present. Finally, I said, ‘Fine, give me one of your tattoos.’ He came up with the design of a kitsune, which is a mythological Japanese fox. He chose the white kitsune, which is a wise old fox. Each of the flames represents one of his siblings. The seven tails represent that my son Nicholas, myself, and my youngest son Ryan were all born in July. Do you have any hidden talents or hobbies? I oil paint and I pastel paint. I was also trained as an opera singer. If you could be in the

heads. In a series of heated disputes, Cornelius Vanderbilt, railroad king of the New York line, wrestled with Gould for the MS line. Vanderbilt eventually prevailed, at which point he merged the train line together with his own, called the New York Central System. Eventually, commerce expanded north to Lansing, south to Fort Wayne, east to Detroit, and west to Chicago. The line continued to prosper until the late 1950s. As the technological advancements of the airplane and automobile developed, the use of the Hillsdale county railroad became less and less necessary. On Nov. 19, 1956, the last passenger train left the station for Toledo. Memoirs from witnesses of the train line’s closure expressed appreciation for the railroad’s dramatic impact on Hillsdale county. “The history of the railroad is also the history of the college and the community

because it put this little place out in the middle of nowhere in touch with the rest of the country and the world,” Bisher said. After sitting for years in disuse, the Indiana Northeastern line claimed ownership of the tracks in 1992, reopening the doors for commerce on rails in the town of Hillsdale. Although the passenger train has since ceased operation, the memory continues to exist in the old depot. Today, Hillsdale Orthodox Presbytarian Church cares for the upkeep of the building. The same cobblestone platform of the late 19th and early 20th century remains amidst the strands of grass that grow through its cracks. If you want to relive the experience of Hillsdale in the days of the locomotive, visit the old depot. Close your eyes and listen as you hear “that eerie sound of a train whistle blowing” down the tracks.

QUICK HITS: Donald Fox Donald Fox is a visiting assistant professor of scenic design

By | Tracy Wilson Assistant Editor What is one trend from your teenage years you wish would come back? None. It was the ’80s, man. Painful times. It was a time of parachute pants, mullets, and leg warmers. Can’t think of a single trend. If you could spend one day in the life of any fictional character, who would you choose? Gandalf. For him, it’s more about the big picture. At no point does he ever lose hope. What is one word you use to describe yourself? Loyal. What is something a lot of people don’t know about you? I trained as a goldsmith

Fox’s son tatooed a kitsune, a mythological Japanese fox, on his father’s arm. Courtesy | Donald Fox

Donald Fox designs sets for the Tower Players in the shop. Courtesy | Donald Fox

Guinness Book of World Records, what would it be for? Breaking the land speed record in a car. What is one piece of advice you try to impart to

your students? Live simply, live humbly, forgive always. Let your yes mean yes and your no mean no, and make no promise you cannot keep.