Hillsdale Collegian 1.17.19

Michigan’s oldest college newspaper

Vol. 142 Issue 14 - January 17, 2019

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Marine Corps commandant to address Class of 2019 By | Nolan Ryan News Editor Gen. Robert Neller, commandant of the United State Marine Corps, will be the commencement speaker for the Class of 2019’s graduation in May, the Provost’s Office announced on Monday.

“It’s pretty clear Gen. Neller, while innocent of any kind of self promotion or self regard, is clearly a man of great accomplishment, of serious understanding, and of enormous — almost immeasurable — service to the country,” said Provost David Whalen. “A lot of people are very ready to takes things easy as they approach their senior years. Being commandant of the Marine Corps has to be the definition of the opposite of taking things easy.”

Senior class president Ryan Kelly Murphy said Neller, whose son Brett graduated from Hillsdale in 2006, had the characteristics and values the senior class officers were looking for in a commencement speaker.

“Gen. Neller has had a long and admirable career, and his contributions in the defense of our country have been

tremendous,” said Hillsdale College President Larry Arnn in a statement to the Collegian. “He is known for his courage in combat and his prudence in the highest levels of command — a man worthy of great honor.

Murphy and the other senior class officers were part of the decision process for this year’s speaker, and they chose Neller for his admirable qualities of service and the fact that he has experience with Hillsdale College through his son who went here, according to Murphy. Students, regardless of whether they plan to join the armed forces, will benefit from Neller’s perspectives on life, she said.

“He has dedicated his life to ultimate service. To have that example for the seniors as we’re preparing to go out into the world will be a remarkable reminder about how we are called to dedicate our lives to service,” Murphy said. “It will be a meaningful capstone lesson to our experience at Hillsdale.”

Michael Murray, legal counsel and administrative director of gift and estate at Hillsdale College,

Gen. Robert Neller, commandant of the United States Marine Corps, will address the Class of 2019 as this year’s commencement speaker. Wikimedia Commons

served under Neller when they were both deployed in Iraq in 2006 and later introduced the general to President Larry Arnn in 2016.

Neller is the perfect choice for commencement speaker, Murray said in an email.

“The Marine Corps and Hillsdale College are both

mission-focused organizations that appreciate and honor our nation’s founding principles,” he said. “To hear from the leader of the Marine Corps seems very fitting.”

Seniors Joshua Bailey and Dan McAlary are both planning to serve in the Marine Corps after graduation and said they are thrilled to have the opportunity to hear from Neller.

“Some Marines go their whole careers without coming near the commandant of the Marine Corps,” McAlary said.

“Somebody’s who’s spent their life in service to their country is an example to give back.”

Bailey said high-ranking officers in the armed forces are often well-educated and worthy of looking to as a model.

“Men who end up in positions that high up have come up with a life in leadership philosophy that’s worth knowing,” Bailey said. “Being that committed for so many years to his profession and doing it well — that kind of character is something you want a little bit of, whether you’re headed into the Marine Corps or some other position. That’s the

kind of person you want to take cues from.”

The fact that Neller’s son went to Hillsdale means he already has a knowledge of the college’s values, Murphy said.

“He understands Hillsdale through the experience of his son, and that is one of the many wonderful perspectives Gen. Neller can provide to the graduating seniors,” she said.

Whalen said in choosing the speaker, college administrators and senior class officers have to find someone who can speak to the graduates in particular but also more generally to the college’s wider audience. The speaker, he said, has to address the purposes of a life well-lived.

“You want somebody who understands what a good, proper liberal education is for, why it’s important, and how that translates into a kind of high calling on the part of the graduates,” he said. “You have to have a speaker people hopefully will recognize as accomplished, as someone admirable and someone whose work and place in the world has somehow been a model.”

More than 10,000 students enrolled in Barney Schools

Bill Grewcock, a longtime donor, died Dec. 8, 2018. Bill and his wife Berniece, who survives him, have been involved with Hillsdale College since the 1980s. External Affairs

‘The complete man’: Administrators, students remember Bill Grewcock By | Emma Cummins Assistant Editor

Known as a man of character and generosity, William “Bill” Grewcock died on Dec. 8, 2018, at the age of 93. Grewcock was the former vice chairman of construction and mining at Kiewit Corp., and he and Berniece, his wife of 70 years who survives him, made considerable charitable donations to Hillsdale College.

“He was a giver, and when he gave, his eyes shone with love,” Hillsdale College President Larry Arnn said in a eulogy delivered at Grewcock’s funeral. “Hillsdale is next year 175 years old, and in its long history, Bill and Berniece are among the few most generous.”

The Grewcocks endowed several scholarships, were benefactors to the Grewcock Student Union, supported Hillsdale Academy, and endowed five professorships, among other things.

One of the scholarships the Grewcocks established was awarded to students from Nebraska who had attended a private, Christian high school or had been homeschooled, were academically qualified, and showed a financial need. Since its establishment in January 1994, 143 students have received the scholarship.

“We would get the Nebraska kids, usually 40 of them at a time, together each January when they were home for the holidays to meet with Bill and Berniece,” Arnn said. “Nei-

ther of them wanted to be thanked. They wanted to tell the kids how great they are.”

Arnn also spoke to Grewcock’s character, saying he “possessed the moral and intellectual virtues.”

“He was ‘a character’ in the sense that he was distinctive and formidable,” Arnn said. “He was more direct, more confident, readier to think and act than the ordinary. He was ‘a character’ in that larger sense that means a complete man.”

Chief Administrative Officer Rich Péwé only met the Grewcocks once, when they were working on the plans for the student union, but in that time, Péwé said he was impressed with how humble they were.

“They were very straight-

See Grewcock A2

By | Alex Nester D.C. Correspondent In 2018, the Hillsdale College Barney Charter School Initiative reached an enrollment milestone, with more than 10,000 students attending 21 schools across the country.

The Treasure Coast Classical Academy in Stuart, Florida, is one of four Barney Charter Schools projected to open for the upcoming 20192020 school year. According to Phil Kilgore, director of the Barney Charter Schools Initiative, three other schools — Northwest Classical Academy in Toledo, Ohio, Treasure Valley Classical Academy in Fruitland, Idaho, and Tallahassee Classical Academy in Florida — will open alongside TCCA later this year.

Typically, charter schools require anywhere from one to four years of planning before opening their doors for students, depending on state requirements, finding locations for the school, and acquiring proper funding.

According to Kilgore, state laws across the Midwest create challenges for prospective charter schools, so the Barney Charter School Initiative has better luck in states like Florida, Texas, and Colorado, where laws and regulations are more friendly to charter schools.

Lynda Daniel, chairman of TCCA’s governing board, said she appreciated the support the Barney Charter School Initiative provides to charter schools as well as the mission.

According to the Hillsdale

College website, the initiative’s mission is “excellence in knowledge of the world, high moral character and self government, and civic virtue.”

“Once they work with a team to open a school, they agree to provide training and curriculum,” Daniel said.

“From BCSI to the local team, everything is mission-focused and very intentional; Hillsdale’s mission informs all decisions.”

The Barney Charter School Initiative provides assistance with principal training and selection as well as training for educators at no cost to the prospective charter school.

TCCA announced Monday that Janine Swearingin had been selected as principal. Swearingin received her Master of Education from National University and has worked in education for more than 20 years.

The school is projected to enroll 650 students in kindergarten through sixth grade this fall through the lottery process. TCCA will add an additional grade each year through the 12th grade in 2025.

John Snyder, a member of the leadership team for TCCA who focuses on community engagement, said he and Daniel are excited to bring another educational option to parents and children in Martin County.

“Martin County has the highest private school enrollment of the 67 counties in the state of Florida, and what that tells us is that, as great as the public schools are, parents are looking for another alterna-

tive,” Snyder said. “We can bring this amazing offering here and fill that void.”

According to Snyder, three groups have been integral in the establishment of TCCA: Hillsdale College, the Optima Foundation, and the TCCA Leadership Team and Governing Board. Hillsdale has helped provide the charter school framework and curriculum, and the Optima Foundation has, among other things, helped TCCA comply with state charter school regulations. The TCCA Leadership Team and Governing Board work as a “grassroots effort” to spread the word in the community.

Snyder, a veteran of the United States Marine Corps, likens the founding of TCCA to working on an airplane.

“I worked on the C-130.

You see this one plane, but when you get up there, you see that one company made the propellers, another company made the avionics,” Snyder said. “That’s how I feel that TCCA has come together, with subject matter experts in each of the fields.”

Per Florida law, 75 percent of the funding used per student in a public school will be granted to each student who attends TCCA. Snyder said this, along with targeted marketing, will help draw students to TCCA from across the socioeconomic spectrum.

“We use targeted marketing to disadvantaged areas of our community because again, that is part of the American dream — anyone who works hard and puts forward the

See Education A2

Government shutdown closes Farm Service Agency, creates uncertainty By | Nicole Ault Editor-in-Chief The federal government shutdown has closed part of the United States Department of Agriculture office in Hillsdale County -- cutting farmers off from financial and administrative services that will prove vital to decision making in the coming weeks.

“It makes us a lot more uncertain on what we’re doing,” said Scott Welden, a grain farmer in Jonesville. Though not dire at the moment, the problem will worsen in the Follow @HDaleCollegian

next few weeks if the shutdown drags on, he said.

Located in Jonesville, the Hillsdale County USDA office holds the Farm Service Agency and the Natural Resources Conservation Service.

The FSA is closed during the shutdown while the NRCS remains fully open. NRCS employees are paid, and the center is operating on prior years’ funds, according to Jason Wheeler, the district conservationist at NRCS. Wheeler said he does not know how much longer the office will

stay open, however.

Farmers rely on the FSA for multiple services, including yield reports, land registration, low-interest loans, and other financial transactions.

Farmers can’t get USDA reports on crop inventory and stocks from last year because of the shutdown, said Terry Finegan, board president of the Hillsdale County Farm Bureau. Without the reports, farmers are less certain of how to market and what to plant for the next harvest season; high inventories of a certain

crop can lower its price.

Farmers also don’t have access to payments from the Market Facilitation Program, created by the Trump administration to mitigate the impact of tariffs on grain farmers and delivered through the FSA. “That could be pretty significant on the income side,” Finegan said, noting that farmers could use the MFP cash to buy inputs such as seed and fertilizer. “It directly affects a lot of our decision making on our direction.”

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There’s a “window” here, though; farmers usually start planting in April and “like to have stuff locked in” by the end of February, Finegan said.

Loans processed through the FSA are also on hold during the shutdown. Though most well-established farms receive loans through banks and aren’t affected, smaller farms don’t necessarily have that luxury.

“If you were a young farmer and you wanted to expand your farm here, then you might not be able to get that

loan to buy property that you need or equipment that you need,” said Sarah Fronczak, environmental management educator at the Michigan State University Hillsdale County extension. “If they’re not established, then this is an important method for them to grow their business, and that’s pretty much unavailable right now.”

The USDA announced Wednesday that many FSA centers, including the one in Jonesville, will be open Jan.

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January 17, 2019

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Students, faculty explore Holy Land on annual Passages trip By | Alexis Daniels Assistant Editor Over winter break, 42 Hillsdale College students embarked on an annual trip to Israel, touring many biblical and historical sites and museums in the region.

The Philos Project, which is a Christian program, began hosting the trip four years ago. The program allows sophomores, juniors, and seniors an opportunity to “visit the Christian sites and

ish college students to Israel,” Rahe said in an email. “We are a Christian school, and we encourage students to study the Bible.”

Rahe said the application process began at the beginning of the fall semester.

There were 90 applicants, from which they chose “three or four sophomores and a more or less equal number of juniors and seniors,” according to Rahe. When there were empty seats on the bus, six more students were selected.

Middle East, and evidence of a persisting interest in going on the trip,” he said.

Rahe said the trip has not varied much from year to year. Students are able to visit Golan Heights, Jewish settlements on the West back, a kibbutz, which is an Israeli collective settlement, on the edge of the Gaza Strip, the Sea of Galilee, and most of the Christian sites nearby, including Nazareth and Capernaum.

They also tour Jerusalem, the Mount of Olives, the Garden

Forty-two Hillsdale College students travelled to Israel as part of the annual Passages trip.

Jenna Wiita | Courtesy

learn about that corner of the contemporary Middle East,” according to Professor of History Paul Rahe, who went as the male chaperone.

“Passages to Israel is a Christian program, modelled on a Jewish program called Birthright, which sends JewVia Marketing Department

Rahe said the applicants had to have specific qualities and interests.

“We winnowed the list down, looking at grades, evidence of leadership, evidence of an interest in the Bible, evidence of an interest in the

of Gethsemane, the Wailing Wall, and many churches, one of which is situated on top of the traditional site of the tomb where Christ was buried.

“This year, we did get to the Israel Museum, which

Construction workers placed the domes on Christ Chapel last week.

contains all sorts of artifacts pertinent to the interpretation of the Bible,” Rahe said, “And we visited the Shrine of the Book, where the Dead Sea Scrolls are on display.”

Senior Emma McCormick went as a “Hillsdale fellow” - a student who is to help guide new students on the trip as well as manage the students’ time. McCormick had gone on the Israel trip two years earlier to “see the land where Jesus walked,” and she applied this year as a fellow because she “fell in love with the country.”

“It was an opportunity to catch things I missed and reinforce what I had already learned while sharing the experience with new friends,” McCormick said in an email.

“I also wanted to be there to help others be ready for and enjoy the trip. I was excited to see everyone else experience Israel for the first time.”

For junior Jenna Wiita, the trip to Israel was an opportunity to experience a different culture and explore her interest in the Middle East and the Bible.

“This was an opportunity to not only experience a unique culture but to learn it fairly thoroughly,” Wiita said in an email. “I wanted to better understand the conflicts occurring in the Middle East, in part because I feel they are the key to understanding a lot of other aspects of international politics.”

Wiita said she learned a lot on the trip about the culture, the history, the current state, and the people. Among her favorite moments was a visit to an archaeological site: the town of Magdala, where they have excavated sites like a synagogue and a bath house.

Wiita said their tour guide tried to help the students imagine the synagogue as it looked 2000 years ago with

Shutdown

from A1 17-18 and 22 for specific financial activities, including processing of payments made by Dec. 31 and continuing expiring financial statements. The department also states on its website that farmers who have loans due during the shutdown do not need to make payments until it ends.

Dairy farmers, meanwhile, are facing a hold-up on monthly Dairy Margin Coverage Program payments that are processed through the FSA, said Carleton Evans, who owns a farm in Litchfield and is a member

Participants on the annual Passages trip to Israel visited several biblical and historical locations throughout the Holy Land.

Jenna Wiita | Courtesy

Jesus entering, teaching, and talking with the rabbis as it is told in the Bible.

“It made me realize the beauty and absolute absurdity of the incarnation,” Wiita said.

“He chose to translate himself into a human being so that we might better understand him. He taught in tiny fishing towns on the shores of the Galilee, and he traversed the long distances between them, over mountains and hills and rocks. He ate a lot of fish and smiled at children and probably got rocks stuck in his sandals. All these things of the board of directors of the Michigan Milk Producers co-op.

“It’s not the end of the world, but right now the dairy market is really tight and any time you’re short dollars you were planning on, it’s going to upset your cash flow,” Evans said.

But the government deemed critical the Federal Milk Marketing Order workers, who set milk prices, which is something of a relief, Evans said.

The FSA also deals with registration, acreage certification, and contracts regarding land use, such as renting to tenants, said Mark

became so much more real to me in Magdala.”

Wiita said she loved what she experienced and learned of the story of Christianity, from David’s Jerusalem to the members of the church in West Bank today.

“I have always wanted to visit Israel, see the Holy Lands, and walk where Jesus walked,” Wiita said. “I knew it would allow me to read my Bible and think about my faith in a new way. This trip was truly a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.”

Kies, who farms grains in northwest Hillsdale County.

Even installing tile drainage requires FSA approval, Evans said.

Kies said he’s also concerned that, even if the shutdown ends before long, FSA employees may face a backlog of work that holds back services.

“We’re OK right now.

There’s not a lot happening that is a major decision,” Kies said. “But I’d say by the end of January or beginning of February… I think we’re gonna see some effect here in the next two to three weeks.”

think and pursue learning,” “It’s huge,” Friesen said. from A1 Friesen said.

“If I hadn’t had the scholarAfter almost four years, ship, I wouldn’t have been forward about what they Friesen said she has realized able to come here. Everyliked and what they did not there is still much that she thing I owe to Hillsdale I like,” he said. “They were doesn’t know, but Hillsdale owe to them.” such down-to-earth believhas given her a direction.

Sophomore Spencer ers both in the college and as “There’s so much more, Rothfuss has had a similar very faithful Christians.” and I can spend the rest of experience with the GrewPéwé said he was struck my lifetime pursuing that, ’ ” cocks, saying their scholarby how much Arnn was imFriesen said. “I think before ship made his education at pressed with Grewcock and coming to Hillsdale, I may Hillsdale possible. that “Arnn seemed always have had a vague sense of “I couldn’t be at Hillsdale very drawn to him as a man there being a lot I didn’t without their generosity,” and a person.”

Arnn’s final part of the eulogy touched on that connection to Grewcock.

“My relationship with Bill Grewcock began in business and then reached friendship,” Arnn said. “This is one of the proudest things in my life. I loved him.”

Senior Ellen Friesen has been a Grewcock scholar since she was a freshman Recipients of the Grewcock’s endowed scholarship pose with Bill and and was given the opportunity Berniece Grewcock and President Larry Arnn.

External Affairs to speak at the college’s annual know, but there wouldn’t Rothfuss said. “Everything “thank-you dinner” in Nehave been a direction to that I’ve learned in the class, braska. search which could have ani- every friendship I’ve made, “I talked a lot about the mated the rest of my life.” every life lesson that I’ve intellectual culture that Without the generosity of gotten in the last 18 months coming to school here has the Grewcocks, Friesen may is possible because of them.” helped me to develop and not have been given that the way it has taught me to direction.

Grewcock

Education

from A1 effort can achieve greatness,” Snyder said. “Education knows no socioeconomic status.”

Though state funding will provide most of the school’s income over time, donations helped to get the project off the ground. Future donations through naming opportunities could provide teachers with better salaries and perhaps even a bussing system, which would further help students and families on the lower end of the socioeconomic spectrum, according to Snyder.

“It has been very rewarding to be a part of this,” Snyder said. “Even if it is just a fingerprint on something that will be here long after I am gone, it is very hum-

bling.”

If TCCA maintains an A, B, or C rating from the state after five years, the charter will then be renewed for 20 years. Snyder said the charter school will encourage other local schools to provide better education to students in Martin County.

“After a couple of years, other school districts will take note, and we will be a very positive force in the community and in the school district,” Snyder said.

“When people start to see that a TCCA fourth grader is different from another fourth grader, they will look to the school districts, and parents will start to demand more.”

Snyder said the school is going above and beyond with security measures, as

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it is one of the first school buildings to be built in the state of Florida since the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooting in February 2018. TCCA will have a direct line to the sheriff ’s department, as well as other security measures, in the case of an emergency.

While construction on the school building has not yet begun, Daniel said she is hopeful that the school will be built on time.

“We are on an expedited building schedule, and the crew of contractors we are working with know the zoning and codes for public schools as well as environmental laws,” Daniel said.

“We are on quite an aggressive schedule.”

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January 17, 2019 A3

The Weekly: Do more than march (517) 607-2415 Online: www.hillsdalecollegian.com Editor-in-Chief | Nicole Ault Associate Editor | Jordyn Pair News Editor | Nolan Ryan City News Editor | Josephine von Dohlen Opinions Editor | Kaylee McGhee Sports Editor | S. Nathaniel Grime Culture Editor | Carmel Kookogey Features Editor | Brooke Conrad Design Editor | Morgan Channels Web Content Editor | Regan Meyer Web Manager | Timothy Green Photo Editor | Christian Yiu Circulation Manager | Regan Meyer Ad Manager | Cole McNeely Assistant Editors | Emma Cummins | Alexis Daniels | Abby Liebing | Allison Schuster | Calli Townsend | Isabella Redjai | Ryan Goff | Stefan Kleinhenz | Cal Abbo Faculty Advisers | John J. Miller | Maria Servold The editors welcome Letters to the Editor but reserve the right to edit submissions for clarity, length, and style. Letters should be 450 words or less and include your name and number. Send submissions to the Opinions Editor at kmcghee@hilldale.edu before Saturday at 3 p.m.

On loyalty in the Trump era By | Erik Halvorson Columnist New year, same political drama. Freshman Utah Senator and former Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney rang in 2019 with a scathing column in the Washington Post attacking President Donald Trump’s character and temperament.

In the piece, Romney claimed that while he hoped Trump would succeed, he did not believe the president’s conduct had “risen to the mantle of the office.” Romney continued, admitting that while Trump’s policy positions have been quite conservative, “policies and appointments are only a part of a presidency.”

Romney says: “A presidency shapes the public character of the nation. A president should unite us and inspire us to follow ‘our better angels.’ A president should demonstrate the essential qualities of honesty and integrity, and elevate the national discourse with comity and mutual respect.”

And he’s correct. The people we elect should be held to a high moral standard because, according to Socrates, leadership is “the noblest kind of excellence.” The actions and rhetoric of our presidents should befit the dignity of the office they hold and the ideals and values they represent as the President of the United States. It is no secret that Trump — an admitted serial adulterer among other things — seems to be severely lacking in many of these essential qualities. He is not a leader that we should hold up to the next generation for them to emulate, and he is not a man we should hope our sons grow up to be like.

With that being said, what is the point of Romney’s op-ed? Trump’s faults are not new and they have been more than sufficiently covered by mainstream media. Romney claimed he wrote it as a declaration that he will stand for his principles, not just for Trump and the GOP. This is all well and good, but actions speak much louder than a controversial column.

Furthermore, this moral posturing by Romney points to the possibility of a 2020 primary challenger for Trump — a move that would be sure to fail and guarantee a Democratic president for the next four years. I may agree with the message of Romney’s op-ed, but his political motivations remain a mystery.

The reactions to Romney’s piece also reveal an alarming trend that has become all too common in the era of Trump. In an effort to defend the president and his agenda, Trump’s most ardent supporters attacked Romney and denied the existence of the president’s obvious flaws.

One of the most egregious examples of this was articulated by the president of Liberty University, Jerry Falwell Jr. in

an interview with the Washington Post.

When asked if Trump could do anything to lose his support, Falwell responded with a simple “No.” When pressed, he elaborated, “Only because I know that he only wants what’s best for this country ... I can’t imagine him doing anything that’s not good for the country.” This statement demonstrates an abandonment of principles that has accompanied the cult-like support of Donald Trump.

The president, regardless of his character, has become the standard by which right and wrong is judged, replacing the eternal truths that Christians and conservatives claim as their own.

Others, such as the Ethics and Public Policy Center’s Henry Olsen, responded by saying Trump either had to be supported entirely or not at all: “Romney would like you to believe you can have your cake and eat it, too — that you can be against Trump’s character but for his policies.”

Others articulated a similar sentiment, saying Romney should just get in line and help the Republican cause rather than causing division within the party by talking about silly things such as one’s character or morality. Like Falwell’s, such statements demonstrate the desertion of principles for loyalty to a man.

Loyalty is certainly an honorable character trait, but this kind of thinking is flawed.

While we should love and support our friends, families, and fellow countrymen, it is improper to give them our undying loyalty regardless of their actions. There are standards higher than us by which we must judge the actions of fallen human beings, and the president is no exception. If we do truly care about the well-being of our country, we must hold the man who leads it accountable and ask him to do what is good and right, not just what is expedient or what will “win.”

Like all of us, Trump will have to answer to his Maker for his sins. It is perfectly reasonable to support him for his policy positions while still admitting that he has many deep character flaws. With that said, it is also reasonable to point to these flaws as a disqualification for any person as a leader worthy of support.

But what is not acceptable is a corruption of our morals and values to kneel at the altar of a man. If we decide to put our faith in men, we will be disappointed. But, if we stay true to the eternal morals, values, and truths handed to us from God above, using prudence as our guide, conservatives will be fighting the good fight handed down to us from our forefathers. And that is a battle worth winning.

Erik Halvorson is a senior studying Economics.

The opinion of The Collegian editorial staff

The federal government may be shut down in Washington, D.C. because of a political stalemate, but the streets of the town will be shut down for a different reason this weekend.

On Friday, the annual March for Life will take place in the Capitol, and the next day, the

annual Women’s March will follow. The two ideologies represented in these marches couldn’t be further opposed to each other. Thousands from all across America, including students from Hillsdale, will participate in the marches this weekend. But as much as

marching raises awareness for important current issues of social injustice and political policy, it doesn’t always lead to action. Marching in Washington puts the spotlight on an issue for a day or two, but making a real difference in the lives of real people starts with local

action. Should you march? Of course. But don’t just walk the talk — talk the walk. Volunteer, vote, and reach out to individuals whom you can help.

Live by your convictions daily wherever you are; not just in one city on one day each year.

Leave politics out of tragedy In remembrance of Bre Payton By | Jordyn Pair Associate Editor Politics should not follow death.

After the sudden death of 26-year-old journalist and former colleague of mine Bre Payton in late December, the Internet — as it often does — turned ugly. It dragged in politics, personal vendettas, and false information labelling Bre an “anti-vaxxer” to turn a tragedy into a callous punch line. And although the majority of responses to tweets from mourning colleagues and friends were empathetic, plenty still ran in the vein of “good riddance.”

This is unacceptable.

Bre died of H1N1, commonly known as swine flu, and possibly meningitis, according to a statement from her family.

People took this information and paired it with an old sarcastic tweet from Bre that, when misinterpreted, cast her as anti-vaccine. Except she never spoke out against vaccinations, according to Ben Domenech, founder of The Federalist and Bre’s colleague. People looking for a bad-faith reading simply took a tongue-in-cheek tweet and ran.

If it had been only Twitter trolls and those with little dignity or decency using her death as fodder for politics, that would be one thing. But even The Federalist, her home publication, published a piece

by Emily Domenech contrasting Bre’s life to that of recently-elected New York representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.

While it was most likely meant

as a tribute to Bre, it felt sullied by what seemed like an opportunistic pot-shot at a disliked politician. It is possible to say nice things about one person without dragging another down.

Bre acted as a mentor not only to me, but to other members of The Hillsdale Collegian’s editorial staff. She served as a fellow on a 2018 trip to Israel through The Philos Project.

On this trip, we got to see her selflessness, wisdom, and joy.

I also had the opportunity to work with her in 2016 at The Federalist. Although I was only an intern, she took time to get to know me and guide me through my time with the publication. I consistently saw the happiness she brought to other people.

Bre’s death should not have been politicized. Her death was untimely, sudden, and unpreventable. She was not slaughtered by a gunman. She was not a victim of a negligent policy.

Her death was the byproduct of a medical fluke and should have been treated as such.

This will happen again. It will happen to someone on the “opposite” side. But politics has no place in the graveyard; it has no place in grief. Compassion for all death, all grieving, all struggling, regardless of politics, is necessary and right.

When it happens, be kind.

Protect the hurting.

It’s what Bre would have done.

Jordyn Pair is a senior studying Sociology and Rhetoric and Public address.

Bre Payton’s died of a sudden illness Dec. 28, 2018.

She was 26.

Bre was an influential mentor of many journalism students at Hillsdale College. She was a fellow on the Philos Project Dateline Journalism tour of Israel in early 2018.

Much of the staff of The Hillsdale Collegian had the opportunity to experience her grace, kindness, and wisdom.

Bre Payton, well-known journalist and beloved A 2015 friend, passed away at 26 years old. | Wikimedia graduate of Patrick Henry The students of the Dow College, she was Journalism Center program well known as a media comremember her not only as mentator and staff writer for a fellow journalist, but as The Federalist. She is survived someone who impacted our by her parents, George and lives in a profound way. We Cindy; siblings James, Jack, send our deepest condolences Christina, and Cheekie; as well to her family and friends and as her boyfriend, Ryan Colby. ask the readers of the Collegian Bre’s death was untimely. to mourn with us the loss of It leaves in its wake not only heartbreak, but a feeling of someone dear. loss for what could have been.

A scholarship fund beneBre was talented, kind, and fiting young, rising Christian bright-hearted. She genuinely leaders is available on GoFundand deeply cared for those Me. As of Jan. 15, it has raised around her and took her role nearly $40,000. as a mentor seriously, striving to pour into the lives of those —The Collegian Editorial following the same path as her.

Staff

Make resolutions this year, and keep them By | Isabella Redjai Assistant Editor New Year’s Day is my favorite holiday. Don’t ask me why, because I wouldn’t be able to reasonably explain it, especially when there are so many other “important” holidays: Easter, Thanksgiving, Christmas, to name a few. But, there’s always been something special about New Year’s to me.

My family never does anything special for the holiday. A typical New Year’s Eve consists of my dad, mom, sister, and I eating a good meal, maybe dancing a little bit in the living room while Dick Clark’s “Rockin’ New Year’s Eve” plays on television and we wait for the ball in Times Square to drop. The truly magical part of New Year’s — apart from the commercialized image of champagne, glitter, and that romantic New Year’s Eve kiss — is the global idea of a fresh start.

What is it about this idea of

a fresh start or new year that seems to resonate with the entire human population? Throughout history, humans have improved and built upon previous generations, and although we see new discoveries occurring in our own day, like paper straws and Bitcoin, it seems like my generation is fairly complacent and comfortable.

People now question the importance and lasting influence of New Year’s resolutions because they seem outdated and likely to fail, but isn’t that why we set goals? So that we can refer back to them when we do mess up and refocus ourselves? If we don’t think through our goals and try again when we fail, will we have a direction going into the new year? Without a target or an end, we will not only grow stagnant in society, we will digress.

With a new year comes new fears and new failures, but it also comes with an opportunity to learn from past mistakes and

right our wrongs.

People are usually uncomfortable with the idea of small goals, always wanting to aim for the biggest, brightest, and boldest goals first, and on top of that, to do it right the first time. This is wishful thinking.

We are human beings prone to error and inevitable failure, but what we find in the New Year’s celebration is that humans want to be better.

People are usually uncomfortable with practical goals, too. Individuals find that they want to drop half their body weight in an overly-ambitious, daily workout routines, or travel to seven different countries in a single year. If we don’t recognize the beauty in the mundane everyday life and find goals to complement our daily lives, we will never feel accomplished or capable of success.

Take procrastination, for example. Begin with a small and practical goal like beginning each week by writing a to-do

list and the days those tasks need to be completed by, or breaking your bad habit of not responding to emails after you read them. Maybe a month in, you find yourself scrambling and back to your old procrastination routine. Start again — it’s still 2019 after all. New Year’s is a beautiful holiday that anyone can participate in, but many choose to sit on the sidelines while those who are willing to fearlessly fail actually succeed.

Don’t be one of them. 2019 has only just begun so set goals, remember these goals, fail, but get back on it.

In this new year, seek discomfort. Think of something in your own life that needs improvement, though that needed change may not be easy to admit. Then, write it down.

Make it tangible. Be able to look at it, and have it stare you down too.

Isabella Redjai is a sophomore studying Politics and Journalism.

Christians should make the pilgrimage to the Holy Land my life was not changing. Quite By | Nathan Messiter Special to the Collegian the opposite, actually. We went

If you post pictures from a trip abroad, you’re bound to get asked about it. Unfortunately, I was somehow entirely unprepared for all the questions about my recent trip to Israel, so my response to all these questions was more or less, “Israel is pretty cool.”

I had high expectations as I headed to the Holy Land along with nearly 40 other Hillsdale students this Christmas break.

Many of my friends and family have gone to Israel and have come back raving, so, naturally, I was excited for this opportunity to go to the place where our faith was born and Jesus lived His life on Earth. I was ready for a life-changing experience.

But, the days went by, and

to the Jordan River, the Sea of Galilee, Nazareth, Capernaum, and all over Jerusalem, including the site where Jesus was crucified, buried, and where He rose from the dead, and it all felt surprisingly normal. I wanted to feel something, to recognize God’s presence in these places, but for some reason, I was unable to do so. It made for a frustrating beginning to the trip, but in the end, I found this comforting. It’s nice to know that I don’t need to travel 5,000 miles to encounter God in the holiest way.

C.S. Lewis once said that besides the blessed sacrament, our neighbor is the holiest thing presented to our senses. Christ is not contained in Israel; He dwells much more realistically in the hearts of His people. I

come to know Him and love Him by speaking to Him, listening to Him, gazing upon Him, and loving my neighbor, much more than I do by taking a boat ride on the Sea of Galilee or walking on the same steps He once walked on.

So why go to Israel? Once I realized that I might not encounter Christ any differently in the Holy Land than in Michigan, this question was on my mind incessantly. God is present in Hillsdale and every other part of the world just as much as He is present there.

It took me until the last day of the trip, but I found an answer that was at least acceptable to me. I suppose we go to the Holy Land — or rather, ought to go — for much the same reason that we might visit the childhood home of someone we love. It doesn’t seem like a nec-

essary step for the relationship to thrive, but after hearing so many stories about the games that were played, the tears that were cried, and the love that was known in that one place, I would want to see the place with my own eyes. Not because I need to. Just because I want to.

To know everything, see everything, understand everything, about the one I love.

So, if you have the chance to visit Israel, go. But don’t go to worship the water that Jesus walked on, or the synagogues He preached in, or the place where He was crucified. Go so you can see with your own eyes the places you’ve heard so much about and experience for yourself Jesus’ home.

Nathan Messiter is a junior studying Christian Studies.

www.hillsdalecollegian.com

A4 January 17, 2019

Hillsdale, nation respond to Michigan congresswoman’s controversial remarks

Sierra Steward Cady and Chase Cady, two of the owners of the new Healthies of Hillsdale, which opened earlier this month, stand in their newly remodeled shop. Collegian | Josephine von Dohlen

Healthies of Hillsdale puts a fresh face on nutritional drinks By | Josephine von Dohlen City News Editor

Looking for healthy dining options in Hillsdale just got easier with Healthies of Hillsdale, a juice and smoothie bar under new ownership this month. The store opened at the former Nutrition Solutions location on Broad Street.

Offering a wide variety of nutritious shakes, teas, and other drinks in dozens of different flavors, Healthies of Hillsdale provides a different type of meal for Hillsdale’s diners.

“It’s fast food for healthy people,” Healthies of Hillsdale co-owner Sierra Steward Cady said.

Sierra Steward Cady is just one of the owners of Healthies of Hillsdale, and for her, it’s a family affair. Her parents, Dale and Lisa Steward, the owners of Nutrition Xtreme in Jonesville, co-own Healthies of Hillsdale with their two children, Sierra and Bryce, along with each of their spouses.

Healthies offers personalized nutrition plans as well as meals for people in all walks

of life. A typical meal includes three courses: an aloe shot, a tea, and a shake. The first course begins with an aloe shot, which aids with digestion. A second course might include a tea which boosts hydration, and finally, the main shake or smoothie provides protein. With the wide variety of flavors, Healthies provides breakfast, lunch, and dinner.

Popular flavors include mixed berry, birthday cake, and banana nut.

“The drinks have all those minerals and vitamins that everyone needs,” Sierra Steward Cady said.

The community has welcomed Healthies with open arms. Co-owner Chase Cady, Sierra Steward Cady’s husband, said that many of their customers have thanked them for opening, saying that they are glad they have such a great option in Hillsdale.

Sierra Steward Cady said that they hope to get involved in the community and encourage healthy activity for all people, from kids to adults.

“We want the community to get healthy and active,” Sierra Steward Cady.

Both Sierra Steward Cady and Chase Cady said that they hope to strive on customer service.

“We want to get to know you and your family,” Chase Cady said. “We want people to know that you’re not just an order here, you’re a person.”

Chase Cady is also an executive chef at Olivia’s Chophouse in Jonesville, and he said he has started using the products that Healthies offers and he enjoys them.

“I have a lot more energy,” he said. “As a chef, I know that it’s difficult and expensive to get healthy options, but this isn’t.”

Healthies is hoping to also appeal to college athletes.

With their sports drink line approved by the National Sanitation Foundation, the products are both safe and legal.

“Our stuff makes them feel good,” Sierra Steward Cady said. “It starts from the inside out” The line for athletes includes drinks for every step of their day, from the very beginning to the end.

“And beyond just athletes,

we have things for everyone from children to the elderly as well,” Chase Cady said.

Senior Hannah Moeggenberg, a Hillsdale native, said that she loves Healthies of Hillsdale.

“Healthies of Hillsdale has a clean, inviting atmosphere of friendly faces willing to provide more than just protein shakes. They provide support for the physical health and well-being of their customers,” Moeggenberg said. “I think the new interior decorating, the friendly faces, and the eye catching marketing they’ve done so far will make it a huge hit in Hillsdale.”

She said she believes that Healthies of Hillsdale is a great opportunity for the whole community.

“It’s a fun way to get kids to eat protein, it’s beneficial to college athletes, and for anyone who wants to start reaching their 2019 fitness goals as it’s as delicious as it is for our bodies,” Moeggenberg said.

Healthies of Hillsdale will host a grand opening on Feb. 1-3. The shop is open Monday through Friday 7 a.m.- 7 p.m.

By | Stefan Kleinhenz Assistant Editor On Jan. 3 Rashida Tlaib, a Democratic congresswoman from Michigan’s 13th district, was sworn into the 116th session of U.S. Congress. The same day, she told a group of her supporters, regarding President Donald Trump, “we’re gonna go in there and we’re gonna impeach the motherf*****.”

Tlaib’s comments sparked a national debate – a debate that hit close to home for many members of the Hillsdale community.

A petition to have Tlaib removed from office has been circulating on social media, including among the social platforms of Hillsdale residents who are upset about Tlaib’s comment.

The petition claims that Tlaib is unfit for Congress and calls for “her immediate removal from her seat.”

Hillsdale resident Penny Swan opposed Tlaib’s remarks.

“Saying those words is absolutely disrespectful and disgusting, no matter what venue one is speaking in,” Swan said in a personal message. “I’m embarrassed by a Michigan politician disrespecting our president with such horrific words.”

For Swan, Tlaib’s remarks show a lack of respect for the office of the president.

“Trump is the commander in chief and demands a certain amount of respect,” Swan said. “He won that respect by winning the election.”

While the petition surpassed its goal of 100,000 signatures, there has been no change in Tlaib’s position among the freshmen representatives in the House.

While some people call for Tlaib’s removal from office, Mayor Adam Stockford said that it’s up to her constituents to decide her ultimate fate.

“It isn’t for me to judge,” Stockford said in an email.

Stockford admits that much worse can be said, even claiming, “I’ve said worse.”

“The tragedy of it is that she’s getting national attention for saying something that any fool can say,” Stockford said.

“It’s going to make her a powerful representative because now she’s recognizable.”

Since Tlaib’s initial comments, many people have weighed in on the issue, including the president himself.

In a tweet, Trump asked how “you impeach a president who has won perhaps the greatest election of all time.” Trump did not identify the reason for his tweet, but it came the morning after Tlaib’s remarks.

Even some Democrats have come forward to condemn Tlaib’s statement. Rep. Jerry Nadler, a Democrat from New York and and the chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, said it’s too early to intelligently talk about a possible impeachment.

“I don’t really like that kind of language, but more to the point, I disagree with what she said,” Nadler said on CNN. On Jan. 15, a Jewish city commissioner from Florida’s Hallandale Beach in Broward County signed the petition on Facebook, but not without controversy. Along with the commissioner’s post where she claimed to have “proudly” signed the petition, she also added that Tlaib “is a danger” and that she “would not put it past her to become a martyr and blow up Capitol Hill.”

Tlaib responded on Twitter to the commissioner’s comments saying: “This sort of hateful anti-Muslim rhetoric doesn’t happen in a vacuum - this President embraced it and Republicans have happily gone along with it.”

Kevin Portteus, professor of politics at Hillsdale College, said he isn’t necessarily concerned with Tlaib’s comments, but rather the substance that is buried beneath the shock factor.

“The idea that she should be silenced is ridiculous,” Portteus said in an email. “Let people see her for what she is, whatever that may be.”

TIFA collects bids for Dawn Theater project

By | Julia Mullins Assistant Editor The City of Hillsdale Tax Increment Finance Authority is currently accepting construction bids for the Dawn Theater Rehabilitation and Blight Elimination project.

They have extended the deadline until Wednesday, Jan. 23 at 2 p.m.

“We’re just chomping at the bit now to get this project going,” Hillsdale’s TIFA consultant Mary Wolfram said.

According to Wolfram, TIFA held a pre-bid walkthrough for potential contractors to come and walk through the building and other subcontractors have come back through the building for additional tours.

“We’re getting bids from general contractors who oversee the job and they are usually from a bigger firm,” Wolfram said. “The general contractor then subcontracts out all the pieces.”

TIFA will be taking into consideration the price and quality of the contractor.

“Typically one looks for the low bid, but there’s due-diligence that you do to make sure that the contractor who is bidding is capable of doing the project,” Wolfram said.

“There’s a real quality component that you look into the bidder’s qualifications.

Hillsdale’s Zoning Administrator Alan Beeker said he is expecting TIFA will receive four bids.

“We’ve had four contractors who have been consistently calling with RFIs, which are requests for information,” Beeker said. “That gives us a pretty good indication of their intent on submitting a price.”

Wolfram said the Michigan Economic Development Corporation has given the City of Hillsdale a letter of interest offering a grant of $1.3 million in funds based on preliminary estimates of work to be completed in the Dawn Theater.

“We are hoping that the bids come in at $1.3 million or less,” Wolfram said. “If they don’t, we will have to cut some of the work.”

Both Wolfram and Beeker said they anticipate there will be value engineering involved in the project.

“We look at the price that is originally submitted in the bid and then what our budget is,” Beeker said. “If there’s a large disparity, we will look at where we can cut costs to meet our budget.”

In addition to TIFA, Wolfram said the architecture team working on the project, Hardlines Design Company out of Columbus, Ohio, will also review the bids to ensure the bids meet all of the necessary qualifications and include a bid bond.

According to Wolfram, a bid bond is a guarantee from a bonding agency that guarantees a contractor’s bid is good for a certain number of days.

Although TIFA owns the Dawn Theater, C.L Real Estate

out of Peru, Illinois is the project developer. Brant Cohen ’18, an associate for C.L. Real Estate LLC, said C.L Real Estate will also assist TIFA in reviewing and understanding the bids.

“We can go in-depth by contacting the bid contractors, working with them, and making sure they have all the necessary qualifications for the job,” Cohen said. “We are going to help TIFA identify the best people to do the best work.”

According to Wolfram, the Dawn theater first opened Sept. 5 1919.

“We had initially hoped we could open for the centennial, but that’s not going to happen,” Wolfram said. “I’m hoping we have significant progress in the construction by the end of 2019 so we can at least say we’ve opened.”

Wolfram said she is hoping the construction progress is far enough along by September 2019 to hold a hard hat tour where community members could walk through the partially renovated building.

Cohen said C.L. Real Estate is excited to be moving toward the construction phase of the Dawn Theater project.

“This is a really good sign we’re at this point in the project,” Cohen said. “This should be a really good sign for everybody in the community that the city is truly going to follow through with this to the best of their ability.”

TIFA is in the process of collecting bids for the Dawn Theater project. Collegian | Julia Mullins

January 17, 2019 A5

Men's Basketball The Hillsdale College Chargers huddle before a game earlier this season. s. nathaniel grime | collegian

Last-minute layup seals comeback win By | Calli Townsend assistant editor With 44 seconds left, Hillsdale called a quick timeout.

Once action resumed, Lowry came on the court and in about 20 seconds got the ball to Yarian, who made a layup to win the game.

The Hillsdale College Chargers edged out the Ohio Dominican University Panthers in a 67-65 victory on Saturday afternoon. While the Panthers may have outperformed Hillsdale in nearly every statistical category, the Chargers won where it mattered most: points scored.

Senior center Nick Czarnowski and senior guard Nate Neveau are back on the court and healthy, joined by sophomore forward Austen Yarian after the three missed several games at the beginning of the season. The trio combined for 28 points on Saturday.

“For the first time last week we had our full team. It’s great,” head coach John Tharp said. “There isn’t this drastic drop-off. We think we have eight or nine that could be socalled starters.”

The Panthers controlled

SATURDAY, JANUARY 12 | hillsdale, mi

FINAL

Ohio Dominican Panthers 65 Hillsdale Chargers 67 SATURDAY, JANUARY 19

| findlay, oh

1:00 P.M.

Hillsdale (11-5, 7-2) at #12 Findlay (14-2, 8-1) the first half and held their biggest lead of the game with five and a half minutes left.

The Chargers, however, didn’t back down from the 10-point deficit. By halftime, they cut Ohio Dominican’s lead to five.

“Tharp had to make some adjustments in the locker room. As a whole unit, we weren’t playing to our potential so we needed something to fire us up and get us on the same page,” senior guard Harrison Niego said. “We needed to come back with more intensity.”

Niego did just that. He set the tone of the second half with a three pointer that brought the Chargers within two, making the score 40-38.

From there, the Chargers played a consistent game of catch-up with the Panthers.

With 10 minutes to go, junior guard Dylan Lowry sank three free throws in a row to make the score 51-49 in favor

of the Panthers.

Then senior forward Gordon Behr had back-to-back stops on the defensive side of the floor. On the first, he drew a blocking foul and earned a trip to the free throw line, bringing the Chargers within just one point. On the next possession, Behr stole the ball and got it in the hands of Niego, who drained another three to give the Chargers their first lead of the game.

The Panthers contested Hillsdale’s lead with a layup to tie the game at 65, but Yarian’s last-minute layup gave the Chargers the win in the end.

“So many guys contributed in so many ways,” Niego said.

“A lot of guys contributed not only putting the ball in the basket, but also some different aspects of the game.”

Niego led in scoring with 19 points, while earning three steals and two assists. Behr led the way in blocks with

Women's Track and Field

five, along with five rebounds.

Sophomore forward Davis Larson added four rebounds, three steals and two assists.

The Chargers’ discipline was key in the victory. They capitalized well on Ohio Dominican’s 17 turnovers by scoring 14 points as a direct result, while only turning the ball over six times themselves.

Hillsdale also had a much deeper bench, with reserve players combining for 25 points to the Panthers’ four.

“Throughout the season, coaches have told us we have to take care of the ball,” LarG-MAC STANDINGS 1. 12 FINDLAY 2. HILLSDALE 3. WALSH 4. LAKE ERIE 5. OHIO DOMINICAN 6. CEDARVILLE 7. ALDERSON BROADDUS 8. KENTUCKY WESLEYAN 9. MALONE 10. DAVIS & ELKINS 11. TREVECCA NAZARENE 12. OHIO VALLEY 13. TIFFIN

son said. “We aren’t putting up 70 or 80 points a game, so we have to value each possession.”

Many of the teams in the G-MAC are what Niego called “run and gun teams” that focus their energy on fast break scoring opportunities.

Hillsdale, however, plays a slower-paced game that allows the team to set up and run an offense, wearing down the shot clock and the defense.

This not only leads to greater discipline with the ball, but also fewer shot opportunities.

As a result, the Chargers must focus on efficiency instead of G-MAC

8-1 7-2 6-3 5-3 5-3 5-3 4-3 4-3 4-5 1-6 1-6 1-7 1-7

OVERALL

14-2 11-5 11-6 10-6 9-6 8-8 7-7 6-7 9-7 4-10 1-11 5-8 5-11

speed.

“We’re more of five guys on the floor working and moving as one which wears teams down if we run good stuff,” Tharp said. “And we’re not giving them anything easy on the offensive end.”

The Chargers went 6-2 over the break, improving to 11-5 overall, and 7-2 in the conference. They now sit in second place in the conference standings.

The Chargers will be traveling to play conference rivals, the University of Findlay Oilers, on Saturday at 1 p.m.

The Oilers are in first place in the conference with an 8-1 G-MAC record. Their only loss is to Cedarville University, whom Hillsdale beat on Nov. 29. Tharp said he and his team will be focusing on the little things they can control to lead them to a victory.

“It’s a huge rivalry. For a while it wasn’t a rivalry because they dominated, but for the last six years they’ve been dog fights,” Tharp said.

“We’ve never won there, and they have a great record there, but I get caught up with what we have to do to win. We’re fighting to be in the hunt of things.”

Men's Track and Field

Johansson wins G-MAC Mid-distance runners award after Findlay Open shine at Findlay Open By | Scott Lowery collegian freelancer

Every meet is a new opportunity to improve and perform, and the Hillsdale College Chargers continue to capitalize. Following a 2018 G-MAC Indoor Championship and a strong performance at GVSU Holiday Open before winter break, the team demonstrated development at the Findlay Open.

After her freshman campaign was plagued by injury, sophomore Kajsa Johansson sprinted her way to G-MAC Women’s Track Athlete of the Week, finishing as the top collegiate sprinter in the 60 meter dash. After finishing with the fastest time in the preliminary heat, Johansson ran the final in 7.72 seconds, a time just two-hundredths of a second behind the school record.

Junior Abbie Porter added to the Chargers’ strong performance in the sprint events, winning the 400 meter dash with a time of 1:00.52.

As Hillsdale looks forward to a title defense this season, continuing development in the sprint events will supplement a more experienced core in the distance events, and could cement the Chargers as frontrunners in the G-MAC as the season progresses.

In the 3000 meter run, sophomore Christina Sawyer took the top spot with a time of 10:34.05, finishing ahead of the second-place runner by more than 18 seconds.

A concern entering the season was replacing graduates in the field events from last year, but freshman Nikita Maines showed promise, surpassing the NCAA Division II provisional mark in the shot put with a throw of 13.63

meters. That distance could put position her to qualify for the event at nationals. As the team continues through the indoor season, the coaching staff believes development will stem from putting a emphasis on personal excellence.

“Our main focus has been on each individual being their absolute best,” head coach Andrew Towne said. “If we can do that, each group is as good as they can be, and each team and the overall program is as good as they can be. It’s just a focus on excellence, going through the process, and being our best.”

The Chargers are home on Friday for the Conference Crossover, a meet that will draw stiff competition from other conferences, including the GLVC and GLIAC. FRIDAY, JANUARY 18

By | Scott Lowery collegian freelancer When the Hillsdale College Chargers arrived at the University of Findlay’s Malcolm Athletic Center for the Findlay Open, they came to compete with one goal in mind: to win as a team. This year, the Chargers face an improved G-MAC field with a young team, missing several graduates from the team that finished second at the G-MAC Indoor Championships last March. In spite of the obstacles, head coach Andrew Towne is confident in his team’s ability to find success.

“One of the reasons we’ve been able to have success is we’ve always, when we’ve been at our best, emphasized the

| hillsdale, mi

conference crossover

4:00 P.M.

individual within the team, and I think we’ve gotten back to that,” Towne said. “We’ve just made it a bigger emphasis.”

The Chargers certainly looked the part, leaving Findlay with a quality performance that demonstrated improvement, and showed the signs of a team that could once again compete for a conference title.

In the 3000 meter run, the Chargers took three of the top four spots, with freshman Mark Miller taking first, finishing the race in eight minutes and 49 seconds.

Sophomore Jack Shelley finished in second in 8:50, while junior Alex Oquist finished just a few seconds behind in fourth, ending with a time of 8:54. Sophomore Adam Wade rounded out the strong mid-distance performance with a victory in the 800 me-

ter run, finishing with a time of 2:00.52.

Three Chargers qualified for finals in the 60 meter hurdles. Freshman John Baldwin finished in fourth with a time of 8.70 seconds, junior Ian Brown just behind in fifth in 8.75 seconds, and sophomore Ryan Thomsen in seventh with a time of 8.88 seconds.

Freshman Jacob Schmidt showed potential in the 60 meter dash, finishing second in a close race with 6.99 seconds.

In the field events, Thomsen finished second in the long jump, landing at 6.7 meters.

The Chargers will compete in the Conference Crossover on Friday at Hillsdale’s Biermann Athletic Center.

The meet will feature strong competition from different conferences.

Sports

A6 January 17, 2019

Women's Basketball

www.hillsdalecollegian.com

Swimming

Second-half collapse results Hillsdale to host two home meets in disappointing defeat SATURDAY, JANUARY 12 | hillsdale, mi

By | S. Nathaniel Grime sports editor

Ohio Dominican Panthers 76 Hillsdale Chargers 65

The Hillsdale College Chargers couldn’t hold on to a nine-point halftime lead on Saturday in a 76-65 loss to the Ohio Dominican University Panthers. The defeat leaves Hillsdale at 8-8 on the season and 6-4 in a crowded G-MAC conference.

The Chargers led the Panthers at halftime, 38-29, after shooting 47 percent from the field in the first two quarters.

But Hillsdale shot just 8-for31 as a team in the final two quarters and was outscored by Ohio Dominican 47-27 in the second half.

“We kind of had some defensive slips, and then it led to trying super hard offensively and maybe we got a little rushed, and so both ends then got rushed,” head coach Matt Fritsche said. “I needed to help us be more structured and keep us more under control than what I did.”

The Panthers also hit some big shots in the fourth quarter, including five of their total 10 three-pointers.

“It kind of turned into their game,” senior forward Brittany Gray said. “We got a little relaxed and they crept back up on us and eventually hit some big shots. We kind of crumbled a little bit toward the end.”

The Chargers hit nine threes during the game, led

by Gray’s four and sophomore guard Jaycie Burger’s three.

Gray led Hillsdale with 18 points total, while Burger led the team with seven rebounds.

The Chargers, who are second in the G-MAC in total rebounding and out-rebound opponents by an average of 5.5 rebounds per game, were out-rebounded by the Panthers, 39-35. Since Hillsdale shot just 26 percent from the floor in the second half, losing the rebounding battle was critical in allowing

| findlay, oh

Hillsdale (8-8, 6-4) at Findlay (11-4, 7-3) SATURDAY, JANUARY 19

the Panthers to turn a ninepoint halftime deficit into an 11-point victory.

“Sometimes shots will fall, sometimes they won’t,” Gray said. “We’ve gotta learn to play other aspects of the game if shots aren’t necessarily falling.”

Aside from crashing the glass for rebounds, Burger said communication and mutual trust on defense would be key to preventing opponents from putting together scoring runs in the future.

“Right now, everyone on the team is such a great player that we’re trusting ourselves to do things well, but I’d like to see us trusting everyone around us,” Burger said.

Senior forward Makenna Ott scored 16 points and leads the team in total scoring and shooting percentage this season. Ott has started in all 16 games this season and has scored fewer than 12 points in only four of them.

G-MAC STANDINGS 1. CEDARVILLE 2. KENTUCKY WESLEYAN 3. WALSH 4. FINDLAY 5. OHIO DOMINICAN 6. HILLSDALE 7. LAKE ERIE 8. TREVECCA NAZARENE 9. URSULINE 10. MALONE 11. DAVIS & ELKINS 12. ALDERSON BROADDUS 13. TIFFIN 14. OHIO VALLEY

Scoreboard

MEN'S BASKETBALL january 12 Ohio Dominican Hillsdale Harrison Niego Austen Yarian Davis Larson Nate Neveau

1 40 35 pts fgm-a 19 7-12 11 5-8 10 5-12 10 3-5

WOMEN'S BASKETBALL january 12 Ohio Dominican Hillsdale Brittany Gray Makenna Ott Jaycie Burger Allie Dewire

1 17 21 pts 18 16 9 8

FINAL

2 12 17 fgm-a 7-13 7-14 3-8 3-14

2 25 32 3pm-a 5-9 1-4 0-2 3-5

final 65 67 reb ast 4 2 4 2 5 2 4 3

3 19 12 3pm-a 4-8 1-2 3-7 0-2

4 28 15 reb 5 6 7 4

WOMEN'S TRACK AND FIELD january 12: findlay open 400m dash 1. Abbie Porter 60m dash 1. Kajsa Johansson 3000m run 1. Christina Sawyer 4 x 400m relay 2. Botha/Porter/Boehm/O'Leary 1 mile run 3. Amber Mango shot put 4. Nikita Maines 5. Emma Shea 800m run 3. Calli Townsend

time 1:00.52 time 7.72 time 10:34.05 time 4:04.45 time 5:27.58 distance 13.63m 11.01m time 2:20.63

MEN'S TRACK AND FIELD january 12: findlay open 800m run 1. Adam Wade 3000m run 1. Mark Miller 2. Jack Shelley 4. Alex Oquist 60m dash 2. Jacob Schmidt pole vault t2. Ben Raffin long jump 2. Ryan Thomsen 60m hurdles 4. John Baldwin 5. Ian Brown 4 x 400m relay 3. Wade/Thomsen/Baldwin/Schmidt

time 2:00.52 time 8:48.98 8:50.86 8:54.58 time 6.99 distance 4.58m distance 6.70m time 8.70 8.75 time 3:30.85

final 76 65 ast 2 3 2 8

11:00 A.M.

Senior guard Allie Dewire added eight points and eight assists. Dewire leads the team with 13.2 points per game this season. She scored her 1,000th career point at Hillsdale on her birthday, Jan. 10, in a win against Ohio Valley University.

In addition to Ott and Dewire, Gray also averages more than 12 points per game.

Hillsdale is the only team in the G-MAC with three players who average that many points each game.

“Our team is so diverse that everybody kind of has their peaks,” Gray said. “Someone will have a good game one night, and another game another person will. Anybody can have a good game any night.”

Freshman forward Anna LoMonaco, who missed the team’s first 12 games because of a foot injury, scored a season-high seven points off the bench in 14 minutes. She also G-MAC

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OVERALL

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grabbed five rebounds.

Fritsche said LoMonaco has strong potential to become a solid forward at the four position as the season and her career progresses, but for now she will be seeing action on the the floor as a center at the five position.

Since beginning the season 1-5, Hillsdale is 7-3 in its last 10 games. Last season, the Chargers went 9-7 in their first 16 games and finished the season 10-4 in their final 14 games.

“I think we have that potential,” Fritsche said of his team’s ability to repeat the second-half success of last season. “I’m cautiously optimistic that we’ll do it, but I also know that last year to get to that place we had to put in a lot of work.”

Hillsdale sits in sixth place in the G-MAC standings, but only two and a half games behind first-place Cedarville University. With 12 games remaining in the regular season — all against G-MAC opponents — the Chargers still have plenty of time to better position themselves for the G-MAC tournament in March.

On Saturday, the Chargers travel to the University of Findlay for an 11:00 a.m. matchup. The Oilers are 11-4 and 7-3 in the conference this season, so a victory for Hillsdale would be a step in the right direction in the battle to the top of the G-MAC. The Chargers lost on the road to Findlay last season, 81-55, but also beat the Oilers twice, once at home and once at a neutral site in the G-MAC tournament. This is Hillsdale’s first game against Findlay this season.

“The goal is to knock off those teams that are ahead of us,” Burger said. “I think we’re going to be very prepared because we have all week to prepare for Findlay, and that’s going to be beneficial.”

this weekend By | Danielle Lee collegian reporter

The Hillsdale College Chargers will be hosting Indiana Wesleyan University in a dual meet on Friday, and Ashland University and Saginaw Valley State University in a tri-meet on Saturday.

After bringing back a couple of wins and achieving lifetime best times from the Calvin Invite in December, the swimmers are proud to see their hard work pull through and are ready to compete again in the upcoming meets.

Sophomore Katherine Heeres said she is looking forward to racing again after having a month off.

“I’m excited to see how the team races after some hard training over the break,” Heeres said. “I think that we all just want to see where we’re at and hope to find some clarity in what events we should swim at G-MACs.” Heeres said she and the Chargers who went to the Calvin Invite last December managed to clock a few season-best times, many of which were close to personal best times. Heeres made a new record in the 100 backstroke in 57.63. Beating her own school record, Heeres said she is excited to see how she and her teammates can better these times at the G-MACs. She expects the team to swim well against the competition this weekend.

“This season I’ve been focusing on my backstroke starts and it was pretty exciting to see how that

improvement helped me drop time,” Heeres said.

“That being said, I am looking forward to seeing what everyone can do at our next dual meets and conference meet this semester.”

Junior Catherine Voisin said she is looking forward to competing against tough opponents since they will challenge the Chargers to compete to their full potential. At the Calvin Invite, Voisin placed first in the 200 butterfly in 2:06.8, ninth in the 100 butterfly in 57.62, and 20th in the 200 IM in 2:17.04. Voisin said she missed having the rest of her team there and is excited to compete with all of them in the upcoming meets.

“The biggest challenge of the Calvin meet was the fact that we could only bring a small number of girls,” Voisin said. “Their support is very important to me and I always appreciate it.”

Looking ahead into future meets, head coach Kurt Kirner said the team is currently building off the training they did in Key West from winter break.

Kirner said it’s all about the dual meets for securing solid race plans and mechanics in preparing for the G-MAC Championship meet in four weeks.

“We need to get the swimmers who were injured back up to par and those who have been engaged all season to build their race mindset around what they need to perfect and what pieces still need to be put in place,” Kirner said. “Championships get lifetime best performances.”

| hillsdale, mi Indiana Wesleyan vs. Hillsdale SATURDAY, JANUARY 19 | hillsdale, mi FRIDAY, JANUARY 18

6:00 P.M. 1:00 P.M.

Saginaw Valley State and Ashland vs. Hillsdale

charger chatter: Katherine Heeres Katherine Heeres is a sophomore from Zeeland, Michigan. She is studying biologyat Hillsdale and competes in the backstroke on the swimming team.

Heeres was named G-MAC Freshman of the Year in 2018 and holds the Hillsdale school records in the 100 backstroke and the 200 backstroke.

Q: What's the biggest lesson swimming has taught you?

KH: Probably hard work. I’m definitely not the most naturally talented swimmer, but my parents taught me to have a really good work ethic and swimming built on that. Getting into the pool every day even when you don’t want to, working hard, and coming out of it feeling so much better than when you got in is such a good life lesson. I think that’s something that’s carried over into school, such as when I really don’t want to do the reading for a class but I know I need to get it done because it’ll feel so much better to have it out of the way. I’ve also found that I’ve built the strongest and most rewarding relationships around swimming. You’re going through really hard stuff together and you have to motivate each other and keep the morale up. That’s something that builds great friendships.

Swimming has been valuable to me for so much more than just for the athletics.

Q: What drew you to Hillsdale?

KH: I think we started getting mail from Hillsdale and hearing about it from really random places at about the same time that my current Hillsdale coach contacted me. I visited once in the fall and wasn’t super in love with it, but then I visited again in the spring and liked it a lot more. I had a really hard time deciding where to go to college until one day I was driving home from practice and it hit me that I was going to go to Hillsdale.

I was like, “Ok, this is totally God. Thank you for telling me where to go.” Hillsdale has been so great and I’ve been so blessed by it, especially because I’m someone who completely embraces the liberal arts. I love history and English and science and swimming. It’s the perfect balance of all those things because I get a little taste of everything. I love it here.

hillsdale athletics | courtesy

Q: Is swimming something you've always wanted to do?

KH: My parents definitely didn’t push me into it but they saw that it was good for me and that I liked it so they encouraged me to keep pursuing it. My grandparents had a pool so when we’d come visit them in Michigan when I was growing up, I would always be in the water.

As long as we lived in Wisconsin, though, I never really did anything serious with swimming. Actually, I was into ballet. But after we moved to Michigan, I couldn’t really find my niche. I tried soccer and I tried machine pitch softball, which I was terrible at. Then I got into swimming. I liked it because it was something I could work really hard at and just have fun with. It didn’t necessarily come naturally but it was something I really enjoyed.

---------Compiled by Madeline Peltzer

www.hillsdalecollegian.com

January 17, 2019 A7

Culture

Cyclamen, the Israeli national flower, thrives in harsh conditions. | Heidi Yacoubian

Living like a cyclamen flower:What Israel taught me about resilience By | Christa LaVoie Collegian Freelancer I didn’t expect to see my boyfriend on one knee by the Sea of Galilee, where Christ once walked on the water, calmed the storms, and filled Peter’s nets full of fish — but my engagement was not the biggest shock of my ten-day journey in Israel this month.

When I first applied to Passages, the tour of Israel hosted by The Philos Project, I had a rather shallow mental picture of Israel consisting wholly of sand dunes and camels, and a distorted, Westernized view of the political situation. Yet, last summer, after I visited a concentration camp and six Holocaust museums across Germany, I desired to understand the history of Israel and, more specifically, the Jewish people.

Especially as a German citizen, I felt as if I owed it to the Jewish culture to visit Israel and express my honor to this tiny country whose people endured such horrific hardship at the hands of the people of my heritage.

On Sabbath, I shared my intentions of coming to Israel

to experience a true Shabbat dinner with the Jewish family who was hosting me and several other students at the time. With tears in her eyes, the grandmother of the Jewish family shook my hand, thanking me for my words and the honor I had shown by coming to Israel. At this moment, the extent of the pain the nation of Israel has, and still endures, struck me afresh.

This was not the only reminder we received of the intense realities Israeli citizens face. The population of Israel, which is the size of New Jersey, is more than 75 percent ethnically Jewish. But the global Jewish population makes up only 0.02 percent of the world religions.

Israeli citizens learn to toughen up at a young age.

Because of Israel’s small size and hostile borders — such as Lebanon, Syria, the Gaza strip, and the West Bank — military participation is mandatory.

Over the course of the short trip, it became normal to see groups of 18- to 21-year-old men and women walking around with military-grade rifles.

Perhaps the most chilling

site our group visited, however, was the small Kibbutz near the town Sderot, otherwise known as the “bomb shelter capital of the world.” This small town was less than a mile away from the Gaza strip where Hamas-led Palestinians launch missiles as often as ten times a week into the Kibbutz. The people living there have a maximum of ten seconds to run for a bomb shelter after hearing the “Red Alert” warning siren. Only six weeks ago, 370 missiles were launched into Israel in a span of 36 hours, by Hamas on the Gaza strip. One resident of the Kibbutz said that creative terrorists soak tampons or condoms in gasoline, attach them to a long string and a balloon, and send it into Israel to burn the houses and crops.

The most disturbing Hamas tactic was to send colorful "Up"-style balloons into Israel, with bombs attached to them. Launched by Palestinian children so that the Israeli soldiers would not shoot them, the balloons targeted young and curious Israeli children, so that as soon as the balloon is discovered and tugged at, the bomb explodes.

It sent chills down my spine to walk past the Kibbutz’s bomb-sheltered kindergarten schoolhouse and see the little children’s rain boots, lined up perfectly at the door, knowing the chaos those young children continue to live with.

Despite these horrors, I was comforted and encouraged by a small pink flower which grows across Israel.

Cyclamen, the Israeli national flower, is known to thrive in harsh conditions, and stands as a symbol of the Israeli people.

Israel has long endured these harsh conditions. Yet, time after time, the people continue to persevere, and hold true to their ethnicity and religion. Despite the pain of the Holocaust, anti-Semitism, or the bombs that threaten the people of Israel today, the Israeli people stand their ground. My ten days in Israel brought perspective to my life, as now I am inspired to live my life like a cyclamen — thriving under harsh conditions.

Junior Christa LaVoie with senior Alexander Green, her fiance, at the Sea of Galilee | Christa LaVoie

Great Cookbooks: Cooking, life lessons from Julia Child By | Carmel Kookogey Culture Editor For Christmas this year, I asked for “Mastering the Art of French Cooking,” by Julia Child, Louisette Bertholle, and Simone Beck, a cookbook published in 1961. I couldn’t wait to crack that famous tealand-white cover and try my hand at a sauce chantilly or a coq au vin.

As I pulled back the boxlid on Christmas morning and started ooh-ing and ahh-ing as I thumbed through the pages, my dad asked, “Is that really the one you wanted?”

My parents were surprised that I would ask for Julia Child. Child was that French-cooking American woman from their childhood, the one they watched through the screen of old box television, who issued firm directives about the importance of courage in the kitchen in her distinct, uppity voice, and named a family of raw chickens before cooking them.

She was stuffy and weird when compared with the Gwyneth Paltrows, the Ina Gartens, and the Bobby Flays of modern food. On her television show The French Chef (1963-73), Child was known to throw out her own food if it did not turn out as desired, or cast the food as characters in a story she told while cooking, as in “Goldilocks and the Three Brioches.”

And it’s true, Child was no classy French woman in her demeanor, as anyone can tell you who has watched Meryl Streep play Child, squeaking with Stanley Tucci about butter in the 2009 film “Julie & Julia.” She was an American who once asserted “every woman should have a blowtorch” and who wanted to bring the French cuisine she loved to eat to the women back at home.

In a way, Child’s approach to cooking was the liberal-arts approach to education: You have to prove you’ve learned the rules before you can go

"Mastering the Art of French Coking" by Julia Child.

Collegian | Carmel Kookogey

and break them with artistic license. And she is strict about getting the rules right.

Child’s cookbook has become a classic and earned its recognition. She brought the ethos of French cooking to the American housewife, with traditional French emphasis on perfecting basics, and finding not only the best but also the simplest ingredients.

“How can a nation be called great if its bread tastes like Kleenex?” Child once said. She loved creating rich yet simple food.

In mastering the art of French cooking herself, Child evokes in her readers a desire to do the same: to take something as basic as a chicken and make it mouthwatering in its own right, without needing to add exotic spices or shocking flavor combinations — not because rich flavors are the mark of a poor cook, but because understatement is the mark of French cooking. It’s an art that has become especially relevant in modern “more is more”

culture, suggesting instead a spirit of restraint (except, of course, with butter).

I love that modern technology has enabled me to attempt mastery of Indian, Asian, and Mediterranean cuisine, all in my own kitchen.

I love that we have the option of filling our mouths with spices and flavors that earlier generations of Americans could not easily access. I love cooking with robust flavors.

But there is something to be said for Child’s emphasis on the basics.

“You don't have to cook fancy or complicated masterpieces — just good food from fresh ingredients,” Child wrote.

Most of her recipes use only a handful of ingredients.

Her instructions are ruthlessly detailed. The result, a beautiful poulet rôti à la Normande, cooked in oodles of butter, that is as delicious as it is simple.

‘In their own words’: WWI documentary breathes life into old footage By | Nolan Ryan News Editor "They Shall Not Grow Old" opens with black and white reels of young, British soldiers heading off to war, overlain with upbeat whistling and audio interviews of World War I veterans. Slowly, unbelievably, the footage expands and transforms into an immersive world of colorized film.

The audience is transported into the daily life of a British infantryman in the trenches of France.

As modern Americans looking at the world wars of the 20th Century, we’re more familiar with World War II. It’s closer to our own time, and many of us have relatives who fought in it or, at least relatives who were old enough to remember it. We tend to be less aware, however, of

the Great War: It tends to be eclipsed by the Allies’ struggle against the threat of the Third Reich.

The aim of Peter Jackson’s passion project, “They Shall Not Grow Old” is to address this lack of understanding regarding World War I. The film pulls the audience into the era of conflict between the European powers of the 1910s.

Jackson, whose grandfather fought in the war, has created a revolutionary documentary which fuses original footage of the war with cutting-edge technology.

Jackson’s team cleaned up the old footage — which, by this point, were damaged copies of copies — and painstakingly colored each detail of every frame used in the documentary. He also brought in sound technicians to record

background sound effects which match the footage. If this wasn’t amazing in its own right, he also used professional lip-readers and voice actors to identify and record the words of soldiers in the scenes, words which were hereto unknown.

In this first-ofits-kind film, Jackson allows the audience to actually hear

and see the stories of British soldiers in their own words.

No longer are these black and white young men silent — they speak directly to us, urging us to understand what exactly happened in those trenches.

“They Shall Not Grow Old” is truly eye-opening, but it requires us to see the utter horrors these men faced.

Jackson presents the audience with the harsh realities of liter-

“They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old:/ Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn./At the going down of the sun and in the morning/We will remember them.”

ally living in the dirt of the trenches: The men put up with terrible conditions which they describe for the viewer, conditions that can be difficult for modern viewers to fully grasp.

But the hardest scenes to watch are not the ones with live footage; cameramen didn’t capture video footage of the charges over “no-man’s land,” but the still images of the aftermath are gut-wrenching, nonetheless.

In a brilliant yet tragic scene, Jackson alternates between close-up photos of the soldiers before battles, only to suddenly cut to full-color images of mutilated corpses, lying in the desolate wasteland that was war-torn France.

We see footage of soldiers as they wait to rush over a hill to charge the German front lines. Paired with the added

voices, we not only see but feel the humanity of that moment — the faces, the eyes of these young men betray their realization that they are moments from running headlong into a hell on earth.

“They Shall Not Grow Old” carries the modern audience back into a different time, and almost a different world. The men who forsook the comforts of home say they were simply upholding the duty they owed to their nation. It’s important that we don’t forget the price they paid, as we read in the words of poet Laurence Binyon: “They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old:/Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn./At the going down of the sun and in the morning/We will remember them.”

A8 January 17, 2019

‘Sometimes music replaces words’ Student, Air Force vet writes songs that tell his story By | Carmel Kookogey Culture Editor Freshman Johnny Cole Murdock grew up listening to country music, but really fell in love with guitar the first time he heard the California-based heavy metal band Metallica.

“I didn’t know you could play guitar like that,” Murdock said. “At that point, I wanted to play.”

Murdock taught himself guitar in approximately three months, though he described his skill with the instrument as a “continual learning process.” He continued to play after high school, in between 16-hour shifts as a maintenance team chief of intercontinental ballistic missiles with the United States Air Force.

In his time off, he would play at local venues near base, including a small bar called The Poorhouse and an Irish-style pub called Ebeneezer’s.

“I was always working,” Murdock said. “But occasionally, the stars would align, and I would be able to play somewhere, and it was really enjoyable. I loved it.”

After six years in the Air Force, Murdock came to Hillsdale College in the fall of 2018. He originally planned to study chemistry, but his passion for songwriting and performing led him to add a music major as well. In addition to his studies, Murdock makes time to rock out at local venues at least twice a month, playing an eclectic mix of classic country music and metallica, which his

friends called “Texas country porch, and I said, ‘I’m going rock ‘n’ roll.” to go make that house banana “When he’s up on stage, bread.’ I guess my banana he does the job of a couple bread was good enough that guys,” senior Corinne Prost they came over later to introdescribed. “He’s very talented duce themselves.” with his guitar.”

Murdock explained that he Murdock named Lynryd had not heard of Hillsdale unSkynyrd, Merle Haggard, til about a year before he arJohnny Cash, and Waylon Jen- rived, and originally planned nings as some of his biggest to go to school in Texas after Johnny Cole Murdock performs for many local audiences. Jennifer Sopp | Courtesy influences but said his love of leaving the military, to be music started before he heard close to his home. Hillsdale’s trying to impose and indocbe a little bit better.” favorite things about him. the greats. mission statement, however, trinate people into certain As a result, despite having I’ve never seen it not make “I think like a lot of people, changed that plan. beliefs, it’s just teaching people left the military, Murdock still someone laugh. A good cup of singing in church was a start“Reading the thing about to think for themselves.” pursues physically challenging coffee in his hands? ‘I deserve ing point, as a kid, growing teaching citizens for self-govFor Murdock, what’s most hobbies, including kickboxing this.’” up. It’s always been there,” ernment really struck a chord important is making sure he and martial arts. Sophomore But it’s songwriting that Murdock explained. with me,” Murdock said. “So doesn’t limit himself.

Cassie Moran said she got to Murdock pours the most enIn an effort to get plugged I started looking into what “I want to push myself to know Murdock because they ergy into, and he said his goal into the local music scene, Hillsdale is about, and to do something more,” he said. went to the gym together. is to tell “real stories,” the ones Murdock has played at Pub me it seemed like a real light “At least for me personally, “Some people worked out that speak to him. ‘n’ Grub and the with us at times, but “Recently, I wrote a really Hillsdale Brewing they didn’t want to good song that talks about Company on mulwork out as much my life. It talks about having tiple occasions, as as we did,” Moran struggles in life, but all of well as Rough Draft. said, laughing. those struggles lead you to In December, he Prost said Mursomeone that you love, and had already begun dock, despite his brought you together, which booking dates for focus and discimade it worth it in the end. the spring semespline, doesn’t shy I think those are the more ter, including some from enjoying the happy songs to sing, the ones venues outside of good things in life, about love, because at the Hillsdale, to broaden and is “surprisingly end of the day, love is what his reach. light-hearted.” matters. Everything else will His music also “Any time he has pass away, but love is forever,” reached across the something good he said. street to Prost’s in front of him, Prost described Murdock’s house, which was whether it’s a movie, songs as a reflection of himhow they met each or a donut — anyself, and as a result, they are other. thing, really — he’ll “a gift to himself and a gift to “He had such a just look at it and others.” unique voice that I say, ‘You know “He tells me his music rethought, ‘I want to what? I deserve ally reflects some of the things go introduce myself this,’” Prost said. that are hard to talk about,” to the neighbors, Murdock served in the Air Force prior to coming to Hillsdale. Anna Long | Courtesy “It’s both Prost said. “Sometimes music and especially the funny, replaces words.” person that’s singing,’” any time I’m comfortable, it and it’s also kind of sweet, just Prost said. “I looked at my shining in the darkness. While makes me uncomfortable. I because it’s such a positive friends, we were sitting on my a lot of college campuses are always want to push myself to thing to say. That’s one of my

In Poitiers, France, alumna teaches English, learns the ‘art of living’ in France served as the ideal transition for Theobald from undergraduate to graduate school.

“I think it is a great opportunity to have a year abroad before you start working, have a full-time job, or even a family,” Theobald said. “It is an opportune time, and a good transition between college and starting a career.”

After assisting 20 students in applying for the program during her eight years as a professor, Theobald knew Garner would be a perfect fit.

“She was a model student,” Theobald said. “I was so excited she decided to do the program and was placed in Poitiers, because it’s an ideal location — small city, but not too big.”

Although TAPIF was an exciting and ideal opportunity for Garner, she didn’t know she was accepted to the program until April of last year.

“This was her dream, but extremely unexpected,” junior and fellow member of Kappa Kappa Gamma sorority, Katie Dimmer, said. “Up until April, this was not her plan.”

Knowing she wanted to pursue teaching since an early age, Garner said she finds fulfillment in her work, with some days being enjoyable and other days being exhausting or overwhelming.

“Teaching is an adventure,” Garner said. “I love seeing the joy in my students’ eyes when they remember a vocabulary word or have an epiphany. I also enjoy having freedom to be creative with my lessons.”

Garner said she sees many differences between the American and French educational systems, namely, the emphasis on the importance

Elizabeth Garner ’18 is currently teaching English in France. Elizabeth Garner | Courtesy

By | Isabella Redjai Assistant Editor Along the Clain river in France lies a small town by the name of Poitiers, where Elizabeth Garner ’18 has been residing and teaching English to elementary students since late September.

Encouraged by French professors Marie-Claire Morellec, Sherri Rose, and Anne Theobald during her studies, Garner discovered a French embassy program called Teaching Assistant Program in France (TAPIF), which encourages cultural exchanges for students in France. The program allows her to work as an English teaching assistant in three elementary schools in Poitiers, working with a total of 19 classes with students ranging from ages 4 to 11.

“Dr. Theobald first told me about the opportunity with TAPIF,” Garner said. “I was sitting in her office in the fall of my junior year. I’d just studied abroad in Tours, France that summer, and I longed to return to France, though the idea seemed highly unlikely.”

Theobald said she herself completed the program in 2003 and was in a high school in Tonnerre, France.

“It was a boarding school where students came from tiny villages and would often stay during the week then leave on the weekends.”

Theobald said she was encouraged by her French professor in college to apply to TAPIF. Spending the time

of intercultural exchange in French education.

“France hires thousands of assistants from across the world to teach their native languages in French schools,” Garner said. “Most American schools don’t offer foreign languages until high school, or perhaps a bit in junior high. In France, I’m teaching English to 4-year-olds. And with my 11-year-olds, we’re watching real weather forecasts from American news channels.”

When not teaching, Garner enjoys having the time to do things she has not been able to do for around 10 years.

“I’ve been traveling solo, reading for enjoyment rather than for school, visiting friends, painting, dabbling in photography, trying to improve my French with locals, and simply loving life,” Garner said. “I’ve joined a university club, Groupe Biblique Universitaire (equivalent to InterVarsity in the U.S.). As the only non-native speaker in the room, it’s challenging to study scripture and try to express spiritual thoughts in French.”

In general, Garner said, the lifestyle in France is very different from that of America — what she likes to refer to as “art de vivre,” which translates to “art of living.” The phrase refers to the slower-paced and quiet life of the French, versus the “hurried” American lifestyle.

“Time is not rushed,” Garner said. “Everything — from cities, to architecture, to parks, and to pastries — appears carefully crafted with an intent to be beautiful.”

While living in France, Garner appreciates the beauty of the country and the new life it offers her.

“Simply walking down the street in France is a literal and visual breath of fresh air,” she said. “I find the tiny cobblestone streets so charming. I love how the towns are built for walking rather than driving. I also love the smell of fresh baked bread and patisseries when I’m on my way to work. There’s just nothing like it.”

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