3.9.17 Hillsdale Collegian by The Hillsdale Collegian

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Vol. 140 Issue 21 - 9 March 2017

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Change in research stipends

Murphy wins Everett oratory competition

Grace DeSandro | Collegian

College reduces research stipends to save money By | Kristiana Mork Collegian Reporter Hillsdale College’s science departments reduced stipends for six-week summer research this year by $400-$1,000 for faculty and students. Stipends dropped from $2,500 per researcher to $2,100 for each faculty member; $1,800 for every participant in the Laboratory for Advanced Undergraduate Research Education Adapted for Talented and Extraordinary Students, or LAUREATES, Program; and $1,000 for other students. The decrease comes as a result of the departments not receiving funds from the college’s general budget, said Christopher VanOrman, dean of the nat-

ural sciences and professor of chemistry. The stipends come from interest on the college’s endowment, which totals $87,000, VanOrman said. For the past few years, however, the sciences have received up to $63,000 from the general budget to use toward stipends, he said. This year, that expense was cut from the budget to save money, VanOrman said. “Everyone always wants more money, but we’ll make the cuts work,” said Lee Baron, natural sciences chairwoman and professor of chemistry, “We are very thankful for the funding we have.” VanOrman credited President Larry Arnn and John Cer-

Sophomore Andres Torres and freshman Jordan Monnin synthesize derivatives for unknown identification. Madeline Barry | Collegian

vini, vice president for institutional advancement, for raising most of the money for scientific research. “They’ve raised enough money that the interest from the endowment every year is $87,000,” VanOrman said. “That’s well over a million raised, and we’re just working with the interest from that.” But some students said the smaller stipend may put a financial strain on those who need to make money during the summer. “Research is basically your job,” senior biochemistry major Gabriela Wong said. “It’s hard to spend six weeks researching and then go home to try to find a job for another six weeks before school starts.” Plus, the rural Hillsdale community lacks many supplementary jobs students can do while at the college for their research, she said. Before the LAUREATES Program, however, students would camp on their friends’ couches to do summer research at Hillsdale, Baron said. Now, students are fortunate to receive any stipend, she said. Senior biochemistry major Emily Nelsen performed her research at Aurora St. Luke’s Medical Center in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. She said the decrease in stipend could get

Citgo gas station closes Broad Street Downtown Market and Tavern’s previous owner recently closed the doors to another business, resulting in 14 employees losing their jobs. A6

Hillsdale students to look for ways to fulfill their research requirement off campus. “Sometimes students get too complacent,” Nelson said. “It’s easy to say, ‘Oh, I’ve had this professor, I’ll just stay here and do my research with them, too.’ Hopefully, the funding cuts will encourage students to look for opportunities outside of Hillsdale.” Whether studying chemistry, biology, biochemistry, physics, or psychology, every Hillsdale College science major must complete a summer research project to graduate. “Research is a big part of your science education,” VanOrman said. “Wherever you are looking, you should go to a program that is going to have you do some research projects.” Hillsdale’s LAUREATES Program gives 20 students based on their class and GPA each year the opportunity to do a six-week, one-on-one research project with a Hillsdale faculty member and a stipend. Students typically present their research proposals in the fall of their junior year, conduct research during the following summer, and present their results during the fall of their senior year. The research Hillsdale students do helps them get into

By | Emily Blatter Collegian Reporter Sophomore Ryan Kelly Murphy won the 2017 Edward Everett Prize in Oratory and $3,000 for her speech about judicial review Tuesday. Freshman Michelle Reid won second place and $2,000, and freshman Joel Meng took third, winning $1,000. “The most important thing in discerning a winner is who argued most convincingly and had the most evidence, because it’s the historical content, it’s the evidence, that wins us over in the end,” said Don Tocco, a friend of Hillsdale College and an Everett oratory competition judge. “But even with the evidence, you have to have the personal conviction, the enthusiasm, the passion, the energy on the stage to drive that into the audience.” Murphy, Reid, and Meng were among five finalists selected to compete in Tuesday’s last round of competition, along with sophomore Joshua Hoover and junior Kyle Huitt. Roughly 70 people attended to hear the contestants discuss the topic “Is the Supreme Court the final arbiter of the Constitution?” “I want to present what I have to say to the best of my ability with the most articulation, while being persuasive,” Murphy said. “It’s just a whirlwind when you’re up there. You kind of zone everything out, even the audience, and you’re just focused on getting your message out in a powerful way.” Murphy argued that constitutional interpretation is the role of the people and the states rather than the Supreme Court. “The Supreme Court is not the ultimate arbiter of the Constitution,” Murphy said in her speech. “The idea of it as ultimate arbiter actually conflicts with the idea of our government as a democratic republic.” Reid argued that the Supreme Court is the Constitution’s just and rightful arbiter, citing Alexis de Tocqueville and others. She said the Supreme Court defends the rights of the citizens, protecting them from laws that violate their rights. “I didn’t really have expectations going in,” Reid said about participating in the competition. “It went by so fast. It was a lot less intimidating doing it than I thought it would be.”

Sophomore Ryan Kelly Murphy won the 2017 Edward Everett Prize in Oratory Tuesday, for her speech on judicial review. Matthew Kendrick | Collegian

Meng also argued that the Supreme Court is the most effective way to arbitrate the Constitution, citing research showing that most Supreme Court rulings are unanimous and that disapproval of the court fluctuates widely in both parties. “For all its flaws, the Supreme Court remains the best way to arbitrate the Constitution,” Meng said. “If you want to know what Americans think of the Supreme Court, it depends when, not who, you ask…People aren’t really paying attention to the quality of legal rulings. They care about whether the court went their way.” Meng said he was well aware of the audience during his presentation. He said he had special concern about one judge’s opinion — President Larry

See Everett A3

See Research A2

Enactus’ ChargerX ride-sharing app drives forward in development By | Jo Kroeker Opinions Editor After running into some roadblocks in app development, Enactus members said they plan to launch their ride-sharing service app, now named ChargerX, in midApril. Senior Tucker Phillips, co-president of the entrepreneurship club, said finding an app developer fluent in English and charging reasonable prices delayed the group’s plans. American app developers were too expensive, and overseas developers didn’t always speak English fluently enough, Phillips said. Eventually, the group found an overseas developer meeting all the requirements and able to code the app within 40 days. Despite the obstacles with app development, the club has

developed a price model and is moving forward with the app’s design. The cost to travel within Hillsdale will be $3.50 for the first rider and that price per person will decrease with every additional passenger. With four passengers, each person would pay less than $2, Phillips said. He, however, discouraged having only one rider, especially for longer trips like to the Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport in Romulus, Michigan. Under Enactus’ price model, a rider in a full car would pay around $17 to go to the airport — which is cheaper than the college shuttle, which charges $60. Phillips said the goal is that the Hillsdale Ride Board will be unnecessary once Enactus launches the app. Drivers will be able to register within minutes using the

app by providing their name, social security number, and photos of their proof of insurance. Drivers can connect the app to Venmo and CashApp accounts or set up direct deposit, and riders can schedule future rides and send messages. Enactus has also had to address faculty concerns regarding insurance. Starting March 21, people who drive for ride-sharing services like Uber and Lyft in Michigan have to pay a monthly premium on their car, after the state passed comprehensive legislation on insurance regulations for limousines, taxis, and ride-sharing services in December. Phillips said insurance will be the drivers’ responsibility, recommending the optional personal injury protection, which protects the driver, in addition to the required personal property protection,

which protects the rider. The group has also commissioned junior Zane Miller to design the app icon. He is using blue and orange, the app’s theme colors, and the “X” in the app’s name, which is short for “Express.” Miller, who has experience in graphic design, said he was excited to expand his professional portfolio while on campus. Phillips said Enactus has an aesthetic shell — just the interface — designed for presentation for the upcoming March 27 competition against other Enactus clubs. Phillips and his clubmates are handling the app and the legal questions of the project with the help of faculty and advisers, he said. “It might sound like we’re stagnant,” Phillips said, “but we’re clipping along.”

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Ultimate Lawn Care and Tree Service workers finish the job that nature started Wednesday, after wind gusts up to 60 mph took down the top of a tree in front of the Chi Omega sorority house. Breana Noble | Collegian Look for The Hillsdale Collegian

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In brief:

Graffiti found in Grewcock restroom

Chi Omega flips a profit for charity

By | Breana Noble and Emily Blatter News Editor and Collegian Reporter

By | Tim Pearce Assistant Editor

At its annual “ChiHop” pancake breakfast fundraiser Saturday, Hillsdale College’s Chi Omega sorority served more than 200 people, raising $1,450 for charity through ticket sales and donations. The $1,450 is only part of the $6,000 Chi Omega hopes to raise this year, Chi Omega Philanthropy Chair sophomore Claire Gwilt said. According to Jennifer Cleary, development coordinator for Michigan’s Make-A-Wish branch, the funds will cover more than half of the $10,000 needed to grant one wish for a child. The sisters of Chi Omega commit themselves to community, campus involvement, and service to others, values that have inspired them to partner with Make-A-Wish Michigan for the last 15 years, Gwilt said. Through fundraisers like the pancake breakfast, Chi Omega has financed the dreams of children like 17-year-old Skylann, a Michigan high schooler suffering from Budd-Chiari Syndrome, a possibly life-threatening disease that narrows and blocks veins in the liver. Make-A-Wish shared Skylann’s story with Hillsdale’s chapter of Chi Omega to show who the sorority will be helping, though, as a national organization, it cannot direct donations for specific wishes, Cleary said. Skylann, however, will visit the sorority at some point this semester. While the money raised at ChiHop may not be granting Skylann’s specific wish — a “She Shed” outdoor pool hangout — the funds will go to a similar cause, encouraging a family dealing a life threatening disease. “Skylann is into music, so a She Shed is a place she can listen to her favorite bands, watch TV and movies, and hang out,” Cleary said. “She will always be dependent on someone her entire life. It’s an opportunity for her to have her own space.” Nationally, Chi Omega has raised around $17 million for Make-A-Wish, since the sorority held its first fundraiser for the charity in 2001. “Chi Omega is one of our biggest college supporters by far, without a doubt,” Cleary said.

Dow Journalism Program accepting applicants By | The Collegian Editorial Staff

Hillsdale College’s Dow Journalism Program is now accepting applications for scholarships. Interested students must send a 300-word statement of intent, their resume and transcript, and three writing samples to Maria Servold, assistant director of the Dow Journalism Program, at Kendall 407 by March 20. Scholarships range from quarter to half tuition. In order to qualify, students must have a B average GPA and one semester of a Great Books course. They must also plan to minor or specialize in journalism. Applicants must also seriously consider journalism in their professional and extracurricular activities. They must take part in at least one journalism internship during their college career. Additionally, they must take on an active role with award-winning student newspaper, The Collegian, while a student. For more information on the program contact Servold or Editor-in-Chief senior Thomas Novelly about The Collegian.

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The First Liberty Institute selected sophomore Katarina Bradford’s essay as a model for how to inform millennials about religious freedom topics. Katarina Bradford | Courtesy

Bradford designs national religious freedom outreach By | Joshua J. Paladino Collegian Reporter America’s self-proclaimed largest First Amendment advocacy group, the First Liberty Institute, chose sophomore Katarina Bradford’s essay as its model for teaching millennials about religious freedom. Bradford will intern for the First Liberty Institute during the summer in Plano, Texas, take part in social media outreach to millennials, and will travel to different universities to discuss her work. As one of six students se-

“If the government prohibits the church from exercising its religion, then that poses a fundamental threat to the milllennial culture, as well.” lected from across the country to participate in a First Liberty Fellowship, Bradford attended a conference in Washington, D.C., in November. The students then wrote research papers about how to understand millennial culture and beliefs. The institute chose Bradford’s from the six to use as a model for its outreach. “Bradford’s project was a good insight into reaching millennials more strategically,” said Stephanie Reyes, director of program strategy for the First Liberty Fellowship. “We were really fascinated by her input.”

Bradford, a philosophy and German major, said all the participants in the fellowship studied politics except her, which allowed her to provide a unique, philosophical look at millennials and their understanding of religious liberty. “One of the biggest themes I came across in my research is that the millennial generation has lost its trust in institutions,” Bradford said. She said this included corporations, governments, and churches. Her research found that millennials want to express their beliefs as individuals separate from institutions. This is where Bradford said there was an opportunity to convince millennials about the importance of religious freedom. “If the government prohibits the church from exercising its religion, then that poses a fundamental threat to the millennial culture, as well,” Bradford said. “They don’t want to lose their freedom of expression or individuality.” Bradford said she suggested appeals to the “selfish nature” of millennials — to show them why religious liberty is good for them, even if they are not religious. She also said millennials need anecdotal stories rather than policy essays to persuade them. Although Bradford wrote this research essay by herself, she said Professor of Philosophy Nathan Schlueter influenced her ideas. Schlueter said Bradford is a great individual to carry this message of religious liberty to millennials because of her “humility, which is not squishy, and firmness of principle, which is not offensive.” Bradford will attend a conference at Pepperdine University on March 17-18 to discuss her ideas about communicating religious liberty.

American Individualists offer a place for debate By | Jordyn Pair Assistant Editor Independent thinkers and avid debaters now have a place to discuss their beliefs, thanks to the new American Individualists club. The club, founded in February, is a new chapter of the American Individualists, which President sophomore Quinn Reichard founded during high school in his home state of Virginia. At Hillsdale, Reichard saw a similar need for open political discourse on campus, which prompted him to start the second chapter. “The idea was to provide a forum in which people feel completely free to question anything and everything,” Reichard said. “In spite of the rhetoric, we often hear on campus about how everyone is free to question ideas, it often plays out to not be 100 percent true.” The group meets Tuesdays from 8-9 p.m. in Lane 336. At the beginning of each meeting, someone — usually Reichard — proposes a question, and then discussion flows from there. “The discussions are very organic,” Vice President sophomore Alexos Berti said. “They’re not planned. What we’re discussing toward the end is very different from what we’re discussing at the beginning, which is OK, because we try to get as deep as we can.

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That can lead you to interesting places.” Previous discussion questions address subjective morality, government involvement in roads, and if the U.S. should invade Mexico. “At first it sounds ridiculous, but there’s a lot of different things that go into that,” Berti said. “There’s social views, religious views, politics, economics. It becomes far more an intelligent discussion than it originally sounds. It ends up being incredibly controversial.” But, ultimately, Reichard said he hopes students will use American Individualists to contemplate important questions, a fundamental part of the college experience. “It’s good to have a place where it’s not at all unexpected to question the very existence of God with glee,” he said. “There’s a sort of rebellious attitude to the club that I think is vital to its success.” The club has no official platform, and Berti describes it as a “good supplement” for the campus organizations that do. “I think the only way beliefs can be cemented is when there is a discussion forum that is completely platformless, that is completely agenda-free,” Reichard added. “It’s not about promoting ideals. It’s a sandbox for ideas.” The American Individualists’ logo. Quinn Reichard | Courtesy

Hillsdale College’s maintenance employees painted over vulgar and anti-Semitic graffiti in the main-floor men’s restroom in the Grewcock Student Union on Tuesday. The vandalism included a swastika and profanity directed at President Donald Trump. College administrators said they are aware of the incident and are looking into it. “Graffiti is just something I have not seen much of in my 16 years,” Dean of Men Aaron Petersen said. “From time to time, I have seen high energy lead to some minor property destruction, but that or graffiti is not something we have seen much of. There’s not a lot of patience for those things in our campus culture.” The union attracts numerous students and members of faculty and staff as well as campus visitors every day. People first noticed the graffiti Monday afternoon. The maintenance office said it was not aware of the vandalism until a reporter for The Collegian

asked about it on Tuesday. Freshman Sara Garfinkle is an executive board member of Chaverah, Hillsdale’s Jewish club, and said hearing about the graffiti disappointed her. “I am alarmed to see such blatant anti-Semitism on a college founded on Judeo-Christian values,” Garfinkle said. “Regardless of what the vandal was trying to communicate, the swastika has been used for decades to incite terror in the Jewish people. The swastika is disgusting everywhere. On Hillsdale’s campus, it is unacceptable.” Since America elected Trump in November, news outlets have reported swastikas and other racially toned messages appearing on high school and college campuses. Michigan State University announced last month that it was banning whiteboards in dorms, after students allegedly wrote racial slurs on them outside other students’ rooms. In Hillsdale’s McIntyre Residence, the college put a whiteboard outside of each room after it renovated the dorm in 2015. House Director Teresa Martin, however, said she has never seen discriminatory words written on the boards.

“I would think coming to Hillsdale College, after you sign the honor code, that you would refrain from things like that,” Martin said. “We have never had that happen here in this dorm.” There have been a couple instances of profanity, Martin said, but she or a resident assistant just erases the words. The whiteboards help establish a sense of community in the dorm, giving friends a fun way to interact, McIntyre Head R.A. senior Bilyana Petkova said. She said she has never seen the whiteboards used for anything unkind or insensitive. Instead, the women use them to write their names in foreign languages, write Bible verses, leave messages to friends, or draw pictures. “Hillsdale is a close-knit community,” Petkova said. “We have the honor code in place. I think everyone is trying to be helpful and friendly, and the upperclassmen lead by example… I, as an international student, have never had a problem with someone insulting me, much less leaving a note. So I don’t think Hillsdale has that problem with racial or any other type of discrimination.”

Barnum selected to speak at Eta Sigma Phi conference By | Katie J. Read Assistant Editor Junior Greek major Emily Barnum is one of three undergraduates selected in February to present a paper at Eta Sigma Phi’s annual conference, held March 24-26 in Ann Arbor, Michigan. With her nomination, Barnum continues a streak for Hillsdale’s success in securing a paper presentation slot at the classical studies honorary’s national convention. On March 25, she will read her essay to her peers and a set of judges who will choose a winner. Barnum wrote her paper in the fall for Greek Civilization and edited her work over winter break, before submitting it in late January. She said her essay traces the effect of language on cultural formation and identity in Herodotus’ “Histories.” “I appreciate the way that Herodotus recognizes cultural differences, and I think studying the work in this life can be helpful in understanding and reacting to those differences, even if it’s not an exact blueprint,” Barnum said. “It helps the dialogue.” Assistant Professor of Classics Laury Ward and classics lecturer Gill Renberg helped refine her paper. “What I really value in Emily as a student is not just her faculty for language but how that is complimented by her ability to ask good questions about the material,” Ward said. “Only a knowledge of the language complimented by a keen

Research from A1 some of the best programs in the country, because they have personally done scientific research and can communicate that understanding to others, VanOrman said. “We send students all over the world doing research, and they’ve done very well,” VanOrman said. “We had one student who did research in the summer, and she wanted to get into the immunology program at the Mayo Clinic. She beat out two Harvard students, because she had a really good research project. She worked a solid six weeks oneon-one with a faculty member, and she could talk about her research in the interview. The Mayo Clinic got excited about it.” In addition to the LAUREATES Program, VanOrman said students can also apply for Research Experience for Undergraduates, or REU, programs at other colleges and

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Junior Emily Barnum’s essay was selected for presentation at Eta Sigma Phi’s national conference March 25 in Ann Arbor. Katie J. Read | Collegian

investigative sense will generate this kind of work.” While the paper explores the larger theme of language’s place in cultural identity, it also delves into the specifics of Herodotus’ work. For example, Barnum delegates one section of her work to the analysis of a single word from the “Histories” — “barbaras,” meaning barbarian. Ward said the national conference is a valuable experience for all students of Eta Sigma Phi. It gives a select few, like Barnum, the experience of writing, reworking, presenting, and receiving critiques on an essay. The conference also highlights what other Eta Sigma Phi chapters do on their campuses. Senior Anne Begin, president of Hillsdale’s 87-member Eta Sigma Phi chapter, said classics students broaden their

knowledge through the conferences’ research panels, museum visits, and paper presentations. “This is a big event where we see the fruit of what we have done all year,” Begin said. But Begin said the conference attendees also have fun. Last year, the Hillsdale delegation won Certamen, an ancient trivia competition, and dined at a banquet in Ancient Roman style, sans utensils — no forks or knives allowed. Begin said she is proud to see how much Barnum has grown in her understanding and appreciation of the classics. “In a way,” she said, “I’ve watched all the members of the honorary grow up from anxious freshmen to full-fledged scholars getting their ideas out there.”

universities. “It’s the same type of research but at a graduate level institution with faculty who do graduate work and undergraduate work, so they’re taking students into their Ph.D. programs,” VanOrman said. “Most of them are around $4,000 paid for 10-week programs and housing, because the government assists them.” Wong completed her research through an REU program at the University of Michigan, where she will pursue her master’s degree in the fall. Wong said the experience developed her laboratory skills and ultimately made her realize she did not want to pursue a career in laboratory work. She also said her time at the University of Michigan gave her an advantage in graduate school applications. Junior Micah Heinz said he looks forward to the opportunity to do research untried by others before him. His research

would continue a project started by VanOrman and previous students on a reaction involving the molecules that release oxygen in the blood. Heinz said he plans to try a new approach to the reaction, potentially using carbon monoxide. “It hasn’t been done by anyone here, because it’s dangerous,” Heinz said. “But I think it will be really cool. I would like to try it if the other things don’t work.” The extent of Hillsdale’s research opportunities surprised Heinz, he said. “I didn’t realize we had much of a science department at all, when I came,” Heinz said. “It’s not well advertised, but all three departments biology, chemistry, and physics — are all really fantastic. All of the professors are just at the top of their field and love teaching and teach well. Everyone loves them, and they get great results.”

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A3 9 Mar. 2017

Anime club reanimated By | Jordyn Pair Assistant Editor

Hillsdale College’s chapter of Pi Beta Phi has connected with alumni and held special events this semester in honor of the national sorority’s 150th anniversary. Jordyn Pair | Collegian

Pi Beta Phi celebrates 150 years of sisterhood By | Jordyn Pair Assistant Editor The Pi Beta Phi sorority is celebrating not one, but two, big birthdays this year. The first national sorority in America, Pi Beta Phi is turning 150. Hillsdale’s own chapter — the first chapter in Michigan — is turning 130. The Michigan Alpha chapter was founded in 1887 and now has 57 active members. The chapter celebrated by participating in a sorority photo contest through the national headquarters of the sorority, an event that included new members, active members, and alumni. “Our chapter has always been a really strong chapter with a really strong history,” President junior Charlotte McFaddin said. “Having celebrations like this reminds us we’re part of a broader history.” The Ring Ching Roadshow, a traveling car named after a founding member of Pi Beta Phi and driven by an alumna, also visited the sorority last month. “She’s been traveling all over the country and Canada, as well, just sharing Pi Phi heritage and celebrating our 150th year,” McFaddin said.

Michigan Alpha has a strong network of alumnae, McFaddin added. One Pi Phi alumna that attended the celebration was Hannah Weikart ’15, who joined the sorority her freshman year. Being in the sorority taught her about friendship and love, she said, but also about commitment. “My favorite thing about Pi Beta Phi is that I pledged myself to women before knowing them,” Weikart said. “I pledged my best, not just to the people I knew, but the people I didn’t know.” It’s a commitment still following her. “These people are still the people who show up for me, who I call in the middle of the night,” she said. “I’ve entered into a network of women.” Recently, Weikart attended the funeral of a sorority sister’s mom. She wore her pin in support, she said. “Pi Phi means showing up and loving people,” Weikart said. “It’s entering into something bigger than yourself.” The women in the sorority, however, are not just dedicated to each other but also to their six core values: integrity, honor and respect, personal and

intellectual growth, philanthropic service to others, sincere friendship, and, of course, lifelong commitment. “I think having alumni there helps us remember we’re not just here for four years. Pi Beta Phi is a fraternity for our whole lives,” McFaddin said. “While we are all individuals, we all hold these common values, and I think that’s what really brings us together.” This commitment is a tradition within Hillsdale’s chapter of the sorority. “To have 130 years at this college is wonderful,” said senior Lauren Renslow, vice president of communications for the sorority. “There’s a lot of history, and you can feel that not only with Hillsdale but with the sorority, too. We feel a connection to the women that have come before us.” Renslow also said she hopes to create more of a national presence with her time in the sorority, since Michigan Alpha is a smaller chapter, but looks forward to the years ahead. “This is a really special moment for our chapter,” she said. “I’m excited to come back for the 140th and to have the 150th here.”

Career Shift opens up more opportunities to job seekers By | Brooke Conrad Collegian Reporter Although relationships Hillsdale College has with employers and alumni can help students find internships and jobs, the Career Shift platform may help students to identify the type of job for which they are looking. The career services office has three main platforms for helping students find jobs: Handshake, LinkedIn, and Career Shift. While the first two platforms help students find jobs through previous connections with employers and alumni students, Career Shift was added in 2015 to broaden the number of job opportunities. “We would have no idea of knowing all the job postings that are out there, and so by using Career Shift, you can just search everything,” Assistant Director of Career Services John Quint said. The downside to using Career Shift over other platforms is that it is somewhat of a “behemoth,” Quint said, in that it can pull job postings from anywhere on the Web. The positive side, however, is that the platform can help the student generate ideas, Student Affairs Mentor senior David Peters said. “Especially for people who don’t know what they want, it gets the ideas flowing,” Peters said. “If you are an econ, business, or accounting major, the job market’s a little more friendly to you. But if you’re a history, art, more liberal arts major, it’s a very great tool, because it gets the ideas flowing…for those majors which don’t have cut-and-dry positions.”

things to know from this week

-Compiled by Brendan Clarey

Junior Duncan Voyles works with Student Affairs Mentor sophomore Ethan Greb in the career services office. Matthew Kendrick | Collegian

Quint said the typical next step after searching Career Shift is to connect students to previously established networks through LinkedIn and Handshake. Handshake is helpful in that, even though it provides a smaller pool of options, career services already has a relationship with the employers in the network so a student can often get a response from an employer within 24-48 hours, Quint said. LinkedIn also has thousands of contacts of alumni and provides the names of companies where they have worked. “Eighty-five percent of jobs are filled via networking,” Quint said, referencing a February 2016 survey by The Adler Group. Students can use Career Shift by logging in with their Hillsdale email account. Limiting searches to a particular city and job title can narrow

the results, which can be saved in a folder. The job descriptions provide contact information for the company, which Director of Career Services Joanna Wiseley said has been helpful for some students. Before making a phone call to a former Hillsdale student or a company employer, students can solicit help from career services in shaping their message. “When people reach out, they are 10-fold more likely to get the job,” Quint said. “Most students do not take advantage of the networking side of things.” Wiseley said she and the SAMs use Career Shift often in their appointments with students. “We like it, because it’s so geographically diverse,” she said. “It’s a good way to open the door.”

Wikileaks publishes CIA documents on hacking Wikileaks published Tuesday a document detailing how the CIA hacks into computers, phones, televisions, and messaging software. The security breach is being called one of the largest ever. Wikileaks was also responsible for the Democratic National Committee’s email leaks.

Scientists create time crystals, a new matter Scientists have recently created a new form of matter. Time crystals are made from either ions and lasers or another approach, which requires lasers, microwaves, and black diamonds. Scientists hope time crystals will allow them to create quantum systems.

The East meets the West at the revived Hillsdale College Anime Club. The club meets Mondays at 7 p.m. in Lane 337 to watch and discuss anime, a form of Japanese art. Members said the club looks to bring a taste of Eastern culture to a college that has heavy emphasis on the Western tradition. “We noticed there wasn’t that much representation of Eastern culture on campus,” Secretary Eric Rygh said. “We tend to get caught up in this insular echochamber with Western media.” Although right now the club is mostly watching episodes of anime shows, President junior Summer Smith said she hopes the club will grow and do more cosplay and take trips to conventions. “Anime is Japan’s version of our Hollywood,” Smith said. “They use animation, because live action costs a lot more to have special effects. It combines animation and storytelling in a way that’s unique to Japan.” For one of the club’s recent meetings, members attended a cosplay event at Hero’s Nest, Hillsdale’s comic book shop. “It’s about anime, but there’s a lot more culture that’s involved in that,” Smith said. “One aspect of the anime cul-

ture is dressing up as characters from your favorite TV shows.” Rygh said many people have a negative perception of anime, since Western media uses animation differently. “I think the reason why people have this not-so-great impression of animation overall is because cartoons haven’t been used to tell stories to the extent that they have been in the East,” Rygh said. “Anime has really well fleshed out characters, a strong plot, really good relationships, a lot of good themes — anything you would find in a novel worth your time.” The club’s members revived the group, after a previous anime club became inactive. Re-

viving the anime club meets a need on campus, Vice President sophomore Natalie Nickel said. “We have the Sci-Fi/Fantasy Club on campus,” Nickel said. “They don’t fill the gap of anime. It’s similar, but there are a lot of things that aren’t quite the same.” And with many genres within the artform, anime always has something unique to discover, Nickel said. “From what I have learned, anime is not what you initially think it is,” Nickel said. “There’s so much variety. There’s something for almost everybody.”

Many members of Hillsdale College’s revived Anime Club attend Youmacon, Detroit’s anime and gaming convention, in 2016. Summer Smith | Courtesy

Student Fed funds concert, entrepreneur lunch, speakers By | Emily Blatter Collegian Reporter Phi Mu Alpha will bring Christian folk band The Gray Havens to campus on March 30, after Hillsdale College’s Student Federation approved $1,475 for the event during its March 2 meeting. Although Student Fed’s Finance Committee originally recommended giving the men’s music fraternity only $1,000, the federation unanimously voted to fully fund the proposal, because the event will benefit so many students on campus, Student Fed Vice President junior Maria Theisen said. The decision came after Phi Mu Alpha Vice President junior Jacob Hann said he expected more than 200 students to attend the concert. “I’m not the biggest proponent of just shelling out money, but I do think full funding is a good idea for this one, given the range of people on campus that it would impact,” Theisen said. “This is something that I’ve heard about from independents, Greeks, people in Phi Mu Alpha…I’ve already heard about this event, and I don’t know this group at all. I’ve already been asked if I’m going.” The Finance Committee recommended the smaller amount, because most concerts the federation funds only cost between $500-$800, Student Fed Treasurer sophomore Ross Hatley said. But Hann appealed the Finance Committee’s decision, because the fraternity’s fundraising efforts cut the cost of the event in half, he said. The $475 deficit could have jeopardized the concert, he said. “If, upon deliberation, I only manage to receive $1,000, that’s

certainly a great step,” Hann said. “What that would require for me, though, is I would have to call [The Gray Havens lead vocalist Dave Radford] and say, ‘Hey, I’ve got $1,000,’ and he would end up being the one to make that final call — whether they want to come and do the show or not.” Tickets to the concert will cost $5, and the revenue will go to The Gray Havens as part of a deal to reduce the band’s performance fee and save Student Fed money, Hann said. While the band usually charges $2,500 for a performance, Radford agreed to charge Phi Mu Alpha only $1,000 if the fraternity gave the band all ticket revenues, Hann said. Student Federation also unanimously voted to give Omicron Delta Kappa, the leadership honorary, $508.50 to bring four Hillsdale business owners to campus for a luncheon and panel discussion. The money will cover half the catering cost of the luncheon, Omicron Delta Kappa President senior Chris Pudenz said. If all goes as planned, the panel will feature two local entrepreneurs who started their own businesses and two that expanded their businesses, Pudenz said. With the help of the career services office, ODK hopes to attract 60 students for the event, he said. “The purpose of all this is to show Hillsdale students that ‘Hey, there’s really cool things going on in the Hillsdale community’ and also show those four entrepreneurs in particular that Hillsdale College cares about what they’re doing,” Pudenz said. Students for Middle Eastern Discourse received partial funding for its upcoming

event on anti-Semitism. The group plans to bring Ralph Avi Goldwasser, the son of two holocaust survivors who created a documentary on anti-Semitism, to campus to have lunch with select students and hold a lecture for those interested in his story. While the group requested $3,070, the federation only approved half the cost of the speaker’s honorarium, or $750, because Students for Middle Eastern Discourse already received $550 of Student Fed money for a previous event this semester, Hatley said. “I do think that this number seems appropriate,” Theisen said. “We can’t give money to everything, and we did approve the last one. If we were to give $1,000 to every club on campus, we literally could not do it.” The President’s Office has agreed to provide the rest of the funding for the event, Students for Middle Eastern Discourse President junior Hannah Brewer said. The Federalist Society also received $150 from Student Fed to pay the incidental costs of its inaugural event, a speech by John Malcolm, director of the Heritage Foundation’s Edwin Meese III Center for Judicial and Legal Studies. Since the Federalist Society is on probation until next semester as a new club, it needed the recommendation of the Finance Committee and a twothirds vote of support. The federation unanimously approved full funding for the Federalist Society “due to the opportunities that this event provides for campus,” Student Fed Sophomore Rep. Adam Cieply said.

Everett from A1 Arnn. “I hope Dr. Arnn doesn’t judge me too hard,” he said. The “superb” performance by Hillsdale’s top five speakers was edifying for the audience, Tocco said. “For those who were not here today, I say you missed a great opportunity to see Hillsdale’s finest at work on the stage,” Tocco said. “Come back next year, be with us, enjoy the professionalism and the intelligence and the high skill level of the students that go here.”

Trump calls for wiretapping investigation President Donald Trump called for an investigation into possible wiretapping of Trump Tower by President Barack Obama while he was still in office. FBI director James Comey asked the Justice Department to deny the accusations, which may come from a Breitbart News article.

Freshman Michelle Reid won second place in the Edward Everett Prize in Oratory competition on Tuesday. Matthew Kendrick | Collegian

U.N. Security Council discusses North Korea The U.N. Security Council convened on Wednesday to discuss North Korea’s most recent display of aggression in which the communist country fired four missiles toward Japan. Last year, North Korea launched 26 missiles and conducted five nuclear tests.

Thousands of Syrians flee the city of Mosul More than 50,000 people have fled from the fighting in west Mosul, where Iraq’s military is fighting Islamic State group forces in the city. Around 200,000 people have been displaced, but before the offensive, citizens were unable to leave and being used as human shields.

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A4 09 Mar. 2017

Emergency warnings in  characters or less Newsroom: (517) 607-2897 Advertising: (517) 607-2684

The opinion of the Collegian editorial staff

As wind gusts of up to 60 mph blew across campus Wednesday, trees and power lines fell, closing roads around campus. For circumstances like this, Hillsdale College’s Safety and Security Office should tweet out updates, so students, faculty, and staff can stay up-todate on extreme weather and traffic. Many other campuses use Twitter for their security departments. During an attack on Ohio State University in November, social media alerts and emergency messages put out a warning to the campus and continued to keep it in-

formed. Hillsdale does have an emergency messaging system that can send texts, emails, and phone calls to students and their emergency contacts, faculty, staff, and emergency personnel. But the college needs a way to send less critical messages to campus. On Wednesday, security could have tweeted that a fallen power line was blocking College Street near the Kappa Kappa Gamma sorority house to help those traveling to and from campus. This week, with the Center for Constructive Alternatives seminar happening, more vis-

itors are on campus, reducing the number of parking spaces. With a Twitter account, security could advise students to leave extra time to find parking, reducing the stress of driving all around campus to find free space minutes before class. Last week, Director of Campus Security and Emergency Management William Whorley sent a four-word email to students about the National Weather Service issuing a tornado warning for Hillsdale County and telling students to take cover. It seemed unnecessary to send such a short email when many were already get-

ting phone alerts. In a circumstance like that, a tweet would notify students, providing an easy way for students to quickly contact security if they had questions. Twitter also allows students to subscribe to an account and get notifications when that account tweets. That way, students won’t miss any news. Plus, with security sitting on the outskirts of campus, a Twitter account would give it the opportunity to interact more with campus and serve the Hillsdale community even better than before.

Make reading fun again Clear your mind with fiction By | Jennifer Matthes

for academics and the

“What do you do for fun?” More than any other, this question shows us just how little we do with our free time. A common fallback response to this question is “I like to read,” but rarely do we actually spend our free time reading. We do too much of that in our classes, so for fun we turn to TV, video games, or social media to entertain us. But it’s time to turn our fallback answer into a reality: reading for fun, especially fiction, is not only one of the best ways to destress, but also something to enjoy for its own sake. The texts that we use in our classes undeniably have educational value. But reading fiction confers its own set of benefits unique from non-fiction. Because fiction engages the imagination in the creation of a narrative, it’s been linked to increased empathy, improved memory, and, according to the Mayo Clinic, better quality of sleep — all benefits students are missing out on if Heidegger, not fiction, is the last thing we read before bed. However, after a long day of studying, classes, and writing papers, the thought of more mental activity seems exhausting. That’s why so many of us — myself included — turn to TV as a way to unwind. Watching TV can seem particularly appealing: because it’s a passive activity, you’re only required to absorb what’s happening to the characters on-screen. Since this requires so little mental activity, it can seem like the best way to disengage from the amount of energy required by our college classes. But reading offers the perfect balance between the two extremes of intense concentration required

Reading engages us because we’re not only processing the words on the page, but also our thoughts and feelings about them, and using our imagination to fill in the gaps and construct the scene in our mind. It also gives us a break, redirecting our focus to a story that’s completely unconnected to the stresses of day-to-day life. This is why the “fun” part of “reading for fun” is so important — an activity one does for fun still feels like a break. Unlike the 50 pages of American Heritage reading that require diligence and focus, a book chosen for fun is its own motivator and provides a welcome relief. I don’t need to prepare myself to get through “Pride and Prejudice”; my enjoyment of the story draws me in. Finally, reading also relieves stress, a benefit students sorely need. Researchers at the University of Sussex found that reading was the most effective means of reducing stress out of several different methods tested. Only six minutes of reading a novel or poetry resulted in a 68 percent reduction in stress levels, beating out listening to music, drinking tea, or even taking a walk. Reading fiction for fun is the best way possible to incur the benefits of reading and destress from the life of a college student. Rather than zoning out in front of yet another rerun of The Office, picking up a book for even 15 minutes will leave you feeling more refreshed than you would otherwise. And the next time someone asks you what you do for fun, you can respond honestly, “I like to read. In fact, I just finished the best book…”

Special to the Collegian little energy TV asks of us.

Pexels

Toto, I get the feeling we're not on campus anymore By Joel Haines

Bathroom graffiti is not freedom of speech: it’s anti-Hillsdalian By | Nolan Ryan Collegian Freelancer Someone has written offensive language and drawn pictures on the inside of one of the stalls of the men’s restroom on the upper floor of the Grewcock Student Union. The message was a crude jab at President Donald Trump and emerged this past Parents’ Weekend for everyone to see, accompanied by a giant Nazi swastika. At first glance, this probably doesn’t seem like a big deal. People write things on bathroom stalls all over the place, so there isn’t anything unusual about it. This doesn’t mean, however, that it’s okay to vandalize Hillsdale’s property. One might try to defend these Sharpied statements as harmless expressions of free speech. I can even imagine being told to stop finding the scribblings in the bathroom offensive. But the material is offensive, not because people have to act perfectly, but because of how this hurts the college. These actions could cause the college to appear hypocritical as they promote respect for authority, while individuals on the campus openly disrespect others. Citizens have freedom of speech; no Hillsdale student

would argue against that. But does this freedom mean we should say whatever pops into our head and expect no consequences? When someone does or says something with the intention to offend, they should expect consequences of disapproval from the administration and criticism from students. This doesn’t mean we must live our lives fearing what others will say about us, but rather, that we need to use prudence in exercising our free speech. Limitations on speech are one of the few things you would expect to find on Hillsdale’s campus, but explicit bathroom graffiti isn’t a question of political correctness, it’s a question of prudence. Political correctness restricts freedom of speech in order to avoid disagreeing opinions. There are respectful means of discussing differing opinions, but abusing free speech by intentionally offending people is not one of them. Again, prudence is vital to voicing opinions. A major goal of Hillsdale is to train students in self-government. Part of this idea of self-government is learning to use discernment in everyday situations. This prudence, or discernment, in regards to free speech, is a

virtue for which we should all strive, and one that the Honor Code promotes. “A Hillsdale College student is honorable in conduct, honest in word and deed, dutiful in study and service, and respectful of the rights of others,” the Honor Code states. “Through education the student rises to selfgovernment.” It is not honorable to draw lewd messages and intentionally offensive symbols in public restrooms. It also isn’t respectful of others. When people express opinions that shock and offend, they aren’t showing other people the respect they deserve, they are intending to upset. Cursing Trump and drawing Nazi symbols are abuses of our freedom of speech, as they are meant to make people using the bathroom angry. Hillsdale’s vision of selfgoverning students includes prudence in what we say and do. In this situation, knowing when and when not to use our free speech is an act of selfgovernment. Even Trump’s biggest dissenters should not write obscene things about him in public places. Again, we need to use discernment and respect others. It is our duty as citizens of the nations to help each other

be discerning on a daily basis. Society runs most smoothly when we cooperate with one another and avoid causing people to be offended wherever possible. We sometimes forget that the ability to speak our minds can have extremes. Certainly no one should be silenced, but we also need to show wisdom in when and how we speak our opinions. These obscene and offensive acts of vandalism are bad for the college’s reputation. Students wouldn’t want Hillsdale College to be viewed in light of these actions and any others like them, and most students are committed to promoting the good reputation that Hillsdale deserves. Further, the second part of this vandalism occurred during Parents Weekend. This is a worse time for this than usual because parents and their children are visiting. We don’t need to put on a facade, but writing offensive messages and symbols while families are present is especially disrespectful to the students, the college, and its guests. When we abuse our freedom of speech, in any manner, we represent this college poorly. Mr. Ryan is a freshman studying the liberal arts.

Nonconformist langauge divides gender and sexuality

By | William Persson that is not be concrete. Special to the Collegian In short, the ‘non-conformity’ is actually a further development In last week’s “Embracing of conformity. gender-deviant people’s societal Beneath the assumptions of roles,” Dunkerely assumes the my fellow student, however, lies language proposed by those an latent power structure that who themselves identify as benefits no one. This power ‘non-conforming’ in his defense structure reveals itself in the of a healthy discourse on the deployment of gender through inclusion of gender-deviants. pink and blue consumer goods That language is best symbolized and divisions between types of by the genderbread person, a interest, for example. Given that Ms. Matthes is a senior tool that divides the person into they know the 'gender' of their George Washington Fellow four separate spectra of gender child, parents ascribe certain studying politics. identity, gender expression, traits to their child even before biological sex, and attraction. they are born. Although these But how can you force power structures are not as someone who does not use important during the earliest this terminology to participate stages of development, they in this discussion? Perhaps it come into play in early childhood would be better to not assume during their sexual development. the genderbread person in As we surrounded our such a discussion because it children with gendered-objects, presupposes a division between we began to see gender in a gender and sexuality that does new way. Eventually, we pushed not fundamentally appear. The this understanding to radical ‘non-conformist’ language has ends. Rather than questioning become a question of defining the manner in which these oneself as ‘masculine,’ ‘feminine,’ objects are actually ‘masculine’ or something else altogether, but, or ‘feminine,’ we created more primarily, participating in this categories under the auspices language carries with it certain of inclusion. This, of course, led philosophical assumptions. It to political and moral backlash, solidifies an aspect of our identity sparking debate about gender

that is as insubstantial as namecalling. Dunkerley’s inclusion of historical examples speaks more closely to the manner in which gender is tied to physiology, which, in turn, is decided upon by the society in which one lives. To this point, I agree. ‘Masculine’ and ‘feminine’ have not always been some immutable set of characteristics. They have developed based on this very complex and contingent set of circumstances; moreover, they have recently developed into a method by which people willingly define themselves. The norm has cut deeper than before and has marked the child’s body from birth. It is what the child must become. The nonconformist language, defined in terms of the norm, has also developed into a set vocabulary; further, these too fail to describe the essence of the sexual life of a human being. The language has developed a set of boxes to check on, say, Facebook. These boxes, like the norms of ‘masculine’ and ‘feminine’ in contemporary America, demarcate a set of characteristics one must encompass. It is not

processual. It is set. That’s not to say there is nothing essential about these characteristics in general. You can always find instances in which people perfectly fit a norm or fall outside of it, yet it is beneath this curve that a true discussion of gender must begin. Just as the norm has cut at the body, we must focus on the body before the cuts in order to understand the manner in which gender develops in a human being. (Perhaps it is best to make a much larger ‘deal’ about the sexual life of a human being first insofar as this always already implies an understanding of gender.) A healthy discourse about gender avoids the very power matrices that have come to define what we think gender is even though gender is not primarily thought. It is something that we primarily experience. It proceeds forth from the body, coloring our interactions with others in unique ways. Mr. Persson is a senior studying philosophy and mathematics.

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An American rule for an American team “misguided,” citing the NFL’s By | Jacob Weaver Special to the Collegian policy which simply encourages athletes to stand as ideal. Last summer, National This comparison Football League quarterback misunderstands the difference Colin Kaepernick made between a sports league and a headlines when he kneeled in protest during the U.S. national national team, however. Unlike a anthem. Since then, a debate football team, which represents has raged across the county a locality, a U.S. national team over the place of politics in represents the United States on an international scale. Both sports. Last weekend, the U.S. victories and embarrassments Soccer Federation took a strong — the “Miracle on Ice” and stance against on-field political Ryan Lochte, for instance, — statements, announcing its reflect upon the character of the new anthem rule during its country. 2017 general meeting. Policy 604-1 states that “All persons representing a Federation national team shall stand respectfully during the playing of national anthems at any event in which the Federation is represented.” This new policy is completely appropriate. Wikimedia Commons When the U.S. Men’s national team hits the pitch, it becomes Some critics also point more than just a game of soccer. Viewers who would never to Tommie Smith and John watch a Major League Soccer Carlos’s raised fists at the 1968 game drape themselves in red, Olympics as the precedent white, and blue, fill bars, and for allowing athletes to host parties. The team plays make political statements with the pride of the nation during international sport competitions. Just because behind them. Some, however, have precedent exists, however, does criticized this rule as not mean that precedent is

appropriate. In fact, an excellent argument can be made that divisive political statements should be kept out of national sports during competitions because international sports are a forum that unites Americans. During these international events, the conservative and the liberal link arms and cheer on America’s team. An on-field political action or statement, however, destroys the last bastion of political cease-fire. This policy, moreover, does not in any way inhibit an athlete from speaking freely off the field. For example, U.S. Men’s Soccer Team defender Geoff Cameron vocally supported Trump’s proposed travel ban. While comments like this one touch the sport, they are made in an appropriate setting-namely, away from the field. Though American athletes may disagree with America’s policies, they owe this freedom to the men and women of the armed forces. Enforcing a policy during international competitions which upholds national pride and honors these heroes is in no way misguided. In fact, it is American. Mr. Weaver is a junior studying history.

Michigan Republicans pick corporations over citizens By | Joshua J. Paladino Collegian Reporter The day after the Michigan Senate passed a $1.8 billion corporate welfare bill, the Michigan House voted against cutting the state income tax — by less than one-half percent. Republicans control the Michigan House and Senate by wide margins and have the governorship, but when given the opportunity to help individuals or wealthy corporations, they chose the latter. Governor Rick Snyder opposed the income tax cut and urged lawmakers to vote against it. He claimed tax cuts were too quick, which he said could cause shortfalls in the state budget. But these excuses, which Snyder and other Republican lawmakers presented, should not console fiscal conservatives. Under the bill which failed in the House, the state income tax would have dropped a meager 0.1 percent in 2018, from its current rate of 4.25 percent to 4.15 percent. Through 2021, it would have fallen to 3.9 percent. This small cut prompted Representative Dave Pagel to call the measure “fiscally irresponsible.” Pagel belonged to a group of 12 Republicans who helped defeat the tax cut. The plan would have saved taxpayers $1.1 billion per

year, but Snyder said this was a burden the state could not bear. And Republicans claimed Michigan couldn’t lose this revenue without cutting essential services. But Michigan survived before with lower taxes. The income tax was 3.9 percent until 2007, and it did not exist at all before 1967. Despite such principled budgetary concerns from Michigan Republicans, they still find millions of dollars to give to corporations every year. The Senate’s latest corporate welfare legislation would give $1.8 billion to businesses over the next 20 years. It passed with the votes of 20 out of 27 Republican Senators and the support of State Senator Mike Shirkey, who represents Hillsdale. The bill still has to pass the house and receive Snyder’s approval. But even if this bill is defeated in the House, it is only one of many corporate welfare programs that Michigan still has, such as the Michigan Economic Development Corporation, which redistributes nearly $200 million from taxpayers to big businesses each year. The problem with these programs — besides that they unfairly treat taxpayers and misuse the state budget — is that they allow political power to influence business decisions. In Hillsdale, for

example, the Commercial Rehabilitation Act gave tax breaks to the owners of the Hillsdale Market House but not to Handmade when they opened their business. This is because politicians get to decide who receives the tax breaks and who does not — and Handmade did not lie in the right place to receive the government’s assistance, according to Hillsdale Assessor Kimberly Thomas. But these corporate subsidies don’t just pick winners and losers—they hurt communities. Broad Street Market, which had received tax breaks, went out of business, leaving the city with another empty building and many people out of a job. Taxpayers were on the hook to build up the business, but they didn’t get any money back when it went out of business. Most Republicans campaigned on tax cuts and fiscal conservatism, but have only delivered tax hikes and subsidies for businesses. Michigan Republicans should show that they can govern like fiscal conservatives by eliminating the state’s corporate welfare programs and using the money saved to give citizens a tax break. Mr. Paladino is a junior studying economics and journalism.

Talk money to me: Get a savings account If you have one, start putting money in it

Leading our lives

Our roles on and off the dance floor are flexible Students dance at the Hillsdale College Swing Soirée | Facebook

me that when we're considering By | Mary Blendermann roles, we have to pay more Special to The Collegian attention to people's unique characteristics than to our own When I learned to Lindy categorical assumptions. Hop at the first Friday Night When I started swing Swing of my freshman year, dancing, no one paid attention everyone, including me, to the fact that I was six feet assumed that I would be a tall, that I was assertive, or that follow. In a partnered social I loved creating my own ways dance context, this is the role to move with the music — all that women traditionally dance, of which are characteristic of and it involves responding to a leading. I was only seen as a lead's initiative and suggestions woman, and I danced in a role I creatively. I danced as a follow didn't enjoy for over a year as a for a year and a half before result. This experience gave me realizing that while I loved a new perspective on a problem swing dance, I didn't really like that I see everywhere up the following. I often ended up Hill. ignoring and fighting my leads At Hillsdale, men and women rather than responding to them. often try to fit into specific, This was frustrating, until I predetermined roles that are finally figured out the problem based on their gender — not — I wanted to lead. on who they are as people. It's I loved leading as soon as disturbingly common here I tried it, but I had to spend a for someone to assume that couple of embarrassing, difficult women are not well-suited for months leading nothing but stereotypically “male” roles — swingouts for entire songs. (For whether that's soldier, scientist, those who don't Lindy Hop, or even president — and that that means doing the exact they should be relegated to same 8-count pattern over 50 domestic servitude. Similarly, times in a 3-minute song.) After it's a common assumption that, I poured my energy into that men are designed to be improving as much as possible: leaders, and that for them to and by going to workshops do anything different, like be and dancing all over southern a stay-at-home dad or serve Michigan, I managed to become under a woman’s leadership, is a a fairly competent lead. More teleological failure — that their than just a personal success, true purpose is left unfulfilled. however, becoming a lead taught The problem of assuming that

gender is an all-encompassing definitional category plagues men and women alike. I know many men, including my father, whose best skill is their ability to listen — and who torment themselves because they lack stereotypical leadership traits. However, when they own their talents and listen intentionally, they flourish as skilled communicators. It turns out that by not taking charge in the expected masculine way, they are actually making the best possible use of their natural talents and fulfilling the purpose that suits them best. Likewise, I know many brilliant, talented, welleducated, and qualified women who preclude themselves from leadership positions because they are afraid of taking on a role that they believe should rightfully belong to a man. There are also women who don't want to have children or create a family home, but who feel an overwhelming social expectation to be a good wife and mother. I have seen only good things come of competent women filling the positions that interest them and excelling in whatever sphere of life they find appealing. Men and women should feel free to be who they are, not who other people expect them to be, and to do what they do

well, not what they are expected to do. The roles that people can fulfill vary widely, and all roles are intensely valuable and important, regardless of who is performing them. The role system isn't binary, either. People are complex! We can lead in some situations and follow in others. I have a reputation for being “ambidancestrous,” which means that I can both lead and follow, and while I prefer to lead, there are certain dancers with whom I choose to follow. I enjoy following much more now because I’m making a conscious choice to do so, rather than conforming to an expectation. I am a woman. I also love to lead. I love initiating, I love creating exciting ways to move with the music, I love providing the leading voice in a social dance that my partner can then respond to. My intention is to encourage other men and women to not hold themselves back. We shouldn’t let preconceptions about our roles in life keep us from cultivating our unique talents and gifts. I am a woman. I also love to lead. And I don't think those two statements should be incompatible. Ms. Blendermann is a junior studying psychology.

By | Kate Patrick Financial Columnist If you want to save for retirement effectively and have cash on hand in an emergency, open a savings account. According to a September GOBankingRates survey, 72 percent of millennials have less than $1,000 in savings. Many publications — including The Wall Street Journal, the New York Times, and CNBC — have published dozens of stories in the last few years about Americans’ lack of funds set aside for emergencies or retirement. Don’t be that person with no savings who gets slapped with a hefty medical bill before he’s gotten health insurance. Don’t be that person who waits until he’s 30 to realize, “Oh yeah, I should probably start saving for retirement.” Fortunately, savings accounts are pretty easy to set up. Some banks and credit unions actually require you to open a savings account before opening a checking account. Chances are, you can probably set up a savings account online with your bank, if you haven’t already. If not, call and ask for next steps or just stop by your bank. The main difference between a savings account and a checking account is that you can’t access the money in your savings account unless you physically go to your bank (or an ATM) and withdraw the money as cash, whereas you can access money in

a checking account via a debit card or personal check. Savings accounts, as the name implies, are for saving money, not spending it. You can probably see why it’s hard for Americans to save money if they’re trying to “save it” in a checking account: money in your checking account is for spending, paying bills, down payments, etc. It’s in a constant state of flow. Money in a savings account, however, stays put unless you go through the trouble of driving to your bank or the nearest ATM to withdraw — and that’s why you need a savings account. If you discipline yourself to regularly make deposits into your savings account, you’ll be far less likely to spend that money, and it’ll stay put as your emergency savings and supplement your retirement fund. To those of you who already have savings accounts: start depositing money into it. Sure, you’re probably living paycheck to paycheck, but if you can get into the habit of putting just $5 into your savings account every month, you’ll cultivate the discipline you need to set aside larger amounts of money when you have a full-time job. Before you know it, you’ll have saved enough to actually be prepared when life happens. Ms. Patrick is a senior studying history and journalism.

Don't model a third gender on victims of sex trafficking Health care consolidation helps small communities Dear editor,

In Mr. Dunkerley’s recent article, “Embracing genderdeviant people’s societal roles,” he made the claim that Western society does not make room for those who do not fit within our gender binary — that is, male and female. He seemingly celebrates the societal role of the pre-colonial Hijra, gender-deviant Indians, mostly eunuchs and transvestites who served as guards, dancers, and singers. However, as the gender revolution is a controversy of the 21st century, we should start in the here and now. As it stands, many argue that gender-deviant people are rejected from mainstream society and stigmatized

in the West — hence the argument for bathroom accommodations. In our discussion of such problems, we should not look to Indian society, which to this day, maintains a caste system. A caste system degrades those who do not fall into the higher echelons of society. It treats human beings like animals, and gives no opportunity for rising in the ranks of society. The role of the Hijra in modern day India is overwhelmingly sexslavery. They generally live in the lower dregs of society, of which there is no escape. The name “Hijra” is generally used as a derogatory term. As westerners, a people who, up until the modern era, have held the two gender binary system as sacred to

society, we should not look at the backwards societies of old tribes in Africa or India’s caste system as inspiration. Mr. Dunkerley walks a dangerous line by asking the question “How could we maximize the utility of deviant-gendered individuals in society?” The Indian caste system has done a stunning job of “maximizing” the utility of human beings; for transgender or intersexed individuals, this seems to be the utility of sex slavery. Creating a third gender for these people to conform to is not freeing: in fact, it is enslaving. Sincerely, Philip Berntson

Dear Editor, I am writing in response to the Mar. 2 article entitled, “Reform Medicaid by simplifying its reimbursement process.” There is an error in the paragraph describing hospital acquisitions. As an employee of the hospital in Jackson, I can say that we did not merge with the University of Michigan. Since April of 2016, we have been known as Henry Ford Allegiance Health and are a part of the Henry Ford Health System. I also wish to comment on the idea expressed in the fourth paragraph, which says that health care consolidation decreases the quality of care

for smaller communities like Hillsdale. When a small community hospital becomes part of a larger health care system, the medical staff gains direct access to more specialized physicians and services. Using telemedicine, one can consult with a specialist not available in rural areas and develop a plan for treatment. This can benefit patients in the local community. Another advantage for a local community hospital that becomes part of a larger health care system is greater access to capital. As part of a larger health system with better financial resources, new services can be obtained for the local community. Since becoming part of the Henry

Ford Health System, Henry Ford Allegiance Health has begun construction on a new 66-bed in-patient facility and is implementing a new electronic medical record system that will help with coordination of care and communication between medical providers. Thank you for covering healthcare topics in The Collegian. I look forward to future articles as our nation continues to grapple with the challenges involved with providing healthcare for its citizens. Sincerely, Anita Hamilton, RN, NNP

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www.hillsdalecollegian.com

Dawn Townley rejects settlement in city lawsuit By | Kate Patrick Associate Editor

ABOVE: Pumps at the Broad Street Citgo gas station. Facebook LEFT: The sign Citgo owner Mick Ritter displayed after closing Monday. Thomas Novelly | Collegian

Broad Street owner boards up second business By | Thomas Novelly Editor-in-Chief Due to financial hardships and a sudden change in ownership, Team One Food Store and the Citgo gas station on South Broad Street closed Monday, leaving more than 14 workers unemployed. Mick Ritter, owner of Team One Food Store since he founded it in 1990, said in an interview with The Collegian that he could not comment on anything related to finances, litigation, or other affairs with the gas station. Watkins Oil, the property owner for the station’s on-site convenience store, is shutting down the business temporarily to remodel and reopen Ritter’s old store. “All I can say is that, as of right now, Watkins Oil is taking control of the operation,” Ritter said. “But I cannot disclose my location right now.” Ritter was also a previous part-owner in Broad Street Downtown Market and Tavern, which closed its doors in late January due to high operating costs and unpaid property taxes. Dave Watkins, owner of Watkins Oil, was also a part owner of the pub and restaurant. Ritter would not comment on any of the particulars with Watkins Oil, and said he didn’t want to give any more information. “Never missed a payroll, every employee was paid for every hour worked,” Ritter said in a message. Ritter said he owed no money in rent to Watkins Oil,

and, according to the Hillsdale Treasurer Clerk’s office, all property taxes since 2014 have been paid. Watkins Oil declined numerous requests to comment, but employees from the company were seen doing maintenance on gas pumps and cleanup on the building on Wednesday. Ritter’s was one of four Citgo gas stations between Hillsdale and Jonesville, and its sudden closure came as a shock to many local residents. Levi Shilling, who would come in three times a week for a soft drink, said he was surprised that when he drove up to the store on Monday he couldn’t get any gas. “I went into the station Monday morning to get a pop and all the pumps were bagged off,” Shilling said. “The clerk said there was no gas and she said Mick Ritter was no longer managing and David Watkins was.” A former employee of Team One, who requested to remain anonymous, said employees were informed by Ritter and management during a staff meeting on Sunday that they’d be closing their doors starting noon Monday, but employees’ jobs would still be secure. “Mick told all the employees at Team One that he’d filed for bankruptcy at that meeting,” the employee said. “And that while Watkins Oil was taking over they’d be closed for only a couple of days while they switch their systems over. We wouldn’t lose any pay or vacation time and it would be

a smooth transition.” Asked about bankruptcy, Ritter said his attorney advised him not to comment. The employee said they met with management at Watkins Oil the following day, and Watkins Oil said it wouldn’t be as simple as Ritter and Team One management said it would. “Watkins Oil told us that they ran into some legal issues and they didn’t know how long it would take. Maybe a couple days, weeks, or even months,” the employee said. “They said ‘We are going to strongly encourage you to file an application with us, and you should also file for unemployment because as of noon today you all are unemployed.’” In the wake of both Team One and Broad Street Downtown Market and Tavern’s recent closures, customers and employees have stated numerous complaints with Ritter’s management. Hillsdale resident Joseph Hendee said he would go into Team One everyday and it was apparent the business was struggling. “I was in that store every morning,” Hendee said. “The women at Team One would tell me that their paychecks bounced and they had to pay themselves out of the till. Almost every day we talked about Broad Street closing and they told me it was dragging the gas station down with it.” Broad Street employees also voiced similar problems with Ritter’s management. Natasha Crall was the former manager at Broad Street Downtown Market and Tavern from No-

vember 2013 to March of 2014, and said, based on her experience, she was not surprised to see Team One close suddenly. “There is no conceivable reason a gas station should fail,” Crall said. “All I can attest to is Mick’s history of alienating vendors when I was at Broad Street, and that we had shutoff notices for electricity on occasion among other issues. If he ran Team One like he ran Broad Street, then what happened is no surprise.” Some of Ritter’s former employees, however, expressed sympathy for his situation. Penny Wingate met Ritter in 1990 and was hired to serve as the first manager of Team One Food Store. She said she left in 2009 to help Ritter open Broad Street along with her husband Chris Wingate. “In all due respect for my former employer I will not speculate his financial position or anything else that caused him to make this difficult decision,” Penny Wingate said. “I do know he is at retirement age, and although I don’t believe this would have been his plan, it is not surprising to see him close up. Running a 24hour store is tough work.” Several employees have filed for unemployment and also submitted applications to work for Watkins Oil. But the uncertainty of when the gas station will reopen scares some of the former employees. “Everyone is scared,” the employee said. “I had a job, and then on Monday, I didn’t. Neither do the 14 others who worked here.”

The front entrance of Team One Food Store, which Ritter closed along with the gas station. Thomas Novelly | Collegian

Medical supply shop opens in Anytime Fitness building By | Nathanael Meadowcroft downtown location, at 49 E Carleton Road, and storefront Senior Writer feel played a big role in Home Hillsdale Home Oxy- Oxygen’s decision to move. “‘Hidden Meadow’ explains gen and Medical Equipment where it is,” Roberts said. “This moved downtown to its new location at the old Anytime is a better location and gives Fitness building on Feb. 27 easier access to our patients.” Home Oxygen’s new locaand opened March 1. tion is not only closer to most The move will allow Home of its customers but also easier Oxygen to expand its services and provide more convenient for its less mobile patients to access. access to its customers. “At our old location you “It took us a couple days to get in here, but we have had a had to walk down two halllot of compliments from our ways and it was just a great big patients on how great it is that maze. Some of our patients our new location is so easy are short of breath, so by the and so convenient for them,” time they found our office they Home Oxygen coordinator were winded,” Roberts said. “But with this new location, Sylvia Roberts said. Home Oxygen has pro- they just walk right in and we vided respiratory supplies — have seating arrangements for home oxygen, concentrators, them to sit and relax while we C-pap, Bi-pap, and nebulizers show them a new item.” Home Oxygen’s more wide— to its customers for a deopen storefront feel has apcade. The business is currently expanding to supply orthotics pealed to its customers. “They’re very interested in equipment like walkers and what we have to offer,” Roberts crutches, and bath items like said. “It’s just amazing the difshower stools. “It’s easier for us to expand ference that a storefront makes now because we have a bigger versus just a little office.” Home Oxygen currentshowroom. At the old facility ly has a patient base of about it was just more of an office,” Roberts said. “Now we actual- three thousand people, but ly have an area where we can Roberts hopes to expand as it begins providing orthotics have displays.” Home Oxygen’s old office in addition to respiratory serwas at 451 Hidden Meadow vices. Drive, and the new building’s

Dawn Townley rejected a settlement offered by the defendants in the Dawn Townley v. Hillsdale City Council, Hillsdale Board of Public Utilities, David Mackie, and Mike Barber case. It will go to trial Sept. 8. Townley, previously employed by the Hillsdale Board of Public Utilities as finance controller, filed suit against the city of Hillsdale and the BPU on Nov. 10 for violating state and federal whistleblower protection laws and committing Intentional Infliction of Emotional Distress, unlawful gender discrimination, and disability discrimination against her in violation of state and federal laws. According to documents filed in the Western District Court of Michigan, Southern Division, Townley claims that, shortly after being hired by the BPU in January 2016, Mackie asked her to investigate “suspicions that former Director Rick Rose and accountant Annette Kinney had been embezzling from the organization.” At Barber’s request, the city hired local auditing firm Plante Moran to help Townley “get the books in order” at the BPU shortly after Townley’s hire. During her investigation of Rose and Kinney, Townley

claims she discovered that current BPU Director Mike Barber had also been embezzling money from the city through using the city credit card to pay for his family to accompany him on business trips. Townley claims that after this discovery, Barber began harassing her in the workplace with the intention of “pushing” her out. Mackie and Barber claim Townley was eventually fired because “she was not performing her duties, was not completing tasks, was insubordinate, was inappropriate in her behavior, failed to supervise her staff and/or be accessible to them, made threats and failed to come to work on a regular basis. The defendants also deny Townley’s claims that she was “pushed out” or that they violated whistleblower protection laws, gender discrimination laws, or disability discrimination laws. The defendants claim that no evidence has been found confirming that Rose and Kinney embezzled money from the city and that “the only credit card abuse that has been confirmed is that committed by the Plaintiff herself,” for using the city card for personal medical treatment. Neither Townley nor Barber could be reached for comment, and Mackie declined to comment.

Family arrested for Black Friday thefts sentenced to 30 months By | Kaylee McGhee Assistant Editor

Branch County Circuit Court Judge Bill O’Grady exceeded court guidelines by imposing a 20-30 month sentence after a Hillsdale County family was arrested for multiple theft attempts in November 2016. Tamera Karpanai, 50, along with her two daughters and three grandchildren, were charged with first-degree retail fraud, organized retail fraud, and conspiracy to commit organized retail fraud after attempting to steal from Meijer and Walmart during the department stores’ annual Black Friday sales. Police said Walmart security watched as the group took iPads, laptops and other items to an isolated area where they removed the security cases and stuffed the items in a bag. Security saw the adults pass items to the children on the store’s security video.

When security tried to stop the group, they ran and left the bag of items behind. Karpanai, a fourth-time habitual offender, has a “staggering record,” according to O’Grady. Branch County District Court Judge Brent Weigle pointed out that Karpanai had 25 prior theft convictions alone. O’Grady pointed to these past theft convictions during her sentencing, and noted court precedents cannot account for extensive repeat offenses. Karpanai was once arrested for theft in 2012 after she cut the security cable of a large $1,200 television using bolt cutters from Meijer’s tool section, and walked away from the store. Karpanai is currently being held in the Branch County Sheriff ’s Office’s jail, and will continue to serve her sentence there until her next hearing.

Rising prices of fiber optics buckle plan to wire private homes with cheap, fast internet By | Kate Patrick Associate Editor One roadblock keeps Hillsdale residents from quality internet access: it isn’t yet profitable to extend the fiber optic network looping around the city to private homes. That means city residents — and those in the surrounding townships and county — are limited to local providers that struggle to provide reliable, quality internet in a rural area, even though the city of Hillsdale has the infrastructure to access high-speed internet through the fiber network. The conundrum is threefold: the infrastructure is outdated in rural areas across Michigan, many communities cannot afford to upgrade to the newest technology (like a fiber optic network) to bring highspeed internet to their homes, and the big providers — like Verizon and AT&T — won’t service many of those communities because their populations are so sparsely dispersed it’s not profitable for them. Thus, many rural residents struggle to get reliable internet, a concern that state legislators and the Federal Communications Commission are working to address. Michigan House Rep. Donna Lasinski, Ann Arbor-D, introduced a bill in January that would allow rural townships to levy taxes for the purpose

of setting up their own township-run internet services. Lasinski, who represents the 52nd district, said if underserved communities want internet access, then local governments should provide it if private providers won’t. She described her bill as a “private-public partnership,” because 80 percent of a township’s residents must vote to tax themselves to implement the public service. Lasinski said she authored the bill because there are “entire townships” in her district with no internet access at all. “The statute already exists to allow townships to issue special assessment districts for improving roads, water, or sewage,” she said. “My bill adds a statute so that townships can set up broadband services so they’re not left behind in the digital age.” Lasinski’s mission aligns with that of new FCC chairman Ajit Pai, who told a crowd of Cincinnatians in September that he hopes to reverse this “digital divide.” “The way I see it, every American who wants highspeed internet access should be able to get it,” Pai said. “Every consumer should have affordable choices in a competitive marketplace.” But Hillsdale Township, which surrounds the city of Hillsdale, told The Collegian it’s not interested in setting

up an internet service for residents should Lasinski’s bill become law. “It wouldn’t really be viable for us, it would not be a top priority for us,” said Jackie Sullivan, township supervisor. “I guess it would depend on if there’s an interest in an area of the township.” Private businesses and individuals say they’re frustrated with the lack of dependable broadband options in Hillsdale County. Hillsdale County resident Jeff King must uproot his life and move three hours north because of the lack of reliable internet in the county crippled his ability to run his business. He relocated his business AeroData to Holland, Michigan in January and his house is up for sale, but it hasn’t sold yet. He told The Collegian “half the county is underserved” with regard to decent internet access. The city has discussed launching a city-run broadband service, but doesn’t have the funds to do it, said Mary Wolfram, Hillsdale Director of Economic Development. ACD.net, a private provider with projects in Michigan and Ohio, was able to install the fiber network in Hillsdale with the help of a federal grant — from the Broadband Technology Opportunities Program, part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of

2009 — with the condition it be used by private residents and businesses. While that is ACD.net’s plan, it “just hasn’t happened yet,” Wolfram said. “Here’s the interesting thing about the free market: you can’t force that company to do it, it has to be profitable for them to want to do it,” said Mary Wolfram, Hillsdale director of economic development. “So we’re basically waiting for ACD.net to do it. And they’re doing it alongside all of their other millions of projects in the state of Michigan.” Meanwhile a fiber optic network that is now seven years old loops around the city of Hillsdale and promises more bandwidth at a faster rate than Frontier, Comcast, or any of the local providers. Until ACD.net and other more able providers can offer better internet, Lasinski’s idea to allow townships to decide to tax themselves and set up their own service could be a good plan for rural communities, said Hillsdale College Professor of Political Economy Gary Wolfram. “Someone will be taxed who doesn’t want to, but that solves the free-rider problem,” Gary Wolfram said. “If you tax yourself to bring in the internet, your property values go up, and it incentivizes people to move there. I won’t say that’s a stupid thing to do.”

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Crossroads Farm plans two new locations in Michigan, one in Ohio By | Madeleine Jepsen Assistant Editor Hillsdale’s Crossroads Farm is working to expand its ministry of “loving the rural teen” to three additional locations through their planting program. The program will extend to Chippewa County in the Upper Peninsula, Kalkaska County, and Harrison County in Ohio, according to Crossroads Co-Founder and Director Dawn Routledge. Crossroads Farm, founded nearly 18 years ago, gives teens an opportunity to encounter and accept Christ through Sunday night programs, which includes ice-breaker activities, praise and worship songs, a Christian-themed message, and a small-group discussion. “The message can be on things like loneliness or divorce — something that brings the gospel into the context of their lives,” Nathan Wilson ’16, executive assistant to the director at Crossroads, said. In rural communities, issues such as teen pregnancy, drug use, and alcoholism have become increasingly prevalent, Wilson said. Crossroads Farms provides a safe, neutral place for teens to learn about Christ and form positive relationships with adult mentors, which increases the teens’ chances for success later on, he said. Ultimately, the goal of Crossroads Farm is to direct teens to the local churches through their outreach to students who may not otherwise have found an opportunity to do so, Routledge said. At Crossroads, volunteers receive youth-ministry training focusing on the skills, mindset, and attitudes necessary for servant leadership, Willson said. Over the course of four years of this training, volunteers receive the equivalent of a master’s degree in youth ministry. Routledge said this training is especially critical in rural communities, where small churches may not have the means to hire a youth pastor or sustain a youth ministry of its own. Crossroads Farm part-

ners with seven local churches through the Rural Church Initiative, providing a youth group setting which may not otherwise be feasible. “Some churches have only two or three kids, so it’s hard to get kids excited when it’s such a small group of people that they already know,” Caleb Hopper, a Chippewa County native and volunteer youth minister who is working with Crossroads Farm, said. Since Crossroad Farm’s founding nearly 18 years ago, Routledge said they have envisioned expansion of programs like Crossroads Farm to other rural communities. She said the goal is to found at least five such programs across the country during her lifetime. Chippewa, Harrison, and Kalkaska County are a part of this goal. “We’re concerned not just for these three communities, but for communities across the United States,” Routledge said. “This is a need, and this is a model that can work in any rural community. It’s just a matter of God opening those doors.” In order to found a Crossroads program in another community, several requirements must be met: a local leader with ties to the community must spearhead the program, another volunteer must come forward to help with administrative affairs, a neutral location not affiliated with a church or school must be provided, and some form of financial backing must be provided. Routledge said all three communities are on their way to fulfilling these requirements. Once met, the process of founding the program takes an additional 18 to 24 months. Though the process can be lengthy, Routledge said the success of the program depends largely on volunteer training and willingness. “Ministry, message, opportunity, training — all of those things in consistency will change a rural community over time,” she said. “But it’s not overnight, it’s not some magic formula. It’s investing in the lives of people through the long haul.”

City News

A7 9 Mar. 2017

Connie Janes, Cheryl Newton, June Bjorge, and Laura Dickey (left to right) discuss ideas for new songs at Monday’s meeting. Breana Noble | Collegian

Divine inspiration drives members of Jonesville club to compose music for area churches By | Breana Noble News Editor After a restless night in January, June Bjorge had the words of an 1830s poem on her mind. The poem was by Sandord Tracy, the great-great-uncle of a friend, and, after reading the verses about finding rest, the Adrian resident said she knew she needed to turn it into a song. On that January morning, when she looked at the pond in her backyard, a chorus for the poem came to her, she said. “It’s amazing how God works, because when I sat down to write this, I had no idea what the chorus would be,” Bjorge said. “I prayed for that, and one day, it came out of the blue. But they don’t always come that way.” For days like that, Bjorge said she is thankful to be a part of Songwriters Grounded in Grace. The group of local songwriters, who range from years of experience to newcomers, meets the first Monday of every month 6:30-9 p.m. at the Grounded in Grace Coffee House in the Jonesville First Presbyterian Church. Participants learn about the songwriting process, collaborate, get feedback on pieces, and seek to take their work to the next level. Three years ago, Laura Dickey began Songwriters GIG with a few other women she met at a songwriting workshop in Spring Arbor, after a Nashville Songwriters Association International group in Coldwater stopped gathering.

“I missed having a local meeting to go to,” Dickey said. The group chose Jonesville for its central location between Jackson and Coldwater and has worked with many artists of different abilities and skills who have come and gone over the years. The ability to read music, play an instrument, or sing well is not required. Songwriters GIG has connections in Hillsdale College’s music department and at the Gospel Barn in Hillsdale. It promotes workshops across the country for members to attend and receive critiques of their work and make connections within the business. The group also holds an annual concert with pieces from its members and an annual songwriting workshop. On May 20, songwriter and publisher Dave Clark, who has written more than 25 No. 1 Christian songs, will lead the group’s workshop at Camden Missionary Church. On Monday night, the group members discussed the importance of devoting time to songwriting, as they sit around a table covered in lyric and musical composition sheets and cards that read a Suzy Kassem quote: “Doubt kills more dreams than failure ever will.” After, several shared songs on which they had been working. The artists provided feedback, offering suggestions on structure, diction, and music. In addition to improving local songwriters, the group encourages its members to pursue this love, whether it is just a hobby, for a performance

at church, or perhaps preparing for something more, they said. “It’s pushed me to do something with it,” Cheryl Newton of Walden said. “It gives you more direction and passion for what you’ve been doing. They encouraged me. It gives you hope, and you’ll see what happens.” For some, the group also teaches its members what oes into writing a song from rhyme scheme and rhythm to structure and flow. “I had no idea songwriting took so much effort,” Bjorge said. “I had no idea I had to consider so many things.” For that reason, Songwriters GIG offers a supportive community for people who express their creativity in a similar way, Dickey said. “You find out, ‘I’m not just weird — there’s people like me,’” she said. Although Dickey originally worked in education, as her love of music grew, she said she decided to audit courses at Spring Arbor University to learn more theory and composition. She said she goes to songwriting workshops to learn as much as she can to share with the group. “The Lord convicts me, ‘This is what you’re supposed to do,’” she said. “And as I teach others, I grow.” Most recently, Dickey wrote a communion song and solicited the help of Debbie Wyse, a Hillsdale College music teacher, to do a piano arrangement so Dickey can submit the song for a formal critique. Wyse had come to a Songwriters

GIG meeting in 2015, where she said she learned a lot about songwriting, though she does not do much of it herself. “I know how much time it takes to get anything polished,” Wyse said. “It was really positive time. I think we worked really well as a team. It’s really uplifting to put together something that can give glory to God.” The group’s members said songwriting benefits them in different ways. Newton said it is her therapy. “My best stuff has just come from when I’ve been burdened,” Newton said. “I write out my thoughts and feelings. Then, you share it with someone else, and it’s a double blessing.” For others, it is nostalgic and allows them to become involved in music. Connie Janes of Somerset recalled how his father would sing and dance every morning, when he was a child. “It’s fun to create something and write something down that’s never been heard,” Janes said. “For those who can do it, you’re blessed.” Although Songwriters GIG is a Christian group, artists can share songs of all genres so long as they are clean, Dickey said. For her, the group strengthens her voice in the songs she writes, she said. “It’s about getting your story out,” Dickey said. “We help you spread the message that you want to present.”

Dial-A-Ride upgrades will decrease costs to users, increase efficiency By | Katie J. Read Assistant Editor

Deer head busts demonstrating three-year growth of antlers after using Lucky Buck. Brendan Clarey | Collegian

Mar-Vo Mineral begins production on animal supplements in downtown Hillsdale facility By | Brendan Clarey Assistant Editor Mar-Vo Mineral Co., Inc. has begun production in downtown Hillsdale within the last month on their deer growth supplements for hunters throughout the U.S. “We’ve been blessed with a lot of growth, and it’s been very fulfilling. We’re really pleased to be a part of the city now; we’ve been out in the country,” said owner and president of Mar-Vo David Wheeler. “This is giving us the opportunity to meet a lot of people, and interact with a lot of other businesses in the area. It gives us, obviously, a lot more opportunity for growth because of the size of this facility.” The company primarily produces minerals for hunters to use on their properties to help whitetail deer grow stronger and larger. Their product, Lucky Buck Mineral, contains trace elements that specifically encourage deer antlers growth. Mar-Vo has been in the Hillsdale area for 85 years, but in 1995, Wheeler bought the

company, which was based in two old barns in Osseo. At that time, the company produced minerals for dairy cows, which is Wheeler’s background. For the first few years, Wheeler would mix minerals at night and deliver the finished product during the day. He hired his first employee a year later. “We had one or two employees for the first ten years or so,” Wheeler said. “And it kept going, but we developed the deer mineral, and that’s what really made the substantial growth.” The company took off in 2001, when a deer with world record antler size was killed by Hillsdale resident Vic Bulliner in Hillsdale County. The record-breaking whitetail had been eating Lucky Buck for two years, and the company has been using the “Vic Bulliner buck” ever since as proof that its product works. “It was the marketing opportunity of a lifetime,” Wheeler said. The marketing is working because Lucky Buck is now

sold nationwide at several chain stores. “We’re probably in five to six thousand stores in the United States,” said Ron Coe, office manager and second-in-command. “We’re in Cabela’s, Gander Mountain, and Tractor Supply Co.” The company sold over 200,000 buckets of Lucky Buck, 20 pounds of minerals in each, amounting to more than 4 million pounds of the product last year alone. Lucky Buck makes up 95 percent of the company’s sales, but it also offers other products for sheep and hens. The move downtown has helped with space problems, Wheeler said. He recalled six semi-trucks waiting in a line to get filled because they didn’t have the space to ship all the mineral. Now they have plenty of room. The company now employs ten people from around the area. Austin Wolcott is one of these employees, and has worked at Mar-Vo for two years as an assistant to production.

Wolcott says he began using Lucky Buck on his property when he started working for Mar-Vo and is hopeful for significant results on the deer’s antler sizes. “We should be starting to see a change here pretty soon,” Wolcott said. Wheeler and Coes both travel to shows around the country to show off Lucky Buck and the results that it has. Wheeler has the Vic Bulliner buck standing in his office, and there is a trophy room full of replica antlers that demonstrate the effects of Lucky Buck over a few years. “Mar-Vo is pretty busy right now with the hunting shows, but will be producing the most in June, July, and August,” Wheeler said. Hunting season, however, is relatively easy on their end. “During hunting season, it’s more of just keeping watch for our customers who are coming back to us with new testimonials and new examples of success,” Wheeler said.

It might be a lot easier to catch a ride in Hillsdale by the end of the 2017 fiscal year. The Dial-A-Ride Transportation busing service has partnered with local private non-profit Key Opportunities to start a Mobility Management program, a new measure aimed at centralizing the city’s transportation. Bonnie Tew, Finance Director of the City of Hillsdale, said the strategy is funded by a $35,000 grant from the Michigan Department of Transportation. Tew said Hillsdale is working toward the installment of this program to improve citizens’ understanding of the city’s transportation options. Tew confirmed Dial-ARide has requested $200,000 in MDOT grants to replace two new vehicles for Dial-ARide’s use, but said this is not out of the ordinary — the organization applies for this kind of funding on an annual basis. Boyce said she initially learned of Mobility Management at a conference on the program hosted by MDOT last year. “We are hoping to be able to provide information regarding transportation, and connect people to others with transportation through the Mobility Management program,” Key Opportunities Executive Director Julie Boyce said. The Mobility Management team is currently in the planning stages of how to communicate the information they have compiled to the community. Other counties have tried putting the information online, but that method did

not improve the transportation communication, based on responses in the respective areas. She said they hope to have something put together and in action within the next few months. Boyce said one facet of the new Mobility Management plan may be recruiting volunteers to help drive residents, though she is not sure what that would look like. So far, Boyce said Key Opportunities has compiled all of the information of the city’s available transportation, which includes their system, Dial-A-Ride’s system, and the driver the hospital has. Key Opportunities runs routes three times a day to all parts of Hillsdale County for work-related and non-emergent medical needs. “Nothing we provide is a permanent fix,” she said. Boyce said most of the rides Key Opportunities provides transport local veterans to the Veterans Affairs Hospitals in Ann Arbor, Michigan, and Jackson, Michigan. The Hillsdale Hospital has also recently hired a new driver who gives rides to patients without their own transportation. Dial-A-Ride provides transportation to 150-180 citizens everyday, and operates within city limits. Dial-A-Ride dispatcher Susan Kehn said that in addition to its doorto-door services, Dial-A-Ride also drives children to school. “If Key Opportunities are going to compile something like this, I think that would be a great idea,” Kehn said. “We aren’t available 24/7, just like most places.”

A8 9 Mar. 2017

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Mar. 9 at Minn. Duluth - 6:00 PM at Minn. St. Mankato - 8:30 PM Mar. 10 at Wilmington - 12:00 PM at Truman - 2:30 PM Mar. 11 vs. St. Ambrose - 3:30 PM vs. St. Francis - 6:00 PM Mar. 13 vs. Aub.-Montgomery - 8:00 AM Mar. 15 vs. Ill.-Springfield - 1:00 PM

Men’s Tennis

Upcoming

Results

Mar. 9-11 NCAA Championships At Birmingham, Al. 11:30 AM

Mar. 3 Hillsdale - 4 at McKendree - 5

SUNDAY, FEB.

Upcoming

Mar. 4 Hillsdale - 6 at Ill.-Springfield - 3

Swimming

Hillsdale

26 Southern Indiana

01 10 Hillsdale

McKendree

04 03

Upcoming

Mar. 12 vs. West Liberty 8:30 AM Mar.14 vs. Fairmont St. 6:00 PM

Mar. 15 vs. Kutztown 5:30 PM

Upcoming

Mar. 8-11 NCAA D-II Championships at Birmingham, Al.

SPORTS FACILITIES TO BE UPDATED By | Anders Hagstrom Senior Writer

Hillsdale’s administration is planning to extensively renovate the baseball, track, and football facilities within the next five years, according to Athletic Director Don Brubacher. Administrators say the football turf and outdoor track are the most pressing projects,

as they will only meet competitive standards for one more season. There are more longterm plans, however, which include new bleachers, dugouts, lights, and turf at the baseball field, as well as more space for intramural and club sports in the near future. “Hillsdale’s track team has used the 300-meter outdoor track for 17 seasons, but it was only expected to last 12,”

The Hillsdale College track team has used the outdoor track for 17 seasons, although it was only expected to last 12. Jessie Fox | Collegian

Baseball from A10 and a two-run home run from junior left fielder Jake Rhodes. That would be it for the Chargers, however, and McKendree would add on three more to take the game 7-4. Freshman Andrew Verbrugge started the game, allowing three earned — four in total — in as many innings. Senior Joe Chasen finished the game, allowing three unearned runs in three innings of work. The Chargers were hurt by four errors in the game, with only three of seven Bearcat runs earned. “It can be hard to overcome, sometimes, when you’re digging yourself a hole with the freebies,” Theisen said. “We chart for the freebie-war, and when we win the freebie-war, we’ve got a good chance to win the game, but it’s hard to beat an opponent and yourself.” The final game of the series was a tight one. After McKendree claimed the first four runs in the first three innings, the Chargers responded with three in the top of the fifth thanks to a two-RBI single from Boerst and an RBI single from Walts. After a Bearcat run in the bottom half of the inning made it 5-3, Ring cranked

a solo-shot before sophomore centerfielder Michael Mitchell tied the game with an infield RBI-single. In the top of the eighth, with the score tied 5-5, Mitchell knocked a two-RBI double and Boerst added a sacrifice fly, giving them both three RBIs on the game, and giving the Chargers an 8-5 lead. The Bearcats added one in each of the eighth and ninth, but the Chargers left them stranded on first and third to close out the game 8-7. Junior Matt Young started the game, allowing four runs — three earned — over 3.2 innings. Freshman Josh Stella allowed two earned in 3.1 innings, before freshman Dante Toppi came in to notch his first collegiate save, allowing one unearned in two innings of work. “I like to say that ‘the earlier in the season that you can have come-frombehind victory, the better,” Theisen said. “It was good to get that out of the way before conference play, that was you know you can do it.” The Chargers will have a four-game set against the Senators of Davis and Elkins College and a single game against the Siena Heights Saints over spring break, before opening conference play against the Tiffin Dragons on March 18.

Brubacher said. “And the football turf has seen 10 seasons of use, but it was only built to last eight.” According to Chief Administrative Officer Rich Pewe, the only thing preventing the renovations from happening this year is fundraising. “Most likely the first action we would take would be replacing the football turf,” Pewe said. “If we can secure funding we may still do that this June. If not, we will play another season on the turf.” Brubacher said the same for the outdoor track, though both facilities will see renovations within two years, at the latest. The most important change coming to the baseball field is the installation of new lights. Brubacher said the team has had issues with players missing late afternoon classes to make it to early-evening games. With the new lights, however, games can be scheduled later in the evening. The baseball stadium will also receive new bleachers, turf, and dugouts, similar to the substantial upgrades to the softball stadium which began in February. “We want the stadium to look more professional,”

The football field may receive new turfing this June, according to Athletic Director Don Brubacher. Jessie Fox | Collegian

Brubacher said. “We don’t want fans or players to feel like the stadium is just hidden in the corner between Biermann and Roche.” The updates go beyond just official college sports programs, however. Brubacher said the college is planning to update club sports facilities as well as provide better fields for intramural programs. “Right now there’s just not enough space for everybody,” Brubacher said. “We just want

students to know that the club and intramural programs are priorities for us, not just the official college teams. We will never ignore one of them in favor of another.” Brubacher specifically mentioned the ultimate frisbee leagues which frequently play on the IM fields and the quad. With the college breaking ground on Christ Chapel, however, students may no longer be able to use the quad, further cutting down on the

space for non-varsity sports. Brubacher said the college is considering clearing out space in Hayden Park for club sports and devoting the entire area behind the baseball stadium to IM leagues or pick-up games. “We want students to have quality space to do whatever they need, be it official college sports, IM leagues, or just a pick-up game of kickball,” Burbacher said

Alumnae compete in USA Track Championships By | Evan Carter Web Editor Alumnae Emily Oren ‘16 and Kayla Caldwell ‘13 competed in the USA Track and Field Indoor Championships in Albuquerque, New Mexico, this weekend. This year’s competition was the first indoor championship for Oren, while it was Caldwell’s fourth time competing in the event. Neither athlete placed in the top half of her event, with Oren placing eighth in the two mile and Caldwell placing 12th in the pole vault. Still, Oren had good things to say about the meet, and she told the Collegian in an email that the meet was a cool opportunity because it allowed her to run with the top athletes in the country. “I got eighth out of the whole country, which is pretty cool, and I learned a lot,” Oren said. “I am looking forward to continuing to try and improve on that placement at outdoor nationals and into the next indoor season.” Oren said her race was tactical, with competitors running the first mile at “almost walking” pace. Those leading the race began to increase the pace at the mile, and Oren felt good enough to run with them. But after initially keep-

ing up, the lead group of runners, including Olympian Shelby Houlihan, began to drop her. “The second half of the race was a little painful, and initially I was disappointed with the outcome,” Oren said. “But after talking with coach Joe, and my dad, and others, I realized it wasn’t that bad of a race.” Joe Lynn, Oren’s post-col-

legiate coach and formerly coached distance runners at Hillsdale, said making the national meet was a big goal for Oren and that she learned from the experience. “In the end, I think she fell just short of where she wanted to place, but definitely walked away with some positive experiences to use in the future,” Lynn said. Hillsdale’s Head Track and

Field Coach Andrew Towne said the program is proud to have its alumni competing at the highest levels of the sport, and he’s excited to see how they continue to develop. Looking ahead, Oren said she will probably open-up her outdoor track season in April, when she said she will likely run either a 5K or 1,500-meter race.

Emily Oren ‘16 said she was able to stay with the pack, including Olympian Sheby Houlihan throughout the first mile of her two-mile run last weekend at the USA Indoor Track Championships. Jim Oren | Courtesy

A9 9 Mar. 2017

www.hillsdalecollegian.com

My life as a redshirt freshman

By | Matt Fisher Collegian Freelancer Imagine waking up every morning with a schedule involving up to an hour of weight lifting, conditioning, shooting a basketball from a dozen places on the court, and cutting back and forth across a wooden slatted floor for over two hours. Now, add an additional series of hourlong weekend workouts and additional lifts throughout the week, just to push your physical endurance to its ultimate limits. And to top it all off, you must wait an entire year to showcase your improvements and ability as an athlete. This is the life of a redshirted student-athlete in the NCAA, and it is a journey taken by thousands every year, including myself during this past basketball season. Redshirting is a process in collegiate sports in which players can lengthen their eligibility for academic scholarships, athletic development, and academic achievement at their respective university. The term “redshirt” is a unique one for its defined role on the field of athletic competition. The phrase most likely originated from the University of Nebraska. In 1937, the Cornhuskers football staff requested linebacker and guard Warren Alfson practice but not play with the team. As a part of his nonparticipation in games, Alfson was not issued a number, leaving him with only a blank red uniform to wear. Thus, the term “redshirt” was born. I arrived on campus last August wearing a heavy, iron-laden boot on my right foot. A month earlier, I had an operation on my ankle to reconstruct damaged ligaments, which put me on the path of a six to nine-month rehab. Hobbling about campus in a boot for several months coupled with the need to develop more as a player on the court inspired the coaching staff at Hillsdale to redshirt me for my first season. When I first heard that I would be redshirted, I thought it would mean an easier work schedule as a student-athlete for my first two semesters. My preconceptions about redshirting were quickly blown away when, just three days out of my boot, I was assigned to run on the elliptical for an hour.

As the season began, my fellow redshirts and I were required to attend two additional weight lifting sessions per week, as well as at least one additional on-court workout on top of our team activities. If you happened to walk through the courts of Hillsdale’s Roche Sports Complex over the course of the winter on a Saturday morning, you may have spotted a small group of three redshirted basketball players and me. Perhaps you saw me working on my foot speed and quickness. Indeed, the sight undoubtedly bore a heavy dose of amusement for those beholding the spectacle of a lumbering seven-footer trying to keep up with a wily and relentless point guard. The countless hours I poured into my game and rehabilitation as a redshirt freshman have undoubtedly improved my skills and abilities for when I am a full-fledged member of the active roster. As I can attest from personal experience, however, life as a redshirt freshman can be frustrating, as the compounding workouts and zero involvement in games can drag down morale. Some of the toughest moments of a season occur when sitting on a bench, dressed in slacks and a dress shirt, watching as your teammates struggle through a difficult game. The desire to rip off the necktie and lace up your sneakers is almost unbearable, especially during a blowout loss. As a competitor, it burns and rakes your nerves to watch a game while thinking to yourself, “If only I was in playing. Maybe the outcome could be different.” It’s a difficult process and a tough pill to swallow for many recruits, especially considering most student-athletes were the stars on their former high school teams and never had to ride the bench for too long. But as many athletes who have redshirted can attest, the process is well worth the wait. It’s a goal and expectation I have of myself to dramatically increase my performance and abilities by using my redshirt year as a springboard to new heights of athletic prowess and development. Ultimately, I don’t know what path my career as a student-athlete here at Hillsdale will bring. I do know, however, how my time as a redshirt athlete has served me in regards to my recovery, development, and preparation. Like many who have gone before and will come after me, I’m confident and grateful for the opportunity to develop and hone my game for an entire season before my collegiate debut. Fairly soon, I, and many other redshirted student-athletes, will be able to rip off the redshirt label and finally don the blue of Hillsdale College.

JJ McMillian exits the tunnel before a Hillsdale College football game last season. Rachael Reynolds | Courtesy

JJ ONE-IN-A-MCMILLIAN By | S. M. Chavey Features Editor

As a child, Jerome James (JJ) McMillian used to read the sports section of the paper every single day. Years later, he now works at Hillsdale College as the ball boy manager for football and basketball teams,and is and the Charger’s number one fan. “He’s just the joy in our lives and keeps us happy and made my senior year worthwhile and actually made my whole college career worthwhile,” senior guard on the women’s basketball team Becca Scherting said. “Him cheering for me at every game meant a lot, and that’s one of my favorite memories from college: JJ cheering for me at games.” McMillian moved to Hillsdale about 25 years ago from Detroit, where he grew up and lived with his family. He’s worked at Kroger and Dawn Theater, and he now works at Wal-Mart in maintenance. He began working with Hillsdale College nearly 17 years ago. “I enjoy the job, I enjoy these people, it’s a good atmosphere, and they keep me on my toes every single time,” McMillian said, then added about some of the athletes: “They make me laugh, and we have a good time whether it was at home or on the road. I like them so much. I’m gonna miss Becca Scherting ‘cause she’s gonna be graduating next year, but at least I’ve still got Brittany Gray and Bree Porter.” Grounds Keeper and Equipment Manager Rich Alvarez first offered the job to McMillian. As a ball boy for football, McMillian walks up and down with the officials to provide a ball when they need one. “They asked us to have mature, grown-up adults that know what’s going on in a football game,” Head Football Coach Keith Otterbein said. “He’s there, he’s a veteran. Usually what happens is our in-

jured players fill in as the other ball boys, but McMillian is the constant piece of that puzzle.” McMillian said he first began with a few buddies, but he’s the only one left now. “I step it up to be a ball boy manager. Now I’m a boss,” he said. “I make sure I tell these guys if they got any questions, if they got any problems, to come to me and we’ll figure it out together. I’m there for them — I never miss a beat.” McMillian is also involved with Hillsdale High School sporting events and he roots for the Wolverines, Lions, Tigers, and Red Wings. He said one of his favorite times of year is graduation season, when he can meet college students’ parents and attend high school graduation open houses. McMillian is known all over town, but especially to families involved with the Hornets and Chargers. “I got family in Hillsdale county, Michigan, too,” McMillian said. “They make me feel welcome and they gave me open arms. They gave me opportunities to spread that love for Charger football games, whether they’re here or on the road. We all have good times.” He remembers the big games: beating Grand Valley State University at homecoming and making the playoffs in 2009. And he’s never missed a home game as long as Otterbein said he could remember. “He’s upbeat, outgoing, friendly, enthusiastic, fun to be around. He just brings a light

into a room,” Otterbein said. “We’re happy he’s here. He’s part of our environment, part of our community, and an important part as he gets to know and see people.” McMillian greets people by name, even yelling across the court or — in the case of Scherting — across Wal-Mart to say hello. Scherting had to sit out of her last season with the Chargers because of an injury, but she said McMillian continued to cheer for her, even during warm-ups, as her biggest fan. “When I first met JJ, he was the happiest man I had ever seen. His cheering, his smile, I’ve never seen anybody smile as big as him. I just thought, ‘I really need to meet this guy because I want that joy and happiness in my life because he just exudes happiness,’” Scherting said. When he’s able, McMillian

will sometimes travel to away games as well, and he always attends the several-hour-long end-of-the-year banquet. “He’s very personable. He’s calling people out by names from across the court. It’s like he knows everybody in town, that’s what you kind of feel like,” Head Men’s Basketball Coach John Tharp said. “You get to know him and you realize he’s got such a great smile and he’s such a nice person, and then again you start to find out who he is. He’s always willing to help Hillsdale teams out where he can.” For basketball, that means keeping score, hustling the balls, wiping the floors, and supporting the players no matter what. “All I gotta do is just keep Hillsdale strong, and the Chargers strong, and the Hornets strong,” McMillian said.

JJ McMillian and senior guard on the women’s basketball team Becca Scherting pose for a photo. Facebook

CHARGER CHATTER: DANA WEIDINGER fell in love with being able to control the time and speed of the game and having a defense behind me. I loved being there for my team, and they would back me up on everything I do. Do you have a favorite memory from your softball career?

Dana Weidinger is a freshman softball player from Bath, Ohio. She is studying marketing management and was recently named GLIAC Pitcher of the Week. How did you develop an interest for softball? I started playing softball when I was 5 years old, playing tee-ball on a grass field with friends from elementary school. I started pitching when I was 8. From there I

My junior year of high school, we were playing a rival school. I was pitching this entire game that went on for 11 innings. In the fifth inning, I hit a home run to tie the game 1-1. Then in the 11th inning, we had a person on third base, and my best friend hit a line drive to center field to win the game. It was the craziest game I’ve ever had to go through. It was really hard to focus the whole time because I’d never pitched an 11-inning game. That game just made me want to go further in the sport. That’s why I went into college softball. I can’t imagine life without that feeling — the feeling of a team win.

How has softball shaped your life? I feel that it has given me an out to all of the stress that school can put on you. It’s very relaxing every time I step on the field. It just feels like home, and I know I have my team backing me up. Softball has also shaped my relationship with my family, too, and brought us together; every weekend we’d travel together for games. I’ve also made so many friends over the years with all the different teams I’ve been on. I feel this team at Hillsdale has the strongest friendship. All the upperclassmen opened their arms to us freshmen like we were family.

I visited campus and fell in love with the scenery and the people here. Everyone was so nice, smiling at you when you walked past them, and I liked how small the campus is, because I don’t want to be just a number. I like that you can build relationships with your professors, and I loved the team the first time I met them. I practiced with them before I came here, and everyone was so nice and personable, cheering me on when I was on the mound, and it just felt like I was supposed to be here. I am so happy with my decision; I wouldn’t have wanted it any other way. It’s the perfect fit for me.

What drew you to Hillsdale?

Is it hard to balance athletics with academics?

I was originally born in Michigan, and we moved to Ohio for my dad’s job, but I always loved it here. Coach Joe came and saw me pitch, and I thought he was very personable — I was very nervous, but he cracked jokes to relieve the tension. Then

The first couple weeks were very tricky. We had our 5 a.m. lifts, and I was not used to getting up that early, but the team was there motivating us. I realized I have to have a set schedule for study times and practice and also a social life, because that’s important, too.

It was really hard when I first got here, but a month into the season, I feel like I have a schedule down. What was your reaction to being named GLIAC Pitcher of the Week? I was completely surprised. I opened up Instagram, and it was right there, and I was like, “That’s not me.” I wasn’t expecting it at all. It was all a team win because without my team, I couldn’t have won this award. They had my back 100 percent. It was a really big honor. What helps you succeed in softball? When I’m on the mound, it’s almost like a circle and everything else goes blank. It’s a weird vision, almost. I can’t hear anything; it’s kind of a complete zone. My coaches said they’ve never seen so much focus. If someone starts talking to me, I can’t hear them. All I can see is a small square where the glove’s

sitting, and I just throw the ball to it. How do you hope to grow athletically and otherwise at Hillsdale? I would like to have more wins than losses. I’m focusing on getting a lower ERA, too. And I want to be there for my team. It’s a new team, and we have mostly freshman pitchers. I think we’re getting better at communicating with each other. I feel our communication already growing. I’d like to have a high number of strikeouts and not a lot of walks. Outside of softball, I’d like to grow my confidence level in my studies. I first got here and thought, “Oh my gosh, it’s Hillsdale.” It’s a lot of academic focus, and it’s different from anything I’ve been through. I want to get better study habits. —Compiled by Nicole Ault

Charger Administration plans to update sports facilities There are plans to update the football field turf, the outdoor track, and the baseball field. A8

Jessie Fox | Collegian

9 MAR. 2017

Charger Chatter: Dana Weidinger Read more about the freshman who recently received GLIAC Pitcher of the Week honors. A9

JJ McMillian: Hillsdale Super Fan As the ball boy manager for the basketball and football teams, McMillian is part of the Charger family. A9

Dana Weidinger | Courtesy

Rachael Reynolds | Courtesy

Sophomore Colin Boerst plays third base during the Chargers’ opening series in Adrian, Michigan. John Quint | Courtesy

BASEBALL GOES .500 ON WEEEKEND Offense comes alive in four-game split against the McKendree University Bearcats By | Stevan Bennett Jr. Assistant Editor At 3 a.m. on Monday, most students were either fast sleeping or regretting a weekend full of procrastination. The Hillsdale College baseball team, however, was only just returning to campus. The Chargers were returning from Lebanon, Illinois, where they split doubleheaders with the McKendree University Bearcats on both Saturday and Sunday. Perhaps the biggest storyline of the weekend was sophomore catcher Donald Ring, who was awarded GLIAC Player of the Week on Monday. Ring earned the honor by blasting four home runs, driving in nine runs, and slugging 1.400 while going 7-for15. “It’s always nice to be acknowledged for playing well, and it’s cool to get Player of the Week, but for me, I wish we could’ve won all four games, to be honest,” Ring said. “That is always more important.” Ring said the adage of the “ball looking like a beachball” certainly felt true to him, but it was mostly nice to see the whole offense start to come around. Of the four games on the weekend, only one was determined by more than two runs. Head coach Eric Theisen said

it was good for his team to experience such a closely-fought weekend so early in the season, especially on the cusp of conference play. “We had some guys step up,” Theisen said. “We’re still trying to figure out some spots, and guys are getting some more at bats and some more experience, and we’ve got another week, week and a half … leading into conference play, and I think it’s perfect timing.” Despite the high points, Theisen said he believes his team wanted more out of the weekend. “To be honest, I think our guys are unsatisfied,” he said. “They, along with us, feel like we should have won more than two, but a lot of that was just taking care of the baseball and making good decisions — things that a young team learns and sometimes has to learn through making those mistakes themselves.” In game one, the Bearcats opened up the scoring in the bottom of the second with two runs. The Chargers responded with a three-run homer from Ring. McKendree regained the lead with three runs in the bottom of the seventh, before Ring tied the game in the top of eighth by sending yet another ball over the fence. McKendree, however, hit a two-run shot of their own in the bottom half, before holding the

Chargers in the ninth to seal the 7-5 victory. Freshman Jeff Burch started the game for the Chargers, allowing five-earned over 6.1 innings. Junior Phil Carey came on in relief, allowing two earned over 1.2 innings. Game two on Saturday was all Hillsdale, with the Chargers scoring in five of their seven frames to come away with a 13-3 win. Nine different Char-

gers had a hit in the effort. Senior DH Ethan Wiskur put two over the fence — driving in four — while Ring added his third homer of the weekend. Junior second baseman Alex Walts and sophomore third baseman Colin Boerst both drove in two runs, and five other Chargers added one RBI. “Our confidence is definitely up from the last two week-

ends,” Walts said. “Our offense just keeps getting better and better, and our offensive confidence has gotten a lot better.” Junior captain Will Kruse struck out eight over six innings, in which he allowed only three earned. Redshirt freshman Joe Hamrick tossed the final frame, allowing only one hit. “Our starting pitching has been outstanding, and our

pitching has kind of been keeping us together,” Theisen said. The first game on Sunday saw the Chargers fall behind early, yielding three total runs in the first two innings. After scoring one run in the third and allowing one in the fourth, the Chargers tied the game in the sixth on a Ring double

See Baseball A8

Sophomore catcher Donald Ring was named GLIAC Player of the Week after knocking four home runs last weekend in a series against the McKendree Bearcats. John Quint | Courtesy

Tennis falls to McKendree, overcomes Illinois-Springfield By | Scott McClallen Collegian Reporter The Hillsdale College men’s tennis team split two road matches in southern Illinois last weekend. The Chargers fell to McKendree University 5-4 Friday evening, before overcoming Illinois-Springfield on Saturday afternoon 6-3. “We were hoping to come out 2-0 this weekend, but it was a close match,” head coach Keith Turner said. “I was happy with how my guys competed, showing good sportsmanship, even when others didn’t.” On Friday, Hillsdale started 0-3 in doubles, but nearly came back, winning four singles matches, three of which required tiebreaker games. Freshman Charlie Adams won a marathon match 6-4, 7-5, 7-6, and 7-4, which lasted nearly three hours at No. 1 singles. Sophomore Jerry Hewitt also forced a tiebreaker win at No. 6 singles 6-4, 7-6, and 8-6. Freshman Milan Mirkovic is recovering from a finger injury, but managed a win at No. 3 singles. Mirkovik and fresh-

man Julien Clouette as a duo were defeated, however, 8-4 in doubles. Mirkovic will take a few rest days, and will hopefully be at 100 percent for next week’s matches, according to Turner. “Mirkovic fought his way through doubles and singles, and really helped out the team,” said Clouette. Justin Hyman won at No. 2 singles 6-1, 6-1. After the weekend’s performance, Hyman said he can see improvement in his teammates. “Our scores for both matches this year were better than last year’s,” Hyman said. “We’ve definitely improved, we just need to work on our doubles more.” Junior Dugan Delp was defeated at No. 4 singles, 6-2, 6-3 while sophomore John Ciraci was defeated at No. 5 singles 4-6, 6-2, 6-4. Hillsdale went on to topple Illinois-Springfield University 6-3 on Saturday, nearly shutting out the Prairie Stars in singles competition. The Chargers trailed 2-1 after doubles, with Mirkovic and Clouette teaming up at No. 3

doubles to provide the Charger’s lone doubles win 8-2. From there, Hillsdale battled back, winning five singles matches. Adams was victorious at No. 1 singles 6-4, 6-3, while Hyman powered to a 6-4, 6-2 win at No. 2 singles. Mirkovic scored his second win of the day with a 6-2, 6-0 victory at No. 3 singles. Ciraci battled his way to a 7-6, 6-3 win at No. 5 singles. Clouette went undefeated on the day, shining in a 7-6, 6-1 win at No. 6 singles. Clouette said he was satisfied with singles play, but that the team put too much pressure on singles to win matches. “We responded well in singles, however, we need to improve our doubles — we have only won one of our last four doubles matches. Losing all three doubles is unthinkable against a good team. Doubles makes the difference during close games,” Clouette said. “Last weekend’s matches were against top teams with great players — we can’t be disappointed. We are happier with this weekend, even if we didn’t win both matches.”

Turner plans to test new doubles duos in practice this week. The Chargers, now 4-4, will face West Liberty University in Hilton Head, South Carolina, where they will also compete with Fairmont State University and Kutztown University during spring break, chasing a regional ranking and a .500 season. Though the Chargers have been performing well at singles, Turner has planned a “dramatic overhaul” for doubles play in preparation for their spring break matches. “Justin Hyman and Charlie Adams have played as well as anyone in the region,” Turner said. “Our overall singles performance has been fantastic this year. We are going to change our doubles, though. Returning from break 3-0 would be a big confidence boost for the remaining season.”

Sophomore Justin Hyman went undefeated in singles this weekend, overcoming both of his oppponents from McKendree and Illinois-Springfield. Kadie Lowery | Courtesy

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B1 9 Mar. 2017 Katie J. Read

‘Citizen Kane’ 76 years later: Still searching for the meaning of ‘rosebud’ By | Nic Rowan

Collegian Reporter

A postgraduate student equipped with honors and diplomas once went to the Swiss biologist Louis Agassiz to receive the finishing touches on his degree. The great man offered him a small fish and told him to describe it. Postgraduate Student: “That’s only a sunfish.” Agassiz: “I know that. Write a description of it.” After a few minutes the student returned with the description of the Ichthus Heliodiplodokus, or whatever term is used to conceal the common sunfish from vulgar knowledge, family of Heliichtherinkus, etc., as found in biology textbooks. Agassiz again told the student to describe the fish. The student produced a four-page essay. Agassiz then told him to look at the fish. At the end of three weeks the fish was in an advanced state of decomposition, but the student knew something about it. This story comes to us through the modern poet Ezra Pound, who often told it to explain to his audiences the em-

pirical approach scientists use to understand biology should be the way common people understand art, literature, and poetry. As with the anecdote of the sunfish, director, actor, and writer Orson Welles tries to explain a life by focusing on the details rather than on the events written up in obituaries. This week, the Center

“The film presents a fractured vision of a man, and as self-searchers, we fill the slivers of darkenss with ourselves.” for Constructive Alternative’s seminar on Welles presented the best of his films along with a series of talks from such luminaries as “Paper Moon” director Peter Bogdanovich and film critic David Thompson. The seminar encouraged its students to understand Welles, his legacy, and his character.

Welles’ most famous film, the 1941 “Citizen Kane,” presents the meaning of fictional newspaper magnate Charles Foster Kane’s life through an extensive autopsy of his final word, “rosebud.” The film follows a faceless reporter — that’s right, audience, it’s you! — as he interviews Kane’s acquaintances shortly after his death. The audience’s mission: to discover why the once idealistic wunderkind behind a newspaper empire could die so sad and alone, with nothing but a snow globe and the word “rosebud” to keep him company. We track down the memoirs of Kane’s banker and learn Kane was a brash youth who once hit him with a sled. A visit with his former editor and his best friend Jedediah Leland (Joseph Cotten) reveal Kane was passionate as a businessman and cruel when he did not win. Through Kane’s second wife, we see him marry twice and adorn everything he owns with a giant “K.” He even runs for political office, offering no campaign promises — except that he’ll put his opponent in prison. It’s hard to watch the film in 2017 without

thinking of Kane as analogous film to understand ourselves. to President Donald Trump, Early in the film, we are instead of to William Ran- told that he believed himself dolph Hearst, the man upon to be, above all else, an Ameriwhom he is actually based. can. Maybe that’s why we read As soon as someone like Trump comes into our minds, Welles’ project — making his audience understand the life of another through autopsy — fails. It’s not that “Citizen Kane” has been consistently been voted one of the best films of all time. It’s the fact that when audiences watch it or any of Welles’ other films, they can’t help but associate Welles’ characters with their own lives. When we watch movies or experience art in this manner, we’re no longer trying to understand a sto- ‘Citizen Kane’ and other Orson Welles ry and characters; films will be shown at the CCA this week. we’re using the IMDB

ourselves into Kane so often. Here is a man who got a pretty blonde girl and everything he wanted, just so he could languish alone in Florida. Or maybe it’s Welles own self-destructive path that compels us toward “Citizen Kane.” Later in life, after a series of commercial failures, Welles would become enormously fat and act in bit-part roles just to keep himself on the screen. In perhaps one of his most comic moments, he plays a film executive in the 1979 “The Muppet Movie,” a role he could never play in reality because he possessed all the pride of his own characters. When we watch Welles’ movies with all of this background on his life, we’re no longer analyzing a decomposing sunfish — now we’re tearing out relevant details, rearranging them in the world of abstraction, and fitting them neatly into our lives. As the lights in the Phillips Auditorium go and the little Blu-ray icon starts dancing around on the screen, we find ourselves analyzing Orson Welles on our own terms — and fill ourselves with his slivers of darkness and light.

Lyceum lecture looks at the limits of language in life, learning, and Latin The panelists of the Lyceum’s March 3 “Liberal Arts Friday Forum,” on the limits of language, included Peter Blum, professor of philosophy and culture, Justin Jackson, professor of English, and Laury Ward, professor of classics. Each presented unique and lively 15-minute cases on the

eyebrows as he laid the foundation for the systemic view of meaning, one that says words do more than point at an object because they can have so many meanings. Taking a sip from the water in his signature pink heart-handled mug, Jackson used Blum’s last word, “silence,” to inform his lecture on the two ways we talk about God, through negative (apophatic) and positive (cataphatic) statements. He focused on language in the Bible before Christ, and how after Christ’s coming, poetry and narrative take us from a place of silence about God to a place of language that ought to take us back to a place of silence. “If you think Christ is going to answer all of your theological questions about God, you’ve got to be a little shocked,” Jackson said. But, he

Folk, opera, and a little bit of jazz: Orchestra to perform tomorrow night Collegian Reporter

After just 18 hours of rehearsal, Hillsdale’s symphony orchestra will play a full concert tonight at 8 p.m. in the Sage Center for the Arts. The concert will feature two concerto competition winners, sophomore violinist Tova Forman and junior vocalist Sarah Schutte. The Hillsdale College Big Band will play a jazz afterglow concert following the performance. “We had a short rehearsal period for this, compared to a lot of our concerts because of the Washington, D.C., trip. It kind of cut into our rehearsal time,” Music Director James Holleman said. “It’s fun music to listen to.” The orchestra played for the College Orchestra Directors’ Association’s annual conference in Washington, D.C. this February, and preparing for the trip consumed a significant amount of this semester’s rehearsal time. The orchestra rushed to learn the music for the concert after their Washington, D.C., performance, concertmaster

Rachelle Ferguson, a senior violinist, said. “Everything has been happening at once,” Ferguson said. “With the D.C. concert, we didn’t touch this music until the second week of February. Which was great, because we had all that time to polish our D.C. music, which really paid off. But we’ve only had this music for a month.” The number of orchestra members who played in the pit for the musical “Kiss Me, Kate!” also cut into rehearsal time, Ferguson said. “The musical this week as well — so many people are involved in that, Professor Holleman hasn’t been able to rehearse us,” she said. Nevertheless, Forman will open the concert with a series of Romanian folk dances by Bela Bartok. “They’re really fun to play on violin,” Forman said. “It’s nice to open the concert with a short fun piece … and that’s kind of what mine is.” Schutte will sing “Ah scostati – Smanie implacabili” from Mozart’s opera “Cosi fan tutte.” The aria is sung by the character Dorabella as

she laments her beloved’s departure to war. Schutte will also sing “Lied” and “Csardas” from Franz Lehar’s “Zigeunerliebe.” The program also includes Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov’s “Capriccio Espagnol,” Alan Hovhaness’s “Mysterious Mountain” symphony, and Modest Mussorgsky’s “Night On Bald Mountain.” “It is really fun music,” Ferguson said. “The Rimsky-Korsakov is cool because it features a lot of soloists and a lot of groups. There’s actually one movement that is mostly cadenzas all around the orchestra … It’s very fun. The theme kind of gets passed around the orchestra in a very cool way.” This concert will be shorter than most, Holleman said, which will allow students to rest from studying before spring break. “It should be really good energy, it should be really upbeat, and it should be really audience-friendly,” Holleman said.

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furthest from the literal Latin, the most exuberant, drew the closest to the literal meaning. “As human beings we are concerned with similar things, the mortal things of other people,” Ward said. “There is a comfort we can get from strangest of strange lands, you know there is humanity in common.” She said translation isn’t just a matter of replacing a Latin word with an English one, but articulating the sentiments behind the words that our common human experience expresses. The forum impressed sophomore English major Ryan Burns, who said each lecturer could have given their own full-length talk. He appreciated Ward’s linguistic perspective as a classicist, one that differed from Jackson and

See Lyceum B2 Compiled by Katie J. Read

CULTURE CORNER CCA EDITION

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By | Emily Blatter

concluded, while he might not answer all of our questions, Christ gives us a way of speaking about the divine. “When God became man, the uncontainable became contained, the un-circumscribable became circumscribed, you have to wonder how that works,” Jackson said. “How does language allow us to approach how this works?” Ward transitioned from the divine to the human. Through charming self-deprecation of the futility of studying dead languages, Ward demonstrated how her work is a kind of excavation. She asked junior Greek major Emily Barnum to show off her virtus (manly strength) and translate a line of Virgil’s “Aeneid,” where translators are sure they are missing a lot (“Oh Virgil, how you move the soul”). In her treatment of the 12 translations, the one

Junior music major Jonathan Henreckson and Professor of Theater James Brandon reflect on Orson Welles

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limits of language, coaxing out laughs, nods, and “mhmm’s” Opinions Editor through puns and self-effacing comments. Both doors of Lane 125 “Is there anything that’s bewere open: students, faculyond language?” Blum said. ty, and visiting parents filled “Everything besides language every seat, leaned in the is beyond language. And of doorways, sat on the ground, course, none of this that I said slouched against the walls, today, in any way means that drew up folding chairs. there aren’t times when we are or perhaps should be reduced to silence.” B l u m kick-started the conversation with a foray into postmodern philosophy of language, gently poking fun at the unorthodoxy of this system of thought at HillsProfessors Laury Ward, Justin Jackson, and Peter Blum speak at a Lyceum dale. panel discussion last Friday. Hillsdale College | Courtesy He knit his

By | Jo Kroeker

What’s your favorite Orson Welles movie? Why? Henreckson: My favorite Orson Welles movie is “Touch of Evil.” I chose this CCA because I love movies, and Welles is one of the greatest directors of all time. I loved the chance to hear the stories and opinions from people who knew him well.

Brandon: Of course my favorite Welles movie is “Citizen Kane”: it is also the one I am most familiar with, it is clearly his best film, and it is one of the greatest movies ever made. I love “The Man Who Saw Tomorrow,” the wonderful and cheesy documentary about Nostradamus. It was my introduction to the man, and Welles has fascinated me ever since.

Why are these movies still relevant today, to this audience? Henreckson: Today’s directors often copy the techniques that Welles used. He was a groundbreaking director and his movies are enjoyed just as much today by contemporary audiences, despite the rise of popular superhero movies, special effects, and huge budgets. The seemingly simple movies, which are actually intense and complex, appeal to the viewer today, and keep him in suspense, just as it did when the movie was first made.

Brandon: These movies have been so influential to generations of filmmakers. Kane in particular really helped to establish a shared language for making films in multiple styles. These movies are also made in a much different style than contemporary films, and it is important for film lovers to experience different kinds of narrative structure and technique. And some of the actors are just dynamite.

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B2 9 Mar. 2017

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in review this week . . .

‘Kiss Me, Kate’: Did we kiss morality goodbye? By | Samuel Musser

Special to the Collegian

When I attended “Kiss Me, Kate” on Saturday night, I found it so wonderful that I returned again Sunday afternoon. All of the actors and actresses shone, and the pit and crew were wonderful. But I was shocked by the many references of an immoral nature made throughout the show, from broomsticks to the content of “Brush up your Shakespeare.” I am fully aware that “Kiss Me, Kate” productions are usually much more bawdy than the Hillsdale production, and I recognize the theater department’s effort to soften the show’s sharper sides. Still, I knew a family in the audience who had brought their young girls to the show, and they were concerned about the more inappropriate parts of the play that may have seeped into the ears of their preteen daughters. This led to me consider the balance of Christian liberty — Christians’ freedom to engage in any activities not expressly forbidden in the Scriptures — with the call to be continually renewing our mind with pure and true things, especially in light of Romans 12:2: “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed, by the renewing of your mind.” I concluded that while believers may practice Christian liberty, we should be much more sensitive to the younger, weaker

Christian consciences around us than currently are, and make our decisions accordingly. On that point, two of the more uncomfortable scenes, interestingly enough, reminded me of certain Biblical passages: Act 2, Scene 4, and Act 2, Scene 6. Scene 4 featured Lois Lane (Gianna Marchese, who performed wonderfully), who strutted around the stage seducing and reducing men, w h i l e justifying her sluttiness as her brand of faithfulness in the coy song “A l w a y s True to You in My Fashion.” The scene’s adulterous overtones reminded me of the same unease I felt watching “Broadway’s Next Hit Musical,” the company that came and performed earlier this year, feelings that Molly Schutte touched on in her letter to the editor about the show. Proverbs 5 and 7 came to my mind, which tell of the adulterous woman that calls men off of the street as they walk by, seducing them only to dump them, depleted and despairing. In a similar fashion, Lois’ man, Bill Calhoun (played by Mark Naida, whose dreamy dancing sparkled), serenades

his lover, despite his knowledge of her faithlessness. This reminded me of the book of Hosea in the Old Testament, in which God, through the prophet Hosea, shows how he loves his chosen people despite their lust for other gods and idols. These pictures, albeit not the pictures the playwright intended for us to summon to mind and may indeed be viewed as weak excuses for immoral content, are at the very least thought- and discussion-provoking. This article is not a comprehensive review of morality in plays, suggestive content, or even advice for Christians in their life choices. Nor is it a wholesale endorsement of all shows, novels, films, or the like that contain questionable sexual references or otherwise uncomfortable scenes. Rather, it is me sharing of some of my initial thoughts and reactions to some of the more morally questionable aspects of the musical, along with an admonition to wise living. The Scriptures call us to a life of holiness defined by imitation of Jesus Christ, who, though he ate with tax collectors and sinners, remained pure in thought and deed. While we should not ever

“Two of the more uncomfortable scenes, interestingly enough, reminded me of certain Biblical passages.”

judge the decisions of Christian liberty that our siblings in Christ may make (Romans 14:13), we ought to be ultra-sensitive to any siblings with a more pliable and influenceable spirit, knowing that seeing you, someone more mature than them in the faith, partaking, could encourage them to partake as well, even when they are not mature enough to handle certain content without stumbling. Romans 14:3 and 14:21 remind us that to “Let not the one who eats despise the one who abstains, and let not the one who abstains pass judgment on the one who eats, for God has welcomed him...It is better not to eat meat or drink wine or to do anything else that will cause your brother or sister to fall.” The musical serves as a type of spiritual food. Some Christians will believe it wrong to eat, and others will think it is perfectly fine, but no matter your own opinion, remember to both not judge someone else’s choice and also make sure that our decision to eat would not cause a brother or sister to stumble on their journey. On the matters that Scripture does not explicitly give moral commands, it is up to us and our consciences, reinforced by God’s Word, to make the right decisions. Not only do those decisions affect us, but they can also affect our brothers and sisters in Christ.

No choice between nostalgia and defeatism in ‘The Benedict Option’ By | Nic Rowan Collegian Reporter Before “The Benedict Option,” there was just Rod Dreher and his new book’s eponymous idea. But come March 14, the American Conservative blogger promises a full explanation of the murky term with “a strategy for Christians in a post-Christian nation.” Although Dreher delivers, his strategy tempts his audience to believe Christians can only survive modernity’s depravity by creating a “parallel polis,” a spiritual utopia where they can live undisturbed. Dreher wedges his argument between alarming images — first a flood that drowns unprepared Christians and then a similarly destructive earthquake — and supports his proposal with a dangerously nostalgic view of history. Like a postmodern Raphael Hythloday from St. Thomas More’s “Utopia,” Dreher concludes that since society will not heed the wisdom of Christianity, Christians must forsake trying to influence society at all. Years before Dreher wrote “The Benedict Option,” he began throwing around the idea that the father of European monasticism, St. Benedict of Nursia, had abandoned fifth century Rome because he felt the society was too corrupt to support him as a Christian any longer. That, combined with a little rhetoric from Alasdair MacIntyre’s 1981 “After Virtue,” in which the Scottish political philosopher calls for “another — doubtless very different — St. Benedict” for the modern world, gave Dreher the phrase “the Benedict Option,” apparently meaning that Christians should make a spiritual retreat from the secular world. Dreher ignited debates in every Christian conservative corner, from the dorky tables in the cafeteria up to the hallowed lobby of The Heritage Foundation, over just how far and just how spiritual this retreat should be. Some said the Benedict Option was a political call for Christians to remove themselves from society entirely. When pressed on the issue, Dreher himself would say he was only reminding Christians to put prayer and work at the center of their lives. Regardless of the term’s meaning and origin, Dre-

her would have done well to actually read Pope Gregory the Great’s fifth-century biography of Benedict, which nowhere says that he became a monastic because society failed him. All we know about the hermit of Nursia is that he answered a vocation to serve God in the wilderness. But with his new book, Dreher attempts to put all debate about the Benedict Option to rest by claiming all Christians must follow Benedict’s example — according to the Dreher version of Benedict. But those apocalyptic images and the contradicting arguments — like a blogger who advises his readers not to use the internet — turn a well-intentioned book into a bumptious disaster. At the outset Dreher de-

the advent of modernity, and any power it might have held was replaced with the ideas of Marx and Nietzsche. Dreher diagnoses the majority of Christians today as “Moralistic Therapeutic Deists,” susceptible to the leanings of an over-encroaching secular culture. He also tears into the conservative project — especially Reagan and latter-day Republicans — and blames failing Christians by only trying to safeguard prolife issues and the integrity of the traditional family. His solution: Christians must abandon ship and create a utopia within the bounds of American society, but distinctly removed from it through active prayer and a faith-based community. It all sounds so simple, pure even — if you buy into Dreher’s historical narrative. For Dreher, the world is an evil place and history a lost battle for Christians. And although he insists he doesn’t want to “turn back the clock,” by denouncing his own society as failed, he takes a gloomy position where one bad thinker — Marx, for instance — forces everyone to think in his terms from then onward. If that’s the case, the sometime writer for The Atlantic Sam Kriss is correct: because Marx thought, we are all Marxists. This view of history is unworkable and has never been the tradition of sane Christians. In “The Dreher’s next book will be reCity of God,” the early leased March 14. Amazon Christian thinker Augustine asserts that the great clares, “The culture war that society of his time, Rome, fell began with the Sexual Revo- because its stewards failed to lution in the 1960s has now take care of it. But he does not ended in defeat for Christian assert — as Dreher wrongly Conservatives.” He then leads concludes — that Rome was his readers on a tour of histo- a society separate and distinct ry — which he envisions as a from Christianity. In Augusgreat battle for control over tine’s world, Christians live chronological narrative which in Rome, and they face a conChristians started losing in stant battle to care for Rome, the High Middle Ages when while remaining cognizant the Franciscan friar William of heaven above. All cities of of Ockham divorced the tran- men exist as earthly estates scendent and material worlds portioned over to the best with nominalism. Christians safeguards — Christians — lost even more during the Re- on their journey to the eternal naissance and the Protestant city of God. Reformation, when humanist So in sounding the alarm thinkers and evil popes made for the end of society, Drethe church worldly and weak. her positions himself not as Finally, Christianity melted a new Benedict, or even as a into a wax of sentiment with new John the Baptist, crying

out in the wilds of Louisiana to alert Christians of the coming peril. He best fits the role of Hythloday, the speaker of nonsense who proposes in Thomas More’s 1516 dialogue “Utopia” that misanthropy is the key to salvation. Hythloday argues that since man so often falls and since rulers rarely listen to the advice of good men, it is best just to give up on society. More sympathizes with Hythloday in the dialogue, but as a man who participated in the highest strata of society and even tried to raise a king to be a virtuous man, he cannot agree with the embittered Hythloday. More compares Hythloday and his vision of Utopia to a man who is reciting a great tragic speech of Sophocles when he should be acting in a Plautus comedy. His point is that we’re never born into the role we want to play, but trying to create our own reality won’t do ourselves or our fellow men any good. It’s like abandoning a ship because we cannot control the wind. The same could be said of Dreher. While the ora et labora sections of “The Benedict Option” could strengthen the faith of Christians everywhere, the apocalyptic tone in which Dreher writes about the rest of his plan diffuses the potency of his book. Crying out about the end of the world goes against man’s role as steward over society, even if his society is dirtied by sin. But instead of retreating in themselves or creating a parallel polis, Christians should be taking positive initiatives to influence the next generation of common people — who are the modern day princes — to govern with justice and virtue. These sorts of programs were started by the Romans and have not been attempted in civil society with any real effort since the Renaissance. Those who implemented them understood that, in the end, there can be no successful society with a secular state distinct from a Christian enclave. A good society is led by men who are trying to help others live virtuously, while trying to serve God themselves. We are not waiting for a Benedict, but for another — and hopefully very similar — Thomas More.

Why aren’t Eastern religions in Hillsdale’s classrooms? By | Anders Hagstrom Senior Writer

Hillsdale students are familiar with Aristotle, Plato and Socrates, but have they ever heard of Ibn-Sina, Nagarjuna, or Keiji Nishitani? Maybe, but they can’t thank Hillsdale College’s core curriculum for that knowledge. The core’s exclusion of Eastern traditions and religions most recently came under scrutiny when a reporter from The New York Times visited campus to write a profile of the college. The journalist, Erik Eckholm, spoke with a thinly veiled criticism, referring to the college’s emphasis on classical Western literature as a system “sometimes disparaged as the Great Books of dead white men.” Eckholm and those like him would have Hillsdale teach its students about Eastern traditions for the sake of the contemporary understanding of “diversity,” a notion which m a n y Hillsdalians dismiss outright. But is this understanding of d i ve r s it y the only reason that might compel the college to include Eastern traditions in the core? Not according to Hillsdale’s Professor of Philosophy James Stephens. For Stephens, Hillsdale should teach Eastern traditions by default. He asks what reason the college could possibly have for not including them. “Hillsdale makes claims to teach and study a universal human nature,” Stephens said. “Yet we only study how that nature manifests in the Western tradition.” Hillsdale’s claims about truth are displayed for all to see on the college website’s description of the core curriculum: “Here, the questions are provocative, the debates robust, and the coursework intense. This journey is designed to lead you to universal truths.” In spite of these claims to universality, students of the core receive little guidance as to how these truths might be seen in Buddhism, Hinduism, Taoism, or any other Eastern philosophical and religious traditions. The Spring 2017 course schedules for the philosophy and religion departments contain eight sections of Western Philosophical Tradition and nine sections of Western Theological Tradition, but no mention of Eastern philosophy even among

major-specific courses. The only mention of Eastern religion is a single section of Introduction to Eastern Religion taught by Stephens. According to Associate Professor of Politics John Grant, the omission is not due to any intentional disregard for Eastern philosophy. “Non-Western thought is very much worthy of study,” Grant said. “I think the principal reason why we don’t spend much time studying material from outside the Western tradition is a practical one; it is very hard to obtain adequate knowledge of our own tradition.” This lack of emphasis on Eastern thought is hardly unique to Hillsdale, however. According to research published in the Los Angeles Times last week, the course listings from the philosophy departments of the University of California, Los Angeles; the University of Southern California; and California State University, Los Angeles contain 23 courses mentioning Greek philoso p hy. B u t none of the universities had courses mentioning specific Chinese or Indian philosophers. According to Assistant Professor of Religion Don Westblade, however, Hillsdale’s emphasis on the Western tradition is not a bad thing. “Our religion department is a department of Western theology,” Westblade said. “And due to the type of students who enroll here, it’s unlikely that we would ever devote as much time to studying Eastern thought as we do Western.” Westblade also said that the Introduction to Eastern Religion course will soon be a core requirement for Hillsdale’s religion major. But the belief in a self-evident and universal human nature is not unique to the Western tradition, and students of all majors should be given the chance to encounter other manifestations of that human nature. While the college hasn’t yet seen fit to invest the professorship or materials necessary to incorporate Eastern traditions into the core curriculum, the tradition which our college does teach and uphold demands that the college gather the resources and allow students to look Eastern traditions in the eye.

“Hillsdale makes claims to teach and study a universal human nature. Yet we only study how that nature manifests in Western Tradition.”

Angkor Wat, a Buddhist temple in Cambodia, is the largest religious monument in the world. Wikimedia Commons

Lyceum from B1 Blum’s, takes that fall on similar ends of the spectrum. “Ward didn’t crack under pressure under the theological and metaphysically prior ways of thinking about language,” Burns said. “She approached it with poise and commanded the room.” Senior Rebekah Molloy, an English and German major, said the talk blew her mind: “The limits of language allow us to get a sense of God… you’re struck dumb, no pun

intended.” Senior philosophy major Maddy Johnson said she found the forum’s presentation of a different stance on the adequacy of language refreshing and thought-provoking. “The moment when she was unpacking the line of Aeneid was spell-binding,” Johnson said. “The language disappeared and it was me and the reality of Aeneas’s language.”

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People-watching and pancakes Nine hours observing the late-night shift By | Katie J. Read Assistant Editor When you walk down North Howell Street late on a Friday or Saturday evening, one patch of windows on the storefront illuminates the dark street. Peek inside, wandering wayfarer. You’re welcome, and they’re open all night. It’s just after 9 p.m. on Friday at the Palace Cafe, a diner wedged into a storefront in downtown Hillsdale. Thirteen booths, 11 bar stools, and a couple tables line the floor of the restaurant, inviting friends and strangers in for a coffee, a meal, and a conversation. Over the next nine hours, this greasy spoon will welcome nighttime regulars and curious newcomers as friends. The night begins with a cup of hot coffee (two creams, no sugar), and an ice water, please. Two customers settle into a booth, halfway between the kitchen and the register. They’ll have a basket of chicken strips, a ham-andcheese sandwich, and two plain cheeseburgers to-go. At half-past 9, a family clambers through the front door, and the six of them gather around a long table tucked in the back corner of the room. Now that the early crowd has assembled, Kim and Dan, the couple who run the show, make their entrance. Back in the kitchen, Reagan scrapes the grill with a wide metal spatula. She’s 19, and she’s only been working the Friday and Saturday overnight for a month and a half. It’s just her in the kitchen on these nights, so she handles the rushes single-handedly, manning two big grills to flip burgers, fried eggs, and pancakes. A bell rings out over the clatter of the kitchen just as Kim ties her apron behind her

back, joking with the table of six about her tardiness: “I’ll wait on you if you wait on me,” she laughed. After scribbling six orders onto her pad of guest checks, she turns to the couple in the booth to greet Debbie and Larry Kendell, who are there for dinner, just like they always are on the weekends. “We’ve got lots of good friends here. People who we care about,” Debbie Kendell said. For this Hillsdale couple, life hasn’t been easy, and the Palace is a place of refuge. Larry grew up in the foster system, living in a state house in Coldwater, Michigan, just a town away. He moved to Hillsdale before he reached legal adulthood to live alone. But on a cold Michigan night 35 years ago, he went to Broad Street and happened on Debbie, homeless, and wearing nothing but tattered shorts and a tank top. The next day, they were engaged. The day after that, married. Thirtyfive years later, they’re still together. “Tomorrow is our anniversary,” Debbie said. As the couple finishes their dinner, they catch a few moments with Kim, who leans against the high back of their booth to check in. She knows them — not just their faces and names, but their stories. Kim teases Debbie about her temper, and reminds Larry that he’s got a strong woman. The couple says goodnight, and heads out the door. By the time Kim pours the second cup of coffee at 11 p.m., the crowd has grown to seven. A college kid chats with his parents and another student, some locals bite into a late-night snack, and a few more students load up on cheap, greasy eats. Dan and Kim have six kids, the oldest 22 and the youngest

14. The two work well together, teasing each other in front of the customers as a means of entertainment. “Kids like the smart-aleck stuff we say back and forth to each other,” Kim said as Dan rolled his eyes. The couple works in rhythm with each other for the entire night shift. Dan does laps around the restaurant, collecting dishes, refilling ketchup bottles, and stacking packets of jam. Kim crosses his steady path, bouncing from table to table as she scribbles orders and recommends the cinnamon-roll pancake, her favorite item on the menu. A third cup of coffee brings in the rush, just around 1 a.m. The cafe crew swells to 27: college kids teeter in, either clumsy from a few drinks or just frozen stiff from the cold. A chatty group commandeers two tables nearest the kitchen, filling the place with noise and laughter and cheer — pancakes all around. This is the crowd the third shift is made for. Kim and Dan have worked on the Palace’s overnight skeleton crew since it opened for Friday and Saturday nights in the fall 2013, and they said they’ve seen a change in their nighttime customers over the last four years. They initially spent their evenings flipping flapjacks for Hillsdale residents looking to sober up after a night out, but that didn’t last long. “Now I’d say we’re here because the college kids are here,” Kim said, leaning on the counter, drinking an apple juice her husband had poured her. “It’s all about pancakes and education.” Kim said she’s never had a problem with rowdy students. Her only complaint? The straw wrappers they litter on the floor. Kim and Dan said their fa-

The Palace Cafe, open all night Friday and Saturday, brings in a variety of patrons on weekend nights. Katie J. Read | Collegian

vorite part of the night shift is asking a pack of oddball collegiate customers where on earth they’re from. “You guys got some worldchangers coming through here,” Dan said. “It’s pretty cool.” By 1:30 a.m., 36 people are ordering late-night breakfasts and the staff is hopping. A trio of girls decked out in summertime shirts under winter coats discuss the rager they just left — fun, but better for people-watching than for dancing. They talk and eat but do not linger, morning plans nudging care-free consciences to responsibility. A few booths over, four guys inhale thousands of calories as they annihilate a few Empire Bowls — scrambled eggs, hash browns, sausage, green pepper, gravy, and cheese, topped with hot sauce. “You’d be surprised at the amount of food boys can consume,” a customer remarked later. “It’s like they have a hollow leg.” It’s 2:30 a.m. now, and suddenly a line 15-deep appears at the cash register. Students fish through their wallets for a few dollar bills. The Palace has a cash-only policy — mind-boggling for the millennial who always pays with plastic. As the college kids shuffle forward one by one, Michael Jackson’s “Thriller” plays for the second time

that night. Perched at the bar, freshman Samuel Musser swivels on a stool, observing it all. “Some of the best conversations of my life have taken place at the Palace,” he said. “Sunday after lunch, talking about life direction and purpose … late-night discussions of the values and themes of ‘La La Land.’” 3 a.m. — a lull. A glass of water. There are only two people in the cafe besides Dan, Kim, and Raegan: Grace and Wayne, old friends. They’re longtime Hillsdale residents and Palace regulars, and they’ve both worked there at one time or another. Tonight, though, they’re drinking coffee, stepping out for cigarettes, and enjoying the company only the Palace can provide. Grace likes to stay up late — probably because she was born in the evening, if you listen to her mother’s reasoning. She said she remembers moving to Hillsdale and getting a job as a waitress at the Palace, back when they still served old-fashioned sodas. “Honestly, it was a pain,” she said, rolling her eyes. “You’ll be sticky from the moment you start to the moment you end.” Still, Grace said she loves the Palace. “I like that this is open on

weekends,” she said. “If you went to the bar or a party, it’s always here. You can come and get coffee or a whole meal. The help is always super nice. It’s like getting waited on in your own home. Every waitress here takes a personal interest in you.” Wayne has been coming to the Palace since he was 6 years old, right after he moved to Hillsdale with his mom and brother. He’s worked here, too, and on nights like tonight, he jumps up to help Dan and Kim when the restaurant gets busy. “Dan and Kim are my best friends, so I’m here all the time,” he said. At 5 a.m., only one hour of the third shift remains. Three cops saunter in, just finished with their own long night of work. It’s 6 a.m. now, and the last swallows of coffee turn bitter and cold in the bottom of the cup. Kim and Dan grab their things, say their goodbyes, and head out the back door. The sky hasn’t changed much since the cafe opened up nine hours earlier, and the Palace’s facade continues to glow like a hearth in the stilldark downtown Hillsdale. Tonight, it has welcomed packs of college friends, huddles of unwavering companions, and the restless wanderer.

Ashby’s award-winning ice cream at A.J.’s By | Josephine von Dohlen Collegian Reporter It’s the after-class treat, the late-night studying reward, the heart-to-heart conversation snack: ice cream from A.J.’s Café. In fact, it is such a popular purchase that A.J.’s sells an average of 21 3-gallon tubs of ice cream throughout one week. “I had my salesman tell me a few years ago that I sell as much ice cream here in the winter months as an ice cream store will sell in the summertime,” Lisa Beasley, supervisor of A.J.’s Café, said. Apparently, the ice cream is just that good. Ashby’s Sterling Ice Cream, the ice cream sold at A.J.’s, maintains a local approach to ice cream production as well as creativity in forming its unique flavors. Founded in 1984 by the Davis brothers, one of whom graduated with a degree in economics and business management from Hillsdale College in 1980, Ashby’s started as a response to the, “need for

premium, upscale ice cream” Dianne Tunison, sales and marketing manager for Ashby’s Sterling Ice Cream, said. At its founding, Ashby’s found pride in eight flavors and a bulk approach, selling their ice cream in 3-gallon buckets. Seeking to provide to consumers a high-quality ice cream, they settled on 14 percent butterfat, as opposed to typical supermarket-grade ice creams, which use around 10 percent butterfat. Beasley said she thinks this component is part of what makes Ashby’s ice cream good. “It’s so good just because there’s just so much butterfat and milkfat,” she said. “That’s why it has such good flavor and texture.” In addition to the highquality product, Ashby’s prides itself in the unique and complex flavors that they combine themselves. “From there, we wanted to put the good stuff in,” Tunison said. Each fall, Ashby’s Sterling Ice Cream hosts a Flavor Day where customers, prospects, and distributors have the op-

From Painting B4

Steve ‘the Painter’ Wismar was married in 1971, the summer before his senior year at Hillsdale College. Winona

portunity to sample upward of 30 different flavors and choose their favorites. The top four or five picks are then released the next spring. “Voting on the flavors is important because then you know it will be successful,” Tunison said. “You can sit with the top dogs in your company, and then only three people like it.” Their voting approach has been widely successful, with several flavors winning various awards, specifically Vanilla Bean, which is not only their best-seller, but has also received a perfect score from the National Ice Cream Retailer Association. This spring, they will feature the new flavor, Moscow Mule, a ginger beer and lime sorbet based off the alcoholic drink. “The idea came from my head, since it’s what I enjoy while sitting at the pool,” Tunison said. Another one of Tunison’s ideas, Michigan Pothole, has enjoyed great success. Customers can enjoy the “black-tar” fudge ice cream with “chunks of asphalt”

ness like a charity,” Johnson said. “He’s always out of money. He tells a customer ‘it’s going to cost this much to do the house,’ and then he just decides ‘I’m going to replace their windows and fix the doors and stuff.” One of his sayings is: “If it needs to be done, then do it,” Martin said, and Wismar lives that out with every job. Wismar spent several months painting a church for free. When painting for pay, he gives quotes instead of estimates. If he decides to add an additional coat or other labor, he loses money. His friendly demeanor, identifiable “Steve-the-Painter” car, and paintcovered clothes have made him a known and loved member of the community, according to Martin and Johnson. “I’ve worked in the public all my life,” Wismar said. “People recognize me from the lumber yard that haven’t seen me in years, and volunteer activities.” Martin and Johnson said when they’re with Wismar, people come up to him about every 30 seconds to say hello or chat. “Everyone knows him. It’s impossible to go somewhere without seeing someone come up and talk to him for a couple seconds or minutes,” Martin said. In addition to meeting people through volunteering, Wismar has served as an elected official (a township supervisor) — the only area he’s used his political science and history

fudge cups knowing that a portion of the proceeds from Michigan Pothole help fix the roads. “Just driving around, I thought, there has got to be an ice cream for this,” Tunison said. A.J.’s most popular flavors include Cookie Jar, a mix of the ever popular O-O-Oreo ice cream with chocolatechip cookie dough and oatmeal-cookie crumbles, and Scout’s Honor Mint Chip, mint ice cream with chocolate mint cookie balls and chocolate cookie fudge. “I just like it because their flavors are true to their name,” Beasley said. “Because it is rich in flavor, it is good ice cream that keeps you wanting to come back for more.” Matt Katz, internal affairs for A.J.’s, said his personal favorite is Chocolate PeanutButter Cup. “It’s the perfect mix of chocolate and peanut butter,” he said. “It’s just everything you want in an ice cream. It’s there for you when you’re happy and when you’re sad. It’s your best friend.”

Cookie Jar, a flavor of Ashby’s Sterling Ice Cream, is one of the favorites served at A.J.’s Café. S.M. Chavey | Collegian

A.J.’s purchases Ashby’s ice cream through the independent distributor Prairie Farms, a local Michigan dairy company. Ice cream has become quite the addiction for Hillsdale students. Sometimes, a tub will only last a few hours. “There has been a time where I put something out at maybe 2 o’clock in the afternoon and then the next morn-

majors, he said. In 2004, his name was on the same ballot as the presidential nominees. “It’s kind of neat to have your name on the ballot,” Wismar said. “Back in the days of the voting machines, we’d walk into the booth and put down ledgers to vote. I have a sample ballot from ’04. [Bush and I] were over here on the same ticket. Far removed, but same ticket.” Wismar hasn’t seen a movie in theaters since “Star Wars: A New Hope,” and he doesn’t watch TV, play sports, or listen to a lot of music. He said he’s cultivated an interest in classical music and local businesses. “He’s a charming relic in Hillsdale county that deserves some kind of recognition for all the things he’s done,” Martin said. Wismar never got angry at his workers — even when they had to redo an entire house of painting. His long wingspan helps his own painting, and he told his workers stories of his feats on ladders. But Martin and Johnson described him as a grandfather figure who influenced their lives positively. “I think he feels the story of everything that happened is a good way to evangelize to people,” Johnson said. He and Martin said Wismar inspired them to care more about doing a good job than getting paid well, although he was generous with pay. Wismar even replaced Johnson’s tire when it went flat. Wismar continues to attribute all of his

ing it is gone,” Beasley said. The combination of unique flavors, high-quality ice cream, and the easy access at A.J.’s makes Ashby’s irresistible. “It’s so popular because every student has tried different flavors but they have a favorite flavor, and when they see it, they have to have it,” Katz said.

good work and change to his conversion. His life can be summed up in John 3:6, he said: “You should not be surprised at my saying ‘You must be born again.’”

Steve Wismar made this pamphlet featuring a picture of himself as an evangelism tool. Steve Wismar | Courtesy

www.hillsdalecollegian.com

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Allegro and laughter By | Kristiana Mork Collegian Reporter Laughter fills the vast expanse of McNamara Rehearsal Hall, bouncing off stacks of chairs, bleachers, paneled walls, and floor-to-ceiling window panes. Stray rays of sunlight escape from unhappy clouds and reflect off the metallic surfaces of a bassoon, a clarinet, a flute, a French horn, and an oboe — tools of the trade for the Hillsdale College Faculty Woodwind Quintet. Hillsdale adjunct music professors Cindy Duda, Andrew Sprung, Alan Taplin, Jaimie Wagner, and Kaycee Ware-Thomas, laugh at the last strains of a joke made during a break in rehearsal before looking up. Here, laughter is plentiful and time is precious. The quintet members rehearse every week between teaching classes at Hillsdale, working with high school orchestras, conducting private lessons, teaching at other uni-

versities, performing in ensembles, caring for families, and, in Taplin’s case, even playing full-time with the Toledo Symphony Orchestra. “The biggest challenge for a lot of us is driving,” Duda said. “Driving to work, to different schools. I am kind of cranky until I get here because it’s a lot of driving.” Sometimes, she said she asks herself why she continues to make the trek through the snow and ice of Michigan winters. “But then I get here,” she said. “And I work with the students, and I play, and it’s like, ‘Aha.’ I remember. It’s not work anymore. I’m making music. And it’s just cool.” Duda has been playing bassoon since high school. She said she started with the flute, but noticed the bassoon when a colleague was cleaning out a closet. “I asked what it was,” Duda said, “and she said to take it home and try it. I just loved it, and she told the high school band director that I tried it and he recruited me.”

The faculty woodwind quintet: Alan Taplin, Kaycee Ware-Thomas, Andrew Sprung, Jaimie Wagner, and Cindy Duda. Stacey Jones-Garrison | Courtesy

Her private high school was in need of bassoon players, so when the band director heard she was interested, he offered her a scholarship. She hasn’t stopped playing since. Sprung and Ware-Thomas both started playing their instruments in fifth grade. Sprung said he chose the clarinet after realizing he could make the biggest and best sound with it. Ware-Thomas said she decided to play the oboe when her older sister suggested she would get all of the solos. Composers Johannes Brahms and Johann Strauss brought Taplin to the horn. “When I was a kid, my Dad used to play classical music on Sunday morning before church while we ate breakfast,” Taplin said. “I would sit by the stereo and listen to recordings. I thought the horn made the coolest sound. I knew from age 3 or 4 that that’s what I wanted to do.” Taplin went on to play in a brass quartet in college. His first gig was sitting on the street corners of Ann Arbor,

Michigan, playing for change. He made $30 per day. Now, Taplin plays in 170 concerts a year with the Toledo Symphony Orchestra. “One hundred seventy concerts a year? Not including rehearsals?” Ware-Thomas asked when Taplin mentioned his schedule. “They’re working you to death!” Taplin disagreed. “If you enjoy what you’re doing, then it’s not work, is it?” he said. Years of training and hours of practice brought each of the five to their respective positions. “I think we’re busier than the average person,” WareThomas said. “All of us have probably studied long enough to be brain surgeons by now. We probably have more training than they do because we start in elementary school. String players start when they are 3. We’ve been training longer than any profession I can think of.” But the five call themselves lucky. Few schools of Hillsdale’s size possess the

time or resources to sponsor programs like the faculty woodwind quintet, Sprung said, and there are plenty of talented musicians with graduate degrees working retail to make a living. Working freelance also provides schedule flexibility. “The benefit of freelancing is the fluidity of schedule to change things around,” Duda said. “If my husband needs to work late, we can switch off and he can come home in the evenings. I have a little flexibility that makes it much easier to be there for really important events. That makes it really nice to be both a mom and a musician.” For the first time ever, the quintet also asked a student to perform with them. Senior Kaitlyn Johns, an economics major and music minor, has been playing clarinet with the group this spring. “I thought it was going to be intimidating, playing with five professional musicians,” Johns said, “But it has been a joy to work with them. Everything is very collaborative, so

I am comfortable expressing my thoughts and ideas about the piece, but I am also learning a lot because I’m getting instruction from five different teachers with five different perspectives.” Hillsdale provides an amazing opportunity to engage with music and the arts in ways few rural areas experience, Sprung said. Every week there are free concerts and recitals, yet many students miss out. “What we have here with weekly rehearsals is really nice — it doesn’t usually happen that way,” Ware-Thomas said. “With chamber music, I think you do need to just put in the time together to feel like you’re gelling as a group. It’s different than practicing individually and learning your notes. You’re learning to read each other’s body language, to become one unit instead of individual players. That’s the hard part.” The quintet will perform April 10 at 7 p.m in Howard Music Hall.

From partying to praying and painting Steve Wismar, frequently called Steve the Painter, is known around town through his painting business and ministry. S M. Chavey | Collegian

By | S. M. Chavey Features Editor It was a child’s chore that inspired Steve Wismar ’72— Steve the Painter — to begin painting. Wismar and his younger brother were painting some furniture in the yard for their mom. Eventually, she let Wismar’s younger brother go play. In response to Steve Wismar’s complaints, she said: “You’re the better painter.” Almost 60 years later, Wismar runs a painting business in Hillsdale, but said he’s a drastically changed man. He came to Hillsdale College in 1968 — the year it was ranked as a party school in Playboy Magazine, he said. “We weren’t like you guys are now. We didn’t have a whole lot of interaction with the town,” Wismar said, adding that in contrast, the school is about 1000 percent improved since then. A Phi Sigma Kappa and avid player of the popular game “gut frisbee,” Wismar would occasionally visit his friend at

the University of Michigan to “bask in the hippy-ness.” By the time he graduated in 1972 with a double major in history and political science, he was married and owned a janitorial service. In 1975, the drinking, smoking, and partying Wismar was radically transformed. After a coworker came back from a vacation talking about “being saved,” Wismar started to examine his own life and considered converting to Christianity. During the altar call at a fundamentalist church one night, Wismar said he was saved. “I stopped doing the things I did before and started doing the things I never dreamed I would do. I went to church. I was agreeing with God,” Wismar said. In addition to giving up drinking, smoking, and many other habits, Wismar developed a passion for the pro-life movement after a personal experience with abortion. “Somewhere in heaven, I have a child,” Wismar said.

“I don’t know if it’s a boy or a girl, but I know for a fact it’s there. That’s the only child I’ve ever had. The Lord showed me, and I just couldn’t believe that it was first-degree murder.” He’s a heavy donor and occasional volunteer at the Alpha Omega Care Center now, and uses his story to evangelize. A changed man, Wismar worked as a social worker and in lumber yards before deciding to open a painting business called Steve the Painter about 15 years ago. He said he loves the process, which has a clear beginning, middle, and end. “The prep is what really makes a good paint job … and the finish is just gorgeous,” Wismar said. “It thrills me every time even after all these years to see the progression.” He and his coworkers paint buildings, exterior and interior, but Wismar prefers exteriors because people can see his work. He’s painted houses and buildings all over town, including the Chi Omega house on Hillsdale’s campus. When

painting, he never listens to music, preferring instead to pray, think, meditate, and concentrate. “I’m the only contractor in the whole wide world that doesn’t have a radio going,” Wismar said. “I’m so radically changed. Because of the transformation, it’s easy for me to be calm and laid-back, but that’s just what I want to do: spend many, many hours working, more hours on books. Because what I really like about painting is meeting the people, going to do a quote. Everybody’s different, every job’s different.” Seniors Luke Martin and David Johnson, who were among four college students to work for Steve the Painter last summer and were nicknamed “Steve’s Boys,” said “many, many” hours of work might mean staying up all night to finish a paint job or working on Thanksgiving or Christmas. “He kind of runs his busi-

See Painting B3

Elsa Lagerquist By | Anders Hagstrom

How would you describe your style? The goal is to be elegant, classic, and fun without sacrificing real comfort.

What are your favorite places to shop? Boden is hands-down my favorite clothing brand and probably owns the most space in my wardrobe (compared to any other brand).

How many suitcases would it take to fit all of your clothes? Probably more than I would care to admit.

If your style was a character on a TV show, who would it be? Tough question, considering I mostly watch shows and movies with characters in 19th-century garb. I guess, though, I can give a nod to Laura Petrie from ‘The Dick Van Dyke Show.’ I’m definitely not up to her level of sophistication, but I think she’s got lovely taste.

What’s your most embarrassing article of clothing? I don’t think I have any embarrassing pieces of clothing ... If something is that horrendous, it wouldn’t last long in my closet. I purge pretty regularly. Anders Hagstrom | Collegian

Anders Hagstrom | Collegian