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Frederick Douglassstatue in the works

Shotgun team takes home the gold

YAF petition stopped by deans office

INSIDE

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David SatterJournalist David Satter is the fall2014 Eugene C. Pulliam fellowin journalism A2

Translation contestJuniors LaRae Ferguson andJoshua Benjamins take top prizesat Greek and Latin translationcontests. A3

Shakespeare in the ArbStudent-directed play As YouLike It appears in the arbore-tum. B1

Fair announces musical actsCountry singer Randy Houserwill perform at the 2014 Hill-sdale Country Fair. Tickets goon sale April 22. A6

Energy in spoons

Coping with chronic illnesses,students share their stories.B4

Track school records brokenSenior Maurice Jones andsophomore Emily Oren brokeschool records in the 400 and thesteeple chase, respectively. A8

Vol. 137, Issue 24 - 17 April 2014Michigans oldest college newspaper www.hillsdalecollegian.com

News........................................A1Opinions..................................A4City News................................A6Sports......................................A7Arts..........................................B1Features....................................B3(Courtesy of David Satter) (Laura Williamson/Collegian)

See Shotgun A7

The Hillsdale College shotgun team took home gold in the Division III ACUI championship, winning in sporting claysand five-stand. The team hit 550 out of 600 possible targets. (Courtesy of Jordan Hintz)

Evan BruneNews Editor

Jack ButlerAssistant Editor

Chris McCafferyAssistant Editor

Micah MeadowcroftAssistant Editor

The estimated range of per-meal costs at Hillsdale andtwo other colleges.

Q&A Jonah Goldberg is a founder of National Review Online

See Q&A A3

(Anders Kiledal/Collegian)

Hillsdale College is in theprocess of commiss ioning astatue of famed 19th-centuryorator Frederick Douglass.

Chief Staff Officer to thePresident Mike Harner said thecollege has not set a time forwhen the statue might be dedi-cated, but typically, a dedica-tion ceremony comes 12-15months after a statue is com-missioned.

The statue will be placedin Kresge Plaza, next to LaneHall, where it will join thestatue of Abraham Lincoln andthe Alpha Kappa Phi Civil Warmonument.

Douglass has been thoughtof since the Liberty Walk was

thought of, Harner said. His

ideas regarding human natureand rights are important to us.

Harner said the plans arecurrently being developed incommittee.

When you take a commis-sion, there is usually a patron,which we have, he said.

Douglass was first an-nounced at the Rebirth of Lib-erty and Learning Gala, wherescholarships in his name wereannounced.

The Douglass statue joinsfive other statues on the Lib-erty Walk, which began withGeorge Washington in 2003.

The Liberty Walk is a trib-ute to those who came beforeus who have particular ideasabout human nature and free-dom, Harner said. Its a re-minder to us and honors theirmemory and points a way for-ward.

See YAF A3 See Douglass A3

The magic happens on a se-cluded, grassy eld about sixmiles away from Hillsdale Col-lege on Bankers Road.

There, at the John A. HalterShooting Sports Education Cen-ter, members of the college shot-gun team prepare for competi-tions against schools many times

Hillsdales size, with programsmuch older.

And yet they win.This year, through a competi-

tion restructuring that kept theteam in Division III, it took homeits second ACUI overall champi-onship, hitting 550 of 600 pos-sible targets in the six events, andwinning gold in sporting claysand ve-stand.

Combined, the team hit 20

more targets than the secondplace nishers. Freshman JordanHintz led the way, earning 3rd inAmerica Skeet, 2nd in AmericanTrap, and winning the High Com-bined American and Trap events.

I won these individual awardsthat I never dreamed I wouldwin, Hintz said.

Coach Mike Carl was also im-pressed with Hintz.

Its about as spectacular a

performance as you can get, Carlsaid.

Other standouts at the nationalperformance included freshmanCasey Inks, junior Joe Kain, andfreshman Kyle Luttig in sportingclays; Hintz, Kane, and Luttig in5-stand; and Inks and sophomoreAnna Pfaff coming close to thetop 25 female shooters in overallscores.

Senior classofficers elected

Young Americans for Free-

dom stopped its petition for mealplan reform on April 1 at the re-quest of Dean of Men Aaron Pe-tersen.

I didnt say, Youre in bigtrouble, I just said, You guysneed to stop this, Petersen said.I dont think petitions are thebest way to solve important is-sues.

Although YAF had plannedto offer the petition to studentsfor three days during lunchtimein the Grewcock Student Union,they stopped after only two daysand 250 signatures. YAF hadbeen planning the campaignsince last spring.

The deans ofce asked usto stop with our petition, and wefeel that our two days of petition-ing were successful with bring-ing the concerns of campus to theadministration, YAF Presidentjunior Nathan Brand said.

Brand and the rest of his grouphave had a series of meetingswith administrators, includingPetersen, Assistant Dean of Men

Jeffery Rogers, Dean of WomenDiane Philipp, Chief Staff Of-cer to the President Mike Harner,and President Larry Arnn.

We simply encouraged YAFand any other group or individualto meet with us if they have anidea on how to make Hillsdalebetter, Philipp said in an email.We work hard on such projectsall the time and welcome studentinput. Students typically offervery creative and positive ideaswhen working with us on proj-ects.

Arnn said that while collegeadministrators are happy to meetwith students, petitions are notthe best way to have the discus-sion.

The college is happy to hearfrom students, solicits their opin-

ions frequently, and listens andresponds to everyone who hassomething to say, he said in an

email. Often, the purpose of thepetition is to place pressure. Wehope not to conduct our discus-sions here under pressure.

YAF members dont regretpetitioning, though.

This is something every stu-dent has an opinion on, YAF

Chairman sophomore SavannaWierenga said. Having a peti-tion is such a great way to get lots

of people involved.According to Harner, the col-

lege administration has been re-viewing its current dining poli-

cies since last semester. It wantsto make meal plans a better valuewhile maintaining Hillsdalesstrong community.

While YAFs petition effortsare well-intended, they are inci-dental to the efforts of the pastsix months, Harner said in anemail.

Brand said his group has doneresearch into other colleges inthe area that have similarly-sizedenrollments to Hillsdales 1,400students, such as Kalamazoo Col-lege and Adrian College, whosemeal plans have policies similarto what YAF is proposing.

Kalamazoo College arrangesdining through a company calledSodexo and does not require stu-dents living off-campus or in in-dependent housing to buy a meal

plan. The school offers optional,small plans, as well as exible

Jonah Goldberg is a foundingeditor of National Review Online.He is also a fellow at the AmericanEnterprise Institute in Washing-ton, D.C., and a Fox News con-tributor. He has written two books,The Tyranny of Cliches andLiberal Fascism both of whichhave made New York Times bestseller list. Goldberg is on campusas the Dow Journalism ProgramsEugene C. Pulliam Fellow. He

lives in Washington, D.C., with hiswife Jessica, his daughter Lucy,and their puppy Zoe. Compiled byBailey Pritchett.

What is the movie you thinkevery young person should see?

For political purposes, Ill sayA Face in the Crowd, the bestmovie ever made on populism.

How long have you been aconservative, and have you no-ticed your values change overtime?

Like a lot of people, I hada confused period. I wanted toknow what I thought about poli-

tics for myself. It didnt last long.I think Ive always been a conser-vative. Being a conservative wasrebellious where I grew up, and Ialways kind of liked that. But my

views have changed a lot. I am alot more libertarian after writingLiberal Fascism. Although Ithink it is an insufcient philoso-phy, its one of the few politicalphilosophies incapable of becom-ing tyrannical.

Which intellectual fgureshave inuenced your thinking?

The thinker Im most fasci-nated with is Joseph Schumpeter.What he understood was what

other people in this time dontwhich is the when of somethingis more important than the what ofsomething. Traditional econom-ics thinks about the model, but not

how things change over time. Ind that really intersting.

College students are stereo-typed as liberal. Why do youthink that is and what can con-servative leaders can do to cap-ture the young American mind?

Realistically, it is that mostcollege students are politicallyapathetic which is better thanthem all being liberal. I think youjudge most progressive move-

ments by their utopias. Today, lib-eralism wants to turn America intoa giant college campus where theonly real crime is hurting some-

Kalamazoo

College

$6.50-$10

$8.55-$32

$8.55-$13.50

Adrian

College

Hillsdale

College

Junior Andy Reuss wasnamed president of the class of2015 Wednesday.

Im really excited to havethe opportunity to serve my se-nior class, Reuss said. Imhonored that my classmates haveentrusted me with this responsi-bility, and Im excited about whoI get to work with and make oursenior year one for the books.

Rising seniors voted Tuesday

and Wednesday. Reuss is joinedon next years senior committeeby juniors Heather Lantis as vicepresident, Kadeem Norray astreasurer, Annie Teigan as secre-tary, and Shelly Peters as socialchair.

The committee is responsiblefor the planning and execution ofall senior class events, includingthe senior party, the senior gift,and future class reunions.

Joanna Wiseley, director ofcareer services, said there wasgreat voter turnout, with over200 juniors casting a ballot.

I look forward to the oppor-tunity to work with them nextyear, she said.

Besides class president, Re-uss is an English and politicsdouble major, and will be headresident assistant in the SimpsonResidence next year. He worksin the presidents ofce, is aGeorge Washington fellow, and acontributing columnist to studentmagazine The Hillsdale Forum.

Presidential duties includeleading the selection of the seniorcommencement speaker, hostingcertain campus events, and run-ning committee meetings.

Vice President Lantis is a

See Election A3

PRESIDENT

ANDYREUSS

VICEPRESIDENT

HEATHERLANTIS

TREASURER

KADEEMNORAY

7/22/2019 4.17 Hillsdale Collegian

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NEWS A2 17 April2014www.hillsdalecollegian.com

Senior Gracemarie Lambert presents her honors thesis in the Mossey Library HeritageRoom. Lamberts topic was A Response to Absence: Reading Marilynne Robinsons Gil-ead and Housekeeping in tandem. (Courtesy of Brett Wierenga)

Journalist David Satter is the fall 2014Eugene C. Pulliam fellow in journalism.(Courtesy of David Satter)

Bailey PritchettAssistant Editor

Teddy SawyerAssistant Editor

Alex AndersonWeb Editor

Amanda TindallAssistant Editor

Sarah AlbersCollegian Reporter

Natalie deMacedoCollegian Reporter

David Satter coming this fall

Honors theses cap Hillsdale careersWHIP introducesmentor program

New English professor hired ODK partners with local NHS

Participating in the WHIPprogram not only introducesstudents to valuable internshipexperiences, but starting thissummer, a new alumni-studentprogram will also equip them

with valuable mentoring rela-tionships.

The Kirby Center, alongwith the help of Career Ser-vices and the Alumni Ofce,is forming an alumni-studentmentorship program, KirbyCenter Director Craig Kre-inbihl said. After assessingstudents current interests andcareer ambitions, the collegewill match WHIP students withalumni working in Washing-ton, D.C.

Kreinbihl said the programwill commence on June 16 forthe 50 or so Hillsdale studentswho will be in Washington,D.C., over the summer. Thekick-off event will give stu-dents a chance to mingle withalumni and nd someone they

might like to be mentored by.What we are trying to do

this summer is bring peopleback and connect them withthe Kirby Center, Kreinbihlsaid. So much mentoring isdone informally, so we wantedto formalize it a bit.

Keith Miller, assistant di-rector of career services, said astudent who takes initiative canalready form these relation-ships.

Its pretty easy to Googlewho went to Hillsdale, andthey are really eager to help. Ifyou sent them an email, I bettheyd get coffee with you,Miller said.

Still, the college believes an

actual program could help be-gin relationships, particularlyfor more reserved students.

One of the most valu-able components of coming toWashington are people that stu-dents are able to connect to,Krienbihl said.

Hillsdale graduate PalmerSchoening 08, president ofSchoening Strategies LLC,coordinated with Kreinbihl toform the program.

Our goal is to provide stu-dents a softer landing in Wash-ington, D.C., and to help themadvance their careers, Schoe-ning said. Helping Hillsdalestudents navigate into positionsof leadership in Washington,D.C., will improve the coun-try.

Both Miller and Kreinbihlexpressed how important andvaluable meeting alumni canbe.

To use the terminology ofour former Secretary of De-fense, you got your knownunknowns and your unknown

unknowns, Miller said.Miller said that an alum can

warn you about how a certainofce is managed or who totalk to. He added that alumniare people on the ground withknowledge that students canglean from.

Betsy Woodruff is a Hill-sdale alumna working at TheWashington Examiner whowill be part of the new mentor-ing initiative.

This kind of programwould denitely have beenhelpful to me when I was in-terning in D.C., Woodruff saidin an email. Im glad the ad-ministration is looking to startit.

On March 19 , the OmicronDelta Kappa leadership honor-ary of Hillsdale College met withstudents in the National HonorSociety at Hillsdale High Schoolto take the leadership principles ofboth organizations and put theminto action.

On May 4, students and volun-teers will begin the rst phase ofthe project, working to restore apark behind the high school.

Our goal for ODK for thisyear was to move forward fromjust being a status symbol to actu-

ally being an active honorary oncampus that promotes more thanjust recognition, President ofODK senior Ben Holscher said.

The students at Hillsdale Highlistened to talks on leadershipfrom Assistant Professor of Reli-gion Don Westblade, President ofODK senior Ben Holscher, andsenior Anthony Manno.

After listening to the talks, cur-rent and future members of ODKteamed up with the NHS students,applying the lessons they learned,to solve a problem they saw in thecommunity. The problem chosen:the tennis courts in the Jim InmanMemorial Park behind the highschool.

NHS came to the seminar with

a few ideas, one of which was theJim Inman park behind the highschool, NHS President BrandenBischer said. But we really didntexpect it to become as big as it did.The ODK started planting seeds inour mind, and it just took off.

For Summer Wells, HillsdaleHigh Schools NHS adviser, it wasencouraging to see the students getso involved and take leadershippositions in the project.

It was really cool for me tosee that by the time the speakershad gone and they came up withthis idea, the students just cameto life, Wells said. They initi-ated conversations and gave theirthoughts and stepped up into lead-ership positions within the group.Because so many of them are re-ally busy, I was trying to get themto move past NHS as being justanother thing to do. They werea totally different group of kidswhen they left.

Holscher also said that he wasexpecting that the ODK studentswould have to guide the conversa-tion, but the high school studentsstepped up to the plate.

It grew from just being a semi-nar, to being a launching pad foran initiative on the part of the NHSkids to not only x up the park, butmake it into a community park totake under their wing and maketheir own. Holscher said. Itshows how capable young people

can be when they get a vision andget excited about something andare willing to put their hearts intoit and do it.

The entire project will consistof two phases. In the rst phase,much of the manual labor will becompleted the May 4 volunteerday. Students and other volun-teers will be landscaping, painting,cleaning out the river, and clearingbrush.

In the second phase, theyllraise money for repairing the pa-villion, the tennis courts, and theparking lot; moving trees, repair-ing lights; making running trails;and xing the receding grass.While the high school has set asidesome money for the park, studentsare still looking into ways to fun-draise.

Were hoping that this lead-ership luncheon will be a regularoccurrence of NHS and ODK,Holscher said. The leaders forNHS and ODK will come to-gether and continue to make thisa launching pad for communityprojects for NHS with ODK men-toring them along the way.

With a $15,000 budget, NHSis heading up the fundraising forthe project. Holscher said theyrelooking for more volunteers tohelp during phase one, and any-one interested can contact him atbholscher@hillsdale.edu.

Serial interviews. Businesslunches. The drudgery of shak-ing hands, remembering names,making long-distance phonecalls. Single-use shampoo bot-tles and scratchy hotel towels.This is what Hillsdale Collegesubjects its professorial candi-dates to before making a hiringdecision.

Its what Kelly Franklincalled home about.

It was wonderful, Franklinsaid. It was fun. It was also longand somewhat stressful and it

was a ton of work to prepare for.But as soon as I got to Hillsdale,it all clicked. I called my wifeafter the rst night I couldntsleep! I didnt sleep more than afew hours each night. I was sojazzed up and energized by theconversations I had with the fac-ulty and the students.

Franklin, the man who best-ed more than 80 applicantsthroughout the hiring process, isrefreshingly earnest. A studentby heart and educator by profes-sion, his philosophy is simple.

I think that, when youreteaching literature, it relatesto the impact literature has notjust on re ason but on the heart,Franklin said. What teachers

are trying to do, particularly atplaces like Hillsdale, is com-municate goodness, truth, andbeauty.

Sophomore Josiah Lippin-cott, one of the students involvedin the interview and selectionprocess, noted that Franklinsstyle was very much in keepingwith Hillsdales commitment todynamic, authentic classroomengagement.

We all very much likedhim, Lippincott said. Wereally wanted someone whocould engage with people likemyself, who havent had muchadvanced experience writing:a teacher who would let us beable to really get something outof the class, even if we werentEnglish majors.

In addition to fosteringmeaningful discussions withinthe classroom, Franklins per-sonal philosophy appears close-ly related to the liberal arts ori-entation of Hillsdales studentsand faculty. Franklin stressedthe idea that classic literatureis more than an aggregate ofarcane and irrelevant texts. Thegreat books, when approachedcorrectly, have implicationsreaching far beyond a studentstranscript.

As an educator, Franklinsaid, I think that literature goesa long way to reach human be-

ings in a way that is more thanintellectual. Art and literaturetouch us in an emotional way.It touches our hearts. You get agreat impact by reaching the in-tellectual as well as the humanelement in your students.

English Department ChairMichael Jordan said that Frank-lins educational backgroundas well as his personal outlookmade him a good t for the po-sition.

In the English department,two-thirds of our teaching is inthe great books, Jordan said.One of the major qualities wewere looking for was someonewho has the ability to teach thegreat books of the Western, Brit-ish, and American traditions. Inaddition, Franklin focuses onWalt Whitman that was oneof the gaps we had in the depart-ment.

Franklin wrote his disserta-tion on Whitman, but his ac-complishments are not limitedto the American literary heri-tage. He has a masters degreein both English and Spanish andis currently in the process of n -ishing his doctorate in Englishat the University of Iowa.

I love being a student,Franklin said. Ive been onemost of my life. I love what hap-pens in the clas s. I love being inthe classroom.

Former Moscow cor-respondent for the Finan-cial Times and contribu-tor to National ReviewDavid Satter will spendtwo weeks on campus

next semester as the Eu-gene C. Pulliam VisitingFellow in Journalism.

Satter will teach a one-credit class from Oct.6-13. The class will focuson opinion writing andlong-form magazine ar-ticles, as well as the chal-lenges of reporting in anon-democratic country.

Many of our studentshave an interest in foreigncorrespondence, saidDow Journalism ProgramDirector John Miller. Hisrecent exclusion fromRussia will also remindus of rst principles, in-cluding the idea that freesocieties must have a freepress.

Satter had been work-ing in Russia since Sep-tember as an adviser for RadioLiberty. This past January, theRussian government rejected

Satters application for a corre-spondents visa, a decision thathas barred him from entering the

country for the next ve yearsbecause he is considered unde-sirable by Russian ofcials.

I am looking forward tosharing my experiences with thestudents at Hillsdale, Satter said

in an email. I was a cor-respondent in Moscow atthe height of Soviet totali-tarian rule and witnessedthe hope and tragedy ofpost-Soviet Russia.

Satter said he has

known of Hillsdale andits educational philoso-phy for many years. He isexcited to teach a courseon a campus where someclose colleagues havetaught.

A number of my col-leagues and friends haveeither lectured or taughtat Hillsdale, including thelate Alexander Shtromas,who helped me in thewriting of my rst book,he said.

Satter has publishedthree books: It Was aLong Time Ago and ItNever Happened Any-way: Russia and theCommunist Past, Dark-ness at Dawn: The Riseof the Russian Criminal

State, and Age of Delirium:The Decline and Fall of the So-viet Union.

At rst, it seems like any othersmall gathering: a couple profes-sors and a student sit chattingon the couches of the HeritageRoom. Moments later, the stu-dent stands to address a groupthat has come to hear a thesisdefense.

Honors students defend their

theses for a one-hour period. Therst 10 minutes are dedicated tothe presentation itself. The next30 are set aside for questionsfrom three professors: the stu-dents chosen faculty thesis advi-sor, second reader, and Associ-ate Professor of History RichardGamble, the head of the honorsprogram. The last 20 minutes arefor other members of the audi-ence to ask any remaining ques-tions.

Idealistically, my hope forthe honors thesis is that it willbecome more and more of acapstone experience for the stu-dents, Gamble said, a culmina-tion of four years in the honorsprogram for the students and aconnecting point to the rest ofcampus.

Students are evaluated ontheir presentations and familiar-ity with their topic. By the timethe students present, they havealready written a 20- to 35-pagepaper on a topic.

I feel like 30 pages is farenough into a topic to go furtherinto the topic than a normal col-lege paper, but [in doing a thesis]weve also jumped into it enoughto realize how much more thereis and that weve really just bare-ly scratched the surface, seniorEmily Schutz said.

Schutz presented her thesis,But remember For thatsmy business to you: The Roleof Wonder in Shakespeares His-torical Memory, on Wednesday.

Like many others, Schutz

combined her interests and

reached beyond a single disci-pline to develop the topic for herthesis.

My topic was a combinationof my two majors, so I took thetwo things I love the most Shakespeare and the study of thedifferent memories of history,Schutz said. So I studied Shake-speares histories. Dr. Smith isthe foremost Shakespeare schol-ar on campus, and Dr. Gaetanosspecialty is the Renaissance, so Ibrought the two together.

Gamble said the topic is up tothe students as long as they cannd faculty members interestedin advising for their project, andas long as they write their pro-posal for the topic during thespring semester of their junior

year. By the end, students spend

more than a year preparing fortheir defenses between researchand actually writing their paper.

Other students delve into sub-jects outside the purview of theirmajors.

Senior Erin Mundahl, despitebeing an English and Frenchdouble-major, chose to look intothe sociological and psychologi-cal topic of loners and society.She dubbed her thesis, All thelonely people, where do they allcome from?: A Socio-Psycho-logical Examination of the Lonerin Society, looking into a topicthat, according to Mundahl, hasnot yet been studied intensely.

The thesis defense is a re-quirement for honors studentsfor graduation. Each year, some

students come insufciently pre-

pared, but Gamble said it is fairlyrare, and more as a result of an in-complete or sub-par thesis paper,and not the defense itself. Some-times a student will only passconditionally, which entails cor-rections made after the defense,but that student may still gradu-ate with the honors program aslong as criteria are fullled.

Gamble said the best way toprepare is to attend others de-fenses, as the students know theirtopics by the time their peers aredefending theirs. In the weeksleading up to a defense, it isknowing what to expect and hav-ing condence that help a studentmost.

Core squeezes schedules

Imogen Kane is among thehandful of freshmen on the pre-med track who were handed awhite sheet from their adviserthat guides their schedule for thenext four years. On that sheet wasa new two-credit class, physical

wellness and dynamics, one ofthe newest requirements imposedby the updated core requirements.

With a rigid schedule, Kanesaid she is frustrated that the two-credit class that meets four timesa week secures the place of anelective classes.

Senior Rachel Warner, achemistry major, took physicalwellness and dynamics her fresh-man year and is convinced thatevery student should take theclass.

I liked it for the simple factthat it brought more awarenessto tness and health, she said.It should be mandatory becauseif youre forced to take Con-stitution, I dont see why youshouldnt be forced to take a P.E.class. It is good for Hillsdale stu-dents that have never had a healthclass before.

Warner is also a runner forthe Hillsdale cross country team.

Even though her involvement ina varsity sport has made her moreaware of her health, she liked re-viewing the material.

Physical wellness and dynam-ics has a lecture component thatmeets twice a week. For sevenweeks of the semester, a lab com-ponent is also implemented thatmeets twice a week, on different

days than the lectures.The cost-benet is not worthit, Kane said. Id rather take a50-minute cycling class to get aworkout rather than sitting downin a classroom.

Although the new core onlyrequires physical wellness anddynamics and one P.E. class, the2013 incoming class will earnone less credit in the core whilespending two additional hourscompleting the sports studiesportion.

Registrar Douglas McArthursaid that change triggers concernin all students, both directly af-fected by the core and not.

It is natural to be a bit ner-vous, he said. But when changedoes come, we can help themnd a sane, reasonable path to

complete requirements. It is nota cause for panic. Maybe a causefor planning but not panic.

The core curriculum willchange gradually over the course

of an undetermined period oftime. One of the changes nextyear will move the biology re-quirement from four credit hoursto three. Rather than schedulinga different day for labs, lab ex-ercises will fuse with lectures.Eventually, Provost David Wha-len said, the core will reach be-tween 61-65 credits. The former

core was 55.In order to complete the core,honors program requirements,and the pre-med track, Kaneplans on taking summer classes.Her college tuition will not coverthe cost of her mandatory cours-es.

I have to pay extra to gradu-ate on time, Kane said. Wheth-er its during a summer class orexceeding the credit limit per se-mester. I think thats unfair.

Although Kane doesnt mindspending the summer workingtoward completing her academicrequirements, she wishes therewas an opportunity to take moreelectives. But there simply isnttime.

I look at physical wellness asan academic class, Kane said.

If it were the same work level asa P.E. class, I could take anotheracademic class. But I cant.

7/22/2019 4.17 Hillsdale Collegian

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NEWSwww

.hillsdalecollegian.com A3 17 April 2014

Abi WoodArts Editor

Walker MulleyCollegian Freelancer

Evan CarterCollegian Reporter

DOUGLASSFrom A1

YAF

From A1

ELECTION

From A1

Q&AFrom A1

A.J. SpecialsWeek of April 22-25

Mon: closed/Easter Monday

Tues : C. So up/ Sa la d San dwi ch $4.7 5

Wed : Bacon /To ma to Me lt $3.35

Thu rs: Phi ll y St ea k Piz za $4.25

Fri: Tuna Salad/Clam Chowder $4.25

All specials include a medium soft drink.

On the Greek Scene

Sigma Chi

Sigma Chi would like to congratulate ATO on winning Greek Week. Thanks to all those who participatedand made this years Greek Week fun and competitive. Today, there is a faculty mixer at the Sigma Chihouse from 3:30-5:30 p.m. All faculty members welcome.

Detailing the news and events of Hillsdales Greek houses

Congratulations Hillsdale

College Class of 2014!

CORRECTIONSNewsIn the article, Alumni spotlight:Palmer Schoening, Schoeningspost-grad location was incorrect.He graduated with a masters de-gree from Georgetown Universityin 2011.

In the article, Chariot race startsFrat Greek Week, the date of thelast Greek Week chariot race wasincorrect. The last fraternity chariotrace occurred in the spring of 2005.

OpinionsIn the article, Politics at Hillsdale:superb, valuable, and well-round-ed, sophomore Josiah Lippincottsname was spelled incorrectly.

The Collegian regrets these errors.

Physics students trek to U of M

WHIP reduces internshipStudents win translation contests

On April 12, a group of vephysics enthusiasts sophomoresJoshua Ramette, Daniel Halmrast,William Blount, and junior Mi-chael Tripepi and a local alumna traveled to the University ofMichigan in Ann Arbor with Pro-fessor of Physics Ken Hayes toattend a lecture on polarized lightand Viking lore.

I thought the presentation wasexcellent, said Ramette, presidentof the Society of Physics Students.

Being from Hillsdale, I appreci-

ated that it had both history andphysics.

In his lecture, U-Ms visitingphysics scholar, Vasudevan Lak-shminarayanan, theorized that theVikings used calcite crystals, re-ferred to as sunstone in Vikinglore, to depolarize light from thesun, allowing the Vikings to seethe position of the sun even whenthe sun was hidden from view.

He posited that the Vikingspossibly used calcite crystals to

gure out the position of the sunon foggy days or when the sun wasbelow the horizon, Ramette said.

The Vikings had to rely on thesunstone because the magneticcompass hadnt been introduced toEurope yet.

Additionally, to use a mag-netic compass that far north wouldbe impractical. There would be toomuch uctuation to get a true bear-ing, said Tripepi, who serves assecretary for the Society of Phys-ics Students.

Lakshminarayanan covered thetopic very thoroughly, accordingto Tripepi, and he covered general

optics and the optics of the eye aswell as polarized light.

Overall, I thought the presen-tation was great. He presented itvery clearly, and he explained allyou needed to know about how theVikings would use the method heproposed, Tripepi said.

At the end of the lecture, Lak-shminarayanan admitted that histheory was still yet to be proven,but the students thought the pre-sentation was compelling.

Everyone was generally im-pressed by the presentation, Ra-mette said.

Hayes said he enjoyed interact-ing with other physics enthusiastsoutside of Hillsdale.

One of the wonderful thingsabout the Saturday morning phys-ics lecture in Ann Arbor is the factthat the large crowd is passionateabout physics, Hayes said. Ourstudents get the opportunity to ex-perience a large hall lled with ac-complished folks who love phys-ics.

In addition to the lecture, thephysics demos put on outside of

the lecture hall were also a favoriteamong the students.

My favorite part was seeingLakshminarayanan do a demo thatexplained how polarizers work,Tripepi said.

Tripepi encouraged students toparticipate in future trips to Satur-day morning physics talks at U-M.

I think the physics talks area really good experience, and Iwould really encourage people togo to them, Tripepi said.

Students will receive six cred-its instead of the previous ninefor internships done through theWashington Hillsdale InternshipProgram beginning this fall.

The change is part of an effortto increase WHIP students op-tions, making it easier to t a se-mester in the District of Colum-

bia into their overall schedules,said Matthew Spalding, associatevice president and dean of edu-cational programs for the KirbyCenter.

The reduction to six creditswill allow students to take threeacademic courses on top of theinternship without incurring thecredit overload tuition charge,Manager of On-Campus WhipRecruitment Sophia Carr said.

Before the change, the nine-credit internship would havecombined with three classesworth three credits each for atotal of 18 credits, the level atwhich overload charges begin.Now, a WHIP student takingthree classes will be taking 15credits.

In conjunction with the credit

reduction, students will be grant-ed more exibility in the hoursthey intern. Previously, WHIPstudents were required to workfull-time internships, Carr said.Starting this fall, four-day-a-week internships will be accept-ed as well.

According to Spalding, theprecise hours of each internshipare worked out between the in-tern and the outside organization,

while the reduction in credits of-

fered and in the minimum intern-ship hours should make it easierfor students to take three classeswhile in Washington.

The overwhelming interestwe get from students coming onWHIP is that they want to takemore courses, he said.

In a survey of about 90 stu-dents which Carr conductedthis semester, approximately 70percent of respondents said theoption of taking three courseswould make them more likely toparticipate in the WHIP program,Carr said. The survey includedpast and current WHIP studentsas well as those who had ex-pressed interest in participatingin the future.

Spalding said hes working

to ensure students can take the

classes they need in order to stayon track for graduation. The in-creased course offerings at theKirby Center in recent semesterswere part of this same effort.

I want to make it as easy andas attractive as possible for Hill-sdale students to come out andlearn in and enjoy Washington,D.C., he said.

Spalding made the decisionto reduce the internship credit

with Paul Moreno, director ofacademic programs at the KirbyCenter. The decision was thenapproved by the college faculty.

The change in credits offeredfor the internship was also madeto better reect the proper weightof the internship relative to class-es, Spalding said. He pointedout that the internship is nowequivalent to two classes, insteadof three. This change brings Hill-sdale more in line with othercolleges, which largely offer sixcredits for an internship.

Moreno said that, while aninternship is valuable in manyways, the new credit total betterreects its academic value.

I saw it as part of a tighteningof the academic standards of theprogram, he said.

Juniors LaRae Fergusonand Joshua Benjamins took topprizes at the Maurine DallasWatkins Sight Translation Con-tests, the results of which wereannounced in Evanston, Ill.,this past weekend.

Ferguson placed rst in

translation exams in the KoineGreek category (Koine is athird-century B.C. Greek dia-lect, the same in which theNew Testament was written) ,a rst-place title she defendedfrom her victory last year. Inthe same category, Benjaminsplaced third. There we re 19 en-tries.

In both Intermediate Greek,out of 28 entries, and AdvancedLatin, out of 53 entries, Ben-jamins took rst place. Out ofsix contests held, Hillsdale stu-dents won three.

Additionally, it was an-nounced that Ferguson will joinBenjamins in presenting herpaper a t the Jan. 8, 2015 Amer-ican Philological Associationconvention in New Orleans as

part of an undergraduate re-search panel.

Ferguson and Benjaminswerent the only two to take theexam. Each school can submitthree entries per category. More

than 30 Hillsdale students tookthe exams at all levels, and theHillsdale department settled onsubmitting three of the entries.

We use these as a peda-gogical tool to help studentswork on passing their seniorcomp exams and prepare themfor masters and Ph.D. sight ex-ams, said Joseph Garnjobst,associate professor of classical

studies and national tabulatorfor the competition.The com-petition is secondary to the ex-ams.

He stays true to this mantra,asserting that the competitionis never centered around ourstudents versus anybody elsesstudents. Garnjobst tells allthe students present what hetells his own students, and evenoffers to comment on their pa-pers.

Just preparing the papersand submitting them are whereyou get all the benets. If youhappen to win, thats gravy, hesaid.

Ferguson said the winningscame as a surprise to her.

I certainly did not expectit, Ferguson said. It is thrill-

ing, though, to have a skill thatis so close to my heart con-rmed in this way.

She added that the abilityto read and understand KoineGreek in its linguistic context

has always been one of herhighest priorities for her col-lege education. Since shesbeen at H illsdale she has takenat least one often more thanone Greek class per semes-ter, choosing to study Greekat Hillsdale because the Koineclasses are embedded into asolid classical and Greek pro-gram. Ferguson said she credits

dedicated professors and en-

couraging family and friendswith her success thus far. Ben-jamins also credits his suc-cess at the convention with thestrength of the classics depart-ment at Hillsdale.

I give tremendous credit tomy professors, who bring somuch enthusiasm, wit, and ex-pertise to their task, he said.They have really inspired meto pursue classics at a seriouslevel.

For Benjamins, a highlightof the weekend was the certa-men, a classics trivia game inwhich teams of four competein elimination rounds to answerthe most questions about clas-sical civilization, mythology,language, and literature.

I really enjoyed the friendlycompetition, and it was a greatway to meet fellow classics stu-dents from across the country,Benjamins said.

Provost David Whalen saidthe Walk not only honors thoseimportant to the American ex-periment of self-governmentand the principles of human

liberty, but also those individu-als who are important in thehistory of the college.

Not only did Douglassspeak here, but it was in Hill-sdale that one of the most fa-mous photos of Douglas wastaken, Whalen said in anemail. The power of his intel-

ligence, the vigor of his moralcommitments, and the graceof his verbal expression makehim, I believe, a fitting figurefor honor not only at a liberalarts institution, but at this onein particular.

plans and arrangements with off-campus businesses. It has a to-tal undergraduate enrollment of1,379 students.

Adrian College also contractswith Sodexo. It offers block andtraditional meal plans with addi-tional dining credit, like ChargerChange, which only residencehall students are required to pur-chase. They also partner withbusinesses such as DominosPizza, which will accept studentsmeal plan dollars for delivery. Ithas a total undergraduate enroll-ment of 1,767 students.

Sodexo is a large multina-tional corporation that offersfacilities management and foodservice to corporate, educational,healthcare, and governmental cli-ents, among others.

Sophomore Christy Allen,YAF board member, points tothese and other schools as work-ing examples of what YAF is try-ing to accomplish at Hillsdale.

Other schools of comparablesize do it differently than we doand are still successful, she said.

Allen agreed with Brand thatthe petition was successful inshowing how many students areconcerned about the issue.

I genuinely dont know howthey want us to go about voicinga group opinion, Allen said. Weget that this is the most private of

private schools, and we agree todo things a certain way, but weshould have the ability to voice

concerns, especially if so manystudents have them.She claried that YAF is not

trying to be confrontational oradversarial, but wants to encour-age a conversation.

What were trying to dois not to demonize Saga or theworkers or the deans, she said.Were trying to get studentstogether to say that student lifecan be improved. Were trying toopen discussion.

Arnn also addressed concernsabout the schools dining poli-cies.

We take the view here thatthe old understanding is the cor-rect one; the things we do togeth-er: talking, living, eating, classesare all important, he said in theemail. The dining service is not

a major source of net revenue tothe college. We do all in our pow-er to make it good and to makeit affordable. It matters that thestudents gather to dine.

Arnn encouraged studentswho have concerns or ideas forimproving the school to cometo him or other administrators.He said they should be willingto listen to their reasons for theirpolicies, as theyll listen to thestudents.

If students see a better way,we are glad to hear it, he said.They should also want to hearthe reasons why things are theway they are. There are such rea-

sons, and we are very glad to ex-plain them.

Arnn has another reason for

keeping things they way they are:he loves the food.The dining hall happens to be

my favorite place to eat, of all theplaces I eat outside of home, hesaid in his email. The food is, inmy opinion, excellent, and I eatfancy food often. Best of all is thecompany. I value that very much,and others do too.

YAF has been asked to ana-lyze feasible alternatives to thecurrent system and present themto Philipp.

The students are going tocomplete some comparativeresearch for us on meal pro-grams from similar schools toHillsdale, Philipp said. Theyare also going to work with theHealthy Plate group in the Healthand Wellness Club and come

up with another survey for thestudents prior to the end of thisterm.

Brand, Allen, and Wierengaare meeting with Philipp on April24 and are currently creating astudent-body survey about theissue.

Allen is optimistic about whattheyll be able to accomplish andpreserve.

We dont believe communityhas to be sacriced in the name ofmore exibility for the students,she said.

ones feelings or negatively hurt-ing someones self-esteem. The

average college student, for themost part, has their food paid for,housing paid for, utilities paid for,people clean up after them. All thatis asked of them is that they readinteresting things and share withprofessors what they know. Andyet, they think theyre indepen-dent. There are people less depen-

dent than college students who areon welfare.

The single greatest thing thathas happened in the past ve yearsis Barack Obama. A lot of youngkids are learning that it is not au-tomatic that you get a good job

out of college or that the economygrows. A lot of kids are learningthat through living through theObama years. He has shown thatsaying liberals know how to getthe economy going doesnt actu-ally get the economy going.

What is your take on popularculture?

There is a lot of garbage inpopular culture. Even if you watchonly family channels, the commer-cials are bad. But I think conserva-tives write off how conservatismis in popular culture. For example,its amazing how pro-life TV is. If

I told you 30 years ago that Amer-

ica today had a culture that wasmore pro-gay, pro-gun, and pro-life, youd say Im crazy. We writeoff popular culture when what weneed to do is get conservatives intopopular cultures. Our goal is to getthe country, not the GOP, to movemore rightward.

history major and a member ofKappa Kappa Gamma womensfraternity. She is also on the trackteam and involved in AthleteIntervarsity Hillsdale ChristianFellowship. She is currently vicepresident of Student Federation.

Im very thankful and hon-ored to have the opportunity toserve this senior class, she said.Im excited and looking forwardto serving my fellow students onemore time.

Teigen, the new secretary, isan English and biology doublemajor, with a biochemistry mi-nor. On campus, she holds aleadership position as a memberof the Pi Beta Phi womens fra-ternity, and is a member of thehonors program. She volunteersat Lockhaven and the HillsdaleCommunity Health Center. Shehas already practiced her newjob description in her role as sec-

retary of Student Federation thisyear.

Secretarial duties will includenote taking at meetings, man-aging publicity for senior classevents, and developing class andcommittee meeting agendas.

Im really excited to getmore involved and represent myclass well, and Im attered andhonored to have been selected,she said.

Like Lantis and Teigen, Norayalready has experience in his po-sition as the new class treasurer.The triple major in economics,physics, and math is the treasurerof both the Classical Liberal Or-ganization and the Young Ameri-cans for Freedom.

Im happy, I suppose, be-cause I do think that Im quali-ed to handle whatever comesalong in being class treasurer be-cause I do have a lot of treasurerexperience here. But Im alsosurprised, because I have no ideawho nominated me, and I didntcampaign at all, he said. Noraywill be responsible for the devel-opment and nancing of a senior

class gift.Noray is also the vice presi-

dent of Praxis, and member ofAlpha Tau Omega fraternity.

Im attered that there areenough people who think that Iwould do a good job at this, thatwould vote for me. Thats spe-cial, and that means a lot to me.And Im excited to probably bethe rst African-American trea-surer.

As social chair, Peters will besenior class chief party planner.Peters is majoring in Christianstudies with a minor in classicaleducation. She is the head RA inOlds Residence, and a memberof KKG. She is a member of thevision team for Intervarsity Hills-dale Christian Fellowship, a resi-dent life assistant, and campushealth coordinator.

Im deeply honored, shesaid. And I love people, so be-ing social chair is kind of excit-ing. I hope to throw a spectacularsenior party and represent myrocking senior class well.

7/22/2019 4.17 Hillsdale Collegian

4/12

Call your mom whileyoure at college.

It took me four months,a reminder from the dean,and a nasty email to gurethat out. In fact, do it everyweek, your life will im-

prove.If I am truthful, that sin-

gle injunction is sufcientadvice for this whole piece.But heck, Im a graduatingsenior, and if theres onething Ive learned from writ-ing this column every threeweeks, its that Im in a po-sition for posturing and pon-tication (in the event that

you dont know, seniors areeffectively absolved fromstupidity; we can blame iton the fact that our lives are

about to change and we are most certainly under emotionalduress).

On this note, bear with me in my praise of Jane FrancisAndrew and those like her.

When it gets right down to it, moms are weirdly profound.Despite your current aesthetic are and the recent addition ofwords like epistemology and Christological to your vo-cabulary, you really havent changed that much since gettingto college, and what you perceive as moms hackneyed plati-tudes are likely truest things to run through our mind sinceDr. Gamble told you that America isnt what you think it is.You want advice? Call home.

Of course, the natural impulse leads one to seek guidancefrom upperclassmen. To say this is a mistake would be crudeand likely an overstatement of things, but your mom is a saferchoice. Most importantly she is almost certainly free of a sav-ior complex: that insidious tendency to make freshmen yourlittle sinner that youll raise to new life while collecting vol-unteer hours. The moral of the story is that you shouldnt beafraid to make that mystery call to the bullpen. Bring in mom.She wont disappoint.

For instance, my own dear mother asked me recently if Iwas doing the hard things, like being loyal and gracious withmy friends. I replied that I was conicted about the wholegrace thing, I felt as though my will was divided against myesh, leaving me in existential paralysis, wandering betweena platonic hyperspace and this corporeal reality. I also pointedout that the phrase hard things is generic and cheap. I reallysaid that. She gave me her equivalent of strike the crap andanswer the question.

Answer the question: are you being loyal and gracious?College offers an apparently innite expanse of time and

space in which a person can make any number of friends,run the gamut of philosophical dogmas, and adopt a myriadof personas. The best part: all this comes at the cost of zerocommitment. Lets be real here, what is loyalty and grace inthe face of your epic pursuit of identity and truth? Dislike aroommates political standing? Get a new one! Think your

pastor is ugly? Find a different church! It is, after all, your

education.If your mother is like my own, she will reply with the sort

of things mothers say, turning our conversation back to herinitial question about hard things. But when given a chanceto be heard, she will explain that in one month I will leavethose I call my dearest friends, and I will begin to wonderif it was worth it. While my skin will not likely be soakedin boils and my family will probably be alive, I will be re-moved from those Ive come to love and there is somethingunnatural about this. Its as though the friendships Ive madehave underscored the inevitability of loss and the possibilityof suffering. The suggestion, then, that such a thing is hardis insightful and perplexing. For to afrm the beauty of hu -man life, to be loyal to your friends, is to accept a vocationwith the knowledge that this work, this beauty, may yieldsadness. It may yield a vulnerability wherein you are given tothe world and told to love it even as it is, to adopt a postureof receptivity without a plan for retreat. And yet this is wheremom proposed for the concluding moments of her dear sonscollege experience. Id like to think its made a difference.

So call your mom and listen.

Last week, the presidents lapdog blew his dog whistle.

In case you didnt know, inpolitics a dog whistle is codedlanguage that has a supercialmeaning for everybody, but alsoa special resonance for certainconstituencies. Using dog whis-tles lets politicians deny theymeant to say anything nasty, big-oted or controversial.

Speaking to the National Ac-tion Network the day after a testy

but racially irrelevant exchangewith Republican members of aHouse panel, Attorney GeneralEric Holder said, The last veyears have been dened ... bylasting reforms even in the faceof unprecedented, unwarranted,ugly and divisive adversity. He

continued: If you dont believethat, you look at the way -- for-

get about me, forget about me.You look at the way the attorneygeneral of the United States wastreated yesterday by a Housecommittee. ... What attorneygeneral has ever had to deal withthat kind of treatment? What

president has ever had to dealwith that kind of treatment?

Now, bear in mind the audi-ence. The National Action Net-work is Al Sharptons plaything,often providing the shock troopsSharpton needs for rent-a-mob

protests, shakedown operationsand MSNBC photo ops. Holderdidnt say criticism of him andObama is racially motivated, butthe notion the audience (or themedia) would take it any otherway doesnt pass the laugh test.

Holders hypocrisy is stun-

ning given that he once famouslychastised Americans as beingcowards for not talking openlyabout race. Whos the cowardnow?

For the record, theres noth-ing special about the rough timeHolder has received. Forget Har-ry Daugherty of Teapot Domefame or John Mitchell, whowent to prison. Ed Meeses crit-ics had Meese Is a Pig posters

printed up. Janet Reno and JohnAshcroft never got cake and icecream from opponents.

The best recent comparisonis probably Alberto Gonzales,George W. Bushs second attor-ney general, because like Holder,he was a fairly incompetent par-

tisan loyalist with a thin skin.Gonzales was treated brutally by

Democrats. Some even tried toimpeach him. I dont recall Gon-zales insinuating that such e ffortswere anti-Latino.

Holder has deserved all hesgotten. He earned his contempt ofCongress citation by refusing to

provide documents on the disas-trous Fast and Furious operationthat left an American dead froma gun the U.S. government puton the street. If anything, Holderdeserves more grief, particularlyfrom a media that seem to haveforgotten his efforts to surveil

journalists phone records andname Fox News James Rosenan unindicted co-conspirator inan espionage case.

Even inside the White House,Holder is considered too po-litical. Holder substitutes his

political judgment for his legaljudgment, and his political judg-ment isnt very good, says anunnamed White House ofcial,according to the WashingtonPosts David Ignatius.

Holders remarks come ata convenient time. In a widelydiscussed New York Magazineessay, Jonathan Chait argues thatrace relations have gotten worseunder Obama. Chait believes thatliberals have become obsessedwith conservative racism as thereal explanation for everythingRepublicans do. Meanwhile,he says conservatives have co-cooned themselves in a kind ofrighteous victimhood, where rac-ism is a relevant issue only when

conservatives are falsely accusedof it. (Its a fair point that conser-

vatives should be more conspicu-ously concerned about racism.)It is an at times brave and

insightful, if not uniformly per-suasive, essay. The Holder epi-sode casts light on one of hisarguments. According to Chait,Obama has steadfastly refusedto make race a national issue,even as the ugly racial conver-sation has raged. In almost ev-ery instance when his blacknesshas come to the center of publicevents, however, [Obama] hasrefused to impute racism to hiscritics, Chait writes.

Thats largely (though notentirely) true about what the

president has said himself. But itis manifestly untrue about whathe has allowed to be said on his

behalf. He didnt mind the racial

theater congressional Democratsput on when black congressmenmarched through Tea Party pro-tests to sign Obamacare. One ofthose congressmen, civil rightshero John Lewis, gave a stirringspeech at the 2012 DemocraticConvention and suggested thata vote for the GOP amounted togoing back to Jim Crow.

Republican presidents areroutinely expected to denounceoutrageous comments by mem-

bers of their own party, nevermind members of their Cabinet.

Not Obama. His feigned aloof-ness is his exoneration, evenas racial politics get ever more

poisonous, thanks in part to hiswhistling lap dog.

From the Archives:New union haze free

In this semesters Life andLight column, I have exploredauthors who have, in some form,responded to the literary and cul-tural modernism of roughly the

past century. Rather than askingthe traditions questions Whatis God? What is Man? And whathas each to do with the other? the modern nds himself severedfrom the past, lacking the rootsof a secure religious or culturalcontext. Yet, several 20th-centuryauthors have attempted to addresswhat they see to be problemswith the modern attitude. RecallT.S. Eliots language of frag-mentation and Percys of malaiseand the way that both hinted thatsome solution lies in a recoveryof religious vision. Now, the timehas come to turn our attention totwo other authors: Annie Dillardand Marilynne Robinson.

While many may be familiarwith Dillards Pilgrim at Tin-ker Creek (1974), fewer may

be aware of a later work of hers,Holy the Firm (1977), whichdeals with the problem of unex-

plained suffering in the world and

exposes the reader to how Dillardis making sense of a particulartragedy she encounters. The con-text in which Robinson sets herstory, Gilead, is a little furtherremoved: rural Kansas in the late1800s. Yet, despite the slight an-tiquity of Robinsons setting, thespirit of her writing can speak toand act as a balm for the spiritu-ally and morally fatigued indi-vidual who picks up Gilead offthe shelf today.

Holy the Firm takes theform of a 76-page journal-likeseries of reections which Dil-lard writes out during a three day

period in a water-front cottage onan island in Washington statesPudget Sound in 1975. Dillardsees a restorm of spiritual meta-

phors in the natural world, likea moth that ies into her candleame one evening, becomes con-sumed by the re, then acts as awick that provides illumination

by which she can read Rimbaudsverse. The keenly sensitive cen-tral concern of Dillards reec-tions is: If there is a loving and

powerful God, why is there somuch suffering? Suddenly, Dil-lards reverie of the natural worldcollides with tragedy. A small

plane crashes into the nearbywoods and explodes, melting the

skin off the face of its passen-ger, a seven-year-old girl namedJulie Norwich, with whom Dil-lard had been apple-picking theday before. The horrically-disgured girl faces a lifetime of

pain and blindness, in responseto which Dillard writes, Herface is slaughtered now Canyou scream without lips? Sheasks, Do we really need morevictims to remind us that wereall victims? Do we need littleame-faced children to remindus of what God can and will

do?While Dillard seems not to

reach an overly-satisfying answerto these questions that brings

peace to herself or her readers,she does seem to gingerly (but

purposefully) re-envision someforms of suffering as enigmaswhich provides fodder for artisticillumination of our experience,like the moth, consumed in ame.Sometimes mysterious light canshine through tragedy and givesus an idea that something is go-ing on. She writes, There is onlythe world lit or unlit as the lightallows. When the candle is lit,who looks at the wick? When thecandle is out, who needs it? Butthe world without light is waste-land and chaos, and life withoutsacrice is an abomination. Per-haps individual objects of suf-fering are something like art thatlights the Kingdom of God for

people to see?I believe that Dillard suggests

that God must have self-imposedlimits on his own power, andthat she would strongly agreewith Flannery OConnors senti-ment that evil is not a problemto be solved but a mystery to beendured. Dillards Holy TheFirm does respect the problemsof evil and suffering as myster-ies, and I recommend the bookstrongly for anyone who has the

strength of will to entertain thenotion of Gods existence and thediscernment to see the difcultyin such a notion.

Marilynne Robinsons Gil-ead provides a drastically dif-ferent experience for the reader.Rather than a condensed exposi-tion of the kind of heart-wrench-ing events that can turn our livesupside down, Robinsons pro-tagonist, Reverend John Ames,shares a vision of human experi-ence that is permeated by grace.The novel takes the form of aletter that Ames writes, as he isdying, for his seven-year-old son

to read when he is grown. Hisreections are an amalgamationof memories and ponderings thatrange from love, grace, exis-tence, blessing and light to won-der, memory, mortality, and dark-ness. Ames processes through hisupcoming death, his years past ofdeep loneliness, and his relation-ship with a wayward god-son-of-sorts whom he struggles toforgive. As the letter progresses,Ames moves towards a positionof empathy and love. In readingGilead, I nd that he is able toadopt a redemptive, grace-lledvision in large part through hissense of wonder at the beautyof the world. He writes, for ex-ample, I feel sometimes as if Iwere a child who opens its eyeson the world once and sees amaz-ing things it will never know anynames for and then has to closeits eyes again. Ames vision ofthe world is foundationally col-ored by his faith, which allowshim, for instance, to conceiveof love as the eternal breakingin on the temporal and enableshim to appreciate a thing as sim-

ply beautiful as water tangibleevidence of Gods blessing on theworld. Ames speaks of a silentand invisible life that emanatesfrom a garden after rainfall. Ames

sees this invisible life in oth-ers laughter, romantic love, softmoonlight, and old friends. Forhim (and I presume, for Robin-son), these very-earthly delightsare made holy by the presence ofthe Divine in themauthor and

protagonist subscribe to a richlysacramental physical world.

As a reader, my question isthis: Can the suffering of Dil-lards book and the grace of Rob-insons be compatible or is anattempt to reconcile the two im-

possible? Are we left with frag-ments or something more?

OPINION17 April 2014 A4 www

.hillsdalecollegian.com

DONTVISITHILLSDALETOOOFTENTHEOPINIONOFTHECOLLEGIANEDITORIALSTAFF

Dont visit Hillsdale too oftenafter graduation.

We seniors at the Collegianhavent developed any sort ofhatred for the college. Rather,this warning stems from a deepand deepening love for our soon-to-be alma mater.

Ask anyone who has attended

Hillsdale in the past few decades Hillsdale remains perpetuallythe same in many, fundamentalways. We complain about Saga,whine about the size of the core,debate the merits of the Greeksystem. Our college cultureabides and thrives, even whileclass after class departs.

But that doesnt mean weshould come back and try torelive our own college experi-ences.

The buildings, the smells, theair would be the same, yet thefaces about campus eerily dif-ferent. The token union dwell-ers would be replaced by other

pock-marked freshmen, so simi-lar yet so different than thoseyou knew.

So stay away for a while,maybe visit occasionally, but nottoo often. Cherish your Hillsdale

by remembering it. Dont be-come that one guy who returnsrepeatedly.

Jonah GoldbergSyndicated Columnist

HOLDERS RACE CARD

Searching for Life and Light: Dillard and Robinson

Cigar, cigarette and pipe smokerscan puff a sigh of relief. The snack barin the Knorr Student Center will allowindoor smoking through the new semes-ter, although the new Grewcock StudentUnion will not.

Students who smoke use the snackbar for studying or protection when theweather gets tough.

I appreciate that Hillsdale providesa place inside for people to smoke, saidsophomore Templeton Klos, who fre-quents the snack bar almost daily.

Klos and other smokers said they aregrateful that Hillsdale accepts smokers.

Ive always enjoyed the way Hill-

sdale treats smokers, junior DamianCleary said. They have always been

pretty accommodating.Carolyn Ford, who works in the

current snack bar and will work in theGrewcock Student Union, said she is ex-cited to work in a smoke-free environ-ment and thinks students will beneft too.

The smell is not always the best butyou dont have to come here, especiallywith the actual snack bar moving, soph-omore Sara Franz said.

Liz KlimasNov. 29 2007

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Daniel TealStudent Columnist

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edit submissions for clarity, length, and style. Letters should be 450

words or less and include your name and number. Send submissions

to snelson1@hillsdale.edu before Sunday at 6 p.m.

Call your mom

Josh AndrewStudent Columnist

7/22/2019 4.17 Hillsdale Collegian

5/12

On March 25, the United Statesbranch of World Vision announced thatit would hire individuals in same-sexmarriages. World Vision reversed the

policy change one day later after pro-tests from donors and the Evangelicalcommunity at large.

On March 25 and 26, World Vision

lost more than 10,000 sponsorships.I have never been more ashamed tobe an Evangelical, to be considereda similar kind of Christian with agroup of people who think that takinga stand against one kind of sin willgive any actions that follow as a resultof that stand, a sudden righteousnessthat removes any burden of proof fromtheir actions. And to a lesser degree, Iam ashamed to have supported WorldVision. How naive.

For those who dont know, WorldVision International is an EvangelicalChristian humanitarian organizationmost known for its child sponsorship

program. Through it, donors fromacross the world can support childrenin impoverished communities througha monthly donation usually $35 that provides access to clean drinkingwater, sanitation, education, skills forfuture livelihood, nutrition, and healthcare, according to World Visionswebsite.

I decided to become a sponsornearly three years ago, and I have been

profoundly changed by the experience.God is the only one who could fostera relationship with a boy who is halfmy age, in a country that has a percapita income of less than 3 percentof what an American earns every year.The child I sponsor, Guideneaud Jean,lives with his grandmother in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, after both of his parentsdied from AIDs. I have exchanged

many letters with Guideneaud andhave even received a few pictures ofGuideneaud over the years.

It can be argued that World Visionacted in complete self-interest. WorldVision reversed its decision on March27th.

The decision to make a U-turnwas made after donors canceled sev-eral thousand child sponsorships intwo days, said World Vision presidentRichard Stearns. This can be interpret-ed one of two ways. It might possibly

be construed to mean that Mr. Stearnswanted to do whatever he could to stopthe childrens suffering.

What comes across to a greater de-gree, however, is that. Stearns wantedsame-sex couples to have the potentialto work with World Vision to makeWorld Vision look better to the lib-

eral-leaning Christians, and most es-pecially to the US government, whichprovides 18 percent of its revenues.

Either way,it was thechildren thatwere themost hurt.

Q u i t efrankly, Iwonder howGod couldeven makes ometh inggood come

out of this.10,000 kidswere shownsupposedlyu n c o n d i -tional lovefor a fewyears. Thens u d d e n l y ,

because ofEvangelicalin-fightingin America,their chanc-es of futureemploymentlook bleaker,their food becomes harder to come

by, and, in short, their hope is cruellystolen away. I imagine many childrenwho had become Christians will won-

der if anyone really loves them any-more. Perhaps some may even stopprofessing Christianity.

Economically, it makes perfectsense for a Christian to drop a sponsor-ship because an organization providesan inferior product, and then spon-sor another child with a more Chris-

tian organization. In protest of WorldVisions ip-opping, I will prob-ably do the same thing, but only when

Guideneaud becomes self-sufcient. IfI dropped the sponsorship now, how-ever, Guideneaud will lose all of the

benets of my support, and, perhapsrightly so, would decide that he no lon-

ger wants to follow a God that encour-ages His followers to desert people intheir time of need.

I recently met a real-life Marxist.Though I had long been convinced thatnone really existed, I felt obligated toassent to the reality of this one, and wehad a conversation a good one. Wespoke, mostly, about the relationship

between politics and philosophy, and asit came to an end, I said, jokingly, It

was great to meet a real Marxist. Heresponded, I dont think Ill ever hearthat again, but I really enjoyed talk-ing to you. Since this encounter, Ivethought often about the nature of dis-course. How ought we to engage withother viewpoints? What sort of attitudetowards other thinkers ought we to cul-tivate?

Fortunately, last weeks op-ed pre-sented me with two helpful illustra-tions, one from Josiah Lippincott andthe other from Ian Andrews. First,Lippincott described non-Hillsdale

political science students: While col-leges across America churn out politi-cal science students primed to man themachinery of the modern administra-tive state and fully indoctrinated in thedogmas of the liberal holy trinity ofrace, class, and gender, Hillsdale standsapart. I agree that Hillsdale is an in-

credible college that does indeed standapart, but this is an arrogant caricatureof the students of other institutions. Itis just this attitude that prevents genu-ine engagement with other ideas; it isthis that obscures truth with vitriol. But

enough about Lippincott.When one adopts an attitude of de-

rision towards other thinkers, the pointof engaging in discussion is twofold:To defend ones own position and todestroy the others. To prepare for ver-

bal combat, we assemble our evidenceand analyze our premises. We delineatethe steps of our reasoning, checkingcarefully for fallacies and preparing tosmooth over any (inevitable) assump-tions. Safe within this impenetrablefortress of argumentation, we begin todismantle the argument of the other.We criticize false premises, latch ontoany hint of a fallacy, and generallyeviscerate the argument before it hasthe chance to, perhaps, breathe a deepermeaning into the structure of the world.

Conceiving of discourse in this wayundermines its legitimate co-operative

purpose truth-seeking in twodistinct ways. First, combative debatefails to convince. Minds are not won bycold logic and dry rationality. Provingsomeone wrong rarely ingratiates himto the cause, and he is more likely todig in his heels than to convert. Second,when one takes a stand purely in op-

position to anothers viewpoint, onesown views tend to lose their vitality.Ideas and arguments cease to be robust,supple ways of explaining and under-standing the world. Instead, they ossify

into cop-out explanations of complexissues, groundless talking points, andideology.

In contrast, Andrews most recentop-ed illuminates how we ought toengage with other thinkers. Speak-ing of the fresh attitude towards his

own education that he developed latein his collegiate career, he says, I feltdrawn into a level of contemplation that

begged me to look at the world and bedazzled by it....Every moment becamea discovery, and every conversation aneducation.

According to Andrews, we cannotlter the world through our own image.Truth is there for us if we go out of our-selves to meet it. True education, then,is essentially ecstatic a going out ofoneself. Discourse with others ought to

be characterized by an analogous vir-tue empathy. When we seek truthtogether, we must go out of ourselvesto meet the other. We must be willingto see the world from his viewpoint andto allow him to explain it in his ownterms.

If we would habituate ourselves tothis particular attitude of empathy, ourthought would become adept at under-standing arguments precisely becauseit would be capable of weighing themfrom various perspectives. To perhapsgive a helpful analogy, consider theway the child determines what a thingis. He does not only stare at it directly.He picks it up and turns it over, holds it,drops it, etc. In the same way, to under-stand an argument one must turn it overand examine it from other perspectives,not simply stare more intensively.

From this understanding ought tolead condence and humility as we be-come more cognizant of the truth of ourown understanding, and as we recog-nize that we are fortunate to participatein it. Only then will we be capable ofconvincing others of our own ideas.

In the fall of 2012, only three fresh-men earned a 4.0 grade point averagein their rst semester, according theregistrars ofce. In the fall of 2013, 17

freshmen did the same.Similarly, while 33 percent of fresh-men in the fall of 2011 made the DeansList and 35 percent of freshmen in thefall of 2012 made the Deans List, 45

percent of freshmen made the DeansList in the fall of 2013.

The increase in 4.0s and the roughly10% increase in Deans List students isnoteworthy. Notably, this new changecoincides with the introduction of thenew core.

Not contending with both WesternHeritage and Great Books simultane-ously made for an overall easier rstsemester. Of course, there were ex-ceptions to this some students tookGreat Books two along with WesternHeritage last semester, and some tookother challenging upper-level courses

but, for most typical students, thesemester was lighter than it had been

under Hillsdales old core. The higherGPAs may signify that better learningtakes place under an easier core. But

part of Hillsdales glory was its chal-lenging core. Is it a good thing that nowmore students are able to achieve the

best standards simply because thosestandards are lower?

Certainly, that Hillsdale is continu-ally attracting higher-level studentsand raising its admission standards alsoinuenced this change. The class of2017 is considered the second-smartestincoming class in Hillsdales history.

Nevertheless, this cannot fully accountfor the higher GPAs. After all, the classof 2015, the highest-ranking class inHillsdales history, still had only sixstudents earn 4.0s. As the chief change

between last year and this year, the newcore certainly played a role in inuenc-

ing grades. As one of the 17 freshmenwith a 4.0 last semester, I believe that,despite its many positives, the lightenedfreshman core can have two negativeside-effects on students mindsets.

First, it alters the denition of thebest. Although initially elated at hav-ing received a 4.0 last semester, my en-thusiasm dipped when I realized that I

could explain part of it away by saying,It was only because I didnt also havean English class. Something aboutthe achievement felt articial becauseI knew the challenge had not been asgreat as classes before me.

Previously, the truly exceptionalstudents were those who were able toface the difculty of the old challeng-ing core and still come through withhigh GPAs. As it is, my freshman classhas not only missed out on attemptingthis worthy rite of passage, but has also

been detained in gaining knowledge es-sential to continuing in our liberal artseducation.

On the surface, when you com-pare the grades of the freshman classwith the grades of previous freshmanclasses, it seems weve achieved morethan they simply because our GPAs arehigher. But when you compare what

we havent gained with what previousclasses received in their rst semesters

foundational knowledge of classicaland medieval literature, the ability toanalyze great works for themes withinthe context of the Western Heritage, andthe skills to write well and then use thatability in future classes it seems that

weve achieved much less. Id ratheraccept the rigorous test of the old coreand be introduced early on to the foun-dational knowledge of the Great Booksclass than have a devalued 4.0 GPA.

Second, an easier rst semester mayfail to truly introduce students to thechallenge of what the pursuit of truthin the study of the liberal arts really

means. A valid reason for adopting thenew core was that it would better easestudents transition from high schoolto college. But should the transition

be easier or the 4.0 more attainable?An easier rst semester sends us off onthis endeavor with a false idea of howto rejoice in the challenge by creat-ing an articial standard of the strengththe liberal arts at Hillsdale will requirein the future. I think it likely that theold core, with its rigorous rst semesterof both Heritage and Great Books, pre-

pared students for the upcoming chal-lenge much better.

Undoubtedly, the new core is backedby strong arguments and has many pos-itives benets. I simply ask you to thinkabout whether or not the new core haschanged the denition of a Hillsdalefreshman 4.0 formerly a precious,near-impossible reward of only the

greatest, rarest talent and work andwhat that means for the mindsets ofHillsdales students. By making highGPAs easier to attain, do we risk less-ening the reward and cheapening thevalue of the challenge we are to re-

joice in?

A5 17 April 2014www

.hillsdalecollegian.com

World Vision and Evangelicals ip-op, hurt needyDavid Flemming

Special-to-the-Collegian

Garrett WestSpecial-to-the-Collegian

Discourse: better than debate

Ramona TauszCollegian Reporter

Hillsdale shouldhave a shop class

(517) 610-5586

Dine In Carry Out

The oorboards in my car are rust-ing and rotting out and I haven't thefaintest clue how to x them. Yet I candesign a society from the ground up

and discuss G.W.F. Hegel, economiccoercion, and New Jersey education

policy. The only time I've ever built abirdhouse I t the pieces together sopoorly I had to use caulking to makeit water-proof-ish. My latest endeavor,a shelf for my desk, consisted of mysawing and then screwing three piecesof wood together. Please hold your ap-

plause until the end: I still cracked twoof the pieces. Ive replaced the head-lights on my car a few times but thatsabout it. This is the sad extent of mywoodworking and mechanical skills.Yet I will soon be venturing out intoa world dominated by cars, sinks, anddoors that are all liable to break.

College isnt practical enough. Weneed a shop class.

What I mean by shop class is ahands-on explanation of the various

tools and methods required to main-tain the physical objects that we rely

upon yet dont notice until they stopworking. Who thinks about a sink untilit leaks? These classes would providea basic grounding in car mechanics,

plumbing, and carpentry. We dontneed to learn how to replace an engineor renovate an entire kitchen, but some

basic knowledge about different toolswould come in handy. Which jobs re-quire a hacksaw and which a back saw?

When is the next time Peter Thiel(co-founder of PayPal) or some otherrich libertarian is going to draft me tohelp create the latest free city? Prob-ably never. When is the next timesomething is going to go wrong withmy car? Probably tomorrow.

There are two reasons to have shopclass: usefulness to life in general and

satisfaction. Even the most liberal-artsy among us will still acknowledgethat were going to college for at leastone other reason than simply to go tocollege. It might be to obtain a key tothe ivory tower or a ticket to a high-

paying nancial job. But we also takeclasses for pure pleasure that dont

help us to achieve our goals directly,like a beer seminar, social dance, or

basic shotgun.Shop class fullls both of these

qualications. It should fulll thecores physical education requirementso as to not further burden studentswith an even larger core curriculum.

Career Services recently held theLife After Hillsdale Explained semi-nar for seniors and juniors on the more

basic things of life. One of these work-shops was on basic car maintenance.Im thankful to the staff of Career Ser-vices for hosting this event. Theyverealized something about graduat-ing seniors: Were not ready for thereal world. But this weekend seminardidnt go far enough.

Maybe I'm just a tired old seniorwho's ready to move on. But I'm not,really. I still enjoy my classes eventhe one on Karl Marx and Friedrich Ni

-

etzsche. I'm simply weary of consump-tion. College is geared for the studentto consume as much as possible. Eventhe things we do produce, such as pa-

pers and tests, are usually only read byone person before they disappear intothe annals of forgotten undergraduateeffort. Sure, you can hold an essay inyour hand with the satisfaction of ac-complishment. You can even pass itaround to your friends or get it pub-lished in the Collegian. This is all welland good. But it pales in comparison tothe delight of physical c reation. A shopclass would give us an outlet for thissort of endeavor.

Now turn off your computer and gobuild something.

Breaking News: Aaron Carter willbe singing at Centralhallapalooza.But, of course, you have already heardabout it. Its all anybody can talk about.

In a vacuum, I dont care that Carteris coming to Hillsdale. Am I fan of his?

No. Is the Student Activity Board andStudent Federation wasting our mon-ey? Yes. But SAB can spend its moneyas it pleases. What bothers me is thatCarter will be stealing stage time fromhard-working student bands. To makematters worse, SAB is giving an hourof time to a disc-jockey. Depending onhow long Carter plays, he and the DJwill rob stage time from between threeand six student bands at Centralhalla-

palooza, the gig of the year.I am a proud member of a couple

student bands. There is a disturbinglack of bassists on campus; I try, andlargely fail, to ll that void. Sure, Ihave some conict of interest, but, asa member of Phi Mu Alpha, I have op-

portunities to play throughout the year.Other members of student bands donot.

Outside of Battle of the Bands inthe fall and Centralhallapalooza in thespring, there are no opportunities for

student bands to play on campus. SABclaims that it is adding the hour of DJmusic so that students can dance. Thosestudents have parties every week fea-turing dance music, many of them withlive DJs, to dance at. Student bands donot have such opportunities.

Centralhallapalooza is supposedto be an event that creates enjoymentfor the student body. So shouldnt the

performers be students? SAB doesntunderstand that as much enjoyment isgarnered from playing the music forour friends as is found in listening to

the music. I know of several seniorswho were looking forward to Central-hallapalooza being their last opportu-nity to play on campus. Due to SABschanges, many will not get that chance.

Look, I get that student bands aren'tprofessionals. We dont claim to beas talented as real bands. Theres areason we play cover music. Theres areason nobody is signing us to recorddeals. Thats not the point. Student

bands have spent hours rehearsing fora chance to play at Centralhallapaloo-za. SAB doesnt seem to care aboutthis. Theyve robbed our chance to

play for our friends. Is anybody reallyso excited about Aaron Carter that hed

personally cut a band out of Central-hallapalooza? Apparently SAB is.

Schulyer DugleSpecial-to-the-Collegian

Ian FurySpecial-to-the-Collegian

Carter will detractfrom student bands

New core makes 4.0s too easy

(Dane Skorup/Collegian)

7/22/2019 4.17 Hillsdale Collegian

6/12

The 164th Hillsdale CountyFair will feature country singer

Rand Houser, as announced onApril 10.

Houser will perform on Sat-urday, Sept. 27, at 7 p.m. withopening act Danielle Bradbery,winner ofthe fourthseason ofThe Voicein 2013.

The Hill-sdale CountyFair boardannouncedH o u s e r s

perfo rmanc ethe sameweek ashis single G o o d -night Kissreached No.1 on coun-try musiccharts.

His twoother chart-t o p p i n gsongs in-clude HowC o u n t r yFeels andRunnin Out-ta Moonlight from his debut al-

bum How Country Feels.Bradbery also boasts a top

song on country song rankingswith Heart of Dixie releasedin July 2013.

The Fair board began look-ing for 2014 fair entertainmentimmediately after the 2013 fair.The boards entertainment com-mittee, which handles the selec-tion of concerts and non-concert

entertainment for each fair, dis-covered that Randy Houser wasavailable at a time that wouldt the fairs schedule and con-tacted him.

Scott Dow, Hillsdale CountyFair manager, anticipates this

concert being a great success,considering Housers chart-top-

ping status and Bradberys bighit Heart of Dixie.

According to Dow, coun-

try artists concerts tend to bepopular at the fair, such as theFlorida Georgia Line concert atlast falls fair.

Randy Houser is a nice fol-low-up to Florida Georgia Line.Its young country and theres alot of buzz in the industry, Dowsaid. We saw that last year withFlorida Georgia Line, and Ran-dy Houser has that potential toreally do something great.

Hillsdale College juniorLandon Peterson agreed withDow.

The Fair has had some bignames over the past few yearslike Florida Georgia Line, Rod-ney Adkins, and Josh Turner, so

maybe this Randy Houser guywill make it big too, Petersonsaid. The fair has a good trackrecord with country musicians,and that might be reason enough

to go see Randy Houser.According to Dow, the en-

tertainment committee is well-satised with their choice ofHouser and Bradbery.

I think this year we have agood example of two great en-tertainers, he said. This will

be a great show.Dow hopes that concertgoers

will visit the fairs many otherattractions in addition to attend-

ing the concert.Its always nice to have con-

cert attendees also take in thefair and take in what we haveto offer, he said. We have alot to offer here at the HillsdaleCounty Fair for all ages.

Concert tickets go on saleTuesday, April 22, at 8 a.m. atthe Hillsdale County Fair Of-ce, located at 115 S. Broad St.Tickets are also available at Star

Tickets at 800-585-3737 or atwww.startickets.com.

Tickets are $38 for Track &Box Seats and $35 for Grand-stand seats.

For more information on theconcert or the Hillsdale CountyFair, contact the Hillsdale FairOfce at 517-437-3622 or visitwww.hillsdalecountyfair.org.

Davis Middle School, built

in 1929, will undergo renova-tions from mid-July throughearly August to improve thevisibility and security of themain entrance and ofce area.

Approximately $250,000will be used this summer to im-

prove the frontside of Davis on30 N. West Street.

The Davis School remodelis in the architects planningstage. We have the desiredconcepts visualized, but thedrawings are not completed. Aconstruction budget will be de-veloped from those drawings,

said Hillsdale CommunitySchools Superintendent ShawnVondra in an email.

According to Vondra, chang-es will include a redesign of