The Hillsdale Forum - Fall 2006-07

8/14/2019 The Hillsdale Forum - Fall 2006-07

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hillsdaletheforum

Fall 2006

Volume IV, Issue I

the

Dilemma ofHigher Education

The Ballots Have Been Cast!

--Who Got Elected--

?

--Where Do They Stand--

?

--Whats on the Line--

full story pages 8-9

In this issue...

Hforum*%#@!*%#@!*%#@!*%#@!*%#@!*%#@!*%#@!*%#@!*%#@!*%#@!*%#@!*%#@!*%#@!*%#@!*%#@!*%#@!*%#@!*%#@!*%#@!*%#@!*%#@!*%#@!*%#@!*%#@!*%#@!*%#@!*%#@!*%#@!*%#@!*%#@!*%#@!*%#@!*%#@!*%#@!*%#@!*%#@!*%#@!*%#@!*%#@!*%#@!*%

#@!*%#@!*%#@!*%#@!*%#@!*%#@!*%#@!*%#@!*%#@!*%

No Soap and Toothbrush

Needed Here

...

One Students

Examination of

Hillsdales

Clean Campus

-page 7-

The election is over and the

Democrats have taken the Congress.

The war in Iraq forced the unemployed,

disgruntled citizens of America tospeak out via the election against their

dominantly Republican government,

or so says the opposition. But the

war in Iraq is not the only issue on

the ballot these days. While jobs and

the war are important, these topics

jeopardized the election commercials

at the expense of other very important

issues, such as education.

Politicians commonly use education,

and more recently higher education

issues to get the American public up

in arms concerning the future welfare

of our country. If the children of

today lack proper education, the

adults of tomorrow will fail tocarry on the American dream. We

poor college students deserve the

subsidization of the government

to ensure the continuation of our

beloved democratic-republic. Both

Democrats and Republicans have

dumped millions and millions of

dollars into the system in order to

impress the local voters.

Our very own President Larry Arnn

pointed out the problem in his recent

essay, The Crisis and Politics of

Higher Education published in

the Claremont Review of Books

and Imprimis. (Currently, the

essay can also be accessed via theHillsdale College home page.) He,

being a true believer in Hillsdale

College and the idea of remaining

true to ones founding, noticed that

since September 11, 2001, defense

spending has risen 47 percent, while

higher education spending has risen

133 percent.

Complain as they may about spending

on the war in Iraq, the Democrats in

conjunction with the Republicans

have blown the lid off of education

spending in the last six years, and it

doesnt help the national deficit.

All this money going out makes

one wonder what the institutions ofhigher education are doing with the

funding. The Intercollegiate Studies

Institute took up this very question in

their recently published study The

Coming Crisis in Citizenship in

which they examined what was being

learned by students at 50 institutions

of higher education nation wide.

byStephAni Francl

-continued on page 3


2/12

news2 Fall 20062

As Hillsdale College students, we all know the meaning of busy. From writing a paper to

reading a book, there are a million things that come ahead of watching the news, which iswhy weve decided to bring the important stuff to you!

In Germany, for the low cost of $25, one

can hire Bernd Dressler of the Separation

Agency in Berlin to break-up with ones

significant other. The more elaboratebreaking-up packages can go as high at

$65, but one must have at least three rea-

sonable reasons for breaking up before

Mr. Dressler breaks up with your sig-

nificant other for you. Talk about cold.

Ernest Charles Pusey, 111, is

Floridas only living World

War I veteran and received his

long-delayed medal for his

service on the battleship USS

Wyoming nearly 90 years ago.

The FBI is now investigating

the Los Angeles police after

viewing a videotape releasedon YouTube.com that shows of-

ficers repeatedly beating a sus-

pect in the face while he cried

out that he could not breathe.

It is now under speculation that the mass surrender of 500

Taliban and al-Qaeda prisoners in November 2001, during the

opening phases of the Afghanistan war was a ruse. It led to a

prison riot in an aging fortress in Mazar-e-Sharif, Afghanistan,which was suppressed by a band of American and British com-

mandos. Only 85 prisoners survived to be captured; among

them was John Walker Lindh, the so-called American Taliban.

The number of overseas

graduate students going

to school in the US has

increased after the three

year decline following

September 11th in 2001.

Robert Gates became the

new nominee for the office

of United States Secretary of

Defense after Donald Rums-

felds resignation earlier

this week. He is currently

president of Texas A&M and

was the 15th director of the

Central Intelligence Agency.

Can you name all the Supreme

Court Judges of the Roberts

Court?: Samuel Alito, StephenBreyer, Ruth Bader Ginsburg,

Anthony Kennedy, Chief Jus-

tice John Roberts, Antonin

Scalia, David Souter, John Paul

Stevens, and Clarence Thom-

as. (No, this is not news, just

something you need to know)

The Supreme Court contin-

ues to hear arguments to up-

hold the disputed Partial-Birth

Abortion Ban, weighing in

on the constitutionality of a

law banning a surgical meth-

od to terminate a pregnancy.

Democracy, Hugo Chavez-Style: For workers

at Venezuelas state-owned oil company, sup-

porting Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez

isnt a choice; its a direct order. On one poster,

highlighted in capital letters, it says He who

is not with Chavez should not be in PDVSA.

It encourages workers to be vigilant of their

colleagues and to turn in anyone who does

not appear to be identified with the process.

In California, Orange

Coast College votes not

to recognize the Pledge

of Allegiance, and

bans it from meetings.

Al Qaeda says they will not rest until our pret-

ty White House is a ugly black pile of rubble.

After a Huston landscaping

business refuses to do busi-

ness with a homosexual couple, they are kicked form the

Assoc. of Professional Land-

scape Designers, and sent

hate mail and death threats.

After making racist remarks that air in the new Borat film, two North

Carolina fraternity brothers are suing the makers of the film, claiming

they were tricked into making the remarks.

Whitman College cancelledclasses Thursday so that stu-

dents could attend a sympo-

sium on race and diversity

after several pictures of stu-

dents wearing blackface made

it onto the internet causing

a campus wide controversy.

The average American

with AIDS will live 24

years, and spend over

$600,000 on treatment.


3/12

newshforum 3hforum 3Hillsdalethe

forum

Stephani FranclEmilia Huneke-Bergquist

Editors-in-Chief

Julie Robison Copy Editor

Gina Gallutia

Brian JohnstonStohn NishinoJeremy MarshallG. Stolyarov II Staff Writers

The Hillsdale Forum is a

student publication distributed

four times throughout theschool year.

Questions?Comments?Submissions?

Contact The Hillsdale Forum:

[email protected]

Twenty-five of the schools were

selected based on information from

the National Center for EducationStatistics Integrated Postsecondary

Education Data System. The other

25 percent were elite schools hand

selected based on the US News

and World Reports rankings of the

nations colleges (which well come

back to later).

These schools were selected to

show both a broad overview of what

Americas college student is learning,

as well as the difference between an

elite education and a non-elite

education. The results are astounding.

The college with the most value

added (Value added is the increase in

knowledge of graduating seniors over

incoming freshmen.) was Rhodes

College, and the second, Colorado

College. Ranking at 50, 49, and 48

respectively were Johns Hopkins

University, UC Berkley, and Cornell

University. All of these come in well

behind Utah State University (14) and

the University of New Mexico (7).

The areas of question addressed in

the study included common historical

and political topics such as the

Jamestown Colony, the Form of the

US Government, Womens Suffrage,

and World War II. Students showed

an increased value added in many

of the categories, though the largest

decrease in value added came on

the subject ofMarbury v. Madison.

However, the topics that showed

improvement, albeit only a little

were disturbing: the Origin of the

Doctrine of Separation of Church and

State, Platos Republic, the Founders

Understanding of Moral and Political

Knowledge, the Enumerated Powers,

and Traditional Just War Theory.

The fact that these value addeds

are improving is encouraging, but

here is the discouraging part: In

each of these categories, incoming

freshmen got less than 39 percent

of the questions correct. And the

seniors who improved on the subjects

improved by, at most, a margin of 3.2

percent.

From the recent election results, it

will be no wonder to you which was

the least understood category from

the list: Traditional Just War Theory.

Todays voting citizens grasp on

just war theory shows in the wishy-

washy voting tendencies displayed in

the last three elections which relied

heavily on the war issue.

Thank Heavens for Hillsdale College,

which, like it or not, now forces each

of its graduating students to take

a course on the US Constitution; at

least we know our stuff.

However, this is not recognized

by the general population or by the

general media. In the US News

and World Reports rankings of the

nations best liberal arts colleges,

Hillsdale doesnt even make the top

100. We fall somewhere in the top

120. This, in itself, is frustrating,

but the methodology of the rankings

will make one pull their hair out

in aggravation. The most heavily

weighted criteria used by US News

is what is titled peer ranking. Peerranking means that the president,

provost, and admissions dean of each

college sends in their ideas of how all

of the other colleges in their category

rank on a scale of one to five with five

being the best. Hillsdales number:

2.2. Though frustrating, Hillsdales

rank among the other liberal arts

colleges is not as important as the

actual task undertaken by the college.

The fact is that Hillsdale College

was founded in 1844 to furnish to

all persons who wisha literary,

scientific or theological education

as comprehensive and thorough as is

usually pursued in other colleges or

theological schools in this country,

and to combine with this, such

moral, social and artistic instruction

and culture as will best develop the

minds and improve the hearts of the

students. The most recent anthem of

Hillsdale Educating for Liberty

takes up this challenge in a modern

day battle cry. Hillsdale College,

though imperfect, fulfills its mission

and its Articles of Association; if only

the same were true of the schools

shown to be struggling to add value

to their students.

-education from page 1

College seniors failed

the Civic Literacy

Exam administered

by ISI with an average

score of 53.2%.

Of the 50 schools sur-

veyed, 16 schools se-

niors scored lower than

freshmen showing a

negative value added.

Civic learning is

significantly great-

er at schools with

traditional core

curricula.

Civicly educated citi-

zens are more active-

ly engaged in voting,

volunteer community

service and politicalcampaings.

The Coming Crisis inCitizenship

ISIs AmericanCivic Literacy

ProgramsFindingsAll statistics courtesy ofISI.


4/12

debate4 Fall 2006

When a wild or domesticated animal

loses control over itself, enters a rage,

and kills or maims a human or another

animal, that act is sufficient for the

animal to be rightly put to death. The

animal has shown irrefutably that it

cannot exist in a civilized setting; it

cannot behave without aggressing on

individual humans lives and property.

The animal is not given any second

chances; it is not rehabilitated and

no one entertains the delusion that just

because the animal killed or injured

someone already, it

will not kill or injure

anyone again.

Yet when a human

being loses control

over herself, enters

a depression, and

systematically drowns

her own five children,

she is not only spared

executionshe is not

even locked away in

prison to suffer for her

vile and murderous

acts. Instead, she is

absolved of any guilt

in the brutal murder

and put in a mental

hospital, where she

receives food, lodging,

and medical care at

taxpayers expense.

Thisin its stark

essenceis what the

not guilty by reason

of insanity verdict given to child

murderess Andrea Yates means.

The bizarre argument underlying this

verdict is that because Yates allegedly

did not have control over her ownthoughts, emotions, and actions during

the murders, she can be absolved

from guilt and punishment for those

murders. It is questionable that Yates

even committed the murders without

knowing their full implications and

wanton evil. However, even if we

accept that premise, it follows that her

punishment should only be greaterthan

it would have been otherwise.

Every human being has the inalienablemoral responsibility to honor the rights

Andrea Yates: A Timeline

1993 Andrea and Rusty Yates Wed

1993-2000 The couple have five children, four boys and one girl

1999 Andrea seeks psychiatric help for the first time, and is placed on medication.

June 20, 2001 Off medication for only a few days, she takes her children into the bathroom

and drowns them. Hours later, she confesses to Huston police.July 2001 Andrea indicted on first-degree murder charges in all five deaths.

August 2001 Yates pleads not guilty by reason of insanity, and the prosecution reveals that they

intend to seek the death penalty.

September 2001 Jury finds her competent to sand trial.

March 2002 After a half hour of deliberations, a jury sentences her to a life sentence with no parole

for forty years

March 2002- 2004 Yates moves back and forth between prison and psychiatric facilities

January 2005 A Texas Court of Appeals reverses the capital murder conviction

January 2006 The re-trial begins and Yates pleads not guilty by reason of insanity in the murders

February 2006 Yates is given bail on the condition that she submit herself to an institution until trial.

Later this month she turns down an agreement giving her only 35 years in prison.June 2006 The re-trial beings.

July 2006 The jury returns with a verdict of not guilty by reason of insanity.

Information compiled by Laura Weisman of Chron.com

byG. Stolyarov II

of other human beings. That is, every

human being must not infringe onother human beings lives, liberty, and

property. This responsibility is the

fundamental imperative underlying all

civilized human interaction; without

it, rights could not be honored and

would remain in perpetual jeopardy.

Furthermore, because individual

rights are eternal and inalienable, the

responsibility to honor individual rights

is likewise eternal and inalienable.

It does not depend on the internal orexternal condition of the individual in

question.

Honoring individual rights is easy;

a person in a vegetative state can

manage it perfectly. Such a person

will not kill other people, injure them,

restrain their freedom, or steal their

possessions. Violations of individual

rights are always active; they require

an individual to move her body in

some way as to deprive another of life,

liberty, or property. The responsibility

to honor individual rights is in essence

a responsibility not to act in certain

ways.

The human being not only has

responsibility over her actions; she has

responsibility for being responsible

over her actions. If an individual

suffers from mental problems that

prevent this control, she inhibitsher ability to lead a life proper to

a human beingto the extent that

these problems are present. If these

deficiencies harm only the individual

and no one else, then the individual still

maintains her essential humanity

for she still has enough self-control

to fully respect the rights of others.

However, if an individual with mental

problems harms other people, she

should be punished to the extent thatshe violates their rights. Their rights

are sacred and immutableand it is

her responsibility to honor them. Any

time she forfeits that responsibility,

she also forfeits the higher standard of

treatment pertaining to human beings.

With lesser violations of rights

especially those where the harm can

be compensated for by fines or other

reparationsthe offending party need

not be permanently restrained, because

the damage can be undone. However,

where the damage is permanent, the

punishment for the damager should be

permanent as well. Two categories of

rights infringement meet this criterion:

murder and permanent injury.

If we, as civilized, moral people, are

concerned with attaining a society

where individual rights are honored

and enforced, we should implementmeasures to punish infringers so as

to prevent further violations. The

deterrent effect provided by permanent

punishment will discourage many

would-be violators from ever resorting

to crime. Even animals are subject to

the effect of deterrence; a hungry wolf

will not attack a flock of sheep if the

shepherd aims a gun at the predator.

Mentally troubled humans are far

more intelligent than the animalsso their ability to understand and be

affected by deterrence should be even

greater.

If the deterrent

effect fails

in a given

situation and

the permanently

damaging crime

is committed

n o n e t h e l e s s ,

p e r m a n e n t

punishment for

the criminal

will minimize

future crime by

ensuring that

the offending

person never

violates another

persons rights

again. Thus,

the principle

of permanent

p u n i s h m e n t

for permanent

violations of

rights leads to a worst-case scenario

of one criminal incident per violator

and a best-case scenario of none due

to the deterrent effect.

Mercy and help offered to those who

could not restrain their active violations

of others rights constitute a bizarre

attack on the civilized imperative of

honoring all individual rights. Mercy

to those who killed in cold blood

though still unwarrantedmakes

more sense. The cold-blooded killer

knows the evil of his deeds, but he still

has control over his mind and body

his ideas and his actions. There exists

an extremely slim chance that he


A Travesty of Mercy: the Andrea Yates Story


5/12

spotlighthforum5

byStephAni Francl

The Czech Republic, formerly a part of

Czechoslovakia, has much in common

with America. It is a democracy.

Vaclav Havel, quite like our George

Washington, was the extraordinary

statesman who, in 1989, led the charge

against the oppressive communist

regime. The Czech people now love

their freedom and covet their rights.

Beyond being a European nation that

as a whole loves America and looks to

it as a fellow bastion of democracy and

freedom, the Czech Republic has paved

the way for the founding of democracies

in the modern world.

Churchill claimed that, Democracy

is more vindictive than Cabinets. The

wars of people will be more terrible than

those of kings. The lines have blurred

between the soldier and the civilian. In

a monarchy, the king hires soldiers to

fight for him against his adversaries, but

in a democracy the populous supports

the war effort through their investments,

their votes, and their enlistment to

fight the war. Democratic institutions

gave expression to the will-power of

millions, Churchill explained during

World War I. The expression of the

peoples will was displayed in the Czech

Republic as the citizens peacefully

demonstrated in December of 1988

Built nearly five-hundred years ago, the historic Charles Bridge is still

the only way to cross the Vltava River into Old Town Prague.

Oldrich Olda Cherney addresses a group of studentsat this years Geostratic Journalism Course in Prague.

against the communist regime that wasviolating their natural rights.

They followed in the footsteps of the

American people who consented as a

whole to fight for their unalienable rights

in 1776. Both peoples, 200 years apart,

fought, by choice, making a statement

to the world that they would not be

trampled. And they won. We won. Our

heritage left it to us, their posterity to

preserve the sacred, secured rights and

to pass them on to our offspring.

I remember when I first heard someone

say What about Havel for president,

Oldrich Olda Cherney, former head of

security under President Vaclav Havel

and Executive Director of the Prague

Securities Studies Institute recalled in

an interview this June. I thought it was

crazy! Havel was an idea man; a man

that could lead in the intellectual world

of political

philosophy

and theory,

but Olda

t h o u g h t

H a v e l

would never

take on the

leadership of

the country.

The

recovery of

the government by the Czechoslovakian

people was unique

because of the lack of

bloodshed throughout

their revolution. It began

on November 16, 1989,

and the government

takeover was completed

by December 29, 1989.

In just over a month, the

Czechoslovakian people

had, through words

backed by the ideals of

the populous, mandated

that the oppressive

Soviet government be

abolished.

It was termed the Velvet

Revolution. Yet those

involved in the efforts

remember it differently.

Velvet Revolution is a

sound bite made up by the

press. Olda countered. The Velvet

Revolution was not velvet; it was not

gentle. While there was no bloodshed,

it was a battle the final battle for the

opinions of the people. Olda clarified,

It was a revolution of minds, of

attitudes. As Kristi, a fellow Czech

who works with the People in Need

Foundation explained, [Havel] was

the unification factor. Czechoslovakian

opinion changed gradually throughout

the mid-1900s, seeping into various

parts of society a little at a time and

culminating in the revolution of 1989.

Jaroslav Kurfrst, the Deputy Chief of

Mission at the Embassy of the Czech

Republic in Washington DC who was

in college at the time of the revolution

summarized Czech emotion: Havel

was a hero for me.

Kristi explained what sets Havel apart

as a statesman: He has the talent to

look at things a different way. Havel

believes that the people are generally

good, Kristi elaborated, and as such

he is very much an idealist. Havel

basically sacrificed his life to lead

the revolution; he gave up his privacy

everything. The principles Havel

wrote and lived by in 1989

are the same principles Havel

still writes and lives by today.

He has become something of

an institution in the Czech

Republic.

Havel made a difference in

Czechoslovakia and in the

world not because he is any

greater a human than you or I.

Havel has made a difference

in the world because, like

our Founders, he chose to sacrifice

his own comfort and ease to live by

the principles in which he believed.

And what makes Havel and the Czech

Republics story so exceptional is the

fact that the changes of the world,

and specifically the change of the

world toward democracy, allowed for

a bloodless overturning of a nations

regime.

It was democratic ideas, thoughts,

and attitudes creeping into the minds

and hearts of the Czech that forced

the Soviet government to leave their

offices. Winston Churchill explained

of unjust rulers such as the Soviets

were in Czechoslovakia: They are

afraid of words and thoughts! Words

spoken abroad, thoughts stirring at

home, all the more powerful because

I remember the first time I heard

someone say Havel for Presi-

dent, I thought it was crazy!-Olrich Cherney


Photos courtesy of Stephani Francl.

Czech Republic: modern example of democratic influence


6/12

opinion6 Fall 2006

Government policy tends to be a very

convenient scapegoat for Americas

problems. However, the problem may

not lie solely within the government but

the way the government is portrayed to

its citizens.

The media, it can be argued, can be more

deceptive than even the governmentsmost wily ways. This is because the

U.S. population more readily listens to

the media than to their own government.

The media is looked at as an ally with

the people, exposing The Mans corrupt

policies, conniving under dealings, and

general mishaps. It has come to be the

general consensus that if news is printed

or said on the air, it must be true. This

is the downfall of American liberty and

freedom. Americans are constantly onguard against the government in case of

an infringement of rights and have since

let down their basic defense system,

giving themselves over to the Media

Machine.

Americans, earnest about not being

blindly misled by authority, have the

tendency to overcompensate by putting

their trust elsewhere. They allow their

own judgments to be replaced by the

opinions of political pundits. Themedia has become a tool of society;

specifically, television, as it is prevalent

and omnipresent to nearly all Americans.

Television has been lulling Americans

to sleep with lies and half-truths for

the last half of the century. They have

become programmed, accepting and

not questioning many of the stories

heard on television. It has been drilled

into Americans for so long to always

question the government: why does the

questioning stop there? One cannot only

question the government but everything

and everyone! Nothing

is too sacred to be

tampered with. What

people need to realize is

that the media is fallibleas well. It is viewed as

a legitimate and noble

institution in American

society. In reality, the

media is just another

facet of commercialism,

selling ideas and stories

to the American people

at the expense of what

is pure and true in this

country. The media needs to fear thepeople; it needs to feel an obligation to tell

the utmost truth, no matter

what the circumstance,

because it should know that

if it doesnt, people will find

out and call them on it.

This is not the first time the

media has had a significant

role in shaping Americans

thoughts. A little over a

hundred years ago, a newphenomenon in the world of

news broadcasting was introduced to the

public. It was called yellow journalism

and it was sensational. Yellow

journalism is journalism that exploits,

distorts, or exaggerates the news to

create sensations and attract readers. It

was especially influential on the Spanish-

American War,

significantly

c h a n g i n g

A m e r i c a n

policies and

p r e j u d i c e s

from then

on. Yellow

j o u r n a l i s m

was created by

Joseph Pulitzer

and William

R a n d o l p h

Hearst as their papers competed for sales.

With newspaper prices dropping to the

point where anyone could buy a paper,

more people became informed. The

only downside was that, in the articles,

the line between fact and fiction became

very smudged.

H e a r s t

reportedly said

to illustrator

F r e d e r i cR e m i n g t o n

You furnish

the pictures

and Ill furnish

the war.

This lurid

sensationalism

and type of

investigatory

reporting set a

new standard for American journalism.Today the legacy of yellow journalism

carries on as the press continues to

show bias and misrepresent facts; from

the War in Iraq to Hurricane Katrina to

the tragic death of Terri Shiavo, what

America is experiencing is modern-day

yellow journalism. During the 2004

Presidential Election, 60 Minutes ran

a story concerning President Bushs

service in the National Guard. The

slanderous story was based on fourdocuments which later proved to be

bogus and resulted in the firing of three

CBS executives and Dan Rather stepping

down as CBSs evening news anchor.

A new epoch has begun in American

politics as President Bushs presidency

further reflects his lame duck status, the

War in Iraq continues, and Democrats

gain control of

the House and

the Senate.Nonetheless, it is

not too late to set

a new standard

in the American

media by breaking

the cycle of faulty

journalism. It

starts with the

American people

demanding the

truth, not a hyped or puffed up story. One

should check and double check sources

the media cites as their information

And it was all yellow...the fight against tainted journaism continuesbyJulie RObison

Stephani Francl, a senior from

Central City, Nebraska, and former

editor in chief of the Hillsdale Fo-

rum, went to the Czech Republic

this summer with the Collegiate

Networks Geostrategic Journalism

Course. She spent a week in Prague

studying international journalism

and affairs at the Prague Securities

Studies Institute, which was founded

and is directed by Oldrich Cherney.

they are forbidden. These terrify

them. A little mouse - a little tinymouse! -of thought appears in

the room, and even the mightiest

potentates are thrown into panic.

The free elections held in May of

1989 saw the Czech people vote a

majority of non-communists into

the legislature. It was not just

the government that changed it

required a change over a period of

time in the mindset of the people

to prepare them for democraticfreedom.

When the revolution officially

began on November 16, 1989,

the people were ready, and within

four days, over 100,000 people

converged on Prague to demonstrate

to the government that they meant

business. The communist regime

was ending. The world had

changed.

-From Page 5

(all logos courtsey of cnn.com, msnbc.com,foxnews.com)

outlet and stay wary of glossy pictures

and technical terms that can portray

a very different picture than the actual

circumstance.

In the movie A Few Good Men, when

Lieutenant Kaffee demands the truth

from Colonel Jessep during a trial,

Jessep tells Kaffee You cant handle the

truth. Americans need to realize that it

is insulting that the media would not be

wholly truthful because it implies that

the media does not believe Americans

have the capacity to handle the truth.

Not only can Americans handle the

truth, they should demand it and expect

nothing less.


7/12

%

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opinionhforum 7

byJulie RObison

In my first few weeks at Hillsdale, one

of the things that surprised me the most

was the apparent lack of swearing on

campus. I was walking down the hallway

with two friends when I let an expletive

slip. One of my friends stopped in her

tracks.

What did you just say? She asked,

her eyes widening and narrowing in the

same glare. I looked around nervously

to see if there was actually an evil

minion looming in the shadows who had

said the word in my voice. The moment

was awkward, but we continued walking

without further incident.

I did not always swear. My parents

used the traditional fear tactics; if they

ever caught me saying bad words,

my mouth was promptly washed out

with soap or my tongue scorched with

Tabasco sauce. Back then, however,

bad words were calling your siblings

derogatory names like Stupid, telling

anyone to Shut up, or using the ever-

forbidden word of Crap.

We lived in a Golden Age. I remember

in the fourth grade having to read a

passage about beavers aloud to the

class. I said the word dam and my

classmates snickered into their books

as they incorporated beavers and dams

into our daily classroom conversation.

What are dams?

What are dams made out of?

Why are dams called dams?

Our teacher shushed us and tried to

move on with the lesson but it was too

late: we had caught the Bad Word Bug.

This infectious disease followed us

through middle school and junior high,

where we experimented with a few

shocking words from time to time. It

wasnt until high school that the Bad

Word Bug went from common cold to

epidemic. I say I had to go to an all-

girls school to learn how to swear. Most

people scoff when they hear this.

Didnt you go to an all-girls school?

they ask.

Girls dont swear. It isnt ladylike.

Didnt you ever swear in high school?

I ask in return. Then comes the dreaded

reply: Not really.

Imagine: over six hundred plaid-

skirted girls in one building. They

come from all over the city and so did

their vocabularies. Swear words were

the new adjectives and it was never

long before certain words crept into

ones own vocabulary. It was a kind of

freedom, a rebellion against the system.

If caught, profanity of any kind resulted

in top punishment. Nevertheless, it

was flagrant. We took every chance we

had to break the rules in that cloistered

atmosphere and that included swearing.

Coming to Hillsdale was a different

type of culture shock than the one I had

experienced upon entering high school.

Hillsdale is filled with many people, but,

despite the intensity of some storytellers,

one does not often hear swearing. I have

received some of the most impressive

looks of shock and surprise upon the

utterance of an expletive.

Everyone is so clean-cut here, I

once thought to myself after receiving

yet another scandalized look. They are

such goody-two shoes.

Hillsdale often feels like a scene out

of Happy Days, cut out of Wisconsin

and pasted into this obscure town in

Michigan. I wholly expect Richie and

Potsie to walk across the quad any day

now. Ive witnessed high fives, frequent

smiles and an alarming number of argyle

sweaters around campus. I immediately

became suspicious.

What is wrong with these people?

I thought. This thought was usually

followed by a What have I gotten

myself into? Yet I knew, deep inside,

that they were not the ones that needed

to change.

With the exception of eccentric teachers

and the traditional sailor-mouthed

students that frequent college campuses,

a majority of the Hillsdale student body

choose not to curse. Everyone has

their reasons. In the Bible, Colossians

3:8 says But now you must get rid of

all such thingsanger, wrath, malice,

slander and abusive language from your

mouth. On the secular side, arguments

for why one shouldnt swear include that

swearing is bad for society, it corrupts the

English language, it lowers the speaker

figuratively in the eyes of others, and it

is simply not socially acceptable.One must realize that there is more to

swearing than the word being used; it is

the idea behind the word. Where does

one draw the line between good words

and bad words? One does not swear

because one likes the way the word

sounds. If that were so, people would go

around saying words like juxtaposition

or pasticcio. Rather, one curses for

the shock value, the position one takes,

or the achieved status. This is why itis important to understand the offensive

nature of cursing. There needs to be a

standard for the English language.

Luckily, there is a cure for the Bad

Word Bug: not swearing. This seems

to be Hillsdales preferred antidote to

break the vicious swearing cycle. The

lack of swearing at this school is strange

but refreshing, like rain on a day while

the sun is still out.

Coming to Hillsdale forced me to clean

up my act. While I admit to occasionally

lapsing back into my old school girl

ways and saying whatever words fall

off my tongue without a second thought

to my neighbors ears, Ive decided to

put an end to my sailor days; out with

the old words and in with new ways to

express myself in a non-offensive way!

It has not been a major phenomenon;

no one has paraded a marching band

down Hillsdale Street in celebration of

me holding my tongue. I doubt if many

even notice my new vocabulary. I, on

the other hand, have noticed it in myself

and that is the best feeling because I

know that my clean-cut self is making

a difference by not subjecting anyones

ears to unwanted words and, of course,

not offending God is always a good

feeling.

During Fall Parents Weekend at

Hillsdale, I had the pleasure of showingmy parents around campus. They laughed

at my stories and reminisced back to

their own glory days at their university

as we ambled along. They discussed

the lovely weather and how Hillsdale

was the quintessential college campus,

but, to my disappointment, neither

mentioned their newfound admiration

for my improved vocabulary.

Amidst our walk, I was suddenly

startled at the sight of a rather largesquirrel, despite my daily exposure to

them.

Holy Crap! I said, surprised that

a squirrel that large mustered up the

energy to leap as it did. My father

frowned disapprovingly at me and did

not hesitate to inform me that Crap

was a base word used by criminals and

scallywags and he never wanted to hear

me use it again. I sighed and continued

walking.Gee Whiz.

We all know that swearing is rudebut, what about all the other little tips

and tricks we need along the walk of life? Never fear, with theHillsdale

Forums Pocket Guide to Manners and Etiquette, youll never be without

your best behavior.

Never carry on a private

conversation in company.

---

Be on time, and if you know yourerunning late--make a phone call.

---

Do not start or end a realtionship

via text message or instant message.

---

If you need to ask someone if it is

trashy, dont wear it.

---

Should you excuse yourself

midmeal, place your napkin in thechair, not on the table.

Always RSVP to an event.

---

Never bring up an ex girlfriend/

boyfriend while on a date.---

When attending a fancy dinner, use

the silverware on the outside first,

and work your way in.

---

Dramatic confrontations should be

avoided at all costs. No one needs

to hear about it.

--

Unless service was terrible, leave agood tip.

Monday...Tuesday...Hillsdale Days!


8/12

election8 Fall 2006Just in Case Youve Been

Living Under a Rockfor the Last Week...the United States did this election thing

---and well---

lets just say it was not too pretty.

Oh, you want details? Then read on:

House Seats: 232

Senate Seats: 51

House Seats: 203

Senate Seats: 49

ind.

House Seats: 1

Senate Seats: 2

Election Day not only brought poor

news to Republicans nationally but in

Michigan as well. The Michigan House

of Representatives for the first time in

eight years has gone to the Democrats.

Michigans Democratic Party now

holds a 58-52 majority, though still a

minority in the state Senate.

Adding to the woes for Republicans

is the 56% victory that Governor

Granholm scored over Dick DeVos

42%. The loss came as a surprise to

many considering DeVos had led or

tied in polls with the Governor for the

past three months.

The chance for school reform,

eliminating the Single Business Tax,

slowing environmental regulation

and bureaucratic expansion has been

diminished. Not to say that Si quaeris

peninsulam amoenam, circumspice, the

state motto, will be replaced with some

Bolshevik slogan, but conservatives in

Michigan will have to wade through

some rough waters.

This defeat partially mirrored the

national fiasco that turned over

complete control of the Congress.

Michigan Republicans were able to

maintain a significant majority in the

state Senate.

Similar to the national election,

Republicans at the state level have been

displaying unconservative tendencies

throughout the past few sessions,

including Senate Majority Leader Ken

Sikkemas ill-timed minimum wage

reform.

Regarding the progressive agenda

on a national level, Newt Gingrich

commented on November 9th that the

election was a loss for Republicans, not

conservatives. On the national level he

was correct but this election killed the

chance of sending a conservative to

Lansing.

The man was Dick DeVos, the

politically active businessman out of

Ada, Michigan. DeVos was a co-chair

of Kids First! Yes!, the group that

led the school vouchers proposition

in 2000. He recently went as far as to

say overturning Roe v. Wade would be

delightful on Ave Maria Radio. DeVos

recognized the effects complicated

regulations and taxations were having

on businesses and gas prices.

There are certainly cases in Lansing

where inaction and poor leadership

should have been punished, and

Governor Granholm should have been

the first to the chopping block. It is

truly unfair that national politics and

the Presidency lost the race for this

potentially great Governor.

byJeremy Marshall

Quick Facts:

--John McCain is said to

launch an exploratory

committee concerning

the 2007 presidential

election this week.

--President Bushs

Crawford Concress-

men is a Democrat

--South Dakota first

state to ban abortion

--Arizona first state to

ban same sex marriage

-- Dems control the

house for the first

time since 1994


9/12

After looking at the title of this article, you

might be thinking that I am here to complain

that my vote does not matter because it is

not going to influence who wins. But I am

not here for that reason. Perhaps a more

appropriate title would be, Does Anyones

Vote Really Matter?

I used to be nave, thinking that elections

in America today really matter. During the

2004 campaign, I spent numerous hourslistening to talk radio, watching Fox News,

or reading letters to the editor about why

George W. Bush or John Kerry should win.

I would get angry every time some pundit

would come on TV accusing Bush of lying

about Iraq or defending Kerrys disgraceful

Vietnam service. I thought the future of

this country depended on who won.

As I write this, just days before the

midterm elections of 2006, I keep hearing

how desperately we need Dick DeVos tobeat Jennifer Granholm, or how crucial it

is that the Republicans maintain control

of Congress. While I did vote for DeVos

and for Michael Bouchard over Debbie

Stabenow for U.S. Senate, I do not exactly

see this election as Armageddon. In fact, I

am not really all that concerned about who

wins the presidential election in 2008.

Since we are at Hillsdale College, you

probably are thinking, But we cant let

Hillary win! You dont want Hillary to

be our next president, do you? Well,

I certainly do not want Hillary Clinton

to be our next president, but in the long

run I really do not think it matters whether

she wins in 2008 or not. Four years of

any one person in office is not going to

dramatically change the direction this

country is heading.

For some historical perspective, let us

take a very brief look back at other major

eras in American political history. As

our new republic and Constitution was

trying to find an identity, the election of

1800 provided two completely different

visions of what the Constitution meant.

On the one side, there were the Federalists

led by John Adams, who valued highly

the supremacy of federal power over the

states and believed those powers were

broad. The Republicans led by Thomas

Jefferson, on the other hand, believed in

very narrow and defined federal powers

and in state supremacy.

Andrew Jackson believed that theConstitution gave him the power to demand

that the Union stick together during the

nullification crisis and said that the people

could vote him out if they disagreed.

Abraham Lincoln believed that he could

violate one principle in the Constitution if it

was necessary to hold the Union together,

while opponents of both believed that the

Constitution allowed for secession if a

state believed the federal government was

acting unconstitutionally. Progressivessuch as Woodrow Wilson believed that the

Constitution needed to evolve in order to

keep up with the contemporary problems

that the Founders did not see.

Readers may have an opinion about which

of these policies are right and which ones

are not, but notice a word that I mentioned

in each of these examples: Constitution.

When was the last time that any politician

running for any office used that word? No

matter where politicians stood on issues, itused to be that the Constitution was always

recognized as supreme. Most American

voters today do not care about the

Constitution or even know what it says, so

consequently politicians do not care either.

The Progressive living view of it may

have planted the seeds for this downfall,

but at least Wilson acknowledged theConstitutions existence.

This may be one major reason why

judicial activism is a problem today. We

view the Supreme Court as the final

arbiter of constitutional questions, a

power that they have happily assumed

because politicians often believe that if

an action is unconstitutional, the Supreme

Court will figure it out. If the American

people do not know what their true rights

are, the Supreme Court will not hesitate totake them away.

Applying this to the situation today,

Republicans and Democrats may fight

over some issues, but theoretically they

really are not much different. Conservative

candidates may tout their record of fighting

for lower taxes, smaller government, pro-

life, more freedom of religion, etc. But have

conservatives really made any progress on

any of these issues recently? In nearly six

years of the Republicans controlling thePresidency and both houses of Congress,

has government gotten any smaller? Are

we any closer to ending abortion? Do we

have more freedom to publicly express

religion?

The reason we are not making any

progress is because politicians today have

byBrian Johnston

Does my vote really matter?no fundamental believes behind theirstances on certain issues. For example,

Republicans support Bushs efforts in Iraq,

while my suspicion is that most Democrats

oppose it because Bush is the one who

decided to go into Iraq, as evidenced by

many prominent Democrats publicly

warning of the dangerous situation in Iraq

in the past.

The point here is that, without a fundamental

view of what the Constitution means and

what officials true duties are, politics will be nothing but squabbling among elitist

politicians who could really care less about

what the Constitution says. Once politicians

get into office, they will inevitably support

policies that increase government power

and intervention. Contrary to what many

politicians campaigning for office say, their

job is not to change the world, but to

follow the Constitution.

I do not see how this trend can ever be

reversed. Here in 2006, I would like tothink that a Dick DeVos could come into

office and solve all of what is wrong with

Michigan, but I doubt it. I probably will

continue to watch election night coverage

on TV in the future, but as I do, I might

just keep asking myself, Does this all

really matter?

Courtesy of USBCI.

electionhforum 9


10/12

-yates from page 4children from our sleaze and our

sludge by instilling a hatred of little

old us. This explains why the near

terrorist attack coming toward us on a

plane from London a few months ago

was planned and executed by third

generation British citizens. Those

that see the democratization of the

Middle East smell our putrescence

coming their way and threaten to

destroy us from afar. Fear brings mentogether, whether it be culturally or

nationally, and unites them against a

common enemy. If one is in constant

fear of his life, earthly or eternal, he

has not much time for vices. Fear

keeps men pure of heart and mind.

In America we have distinct lack

of fear, except in the radical corners

such as this Dale. We do not fear

greatly or even understand the affects

of our corruption on our children, oron our safety. But if the Dems are as

bad as we really believe they are, if

they are going to impeach Bush and

get half of us slaughtered by terrorist

attacks, then maybe just maybe we

Sure, it certainly feels like the end

of the world is coming. The Dems

have won the House and the Senate,

including a Demonrat Muslim

Congressman. The truth is that this is

the beginning of hope! We are not all

going to die. And it is very possible

that we might just have a better life

for it in twenty years, after just a little

period of pain and suffering.Machiavelli, our favorite evil

political philosopher, and many other

wise men have pointed out that the

absence of fear in a republic causes

the corruption and the eventual

destruction of that regime. This the

Islamic nation understands. They

have had a lifetime of hate built into

them. This hate really only boils

down to fear. Men hate what they

fear and Islam fears corruption bythe vices of Western Civilization.

They hate our pornos, our homos,

and our sluts (and even our right to

foetal carnage). Those Muslims that

live in our vile bog must protect their

byGina Gallutia

DEMONRATS!will again become as pure as the

driven snow. Fear only brought

us together and reminded us of the

importance of piety for a short time

after September, 11th. Not even that

knocked our brains from our pants

completely back into our heads. It is

true that we were partly robbed of our

fear by the constant suggestion that

we must love our enemies. Muslim

religious leaders were insinuated intoevery type of religious celebration,

because out offearofhate crimes we

would not want to be exclusive. We

were told by politicians not to hate or

fear Islam, and that it was not Islam

that attacked us. But if the damage is

great enough, we will stop listening

to them. We will begin to recognize

and then fear and hate our enemies

as they fear and hate us. Perhaps

it is wrong to hope for death anddestruction, but if this does not work,

if the Demonrats are only Democrats

then perhaps this is the beginning of

the apocalypse.

an extremely slim chance that

he might be reformed during

the course of his imprisonment

and upon release pose no further

danger to individuals rights. Such

a chance should typically not even

be considered, but extreme cases

are conceivable where it might

be more significant than usualas in the case of Raskolnikov

in Dostoyevskys Crime and

Punishment.

But keeping a mentally troubled

murderess from permanent

punishment is like letting a rabid

dog who has bitten and killed

five children remain on the loose

or even residing comfortably in

a veterinary facility. There is no

guarantee that this woman willnot kill againunknowingly,

unpredictably, unwarrantedly,

and uncontrollably. No civilized,

rational methods are available to

assure her future safety to others.

Andrea Yatess drowning of

her own five childrenan act

abhorrent to natural law, moral

conscience, and civilization

itselfclearly demonstrated her as

being worse than a rabid beast. The

rabid beast enters an occasional

wild and indiscriminate rage,

but Yatesbeing humancould

still kill systematically, though

ostensibly without recognition of

the implications and consequences

of such an act. Yates, a human, is

far more capable of inflicting harm

than a mere animal. If we rightly

put violent, murderous animals to

deaththough the animals, too, do

not recognize the consequences and

implications of their actionsthen

it is even more fitting that Yates

be terminated as soon as possible.

Permanently imprisoning Andrea

Yates was the least the court

could have done to prevent further

violations of rights on her part.

Alas, even that act was rejected

by those who would use mercy to

perpetuate savagery.

Courtesy of USBCI.

electionhforum11


11/12

politics10 Fall 2006

Lincoln Chafee is an interestingcase. Hes the junior Republican

Senator from Rhode Island who was

appointed in 1999 to replace the

late 5-term Senator John Chafee,

his father. He won a term in his

own right in 2000 by a large margin

and was up for reelection this year.

Chafee is a nice, charismatic man.Hes a family man. He turned

things around when he

was mayor of Warwick,

RI, and he talks about

being tolerant and

working in a bipartisan

manner to get things

done. However,

despite the fact that

he is a member of the

Republican party, hehas the most liberal

voting record out of any

of the Republicans in the Senate.

In fact his voting record is more

left than some Senate Democrats.

This being said, the Republican

Party gave him a generous $1.2

million to defeat a conservative

candidate in the primary.

The American Conservative

Union ranks the votes of membersof Congress based on how

conservative (social, fiscal, and

foreign policy) his/her voting record

is. The American Conservative

Union rated Sen. Chafees voting

record as 12% conservative in

2005, and 30% in his 6+ years

in the Senate. His 2005 voting

record was by far the lowest of the

Senate Republicans, lower than 16

Senate Democrats (including RussFeingold), and the same as 4 Dems

(including Hillary Clinton). Chafee

was one of the few Republican

senators to vote against opening

up ANWR for drilling and was one

of only three Republican senators

to vote against the Protection of

Lawful Commerce in Arms Act,

which banned lawsuits against gun

manufacturers and distributors.

He was also the only Republican

to vote against the authorization of

military force in Iraq in 2002, the

only Republican to vote in favor of

reinstating the top federal tax rate of

39.6% on upper-income taxpayers,

and the only Republican to vote

against confirming Judge Samuel

Alito to the Supreme Court. On top

of this, Chafee openly didnt vote

for President Bush in 2004 and he

expressed interest in switching his party status to Independent had the

Republicans not gained seats

in 2004. So, going off of

his record, Chaffee seems

more like a moderate-liberal

Democrat than a Republican.

On September 8, 2005,

Stephen Laffey, Republican

Mayor of Cranston, RI,

announced his candidacy for

U.S. Senate. Laffey, althoughnot as conservative

in the likes of Rick

Santorum, is well to the right of

Chafee. He is pro-life, supports

winning the war on terror, wants

to cut government spending

across the board, make the tax

cuts permenent, and privatize

social security. At first he

was a low-profile candidate.

Not long after influentalconservative political action

committees (PACs) began

endorsing and funding Laffey,

beginning with the Club for

Growth PAC, a fiscally conservative

organization. With the possibility of

Republicans losing the

Senate, the Republican

Party went on alert with

these endorsements for

Laffey. The Republicanssaw the situtation as

this: Rhode Island is

a fairly liberal state.

Lincoln Chafee is pretty

liberal. Steve Laffey is

more conservative. Thus

Laffey has no chance

of winning the general

election. So, if Laffey

wins the primary it could

cost Republicans thecontrol of the Senate. In

response, the National Republican

Senatorial Committee (NRSC),

chaired by Sen. Elizabeth Dole

(R-NC), started pouring money

into Chafees campaign. As a

result, prominent Republicans

such as Sen. John McCain (R-

AZ), Senate Majority WHIP Mitch

McConnel (R-KY), and Laura

Bush came out and endorsed

Chafee in the primary. RhodeIslands Republican Governor Don

Carcieri also endorsed Chafee.

There are some interesting notes on

the partys decision to aid Chafee.

The $1.2 million they spent on

Chafee leading up to the primary

was the second most spent on any

candidate runner up to Sen. Jim

Talent (R-MO). Thats $1.2 million

that was not spent on Michael Steel

in Maryland or Sen. George Allenin Virgina.

W h i l e

the party

c l a i m e d

that Laffey

was not

w i n n a b l e ,

Laffey is

Mayor of

C r a n s t o n ,

RI, whereD e m o c r a t s

ou tnumber

Republicans

by a 7

to 1 margin. Many pundits and

politicians claimed that because

Laffey is pro-life he is doomed in

Rhode Island. Thats an interesting

twist considering both the Republican

Governor Don Carcieri and the

Democrat U.S. Representative

Jim Langevin (District 2)

are both staunchly pro-life.

Chafee outspent Laffey by a

considerable margin and his

campaign turned out many

independents and disaffiliatedDemocrats in the primary. Thus,

Chafee defeated Laffey by a 54% to

46% margin. The Republicans got

what they wanted, a saved seat to

possibly save their majority. Wrong.

Chafee went on to loose the general

election to Rhode Island Attorney

General Sheldon Whitehouse

(D) by a 53% to 47% margin.

Following the election Sen. Chafee

was asked in a press conference ifhe would remain a Republican in

the last 2 months of his term, he

had this to say, I havent made

any decisions. I just havent even

thought about where my place is.

Lincoln Chafee

Stephen Laffey

byStohn Nishino

Flex YourConservative Muscle

Write forThe Hillsdale Forum!

We are looking for a dedicated staff of editors, pho-

tographers, and writers, sound interesting? E-mail

[email protected] for more information.

forum

Arnold says,

Chafees place in GOP


12/12

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