Friday, February 25, 2011

Student Tea Partyers head to Phoenix, face challenges

Few would accuse the average Tea Partyer of youthful inexperience.


The movement has a reputation, not unfounded, as a grassroots organization comprised of the middle-aged and elderly, not college students.

Despite that, this weekend Phoenix, Ariz., will play host to the first National Tea Party Students Conference, as part of the American Policy Summit, a convention aimed at promoting and continuing the Tea Party movement. The event has secured 50-some seats and five major political student organizations committed to the conference — but bringing the youth into the movement remains an uphill battle.

A fall 2010 survey by Harvard University’s Institute of Politics showed only 11 percent of youths 18 to 29 support the Tea Party. Another poll, by Quinnipiac University, has the youth giving a more favorable view of the Tea Party: 18 percent.

“What it means is that the Tea Party will go extinct if it doesn’t excel at student-youth outreach,” said Daniel Oliver, the founder of Tea Party Students and organizer of this weekend’s conference. “Raising awareness of Tea Party values on campuses will turn these statistics upside down.”

“Extinction might be too strong a word,” said John Pitney, professor of American politics at Claremont McKenna College. “But all political movements have a life cycle.”

Like the Perot movement in the 1990s, Pitney said the Tea Party runs the threat of running out of steam after creating the very structural changes the movement sought.

Exceptions like the 1960 political movement withstanding, Pitney said political movements typically concern older generations as younger people generally aren’t interested in policy issues, such as pension reform, even though youths do have a stake in their financial future.

The country’s financial future may be the reason younger conservatives are at least friendly to the Tea Party movement, though.

Matthew Berry, a sophomore and College Republican at Tulane University, said he thinks the Tea Party has done a lot of good for the conservative movement, bringing members disenfranchised by the Bush administration back into the fold.

“As someone who’s first and foremost a Republican, I think it’s great to see some libertarians return to the Republican party,” Berry said.

Fittingly, libertarians have the edge at the conference this weekend. Oliver, 25, said the top five conservative/libertarian youth organizations — The Leadership Institute, Students For Liberty, Young America’s Foundation, Young Americans for Liberty and the Young Americans for Freedom — will all attend.

“The Tea Party is not any one ideology, it’s a big tent movement,” Oliver said. “This shows how the Tea Party brand helps to bring people together.”

Corie Whalen, 22, is the south-central regional director for Young Americans for Liberty (YAL) and said she’s been a part of the Tea Party movement since the start. After all, she said she was the main coordinator at the 2009 Boston Tea Party protest, featuring Sarah Palin.

Whalen, who considers herself a “libertarian leaning conservative Republican,” said many in YAL,  and youths in general, don’t identify with the Tea Party.

The problem, Whalen believes, can be attributed to the media’s characterization of the Tea Party, which has alienated the young, and  politically active youths.

Bonnie Kristian, communications coordinator for YAL, agreed, saying Tea Party members tend to be  older. Kristian said YAL works with the Tea Party to support similar goals, like fiscal conservatism and smaller government, while providing the youth and energy the Tea Party needs around.

While she said there is strength in numbers and that YAL encourages its chapters to work with local Tea Parties during tax season, supporting the Tea Party year round isn’t the group’s goal. Though, she said, YAL does end up working with the Tea Party more often than it does with other groups.

She said the central issue of the Tea Party is fiscal conservatism – a center Tea Parties may have found thanks to Texas Congressman Ron Paul who’s driven a large following with libertarians and Tea Party members.
 
Paul’s success, or lack thereof, on the national stage could be a telling national political reality for the Tea Party, though.

Pitney said the Tea Party may not be as strong in the presidential election because they placed so many Tea Party candidates in Congress. He said most movements go through the issue attention cycle, where a hot button issue emerges and creates a movement, which in turn creates structural change which in turn has the issue cool off.

But, Pitney said most movements, like environmentalism, leave a residue which could lead to another Tea Party-esque tax revolt.

“Today’s young people are tomorrow’s middle-aged people,” he said.

Monday, February 21, 2011

Gay student groups want Chick-fil-A off campuses

Gay and lesbian groups across the country have launched campaigns toremove Chick-fil-A from campuses in response to the fast food restaurant providing sandwiches and brownies for a traditional marriage conference hosted by the Pennsylvania Family Institute.

While the institute doesn’t take any explicit stance on same-sex marriage, FamilyLife, the organization that created  the conference, does. According to its website, FamilyLife’s mission is to promote “private consummation between one man and one woman, never between the same sex.”

Chick-fil-A’s involvement in the conference ignited a national debate on gay rights in the context of corporate practices and consumer awareness. The most focused discussions took place on campuses across the country.

Students at various colleges and universities campaigned to have the fast food restaurant removed from campus dining areas. Indiana University at South Bend had its once-a-week sale of Chick-fil-A food halted for administrative review of the franchise and its policies. The university has since reinstated the practice.

Other universities, like Florida Gulf Coast University and Duke University, have also reviewed their relationships with Chick-fil-A. Jake Glaizer, a graduate student at Western Illinois University, decided to protest the restaurant’s presence on his campus.

Glaizer thinks that Chick-fil-A’s business culture is unfriendly toward the gay community–something most students aren’t aware of.

“I believe that students have a moral obligation to lobby for the fast food chain’s removal,” he wrote in an editorial for the university’s student newspaper, the Western Courier. “Anything less would be inconsistent with Western’s values and a missed opportunity to stand up for what is right.”

Chick-fil-A makes no attempt to hide its Christian origins. S. Truett Cathy, the company’s founder, has always maintained a policy of closing the restaurant on Sundays. On its website, Chick-fil-A proclaims that its corporate purpose is “to glorify God by being a faithful steward of all that is entrusted to us.”

This philosophy, though, doesn’t resonate with all consumers. Glaizer said that just because the company is privately owned doesn’t mean it should behave this way.

“Well, yes, Chick-fil-A is independently owned, but, morally, I think, where do you take the stand? You need to take the stand somewhere,” Glaizer said.

The backlash caused Chick-fil-A’s current president and COO, Dan Cathy, to explain the chain’s stance toward the gay community in an online video, saying Chick-fil-A serves “all people and values all people.” In a second press release, Cathy explained that while his family believes in the biblical definition of marriage, the restaurant itself “will not champion any political agendas on marriage and family.”

Ted Martin, executive director of the gay rights organization Equality Pennsylvania, said that while he respects the company for being clear on its values, consumers should be made aware of where their money is going when they buy from Chick-fil-A.

“The bottom line is when you put that out there, you have to be prepared for a response,” Martin said.

Friday, February 18, 2011

Students for Mitch Daniels surges after CPAC speech

This story took far too long for me to gather materials. Not that I wasn't trying, but because pneumonia is a hell of a sickness. You can read the article on its original website here.

If a new student political action committee gets its way, Indiana governor Mitch Daniels will be drafted to run for president in 2012.

The group, the Student Initiative to Draft Daniels, was formed by four Yale students over the summer of 2010 and has aired two advertisements encouraging Daniels to run. After the governor’s speech at CPAC, the group has seen a 20 chapter surge, on top of approximately 40 existing chapters.

Yale senior Max Eden, and president of the Students Initiative to draft Daniels, said the fact Daniels spoke at CPAC last week may be a sign of an announcement.

“On one hand I don’t know how you can give a speech like and not,” Eden said “On the other hand, still people came out of that room thinking, ‘Oh, wow this guy needs to run for president, but I don’t know if he will.’”

Michael Knowles, political director for Students for Daniels and a junior at Yale, said there isn’t much choice for the Republican party.

Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney, he says, has put himself out of the race with his state’s healthcare system, a system Obama based the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act on; former governor Sarah Palin has isolated herself from any possibility; and congressman Mike Pence has remained quiet on a presidential bid, and may run for Daniels’ seat as governor of Indiana.

But not all Republicans are demanding Daniels. Former Pennsylvania senator, Rick Santorum, has decried Daniels for wanting to call a ‘truce’ on social issues in order to focus on fiscal policy.

“Rick Santorum can say what he want,” Knowles said, days before the national debt amounted to the U.S. economy – $15 trillion. “The American people doesn’t want to wax philosophy right now.”

Which is why the Student Initiative to draft Daniels believe Mitch is their man. Knowles said Daniels has a history of cutting deficits and debt – transforming a $600 million deficit into a $300 million surplus in a single year.

Some consider the student-led group’s ads to be the first campaign commercial for the 2012 presidential race. The ads focus on Daniels’ debt cutting prowess and the state of the economy. Daniels’ ability to cut the budget as theBush administration’s director of Office of Management and Budget earned him the nickname “The Blade.”

The Student Initiative to Draft Daniels’ first advertisement compared President Obama to a money-spending ex-boyfriend, contrasted with Daniels’ fiscal responsibility. The group’s second video, which aired in Washington D.C during CPAC, features political celebrity and presidential candidate Jimmy McMillian, who ran for New York governor on “The Rent is too Damn High” party ticket during New York’s 2010 gubernatorial election.

In it, two students are looking for a slogan for Daniels’ 2012 campaign. McMillian advises saying, “The deficit is too damn high. You’ve got a president just throwing money away. Alabama, here, take this. Florida, take that…Americans are being treated like Third World people. The deficit is too damn high!”

McMillian announced his candidacy for the Republican nomination at CPAC last week. So far, Daniels  hasn’t announced if he’ll run for president.

McMillian, a registered Democrat, announced he will run for president on the Republican ticket at CPAC in order to prevent competing with President Obama. Daniels has yet to make an announcement.

“He’s not about flair, he’s about doing his job,” Knowles said.

Michael Mayday is a staff writer for the Hillsdale Collegian. He is a member of the Student Free Press Association.

Thursday, February 17, 2011

Student tends to greenhouse plants

Senior Manuel Valle peers into his microscope and observes the mosaic patterns on his slide. The slide was produced by a company in North Carolina and stained specifically to help students identify different cellular structures. But the potted plant next to him, which serves to identify the slice of water lily on his slide, was grown in Strosacker's greenhouse under the watchful eye of junior Megan Saunders. 
 
For the past year and a half, Saunders has swept the floor, watered, pruned, potted and re-potted the plants that make up the Strosacker Greenhouse. At the beginning of Saunders' sophomore year, Renessa Cooper, associate professor of biology, asked her if she was interested in plants. Saunders said yes and was soon watching over the greenhouse and its silent inhabitants. 
 
"It's not a huge job," Saunders said. "But it's rewarding because you're working with your hands."
 
Cooper said the greenhouse produces plants needed for Biology 102, Evolution in Biodiversity and Botany. Occasionally, she'll take her students into the greenhouse to showcase the variety of plants, but in large, the florid room doesn't see too many visitors beyond the occasional student seeking extra credit, Cooper, the rare studier and Saunders.
 
"Visitors are welcome," Cooper said, "which is why we put a sign up." 
 
One whole wall of the structure is dedicated to aloe plants. The flowering plant grows so much that Cooper said she often gives them away. But the greenhouse takes plants too. Cooper said when students own plants which have grown too large and unruly for a dorm room, they donate it to the biology department. During winter break, she also takes in plants while students are away.
 
Saunders said she occasionally helps move plants to botany labs, but often she simply feeds the aloes, the agave plant (a relative to the plant responsible for tequila), the rubber plants and the two dwarf banana trees. A few times a month, they're fertilized. Saunders said the banana trees, now a bit dried out, looked fantastic at the end of the summer. Cooper said they have yet to produce fruit. 
 
One of the more colorful plants in the greenhouse, called the Anthurium, looks like it has an elongated grub jumping off a red leaf. 
 
"These are actually flowers along this spadix," Saunders said, pointing towards the little dots covering the yellow edifice. "The red thing is actually called a spathe, but it's just an altered leaf." 
 
Next, she points out a leafy plant with what looks like rice growing in the middle of its leaves.
 
"For the first couple of weeks I always thought it was covered in bugs so it sort of creeped me out when I saw it in the corner of my eye," Saunders said. The little growths are another method of disguising flowers. 
 
Cooper points out a variety of plants after her botany lab. One species has existed virtually unchanged since dinosaurs roamed. Another, the pencil plant, stretches over two rubber plants, flanked by the aloes. A smaller one is knocked over.  
 
"It's a jungle in there," She said. "But jungles are good."

Mary “Squeak” Barnett to retire

Circulation assistant Mary "Squeak" Barnett is ready to retire after 23 years of working at Hillsdale College's Mossey Library.

Barnett, wearing her signature white sweater, has been the iconic employee at Mossey Library, but her gleeful morning hellos and sage advice to student workers will be leaving with the class of 2011.
Barnett was hired as circulation assistant in 1987. She said if she stayed until August she would have 24 years under her belt.

But Barnett said those 24 years aren't limited to the regular school year. She, and most of the library staff, works during the summer too. Summers that Barnett could've been spending at her house on Lake Baw Beese or in Florida with family members.

"I'd like to travel when I want to," she said. "Instead of trying to work it around a holiday type thing, maybe be gone longer."

Officially, Barnett retires on July 8, but vacation days accumulated over the years will allow her to leave in early May. Her last day of work will be the day of graduation.

"I've told students this year that I'm going to graduate with them," Barnett said.

Barnett grew up locally, attending a two room schoolhouse in Mosherville, Mich., before graduating from Jonesville High School. She even maintained a local newsstand for a short time.

Library director Daniel Knoch said he remembers when he and Public Service Librarian Linda Moore interviewed Barnett in the library's von Mises room. Though she didn't have a college degree, she had worked in a library environment several years earlier at Jonesville High School, which helped sway the two to hire her.

"She's been a great employee," Knoch said. "One of the primary people in the library who contribute to the library's success."

Barnett said she'll miss the students the most, calling them her kids. Though she says she understands they're full-grown adults, that doesn't stop her from giving them advice.

Freshman Catherine Orban, who works the library's circulation desk, said Squeak often gives helpful life lessons to students, ranging from remedies for sicknesses to Valentine's Day dinners.

"I've witnessed her talking to students about how to get out of debt," junior Emily Zick said.

Barnett said, not too long after 9/11, the library once came under attack from a couple of pranksters filling the library with smoke from smoke bombs. The students on staff didn't know what to do at the time, and instead of calling security or 911, they called Squeak.

Barnett said she believes the library is a place of connections — as witnessed by the e-mails she receives from former students.

Typically, she works graduation and sometimes can hardly go out and watch the procession of students — some of whom she's worked four years with and who will never come by again. This time, she'll join them.

"I'm going to have a hard time walking out of here during graduation," Barnett said. "I bet there'll be a tear in my eye."

Monday, February 14, 2011

White House eases study abroad restrictions to Cuba

My first story for the Student Free Press Association was on the Obama administration's decision to lift some travel sanctions to Cuba. I enjoyed working on this article and managed to land an interview with the former ambassador to the Organization of American States, Robert Noriega. I've been keeping an eye on how Cuba has developed over the past few weeks as well -- it seems like a story that's only going to grow.

President Obama has issued an executive order easing restrictions on student and religious organizations traveling to Cuba.
The order, made last Friday, will allow accredited universities to receive general licenses for exchange programs. The order will also allow short term trips, such as academic seminars, conferences and workshops. Under the Bush administration, educational exchanges were required to be 10 weeks long and each university had to apply for its own license for its own students.
Florida Sen. Marco Rubio released a statement opposing the changes.
“I was opposed to the changes that have already been made by this administration and I oppose these new changes,” Rubio said in the statement. “It is unthinkable that the administration would enable the enrichment of a Cuban regime that routinely violates the basic human rights and dignity of its people.”
Critics of the changes, like Rubio, claim the new regulations are open to abuse, and will allow the Communist government to cement its control by using students and researchers as a new source of money.
“The money will go to the Cuban government,” Frank Calzon, executive director of the Center for a Free Cuba said. “Cuba is like a company town.”
Calzon said all money that goes to Cuba ends up in the government’s coffers to keep it in power. But, he said, the Cuban government is on the verge of an economic collapse and any money sent to Cuba may strengthen the resolve of the weakening Communist government.
Jose Cardenas, who worked on the Commission for Assistance to a Free Cuba under the Bush Administration, said the Cuban government claimed it will lay off 500,000 state workers into the “micro-enterprise” sector, due to shortfalls. New revenue streams may bring the “micro-enterprise” sector to a halt.
“If you give them any oxygen, any relief from pressure, they will not continue reform,” Cardenas said.
Former ambassador to the Organization of American States Roger Noriega said the Bush Administration placed the 2004 regulations to prevent educational junkets, which were vacations in disguise. He said students would typically attend seminars in Cuba as an excuse to party in Havana.
In an article for the American Enterprise Institute, Noriega described the use of licenses for events like golf outings and pub crawls, before the Bush administration increased restrictions in 2004.
Cardenas, along with Noriega, helped to make those restrictions. He said part of the commission’s duty was to observe the mechanisms the Castro regime used to raise money. They determined the Cuban government focuses most of its efforts on the tourism industry. The commission also reported many institutions abused licenses in the form of disguised tourism.
“People basically were trying to slap on a political reason for vacation,” Cardenas said.
Mark Scheid, President and CEO of the Institute for Study Abroad at Butler University, placed about 130 exchange students in Cuba in 2003, the last year before the Bush restrictions. Scheid said The University of Havana treats his exchange students like any regular students, so the American students must be fully fluent in Spanish. He thinks the concern over Obama’s executive order is misplaced.
“I don’t think you’re going to find that putting college kids on campus in Havana is going to make a significant impact on the island’s economy,” Scheid said.
He said study abroad is one of the best methods of learning and that the exchange program will be important to have for Cuban to American interaction.
Scheid said the Treasury still needs to discover how the new rules will affect institutions applying for a license. The new rules state that only accredited universities may apply for general license and to be accredited you must be able to give degrees. He said the new rules affect 501 C3 non-profits, such as his, which operate under the Bush administration’s rules. He’s believes they’ll continue to be licensed, even though it could take the Treasury months to figure the new rules out.
“I think the benefits for both countries far outweigh the negative, if there are any, of putting college students together.”
Michael Mayday is a staff writer for the Hillsdale Collegian. He is a member of the Student Free Press Association.
Updated (2:33 pm.): Originally the article said that 130 students were placed in Cuba through the Butler program in 2010 — this is actually the number of students placed in 2003, before the Bush White House restrictions.

Sunday, February 13, 2011

Weekly auctions enliven Hillsdale County Fairgrounds

Ken Frecker of Ken Frecker Auctioneers, Inc. prepares for a day of selling. He grabs his white Stetson hat, a walking cane and his portable speaker system with the microphone duct-taped to the strap. With everything in hand, it's 9 a.m. and time to begin selling. 
Frecker and several others are the latest in a long line of auctioneers marshaling the Hillsdale Historic Auction. For the past 102 years customers have attended the auction and flea market at the Hillsdale County Fairgrounds to find discounted goods ranging from handguns and bread to glowing earrings and portraits of Jesus. 
Richard Cytacki, who graduated from auctioneer school in 2000, has been working the auction for the past six years.
"He's kind of a cocky soul, thinks he's good at everything," Frecker said.
Cytacki laughs, and prepares to give a tour of the grounds on the slowest day of the year. 
The auction has six parts to it. The flea market is in the barn, along with the office, livestock cage, food court and discount groceries. The poultry, from pheasants to roosters, ducks and rabbits, is kept in another barn. Over 3,000 bales of hay are sold near the parking lot. Next to the flea market is the auction area, and where most of the crowd gathers for bidding. 
Cytacki said cattle, pigs and goats are sold during the large animal sale at 1 p.m. Animals are typically registered until the start of the large animal sale, but winter has kept livestock at a low. He said the livestock is numbered with a yellow sticker and weighed on its way out to the pen — except for goats, which are sold by the head. Today it's light, only a man with a small kid under his right arm comes for a yellow tag.
Cytacki said the poultry barn is usually full, but again, winter has kept the numbers down. Roosters and rabbits, sold by the cage, fill only a quarter of a wall, but still draw a sizable crowd. 
Another big seller, Cytacki explains, is hay. Hay from Hillsdale County, Indiana and Ohio are sold to farmers looking for extra winter feed. Besides that, the actual auction section usually extends much farther, spilling over into four long rows instead of two short ones. 
"It's not unusual in the summer time to sell for six hours," Cytacki said.  
Today, Frecker sells for about two. For those two hours he pokes the merchandise with his cane and starts the bidding at a low price. Anything can be up for auction — from a pool table to piles of firewood. 
"Okay you're buying a bucket of boards there, and brackets, so give a dollar bill," Frecker says. "Little shelves there, dollar-bill-one-dollar." 
Jackie Kenkel, whose son is now 60, grew up on 6 West College St. and has been coming to the Hillsdale Auction since she was four. She said she spends her time with her friends and often comes Friday night to scout for potential purchases. Kenkel said she loves to get acquainted with people at the auction.
"If they don't talk to me I talk to them," she said. 
"We've been coming here for years and years and years," Kenkel said. "When I was a child I said, 'I am never coming here, I hate this place.' Now, I can't stay away."  
Frecker said the barn, where the flea market sells its wares, contains 40 booths. Each booth is sold by its number. Some vendors, like six-year veteran Cindy, have multiple booths rolled into one. 
Cindy, who said she cannot release her last name, said she visits her friends and fellow vendors between auctions and sales. Cindy knows each person selling in the flea market, down to Herminia Torres, who just began selling polyester blankets at the end of the aisle. She said in the summer the Amish have a strong presence with baked goods, and senior citizens flood the barn. 
"We enjoy this," Cindy said, pointing to attendees. "This is my fun, my relaxation."

Glenn Beck University to feature Folsom, Portteus in video classes

Professor of History Burt Folsom and Assistant Professor of Political Science Kevin Portteus have been filmed for Beck University, the online university created by controversial Fox News host Glenn Beck.
upload/11.4Filming_Clayton5.jpg Beck University launched in July 2010 and focuses on religion, American history and economics. The university, which is not of credited, is going into its second semester of classes and will feature not only Folsom and Portteus, but Professor of History Larry Schweikert of the University of Dayton and Professor of History William Forstchen of Montreat College, as well as Mossey Library's Heritage Room, where all four professors were filmed.
Director of Mossey Library Dan Knoch said the Heritage Room is typically used once or twice a semester for filming. He said filming is usually done by either President Larry Arnn for promotional material or for special requests, such as a filming for a news crew. He said the room is never reserved for recurring meetings.
Folsom said his section will cover Franklin Roosevelt  economic effects during his presidency while Portteus' section will cover Woodrow Wilson. Folsom said he is no stranger to Beck and has appeared on his show about a dozen times.
"I don't know of anyone else who's on more," Folsom said, discussing the possibility of being the most frequent professor on the program. "It's up there."
Folsom said the filming crew, headed by writer and producer Eric Pearce, flew in from New York City to film in Hillsdale.
"Glenn is a big fan of Burt," Pearce said. "We're very happy when we have to pick a topic with Burt."
Pearce said the video lectures last for an hour each, but are broken up into two sections. He said they're not certain of what the future will hold, saying that the classes largely depends on what Beck is passionate about.
Pearce said the professors are featured in two half-hour segments on United States Presidents.
His videos featuring Folsom and Portteus will go online on Dec. 8 for subscribers to Beck's website, "Insider Extreme."