Pick better presidential candidates

The political season is coming to a close and there could be no greater relief. Both McCain and Obama have been assaulting the voter with a flurry of negative ads, the Palin bashing is bordering on the obnoxious and I turn a little green whenever I hear the word "maverick." But, if there's one thing the Alfred E. Smith Memorial Foundation Dinner established, it's that both candidates, like this election, are a bad joke.

Obama's campaign has been pushing the word "change" around like a hobo looking for empty pop cans. The problem is he never explains what kind of change he's pushing for. Perhaps he's pushing for change from President Bush's economic decisions.

But then he wouldn't vote for 19 of Bush's spending bills and a $700 billion bail-out bill, right? Wrong. The only change that Obama would implement is more strength of the federal government's powers - something that Bush and McCain have been big fans of.

ut McCain the "maverick" (ugh) isn't much better, if at all. He also voted in favor of the $700 billion bail-out plan that gives Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson frighteningly god-like powers over America's economy. And for those of you who still think that McCain has conservative values, let me point you towards the McCain-Feingold Act.

The McCain-Feingold Act regulates any ad that refers to a federal candidate within 30 days of a primary or 60 days of a general election. The Federal Election Commission regulates this bill, which prevents grassroots organizations, like the NRA or ACLU, from criticizing political candidates during a general election.

What's odd is that both candidates claim they're going to cut taxes -while in the same breath support that unnecessary $700 billion dollar bail-out bill and increase health care for everyone. All while stomping on our ever-shrinking liberties.

This whole concept of "change" and "maverick" in politics is foolish. It's been argued since America's first contested election. Of the two major presidential candidates neither of them stands for the people, but both stand for politics as usual.

Downtown shares blueprints for success; part of cool city program

The City of Hillsdale received a $20,000 grant to revitalize its downtown area. Administrators are currently working with survey company HyettPalma, Inc., to determine how and when to spend that money.

Local businesses hope the $40,000 plan (the grant plus $20,000 from the city itself) will help them target untapped markets and give students and locals more of what they want. Hyett suggested that businesses find a relationship between the community and the college and amplify it.

"The revitalization plan for the downtown will determine what things we can do better," said Aimee England, manager of Volume One book store. "It'll tell us things to do to make downtown better, one of the things could be to work with the college more, or to have a tailgate for when the College has homecoming."

On Oct. 7, 10 Hillsdale College students comprised a focus group as part of HyettPalma's study. The hour-long survey asked students how often they use downtown Hillsdale's services, such as food, office, service businesses and at what time they're used.

"A good suggestion that came out of the focus group is enhance the linkage and enhance the walking and biking environment," said Doyle Hyett, HyettPalma owner.

Hyett said students like to explore off-campus when they can, and that's when a downtown comes into play: if the downtown opens further to students, its economy will boom. Toward this end, Hyett suggested that new restaurants and bars open until early morning and walking areas should welcome, with plenty of lights guiding the way.

City officials will present explicit plan details at the Dec. 1 meeting, picking about five "top priority" items to implement quickly, said Christine Bowman, the city's economic development director.

"It's a five-year strategic plan for downtown.," she said "It'll tell us what types of businesses downtown needs."

Bowman also said it'll help determine what kind of events can be held and when the best time to hold them is.

Half the $40,000 for improvements comes from a Michigan State Housing Development grant given to 11 Michigan cities as part of Gov. Jennifer Granholm's Cool City Initiative.

Hyett said he works with the Cool City program to keep students in Michigan.

Jonesville participated in the program, consulting with HyettPalma. According to Hyett, the economics for downtowns is simple: if you offer a good product with good service, people will keep coming back.

"[Jonesville has] cleaned their act up. They've cleaned up Main Street and put in more lighting and it's got good dining at relatively late hours," Hyett said. "Jonesville is giving the people what they want and they've done a really good job of cleaning up their environment."

HyettPalma will talk to business owners and survey available kinds of businesses, how much space is available downtown, how much is occupied and how much is taxable.

England hopes the plan will help bridge the M-99 gap separating college students from downtown Hillsdale.

"We feel that the highway is a line that can't be crossed," she said. "We don't want [students] driving to Ann Arbor for entertainment. If you want a greasy spoon joint that's open at three in the morning, tell us."

HyettPalma will announce the results of its survey on Dec. 1 at the Hillsdale Community Library.

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Coalition for Peace and Justice protests war, unites political parties in Hillsdale County

Sarah DeRose-Wilson, 17, sits on the curb near the Hillsdale County Courthouse. She throws up her peace sign as another car goes by. With another Saturday comes another vigil, conducted by the Hillsdale County Coalition for Peace and Justice, protesting the war in Iraq.

The coalition began in 2002, the same week the U.S. invaded Iraq, when Bob and Carol Ball organized a protest at the courthouse.

"A group of us got together that thought the war was wrong. We were of various backgrounds and were against the war, that's sort of how we came together," Carol Ball said. "Even though we have different views on a lot of different things we still come together under one umbrella."

In the early days, sometimes as many as 20 people would attend the vigil.

Though attendance numbers have since declined, coalition members still stand outside near the courthouse every Saturday, holding signs that protest President George W. Bush and the Iraq War.

"We all have one cause that unifies us, and it's this stupid war," Doug Barker said, as passing cars honked at him.

Barker, a local window factory worker and coalition member, doesn't consider himself a radical. He simply wants an end to the war in Iraq.

"I personally don't think it was justified going in there," said Barker. "Men and women are dying over there for nothing. So a few people can make a few extra bucks, a few select people; a few corporations, oil companies, defense contractors, banks."

When the vigil first began coalition members were met with hostilities. Barker said most angry motorists just wave their middle fingers, but in one instance a pickup driver threw a pop can at a child who was at the vigil.

But as the war in Iraq dragged on the public's opinion toward the coalition changed.

"Well, people don't throw bottles at you anymore," said Isaiah DeRose-Wilson, a small-business owner and Sarah's brother.

"We've also had people stop and bring us hot chocolate in the winter when it's really cold," said Katja Szarafinski a small business owner and German national.

While the coalition's primary purpose is still protesting the war in Iraq, it has evolved into a social and political discussion group as well. It occasionally holds movie nights in the Hillsdale Public Library, at which it has featured such films as "The Grapes of Wrath" and "Persepolis."

But the coalition's gem is its yearly event: the Peacefest.

It started in October 2002 in the Hillsdale County Courthouse parking lot; they've since moved it to the Carl Fast Park in Jonesville and switched the date to early August.

Richard Wunsch, owner of Volume One Books, said it features a mix of speakers and local musicians every year.

"It's fun," said Peter Cromwell, a 1978 Hillsdale College alumnus and the Peacefest organizer. "Because we get different folks every year and you never know who will show up."

For several years the festival has hosted groups like the Republicans for peace, Moratorium on Foreclosures, and recently, the Michigan Libertarian candidate for Senate, Scotty Bowman.

The group meets on the last Thursday of every month at Volume One Books. About 15 active members usually attend, though family members, friends and newcomers are always welcome, Wunsch said.

Auto Makers: before and after crash

The recent financial bailouts approved by Congress have given manufactures a reason to ask for federal loans. The latest requests are coming from Detroit's Big Three auto manufacturers: Ford, General Motors and Chrysler. The bailout loan requests started at $25 billion, but now the automakers are asking for $34 billion.

The requested $34 billion would help the automakers restructure while avoiding Chapter Seven bankruptcy, the form that oversees liquidation. Taxpayers would ultimately foot the bill, and to make up for it, the Big Three have told Congress that they will pay off the loan, make pay cuts for executives and sell off car brands such as Pontiac and Saturn. Ford CEO Alan Mulally and GM CEO Rick Wagoner said they'd accept a $1 yearly salary if they borrowed money from the government.

Congress will return next week to vote on the proposed loan package.

"The liquidation of the Detroit-based auto companies would have serious negative repercussions for the entire U.S. economy," United Auto Workers President Ron Gettelfinger said in an address to the Committee on Financial Services on Nov. 19. "Almost four percent of our nation's GDP is related to the auto industry, and almost 10 percent of our industrial production by value."

Gettelfinger added that if the bailout failed, the national economy would continue to collapse while unemployment in Michigan and abroad would spiral higher.

"Based on the reports that the manufactures are telling us, they'd run out of money in 2009," said Bruce Belzowski, the associate director of Transportation Research Unit at the University of Michigan.

"Once government gets started in this thing, there's no bright line saying where it stops," said Professor of Political Economy Gary Wolfram. "The question is if you were to loan GM the money, is it going to take longer for them to be able to become profitable than if you just had them go bankrupt."

Instead of waiting for a federal loan, the automakers could still file Chapter 11 bankruptcy, which would allow them to restructure both management contracts with unions within their companies. However, Chapter 11 bankruptcy still requires massive amounts of money.

"The cost of restructuring is not free," said Belzowski. "It will cost them a lot and the workers a lot. And there is no reason to believe they could get money for Chapter 11."

Daniel Ikension, Associate Director of Center for Trade Policy studies at the Cato Institute, said he did not know who would fund the Chapter 11 bankruptcy, but suggested banks or equity loaners may foot the bill.

But restructuring the Big Three may not be that easy.

"You can take the best manager in the world - I don't know if they could get GM to make it with the legacy costs they have. They're losing money on every vehicle," Wolfram said. "Those contracts have changed," said Belzowski. "Those contracts have changed significantly in 2007 the go into full fledged action in 2010. So labor contracts are not an issue at this stage."

But unions are what cause the problems to begin with, Ikension said, "Let's say that I'm an auto worker on the line, and I break a wrench. I know how to fix the wrench, but I can't fix it due to the union. Instead, I have to wait for another guy to come down and fix it for me."

Ikension said that the 2007 negations were a step in the right direction, but union needs to agree to the elimination of work rules and be comfortable with pay cuts in order for the Big Three to remain competitive in a fast market.

Gettelfinger said the UAW is open to reopening talks on union contracts.

Wolfram said, "If you want the market to turn around quickly then you need to get resources out of the hand of people who are making mistakes, and put them in the hands of people who are less likely to do so."

Black holes and diplomas: Astronomer reflects on time at Hillsdale College

On Sunday evening, Coleman Miller, Professor of Astrophysics at the University of Maryland, juggled beanbags on stage in Phillips Auditorium. The packed room watched him intently, not for his juggling prowess, but to learn about the eccentric patterns of multi-starred systems and how stars are shot out of their system.

Miller visited Hillsdale College to deliver a presentation on "The Mysteries of Black Holes." Though he graduated here 25 years ago, he is only 37. He started college at the age of 15.

"It certainly was an interesting experience," he said. "I already knew one of the students, Jim Hunt. He was on the football team and a basketball coach for a summer camp."

Hunt introduced Miller to other football players and Miller quickly became one of the most protected students on campus.

In the early '80s, the physics department only had two professors: Jim Peters and Paul Lucas. Peters, Miller's faculty advisor, had Miller in most of his classes.

"I believed the students liked Cole," Peters said. "He loves people and people liked to have him around."

Miller grew up in nearby Reading Township and commuted to Hillsdale College. He recalled triggering the maternal instincts of the college women. He noticed that as the girls would ask him questions after a large class, their boyfriends would asses the situation and twist it to their advantage.

But Miller's age earned him no special academic treatment, with one exception: chemistry lab. He took the class like everyone else, just not around other students.

"I think the potential problems of a 12-year-old in a lab and near explosives worried some," Miller said.

As for adjusting to college life, Miller said he had a fairly easy time by being friendly and trying not to take himself too seriously. He played on intramural football and basketball teams, and had a near-championship run with a Delta Sigma Phi basketball team.

Miller graduated summa cum laude in the spring of 1984, with majors in mathematics and physics. That year, Malcolm Forbes was the guest speaker, and with an assembled crowd of about 2,000 people attending the ceremonies, Miller walked up to receive his diploma.

"It was an extremely emotional moment for me, because when I went up to get my degree, they gave me a standing ovation, which I felt really great about," Miller said. "It meant that they really accepted me, not just as some curiosity, but as somebody that they felt as a friend. It was probably the most powerful moment in my life thus far."

After graduating, Miller moved onto graduate school at the age of 16, and when he turned 21 in 1990, he received a PhD. He couldn't teach as a professor until he took up a post-doctoral position, but in 1999 he received a professorship at the University of Maryland, where he remains to this day.

His return to campus to lecture on black holes attracted attention from students and the outside community. Nicholas Payne, a student in the seventh grade at Hillsdale Academy, enjoyed the presentation.

"I thought he was a great speaker." Payne said. "He knew what he was talking about, and wasn't a dry, plain information professor. He kept his audience interested."

Miller's active demonstrations ranged from showing the effects of gravity without air resistance, to showing how waves travel the closer they get to the event horizon of a black hole.

His video demonstrations were no less engaging. As he played a video, two ghostly representations of galaxies traveled across the screen and passed through each other and then twisted themselves into abstract art as they were pulled back to each other over and over again.

Miller ended the presentation by discussing the possibility of finding gravitational waves, which would physically prove that black holes exist. Currently, he is involved in two experiments attempting to find these particles.

"This is an extremely exciting time to study black holes," he said. "Just within the last four years it has been possible for the first time to simulate, fully on a computer, what happens when two black holes spiral into each other: a full solution to the Einstein equation, a challenging enterprise."

Campus Catholics argue Latin Mass is worth the drive

Every Sunday, thousands of Catholics celebrate Mass. Most celebrate the Novus Ordo, or the New Order Mass, established in 1969. But a growing number of Catholics are attending the traditional Mass in Latin, called the Tridentine.

Junior Raymond Spiotta and sophomore Eric Jensen attend the Tridentine on a regular basis.

Although Jensen hasn't taken Latin, he understands the Mass due to gestures made by the priest and missals with English translations. But both Jensen and Spiotta attend the Tridentine Mass so often that they've committed the hymns to memory.

"Sometimes we go to Detroit," Spiotta said. "We also go to the Eastern Rite Catholic Church in Lansing and in Detroit."

Spiotta and his friends seek out these churches looking for something deeper. They said they attend the Tridentine Mass not because of the novelty but to save their immortal souls. They consider the modern Mass a fabrication made up by Protestant influence.

Jensen, scratching his thick five o'clock shadow, said the Novus Ordo seems like a submission by the church to man, something that should never happen.

"The traditional Mass was to show that man's purpose was not to make authority, but to submit to it," Jensen said.

Spiotta agreed and explained how the church's faith and liturgy are intertwined. Changing one damages the other. To protect the purity of their own faith, he and his friends sought pure liturgy.

"We believe that we should pass on what was given to us," Spiotta said.

Sophomore Evan Williams said that the Tridentine Mass was passed down from St. Peter, who was inspired by the Holy Ghost.

They said the crux of the argument against the Novus Ordo is its attempt to democratize Mass.

For example, in Tridentine Mass, the priest faces the altar with the rest of the congregation. In Novus Ordo, he faces the congregation and preaches to them.

In Tridentine Mass, Catholics kneel to receive the Eucharist on their tongue, and in Novus Ordo, they handle the body of Christ in their hands.

Freshman Danielle Rose said she attended a Latin Mass once for a wedding. Noting its length and language, Rose said she would attend another Latin Mass only for special ceremonies. For now, she prefers the Novus Ordo.

"You get more out of it, instead of going through the motions and not understanding what you're doing," Rose said.

Charles Le June, a former Hillsdale student, said the attendee doesn't need to understand what is being said.

"The whole point of the Mass is to gain those graces from the sacrifice," Le June said. "I mean somebody with an impaired intellect, somebody who's illiterate, somebody who is deaf can still receive those graces."

Spiotta agreed.

"It's not necessary for them to know what the priest is doing, because they know what the priest is doing in the larger sense," he said. "The priest is going before God."

Williams said most of the missals have translations for the uninitiated, but the chants are so short that most people can memorize them.

Most Tridentine Masses last about an hour to an hour and a half; however, Le June said he has attended Masses that have lasted from three to five hours during celebrations.

Spiotta referred to a quote by Pope Benedict XVI. The pope - then Cardinal Ratzinger - referred the Novus Ordo as "complete fabrication… a banal, on-the-spot product."

And they all agreed. Spiotta argued that liturgy is not invented. Instead, it is carried on.

Hillsdale's 911 service appears $120k in debt

In three weeks, Hillsdale County residents will vote on whether or not to bail the county's 911 emergency service out of its $120,000 debt by increasing the monthly surcharge for each taxpayer.

The Hillsdale City Council approved a ballot for the Feb. 24 special election during its Monday night meeting. The ballot asks its voters if the county should increase the rate from $1.20 to $3 a month. City Clerk Park Hayes said it's unlikely that the rate would go up that high, but an initial increase to $2.25 would help solve the problem.

Hayes said most counties in Michigan have a surcharge for 911 services. Hillsdale County had a $1.75 surcharge. However, Michigan legislature recently passed a law lowering the surcharge to $1.20. Because of this, the Hillsdale 911 service have been bleeding over $20,000 a month since Aug. 2008.

Voters will also decide whether or not the county levies an operational surcharge on all devices capable of calling 911, which includes cell phones, landlines and computers.

The council also renewed the city's annual contract with Domestic Harmony, a non-profit organization that provides shelter and counseling for domestic abuse victims. The city will give it $5,500 for the next year's operating costs.

Last year Domestic Harmony received more than 800 calls, 65 percent of which came from inside Hillsdale's city limits. The organization has maintained a contract with Hillsdale since 2000.

Finally, Karri Doty, president of the Hillsdale County Chamber of Commerce, presented an official visitor's guide to Hillsdale County. Doty said the guide can be found at 14 visitor centers throughout the state and online at www.hillsdalecountychamber.com.

Unemployed and searching

Amanda Cuff, a single mother of two, received her foreclosure papers in late December, right before Christmas. Borrowed money from her sister kept her from homelessness until Cuff could receive tax returns to make house payments.

Until last year, she commuted to Indiana to work for Rittal Electromate, making electric boxes for oil rigs and robots. The factory laid her off in December and closed in January.

"The work was so minimal anyways, 20 to 25 hours a week," Cuff said. "For a month I didn't have to get any money and had to go to food banks, and that's just embarrassing."

If she doesn't get a job before her unemployment checks run out in two weeks, she'll request an extension and pray, she said. She doesn't want to accept welfare money, since other people need it more, she said.

Cuff exemplifies a trend of unprecedented mass unemployment in Hillsdale County - particularly in the manufacturing industry.

In January, the county's unemployment rate reached 17.3 percent, surpassing the record of 16.9 percent that it set in November 1982.

Leonidas Murembya, labor market analyst for southwest Michigan, said unemployment spikes commonly occur in January.

"It's a combination of seasonal layoffs and layoffs due to economic downturn," he said.

He said January usually sees layoffs in seasonal trade, education, temporary workers, hospitality and construction, and manufacturing, especially in auto suppliers.

Jim Dunten, another Hillsdale County resident, lost his manufacturing job in January. He worked at Bronson Precision Product in Bronson, Mich., until Jan. 28 when the company laid him off. Since then he has looked for a new job to cover his house payments and put his two daughters through college at Western Michigan University - but with no success so far.

"It's automotive, so, you know, that's the way it is," he said. "It's going to have to be a manner of spanning my education, maybe to go into a new field."

Hillsdale City Manager Michael Mitchell said he applied for funds from the federal stimulus package to help boost the city's economy, but even if Hillsdale receives the money, he doesn't expect it to lead to many new jobs.

"I did put an application in for State Street and asked for assistance for funding so we could build our Dial-a-Ride bus faculty," Mitchell said. "I haven't heard anything on either one of those."

The city needs money to patch up State Street, which he said is in "horrid condition," Mayor Michael Sessions said.

The South Central Michigan Works! service center provides resources to residents seeking new jobs, including computers with which they can browse employment Web sites. Sarah Hartlzer, the center's communications director, said it often sees 80-100 people on Mondays and 20-60 on the other weekdays.

Cuff said she visits the center about three times per week and sees people from many different economic backgrounds there.

Dunten uses the center as well, but his search results so far discourage him.

"There's nothing to find here in Michigan," he said of the auto industry. "It's just ridiculous."

Cuff agreed.

"If you get a job, jump on it," she said.

Conflicting liquor licenses prevent new store from opening

Chris and Penny Windgate planned to open the Broad Street Downtown Market on May 22, in the building that Broad Street Market occupied until it closed at the end of March. But their liquor license cannot take effect as long as former owner Ed Vajda still posses a liquor license connected to the same building, a dilemma that could delay the new store's opening indefinitely, Mayor Michael Sessions said.

The Windgates recently slowed down building renovations that began April 1 until the issue is resolved, Penny Windgate said.

She said they tried to buy Vajda's license, but after finding Vajda unreachable, they bought a liquor license from John Savarino, who recently sold Savarino's Restaurant.

"We've made every attempt to purchase this license, we thought that would make more sense, but we couldn't get him to reply to us, return phone calls - nothing," she said.

Chris Windgate said Vajda finally contacted them at the end of March, but it was too late.

Last Friday, Savarino called Michigan's Liquor Licensing Commission to check on the status of the transfer of his license from Savarino's to the Windgates. He found out the council had revoked the transfer, Penny Windgate said.

The state does not allow more than one liquor license within a half-mile and must be within a commercial zone, City Manger Michael Mitchell said.

Penny Windgate said city council members started working on the problem by Friday afternoon.

Sessions said the city discovered Vajda's license comes up for renewal on April 30. If the state commission grants him a renewal, it will last for five years. The Windgates said they will not open the store unless they posses an active license because they will depend on the profits from alcohol sales.

"This is really paralyzing the property," Sessions said. "Without a liquor license the Broad Street Market can't go."

Yesterday, Sessions and Mitchell drove to Lansing to urge the commission to deny Vajda's application for renewal. Sessions said he will not release any information about their meeting for a week or longer.

Meanwhile, Vajda suffered a heart attack last Wednesday and only left the hospital two days ago. He missed the city's repeated attempts to contact him, and he could not attend Monday night's city council meeting, at which the council discussed the liquor issue.

He still plans to apply to renew his license, though, he said. He said he can either terminate the license or give it back to the state, but he doesn't want to lose a license he can sell later.

"My liquor license is good for the city of Hillsdale," he said. "I can still open a store somewhere else."

Sessions said the state commission may reject his application because his business has racked up 17 violations with the commission, including selling alcohol to minors and writing insufficient checks to the commission. Seven violations have occurred since 2006. Additionally, the commission will take the city's recommendation into serious account, Sessions said.

This, however, was not the first time city and county officials went to the Liquor Licensing Commission.

The Windgates said they went before the commission with Sessions, both State Senator Cameron Brown's and State Representative Ken Kurtz's chiefs of staff, and the city of Hillsdale's Director of Economic Development Christine Bowman, to make sure no problems would arise.

"And they said not a problem, we'll push it through for you," Penny Windgate said.

She said Sessions even asked the commission specifically if there would be a conflict with Vajda's license. She said the commission stated that when Vajda ceases to do business at Broad Street Market the license would not present a problem.

The new store will benefit the whole community, Penny Windgate said.

"We can be a vital part to helping to grow this economy," she said. "I was planning to hire 15 people - there's 15 jobs lost because I can't open the store."

Chris Windgate said he had to slow the construction of Broad Street Downtown Market, and plans to lay off workers.

Councilperson Bruce Sharp agreed with Penny Windgate's assessment.

"It's going to be a cornerstone," he said. "It's not just going to benefit the community, but the college too because it will give the college students something to do Thursday night."

Sharp called this business an essential part of Blueprint for Downtown, an extensive program aimed at revitalizing downtown Hillsdale's economy.

"Whatever we can do we need to move forward on this and not delay this," he said to the Windgates. "We're counting on you guys."

Folsom's book sales spike with economic downturn

After spending the spring semester promoting his book "New Deal or Raw Deal: How FDR's Economic Legacy Has Damaged America" on TV networks across America, Professor of History Burt Folsom is ready to tackle a new project: a book examining the claim that World War II brought America out of the Great Depression. He will take spring sabbaticals until 2011 to work on it.

"Many people think that World War II ended the Great Depression," Anita Folsom, who is co-authoring the next book with her husband, said. "But another point of view is that it simply transferred the 10 million Americans, approximately, that were unemployed in 1940 and transferred the 10 million into the military."

That transfer, Anita Folsom said, caused the United States debt to grow by six times.

Burt Folsom said "New Deal or Raw Deal" was planned as a two-volume series, with the first book focusing on Franklin D. Roosevelt's first two terms during the Great Depression and the next to focusing on World War II. His spring sabbatical was primarily to begin the sequel to "New Deal or Raw Deal" but was spent speaking on Roosevelt fiscal policies on national television and radio.

Burt Folsom said he appeared on The Glenn Beck Program, C-SPAN and The Michael Medved Show to discuss the New Deal and its relevance to the present economic situation. He also appeared on Fox News to discuss bias in textbooks.

Junior Michelle Philbrook said her high school debate coach, Michael Winther, recommended she read Folsom's first book, "The Myth of the Robber Barons," as a basic economic idea.

"What I've read so far is very informative and concise, and I enjoy his logic," Philbrook said.

The latest Schlesinger Poll, about 12 years ago, ranked Lincoln and Roosevelt as the top two presidents. Burt Folsom said he began writing "New Deal or Raw Deal" in earnest because Roosevelt was ranked ahead of Washington.

"I think we've upped the level of that debate, forcing that to be resolved," Burt Folsom said. "It forces a sophistication of the argument, and to have accomplished that, I think, will be a good thing."

Burt Folsom said he was concerned that most contemporary historians lavish undue praise on Roosevelt and ignore that his policies may have prolonged the Great Depression. The book came out in November, during the 2008 elections.

Burt Folsom said the first two months of sales were moderate, but when the stimulus package, bank crisis and rise in unemployment took off, so did book sales.

"Obviously, I don't want the economy to crater and to crash, and I hope it doesn't, but it is one of these peculiarities that worse the economy is, the better the sales of the book," he said.

Anita Folsom is researching the effects of Roosevelt's policies in the domestic realm during World War II, like rationing. Folsom said she is digging through New York Times articles from the 1940s addressing Roosevelt's domestic policies. The Folsoms said they were looking at the theory that the change in policy after the Roosevelt administration ended finally pulled Americans out of the Great Depression. Roosevelt heavily increased regulation in every aspect of American life during the Great Depression, Anita said, even in some unusual areas.

"Burt was reading last night that were was regulation against hunting and fishing," Anita Folsom said. "I'm still not exactly sure why the fishing, but for hunting I'd imagine it was for the ammunition."

Anita Folsom also said that radio was heavily censored and was essentially used for propaganda by Roosevelt. The head of the Office of War Information abused radio so much it was shut down by congress in 1945.

Burt Folsom said he should finish the book by late 2010 or early 2011 in preparation for the 70th anniversary of the attack on Peal Harbor.

Shooting festival and celebration draws crowd

Sore arms and happy faces left the Hillsdale College Outdoor Firearms Education Facility Saturday afternoon after 250 Hillsdale College students, faculty, alumni and local members of the National Rifle Association shot 2,700 clay pigeons at the college's new shooting range.

Saturday's shooting festival, organized by Vice President of Administration Rich Péwé and Vice President for Institutional Advancement John Cervini, was specifically geared towards getting students interested in shooting sports, Director of Student Activities Rebekah Dell said.

"This event is event for a really great opportunity to go out to the range and see what we have," Dell said.

Péwé said the event was suggested by William Fraim of Acusport.com and a donor to the College's range, as an annual fall event for students.

"The good of this was to give people a fun activity with some educational value," Péwé said.

Péwé said the college had been looking for a way to promote the shooting range. Constitution Day seemed an appropriate date to expose students to shooting sports.

To do this, the college invited shotgun sharpshooter Devon Harris, a professional shotgun shooter with federalammuniton.com, to instruct and welcome students and newcomers to the world of sporting clays during a day long shooting festival beginning at 9 a.m. in Phillips Auditorium.

"The second amendment has been a source of more misinformation than perhaps any other provision in the bill of rights," Professor of History David Raney said, during his opening speech.

Harris followed Raney and gave an hour-long lecture, teaching participants how to find their dominate eye, shoulder their shotgun, properly aim and distinguish what kind of shotgun they're holding. He also gave some shooting techniques. Afterward, participants were herded into shuttle vans to the shooting range.

Safety concerns were addressed at Phillips and at the range. All attendees who wanted to shoot signed a waiver. Harris also discussed range etiquette, which requires the gun to be unloaded and its action open whenever the participant isn't shooting. Safety instructors were present at each station.

Ear and eye safety was also a concern and protection was provided. Harris said be became partially deaf in both ears after working at a shooting range without wearing protection as a child.

Harris gave a quick run-down of range rules. "In all gun clubs you normally see a sign that says 'open or out'," Harris said. "When you're walking with your gun, it better be open. When you're walking anywhere it should be open, unless it's in a gun rack." The crowd grew silent as Harris yelled the first "Pull!" of the day. Half a second later, the orange disc flew in two separate directions. After shooting five clays in five lanes, Harris turned around and invited the crowd to do the same.

"I think it's a great chance for students to learn about a fun sport and I'm glad Hillsdale offers students the chance to do that," junior Darrell Frost said.

Frost is currently in taking Beginner's Shotgun and didn't shoot that Saturday, but he said he did enjoy the lectures, finding them "good and informative."

Conversely, freshman Margaret Freeland had never shot a shotgun before Saturday, but said she enjoyed the experience.

"I think it's great they have this class," Freeland said. "I think we're the only college that requires a Constitution course. What better way to show dedication to those freedoms by using second amendment rights?" George Haynes, a yearlong member of the NRA and manager of the Jackson County Outdoor Club's shooting range, heard of the day's events through the local NRA's newsletter and decided he wanted to compare two versions of trap shooting. "I'm just trying to figure out what the difference is between international and regular trap," Haynes said. "Right now I don't see a difference."

Harris said he was excited to be at Hillsdale College and talking to students about shotguns.

"It's almost socially unacceptable to shoot, like smoking, and I hate that," Harris said. "But I love being invited to a college that actually says 'Hey, you know what? We're actually going to stand up for something. We're going to stand up for the constitution and we're going to have fun shooting.'"

Rare book finds at rummage sale

In 1895 Minnie Volker left a message to her future husband inside of her gift: "From Minnie Volker to Otto M.E. Buerger before we were married." One hundred and fourteen years later, the teacher's edition Bible, along with various other books from the estate of Otto M.E. Buerger, were found at the 16th annual Women's Commissioners sale.

"We don't know who donated these books," Lyla Rodgers, who is on the board of the Women's Commissioners said. "Sometimes you just wish you could put a little tracker on these books so you could know its story."

The Bible was found with several other rare books, including German Bibles to children's books. A German handbook on Freemasonry turned out to have a retail price of $300. The most expensive, "The Brownies at Home" dated in 1839 has a retail price of $325. None of this would be known without the efforts of juniors Daniel Racke, Christie Powers and senior Jennifer Maggi, who volunteered to research the age and price of the books under the guidance of used bookstore owner, Jill Noonan.

Noonan, who owns Mulligan Books in downtown Jonesville was also working at the Women's Commissioners sale in the book department when she opened up four boxes filled with the old books, and walked them down to the antique section.

Powers, who started in the clothing section of the Commissioners sale, said they ultimately wound up with four large boxes of old books in Wiegand computer lab, looking up the titles of old books on biblio.com. Powers said most of the books looked up were published between the late 1800s and early 1900s. One notable exception, both in date and price, was a German Bible published in 1733.

"After researching antique Bibles, we learned that 1733 is simply too recent for that particular Bible to be worth more than a hundred dollars, since the printing press in Europe had been churning out Bibles in various European languages for a few hundred years by then," Powers said. "If you had a Bible that was printed in that era, in English, printed in America that would be worth a lot."

Racke, a German major, helped to translate the titles of most of the German books, including the book entitled "Freemasonry: or, the Revelation of all Mysteries, Ceremonies, Formal Oaths Handshakes, and Symbols of the first three levels," and was published in 1829.

"It was the main problem was deciphering the type," Racke said. "It used typeface that wasn't really used anymore once we figured that out it was really easy."

Powers said the oddest book they came across by far was the book entitled, "Eugenics Sex Harmony: The Sexes, Their Relations and Problems, Including recent Fascinating Discoveries." It retails for $3.99.

"There was a very amusing picture of that book with a very gaunt old man walking next to a picket fence with a little boy holding his hand," Powers said. "Underneath it was a caption that read: 'the sins of the father are visited upon the children. A syphilitic sick man and his blind son.'"

The books are now being sold online through Noonan, who said all proceeds will go towards the Women's Commissioners scholarship.

One Brick at a time

The old building needs a careful surgeon's touch. The bricks are falling apart; the mortar is beginning to crumble away.

Standing on top of his lift with his buckets of mortar and instruments, a master craftsman cautiously scrapes old mortar out and puts new mortar in, reversing a century's worth of water damage.

John McCormick uses a combination of water, limestone, mortar and years of experience to bring the downtown Hillsdale building back to life.

He points to some bricks on his current project, Trevathan's Sweep and Sew Shoppe's building. He's been repairing bricks all day. Some bricks have the original mortar surrounding it; some don't. Most are soft-bricks, and that means trouble. "The moisture comes out of the face of the brick rather than the joint, as it should," McCormick said.

For five years McCormick has saved most of downtown Hillsdale's historical buildings from rot and decay. From the Will Carleton Poor House and Keefer Hotel, to David's Dolce Vita and Trevathan's, McCormick has repaired them all, and without advertising. McCormick, on his own, reconstructed the Will Carleton Poor House, a historical building named after a former Hillsdale College student, Will Carleton, who won national praise in 1872 with his poem entitled, "Over the Hill to the Poor House." Before McCormick, the building was fading away.

Barbie Keiser, a worker at Dow Leadership Center and a member of Hillsdale's Historical Society, said the south wall had a hole in the upper corner of the building, big enough for birds to make a nest. They did just that.

In addition, weather was eating away at the east and south faces of the building, and the rocks and mortar were beginning to fall away. The window sills needed to be replaced, too.

McCormick said he first approached the Historical Society during winter expressing interest in the building. By summer, he was repairing it.

He spent three months during the summer repairing the historical building, replacing mortar, rocks, building up sills with his own material to repair them and patching the hole on the south wall, but not until the baby birds could fly away.

McCormick paid great attention to detail, even going as far as to dye the new mortar to blend in with the old.

Carol Lachie, who also works with the Hillsdale Historical Society, asked McCormick to work on her building, located just south of the Dawn Theatre. He replaced the window sills and put a half-brick front on it.

"He kind of adopts these buildings," Lachie said. "Once he works on them, they're kind of his."

In Trevathan's, he's repaired the usual mortar, bricks and sills, but has also replaced a rotting wooden column with his own brick column. Inside, he points to two massive garage doors he bricked up a few days earlier. Evidence, he says, of a Nash dealership long departed.

Outside, McCormick returns to his lift and buckets and instruments. Mixing his own mortar, he carefully begins to operate on Hillsdale's face again.

Even he doesn't know how many buildings he's operated on.

"I couldn't even tell you," McCormick said. "I would have think about that quite a bit, and I don't want to think about it."

100 minutes of magic: violin prodigy amazes campus

Caroline Goulding stands on an empty Markel auditorium stage at Sage Center for the Arts Tuesday night. She, her pianist for six years, Alicja Basinska, and a handful of Hillsdale College attendants are the only ones in the Auditorium. It's 7 p.m. and Goulding is warming up for her concert at eight. She drags her bow across the strings. The violin lets out a few mangled chords. She tunes the instrument, and begins playing again, this time with Basinska, who sits behind Hillsdale College's Steinway & Sons Grand Piano. Goulding discusses with Basinska a string of notes which will not cooperate.

"It sounds similar to..." Gouding said, playing the offending notes.

Basinska agrees. From the middle of Markel, the similarity of the crisp notes would only be discernible with the trained ear, but it's there, lurking like a ghost.

Goulding has played at various venues, including Carnegie Hall and has recorded an international album. She's played on the Martha Stewart Show, received a Grammy nomination for Best Solo Instrumentalist, and she's only 17 years old. At 13, she won the Aspen Music Festival's Concerto Competiton. For Hillsdale concertgoers, Caroline Goulding, who began playing the violin at three and a half, is an exceptional artist to have on campus.

At 8 p.m. Markel auditorium fills up. After a short introduction the duo step out on stage, and for an hour and a half the two play Beethoven, Paul Schoenfield, George Gershwin, Jascha Heifetz and César Franck. They get a standing ovation.

Goulding came to play at Hillsdale through one of the college's National Leadership Seminars hosted throughout the country. Director of Music James Holleman said it was at one of these seminars that a friend of the college, Charles Luellen talked to a sponsor of Goudling, James Vandeveer, who offered to have Goulding play at the college.

"We said yeah," Holleman said.

Junior Jarett Duker attended the concert and was amazed.

"She's definitely one of the best violinists I've ever heard in person," Duker said.

Duker said, despite losing sound to the rafters of Markel auditorium, the violin had a glorious sound and easily compensated for its handicap.

Senior Artyom Chelbayev said he was amazed to see a 17-year-old girl play for an hour and a half and have and equal amount control and passion over the instrument.

"Musically speaking it was amazing, I thought the tone was really full and vibrant as compared to the other violins played in Markel," he said.

Chelbayev knows a little about Goulding's instrument, too.

"It was an 18th century Stradivarius which is worth, supposedly, about half of what it took to build the Howard Music Hall, which I imagine was a lot," Chelbayev said.

The violin is called the General Kyd Stradivarius, and was constructed in 1720 by Antonio Stradivari whose instruments are famed for their sound and perfection, over half a century before the Revolutionary War. Holleman said for such a one-of-a-kind instrument, with its historical value, it's priceless.

Holleman, in a separate interview, said he valued the violin at roughly $4.7 million dollars. Chelbayev was accurate in his estimation Howard Music Hall. He does the math.

"So total it was about $5.3 million. Are you kidding me? Just goes to show how well she handled it," Chelbayev said.

He's right. When Goulding plays it's not just the bow and hands that move: it's the whole of her body. She flows, shakes and nearly leaps with her music. Basinska plays the piano in a similar manner, her hands hovering over the piano keys like a skilled technician. Neither miss a note, despite the lighting speed of the pieces.

Goulding found out she offered to play on a Stradivarius two weeks before she received it in February.

"I was so excited, and so honored," Goulding said. She said it was awesome knowing she'd get to play it.

She was given the instrument at the beginning of February. Holleman said she hasn't let the instrument out of her sight while she was on campus. During the concert's intermission, Holleman said he was afraid to even have the instrument on campus.

"I was just a little nervous because if something happened to it," Holleman said, pausing. "You can repair it, yes, but it would never be the same."

Goulding played "Yankee Doodle Dandee" for an encore. Tuesday's encore was the second most expensive variation played on an instrument. Goulding has also played the most expensive variation as well, on Henri Vieuxtemps' original violin, estimated at $20 million.

As for Tuesday's concert, Goulding was satisfied.

"It was fun," Goulding said.

The anatomy of making a fresh mocha

Sophomore Spenser Murphy is considering a major in physics. While he gets a grip on quantum mechanics, he also indulges a small entrepreneurial streak. For $2.50 Murphy provides anyone needing an afternoon energy jolt with a few splashes of espresso and flavor - all in the comfort of his Galloway Hall room.

Murphy said his customers are currently his friends. He said he doesn't advertise and instead works through word of mouth.

"Since it's just friends they usually just call me or stop by my room and see if I can make them something," Murphy said.

He asks his roommate, freshman Trent Meyer, if he would like a mocha. He said 'yes' without breaking away from "Major League Baseball 2k10" on his Xbox 360. Meyer said he rarely drinks coffee, and limits his caffeine intake to Murphy's mochas.

Murphy warms up the espresso machine and pours two percent milk into Meyer's thermos and the steaming pitcher. Murphy said the espresso machine will heat the milk in the pitcher, while he monitors the temperature with a thermometer. He points to a tiny red triangle which signifies the temperature range which typically produces the best milk-froth.

"I love it," Murphy said. "Once you get good milk-foam one day, you come back; it's spiritual."

"Baseball is spiritual," Meyer said, hypnotized by the game he's winning.

"No, it's not, it's boring" Murphy said.

The orange light on the espresso machine turns off. It's ready.

Murphy reaches over for a tub of grain. He said he grinds his own espresso and coffee with a grinder he doesn't like.

"But it gets the job done," he said. Espresso grain, he said, is fine in consistency like sand. He said coffee grain is usually larger, and has flakes of bean in it. He said he gets his beans from either his workplace of two years - the White Rhino Coffee house in Centerville, Texas, or from Satellite Coffee, a coffee shop based in Albuquerque, NM.

Murphy spreads the grain in the filter and locks it into the espresso machine before turning it on.

The machine lets out a growl like an angry tomcat. The espresso pours into two shot glasses. Murphy tosses them into Meyer's thermos and grabs the pitcher of steamed milk. He filters the milk with a spoon which keeps the foam out until satisfied with the level of heated milk and then pushes the foam in. The drink is all done.

Murphy hands Meyer the drink.

"The size of that at a normal coffee place would be $4," Murphy said.

Thrift Store provides jobs for the disabled

The florescent lights of the warehouse illuminate Key Opportunities, Inc. Consignment and Vintage Center. Bed frames, desks, paintings and suitcases line up perfectly against the store walls. In one corner are two racks of donated clothes. China, lamps, couches, chairs and other various knick-knacks find themselves carefully placed throughout the center with little white price tags attached to them. Couches are a favorite-15 have been sold since the Consignment and Vintage center opened in early December.

While Key Opportunities Inc., located at 400 North Hillsdale St, provides students and local residents with a cheap source for furniture and clothing, it also provides life lessons for the disabled seeking independence. That's because Key Opportunities' mission is to train people with barriers, such as physical and vocational disabilities, to work within their communities.

Executive Director Jane Munson said the organization has six students from the intermediate school district with severe disabilities who come in and work during the week alongside four disabled adults. Munson said retail trainees alternate in the new Consignment center, the latest extension of Key Opportunities' operations, on a daily basis, limiting one trainee in the retail center a day.

Two customers enter and flip through books, clothing and cookware. Denise Briggs, a worker at Jonesville Paper Tube, said she heard an ad on WCSR and a couple of co-workers who said the center was clean and very well organized.

In a corner sits a white Fender Squire Strat guitar signed by Alice Cooper. A photo of the original owners with Alice Cooper (with the original concert ticket) leans against it. Behind it are a pair of large wooden shutters from Detroit, reused and sold in an effort to help someone else along. "I know some people who worked here," customer Marion Bortell said. "I think it's a great thing. Everybody needs an opportunity source."

Munson works behind the register and coaches her trainees to use the equipment properly. Today, trainee Jule Collins, 41, is working. Collins has wide-rimmed glasses, wiry black hair and a scrawny demeanor. She said she has been working at Key Opportunities for a year. In her spare time she crafts macramé, ceramics and plays bingo.

"When I come to work I price and tag items, sweep and mop the floor, put items where they need to go, run the computer a little bit next to the register," Collins said. "What ever needs to be done basically." Collins' lunch consists of a Pop-Tart and Coke and eats in the bus shelter outside.

Collins said she's been searching for jobs, but has had no luck yet. She said she has applied to Burger King, Market House, Kroger's, and Elwood Staffing a temporary agency which helps to find employment, but no one seems to be hiring. She said she's about to send her resume off for a janitorial job in Jonesville, after that she should be OK.

After lunch, Collins dawns her green vest and gets back to organizing and stacking books. A customer purchases a leather bag. Munson calls Collins over and asks her to ring it up. Collins talks herself through each step. The receipt prints.

"Let's see how that turned out," she said. The bag cost $8.48.

"$11.52 and change," Collins said. "Let's see...start with the one, the ten and change. Ten, 11 and 52 cents. Thank you."

Two takes on federally-funded organ harvesting

There's a crisis in the medical world, and no, it's not the new health-care legislation that just passed. The crisis revolves around a lack of materials buried deep within you - organs. And guess who's come along to help relieve you of said organs - that's right, the government.

Using a grant from the Department of Health and Human Services, a program has started in Pittsburgh where organ donors in the ER identified as beyond saving are prepped for organ transplantation while they're still on the table. Doctors now have the right to harvest organs from donor patients whose hearts stop beating - even if they're not declared brain dead.

Cruel, yes, but this procedure, called donation after cardiac death, has become a sad necessity because of government intervention. You see, organs can only be donated by either live persons willing to give them up, or the freshly dead who signed the back of their drivers license. A sizable number of organs come from the latter, but the problem is that those organs only have a short amount of time for harvesting before they're deemed useless. The body containing the organ has to be taken from the scene, put on a table, cut open, have the desired organ carefully removed through surgery, preserved in either chemicals, ice, or both and transported in a few hours. It's very rare to find an organ donor lying in a hospital with the needed organs perfectly intact and on their deathbed, so it's understandable if doctors wish to take stock before the patient is declared brain dead.

But this raises the concern that doctors will not try all they can to save a patient's life in order to harvest organs. Organizers claim doctors won't check if the patient on their table is an organ donor until after they've died. Even if that's true, it'll be in the back of the doctor's mind that the dying person on their table could be a potential donor with healthy organs that other people could use.

Thousands of people die each year waiting for organs such as kidneys, livers, hearts and bone marrow. And while the willingness to donate seems to be going up, the demand for organs has skyrocketed five times within two decades. So why is there a huge discrepancy? Because there's no incentive to give up a kidney while you, and your kidney, are in perfectly good shape.

But say you were offered $15,000 for a kidney or for some of your bone marrow (which grows back) and you took it up. Fair trade? One would think, but you just committed a felony punishable by five years in prison. That's right, you cannot profit from giving up an organ so another person may live. Rather, the patient in desperate need of a kidney transplant must wait for someone else to either die, or donate, so they don't die themselves. Thousands lose the waiting game.

It's important to note just how infantile the organ trade currently is - it's limited to a very generous few and some scientific developments, such as stem cell research. The latter could help save millions of lives, but politics, again, gets in the way of allowing people to live. So instead of scientific progress, or giving incentives for giving an organ, we're stuck with government mandated charity. And one cannot live off charity alone.

In defense of child labor

It's rare to think about where our clothes, computers and various other electronics come from, but when we do, we have to face the uncomfortable fact that our clothes were probably made in sweatshops and, more than likely, were produced by a child - our computers are, as were some of our iPods. Apple Inc. recently caught its suppliers using the labor of a 15-year-old child in one of its factories - China's child legal age of employment and the age Apple will tolerate, is 16 and on a global scale, that's unusually high. The suppliers violated Apple's standards. Apple no longer uses them. This will certainly comfort the thousands of Apple's environmentally conscious consumers, but what of the children? They're out of a job.

Child labor has always been a touchy issue, especially because Americans can be so hypocritical about it. Here, the legal age of employment is 16. Unless you work on a farm, where the age is 14. In Bangladesh, another country with sweatshops and textile factories, the legal age of employment is 14, but its laws are rarely enforced, and many children begin working at a younger age. They work because they, and their families, are poor, and they need money. It's unpleasant to think about, but the 13-year-old child that put that chip into your cell phone, or the tag on your blazer or the keyboard on your computer isn't a child any longer, he's an adult providing for his family.

That situation that wasn't too unfamiliar for American families at the turn of the century. Because, like it or not, our manufacturing industry too, was built by the hands of those without an education, without security and with the need to work at a young age with the only means they know how - by working. They were our grandparents and great-grandparents, and they worked at 13 to produce for us, so we don't have to.

We tend to forget, in our comfortable lives, that not everyone in the world is as lucky as we are in America. Those children in Bangladesh have to work hard to get what they need, not what they want. So when we go abroad and demand that others fall in line with our ideals, our concepts of how things ought to work, and our vision of a perfect society it only makes things more difficult for an already grueling situation. We ask poorer countries to be more like us - and then block the only means they have of achieving that goal. American imperialism can be a blinding thing - we tend to assume that while things work for us here that they'll work anywhere else as well - like democracy in Iran.

Working a 43-hour week at the age of 12 is bad. But working in an unpleasant industry, such as manufacturing, at a young age is certainly preferable to working the streets as a prostitute at any age. In fact, it is the textile industry that saves many Bangladeshi children from doing exactly that. It's appalling to consider a 13 year old working in a factory, but consider the alternatives. If that child couldn't work legally in a factory, then he might work illegally on a farm, or illegally in the drug trade, or God forbid, in a brothel. The sweatshops we distrust so much keep those children out of rice fields where pesticides, poisonous snakes and various other nasty diseases can make a short life even shorter - it keeps them out of the arms of slave traders who starve, beat and sell young boys as camel jockeys. Sure, the textile and manufacturing industry is hardly an improvement, but given the alternatives, it's a safe and secure job. Sure, the reality of child labor isn't pleasant, but neither is the necessity of it.

Granholm: right decision, wrong reasons

Gov. Jennifer Granholm is pushing to release roughly 7,000 inmates from Michigan's prison system to relive Michigan's debt and general lack-of-money with her recently announced good-time proposal. The proposal would shorten an inmate's incarceration period for each misconduct-free month the prisoner has. And for a state that has been continuously hit with bad economic policies, this move makes a lot of sense. Michigan has the highest prisoner population in the Great Lakes region and has roughly $2 billion budgeted for corrections alone during the fiscal year of 2010. In fact, Michigan pays out more money for incarceration than it does for its own public universities.

So, in the grand scheme of things, releasing non-violent prisoners, such as drug dealers and tax-evaders, can be relatively harmless. There has been a strong push in Lansing to reverse the 1998 truth in sentencing laws, which require all offenders to serve minimum sentences for their crimes. On their face, the truth-in-sentencing laws sound like a good idea, but ultimately they cost the taxpayer more by increasing the prisoner population, increasing the need for more prisons and increasing the need for more corrections officers.

But Granholm has also been releasing convicted murderers back into the general population. She has given 38 clemency since her term began. This is bad. It shows a lax enforcement for the most grievous of crimes and there's no guarantee that granting the prisoners a newly-found sense of freedom will prevent them from committing another violent crime. Certainly Granholm took the latter into account, freeing only the infirm and elderly, but doing that subverts the purpose of the former.

Former Michigan Gov. William Milliken learned this lesson the hard way after granting clemency to former convicted murders, two of which left the system only to commit both multiple murders. It's a tricky issue, especially when the state could potentially save $130 million in a $2 billion budget, but violent offenders must serve their term.

If Granholm wants to make changes and save Michigan taxpayer money, she will continue to shut down some of Michigan's correctional facilities and begin privatizing others. The privatization of prisons could potentially save millions of dollars, and by forcing the state facilities to compete with funds, it could increase the efficiency of currently unionized prisons. In 2003, New Mexico spent roughly $9,000 less per prisoner than unionized states. According to a study by the Mackinaw Center for Public Policy, using this model could save taxpayers roughly $400 million. If Michigan wasn't one of the most unionized states in the country, there could be fiscal change for the better. But then again, Michigan is used to being a prisoner to bad policies.

Old recycling law wastes resources

A 32-year-old law is draining money and energy from Hillsdale businesses, all in the name of recycling.

Chris Wingate, co-owner of Broad Street Market, has his employees spend at least 10 hours changing, cleaning and maintaining the recycling machine connected to Broad Street Market. He said the machine must be updated weekly in order to accept cans that are sold at Broad Street, costing him time, money and possibly the health of his customers.

Michigan's 1978 recycling law states that a 10 cent deposit is to be placed on all recyclable plastic, aluminum and glass bottles as an incentive to recycle. The law also states that any store which sells bottled beverages must have a recycling receptacle within 100 yards of the building. "It's a very costly program that was mandated on Michigan groceries back in 1978," Linda Gobler, president of Michigan Grocers Association said. "Michigan is one of the only States which has a bottling law that doesn't compensate a grocer."

Gobler said reverse vending machines cost at least $14,000, which usually comes out of the retailer's funds. She said maintenance and bottle storage are also attached to bottler's responsibilities.

"If you look at the area in a grocery store where the reverse vending machines are the area is typically a space that a retailer would use for selling," Gobler said. "As a retailer you're forced to provide a service, but don't get anything back from it."

Gobler said she talked to one retailer who calculated that the reverse vending machine cost his store upwards of $50,000 a year in time, maintenance, space and opportunity cost.

The machines also make spaces dirty.

"One thing I don't like about it is that we're turning our grocery stores into a dumpsite," Wingate said. "It's hard to keep the area sanitary, which is why we have our bottle machine outside and completely separate from the store."

Wingate said he believes Broad Street is the only grocery store, which keeps its machine in a separate building in Hillsdale. Bottle distributors, too, are affected by bottle laws. Mike Lashbrook, president of the Michigan Beer and Wine Wholesalers Association said distributors must take back all bottles they sell and have them recycled.

"It certainly is an added expense. All of the distributors in the state of Michigan had to purchase larger size trailers," Lashbrook said. "You have to leave the warehouse at the beginning of the day to add space for empties."

Lashbrook said retailers used to sort cans by distributors, such as Pepsi and Coca-Cola, but that changed with the advent of the reverse vending machine.

"Sixty to 70 percent of the empties now flow through a more automated system," Lashbrook said. "It helps the retailer, but again it comes at a cost to the distributor paying for that service."

Wingate suggested the city of Hillsdale should adopt a curbside recycling program in an effort to alleviate the opportunity cost on small businesses while creating more jobs. He said he talked to State Representative Kenneth Kurtz about his idea, but it didn't go far.

"It'd make things a lot more sanitary," Wingate said. "For example: our stock boy goes and handles the bottles - who knows what he's handling - and then he has to turn around to restock our shelves."

The recycling law has critics within the college as well.

"The value of recycling bottles is very low, so is the environmental damage done by bottles or by making new glass - the deposit wouldn't be necessary if this recycling were cost effective," Assistant Professor of Economics Charles Steele said an in e-mail to The Collegian.

Steele said Michigan is a unique case, where bottle deposits run 10 cents instead of the usual 5 cents.

"Predictably, this creates an incentive for people to return bottles in Michigan instead of elsewhere, so people bring bottles here. The state then foolishly treats this as a problem and a crime, instead of recognizing that its own deposit is unnecessarily high," Steele said.

That exact scenario is called "The Seinfeld Effect," after an episode of Seinfeld where two characters discover Michigan's 10-cent deposit, and plan on taking a truck-load of cans to cash in the difference. A funny premise, sure, but in Michigan, it's also illegal.

Michigan's law states it's illegal to bring in out-of-state bottles for recycling. In 2007, clickondetroit.com reported ten men were arrested for importing out-of-state cans to be recycled in Michigan. They made over $500,000 of Michigan taxpayer money.

Gobler said Michigan has just passed legislation that will help prevent such fraudulent acts with a special stamp printed on every recyclable bottle.

"Our recycling rates are lower, too, which is interesting," Gobler said. "Some states that have the highest recycling rates don't have a bottle law."

Lashbrook said now third party recycling companies come and pick up empties for large retail establishments, recycle them and settle the deposits between the wholesaler and retailer.

But for distributors there isn't much choice.

"There's some who argue that bottle bills are a thing of the past, but the public still supports the bottle bills significantly in the state of Michigan," Lashbrook said. "And as long as they continue to do so distributors will work to make sure it works."

Tailor made hero

In lowest level Sage Building for the Arts, where few dare to venture, costume designer Bryan Simmons stands over pictures and patches of fabric. He's preparing designs for the upcoming theatre production "Cymbeline" and the Opera Workshop. A sea of needles, threads, patches of cloth, and projects current and past cover the yellow table. It's the heart of theatre season, and its time to sew.

Simmons is an integral part in the production of any play. He designs, sews, dyes and researches costumes for each play, act and production. And he and his crew do it all in a short time frame: four to five weeks from when a director approaches him.

"The audience tends to not think about how much effort goes into these costumes," Simmons said. "They think that there's a giant closet that you can go into with everything in there."

Simmons said he works closely with the director of each play - trying to capture each director's image and adding in his own. "Cymbeline" " will be directed by Director of Theatre George Angell next semester. Simmons said he has talked to Angell several times this semester in preparation, about possible armor and shields that will hold true to the Roman legions and the Britons of "Cymbeline" .

"I take the informational statement from the director then do research on the time period," Simmons said. "Sometimes I'll be looking at the art and architecture of the period and take that information to boil it down to the essentials."

From those essentials come renderings or collages of fabric. And, when approved, costumes follow. Simmons said the theatre department tries to build each costume they use, but in extreme cases, they rent some costumes. The costumes that have been built are put into the storage closest - a closet that's five rows, two racks high, and packed with Victorian era clothes, army uniforms, space outfits and rows of shirts, pants and robes waiting to be worked with.

Simmons has two hired hands to help him and a team of students working for their theatre production class under him. Depending on the class size, he said, he can have anywhere between 15 to 20 people spending three hours a week sewing, designing, patching and hemming.

He said the size of the class doesn't always affect how quickly the costumes are completed depending on the costumes' complexity. He said a designer with experience can complete an outfit in half the time it would take a team of inexperienced designers. Still, depending on a team's time limit, it will take four to five weeks to complete a set of costumes for a play. And that can be a time sink for those in the costume crew. Freshman Katherine Yelken knows exactly what kind of commitment costume construction requires. She said she works four to five hours a week in the basement but that number can stretch to 30 hours the week of a play. She also volunteers on the costume run crew the week of a play, a team of designers who retrieve outfits and help actors change into their costumes.

Fellow freshman Daniel Thelen is in the theatre production class, and must put three hours a week crafting costumes.

"It's really cool to see how designs on paper get transferred to outfits," Thelen said. "It's neat to see how the clothes are made and how to make them."

But in the end, it's all about getting the costumes done.

"The director tells Bryan what he wants and Bryan delivers," Thelen said.

Are visitation hours really necessary?

There are a few things that are uniquely Hillsdale College: conservatism, liberty and eagles, to name a few. Another would be visitation hours and the guarantee that it'll be debated sometime before the end of the first semester. This is that time.

The argument against visitation hours is obvious: why can I, as an adult, vote, go to war, take out an insurance policy and enjoy pretty much every liberty possible, but, if I happen to be in a dorm of the opposite sex past 11 p.m., I get nailed with a $50 fine? Thus far, I've heard two arguments for visitation and they run like this: visitation hours allow students to study peacefully within their own dorm rooms, and to keep them safe and to protect the poor fool who comes back to his room only to find his roommate committing unspeakable sins. These are fairly trivial, save for the last, and are easily remedied with a scornful talk and common sense. You have the right to live comfortably and your roommate ought to respect that. If not, then bear down your foot. Afraid of theft? Lock your door. If company is distracting, there is always the library. Or, for the adventurous introvert, you can tell your roommate's guests to leave. You have that power.

The second argument, however, suggests that visitation hours holds the student responsible. This is false. If anything, it illustrates the sad illusion of "responsibility" laws: responsible adults don't act this way. If we make a law banning everyone from committing that act, then we can be happy and consider everyone more responsible for it.

To say that it's necessary to have rules which will not only prevent the crimes listed, but to also instill responsibility into the youth, seems a tad misplaced. From my understanding of responsibility, one holds themselves to higher principals and aspirations regardless of laws, not because of them.

We all have the liberty, though not the freedom, to do what we please. And that's exactly the point: we ought to have both the liberty and the freedom. We ought to have the freedom to walk down Hillsdale Street in nothing but boxers and a baseball cap, and if we do have that freedom, we ought to posses the ounce of intelligence, the common sense and the responsibility preventing us from committing such a stupid act.

What's more frightening is when you hold yourself to be responsible. It can be terrifying and far more effective than any fine out there. After all, which is more punishing? Having to pay a $50 fine, or realizing that, once again, you've let yourself down?

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.

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."

Point: Mary-Jane is not the enemy

Pot. It's a sticky issue.

Mentioning marijuana elicits one of three reactions: a bland acknowledgment of its existence, a hope to take a puff or a shocked expression at mentioning the cultural taboo.

The last reaction is out of line, miscalculated and ignorant.

Marijuana has been around for ages, and has been found to have many medical uses –– from leukemia treatment to pain relief –– and few negative effects beyond minor hallucination and smoke inhalation. It is, however, associated with a weak society.

Marijuana has had a plagued history. It was first regulated in the 1930s by government officials who believed it made people insane and incapable of leading normal lives.

In 1973 it was labeled as a Class I controlled substance with no apparent medical use.

Anti-drug ads have associated it with suicide, violence and everything short of child-abuse. The Drug Enforcement Administration actively fights studies proving its effectiveness at treating ailments, confiscates it as medicine and puts nonviolent consumers in jail, claiming that pot kills.

But here's a little fact the DEA may have missed: More people have been killed drinking water than smoking marijuana.

But that isn't the fault of the DEA not regulating water; it's the fault of a bad law and a culture which finds itself squeamish at the slightest hint of the pot culture.

Stoner culture is the source of most of the misunderstanding about marijuana. The word "pothead" drums up images of hooded hippies wearing hemp clothing, drinking organic milk and talking about their insights into the latest battle against capitalism. But in reality many smokers study physics, history, economics, politics, and in all likelihood, have voted for republicans.

Providers, contrary to what daytime TV shows and Hollywood would have you believe, are ordinary people. Some work as accountants, others as construction workers and some as farmers; they just happen to provide a demanded service on the side.

To some the question is, why waste time with pot? Well, why not? It's no more toxic than a cigarette, less dangerous than an irresponsible drinker and the act of smoking it is far less condescending than people who look down upon all three.

Some say pot should be banned because it makes smokers different, estranging them from the world and reality. This is true. It does alter a person's perception, but that condition is certainly not limited to marijuana.

The next time you sip on a mocha latte, gulp Coca-Cola or drink tea, remember that what you're drinking has caffeine in it and is far worse for your body than marijuana ever could be.

Caffeine is a drug, and, unlike marijuana, is actually addictive; many people can't operate without it. Too much caffeine makes your heart race, increasing your stress level and making you irritable and jumpy. If you miss a coffee break, you will feel the same symptoms with the added bonus of exhaustion and withdrawal. If you drink caffeine on a regular basis you have the same dependance on it as someone addicted to heroin –– keep that in mind the next time you visit AJ's or try to pull an all-nighter.

The college's zero-tolerance policy toward marijuana, while ineffective at preventing students from smoking it, is simply the by-product of a culture of misunderstanding that spans generations. It will take time for marijuana to become accepted on a national scale and here at Hillsdale, but it no doubt will –– and already is, in small circles.

In truth, there is nothing inherently wrong, evil or self-destructive in smoking marijuana –– at least not any more than smoking a cigarette or drinking coffee. Its maligned history has created a culture of ignorant paranoia and will continue to do so until the general populace is educated and the air clears around marijuana.

Hillsdale county Prison energy system out of gas

An $800,000 energy savings project at the Hillsdale County Jail has not worked out as planned as the jail continues to have heating and energy saving issues.

County Commissioner Brad Benzing said the Board of Commissioners contracted with Honeywell about three years ago to upgrade the county jail building with an energy improvement project in order to save on energy costs. He said the energy savings project includes roof, insulation, water, lighting and temperature improvements to the county jail.

"We've had issues with the system since it was installed," Benzing said.

Benzing said the improvements come with remote monitoring, where the maintenance department can monitor and adjust the temperature of the building over a wireless connection. But every time the system hasn't worked, the maintenance department has had to go and fix the temperature manually Benzing said.

County Commissioner Parke Hayes said the improvements ought to have helped keeps costs down on the building but has yet to perform properly.

Maintenance Supervisor Randy Finley said natural gas consumption for the building has gone up over the years — costing the county more money. Finley said they've worked with Honeywell to reset temperature setting for the system and are working with them to fix any problems that pop up.

"It's not any one particular thing," Finley said. "I wish it were so easy that you could point and say ‘ahh, that's it.'"

Finley said the Board of Commissioners purchased the program with the guarantee of saving a certain amount of money. Three years later, the maintenance department and Honeywell are still balancing and working out the system.

Benzing said the county probably won't see any refund because of another heating system the county put into place before beginning the energy savings program with Honeywell. According to Benzing, Honeywell incorporated the cost of maintaining the older system into their yearly energy savings audit — keeping maintenance costs low.

Despite the problems with the system, Finley said the county will continue to work with Honeywell to resolve any problems.

"It has not been a complete failure — it's been disappointing, just to say the least," Hayes said, "The bottom line is … we're just not seeing the savings we thought there should be."

Finley said the next scheduled energy consumption audit will be in the spring. Until then, he said, the maintenance department will be in "wait and see mode."

Hillsdale unemployment still high but dropping

Hillsdale unemployment rate has dropped 2.3 percent from July 2009 to July 2010. A paltry drop from 19.2 percent, but it's a drop which may signal economic recovery in Hillsdale County.

Sarah Hartzeler, Community Relations Officer at South Central Michigan Works!, said the slow uptick in employment can be accredited to employers trying to stretch out their workers with minimal risk.

Hartzeler said while plants aren't hiring in large numbers, they are consistently picking up one or two workers on a monthly basis. Those workers will be working longer hours, too, she said.

Employees have the opportunity to work overtime at plants as employers seek to minimize the risk of taking on new employees only to let them go a few weeks later.

"Our unemployment rate is still fairly high," Director of Economic Development for Hillsdale Christine Bowman said. "Part of that is because companies can't raise the capital to add additional jobs."

Hartzeler said SCMW has seen the number of plant closings in Jackson and Hillsdale slow, and hasn't had to utilize its Rapid Response program, which responds when massive layoffs occur at manufacturing plants.

"Overall, we are seeing a positive outlook with quite a few workers who've gone back to work through our No Worker Left Behind program," Hartzeler said.

No Worker Left Behind grants underemployed or unemployed persons earning less than $45,000 a chance to re-educate themselves through state education grants and re-enter the workforce.

City Manager Michael Mitchell said Jackson Community College has been working with the city of Hillsdale in order to develop worker programs, which, if successful, may entice businesses to come to Hillsdale.

Another success, Mitchell said, was the Rental Rehab program, which has refurbished downtown apartments in order to cater to college students.

"What we see are people looking at completely different fields," Hartzeler said.

Hartzeler noticed that some re-educated people went back into manufacturing, but this time with training certificates in welding and other technical fields. More popular, she said, was the medical field which saw a pick-up in nursing, radiography and physical therapy.

Bowman said the Bob Evans manufacturing plant in Hillsdale is investing $1.3 million to change the plant from manufacturing to production and distribution after a plant closed in Gelva, Ill. The revamped plant will provide no new jobs, but it will keep all of its current positions. Bowman also said Martinrea International Inc., an automotive manufacturing company, recently refurbished and expanded a former SKD plant in Jonesville, doubling its number of employees to 235.

Bowman said one exception was small businesses raising capital, noting small banks and small businesses have been carefully supporting one another.

"At least it appears the bleeding seems to have stopped, and we're seeing a slight uptrend," Bowman said.

Mauck Elementary closes

Mauck Elementary, which sits on the corner of Oak and Fayette streets, closed its doors indefinitely at the end of last school year.

The Hillsdale Community Schools Board of Education approved the closing of Mauck in November 2009 in a move to cut costs across the district and to try to adjust for a declining enrollment.

"In our case, because we have three elementary buildings, we were able to have some savings," Superintendent Richard Ames said. "In other districts there would have been overhead costs regardless."

Ames said Pre-K to second grade were shifted to Gier Elementary, while the third and fourth grades were shifted to Bailey Elementary.

Shutting down Mauck also meant losing some jobs. Ames said the losses were limited to an administrator, cook and some custodial personnel. Teachers, however, dodged cuts because the same number of students registered for elementary school this year.

"The staff is the same so the students can adjust easier," former principal of Mauck elementary Louis Foster said. Foster is now the principal of Bailey Elementary.

Senior Dan Rhodes observed at Mauck three times last year for his methods of teaching physical education. Rhodes said Mauck was small and the physical education teacher, Ann Harris, had to travel to different schools to teach different classes within a day.

Rhodes said the elementary also provided gym shoes and breakfast for the students.

"Maybe the cost of running all those programs at those schools—maybe condensing them—may have helped cut some costs," Rhodes said.

Foster said all programs are still in effect, but the gym shoes were for students who didn't bring correct footwear.

Ames said Hillsdale County's enrollment is declining overall. For now, Mauck Elementary will sit on the corner of Oak and Fayette, unused.

"It's difficult to say if we will use it in the future," Ames said.

C-SPAN takes a look at Birzer’s class

Professor of History Brad Birzer will be on camera for the first time since he was 5 years old this coming October. The news organization C-SPAN visited campus this Wednesday to record Birzer's history class on Jacksonian America as part of an upcoming series on the history of America. The series, which is currently unnamed, will have all the dressings of a history class, as taught by the best history professors across the country.

"It looks like a pretty neat program," Birzer said. "They seemed to know the class I was teaching."

Birzer said the planned episode, which will cover early 19th century Republicans known as "Tertium quids" — a Latin name denoting a third party — fell perfectly into his class schedule. And, according to the program's director and former Assistant Professor of History at Texas A&M University, Luke Nichter, Birzer has insight into this political group that no one else does.

"I thought it was a joke at first," Birzer said. "But it looks like a pretty neat program."

Nichter said the program will cover American history from its early colonial years right up to Sept. 11, 2001. The program will have at least 25 different professors from various universities and colleges who will cover separate topics throughout American history. Nichter said he hopes the program emulates a semester in a beginning history class.

"It's like I'm putting a whole class together and rounding up at least 25 professors," Nichter said. "When you think about the role of education in the country and its responsibility...we want a very broad and diverse background."

Students of Birzer's class seem to be excited. Junior Anne Morath said the class, as of right now, focuses on the age of Jackson and the personality that shaped the era around the war of 1812.

"I think it's fantastic," Morath said of the C-SPAN coverage. "I know a lot of people in the class who are excited about it. Dr. Birzer is such a fantastic professor that getting him into the public media is exciting because it's a way in which people can see Hillsdale professors."

Nichter said the program will first air Oct. 22 and will show on Saturdays, Sundays and Mondays at 8 a.m., 8 p.m. and midnight EST. Distinguished Visiting Fellow in History Victor Davis Hanson will also be filmed Sept. 22 on great American military leaders.

Young gun aficionados showcase their stockpile

Sophomore Cody Mohr is lying on his back in a "T" position on the floor. He is covered in green, black and white threads, only his face and lower torso visible. Senior Aaron Falk sits over him and threads the colored yarn through the netting, slowly crafting a gillie suit.

All told, there are over 20 guns within the residence. They're not sure where to begin and after a short debate a decision is made - they'll start grabbing guns from junior Kamil Stasiulewicz's room and work their way around the house. The guys rush up and down the stairs grabbing their firearms, checking to see if they're empty, and lay them out, actions open, on Falk's gillie suit in the middle of the living room floor. The collection includes five shotguns, 10 rifles and one muzzleloader.

The guys pick up the guns and examine them. They're careful not to flag one another, keeping the gun's barrel pointed away from anyone standing in the crowded room. Senior Mark Yassay and Falk watch cautiously before Marsh sets a gun down. The action isn't open and Falk notices. Within moments the problem is fixed. Falk, Yassay and senior Michael Black said safe handling is the first thing to learn when using guns.

"You just have to teach them how to shoot and handle guns and people will get used to them," Black said.

"They're not weapons, they're tools," Yassay said.

Falk points out his Springfield 1903, a model he said was used in World Wars I and II. This particular gun, he said, saw combat in WWI before receiving modifications and updates over the years since. He and junior Mike Marsh point to a model 1891 Mosin-Negant. Marsh said the Mosin-Negant is another World War I-era gun which has undergone sportorization, a process where old military rifles are modified for sport use.

The 17 Hornady Magnum Rimfire rifle's body has a wooden polish and a hole built into its butt for the shooter's thumb to fit through. Falk said it is outfitted with a Barska varmint scope which adjusts for bullet drop at different ranges.

Marsh sets an orange clay pigeon next to the rifle with a single bullet hole through the middle. He said Yassay shot the target at 250 yards, two and a half football fields away.

"Instead of a class ring, my parents bought me that shotgun," Mohr said, pointing to an all-black shotgun. "I was happy."

It's a Charles Daly 12 gauge shotgun. The company producing it, Charles Daly, recently went out of business, spelling bad news for Mohr, who said the gun may need a new firing pin.

Falk said he and his housemates shoot at least two or three times a month. Today is the first time the guys have collectively laid out their weapons.

"Most of these are hunting rifles or targeting rifles," Falk said.

There's one rifle which stands out - the AR-15 semi-automatic. Falk, Mohr and Marsh said the AR-15 is the current standard for NATO forces and the U.S. Armed Forces. It belongs to Stasiulewicz, who got it because he's joining the Marines. It's a house favorite to shoot.

"That's for shooting for fun," Falk said. "Put a scope on it and it can become a varmint rifle."

"We can shoot coons with that," Marsh said. "I like raccoons because I think they're cute," senior Justin Dailey said.

The conversation moves to shooting with shotguns.

"I shot doves with a 4-10," Falk said.

"I think doves are cute too," Dailey said. "Justin is just a big baby," Black said.

Falk said his grandpa's preferred game was always waterfowl. He said they'd occasionally go out and shoot groundhogs on an Indian Reservation in North Dakota. Dailey's father has collected shotguns for as long as he can remember.

"We only hunt animals that are vermin and are legal to shoot," Marsh said.