From the other side: Keeping people happy, win or lose, is the goal in the fair gaming biz

So this isn't really sports related, but it's fair week in a county where it still says "The Most Popular Fair on Earth" on the back of the grandstands. Take it for what it's worth.

To fairgoers midway games are a chance to take home an oversized stuffed animal by beating the odds, but there is more to Skee Ball and Tubs of Fun than just dollar bills changing hands.

There are the names and faces and stories to tell from the men and women running the games. While many of them shy away from the cameras, and would rather just do their jobs that than talk with the media, there are those that genuinely enjoy each day on the midway, making it about the patrons and the experiences — even with a tough economy shrinking their take-home pay.

Michael Liangane, 35, of Jackson, has been working at fairs on and off since he was 18, and his responsibility this week is to man the Tubs of Fun booth, where people take a shot at getting three plastic balls into slanted blue bins, with stuffed Tweety Birds or giant bears waiting to be won.

He said his job is obviously to draw people in to make a profit, but he loves it when “sunshine helps his cause” and plays a part in drawing larger crowds to the fair.

Liangane said he enjoys nothing more than seeing someone get excited after making a great shot — and that’s not a bad thing for business either.

“A lady at the last fair threw three balls in a row in and won a big prize,” he said. “I love when a crowd is around watching and someone wins and I can just yell ‘Winner! Winner!’”    

As anyone who has ever made an attempt to win something for their sweetheart or a friend knows though, it is often easier to imagine winning a big prize than actually doing it.

To make sure none of the games are rigged, city police do an inspection of each attraction as the fair gets underway. 

“People from department will stay and watch for awhile and make sure people are winning every now and then,” Liangane said. “As you can tell from looking at my stock right now, it’s obviously a winnable game.”

Liangane said he practices the game everyday, but isn’t much better than anyone else, so he sympathizes with people who get frustrated after several failed attempts. He goes as far as refunding people their money and giving out prizes to regular spenders to help keep the atmosphere positive.

“If they get mad, I don’t have any problem giving them their money back. I don’t want to be making people angry,” he said. “If they spend $5 I’ll give them a prize, especially if it’s a kid. I don’t want them walking away without a smile.”

While Liangane might give a few dollars back once in a while, it ultimately comes out of his own pocket, according to 20-year carnival veteran Donald Azbell of Ohio, who is in charge of Skee Ball and a dart throw stand this week.

“We work on commission and at the end of the day we pay our manager a percentage and keep the rest,” he said.

Most people have less expendable income in the current economic climate compared to past years Azbell said, something that has had a dramatic effect on the entire fair industry.

“Years ago we made thousands a day at these games, now we make hundreds,” he said. “With the economy hurting not as many people are playing our games and it affects us.”

Azbell got involved in the fair business thanks to a connection with a cousin who worked as an office manager for
fair shows and he’s been lovingly referred to as “Cuz” by his co-workers ever since.

He has an affinity for Skee Ball, which he explained the many nuances of while rolling six practice games to demonstrate some of the techniques.

“Every fair has different slopes because of the land it’s on, so each lane really has different things going on,” he said. “You have to learn how to bank them and use the sides, because it’s pretty hard trying to go straight up the center — it’s kind of like bowling.”

He said he has never had a perfect game, — a 300 score, six balls in the 50 spot — while playing at someone else’s booth, but he has rolled flawless games while setting up a couple of times.

It’s 50 cents a game and 140 points will win a small prize, while a perfect game can earn a boombox or karaoke machine among other items, but the 300 scores are few and far between, Azbell said.

“Usually we have 10 or 12 of them a summer, but sometimes you go a whole week at a fair without one,” he said. “Sometimes people say it’s rigged, but you’re going to have that. Kids can hardly roll the ball up it sometimes, and it comes right back down or hits the gutter.”

While he can’t make every guest happy or guarantee any type of plunder, he said he will continue to enjoy his job from dawn to dusk, traveling to fairs in mainly Ohio, Indiana and Michigan.  

“Being outside working everyday instead of clocking in at a factory or something like that is great,” he said. “I’ve worked at a factory before and it’s clock in at 8 (a.m.), clock out at 5 (p.m.) and do the same thing, day after day. Here it’s always different and that’s fun.”

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9/11: The day my world changed

As published in the Hillsdale Daily News on Sept. 11, 2009

Sept. 11, 2001 was the day evil became real to my heart and the day I came to better understand my own worldly mortality.

I remember sitting in my 11th-grade government class that day wondering how an empire such as ours could be so vulnerable to such a sickening reality, one that kept playing over and over on the television screen.

Until that day, history lessons on Pearl Harbor and the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki and test questions about Nazis and gas chambers were completely black and white to me, simply text and pictures that failed to evoke much of a response.

On that day, and in the weeks that followed, I started to understand the history of our country and of the world in a much more vivid, tempestuous way.

More importantly for my own well being though I learned to find hope in the words of my Bible, because I realized no human understanding of the tragic events would be enough to satisfy the longing my soul had for immediate answers.

Only God could understand the motives of religious extremists who plotted against innocent people and only His promise that things will one day be different in a New Jerusalem, in a wonderful heaven, made any sense to me.

I genuinely believe there is a reason church attendance skyrocketed in the two years following the attack on the World Trade Center — and the logic behind the increase is the realization that we all hope there is something better than the agony and indignation this world throws at us sometimes.

Bodies scattered in the midst of ashes and two mammoth structures crumbling to the  ground seemed to tear off our invincibility cloaks and it allowed our nation to see its own distorted worldview.

The unforgettable images of the devastating blitz on U.S. soil and the prayers I was a part of changed some of my focus.

Sure I still played video games, yeah I still whined about doing chores and other petty nuances (and I still do both) but the suffering of many caused me to think about how I could help my fellow brother and sister on a daily basis; through my time, through a listening ear and through my service.

There are defining moments that shake, make or break the human character and spirit.

It’s during those times we must decide whether to be strong or weak, to be a help or a hindrance, to be a victim or a survivor.

9/11 changed the course of U.S. history, it left hundreds of thousands of people mourning and it left me searching for hope.

I found it, but I also found out the real world will never totally satisfy my soul.

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Local agency trying to lend a hand to at-risk individuals

Home foreclosures are a sobering reality for some people during this period of economic turmoil, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t preventative meas­ures for at-risk individuals.

Local leaders and organiza­tions have made steps toward reassuring there is hope and there are options for people fac­ing unprecedented financial tu­mult.

The Hillsdale Community Action Agency has been offering financial literacy courses, and free one-on-one counseling for homeowners who are mired in financial crises, and the CAA just announced it is launching the Community Foreclosure Coalition: From Crisis to Op­portunity to deal with housing issues in Jackson, Lenawee and Hillsdale counties.

The Home Foreclosure Pre­vention Act, which went into ef­fect July 5, states that Michigan homeowners facing foreclosure are granted a 90-day window to stay in their house and poten­tially work out a resolution with their lender, provided they con­tact a Housing and Urban De­velopment certified (HUD) housing counselor and their bank.

The Hillsdale CAA is the only HUD certified organization in the county and Julie Laughlin, who was hired as a housing ad­vocate last September, said many of her clients never real­ized free help was available, and she’s trying to inform people on what facts lie behind the picture painted by societal stigma.

“Foreclosure can be pre­vented. A lot of people think that once they get the notice of the sheriff’s sale that there is nothing they can do,” she said. “The majority of (foreclosure) here is from job loss, reduc­tion of income and some of it medical. Just because they re­ceive unemployment does not mean their bank can’t do something for them.”

According to the Hillsdale County Register of Deeds 261 county homes were foreclosed on in 2007, 321 foreclosed in 2008 and more than 150 have been lost to date in 2009.

The number is down just slightly year-to-date com­pared to last year, but the numbers could be much higher if not for the insight and expertise of people like Laughlin.

She has worked with ser­vicers — such as banks and mortgage companies — for more than 100 clients in the past 10 months and only three of them have had their homes go into foreclosure. Laughlin and Hillsdale CAA Director Maxine Vanlerberg both said those losses were due to clients asking for help too late in the game.

“Unfortunately we get a majority that come in at the wrong point, which is kind of late in the process,” Vanlerg­berg said. “The sooner you come in the better your op­tions are. Not that we can be successful totally because there’s no guarantee of suc­cess, but you just have more options available.”

To get the ball rolling, po­tential clients need only pick up the phone or stop by the CAA office.

“They either call or walk in and I have a packet they need to fill out and documents they need to gather and I try to set up an appointment with them right then if possible,” Laugh­lin said. “The more documen­tation I have, the more firepower I have. Because the better I understand their loan and where they are in the process, the better I can help.” Laughlin said it often takes a lot for someone to admit they need help, maybe for the first time in their lives, but she wants people to know it’s OK to reach out in a time of need. Vanlerberg said she could not agree more.

“We’re in a situation now where it’s overwhelming and personally, if I were in that sit­uation, I don’t know that I would know what to do,” she said. “And knowing that we have someone who works on this stuff every day I would go to her and tell her I don’t know what to do, help me. The average person doesn’t really know how to do that.”

Laughlin said people who contact her, are on average, two to five months behind on their mortgage payments. She said some banks are letting people stay in their house as long as seven months with outstanding bills, while others are quicker to axe non-paying borrowers.

She said one thing many people going through hard­ships forget to use to their ad­vantage is a basic life essential — communication.

“They just need to answer their phone, they need to communicate, even if it’s just saying they don’t have the money today,” she said. “They need to be in contact with their servicer.”

Once a client has provided documentation and sat down and discussed the details of their situation, Laughlin con­tacts the loan provider and tries to set up an affordable solution. She will then go over what she calls a “spending­plan,” a less prohibitive­sounding term for budget.

“I don’t just educate them on foreclosures so they can just stay in their house, we do a budget, we make sugges­tions on doing this and that and contacting your credit card companies to lower your payments and interest. A lot of people don’t know you can do that,” she said.

She said she also recom­mends for people to look for bundle deals, where they can save money by grouping serv­ices such as phone service, cable television and Internet into one lower-price package. Vanlergberg said clients are made to understand that such things are good ideas, not commands or orders. Laugh­lin said she agrees with that stance.

“Sometimes when I go to training you hear people say that people should be able to cut (getting their nails done) out, but to some people that’s very important and they have to have that. But to others, yeah we can cut that out,” she said.

Vanlerberg said a recent story indicates sometimes suggestions, as well as a hard look at personal finances, can have a direct impact.

“A few weeks ago Julie had a subject come in and they looked at what they spent on smoking and that person de­cided that they needed to cut that out of their budget. They laid it out on paper and looked at what it cost them and they decided they should try to quit smoking,” she said.

“They then actually found a resource through the Ameri­can Lung Association where they sent them free patches.”

When it comes to free ma­terials, the local CAA has plenty to offer.

Vanlerberg said they are in the process of setting up more financial literacy classes in­tended to help people under­stand how to deal with smaller budgets without giv­ing up the things that matter most to them.

She said the Hillsdale CAA is hard pressed for funding right now, which they receive a lot of through grants. They are always looking for new funding strategies, but the CAA as a whole continues to make the best of the economic environment.

The Community Foreclo­sure Coalition is being headed by Community Development Consultant Neeta Delaney, who has a vision of bringing together realtors, lenders, businesses, private organiza­tions and community mem­bers to combat the ongoing challenges.

Delaney served as president and CEO of the Jackson County Community Founda­tion in the mid-90s and she recently served as an execu­tive under Gov. Jennifer Granholm, focusing on cul­tural economic development.

She said the coalition’s goal is to better coordinate services and to find ways to get specific information that will help solve problems before they reach a point of no return.

“We need hard data to help us create early warning sys­tems. If we know that 30 per­cent of a neighborhood is in danger of having trouble pay­ing their mortgage in the near future we can find ways to do something about it,” Delaney said. “That’s where we’re look­ing for funding from private sources that allows us to get the information we need in a timely manner so we can bet­ter educate the people it’s af­fecting.”

Delaney said one of the biggest obstacles with the cur­rent mortgage crisis is there are so many different reasons people are at risk.

“People heard about the sub-prime loans crisis in the media about six months ago and either think it doesn’t af­fect them or they don’t under­stand how it does,” she said. “The truth is there are proba­bly 15 different faces to this crisis and we want to show them all to the public in the coming months.”

She said she knows stories of senior citizens who have unknowingly signed over the deed to their property to predatory brokers who make false promises about how they can make money for individ­uals who are dealing with in­creased healthcare and living costs. After owning a home for years all of a sudden peo­ple are being tricked into giv­ing up their rights to something they worked hard to pay off.

Another hidden trend is renters, who are making monthly payments in full and on time, are having people show up at their door with foreclosure notices because their landlord failed to make payments.

“We need to give people good, easy to understand in­formation and compelling stories that allow people to share their experiences,” De­laney said. “It’s clear we are in a crisis, with unemployment playing a big role here in Michigan and the CAA wants to create a web of helpful re­sources to make an impact.”

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What the public puts in they will certainly get out

Not exactly a SPORTS piece, but recreation is close. Just a quick editorial that ran in the HDN on July 24, urging the public to do something themselves if they want improved facilities and opportunities.

The five-year joint recreation plan the city of Hillsdale and Hillsdale Township are embarking on together is more than just a chance to take inventory of what we have and what the future holds in terms of parks and recreation.

It is an opportunity to work together as a community for the common good and make a lasting impact on the appearance and value of our area.

We all know that local budgets are as tight as Saran wrap and massive overhauls are but a laughable proposition, but that doesn’t mean we can’t continue to have a voice, be positive during a time of too many negatives, and try to do something other than play the blame game.

Some of the local parks are beginning to look like antique yards, many people complain there’s not enough variety in the recreation offerings around here and we get asked questions about sports complexes and the possibility of a skate park all the time.

Our response to that banter?

Call the city or township, fill out the public surveys they are handing out in regards to the joint recreation plan and show up when they host a public forum.

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Parks and wrecks

Another front-pager tackling some issues in the realm of parks and recreation. Doing backflips off a swing-set is a sport, right?

[caption id="attachment_818" align="aligncenter" width="400" caption="Rusted out chain-link swings at Kekoose Park in Hillsdale."][/caption]



The city of Hillsdale and Hillsdale Township are currently collaborating on a  five-year  joint recreation plan that they hope to have completed by the end of the year.

The plan will create eligibility for funding for future development of parks and recreational facilities within the community and set short-term and long-term goals for renovations and upgrades.

City manager Mike Mitchell said the plan is essential to making residents feel like there is plenty to enjoy right in their own backyard.

“Recreation is a major tool to use to retain people to the area, as well as draw people to the area. A lot of times it’s jobs or schools that determine where someone lives, but people also want to know what it’s like to live there,” he said. “The purpose is to not only get an inventory, but to also see what opportunities we can build for the future to offer a variety of recreational options.”

Mitchell said the planning process started almost three months ago, when the city approached Cambria and Hillsdale townships about joining forces on the project.
Cambria declined the offer, but Hillsdale  accepted the partnership and Mitchell said he is pleased to have them on board.

“We’ve talked a lot about how you do you define Hillsdale. Is it the city boundaries, the school district, or by address?” he said. “You always hear people just saying ‘well I’m from Hillsdale’ and we thought this would be a great opportunity to work with the township and utilize their proximity and some of their resources.”

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Caswell to seniors: The truth about health care locally

A front-page article on health care...county sports fans, at least Caswell is a track and field legend in his own right.

State Senate candidate and former representative Bruce Caswell spoke about health care and its possible reform to a group of around two dozen senior citizens at Warner’s Restaurant Thursday.

He spoke to AARP Chapter 709 of Hillsdale County about how he believes people must have choices when it comes to health care, while also understanding somebody will always be paying for it.

While Caswell admitted to knowing very little about the potential national health care plan Congress is discussing,  he said his stint working with the Department of Community Health in Lansing has given him an upper hand in understanding  where the state’s money goes and what health care options are available.

Without citing sources, Caswell, a self-proclaimed “research geek”, said that 70 percent of the U.S. population has health insurance through their employer, leaving approximately 48 million people without coverage. Of those 48 million, Caswell said 20 percent of the them are eligible for Medicaid and have never signed up, and another 40 percent could afford health insurance but choose not to have it.

[caption id="attachment_815" align="alignright" width="300" caption="2010 state Senate hopeful Bruce Caswell."][/caption]

“So based on those statistics there are around 19 million people in our country who are truly uninsured. Why don’t we fix that problem and leave everything else alone?” he asked. “The thing that government has to realize is that with massive change there are many unintended consequences, so why not just focus on the main problem area?”

Caswell said his long-term health care solutions for the state include county health plans and health savings accounts.

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An unexpected victory for Hillsdale

As far as the Charger athletics program has come in the last decade — with All-Americans galore, several programs consistently competing for league titles and making NCAA tournament runs — apparently it is still academics and integrity over athletics and winning at college.

So much so that the nationally renowned Wall Street Journal recently published a column that resonated some shock-waves through my body, aptly titled "How Hillsdale Beats Harvard".

The piece by William McGurn, a Vice President at News Corporation who writes speeches for CEO Rupert Murdoch and previously served as Chief Speechwriter for President George W. Bush, does nothing short of slap Harvard on the wrist on the account that it isn't as committed to choosing principles over dollars in a time of such economic turmoil, something Hillsdale should be praised for.

While McGurn is a staunch Republican, which gives Hillsdale College plenty of brownie points in the debate, it is nothing short of extaordinary how often those of us who live in Hillsdale forget what kind of gem of a college sits right in our backyard.

Probably my favorite part of McGurn's well-written piece is the following excerpt, which actually touches on the 1956 Tangerine Bowl, a proud part part of  HC's traditionally strong approach and commitment to equality. Take a look:

Back in the 1970s the Department of Health, Education and Welfare demanded that Hillsdale begin counting its students by race and sex as a condition of federal loans some of its students were receiving. For a college whose charter was the first to declare itself open to all students "irrespective of nation, color, or sex," this was insulting. Hillsdale, after all, was the school whose undefeated football team refused to play in the 1956 Tangerine Bowl when game officials said Hillsdale's black players would not be allowed to join their white teammates on the field. Still, the feds persisted and in 1984 won on a related case before the Supreme Court.

By that time, however, Hillsdale had already made a decision it thought crucial for its continued independence: The college would not accept any federal dollars, including financial aid for its students.

How different this is from Harvard. On its Web page, Harvard Law School cites the university's nondiscrimination policy and then goes on to describe how it lives up to that principle:

"The Harvard Law School makes one exception to this policy. Under threat of loss of funding to the University resulting from the Solomon Amendment, the Law School has suspended the application of its nondiscrimination policy to military recruiters."

You don't have to be a lawyer to get the point: Even though we are one of the world's wealthiest universities, we'd rather make an exception to our principles than give up the money. So we'll do what the Solomon Amendment requires and hold our noses.

Considering Hillsdale College recently opened up a small campus in Washington D.C. to send students to for a hands-on political experience, for as long as a semester at a time according to several students I've talked to, it seems as if the college is doing just fine in both the dollars AND sense departments right now.

Since I came to Hillsdale I've had nothing short of glowing respect for the college, save a few dilapatated carcasses and how them being such a private entity makes the whole journalist profession I'm knee-deep in a bit of an investigative road-block.

Nonetheless, I thought it was extremely notable that the College continues to obtain a lofty status nationwide, and being lauded by the WSJ is nothing to do a once-over about, especially when it's something written by a key member of one of the world's largest media conglomerates.

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A one-on-one with Hillsdale College AD Don Brubacher regarding "The Carcas Fracas"

For some unknown reason I never posted the audio of my"Carcas Fracas" interview with Hillsdale College athletic director Don Brubacher on here.

The story involving members of the Hillsdale College baseball team placing animal carcasses on the front porch of the house where a Hillsdale Collegian student newspaper editor lives, following the publication of an editorial that was highly critical of the baseball team, was picked up by hundreds of national news sources.

While the college quickly responded, with one uniform statement, the athletic department withheld comment for nearly a week before Brubacher agreed to sit down with me.

In this interview, which was done on April 14, we discussed how the college is trying to get rid of the "black eye" the whole incident causes, how the different departments dealt with it and what types of lessons come out of an experience like this.

I apologize for not linking to this a while ago when it was more relevant, but I suppose that's what happens working 12 hour days at the sports desk. Without further adieu.

[audio http://www.mypodcast.com/fsaudio/rjwalters_20090413_0830-429993.mp3]

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Adressing the prank: Chargers' AD responds to baseball team's actions

[caption id="attachment_423" align="aligncenter" width="509" caption="Simpson Field, home of the Hillsdale College Chargers baseball team."][/caption]

As published in the Hillsdale Daily News on April 18, 2009

To say a buzz surrounded the incident at Hillsdale College last week involving the student newspaper, baseball team and animal carcasses is an understatement.
While the college responded to questions regarding the situation soon after it happened, the entire athletic department declined to comment on it or respond to any inquiries.
Sports editor RJ Walters sat down with Charger athletic director Don Brubacher earlier this week to clarify some facts and draw some insight on how his department handled a prank that generated national attention.

Q: When and how did you first find out about the editorial and what was your initial reaction?
A: A staff member read portions of the editorial to me the day the Collegian came out, and I carefully read the article the next morning.  My initial reaction was disappointment with the message, and what I perceived as the spirit, of the article.  My next thought was how to respond, and I soon came to the conclusion that it would be difficult for us to defend the baseball program, or the athletic program at large.  For that reason I planned no immediate response to the article.

Q: Did you expect there would be some discussion on campus about it and then it would blow over?
A: I assumed the editorial would create some discussion on campus, and perhaps among our alumni, but had no idea where conversations would go from there.

Q: Did the athletic department discuss the editorial or possible ramifications of it as a staff?
A: I talked to a number of the department staff members individually, but we did not discuss the article as a staff.  I was asked how I intended to respond to the editorial.  My comment to them was the same as what I described in your first question, that I did not plan to post a response at the time.  There are circumstances where it is difficult for a person or group to present a defense and provide appropriate protection for everyone involved, and I felt that was the case in this situation.  I did, though, immediately begin to prepare a response if I was asked for comments, particularly by the Collegian.

Q: When did you first find out about the incident itself and then what type of mode did you switch to?
A: I don’t remember if I heard the night of the incident or if it was early the next morning, but it was very shortly after the animals were discovered.  The immediate reaction is the same as with any misconduct by our students, and that is to determine who is responsible for the situation, and what needs to be done to make things right and also work with the students involved.  In this case the students who were responsible were quickly identified, and the animals were also removed immediately.  Then discussions began in regard to appropriate discipline for those students.

Q: Are there players from the baseball team who have been suspended or will be suspended in the future?
A: The disciplinary action taken for any student at Hillsdale College, in any circumstance, is not a matter of public record.

Q: Why do you feel it was in the college’s best interest to wait until now to make a statement from the athletic department?
A: First of all, I think the college wanted to make certain they had all the facts before a statement was issued, but they did move quickly to prepare the release.  I believe the official statement was posted the next day, less than 24 hours after the incident.  It seemed to all of us that one statement representing the college, rather than separate statements from a number of departments, was the best approach.  The information in the release was distributed to all areas of the college involved in the situation, and we were given opportunity to comment before the release.  I thought the statement was issued in a timely manner and that it was accurate, fair and appropriate, so additional comment was unnecessary.

Q: The Collegian obviously had the ability to go online and apologize and put something in their next edition saying they are sorry.  It’s a lot different than what the baseball team and athletic department has had to go through. Do you feel from you involvement in the situation that there is some level of remorse from the people involved?
A: I believe the students involved in the incident had no idea how it would be viewed on campus or off campus.  I expect they certainly would not have been involved if they had any notion of the response.  I believe they viewed their actions as a typical college prank.

Q: What is the biggest misconception you are finding or hearing about the situation?
A: This situation has been viewed by people from many different parts of the country.  It seems many do not want to accept the fact that all the animals died as a result of accidents with autos, possibly because they cannot identify with the wild animal population in our area.  Many animals die as a result of collisions on our roads, and that was the case with these animals.  It seems that fact is often disputed, no matter what is printed and otherwise communicated.  Everything changes if that were not true, and it seems some will just not accept those facts.

Q: How do you look at this whole situation from a PR standpoint?  It is your job as an athletic department, and specifically a baseball program, to bring in the highest quality student athletes and that’s going to presumably be more difficult now with this kind of black-eye to the department.  How do you downplay this and just get back to business?
A: I don’t think we can downplay it.  I think the best thing we can do is continue to tell the truth about the incident and make it clear we do not support or condone the activity in any way, and that we are dealing with the involved students the best way we possibly can.

Q: It is fair for the college to have an opinion on how this entire event was handled. Do you think it was overblown and if somehow it was kept in house, do you think you could have still handed out punishment and taken care of it without all the attention?
A: Brubacher declined to respond to this question.

Q: Ultimately, a sizable part of your job and the reason a lot of people in athletic departments nationwide have a passion for what they do is because they can teach young adults life lessons.  How can you take this situation and help the individuals involved learn from the experience?
A: It is certainly our goal to create learning experiences from both positive and negative circumstances, and we hope to have accomplished that in this situation.  I believe this has been a powerful life lesson for members of the baseball team as well as other Hillsdale students.  They are seeing the results of actions that are certainly not well thought out and are inappropriate. We have made a huge effort with members of the baseball team in particular to understand that.

Q: The college is the one taking the flak for this entire situation, but in reality, it is just one incident between two parties on your campus. How much would you like to stress that this is not representative of the college as a whole?
A: What you described is what makes this incident the most painful.  Hillsdale College has been built on, and continues to support and develop, high principles.  The view some have taken of this incident is grossly in contrast to what Hillsdale stands for and how it operates.  We clearly promote the best in our student’s behavior, and it is unfair to judge the College by the perception of this incident.

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The "guts" of a story that still has some questions lingering: a follow-up on the saga between The Collegian and Hillsdale College baseball team

[caption id="attachment_397" align="alignright" width="96" caption="Hillsdale Collegian editor-in-chief Joy Pavelski."][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_398" align="alignright" width="71" caption="Hillsdale Public Safety Director Chris Gutowksi."][/caption]

By RJ Walters / Daily News Sports Editor


As published in the Hillsdale Daily News on April 10, 2009

Suspects are being brought in, but no charges are likely to be pressed after animal carcasses were placed on a college newspaper editor’s porch following a staff editorial that was critical of the Hillsdale College baseball team.

The question of where the carcasses, which included deer, a black goat, and several rodents, came from has also effectively been put to rest by the college and local law enforcement officials.

The residents of 244 N. West St, which include The Collegian’s “Beyond section” editor John Krudy, where the carcasses were placed early Monday morning, decided not to press charges earlier this week.

Furthermore, Hillsdale College Associate Vice President Chris Bachelder said he is certain no animals were killed in what the college is calling “a deplorable prank”, and Hillsdale Public Safety Director Chris Gutowksi backed up that claim.

“I can tell you that I asked the Dean of Men (Aaron Petersen) whether or not there were any animals harmed in this process or whether they were roadkill and he told me they were all roadkill,” Bachelder reiterated Thursday.  “I can also tell you I have a corroborating person testifying to that — a person who drove by the (Hillsdale County) Fairgrounds and saw the goat on the side of the road a day before.”

Gutowski said he would not be surprised if the goat was just one that got loose on the fairgrounds property.

“Nobody has come forward and said ‘I have a goat loss and it got creamed out on such and such road.’ Hopefully we can find out, but I think most of these animals probably just came from North Hillsdale Road here going between Hillsdale and Jonesville,” he said. “Goats have been known to get loose on the fairgrounds on the weekends, (maybe) somebody got creamed. It didn’t look like fresh meat, but I didn’t get that close.”

Gutowski said he expected the suspect or suspects to be interviewed as early as Thursday afternoon. He also said that his department’s investigation could not “prove or disprove” the alleged gunshot wounds in the goat and they would continue gathering information until the case was closed.

Gutowski said he is not aware of any laws or regulations that prohibit someone from picking up road kill and even if there is something buried deep within the books, “the complainant didn’t want to prosecute, so we’d have to look for some charge that he’s violating some law, and I don’t think we’re going to go looking for some health law.”

According to an article in the April 9 edition of The Collegian, Hillsdale Police Patrolman Randy Casler said he has never witnessed anything like this gruesome, over-the-top prank.

“I’ve seen people put forks in yards - millions of forks - and I’ve seen toilet paper. But this is the most crude I’ve ever seen,” he said.  “If that’d been a bear, now then I’d be impressed - but a goat. You can get one of those at the (Saturday morning fairground auctions).”

Collegian editor-in-chief Joy Pavelski confirmed no charges were being pressed, but also said she is glad it wasn’t her porch the mangled animals ended up on.

“I’m very glad it was John actually, because I know that if I had found dead animal carcasses on my porch I would have been bawling for half of the day and probably not even have gone to class,” she said. “But I might be the wimp of my editorial team.”

Although no Charger baseball players or coaches have gone on the record as of yet, and the college has not officially named baseball players as suspects, Pavelski confirmed that team members apologized to her team of editors Wednesday.

An eyewitness, senior Nathanael Rea, said he saw figures from “The Baseball House” at 243 N. West St. carrying shovel loads of the dead animals across the street at approximately 1:30 a.m. Monday.

The incident was seemingly in response to the newspaper’s editorial from April 2, titled “We like baseball, we hate this kind,” which took several shots at Charger players, and even hinted that the college would be doing a good thing if it shut down the program.

E-mails to college athletic director Don Brubacher, head baseball coach Paul Noce and assistant coach Andy Lovell, as well as e-mails to 14 Charger baseball players were not returned Thursday afternoon.

Brubacher and Noce did not return calls and Bachelder said the college is continuing to investigate the situation and determining appropriate punishment for the parties involved, if any.

“This clearly did not meet our standards for honorable conduct and so the difficulty is when you promote and try to enhance honorable conduct and you have a case when it’s less than that, you have to deal with the consequence, so that’s what we’re doing,” he said.

The Associated Press released a brief story on the incident, citing Bachelder and Pavelski as sources. According to Google, at least 127 news sources have published some version of the story as of 4 p.m. Thursday and at least six blogs have picked it up.

USA Today ran a small blurb on the incident in its print edition Thursday and Bachelder said he personally received phone calls from the Toledo Blade and Detroit Free Press, among other sources.

Bachelder said he has gotten a number of phone calls from “interested individuals” and he is trying his best to listen to them and merit them appropriate responses within his guidelines as a college employee.

One thing he is trying to make clear though is that the college is not trying to defend the incident or cover it up, despite some of the infuriated comments that are being made on the Internet.

“People don’t go dig up the right information. There was one blog site I saw that linked a Facebook posting that said ‘(Hillsdale College) helped me get into law school, but if they let felons walk the campus I won’t give them money,” he said. “We’re just going to go take the lumps for a day or two, this will go away and then we’ll go back to our business of doing what we do, which is reach out to people and tell them what we stand for and talk about the core curriculum and market our product and try to live up to our ideals.”

Skylar Walker, a senior political science and classical studies double major from Houston, Texas, who is a member of the school’s swim team and freelanced for The Collegian last year, said she isn’t impressed with how the college is handling it.

“I think they are all acting like children,” she said Wednesday. “I consider Hillsdale to not be the real world; it’s a little bubble and people here are generally more immature or not like aware of what goes on out in the ‘actual’ real world.”

Criminal intent and college relations aside, Steve Todd, a health officer for Branch-Hillsdale-St. Joseph Community Health Agency said there are some health concerns when picking up roadkill, but nothing more than what hunters face on a regular basis.

“With any dead animal, if you touch it with your hands any of the parasites that would still be on the carcass could then be transferred to the person picking it up,” he said. “So you’d want to use a shovel or another implement to pick it up and probably wear gloves.”

The suspects were using shovels according to Rea, but other details have not been disclosed.

Todd said the carcasses probably weren’t decaying that quickly because of the cold temperatures and other than the parasites on the animals, the only sizable health concern would be the body fluids draining out of the carcasses.

“It would primarily just be an odor problem and any of the body fluids draining out of the carcass could cause a cleaning problem or a sustained odor that could be on the vehicle that transported them or the area where they were laid.”

Todd said the residents of 244 N. West St. won’t have to worry about the porch furniture the carcasses were placed on, mainly because parasites are “looking for another warm body, not an inanimate object.”

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Hillsdale College editor finds carcasses on porch following publication's critical editorial on baseball team

[caption id="attachment_384" align="aligncenter" width="510" caption="This photo provided by The Collegian shows Hillsdale College senior Rob Ogden peering out of his off-campus house to see his front porch littered with dead animal carcasses Monday, April 6, 2009 in Hillsdale, Mich. (AP Photo/Andrew Dodson, The Collegian)"][/caption]

By RJ WALTERS / Hillsdale Daily News Sports Editor

As published in the Hillsdale Daily News on April 9, 2009


Animal carcasses were found on the porch of an editor of the Hillsdale College newspaper several days after the publication ran an editorial critical of the college baseball team.

In its April 2 edition, The Collegian ran an editorial titled “We like baseball, but not this kind,” which strongly criticized a Charger team that had lost nine of its last 10 games prior to publication. The piece even hinted that it would be best if the college just got rid of the program altogether.

The editorial also took direct shots at the players, stating: “Most of you walk around campus with this chip-on-my-shoulder, badass tempo. How is this possible? It’s not enough for you to simply lumber around like the other disappointing athletes? Lose the stride boys.”

Collegian editor-in-chief Joy Pavelski said the staff couldn’t come to agreement on what topic to editorialize on with deadline approaching early Thursday morning. So the newspaper just “ran with it.” Pavelski said the staff did not think it would cause such an uproar at the time, but they strongly regret the decision and are “not really surprised people would be angry about a personal attack.”

She said she encountered an onslaught of phone calls and e-mails by noon Thursday. At the same time, people were posting comments about the articles online and a Facebook group was created to support the baseball team and lash out against the newspaper.

Nearly 100 comments were posted beneath the online version of the piece, including some so profane and derogatory Pavelski said The Collegian decided to pull them off the Web site Wendesday afternoon. Many of the harsh remarks were posted by what appeared to be Charger baseball players according to the user names, but their actual identity could not be confirmed.

On April 3, the paper’s editorial staff published an apology on its Web site, stating: “Maybe the right sentiment was there in the beginning, but what we published was poorly written, reported and edited. We kicked a guy when he was down; published an opinion rooted in gossip rather than reported fact. Especially, we never should have attacked the character of the baseball team or the coaching staff.”

Then the saga took a grisly turn when the carcasses were placed on the front porch of
Collegian section editor John Krudy’s residence at 244 N. West St., around 1:30 a.m. Monday morning according to eyewitness Nathanael Rea, according to The Collegian’s report.

Rea, a senior who lives at 242 N. West St., peered through his window and saw several people with shovels.

“I thought they were shoveling snow,” Rea said. “But they were using a shovel to carry the small dead animals.”

Rea said he saw figures dragging the carcasses across the street from 243 N. West St., a residence commonly referred to as “The Baseball House” by students.

The carcasses included one-and-a-half deer, several large rodents and a black goat with alleged gunshot wounds. A copy of the April 2 edition of The Collegian was found beneath the goat.

City police and Dean of Men Aaron Petersen arrived on the scene early Monday evening, according to Hillsdale College Associate Vice President Chris Bachelder. But Pavelski said no charges were pressed.

Hillsdale Public Safety Director Chris Gutowksi said his department responded to the incident, but the investigation was being handled by campus security. He said his department would continue its investigation in conjunction with the college only to close out its own complaint file.

“It appears to be road kill,” Gutowksi said. “There is certainly enough of that in this county.”

Bachelder called the incident a “regrettable, immature and ill-advised prank”. He also said while the college would not release in-depth details on the matter, “the persons responsible have apologized, the residents of the house where this occurred have accepted the apology and we’re going to continue doing some internal things.”

He also declined to say whether any members of the baseball team were being punished, or whether any action will be taken against members of the newspaper staff.

In the meantime healing has begun to take place between the newspaper and the baseball team, after both parties met with advisers and administrators Wednesday.

“I can’t really say that (the baseball team) as a group are planning an apology because that’s something that they’re thinking about right now as far as I can tell, but I know that the team captain and I are going to meet and mutually apologize sometime soon, and maybe even the entire team, that just hasn’t happened yet,” Pavelski said.

Baseball players were not available to comment on Wednesday, but a message from sophomore infielder Adam Connell was posted on Facebook in the group “We like baseball, especially this kind” started by Kirsten Elizabeth, a student at the college.

In the post, Connell admitted to posting several messages on The Collegian Web site under the pseudonym “Tommy Tough Guy” and he also had this to say to group members: “I would like to thank everyone in this group but also apologize for the way I’ve been acting. It’s just really hard not to be full of myself while playing for a team that has lost 11 of our last 12 games.”

Calls were made to head baseball coach Paul Noce, and athletic director Don Brubacher, but they were re-directed to Bachelder.

Pavelski said the events have created a stir at the college, but six students were asked about the incident while on campus Wednesday, and five declined to comment.

Skylar Walker, a senior political science and classical studies double major from Houston, Texas, who is a member of the school’s swim team had plenty to say though. She was directly targeted by comments on the newspaper’s Web site, despite the fact she no longer writes for the publication, after freelancing five articles for them last year.

She said she actually supported the editorial based on what she knows about the baseball team.

“Coming from my point of view they’re not trying hard enough and I can see them give up and I mentioned that in my first comment (on the Web site),” said Walker, a self-proclaimed baseball fanatic. “I can see them give up in a one-run game in the sixth inning, and for a fan to watch that, it’s disheartening.”

Hillsdale city mayor Michael Sessions, who is also a student at the college, said it is an “unfortunate situation” that local law enforcement officials have handled well.

“I think we’re going to do our best to prevent this in the future and hopefully it doesn’t happen, and quite frankly it is disturbing, but we hope it doesn’t happen again,” he said. “I think it was more or less between two parties at the college and it seems to have a gone a bit too far unfortunately.”

An e-mail to Rea and phone call to Kevin King, who also lives at 244 N. West St. were not returned.

HDN News Editor Thomas Marcetti contributed to this report.

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The heart of a champion: Former Ohio State defensive tackle shares a message of faith with area teens

[caption id="attachment_300" align="alignright" width="300" caption="Former Ohio State defensive tackle Joel Penton shared a message on using your shield of faith in God to stand your ground when life throws you a curveball. He spoke to more than 200 youth at Reading High School Tuesday."][/caption]

By RJ Walters / Daily News Sports Editor

As published in the Hillsdale Daily News on March 18, 2009

According to Joel Penton a BCS National Championship ring is big, shiny and exciting, but not something that is a trustworthy object of his faith.

For him, that object is Jesus Christ, and he is not afraid to share that news with anyone who is willing to listen.

The former Ohio State Buckeyes defensive tackle, part of the 2002 national championship team, spoke a message of “standing your ground” via an unshakeable faith in God to more than 200 area middle school and high school students at Reading High School Tuesday night.

Coupled with the tunes of young musician Ryan Holiday, prize giveaways and a Nerf gun battle used as an example of what shields can do in fighting life’s biggest battles, Penton grabbed the young audiences' attention, asking them questions far beyond the realm of academics and athletics.

“We all need to be ready when that day of evil comes. And that day of evil could come tomorrow for you — it’s a day of trial, of temptation, of tragedy, and we have to be ready,” he said in his speech. “And sure, yeah wearing this national championship ring is fun, but it’s not going to provide me with purpose and meaning. Where I found a trustworthy object of my faith is with Jesus.”

The 25-year-old Penton related his journey of faith time and again with his journey as a Division I football player.

He said that when he was a freshman in 2002, it was the faith of seniors, like cornerback Chris Cornwell that made the difference between being a good team and the nation’s best.

Despite beginning the season not even ranked in the Top 10 Cornwell was always talking to the younger players about how they were going to be national champs come January because of the faith they all had in the coaches, game plans and their own abilities.

Penton said initially he laughed at the idea of being so sure of something so big in the world of college sports, but after the Buckeyes defeated the Miami Hurricanes 31-24 in double overtime at the Tostitos Fiesta Bowl, all he could do was think of what Cornwell had been saying all along.

“Standing there in confetti, with Coach Tressel accepting the national title trophy all I could think about was how Chris Cornwell talked all year about how I’d have a national championship this year,” Penton said. “I couldn’t stop thinking about how he and all the seniors held up their shield of faith all season and never doubted.”

Penton also recalled a huge fourth-and-one conversion from a late-season contest with Purdue when explaining how football taught him many lessons about the idea of faith.

Trailing 6-3 with two minutes to go in a pivotal road game, Tressel decided to go deep and senior quarterback Craig Krenzel found receiver Michael Jenkins wide open for a 37-yard game-winning score. Penton said what he remembers even more than the play itself is what Krenzel said to a reporter after the game.

“I was blown away when he told the reporter, ‘I knew it was a touchdown when I let go of the ball’. His faith was amazing,” he said.
Penton said that while most teenagers try to identify with and fulfill themselves with activities, relationships and substances, through personal experiences he has learned that only a personal savior will suffice.

“I know it makes people uncomfortable, but I truly believe one day we will all face judgment. On that day under our own power none of us will stand our ground,” he said. “However, the only way we will be able to stand our ground is if we’re covered in the blood of Jesus Christ.”

Camden-Frontier sophomore Morgan Warfield said she really liked what Penton had to say at her school assembly and came to Tuesday night’s event with a group of friends to hear even more.

“I think it is really cool that he (is a former college football player) and he shares his message with younger people and it shows a lot about him and what he went through,” she said. “I just got the message (of keeping) faith in yourself and just believe in yourself and keep trying to do what’s right.”

Crossroad Ministries executive director Doug Routledge said he was encouraged by the turnout and excitement.

“What Joel has done is excellent, what Ryan does is excellent and I think anytime you have excellence projected to your high school or junior high kids, especially excellence related to a relationship with Jesus Christ, it has an impact, it’s extremely positive,” he said.

Penton has been a professional speaker for the Fellowship of Christian Athletes since early 2007 and Crossroads Ministries welcomed him to the Rangers home gym on the same day he spoke at Camden-Frontier and Reading at school assemblies.

In 2006, Penton received the prestigious Danny Wuerffel Trophy, also known as the “Humanitarian Heisman.”  The trophy recognizes the college football player who best combines exemplary community service with athletic and academic achievement.

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Welcoming Obama with unheard of interest and plenty of questions — the Hillsdale way

By RJ WALTERS and THOMAS MARCETTI / Daily News Staff Writers

[caption id="attachment_34" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="Over a hundred Hillsdale College students huddled near several big-screen TVs to take in Obama's inauguration ceremonies Tuesday."][/caption]

On television sets across the nation people of all ages, races and backgrounds tuned in Tuesday to hear President Barack Obama’s inauguration speech, which focused on change and unity.

In Hillsdale County, change came in the form of people actually gathering together to watch the inauguration, some for the first time. But unity is a relative term, at least with some of the college and high school students in the area, because while some were very excited about the future of this country, many were already excited that Obama is only guaranteed four years in the Oval Office.

More than 100 students gathered in front of a pair of big-screen TVs at the Grewcock Student Union at Hillsdale College at just past noon and the overwhelming feeling at the liberal arts institution was that Tuesday was a momentous day, but maybe not one they would remember so fondly.

“I’m a bit of a conservative,” said Alex Jackson, a junior English major who is an independent and voted for McCain. “I like many of our older traditions as a country and I think he’s bringing over a lot of ideas from Europe, which might not be the best thing for our country, but that’s just from what I know.”

Nathan Lichtman, a sophomore political economy major, who is a Republican and voted for McCain said he was not exactly pleased to watch Obama be sworn-in, but thinks this election has really caught the attention of citizens who would otherwise ignore much of the political arena.

“It’s a re-building moment for our country and really it’s a moment to mellow out and realize this is what we are in store for the next four years,” he said. “I don’t think his presidency will bring much to the table, but it would behoove us to really look at who we elect in the Senate election in two years to help steer where the policy in this country goes.”

Up the road in Jonesville, some high school students tuned into the inauguration for the first time. A majority of the classrooms had monitors with the ceremonies being broadcast and more than a few students were excited about what Obama’s presidency meant.

Lauren Stephens said she was amazed by how many people went to Washington D.C. to see the ceremony, but that is not what surprised her the most. The 17-year-old said she usually does not care about politics or politicians, but Obama has changed that.

“He kept my attention,” she said.

Jonesville student Ciara Brown, 16, said Obama had a certain draw to her and many of her peers.

“He kept referring to everyone as a whole,” she said. “You could just listen to him and feel connected. You didn’t have to stop and wonder ‘what does that mean?’”

Jonesville student Aaron Thorpe said massive turnout for the ceremony was just part of a larger movement toward increased citizen involvement and several McCain supporters at the college agreed.

“It’s really an interesting time for our country. I think it’s great people are excited about our future and it’s good to at least see an interest in our government,” Jackson said. “That’s not the worst thing for our country.”

Someone with a little more political experience, Christina Miller, the university chair for College Republicans at Hillsdale College, thought the idea of everyone being so united was little more than a well-constructed mirage created in part by the media.

“5.2 out of every 10 people voted for Obama? Well, 4.7 out of every 10 voted for Bush in 2004 and look what the public perception of that was,” she said. “The media has made it sound like we are all so united at this very moment, but I don’t think that’s really the truth.”

Miller said it was hard for her to believe so many people thought it was in the best interest of our country to elect Obama, but added that he is likable and knows how to give a good speech.

“He’s a very good orator, especially when he’s reading from a script,” she said. “I felt like his (inauguration) speech was good, but kind of like recycled material he used from the campaign trail. Hope, change and moving forward — the same things we’ve heard before.”

She also said the legacy of this day will be determined by the next four years, not one speech and admitted the Republican Party should take a close look at what campaign strategies and fundraising ideas the Democrats used in this election.

An attempt to contact Carmen Wyatt-Hayes, the advisor for College Democrats at Hillsdale College was unsuccessful.

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