Hillsdale Students Argue About the Bible Pages 4-7

Inaction is Good Action Page 8

Dinosaurs! Page 18
The Forum Promotes Gun Control? Page 22

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Volume XIII, Issue IV, May 2013

Conservative Features
4 A Biblical Critique of Liberal Arts Rachael Wierenga

As her time at Hillsdale comes to a close, a former editor-inchief reflects on faith, philosophy, and the liberal arts.
6 Artes Liberales: Compatible with Christ Joshua Taccolini
In a one-part response to the above article, Taccolini argues
that there is no inherent contradiction between Christianity
and the liberal arts.
8 Huzzah for Gridlock! James Inwood
Is congressional gridlock a good thing for the nation? Inwood
weighs in on the legislature.
10 IRAs and Social Security Devin Creed
Creed writes about the Troubles in Northern Ireland and
reminds us that civility in religious debates is always a good
thing.
12 What is Art? Lauren Wierenga
The Head Designer offers her take on modern art. Are
hyperrealism and abstract expressionism truly art?

Campus Features
14 Where Are They Now? Chris McCaffery

The Forum catches up with Betsy Woodruff and talks about

where journalism has taken her, what she misses about
Hillsdale, and nights at the Donnybrook.
15 Professors iPod Chris McCaffery
Professor of History Brad Birzer gives The Forum a few of the
tracks from his iPod.
16 Campus Smackdown: Study Abroad vs. WHIP
If you need to get out of Hillsdale for a semester, where
should you go? Reuss and Lucas go head-to-head for WHIP
and study abroad.
19 Matrimony: the Great Escape Giana Schena
Those looking to escape SAGA food might want to look into
gettin hitched.
22 A Logical Arguement for Gun Control Andy Reuss
War correspondent Reuss scoffs at liberal arguements for
gun control.
23 Campus Spotlight: Black Belts Chris McCaffery
The Forum talks to three campus martial artists about their
black belts, coming into martial arts, and competitons.

Staff
Editor-in-Chief
Wes Wright

Staff Writers

Sam Ryskamp
Corrie Beth Hendon
James Inwood
Rachael Wierenga
Savannah Tibbetts
Chris McCaffery

Editors

Chelsey Schmid
Matt OSullivan

Photographers
Laurie Barnes
Jacob Shalkhauser
Shaun Lichti
Caroline Green

Head Designer
Lauren Wierenga

Layout Design
Aide
Valerie Copan

Business
Manager

Ryne Bessemer

Advertisement
Manager
Nate McBride

Photo Editor
Lauren Wierenga

Letter from the Editor: Wes Wright

This will be my final Letter from the Editor,
at least for The Hillsdale Forum. While I will
stay in the organization, I will no longer be
Editor-in-Chief. Chris McCaffery will take up
that occupation, and I think The Forum will
do well with him at the helm.
My predecessor as Editor-in-Chief was
Rachael Wierenga (check out her article on
page four). When she wrote her final Letter,
she had not yet chosen a successor, so she
wrote about the character and personality
of the person she would choose. Ironically,
Hell be really punny was not on the list.
What she described was a white knight of
conservatism, a constant champion of individual liberty, limited government, and family
values. He would be steeped in the writings
of Lewis, Chesterton, and Luther. He would
be passionate about politics, promoting conservatism and Christianity in all he did.
Instead, she chose me. I am no white
knight of conservatism: I lean a little libertarian on some issues, I prefer Bastiat to Lewis,
I am not enchanted with politics. I had not
even written for The Forum before I became
Editor-in-Chief.
Now that I have a years experience I will
weigh in on what the Editor-in-Chief does
and what he should be. A primary duty of the
Editor-in-Chief is to plan everything, from
when the magazine will be released to the
possible focus of each article. As such, he

Mission Statement
The Hillsdale Forum is an independent, student-run Conservative
magazine at Hillsdale College. The Forum, in support of the
mission statement of Hillsdale College, exists to promote a
return to limited government as outlined in the Declaration of
Independence and the Constitution. We publish Conservative
opinion, editorials, and campus news. The Forum is a vehicle to
bring the discussion and thought of the intelligent students and
professors at the heart of the Conservative movement beyond the
classroom and beyond Hillsdales campus.

must be assertive and follow deadlines of

his own making. A journalist for both The
Forum and the Collegian, Chris McCaffery
knows how deadlines work; he is good at
getting things done on time. The title Editorin-Chief suggests the next quality of a good
EiC: he must understand English composition and have a knack for good phraseology.
To steal from Laurens article on page 12,
he must be able to choose beautiful topics inspired by beautiful ideas, then write
about them beautifully. An Editor-in-Chief is
involved with each of those aspects throughout the magazine, working with writers and
editors to craft the best publication possible.
Hence the third trait of a good EiC, the
ability to work with people. Not only must the
Editor-in-Chief deal with his employees, he
is also responsible for recruiting new workers. This interaction occurs in person; it is
not limited to the obligatory Hey, you should
work for The Hillsdale Forum! that pops up
at the end of each Letter from the Editor.
As such, the EiC should not be a homeschooler; he has to have social skills and the
power to talk to people who arent immediate family members. The preceding sentence alludes to the fourth quality of a good
Editor-in-Chief, a good sense of humor. This
requirement is crucial: if the EiC cant laugh
at his own misery, he wont last long. Wit
is also required for titles and copy, to draw
readers in and get them to read articles they
otherwise wouldnt. A good sense of humor
makes people complain less. Chris is quite
witty, if a little caustic at times. Regardless, I
will value his humor as I work with him next
year. He will have plenty of opportunities to
complain; it is many hours of work for no pay
and little reward. One might call the EiC of
The Hillsdale Forum the Editor-in-Cheap.
I wish him luck and a great readership
youll have to supply the latter.

Religion & Education

By Rachael Wierenga

n this, the final installment of my threepart article series, I will continue to argue
that the Bible should correct the habits
of thinking that Hillsdales liberal arts education
inculcates in its students. In part two, I argued that
the liberal arts principle that human action can limit
sin contradicts the Bibles teaching on this matter.
In part three, I will argue that the liberal arts instill a
problematic assumption about the nature of man and
the ends for which he was created that affects how
students view their relationship with God. The liberal
arts teach that the nature of man is primarily rational;
the student who accepts
this idea will believe that
he is most pleasing to God
when he lives rationally.
The liberal arts assume
that mans defining
characteristic is his
reason, that he is primarily
rational. In The Republic,
for example, Plato holds
that the goal of life is to
order the soul so that the
rational part rules over
the spirited and erotic
parts. Some Christians
assert that before the
Fall in Genesis, mans soul was perfectly ordered
and working in harmony, but after the Fall the soul
became disordered so that reason no longer ruled
over passion. A primary goal of Hillsdale is to develop
and train the soul so reason can rule over passion for
the good of society.
The biblical account holds that man relates to
God through spirit, not the intellect. God did not
create man to be strong, powerful, and independent.
Man was made to be in a relationship with Him
dependent, faithful, and obedient. According
to the Bible, man is a spiritual being. The spirit is
so important, in fact, that without it man cannot
understand or relate to God. Jesus insists that man
must be reborn of the spirit: Except a man be born of
water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom

of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and

that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Marvel not
that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again (John
3:5-6). He says in John 6:63 that his words are spirit
and life: It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits
nothing. The words that I speak to you are spirit, and
they are life. Romans 8:16 says, The Spirit Himself
bears witness with our spirit that we are sons of God;
humans have a spirit and, through faith, receive
the Holy Spirit, which is the mind of Christ (2 Cor.
2:16)the Holy Spirit is Christs very thoughts and
self within us.
Further, in John 16:13-14,
Jesus describes the Holy
Spirit as a counselor who
leads people to truth and
reveals the Word: However,
when He, the Spirit of truth,
has come, He will guide you
into all truth; for He will not
speak on His own authority,
but whatever He hears He
will speak; and He will tell
you things to come. He will
glorify Me, for He will take of
what is Mine and declare it
to you. Christ is the Word
made flesh, which means
that the Spirit will guide Christians into the truth of the
Word with unveiled eyes. Similarly, Isaiah 30:20-21
anticipate the new covenant, which will allow faithful
believers to receive the Holy Spirit as their ultimate
teacher: Yet your teachers will not be moved into
a corner anymore, but your eyes shall see your
teachers. Your ears shall hear a word behind you,
saying This is the way, walk in it, whenever you
turn to the right hand or whenever you turn to the
left. The Holy Spirit is the only way to prove what
is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.
This power comes not by our powers of discernment
and reason but by the Spirits work to transform
us through the renewing of our minds, freely and
directly revealing Gods will. These passages reveal
the spirit as the critical, intimate connection between
man and God; it is mans defining characteristic.

The biblical
account holds that
man relates to God
through spirit, not
the intellect.

The liberal arts tell students to exercise their

intellect because the Creator gave man reason to use
intelligently. God did not give humans reason only to
turn them loose to strive after their own ideas, hoping
to compile a big, old truth compendium. The idea that
one can study hard, improve ones mind, and then
quest after truth is pretentious and self-aggrandizing.
The biblical account grounds the liberal arts in a
manner disagreeable to the pride and narcissism
lodged in the human heart. In Isaiah, Jeremiah, and
Ezekiel, there are multiple cases in which those who
prophecy out of their own heart, who say God has
spoken where he has not, and who follow their own
spirit are reprimanded for committing a grave offence
that leads others astray (e.g., see Ezekiel 13). When
man relies on his intellect to find truth instead of
conforming to the truth God has revealed, he ends up
with an utterly backward, false account. To truly strive
after truth, one must read the Bible.
God does not want man to set out on a lifelong
quest to find all sources of truth. Philosophers write
that wisdom begins with a sense of wonder that
spurs one on to learn. The Bible, however, says that
wisdom begins with the fear of God and leads one
to conform to His Word, the account he has given of
the Truth that we may know it. The Holy Spirit does
not empower man to reason out new truths about the
will of God, it guides the believer into the Word that is
already there. The obedience of faith discussed in
Romans is not a man-glorifying endeavor. Philippians
chapter two points to Christ as the one who exercised
the ultimate obedience of faith, which lead to an
agonizing and humiliating death on a cross, not
personal glory before men.
The traditional respect for reason and intellect
in the liberal arts causes students to believe that
pursuing truth is the best way to live ones life.

In reality, this view is spiritual narcissism: it is sin

working in the flesh to inflame a pride that makes
one desire to win self-glory through actions; this way
of living is pleasing to mans pride and the sin within
him. The quest for truth begins and ends at the Bible,
with Jesus the Word of God.
The Biblical account should counterbalance the
liberal arts educations view of the ends for which
man was created. The liberal arts lauds rationality,
strength, independence, and virtue through action,
but the Bible values weakness, imperfection,
dependence, and virtue through faith in Christ. A
liberal arts education fans the flames of ones desire
for self-aggrandizement, and it is easy to twist
Christianity into compatibility with such a pretense.
In truth, it works the other way around: one must
conform to Gods word, even as He cuts down mans
glory.
One must realize ones sin and weakness, submit
to it, and ask Christ to be strong and work in one
instead of trying to continue to achieve and strive
and overcome of ones own effort. I close with an
admonition from William Newell, to beware of fallenflesh-remedying messages. At its base, the liberal
arts is this kind of message, and the person trained
to accept its premises about human wisdom, human
effort, and the ends for which man was created
without criticism is likely to miss the true Gospel
for a watered-down moralism that promises to fix
fallen flesh and make one more godlike. I challenge
students to come to the God of the Bible in humility.
He will start you on the true lifelong quest for truth
in his Word, which has the riches of truth in the
knowledge of Jesus Christ that will take you a lifetime
to discover in deeper ways and will continue to
expand your understanding of truth.

Religion & Education

By Joshua Taccolini

efore addressing the inherent

compatibility or even co-operation
of Christianity and the Liberal Arts,
let us establish an underlying assumption. This
assumption has been self-evident to men of repute
for most of human history, barring our present,
mistaken age. The assumption is this: that
mankind is endowed by his Creator with a rational
soul and an intellect capable of understanding
the nature of things. As such we are blessed an
indispensible thirst for the Truth, only satisfied by
knowledge of Truth itself. Further, the assumption
is that Knowledge, wherever it may be found, is
noble in and of itself. It has intrinsic, God-given
value and is worth pursuing, even and especially
in the Science of Theology. The idea of Knowledge
as inherently valuable is, as John Henry Newman
argues, in the world now, it was in the world then;
and, as in the case of the dogmas of faith, it is
illustrated by a continuous historical tradition, and
never was out of the world, from the time it came
into it. It is self-evident that the created order
is reasonable; it was designed by an Intelligent
Designer who has marvelously established Faith
and Reason in the created order as two wings
required for one to fly. With this assumption, let

us see how, to propel her children towards their

Maker, Christianity espouses the Liberal Arts.
True education has nothing to do with the mere
accumulation of facts, production of servile goods
useful to society, or any other menial, subservient
end. Instead, it is solely the pursuit of Wisdom
considered noble in itself with which the soul
grows in love of the good and so acquires virtue.
In fact, the word education comes from the Latin
educo, meaning I raise up, and educatio, which
is to rear. Education understood as the love
and pursuit of Wisdom cannot be dismissed as a
tolerable luxury of the privileged. No, education
is truly necessary for the perfection of the soul,
hence Aristotles assertion that the educated differ
from the uneducated as much as the living from
the dead. In His infinite Wisdom, God deigns to
let man participate in that very Wisdom. He made
man an intellectual being, as no other earthly
creature. Man is to see God in beatitude through
his intellectual nature, super-elevated to visualize
the invisible. For this reason, it is a grievous and
deadly error to divorce grace necessary for the
perfection of the soul from the substance of
the soul, mans intellectual nature. Further, it is
a fatal misstep to divorce Faith necessary for

Education does not undermine Christianity;

Christianity fulfills education.
redemption from that which is redeemed: Reason.
Grace perfects Nature and raises it to participation
in the divine. Education does not undermine
Christianity; Christianity fulfills education.
On closer examination, the scripture will attests
to this fulfillment. Solomon states that It is not
good for a man to be without knowledge (Proverbs
19:2). On the subject of
wisdom, he writes, For
she is a reflection of
eternal light, a spotless
mirror of the working of
God, and an image of
his goodness (Wisdom
7:26). Scripture is
the divinely-revealed
Word of God, the
center of Christianity;
to defend our noble
understanding of the
Liberal Arts and the
Christian message,
we must examine the
truths therein. One
might object to this
argument by citing
those verses in St.
Pauls epistles that
seem to disparage the
pursuit of Wisdom.
In his first letter to
the Corinthians, St.
Paul quotes Isaiah:
I will destroy the
wisdom of the wise,
and the cleverness of the clever I will thwart. He
continues, Where is the wise man? Where is the
scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has
not God made foolish the wisdom of the world?
(1 Corinthians 1:19-20). Indeed, God has made
foolish the wisdom of the world, turning it on its
head as only He can do (Acts 17:6); nevertheless,
it is nave to think that St. Paul would have man
uneducated and foolish that Gods Wisdom might
triumph despite human intelligence. Are we not also
to judge matters pertaining to this life (1 Corinthians
6:3)? It is true that the foolishness of man is to think

himself wise apart from his Creator without His

grace the truth remains hidden yet Paul urgently
entreats us not to accept the grace of God in
vain (2 Corinthians 6:1)! Do we not accept Gods
Wisdom in vain when, in our pride, we abuse the
mind He gave us to receive it? As the honey bee
extracts nectar only from the flower so disposed
to it, so grace perfects
only that nature ready
and able to receive it.
Far from disparaging
the nobility of Reason,
the Scriptures exhort
us to employ the mind
to further the kingdom
of God (Romans
12:2). They proclaim
the grandeur of Gods
design for mans
purification: Not that
we would be unclothed,
but that we would be
further clothed, so that
what is mortal may be
swallowed up by life
(2Cor 5:4).
This glorification of
the Liberal Arts is not an
affront to the Christian
message of salvation,
for Christianity alone
testifies to mans
dependence on the
natural to ascend to the
supernatural (Romans
1:20). The Christian message is of redemption, not
replacement. Indeed, St. Athanasius of Alexandria
describes redemption as a deification of the human
person, The Son of God became man that we
might become God. While the Liberal Arts sans
Christ have no power to redeem man, with Christ
they empower him, strengthening his faith. Far from
diminishing Knowledge gained through Liberal Arts,
Christianity assumes and elevates the intellectual
nature of the human person, dignifying the vocation
of the student.

Politics

By James Inwood

he United States has a crisis of

government.
2013 is the third consecutive
year of divided government in Washington.
Shouting matches and filibusters have replaced
compromise, and legislative productivity is at
historical lows. When the 2012 elections returned
power to the very same divided government,
pundits began to fear a perpetual standstill. This,
however, is not the crisis.
Aristotle teaches that all things aim at certain
ends, and they only good insofar as they serve
their purpose. This principle applies to everything,
governments included. Typically, regimes
safeguard rights, execute justice, and foster
mans pursuit of happiness in order to promote
the common good of society. The American
republic is failing that test. This is most certainly is
a crisis.
Regimes often oppose the common good by
neglecting their duties; they ignore necessity and
accept injustice. The United States, on the other
hand, actively subverts its ends. Washington
D.C. taps our phone lines, taxes our earnings,
restricts what companies can produce pervasive
intervention that limits prosperity and undermines
civil liberties. Preventing these active sins of
commission is deceptively simple: stop passing
such laws. One important aspect of the Western
tradition is the Hippocratic precept First, do no
harm. One cannot achieve good before one turns
against evil. For states, however, this is a tricky

assignment. One option, according to Persian

poet Sadi, is for tyrannical kings to take up
napping.
Unfortunately, it is very difficult to get all three
branches of the federal government to nap at
once. In a republic, the better solution is. . .
exactly what is happening today. With control
of Congress split between Republicans and
Democrats, legislation is grinding to a halt. The
Supreme Court swing from right to left according
to its whimsy, undermining the few laws that are
passed. And the President? The stress of steering
this sinking ship has understandably driven him
to the golf course. Though most would call this
gridlock an evil, conservatives should rejoice in
this government inaction.
One can already see healing in Americas
annual budget deficit, which has been shrinking
and recently fell under a trillion dollars. How?
Americas legislators are so busy fighting each
other that they have neglected to pass regular
budgets. When this happens, the Treasury
defaults to baseline budgeting, the previous
years budget with corrections for inflation and
population growth. Most budgets Congress
passes expand far beyond the baseline budget,
so this legislative impass has slowed spending
growth significantly and allowed revenues to
catch up.
Further, while population growth affects
revenue and expenditure equally, inflation does
not. The federal government measures inflation

with the Consumer Price Index, which tracks

price changes in a bundle of consumer goods.
Expansionary policies inflate producer goods far
more than consumer goods, however, so CPI
understates overall inflation and how much nominal
spending should grow to keep up. In fact, inflationadjusted spending actually falls. Since revenue
responds to inflationary changes across the whole
economy, it grows faster than spending and the
budget becomes more balanced.
Real spending is also falling because Washington
is aware of its dysfunction. To force themselves
into action, legislators keep
crafting doomsday deals like
the sequester that threaten
to impose draconian cuts
if Congress does not act.
This tactic often fails, forcing
cuts that no sane legislator
would support. As a result,
federal spending in 2013 is
projected to be 0.2% higher
than in 2012 a paltry
increase, just $8 billion.
In addition, regulatory growth has dropped
dramatically since the Republicans took the
House. According to the Office of Information and
Regulatory Affairs, the present year will probably
yield about 400 new rules, about 100 of which will
have significant costs. In contrast, the last year of
unified government (2010) saw 690 new rules, 138
of which were economically significant. This is 42%
decrease in total rules and a 28% drop in major
ones. Notably, many of the new rules establish the
details of the Affordable Care Act and Dodd-Frank,
so these numbers are likely to fall even lower if
gridlock persists.
In terms of legislation passed, the 112th
Congress (2011-2) was the least productive since
World War II. According to a study by Rosanna Kim
of Swarthmore College, Congress failed to pass
90% of its agenda last year. The next worst, the
80th and 104th Congresses (1947-48, 1995-96),
are considered textbook examples do-nothing
Congresses, but even they passed 30% of their
legislation. This astronomical rate of failure is
disturbing until one considers Obamas agenda.
Given the bills that would pass otherwise, thats
a 90% failure rate for predations on liberty and
prosperity.
Those other failed Congresses offer an

interesting perspective. For instance, just as

2010 marked the nadir of this depression, the
80th Congress met while the United States was
recovering from the Depression and the Second
World War, and the 104th Congress met in the
aftermath of a 1990 downturn that still lingered
in much of the world. Just as Boehner won after
Obamas overreaches, Gingrich won on Clintons
power grabs and Martin after Trumans Fair Deal
and price controls. 2012 was just 1948 and 1996 all
over again.
If these parallels hold, the future is bright for
America. Both textbook
periods of gridlock preceded
years of economic growth and
governmental restraint. The
80th Congress killed the Fair
Deal and stripped economic
controls with abandon. As
a result, the 1950s were
enormously prosperous.
The 104th Congress forced
Clinton to abandoning his
agenda, which led to the first
balanced budgets since 1969. Meanwhile, the Dow
broke 10000, unemployment dropped near 4%, and
pundits touted the New Economy. If experience is
any indicator, America can look forward to the return
of prosperity.
In the end, gridlock is a matter of simple logic. If
one agrees that the governments goals are clumsy
at best and unjust at worst, it follows that stopping
its action is a good first step. While there are times
when the state needs to act and obstructions like
gridlock threaten the common good, the state
creates its own crises all too often. Releasing the
beast of government for the sake of the occasional
good law would only ensure the triumph of big
government.
Gridlock is a double blessing. It halts spending
growth and gets the dysfunction out of everyones
system. Eventually, the partisan stalemate will
disgust Americans into acting like citizens and
politicians into acting like statesmen. When this time
of gridlock passes into hindsight, society can reset
politics so partisanship yields to principle, vitriol to
dignity, power-hunger to pursuit of prosperity. That
ideal may hold for a generation or fade in a few
years, but it will be the sweet fruit of todays crisis.
It has happened before; God willing, it can happen
9
again.

One cannot
achieve good
before one turns
against evil.

Economics

By Devin Creed

t Hillsdale we have a healthy dialogue

between Catholics and Protestants.
The Catholic Society and Hillsdale
Christian Fellowship encourage people of every
faith to participate in their events, and both sides
strive for clarity and mutual understanding in
religious debate. Outside Hillsdale, however,
relations between Catholics and Protestants are
not always harmonious, as nineteenth-century
periods of mass migration indicate. While these
conflicts have largely
vanished in America, they
have had disastrous social
and political consequences
across the pond, ravaging
the province of Northern
Ireland.
Ireland has endured
centuries of armed
conflict. Their struggles
culminated in the Irish War
for Independence, which ended in 1921. The next
year, the British Parliament partitioned the territory
into the sovereign state of Ireland and a six-county
province of the United Kingdom: Northern Ireland.
This partition was incredibly divisive, creating
the nationalist and unionist factions in that new
province. The nationalists wish to re-join with
Ireland, the whole island a sovereign nation, and
the unionists want to remain a part of the United
Kingdom. This debate is violent, controversial, and
destructive, even in the present day.
In a 1984 study, Ronald Tercheck states that
the conflict in Northern Ireland is best understood
as an ethnically divided society with religion
supplying the identity basis for each ethnic
community. Religious affiliation in Northern Ireland
is deeply entwined with cultural identity. To be Irish
is to be Catholic and a nationalist, to be Protestant
is to be British and unionist, with few exceptions.
Catholics self-identify with the traditional Gaelic
peoples of Ireland, whereas Protestants identify

with British and Scottish settlers of the 16th and

17th centuries. Historian Henry Grant explains
the division between Catholic and Protestant in
Northern Ireland with the idea of the historicomythic consciousness. A group forms a historicomythic consciousness by examining its history
and infusing certain turning points with mythic
significance. These turning points often deal with
the groups successes or the defeat of its enemies.
Catholics and Protestants viewed events through
the lens of past strife,
seeing atrocity only in the
actions of their enemies.
Grant writes that the
distinctive mentality or
consciousness which led
each group to perceive
and note only certain
features of current events,
to interpret what they had
noted in divergent ways
and to adopt certain characteristic courses of
action against other groups, were all firmly rooted
in the groups versions of their histories. Catholics
consider British Protestants oppressors who used
extraordinary violence to solve the Irish problem.
Northern Irish Protestants think of Catholics as
bitter, malicious, and always conniving to forcibly
remove Protestants from Ireland.
This conflict peaked in the Troubles, which
lasted from 1968 to 1998. The Troubles were
three decades of sectarian violence driven by
two paramilitary groups, the Provisional Irish
Republican Army (Catholic) and the Ulster Defense
Association (Protestant). These two forces were
responsible for the vast majority of the over 3,000
deaths and 50,000 casualties during the period.
Violence took the form of riots, assassinations, and
vigilante justice. The Provisional IRA, or provos
as they came to be known, were responsible for
the murder of off-duty police officers, the attempted
assassination of Margaret Thatcher, and multiple

...people would
choose kneecapping
so they could
collect disability...

10

bombings of London among other things. Both

forces took part in neighborhood violence in
Belfast, Northern Irelands capital.
John Conroy, an American journalist, decided
to live in Belfast during the early 1980s. He lived
in the Catholic district of Clonard, a community
surrounded by both a high wall and a Protestant
neighborhood known as the Shankill. He describes
his neighbors, who had become accustomed to
constant violence and lawlessness. Some shop
owners were robbed so many times that they
planned it into their budgets. Parades would turn
into riots with stone throwing, petrol bombs, and
gunfights. The Catholics of Clonard would stay in
their neighborhood as much as possible because
the Shankill was not a safe place for them. British
law enforcement had no power in Belfast, so
paramilitary groups would mete out justice on the
streets. The provos would kneecap Protestant
individuals for their wrongdoings, and the UDA
would do the same to Catholics. Unemployment
and poverty were very real problems as well:
given the choice between sweeping the streets
or being shot in the knee, people would choose
kneecapping so they could collect disability
payments from the government. Now those are
perverse incentives.
In 1998, the Good Friday Agreement formally

ended the Troubles, but its deleterious effects live

on. Recent studies show that the Troubles stunted
the moral development of children who grew up in
that era. Because illegal paramilitary groups were
the ones keeping order, people did not have a clear
sense of authority. As a result, many adolescents
did not develop a sense of right and wrong, falling
into degenerate lifestyles of theft and vandalism.
Children raised in a such a sectarian culture came
to hate the other side in the religious conflict. This
continued hatred makes reconciliation difficult, if
not impossible. Further, these issues have harmed
the mental health of the Northern Irish. Just
three months ago, North Belfast MP Nigel Dodds
reported to the British House of Commons that the
suicide rate in Northern Ireland has doubled in the
15 years since the Good Friday Agreement. The
Department of Health has linked this phenomenon
directly to the Troubles. Centuries of religious/
ethnic conflict will take time to heal, physically,
mentally, and spiritually.
As we continue Catholic-Protestant dialogue at
Hillsdale, we should reflect on the chilling example
of Northern Ireland. Christianity is a religion of
peace; we are all members of the body of Christ. A
house divided against itself cannot stand. Let us be
witnesses to the essential tenets of our faith as we
seek to sort out differences within the church.

11

Art and Culture

By Lauren Wierenga

Wassily Kandinsky
Black Grid (1922)
Oil on canvas

illsdalians encounter art every day, in

music, literature, self-adornment, and more.
Though most students are equipped to refute
progressive politics and relativist philosophy, the
average Hillsdalian is hopelessly ill-prepared to
refute bad art and defend good art. So, what is
art? Is art simply in the eye of the beholder, or
can one judge a masterpiece against an external
set of objective truths?
Like every subject, art has a purpose. At
most art colleges (and collages), that purpose is
expression but in truth it is much more than
that. Art, math, and language are expressive
in nature, but arts purpose is more than
expression alone. Defining it as such lacks
insight and reflection. Art has many purposes,
the most important of which is communication.
To clarify, art is more than just painting,
drawing, and sculpture. It also includes the
playing and writing of music, the making of
masterpieces with words, cooking and artful
presentation of food, oration, and so on. All
of these fields are media for art; each has the
potential to communicate a message from the
artist to the viewer, listener, taster, etc. What
a work communicates to us (if the artist is
attempting to communicate a message) is how
one can classify it as art or not. How a work
expresses that communicated message to its
audience nobly, beautifully, or grotesquely is
how one can classify it as good art or bad.
Running ones hand at random across
a piano communicates nothing to anyone.
The same is true of speaking gibberish: the
babbling speaker could certainly have emotion

12

Jackson Pollock and

Abstract Expressionism
Jackson Pollock Greyed
Rainbow (1953)
Oil on linen

and expression, but no group or individual can

understand what he attempts to communicate.
Such a random amalgam of sounds can hardly
be considered art. This rule also applies to the
art of Abstract Expressionists like Jackson
Pollock, Hans Hofmann, and Wassily Kandinsky.
One might see Pollocks paint-splattered
canvasses and be drawn to his freedom of
expression or the energy and movement of
the work, but whatever his goal was in creating
the piece, it is completely lost to the viewer. It is
visual gibberish that communicates no objective
truth to the viewer, though it may or may not
have subjective beauty. Art that does not touch
(or at least point to) some sort of external,
unchanging truth is merely a waste of effort and
paint. Pollocks art is not art any more than
banging your guitar against the floor is music.
Neither communicates a message a rational
person can understand; neither transcends the
realm of auditory or visual noise.
So, if emotion without technique is not
art, what about technique without emotion?
Hyperrealistic art, that is, drawings or paintings
with photographic clarity, or sculptures
of humans made to look exactly often
grotesquely like the artists model using
silicone, plastic, and human hair, has gained
traction in the past decade. Consumers
compare its mastery of technique to abstract
expressionism and say that hyperrealism must
be art because the subject is portrayed precision
to the very last atom. While hyperrealism is art,

Hyperrealism

Sam Jinks The Hanging Man (2007)

Silicon, paint, & human hair

it is not good art. In the classical conception,

art captures the ideal. Anatomy, realism, and
trueness to form were of great importance to
Greek and Roman sculptors, but their busts are
higher art than hyperrealistic ones because they
do not focus solely on producing a photographic
copy of the subject. Their goal was to capture
the higher ideal of the subjectits essence.
Hyperrealistic art does not do that in the least.
Further, true art must have a beautiful
subject. Hyperrealistic paintings of plastic bags
depicted with stunning technique and mastery
of medium are technically art because they
communicate a clear message. Unfortunately,

their message is neither noble nor beautiful.

In such a painting or sculpture there is
nothing in the tangible form that points to the
intangible, the eternal. So, hyperrealism is art
because it features clear communication, but it
communicates a trite, sterile image of its subject
with computer-like precision that brings nothing
else to the table. At the end of the day it is just a
very realistic portrayal of a plastic bag and a lot
of squandered talent.
Victorian art critic John Ruskin describes
two types of art: high art and low art. High art
has a beautiful subject, a beautiful idea, and is
portrayed beautifully. Some hyperrealists have
beautiful subjects, but since they do not have
any beautiful ideas behind them the finished
piece is inelegantly portrayed. The artist
prefers shocking the viewer to limning beautiful
thoughts that reach towards unchanging
ideals. Ruskin said that art seeks always to
reform mens hearts and to revive [or at least to
capture] what is noble in human nature. High
art should depict nobility of human nature or
human form. Hyperrealistic art only degrades
the human form, reducing it to a simple,
soulless mass that takes up space. Such art
has no spirit, because no soul can be captured
when the artist is reduced to a machine that
merely copies nature. Art is not replication.

Pedro Campos- oil on canvas (2000s)

13

By: Corrie Beth Hendon

What was your
major/minor?

What have you missed the most about

Hillsdale since graduation?

English, and I was in the

journalism program.

Oh for goodness sake. Sitting up til 4 a.m.

drinking malt liquor and arguing about the
filioque? Beer nights at the Treehouse? Parties
at the Stairway/Stairwall/Wall and bonfires at
the Donnybrook? Sunbathing on the roof and
reading about Heidegger (about being the
operative word)? The comfort and security
that comes from knowing that no matter what
your days been like, theres always two or
three people within a square mile of you that
are totally down for picking up a six-pack at
Broadstreet and going to Baw Beese? The
fact that you have access to tons of fantastic
and cheap Michigan beer? The fact that you
have access to an absurdly delightful cadre of
professors? I dont know, take your pick.

You write for the

National Review; could
you tell us a little bit
more about how you
got there and what
youve been doing
since you got there?
I interned for NR for the fall semester of my
senior year through WHIP, and then they
offered me a year-long fellowship. I moved to
New York after I graduated and worked there
for seven months, and then I moved to DC,
where I live now. I write a pretty broad variety
of pieces (investigative reporting, cultural
criticism, breaking news, lots of Capitol Hill
coverage, etc.).
How has your education from Hillsdale been
helpful or hurtful in life after graduation?
Helpful: The Hillsdale network in DC is
fantastic, and I wouldnt be at NR if I hadnt
done WHIP. Plus and Im sure you know this
by now having a solid liberal arts education
makes your life better no matter what you
end up doing. I try to use what I learned in
Jacksons classes every day; never let anyone
tell you English courses arent practical.
Hillsdales journalism program is great, too.
Writing for the Collegian was one of the
highlights of my college career, and it gave
me invaluable reporting, editing, and design
experience. Being comatose on Thursday
mornings was a small price to pay for getting to
work alongside some of the smartest and most
hilarious people at school.

Whats one thing you learned at Hillsdale

that has stuck with you post-graduation?
Probably that not choosing is a choice and
that we are responsible forever for the
things we tame.
If you could change anything about your
time at Hillsdale, what would you change
and why?
I would have taken
harder classes and
started writing papers
earlier.

Professors

iPod
By: Chris McCaffery

Old-school Prog Rock:

Peter Gabriel-era Genesis
Rush
Talk Talk

Brad Birzer started collecting music at the age of nine (in 1977) and never
stopped. Besides teaching History and blogging at The Imaginative Conservative, Birzer has writen books on Charles Carroll, Christopher Dawson,
and Catholic themes in Tolkiens writing. He founded a website in 2012
devoted to the discussion of music, mainly progressive rock but welcome
to any music that is good, true, and beautiful. His thoughts and those of
his fellow prog-lovers can be found at www.progarchy.com. Birzer told
The Forum a bit about what is on his iPod.

Contemporary Prog:
Big Big Train
Tin Spirits
Neal Morse
Gazpacho
Glass Hammer
Ayreon
Spocks Beard
Leah
The Fierce and the
Pineapple Thief
Dead
The Tangent

Other:
Exprimental Jazz
Audio books:
Everything from The Aeneid to
the latest Tom Clancy.

I keep my iPod (160GB) with me at most

times. I have 879 albums on it--mostly
progressive rock dating back to around
1968. I listen mostly when Im traveling or
on my daily walks (about 4 miles/day).

STUDYING ABROAD
Compiled by: Chris McCaffery

Photos by: Shaun Lichti

Why did you choose to study abroad as opposed to studying in DC?

I have wanted to study abroad since before I came to college. Going to Washington would have been a great experience as well,
but there are certain things one learns being in another country, living there and meeting the people, that you cant learn while staying in the states.

How does studying abroad complement your major?

I am a Christian Studies Major, and since studying in Oxford I now feel like I have greater connections with history, and my favourite
authors. There is nothing quite like studying the Reformation and reading about a certain martyr then walking down the street and
reading about how that person was burned at the stake on that very road.

What do you see as the benefits of study abroad as opposed to studying in DC?

First of all you have to learn to live in another country and learn how to interact with the people. Going to Oxford I got to take classes
at one of the best schools in the world. I was also able to travel and see castles and archives that were over a thousand years old.
There is nothing in this country that old.

Do you have any regrets about not going somewhere else?

I think my only regret is that I was not there longer. I cannot wait to go back to
England because I just loved everything about life there. I cant wait to go back,
and I would encourage people to go because there is nothing like experiencing
life across the pond.

Joelle Lucas
16

well,
e stay-

vourite
and

classes
s old.

else?

ack to
o back,
encing

as

WHIP

VS

Why did you choose to study in DC as opposed to studying abroad?

I wanted to live and work here in order to gain real-world experience in a field relevant to that I am studying at Hillsdale. During my time in Washington, Ive gained discernment for my future career path, experience with answering angry constituent
phone calls, and incredible skill at metro-surfing.

How does studying in DC complement your major?

As a Politics-English double major, I have worked in what is arguably the most political environment in the world: the United
States Congress.

What do you see as the benefits of studying in DC as opposed to abroad?

Living and working in DC has given me a realistic understanding of the working world. Ive been able to live in a vibrant city
for several months and work at a job that has given myself and my resume legitimacy through relevant experience.

Do you have any regrets about not going somewhere else?

In a word: no. My experience has not been what many would consider exotic; however,
from the countless friends that I have made here, to the interesting and engaging work I
do on a daily basis, to finally the beautiful and historical charm of Washington, I believe
that I will look back on my time here with satisfaction forever.

Andy Reuss

Review

Making Monsters:

Jim Shepards In Cretaceous Seas

hen you read Jim Shepard, the first thing

that strikes you is the incredible amount of
research that has gone into a particular story.
The scenes are carefully crafted and authentic.
His research is immersive, precise details giving each piece a unique texture. In Cretaceous
Seas, a story from his 2011 collection You
Think Thats Bad, is a perfect example: a brief
but potent glimpse into the chaotic inner life of
an insomniac pharmaceutical executive. In an
abrasive voice, Shepard tells us his name is
Conroy.
The storymore of a character sketch,
reallybegins with a description of aquatic
life in the prehistoric Tethys Ocean during
the Cretaceous Period: needle-toothed
Xiphactinus, tylosaurs that are U-Boats
with crocodiles heads, and fifty-foot-long
sharks. Shepard did not make this stuff up; his
research and writing presents us with some
of the most horrifying yet real creatures ever
to lurk in our oceans. The Tethys, a shallow
Cretaceous sea between the supercontinents
of Gondwana and Laurasia, teemed with sea
monsters that make the beasts of sailors
nightmares look like trembling cartoon
characters. In Shepards words, This is the
place where the prey could kill a sperm whale.
Had the story ended with this environmental

18

By Forester
McClatchey

description, I would have been happy. It is truly

lush. All of the creatures he mentionsmost
of whom are marine reptiles, not dinosaurs
are well worth a Google search. If you
ever made your parents read you dinosaur
books as a child, you owe it to yourself look
these monsters up. But before you can say
Cretoxyrhina, the story becomes a metaphor
for the haunted subconscious of a sweaty
suburban man.
Conroy is an ungrateful son, an indolent
brother, a neurotic husband, and a lazy father.
His daughter writes stories in which family
members are eviscerated as the narrator
laughs, but he just wants to ignore the
problem. His company has just released a new
drug that might cause miscarriages, but he
shies away from culpability by telling himself
that he meant well. He analyzes everything
his wife says to him and winds up in a fetal
curl, swaddled in a nest of insecure delusions.
Shepard tells us hes the kind of guy given
to building tall towers of self-pity and then
watching them sway. He sees himself as
prey, even though he is really the apologetic
predator. He dwells on imagined monsters
while the real danger lurks inside himself.
The piece does feel a little unfinished.
Conroy is a compelling character, but he has
no narrative arc. I felt a little cheated. On the
other hand, that might be Shepards game: as
soon as you get to know Conroy, he withdraws
and leaves you unsatisfied. The story takes
up just four pages, but Shepard makes the
most of it. He examines themes of apathy,
reconciliation, indecision, and manhood all
in a paleontological allegory. Therein lies his
brilliance: what better way to explore human
psychology than comparing it to a primeval
world of haunting darkness, strange beauty,
and lurking violence? The juxtaposition of the
exotic and the mundane opens the readers
eyes to the vast environment between Conroys
ears. What a world it is.

Satire

By Giana Schena

eve all been there. You walk into the

Union and the air slaps you in the face
with the thick smell of grease. Your stomach
rolls, your teeth clench, and your face breaks
out in an anticipatory sweat. Tuesday is
an especially horrid offender. Theres no
escaping from the mystery meat or the
obligatory leftovers from last weeks Holiday
Feast.
Most of the student body is chained to the
lunchroom by the mandatory meal plans.
Unbeknownst to the majority of students, a
tiny section of campus is free of this digestive
burden. Who are they? They are the few, the
proud, the blissfully wedded.
Marriage, my dear Hillsdale student, is
the answer. The college grants exemption
from the meal plan only to those who have
transcended the typical Hillsdale students
dreadfully single status. Perhaps it is their
way of rewarding those students who fully
realize the Good. Or more likely, they truly
believe the quality of food provided by the
new homemaking wife will easily surpass the
nutritional abilities of SAGA Incorporated.
Heres a reason to follow in these trailblazing
students footsteps: the typical cost of a
yearlong meal plan is in the thousands. The
cost of a marriage license from the Hillsdale
County Courthouse is a measly thirty dollars!
Dont fear, you need not bind yourself in ungreasy matrimony to a fellow Saga sufferer
forever. For just the (relatively) low price of
three hundred dollars, your marriage can

be annulled the moment you step out of

these hallowed halls. In exchange for this
earthly certificate of fidelity, you will escape
the bonds of SAGA for all eternity. Comfort
your concerned parents with thoughts of the
thousands of dollars they will be saving, both
in food costs and in post-college digestive
health care bills.
So, invite your friends! Coordinate crossdorm marriages for your entire hallway.
Ladies, practice your culinary arts and
throw a few icebreaking parties to attract
yourselves a man to tie the knot with.
Gentlemen, get ready to bring home the
bacon, or the lettuce if thats what your target
co-signer prefers. If youre feeling particularly
daring, go the whole nine yards and shack up
off campus. Remember, its not scandalous if
youve got a ring on it and dont hold hands in
public.

19

DEREK FIELDS
Year: Junior
Major: Economics
Minor: Latin

Hunk

Hillsdales

If you had to live on another planet, what planet would you choose and why?
Im a people person and would be pretty miserable anywhere if I were alone. Saturns
pretty cool, I mean, its got rings. If that doesnt blow your mind then we cant be friends.

What are you most excited about for summer break?

Whats not exciting about summer break? Ill be in California working for CrossFit
headquarters, which in my mind is basically like getting to work for Rand Paul or
Jesus for most Hillsdale kids.

If you had to choose between becoming a professional bird watcher or

becoming Amish, which would you choose and why?
Definitely Amish. Itd be lots of work, whereas bird watching is a bunch of sitting still
and waiting, which Im terrible at. Im assuming Id gain some kind of beard growing abilities too, which I currently lack.

Favorite Disney princess?

Is Meg from Hercules an acceptable answer? Shes not a princess, but shes got a lot
more of a personality than the other ones and shes a little more edgy. Shes like the
Ke$ha of Disney princesses. Im all about that.

If your life were a musical, what would be the title of the main song?
Aspiring Genius-Millionaire-Entrepreneur-Philanthropist. Yeah, you can hear it in your
head now. With a title like that, it has to be catchy and flow well.

Name 3 reasons why you think that you deserve the title as hunk of the month.
1. Im really, really, ridiculously good-looking with all types of hair, as evidenced
by my hairs evolution this year.
2. I have a very sensitive, fragile ego and desperately need this boost.
3. I wanted to use this to ask Rachel Blaauw, who I dont know, to Delt formal. This
comes out after our formal though, so shell have most likely turned down my
incredibly random and creepy formal invite by the time this is in print. Third times
a charm though, right?

Which TV personality do you relate to the most: Tyra, Oprah, Kate Gosselin, Dr. Phil,
Joel Osteen, or Bill OReilly?
Id have to say Bill OReilly. Im not an African American woman or a crappy mom, and I
definitely hate touchy-feely stuff. OReillys famous for that [Eff] it, well do it live freak
out, and I like doing stuff on the fly.

If you were The Bachelor, what would be your strategy for weeding out unworthy girls?
Id take over the show and have some kind of Hunger Games type tournament where
I could kill off contestants at will and send supplies to the best ones. Using logic and
observing general patterns in my past ability to select women, we can determine that
any strategy I employ will fail horrendously, and Ill be stuck with some kind of decent
looking version of Lindsay Lohan.

Hottie

and

Compiled by
Savanah Tibbetts

of the month

Olivia File
Year: ... its complicated
Major: Bio-Chem

If you had to live on another planet, what planet would you choose and why?
Vulcan, cause its logical.

What is your favorite day of the year?

Maundayyy, Tuesday, Thursday, Wednesday.

What are you most excited about for summer break?

Teaching my 10-month-old niece how to ride the waves in Hawaii.

If you had to choose between becoming a professional bird watcher or

becoming Amish, which would you choose and why?
Amish, because those chin straps are clearly sexy.

Favorite Disney prince?

Does it have to be a prince? Because Emperor Kuzco has some mad moves and luscious locks, Id definitely choose him.

If your life were a musical, what would be the title of the main song?
Dont touch my Red Hot or
Organization! Olivia and the Technicolor Arranged Closet

Name 3 reasons why you think that you deserve the title as hottie of the month.
Well first, my spice rack is alphabetically organized. If that is not enough my colorcoded closet would probably push me up on the thermometer. The final kicker is
the fact that my toes could easily be the double for Fred Flintstone in the next
Flintstones sequel. Pretty sure my pinky toe doesnt even touch the ground.

Which TV personality do you relate to the most: Tyra, Oprah, Kate Gosselin, Dr. Phil,
Joel Osteen, or Bill OReilly?
Dr. Hart told me I reminded him of Dr. Phil so, I guess I have to go with that. Clearly, his comment was based on the fact that we both have sweet hair.

If you were the bachelorette on The Bachelorette, what would be your

strategy for weeding out the inferior boyfriends?
It would be a contest in the form of The Hunger Games where all the contestants
are thrown into the arb and must fight to the death with stale loaves of French
bread and the 1945 edition of the Encyclopedia Britannica. The survivors will then
continue on to recreate Sesame Street songs in the style of Mumford and Sons.

What would be your dream proposal?

My dream proposal would be an offer to be a news reporter for the Chicago Cubs.
You meant a job proposal, right?

Satire

A Logical Argument for Gun Control

By Andy Reuss

22

I know what youre thinking: what? A logical

argument for gun control? Impossible. And in
The Forum, of all places!
Please, bear with me (see what I did there?).
Just watch as I show you that not only is
there a logical basis for gun control, but that
gun control is the only logical solution to the
problem of violence.
We will start with universal background
checks. The intent behind this idea is simple:
to prevent the wrong people from acquiring
weapons with which they can do harm. The
implementation of this idea is even simpler:
the national government regulates every
transaction involving a firearm, requiring a
background check in order to complete such
transactions. This policy will also allow the most
responsible body Congress to choose who
the wrong people are, which will protect the
rule of law for years to come. By maintaining a
centralized record of mental health and criminal
histories, the United States will be much
safer and less prone to individuals bent on
destruction gaining access to lethal weapons.
Some might argue that the system of
background checks already in place has
proven ineffective. To those individuals, I
respond with this: when did redundancy ever
hurt? Additionally, these background checks
will be truly universal, preventing undesirables
from getting weapons from any source,
including gun shows and family members. The
next step is a ban on assault weapons and
large-capacity magazines. Everyone can agree
on this basic idea: no one needs a gun that
is used on a battlefield, let alone one with the
capability to shoot dozens of bullets in a matter
of seconds. You might be asking yourself, Why
should we prevent individuals from possessing
weapons for their own reasons? Ill tell you
why: public safety. At the time the Second
Amendment was ratified, it could take nearly a
minute to load and fire an inaccurate musket.
Today, the American people cower in their
homes, deathly afraid of the deranged hunters
emerging from the woods to murder them. Why

do hunters need high-powered rifles? When did

anyone need more than six bullets to defend
their family from harm? Read my lips: no new
assault weapons.
Im sure that some of you are reading this
and thinking, What about the Assault Weapons
Ban of 1994? I will concede that that particular
ban was ineffective; studies conducted by the
Department of Justice showed no conclusive
proof that the ban reduced violent gun crime.
In fact, for several years after the ban expired,
the number of violent gun crimes decreased
each year. But just because it didnt seem to be
effective, doesnt mean we shouldnt continue
to outlaw assault weapons! Rather than simply
banning a few guns on the basis of cosmetic
features, a nonpartisan, unelected bureaucracy
should instead compile an exhaustive list of
guns that are unfit for the public. We could use
the no-fly list as a model, as it has effectively
prevented acts of terrorism in the American
skies without any drawbacks. Regardless
of experience, we should still implement an
assault weapons ban in order to bring the
number of deaths in America down to zero.
In conclusion, the logic of the argument for
gun control is clear. Legislation regarding gun
violence in the past has proven ineffective.
The reason for this is simple: before now, it
hasnt been the correct legislation! Rather
than requiring background checks in a fraction
of gun purchases, we should require them
in all cases. Rather than allowing criminals
to terrorize our streets with fully automatic
weapons that hold thousands of rounds, we
should limit the type of gun available to the
public through exhaustive lists based on
appearance and name.
People will follow the laws if they are
reasonable. We will cut down on the number
of crimes and criminals by passing more laws.
If we fail, however, there will be rioting in the
streets. Support gun control or watch America
burn.

Sincerely, #NoLogicalPersonEver

Spotlight on...

Black Belts
Compiled by: Chris McCaffery
Photos by: Shaun Lichti & Jacob Shalkhauser

Colin Wilson

Kellie Fairbanks

Kittie Helmick

Im registered with the WTF (World

Taekwondo Federation) as a thirddegree black belt.
How did you get into martial arts?
I started in TKD when I was 10 years
old with my brother and sister
Our teacher was a world-ranked 7th
degree black belt. At one point she was
world champion in point-sparring. I
earned my black belt after 2 years, 2nd
degree took 2 years and 3rd degree was
2 years after that.
Ive been an instructor for quite a while,
teaching adults as a 14 year old in order
to meet the 50-hour teaching requirement, which was pretty neat.
I competed at the USNTF International
Tournament in Illinois, in traditional
forms at the second degree level, and
I am international grand champion in
traditional forms. Which is damn sexy.
Would you recommend martial arts
to others?
Only if you want to be a bad-ass.
Ive become more interested in MMA
now, I plan to get into it over the
summer because my TKD school has
produced several great fighters.

Im a certified WTF second degree

black belt in Taekwondo. For the past
3 years Ive focused on Olympic sport
Taekwondo.
How did you get into martial arts?
I got into TKD when I was 9 years old
as an extracurricular activity.
What did you have to do to get your
black belt?
My first degree black belt test was 8 1/2
hours long, there was a written test, a
skills test, two hours of sparring, and I
broke 44 boards. Second degree test was
mostly a skills test.
Would you recommend martial arts
to others?
I would recommend martial arts as a
great way to develop discipline and
physical fitness; however, there are risks
involved with Olympic sport taekwondo
as it is a full contact sport, just as there
are risks with boxing.
How much have you done martial
arts competitively?
Ive been competing internationally
for the past three years and was on
the 2012 US Collegiate National team
and 2012 US National team. I tore my
ACL and meniscus last spring 2012 at a
tournament in South Korea, and have
post-concussion syndrome from a mild
traumatic brain injury (concussion) I got
at 2013 team trials at the OTC in CO
Springs, so am currently not competing.

How did you get into martial arts?

My family lived in Seoul, Korea when
I was in 4th and 5th grade, because
my father was serving in the army. He
thought it was a great opportunity for
my siblings and me to study the Korean
martial art in its homeland, so he enrolled us. Ive practiced Tae Kwon Do
for 11 years now.
What did you have to do to get your
black belt?
I tested for my 1st Poom black belt at
age 10 -- I remember that breaking a
board with my fist hurt so much that I
cried. By the time I tested for 2nd Dan
black belt two years later, I could break
three boards with a straight punch. Six
years later, I earned my 3rd Dan from
Grandmaster Lee. These testings have
all required me to demonstrate proficiency in forms, techniques, sparring,
and breaking, but the real challenge is
the mental readiness required to perform in front of judges.
Would you recommend martial arts
to others?
I would recommend martial arts as a
multi-faceted pursuit that almost any
type of person can enjoy lifelong. There
are elements of sport, tradition, and
self-defense taught at every school for
a wide range of ages and sizes. Find a
style that challenges and appeals to you.

Freshman

Sophomore

Junior

23

Jacob Shalkhauser

Hillsdale in Photos