WRFH/Radio Free Hillsdale 101.7 FM - Collegian Week In Review: February 29th, 2023

Episode Date: March 1, 2024

This week on the Collegian Week in Review, hosts Maddy Welsh and Lauren Scott discuss this issue's top headlines. Then, they talk to Elizabeth Troutman about construction on campus. Finally, they talk to Logan Washburn about recent illnesses both county and statewide. 

You're listening to Radio Free Hillsdale 101.7 FM. Welcome to the Collegian Weekend Review. Here are your hosts, Maddie Welsh and Lauren Scott. Welcome back to the Collegian Weekend Review, where we give you an inside look into Michigan's oldest college newspaper. We're your host, Maddie Welsh, and Lauren Scott. And today we'll be talking to Elizabeth Troutman about the construction that is about to begin on the quad on campus. And then we'll be talking to Logan Washburn about some recent illnesses,

occurring in the county and in the state. But first, Lauren and I are going to discuss some of the top headlines and top stories in the Collegion this week. The very top story is about the construction that is about to occur on the quad, but you'll just have to keep on listening to learn more about that. Very interesting stuff and important to know if you spend any time on campus. Another story we have here is about wholesale students who placed third in a little. a math competition. Collegian reporter Eleanor Whitaker wrote math students smashed school records and ranked third statewide in the 84th annual William Lowell Putnam Mathematical Competition.

The Putnam is a six-hour long exam taken in two sessions held on the first Saturday of December at institutions around the country. It consists of 12 math problems worth up to 10 points each. Students are ranked both nationally and statewide on individual and team's scores. That is extremely impressive. And as a history major, I am glad that other people besides myself can represent Hillsdale in a competition such as this one. And it makes me proud that even as a liberal arts college, we have really great math students. It's encouraging. It's actually very impressive. The two schools that beat Hillsdale were Michigan State University and the University of Michigan. So those are serious

schools who... Yeah, that's a big competition. Yeah, probably have a lot more math students to pull from talent. So the fact that our sort of small math department, you know, students said it, just six students were able to compete with students at those larger, pretty elite schools,

pretty awesome for Hillsdale. I can't believe that it's a six-hour exam, too. I could literally never do that. That is insane. Yeah. And what some of the students said in the story is that a lot of times it seems like you kind of just can't solve the problem. But they know that going into it and they're just kind of okay with it. Like they just go in and they're like, yeah, I probably will not solve this problem. So they just like work and work and work for hours on this problem. I think they all did like a couple problems each. So very interesting competition. and wonderful to see Hill Still doing so well. Good job to our math students out there. Another story we have on the front page here is about campus reacting to Trump's victory in the Michigan primary. Collegian freelancer Jackson Casey wrote,

Former President Donald Trump cruised to victory over Nikki Haley in Michigan's presidential primary election this week. As of 7 p.m. Wednesday, Trump received 68.1% of the vote, while Haley took only 26.6. Uncommitted votes and those cast for other candidates only made up about 5%. Interesting read to see what Hillsdale thinks about this. Another story we have here that's very interesting is about the college finishing the first phase of construction on its brand new visual media center. Who's Legion reporter Adriana Azarian wrote, construction on the Pat Sejak Visual Media Center is complete, according to Chief Administrative. officer Rich Payway. The building at the intersection of Fayette and Union streets next to the Stanton Center for American Classical Education will serve Hillsdale's visual media team in the production of online courses, K-12 outreach, and commercials. With the new space, the team can create a variety of simulated settings and block outside noise. That's very exciting. I have seen a lot of Facebook post about this building. I know some people are a little concerned, like they thought that

it would replace the mock elementary school building. So, yeah, we're here to say, no, that building is staying as is as the Stanton building, where certain offices like the K-12 office and Hillsdale Marketing, Public Relations, and even the radio station. Yeah, and radio-free Hillsdale. Yeah, where we are right now. And so this building is just an addition that will be for, you know, visual audio stuff. Yeah, it's right outside the building where the radio station is.

So we've looked at it quite a lot. And this story was very informative for me because I did not know that what we're seeing now is actually it seems like it's going to be the inside of the building. So what's there now is basically like a large featureless rectangle box with no windows or anything. There's a door, obviously a couple doors to get in, but no windows. but around that they're going to build offices. So it will actually look like a regular building with windows and, you know, architectural features. But the reason they did that is so that natural light doesn't get in and they'll just have artificial light. And so therefore the look will be very consistent on any visual media that the college does.

And it will also be super soundproof. So yeah, great to know that it's not just going to be like a large rectangle just sitting there. That's actually really good to know because I have been thinking this whole time that I did not think this building was the prettiest. But I'm picking up what you're putting down and it makes sense. It makes sense that they would build it that way. So good job, construction workers. All right. Now let's hear from Elizabeth.

Radio Free Hillsdale's The Collegian Weekend Review continues. This is Maddie, and I'm here with Elizabeth Troutman, the editor-in-chief of the Collegion. And this week, she wrote a story on the very top of the front page about the beginning of construction on the quad. Elizabeth, tell me about the construction. So the majority of the quad is going to be off limits starting March 9th. So when students get back from spring break, they will no longer be able to frolic on the quad because the college is building the new graduate school building for classical education. And so 70 days on the quad can be said goodbye to after that time. What is this going to look like for students? So there is a map that was sent out that students can

reference, but a lot of the quad is going to be fenced off and there's going to be pathways for movement. So students are just going to have to adhere to those pathways and not cross the fences because they are there for safety. How long is the quad going to be off limits? A minimum of two years. It could extend to three or even more because the Diana Davis-Spencer graduate school building is expected to be finished in two years. But the college has other construction plans in mind, such as some renovations involving the library and a new welcome center, some more covered walkways that would look pretty, some various things like that. So if the college undertakes those immediately after the graduate school is finished. finished, which is the plan at the moment that would extend quad closures for more time. Who did you talk to you for this story? And what did they have to say?

I wrote this with Jacob Beckwith, Collegian Reporter, and I only interviewed Rich Payway, but he interviewed Tim Wells and Dave Billington, head of maintenance. And they all said that they're excited about the changes to campus. And they're hoping to... accommodate students as well as they can. In the meantime, by creating some more different green spaces for students to enjoy since the quad will be off limits. Have you heard any responses to the announcement of the construction? I think that it's definitely a sad thing for a lot of students, especially when the weather gets good. Students love hanging out on the quad with their friends, doing homework there, maybe playing some frisbee or spike ball. And with that green space being at the center of campus, I just think it's not really replaceable with another option.

So it's definitely sad, but it's something that I guess was going to happen, whether we like it or not. So nothing that can really be done about it. Tell me about what happened to poor old Ronald Reagan. Reagan was uprooted from his spot where he's been for more than 12 years and moved into storage. But he is going to be relocated to the Halter Shooting Sports Center until construction is finished. And then he will be replaced into a central location on Hillsdale's campus. Thankfully, Margaret Thatcher will not be harmed in the construction. She will stay where she is, but Reagan will not be in the public eye for a few years. These are, of course, their statues.

Not their true selves. Tell me more about the Graduate School of Education building. What's that going to look like? So it's going to be a two-story building, but it's going to have high ceiling, so it's going to feel like it's more than two stories, according to Rich Payway. And it's going to have a beautiful rotunda, intrus. way with another high ceiling and it is going to have a lot of classroom space of variety of sizes. 290 students total will be able to sit in seats in there and it's going to be used by undergraduates

by day and graduate students at night. So it'll kind of have use by all of campus. It's supposed to be really pretty building. So exciting for the classical education people. Well, thanks so much for coming on the show, Elizabeth. Thank you so much for having me. You're listening to the Collegian week in review. This is Lauren, and I'm here with Logan Washburn, the associate editor of the Collegian. This week, he wrote two stories for the city news section, one about an update on the kids in Quincy who are experiencing illness that people don't have answers to yet. And then another story about some confirmed cases of the measles in several states.

in several states, including Michigan. So we'll start off with talking about the update on the kids in Quincy, which I understand from reading your article. There are also some mysterious illnesses in Jonesville, but not entirely sure they are connected. So why don't you tell me a little bit about that? So yeah, with the Quincy story, that's a very interesting development. during the branch Hillsdale St. Joseph, health agencies last monthly meeting, the health officer gave an update on the Quincy situation, which for context, students have been experiencing seizures, tremors, and neurological symptoms, some of them for a good while now, and no one's sure exactly what the cause is.

So the health agency is launching an investigation into this, and I'll get it. into the updates there in a little bit. But what was really interesting was that apparently outside of Quincy, the health agency has taken reports from families in Jonesville that reported similar symptoms. So the health agency was very clear that these two are not being treated as connected. And they're only really launching a full-scale investigation into Quincy. But they have apparently gotten reports of similar things in Jonesville. So they're in the primary stages of following up with the people who reported that. But they're treating it as separate for the time being. What does the investigation look like in Quincy? So in Quincy, the school district, the middle and

high school, had a walkthrough from the health agency recently. The officials weren't able to find anything immediately that would explain these illnesses. So that was interesting. And the school district is also waiting to hear the results of indoor air and water quality testing. And that should give some clarity as to whether any of those two at the schools could be causing these symptoms because the only commonality, well, a couple of the only commonalities between these students is that they attend Quincy schools and live in Branch County. Though, as we just heard, there may be similar symptoms in Jonesville. Who are some of the people who are in charge of looking into this and what have they told you about the whole situation? So Rebecca Burns,

the health officer of the Branch Hillsdale St. Joseph Health Agency. A lot of what produced this article was what she shared during the monthly meeting. So she said that the agency is working with the state on this, with the Department of Health and Human Services, and the Department of Environment, Great Lakes in electricity or energy. So there are a couple state agencies that have been brought in here, and they're helping kind of strategize and prepare ways of collect data. So they're looking to send out surveys to the families to figure out what the symptoms are, any commonalities they might have, and just really lay the groundwork for how many people are being affected, because as of right now, they said it's too early to say. So they're being very thorough

about that. And Superintendent Mark Kramer is also heading up this effort at Quincy Schools to ensure that nothing in the school environment is causing this. He said there's not necessarily any connection to the school district, but these tests are just being done to ensure that. So no one really knows what's causing it. There's no link to the schools either in Quincy or Jonesville. But this is just kind of a mystery at this point, and the parents are struggling and frustrated

because it sounds like the symptoms are really, affecting their children physically. So, yeah, it's been a very difficult process for them. And I think everyone from the parents to the students to officials just wants answers. Well, moving on from one type of illness to another, you also wrote a story about measles being confirmed in several states, but specifically the state of Michigan, and how local health officials are warning the public.

against this. So tell me a little bit about those confirmed cases. Yeah, so there have been a few measles outbreaks sort of near us. One outbreak was in northern Indiana. Then another was another one or two were in the Dayton, Ohio area. So, you know, still a good ways from us, but in adjacent states. and then in Michigan, we actually had another confirmed case in Oakland County. This is interesting because in 2019, there was a somewhat large outbreak there. I think it was mostly in the Orthodox Jewish community, just because, you know, the person that was infected was very active and involved there. So that became an interesting story back then.

But yeah, it sounds like we have another case popping up there. out of an abundance of caution, the Branch Hillsdale St. Joseph Health Agency, again, making an appearance during this show, is warning residents that they should probably get the measles vaccine if they haven't already. For reference, most people get the vaccine between ages, I don't know, probably before you're one-year-old and six years old, somewhere in that range. So most people got this when they were young and wouldn't need to worry about it. But, of course, the agency wants to be sure that they cover all the bases. So they're recommending that people can come into their offices to get the vaccine.

If they haven't already, they said they were not sure when the disease might reach us or if it would even spread that far. But, yeah, they just thought they would send out this warning to let people know what's going on. When was the last time the state had a confirmed case? The last time they had a confirmed case was in 2019 with that Oakland County case. And then what can people look out for to make sure they don't have the measles? What are some symptoms that they can recognize? So some of the interesting things about this is that the symptoms sound very similar to a cold. You know, you've got runny nose, cough, things like that. I think there may be a fever, but the article online has the

specifics. So you've got some of those symptoms, but the really unique thing about measles is that it is followed up after those symptoms with a red rash that starts on the head and moves to the rest of the body. So that's a really big thing people can look out for, pretty obvious red flag. And then it sounds like you can have eye pain or difficulty there. So there are a few unusual things that show if it's beyond a normal case of just having a cold. They also said, the state said when they announced this, that people who think they might have the measles should just let hospitals know before they go in so hospitals can take precautions and make sure. that they don't infect anyone else. So they're just really trying to be careful about this.

But there are some symptoms that people can be looking out for that should really give a tell. Is there anything else that you found out while writing this story that maybe you didn't include, but you would like to share now? Yeah, I think it's interesting. The health agency said that if there were cases of measles locally, they would focus on people who are medically fragile, young children, the elderly, and people just at higher risk of the measles, they would focus them for vaccination efforts. So, you know, if it were to pop up in this area, they do have a plan that they would follow.

And it sounds like they've been prepared for this. All right. Well, thank you so much, Logan. Thanks for having me on the show. You have been listening to the Collegian Weekend Review. on Radio Free Hillsdale 101.7 FM. I'm Lauren Scott. And I'm Maddie Welsh. You can find the Collegian online

at Hillsdale Collegian.com. You can also find previous episodes of the Collegian Weekend Review online at cwir.transister.fm. Once again, you've been listening to the Collegian Weekend Review on Radio Free Hillsdale 101.7 FM.