The Conservative Corner: About the Intercollegiate Studies Institute (ISI)

This article has been edited to make it more applicable to the readers of this blog. It is the second edition of my column, The Conservative's Corner, and I hope you enjoy it.

Greetings to all. When I was thinking about what to talk about for the next edition of this column, I wanted to bring attention to something of which I am quite active in and that students should take advantage of. I am talking about the Intercollegiate Studies Institute (ISI). ISI is an organization founded in 1953 with the motto “To Educate for Liberty”. Its goal is to provide students with the tools and knowledge to get the most out of their college experiences, and to allow students to learn about topics and ideas that they may not normally learn in their classes, like classic conservative thought.

Now you are probably thinking, what is so great about this group? The best thing about ISI is that membership is FREE for students and faculty members. And we all know you do not get many things free. With ISI membership, you will receive a subscription (again free) to the ISI’s major publication The Intercollegiate Review: A Journal of Scholarship and Opinion. The Intercollegiate Review, or IR, which offers many great articles; from the history of Western civilization to articles on J.R.R. Tolkein’s The Lord of the Rings.

In addition to the IR, the ISI offers other publications. These include The Students’ Guides to the Major Disciplines, which offers students answers on how to get the most from their majors and the liberal arts. The majors covered in these guides include U.S. History, History, Economics, Philosophy, Political Philosophy, Classics, Psychology, Liberal Learning, the Core Curriculum, Literature, etc. In addition, ISI publishes books on varying subjects, which can be accessed at www.isibooks.org. Author's note: At this time ISI is having a 60% off sale on all ISI Books until March 31, 2007, so take advantage of the lower prices and build a great library.

For those looking for a deeper educational experience, ISI also offers an honors program where you can study in prestigious institutions for a week in the summer and learn about important topics relating to the ISI. If you are near the end of the road in your time at IC, ISI offers graduate fellowships to assist students in their studies. Information for both of these programs can be found on the group’s website www.isi.org.

If ISI sounds like an organization for you, please consider joining as many campuses have ISI affiliated groups, which will meet to discuss topics of interest from books and other sources as well as arrange for ISI speakers to come to campus. If you are interested in membership, please contact me, as I am ISI Campus Representative for the University of North Dakota, but can assist you in joining ISI via email and leave me your name, address (both home and school), email, major and graduation date, and it will be sent to the ISI membership division, or you may also join ISI using the following link: Join ISI Now. I encourage as many of my fellow students to take advantage of ISI, a wonderful organization with many great things to offer students. I am Daniel Sauerwein, and this has been the Conservative Corner. God Bless, and have a great day.

The Conservatives’ Corner: A New Beginning for IC and America.

This article was originally published by the Illinois College newspaper The Rambler in Nov. 2004. It was the first of my column called "The Conservatives' Corner." I hope you enjoy it and look for the others to appear soon.

Greetings to all on the Hilltop. This is the first installment of a new addition to the Rambler that I hope everyone will enjoy. It is my hope that through this column, conservative ideals and principles will be raised and made aware to the campus community. If you do not agree with the ideas presented in this column, that is quite alright as this is America and you are entitled to your opinion. I do ask that you give me a chance and hopefully what I present will not only make you think, but will make you a more informed person. In advance, I thank you for your time in reading what I have to say.

Well it’s finally over and Americans have spoken and their voice was loud and clear, we want George W. Bush for four more years. While many bemoan this, it should come as no surprise why Bush would win. Let’s go back to 1936. The nation is in the grips of the Great Depression and Franklin D. Roosevelt is running for re-election. Would America decide to elect a new president? If so, what could this new president have done to alleviate the crisis? Both possible question facing voters at the time. Clearly history shows that Americans wanted continuity in their leadership and they then elected FDR to his unprecedented four terms. Americans clearly did not want to change horses in mid-stream as the nation first faced the Depression then World War II. This idea carried over to Election Day 2004 as the voters decided that for now continuity is what is needed. President Bush is the first president since 1936 to not only gain re-election, but to also gain ground in the House and Senate, and as with FDR in 1936, Bush now has a historical opportunity to spread the message of conservatism to the country.

Another reason why Bush won was the person of John Kerry. It is quite sad when most of your supporters are voting for you not because they like you and your ideas, but because they hate the other guy so much that anyone is better. One thing that hurt Kerry was his liberal stance. Most voters, as illustrated by the gay marriage bans in the states which put them to a vote, are traditionalists and Kerry’s liberal views did not mix well with them.

Conservatism is a growing force in the nation. According to an article in Campus magazine, many journalists sloppily reported and even denied the growing conservative movement on America’s college campuses which started in the early 1980s. The Europeans view us as stupid as illustrated by their reaction to our decision as a nation. They are either denying or missing this growth in conservative ideals in our country. Now is the time for the Bush administration and the new Congress to act and push their agenda to America. The markets have responded well to Bush’s re-election and we will now see what the next four years have in store for our nation.

I foresee great things for our nation. I believe that Iraq will stabilize with the elections in January, and will grow over time into a staunch ally against terror. As illustrated by the markets reaction to the election results, our economy will continue to grow. Social Security will be reformed and made better and more secure. We will continue to win the battles in the War on Terror and without a draft. All of these things, I have confidence will be dealt with and fixed with four more years of George W. Bush. I have heard that several Americans want to leave due to the results. I say good riddance, if you can’t deal with the results then get out of my country. Conservatives didn’t leave en masse when Bill Clinton won the White House and this shows the lack of faith held by some in their country.

Conservatives, we must unite behind our president and the Congress and make our voices heard so that our vision for America will be realized. This is an opportunity for the president to accomplish his goals and make America safer and stronger. Students this is our time. Conservatism is a growing tide and the left is reeling in attempting to prepare for it. Now is the time to take our nation back from the left and make America the great conservative power in the world. Thank you for your decision to give Bush another four years to work for America. I am Daniel Sauerwein and this has been the Conservatives’ Corner, God Bless and have a great day.

New feature coming

I would like to announce that I will be posting a new series of articles for The Conservative Files. They are old writings of mine from my days as a staff writer for Illinois College's newspaper The Rambler. The articles are entitled The Conservative Corner and it ran for about four weeks. I have others that are unfinished that I may try to finish and post here, so stay tuned for these new articles. If you like what you see and are interested in contributing, please send me an email (click on my profile name).