Butler, Blind School Students to Plant Trees for Bees
PUBLISHED ON Oct 15 2015
Students from the Butler University World of Plants class and the Indiana School for the Blind and Visually Impaired (ISBVI) will work together on a tree-planting event on Tuesday, October 20, from 10:00-11:30 AM and 2:30-4:00 PM.
At the “Trees for Bees” event, students will plant trees to enhance the pollen sources for ISBVI bee hives.
The event is the result of a 2015 Tree Campus USA Mini-Award received by Biology Instructor Marva Meadows. She said the class project is trying to address some of the nutritional problems by planting 20 new species of trees and shrubs that are honey bee friendly.
“Honey bee hives will benefit by having a diversity of pollen and nectar planted close to the hives themselves,” she said. “This may allow the bees to resist some of the other stresses that are plaguing hives around the world. Our teams of Butler and ISBVI students have been learning about flowers and honey bees together and will culminate in planting their chosen tree on Tuesday.”
Honey bees are responsible for one-third of our food, Meadows said. Agricultural production of almonds, berries, fruits and vegetables are a direct result of honey bee pollination.
Unfortunately, honey bees are in decline from a number of pressures including Colony Collapse Disorder which may be caused by new parasites and pathogens like Varroa mites, nosema fungi and deformed wing virus, she said.
“No one is sure about how the liberal use of pesticides may be causing additional stress to the hives. And nutritional problems caused by a lack of variable pollen and nectar sources may also be weakening honey bees.”
Media contact:
Marc Allan
mallan@butler.edu
317-940-9822
Butler, Blind School Students to Plant Trees for Bees
President Danko Issues Statement on 'Religious Freedom' Law
PUBLISHED ON Apr 01 2015
On March 26, Indiana Governor Mike Pence signed the controversial "Religious Freedom Reform Act" (RFRA).
The result was a backlash that spread across the country.
Butler President James M. Danko was the first university president to speak out against the law. (See President Danko discussing the "Religious Freedom" act on MSNBC here and here.)
This is the statement he issued on Sunday, March 29:
As president of Butler University I am particularly sensitive to the importance of supporting and facilitating an environment of open dialogue and critical inquiry, where free speech and a wide range of opinion is valued and respected. Thus, it is with a certain degree of apprehension that I step into the controversy surrounding Indiana’s Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA).
However, over the past week I have heard from many Butler community members—as well as prospective students, parents, and employees—who have expressed concerns about the impact this law may have on our state and our University. As such, I feel compelled to share my perspective and to reinforce the values of Butler University.
While I have read a variety of opinions and rationale for RFRA, it strikes me as ill-conceived legislation at best, and I fear that some of those who advanced it have allowed their personal or political agendas to supersede the best interests of the State of Indiana and its people. No matter your opinion of the law, it is hard to argue with the fact it has done significant damage to our state.
Like countless other Hoosier institutions, organizations, and businesses, Butler University reaffirms our longstanding commitment to reject discrimination and create an environment that is open to everyone.
Today, more than ever, it is important that we continue to build, cultivate, and defend a culture in which all members of our community—students, alumni, faculty, staff, and the public—can learn, work, engage, and thrive. It is our sincere hope that those around the country with their ears turned toward our Hoosier state hear just one thing loud and clear—the united voice of millions who support inclusion and abhor discrimination.
Butler is an institution where all people are welcome and valued, regardless of sexual orientation, religion, gender, race, or ethnicity; a culture of acceptance and inclusivity that is as old as the University itself. Butler was the first school in Indiana and third in the United States to enroll women as students on an equal basis with men, was among the first colleges in the nation to enroll African Americans, and was the second U.S. school to name a female professor to its faculty.
I strongly encourage our state leaders to take immediate action to address the damage done by this legislation and to reaffirm the fact that Indiana is a place that welcomes, supports, respects, and values all people.
PUBLISHED ON Oct 02 2017
A “happy accident” leads to a scientific discovery.
In a couple of weeks, some chemists in Verona, Italy, are going to find out what’s been happening in a Butler University Chemistry lab, and they’re going to be grateful.
They’re going to be notified that junior Ben Dawson, working with Chemistry Professor Anne Wilson this past summer, has replicated a pigment that matched a color called Juliet blue that the Italian chemists had discovered on historical artifacts.
“I think they’ll be excited that somebody’s actually making these,” Wilson said. “People have been talking about these pigments but not making them.”
The Italian scientists’ discovery of Juliet blue goes back to 2010. They laid out the problem in a paper they published: Their museum had placed several ancient flints, used for making arrowheads, in storage. They had put the flints in a drawer, on rubber mats to keep them from breaking. When they opened the drawer, they found that a chemical reaction had occurred. The flints, which were gray, had turned blue—a color the chemists would later call Juliet blue.
The chemists thought the color on the flints was derived from a volatile organic component that was coming from the rubber mats, and that the culprit was a stabilizer that’s added to keep the rubber from falling apart over time.
Dr. Greg Smith, the Otto N. Frenzel III Senior Conservation Scientist at the Indianapolis Museum of Art, read the Italians’ paper and gave a copy to Wilson, asking if she thought someone at Butler might want to try to figure out a synthesis for Juliet blue. She thought that would be a great summer project for a student, so she had Dawson try to make the pigment. She paid him with an annual grant the Chemistry Department receives from Eli Lilly and Co. to do synthetic chemistry work.
“Initially, we were not having a lot of success” trying to re-create the chemical reaction that caused the discoloration, Wilson said. “Then Ben left out some things over the weekend, and some of his indicator plates had turned blue.”
Juliet blue.
“It was a very happy accident,” Wilson said.
Dawson confirmed that the way this blue pigment occurred on the surface of the flints was probably due to a combination of air oxidation, coupled with some contamination from the compound in the rubber mats. And he able to make additional quantities of the pigment.
“It’s a beautiful blue,” Wilson said. “It looks very Disney. It’s beautiful. It’s a great blue. It’s a lot of fun to be doing this and to see these great colors.”
Although reproducing Juliet blue is essentially an academic exercise, Wilson said, it could have practical applications. Butler Chemistry professors and students have done several projects with the Indianapolis Museum of Art on artworks that have faded over the centuries. Perhaps, Wilson said, this summer’s finding could be a step in figuring out how to treat, and possibly restore, artifacts that have been damaged.
“It’s exciting when you get scientists from different areas together and they start talking and trading ideas,” she said. “I think we’re very fortunate to be this close to the lab at the IMA. I think we’re very fortunate to be able to try things.”
Media contact:
Marc Allan
mallan@butler.edu
317-940-9822
Wherefore Art Thou, Juliet Blue? In a Butler Chemistry Lab
Chemists in Verona, Italy, will find out what’s been happening in a Butler University Chemistry lab.
Chemists in Verona, Italy, will find out what’s been happening in a Butler University Chemistry lab.
PUBLISHED ON Aug 18 2015
Scotty’s Dawghouse will be the anchor tenant in Butler University’s new Sunset Avenue Parking Garage, leasing 6,400 square feet in the northeast corner of Sunset Avenue and Lake Road. The new restaurant—its name is a twist on the more familiar Scotty’s Brewhouse—is scheduled to open in February 2016, with construction to begin in November.
“We’re thrilled to bring one of Indiana’s most successful and popular restaurant concepts to Butler,” said Michael Kaltenmark, Butler’s Director of External Relations. “We listened to our students, employees, alumni, and Midtown neighbors and believe Scotty’s will be a great fit for the Butler community.”
Scotty’s will serve lunch and dinner and seat 250-300 between its dining room and large outdoor patio. As with all Scotty’s locations, it is “all ages welcome” and family friendly. The new restaurant will be open seven days a week, from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. (midnight on Fridays and Saturdays). University officials expect that Scotty’s will be open late following major arts and athletics events.
“When I heard that we were even in the discussion as a possibility for this location, I could barely contain my excitement to be the first restaurant/bar on Butler’s campus,” said Scott Wise, President and CEO of a Pots & Pans Production, the management company for Scotty’s Brewhouse, Thr3e Wise Men Brewing Co., C3 Bar, and Scotty’s Brew Club. “And the location … I don’t know if it could be any better squeezed between Clowes Hall and Hinkle Fieldhouse! I’d say this is the best way to kick off our 20th year in business.”
Scotty’s Dawghouse will employ between 75-100 part time and full time positions. It will begin taking applications online in January 2016.
Butler’s new facility, scheduled to open for parking in August, has 17,000 square feet of retail space on the first floor of the five-story structure, as well as 1,033 parking spaces. Kaltenmark said Butler is still actively working with other potential tenants.
Scotty’s and the parking facility represent an important step in Butler’s ambitious plans for campus development. Last year, the University completed the renovation of Butler’s iconic Hinkle Fieldhouse. Just a block down Sunset Avenue’s newly enhanced streetscape, Butler and American Campus Communities are building a state-of-the-art housing facility, which is scheduled to welcome its first student residents in Fall 2016.
Future development plans include additional phases of student housing development and renovation, and new academic space to house Butler’s science programs and College of Business.
Donna Hovey, Vice President, and Gordon Hendry, First Vice President, from CBRE’s Indianapolis office represented Butler University as the leasing agent. The new mixed-use retail and parking garage being developed by Butler University offers suite sizes ranging from 1,200 to 8,400 square feet, many with patio and outdoor dining options. For more information, please visit http://www.cbre.us/butler-retail.
Media contact:
Marc Allan
mallan@butler.edu
317-940-9822