Imagine turning on the radio to hear a hit rap song.  As you’re nodding your head to the bass and enjoying the rhymes, did you ever think that the artist could have sat next to you in a college lecture hall? Butler University freshman Charlie Politi, stage-named Charlie “Breeze,” hopes to be that voice coming over the radio waves one day.

The quiet, put-together Nashville native contradicts his hometown’s stereotypes of banjos and cowboy hats by sporting his fraternity attire and a snapback. His reserved persona makes him one of the last Butler students his peers would expect to find in a music video on YouTube

Andy Greenwell, a friend and co-worker of Politi’s, described Politi as confident.

“There’s not an ounce of self-doubt in that man,” Greenwell said.

Politi’s inspiration for making music came during his freshman year of high school when his grandmother was hospitalized and diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease.  Looking for a way to express the struggle of seeing her in such a vulnerable state, Politi found comfort in rhymes.  The visitation and diagnosis period proved to be a difficult time for Politi, but incidentally resulted in his first song.

His friend Josh Marley convinced him to record the song his sophomore year of high school. Since then, he and Politi have been very close.

“Josh has been through everything in my life with me and continues to inspire me,” Politi said of his life-long friend, who is now enrolled at New York University and works for a music blog.

Through Marley, Politi has discovered many opportunities in the music industry at a young age.  He met big-name rappers Mac Miller, Wale and Joey Bada$$, and has performed in at least 20 shows.

Last summer, he was lucky enough to land a gig in Panama City Beach, where he was able to perform for 800 people.

Politi typically writes his songs as a form of therapy and said he does not look to connect to every single fan with every single song.  He said the process is his way of relieving stress, portraying his feelings and moving on when needed.

“I write songs for me,” he said, “but I know people are going through the same things that I am, so I hope others can relate.”

But it’s not all serious in the studio of Politi.

“I like to mix up my songs between serious and fun,” Politi said. “Sometimes it’s nice to just mess around and make a song with friends.”

In fact, Politi spent a night rapping freestyle with a group of friends last semester.  This random music session led to talk of creating a music video.

The video features Politi’s latest song “Outro” and was published March 22.

It passed 7,000 views within the first three weeks of publication.

The video got a lot of publicity on Butler’s campus and was all over social media, shared on Facebook and retweeted on Twitter.

“I knew of Charlie Politi, and I had heard music from Charlie ‘Breeze,’ but I never put the two together until I saw the video,” said freshman Jim Santos, who added that he considers himself a fan.

“I was shocked at first to see the quiet Charlie in the music video, but then it was pretty cool to see a different side to the kid,” he said.

Looking toward the future, Politi would like to take on a full-time persona as Charlie “Breeze” one day but understands the risks.  Continuing his double major in marketing and management information systems, Politi said his back-up plan is to become the marketing executive for a record label or to manage a recording studio.

“It is a very competitive industry,” Politi said. “So I am just enjoying the opportunity to share my music and meet some really cool people right now.”

Playing random notes and chords,  freshman recording industries major Dan Fuson seems to be messing around with his guitar.

Within minutes though, a melody emerges that sounds as though it could be on the radio.

The ease and nonchalance in which Fuson creates his music is striking.

“Playing guitar is a part of Dan,” freshman MacKenzie Harris said.

Fuson has been playing guitar for the past 10 years. He owns six guitars and is a connoisseur of music.

Some of his favorites are Angels & Airwaves, Blink 182, John Mayer, U2, 30 Seconds to Mars and Oasis.

Fuson said his love of music began in third grade when he watched his local high school’s production of “Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat.”

In high school, Fuson was active in both his high school choir and theater.  He was cast as the lead role in the school’s play his senior year.

Fuson has been described by his friends as tall, goofy and musical.

“He is fun-loving and not too serious,” freshman Sam Harmon said.  “He enjoys the things he’s passionate about and is not afraid of socializing with all sorts of people.”

During his senior year of high school, Fuson and friends Sarah Menefee, Caleb Baechtold, and Kevin Weinberg formed the band Rite of Spring. Fuson plays guitar, sings backup and writes the songs.

Harris described the type of music the band plays as indie and alternative music.

“(Fuson’s) music is different and funky,” she said.

Rite of Spring currently has 161 likes on its Facebook page and, the band performs around the Bloomington, Ind., area.

The band’s song “Oh Georgia” is Harmon’s favorite. Fuson said  the song is the band’s most popular to date.

The band has recorded “Oh Georgia” professionally in a studio, and the song is available online for free at spotify.com.

Fuson said he finds inspiration for songs almost anywhere.

“Friends, relationships, social issues and even the seasons are things I write about,”he said.

For Fuson, music is a way to express his feelings.

“My favorite part of playing is performing a new song for the first time because that really is when I get to be expressive in what I really want to say,” Fuson said.

Menefee said she believes Fuson contributes more than just musical talent to the band.

“Dan is really talented, so he brings that to the band,” she said. “But he’s also very funny, so he really makes it fun even if we’re doing some crazy practicing for an upcoming gig.”

Fuson is a recording industy studies major at Butler. He plans on recording more songs for his band and himself throughout his next couple of years on campus.

For this freshman, the future appears bright.

“I believe Dan can do whatever he sets his mind to,” Harmon said. “He is extremely impressionable, charismatic and enthusiastic about music.  It’s truly up to him where he will take his music.”

And this is just fine for Fuson.

“I would love nothing more,” he said, “than to be a musician.”

By Delaney Foreman

He could walk by you on your way to class, but you would never know he is a karate world champion.
Lester “LJ” Easley, Butler University’s physical well-being instructor, is a man of many hats, currently donning the humble positivity and happiness of Buda Khi course originator.
“When I was taught by my masters and instructors, they would say to get someone to be as good as you are or better means that you are a good teacher,” Easley said.
Fitness has always been important to the Goodwill Games Martial Arts gold medalist. Through his schooling, there was not a sport Easley didn’t play.
Easley said he had already played baseball, basketball, football, hockey and tennis, but he did not begin karate until he was 19.
“I just knew it would give me an edge over everything else,” Easley said. “I listened to people who had taken it, watched people that did, and they had something different about them. It was the mental part.”
Easley said he incorporates the mental toughness of karate into the regular Buda Khi workout.
His students said they rely on Easley’s positivity to motivate them to complete the 100 pushups, 200 crunches and four miles the class consists of.
“If you fall back, its almost part of the class,” freshman Dylan Menefee said. “It is knowing your limits and pushing yourself, and you can laugh with him because he is laughing the whole time.”
The positivity that he radiates is part of his life philosophy and that of Buda Khi, Easley said.
The course title is a Japanese phrase originally spelled Budo Kai, meaning “martial way” and “school” or “association,” Easley said.
Easley said he changed the spelling to Buda Khi because he wanted specific letters to carry specific meanings.
B-U-D-A signifies Believe in yourself; Understanding is everything; Discipline first; and Attitude, Always respond positively.
K-H-I means Karate is the way of the empty hand; Happiness, Humble, Have fun everyday; and Improve your life daily.
Easley said these simple words have impacted his life and those he teaches.
“The philosophy behind Buda Khi is that it will take your entire lifetime to master it,” he said.
Buda Khi students said they didn’t expect the deeply-rooted sentiments Easley preaches during class—especially within a required physical well-being course.
“We are really fortunate that Butler really does stand for educating the whole person and has constructed a university core curriculum that supports that notion,” said Mindy Welch, physical well-being coordinator.
“You leave there feeling all-around better,” sophomore Alex Petersen said. “You come in having a bad day, but when you leave, you are relaxed, comfortable, and you feel good about yourself.”
Students are humbled when describing how important Easley and the course are to their day.
“Easley is funny, and you can tell he loves what he does,”freshman Grant Rollins said. “He wants everyone to succeed and be comfortable with themselves.”
Because Easley is the creator of the program, his passion shines through.
“Easley has created something that he loves doing every day, something he is excited to do every day,” Petersen said. “And sharing that with people is really powerful to me.”
Currently, Buda Khi classes are expanding all over the Indianapolis area.
Easley said when you have a positive attitude, you can achieve anything.
“Do something you love that stimulates you mentally, emotionally, spiritually and physically,” he said, “and share it with others.”

Patricia Bowman wrote the following in an email to President Danko in response to the College Fix  article.

Butler University was initially on my daughter’s college list: However, we decided against it for various reasons.

All students should be open to new perspectives—but why are students in this course required to be someone they are not?

This teaching approach is discriminatory and disrespectful—as well as ineffectual, since it is highly challenging for students to write in a voice that is the antithesis of who they are.

According to The Butler University Student Handbook’s Equal Opportunity Statement: “Butler University is committed to the principle of equal opportunity.

It does not knowingly discriminate against any applicant, student or employee on the basis of gender, sexual orientation, race, color, age, religion or nationality/ethnicity.”

How can the professor’s teaching approach be considered appropriate in the view of Butler University’s own Equal Opportunity Statement from the Student Handbook?

Clearly, students in this course are being offended and feel discriminated against on the basis of their sex, race and background.

That should not be tolerated, and yet Dean Howard’s statements indicate that Butler University supports this discrimination.

Discrimination of any type is simply wrong.

As an institution of higher education based on equal opportunity, Butler University should not only address the inherent discrimination of this course but also review whether this instructional approach is even competent with regard to appropriate learning objectives and outcomes.

All perspectives certainly can and should be considered in an open learning environment without having to discriminate against particular students, inferring there is something innately unjust about who they are.

As a former college professor, I found I always learned a tremendous amount from my students, who were of different ages, sex and ethnicities.

I always wanted them to be exactly who they were—and because of this, I found the learning environment was much richer as a result.

By the way—my daughter is Asian. She would have been an amazing addition to Butler University.

Patricia Boman
St. Louis, Mo

My former adviser at Butler sent me an opinion piece by Ryan Lovelace in The College Fix in which he expresses some troubling opinions on the nature of Butler’s liberal arts curriculum and the liberal arts in general.

As a former photography editor of The Collegian, my first reaction was disappointment that a journalist from this publication would express such stubborn and defeatist perspectives.

Upon further consideration I have come to the conclusion that I should be unsurprised by such a commentary, but nevertheless that I should attempt to counter Lovelace’s unfortunate opinion.

I am unsurprised for two reasons. The first is that an embodied and well-instructed liberal arts education should be, by definition, challenging.

History and politics are inherently uncomfortable things.

We see humanity’s worst potential as well as the pinnacles that we could never live up to.

But they also require an inclusive perspective, a threatening concept which requires thinking beyond ourselves.

Much like Lewis Carroll’s Alice, liberal artists learn, act and communicate with an unpredictable and fluid world.

Unfortunately, Lovelace—having been asked to “Eat me—” has shrunk and is floundering in a sea of his own tears.

This is unsurprising because, as much as many may think that the liberal arts are blow-off disciplines full of easily dismissible post-modern hokum, they are actually complex venues of knowledge-making and un-making which are not for those who would have the white rabbit handed to them for a price.

I am unsurprised by Lovelace’s mention of Butler’s pricey tuition.

Teacher’s strikes, discussions of student debt and a terrible job market increasingly put talk of money and education in the same sentence.

University students are right to be frustrated at the price of college education.

However, this frustration has resulted in the mistaken idea that an education should somehow pay off.

That is, that college should train us for careers and salaries.

The liberal arts seem to confound this at every turn, instead affording us vague skills like critical thought, expression and multivocality.

However, Jay Howard points out that the value of an education should instead be measured in its productiveness.

And productiveness is, perhaps, best measured in conflict and change.

I would point out that it is precisely this discomfort and conflict that has so upset Lovelace.

The real danger in Lovelace’s commentary is that he has neglected to think beyond his own egoistic bubble.

In publicly deciding to drop a class because he was afraid of how it would make him think, his words have been taken up by racist and misogynist commentators on the Internet.

I do not hold Mr. Lovelace responsible for anonymous comments on the internet.

I only suggest that an inclusive perspective might, without devaluing its own point, retreat from establishing polarized boundaries of black and white, homo and heterosexual.

Instead, Lovelace has put up impenetrable walls of impossible inclusivity, effectively silencing conversation.

I now teach in an alternative high school serving primarily white, high-income students.

I work with students one-on-one teaching history, English, civics and writing.

My greatest challenge is to address occasional racist, uninformed, indoctrinated or aped prejudices of students.

Without suggesting the students should think as I do (which Lovelace should appreciate) and thereby shutting down participation, I must communicate with my students, to focus on the subject matter and to open up new and safe avenues of thought.

To do this I must be patient, thoughtful and inclusive.

It is precisely the liberal arts education which Lovelace has proudly discarded that allows me to listen, reflect and connect with my students without threat.

More than correcting their opinions or expressing mine, inclusiveness allows me to use these moments to contribute to quality education for students who have found failure or boredom in classrooms.

Thinking and writing in a way which prioritizes experiences of others is critical to achieving a productive classroom.

What Mr. Lovelace has overlooked are the important tools his education might be giving him to make a difference in a contrary world.

I am thankful to the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences at Butler for offering me development and tools for making a difference in my own students’ education.

I should like Lovelace to reconsider his decisions and challenge himself in order to achieve the same as a journalist.

Jon Irons
Class of 2009 alumnus

University President Jim Danko wrote the following message to the entire campus December 1.

Dear Butler University Students, Faculty and Staff:

According to our Statement of Guiding Principles, at Butler University we work toward respect and dignity for all individuals in our community and aim to promote an open and tolerant environment for voicing opinions.

As such, we honor our professors’ desires to promote inclusive and positive classrooms.

We also honor our students’ rights to express concerns about their educational experiences at Butler.

This past week, we were challenged to live up to these ideals after the publication of an article on the website The College Fix, in which one of our students described concerns about a professor’s preference for inclusive language within the course.

While I respect the student’s right to take issue with the use of inclusive language within the course, we should recognize that inclusive language is encouraged and supported at Butler University, at many other institutions of higher education and in many disciplines.

Inclusive dialogue helps prepare our students to interact with others professionally and fairly in an increasingly diverse America.

And importantly, it creates a respectful environment for all people.

As many students, faculty and staff have engaged in discussions about the article in the past week, I am proud of the fact that in keeping with our guiding principles, many of our community members have remembered that there are always at least two sides to every story.

Unfortunately, some responses we have received from individuals not associated with Butler University who read the article online have targeted various individuals at Butler in ways that have involved personal verbal attacks and hateful language.

We have taken care to ensure the safety and well-being of those on our campus who have been the recipients of these responses.

I know that several groups on campus are planning events that will allow further discussion of the article and responses to it, and I encourage you to attend such events if you are interested.

As this issue is further debated on our campus, I strongly encourage each of you to remember the humanity and feelings of those with whom you disagree.

Furthermore, I know I can expect the highest level of civility and respect from each of us in accordance with our university’s values.

James Danko
President

While reading through (last) week’s Collegian, I was shocked with how the election was handled.

I realize there wasn’t much lead time and the president won the election, but the article was incredibly one-sided.

I look at the front page of the newspaper as the “News” section.

Only the first three paragraphs were news; the rest was opinion.

If a particular columnist who wanted to explain why he or she voted for the president and use quotes from fellow students who also voted for him, that’s fine.

I found it inappropriate that, in a “news” article, only one person was interviewed who voted for Governor Romney, and the writer made the assumption that students only voted for Romney because they didn’t like the president.

If you want to write a news article, make it unbiased. If it’s opinion, label it as such.

Opinion should be kept off of the front page.

                    —Matt Siler
        Senior

To the editor of the Butler Collegian:

Donald Perin interviewed me for the Oct. 25 edition of the Collegian about a project that I have been working on for over a year: a “web radio station,” as part of the newly formed College of Communications Media Group.

I am greatly disappointed with the tone of his article and the assumption that faculty won’t incorporate student ideas in launching the Internet radio stream.

It’s unfortunate that this article could have been used to better inform the students about this project and turned into yet another negative “students vs. faculty” piece.

I appreciate that, to some, this may be the first that they have heard of this endeavor, despite the fact that it was mentioned in the Collegian (April 4, 2012) and discussed as a future opportunity with this year’s freshman Recording Industries Studies class during Welcome Week.

The idea for this stream came from the CCOM Board of Visitors, many of whom are former classmates of mine who share my desire to give current CCOM students an experience like we had in running WAJC but without the hassles of maintaining a true radio frequency that can not be simply turned off or pre-programmed during summer or semester breaks.

Much of my professional background is in radio.

I worked at several commercial and public radio stations for more than 20 years both on air and behind the scenes.

I was the last music director for Butler University’s FM station, WAJC, and did the last air shift on 104.5 when the station signed off for the last time in 1993.

That experience and my current position are why Ken Creech, whom I recommended Mr. Perin interview for his piece, asked me to work with IT to lay the technical groundwork for this project.

Up until now, there has been no student involvement simply because there has been nothing for students to get excited about or involved in.

Much of the work has been stop-and-go as Information Technology and I have spent a lot of time researching and developing what will work within the university network and still be manageable by students and myself.

All that has happened until now has been designing the infrastructure, researching music-licensing requirements and choosing the software and hardware that will run the “station.”

It is my intent to include students in all aspects of the programming, format and promotion of this outlet.

There is an untapped bounty of high-quality student work from RIS classes and projects, and the stream will mean more opportunity for those works to find a greater audience.

The technical groundwork and testing will be completed this fall, and then, as I told Mr. Perin in our interview, there will be a call-out for all students that want to be involved.

Nothing is cast in stone or has been pre-decided by any faculty member, including myself.

I am looking forward to working with a positive and enthusiastic group of students on this project because this will require a lot of work.

The music format will be up to students, but this stream will publicly represent CCOM and Butler University and needs to do so in a positive light, which other university-related outlets should strive to do as well.

—Mark Harris
Technical Services Coordinator, College of Communication

I’d like to thank The Collegian for taking the time to recognize our hard-working staff in the article “The men behind the Butler blooms.”

It was exciting to see a positive article about the often unseen hard work of those on staff who make this campus amazing!

I appreciated seeing this and just wanted to let Maria and the rest of The Collegian staff know how much it meant as a fellow staff member to see the recognition of those deserving.

-Julie Schrader, Manager, Employer Development

Kudos… kind of.

For the first time in my four years of being at Butler, I have finally been given the opportunity to read a fun, refreshing, non-opinionated, interesting story.

“The men behind the Butler blooms” was a great story.

I am not getting my hopes up or anything, but maybe more students would read The Collegian if more positive stories were published.

Highlight how beautiful our campus is by telling the stories of the people who work behind the scenes to make the university what it is.

The organizations, faculty and staff could be focused on more.

There are so many opportunities to publish unique stories about the people who make this campus.

There is already too much negativity in the world.

I am willing to bet that the majority of campus would rather read about a hard-working, involved, difference-making student or staff member than a certain Greek house violating a law, another half page on the worn-out parking/housing issue, or my personal favorite—an article about something on campus that turns into an opinion piece and is not in the opinion section.

Less opinionated, more positive articles focusing on how exceptional our campus is would get you a few less jeers and more cheers.

-Laura Spieth, Class of 2013