Photo by Maria Porter

Students are raising concerns that the Student Government Association shuttle bus that runs on the weekends from campus to Broad Ripple and Glendale is failing to stop at the pick up point located at the Apartment Village.

Senior Audra Winger said she and her friends were left waiting outside of AV on multiple occasions for a bus that never arrived.

“We even waited outside for over an hour thinking maybe [the bus] was a little off schedule. We saw it drive by headed toward Atherton but never saw it come back the other way,” she said. “We ended up staying home, very frustrated.”

In past years, the shuttle bus only stopped at the main pick up and drop off spot along the front of Atherton Union. SGA vice president of operations Kelsa Reynolds said the AV pick up location was added this year in order to reach out to more students living on the other side of campus.

But students said the bus is not making its promised stop at the new AV location at the scheduled times, and it is irritating to have their plans consistently changed.

“If the SGA is going to post a [bus pick-up] schedule, then it should be reliable, especially the weekend after they put a special announcement about it in the Butler Connection,” Winger said. “My friends and I will most likely not risk the shuttle bus again, and if we do, we will be very skeptical about it.”

Reynolds said her operations board has not heard concerns, but she thinks the problem could be a lack of signage to make the new bus stop visible for both students and the drivers.

“[The buses] have been stopping [at AV], but it was probably not as much or for as long as it was at Atherton,” Reynolds said. “I’m guessing the driver wouldn’t stop to wait if they didn’t see students outside at the stop.”

The official stop is supposed to be by the emergency pole outside of the Dawghouse convenience store, but there is currently nothing marking its location.

Reynolds said the delay in getting a sign like the one currently at the Atherton stop is because she needed the approval of BUPD Police Chief Ben Hunter’s and a city ordinance for the location.

“It’s probably taken a little longer than it should have, but it’s a process,” Reynolds said.

The new sign that alerts both the drivers and students to the official stopping point should be placed within the next week or two, she said.

In order to get the shuttle drivers used to the routes, Reynolds said she has someone from the operations board ride the first bus route every weekend to ensure that problems such as irregular stop times don’t arise.

She also receives a head count of bus riders at each scheduled stop so the operations board can communicate with the bus company to ensure the service is efficient for students.

“I receive a report from the actual company itself that gives us the numbers for the specific pick up and drop-off times,” Reynolds said. “We have open communication that allows us to adjust that schedule if there is a concern.”

She said students who continue to have issues should contact the operations board so they can work out the problems with the bus company.

In addition to the new pick up location, Reynolds said the operations board has worked hard to make the shuttle bus more useful for students by adding a downtown shuttle on the first Saturday and Sunday of each month as well as an airport shuttle for Thanksgiving, winter and spring breaks.

Hungry patrons form long lines outside of the only eatery around. They clutch their identifications tightly and speak in hushed tones. The uniformed inspector lets them in one at a time, allowing them to shuffle into the sponsored dining area.

It’s not a scene from Eastern Europe in the 1980s, but instead in Atherton Union. Butler University enforces a virtual monopoly of food services on campus.

The administration should allow more flexibility in the school’s current policy. While the current system has the advantage of not appearing to play favorites—outside of Aramark’s contractual protection—it hurts all participants.

If the melodrama above is confusing, read on.

As The Butler Collegian reported last week, Butler enforces a no-solicitation policy. This applies even to businesses handing out free food at non-sponsored events, said Irene Stevens, dean of student life.

All businesses must be invited to campus by an organization, and that invitation must be approved by the PuLSE office. Aramark’s contract also prohibits any other official food vendors on campus.
Stevens said there is no push to revisit the policy.

In all honesty, The Collegian may have already written all there is to write about campus dining.

But it is one thing to favor one company with business—PepsiCo Inc. over Coca Cola Enterprises, Inc., for example. It is quite another to build a policy around protecting only one corporation’s interests.

As Stevens said, the solicitation was enacted to protect students from disreputable salespersons.

Obviously, the university’s intentions were well-placed. Protecting students is a major responsibility of the administration, and BUPD does their best to turn away solicitors that don’t have students best interests in mind.

But when they institute a policy that forces legitimate businesses away from the campus, they go too far.

Students will find ways to choose, and that means leaving campus. The university cannot enforce a monopoly of safely approved vendors all over the city, so in the end the policy only serves to hurt businesses that specialize in the customer’s convenience.

The food trucks offer a brilliant solution to some of the other issues that hurt Butler’s neighborhood.

Because the university is relatively small, it is not feasible for businesses to open in the surrounding area.

They would receive almost no customers for several months of the year.

Changing the current policy would not cripple Aramark, which is still the sole provider of meal plans on campus. Instead, a change offers nearby food vendors as an addition to the campus dining options.

This is a university that prides itself on both being a strong business and liberal arts institution. If Bulldogs are going to be citizens of the world they currently live in, they should be exposed to norms of the “outside” world—like competition between businesses.

And I don’t think anyone would consider Scout’s Treats disreputable.

Photo by Maria Porter

Somewhere in the world there is a book gathering dust with a list of rules regarding the writing of food reviews. I violated two of them before I walked in the door of Atherton Union.

Rule No. 1—approach the table with an open mind and an empty stomach. Rule No. 2—use that open mind and empty stomach to come to an unbiased conclusion.

Oops.

Upon walking into this mysterious den of dining that is the Marketplace at Atherton, the hunger you had is suddenly gone. You wonder, “Why, stomach, did you stop growling?” And then you realize that somewhere between the HRC and the steps of the Union, your hunger and nearly $7  for dinner just trotted away along with part of your taste buds’ dignity. You’re in A-Town, now.

But let’s be honest. Most of the time, jokes about school cafeteria food make me want to vomit whatever mediocre meal I just ingested.

So then, that’s the test. Does “A-Town” bring the yum factor?

On Friday, Sept. 9, during lunch, the verdict is that Atherton brought not one, but several yum factors. With four plates full of food, plus one bowl of Lucky Charms, you’d hope to find something tolerable.

For starters, the meatball sandwich was good. Surprisingly good. The meatballs were flavorful in a comforting sort of way— not in a you’re-gonna-regret-this-later way. As an optional extra, you could top your balls of meat with Parmesan cheese. It was a nice touch.

On the same plate, keeping the meatball sub company, were a smattering of french fries, which were a bit off-the-Aramarky. Like any fries should be, they were greasy, but they lacked the wonderful flavor that grease should bring with it.

Then came the gasp-worthy black bean burger. Vegan or no vegan, this was really good. And although the cow was spared, it still had a meaty flavor and texture. It was like a burger— but not.

The next plate in question had just one thing plopped in its center—a lonely piece of cheese pizza, bathed in grease. As the pizza stared into my whimsical eyes, I was reminded of Eeyore. And I was reminded why Eeyore lacks friends. Why? Because he’s a downer. And that’s what this pizza was—a loser, the last picked for kickball, the zit on an otherwise lovely lunch. It wasn’t rush-to-the-bathroom bad, but we should also show our digestive system some respect.

Every dessert was scrumptious, although there was one flavorless cookie in the bunch, speckled with mysterious brown dots. It wasn’t quite up to par.

The best thing in “A-Town” that afternoon was hidden in a corner near the deli area. It was in a plastic cup and was topped with whipped cream and chocolate syrup. It likely came from the brilliant mind of some creative Atherton employee who thought of crumbling up leftover brownies. It was wonderful.

And, in all seriousness, we should give our respect to Atherton’s workers. Remember last year’s encounter with “Snowpacalypse”? Remember when the Atherton staff stuck around to make us food?

Thank you employees of the Marketplace. You’ll always make us either very happy or very confused.

Senior Levi Smith was named student employee of the year for his work with a new cancer treatment therapy.

Smith is part of a pilot dual-degree program that combines a doctor of pharmacy and a master’s degree in pharmaceutical sciences. He works in the research lab with Alexandre Erkine, an associate professor of pharmacy. The ultimate goal for the project is to publish findings and hopefully develop a new treatment for cancer.

Student workers are nominated by their supervisors, and a three-person committee that chooses the top student based on reliability, quality of work, initiative, professionalism and uniqueness of contribution.

Smith’s name will be added to a student affairs plaque in Atherton Union and to a plaque in the Internship and Career Services office.

Smith said he was grateful and surprised, because winning an award was never his goal when he took the job. While he said having a job along with going to class takes time management skills, working hard is not difficult.

“If you have a passion for something, it is easy to go beyond what people think is normal, because for you, it’s just work,” he said.

He said working in the lab has equipped him with the qualifications to apply to graduate school and affected how he approaches tasks.

“It’s taught me about working proactively and aggressively but also thoroughly and diligently,” he said.

Though he was unsure about whether he could take the job over the summer due to finances, Smith said Erkine, his adviser Jason Range, an assistant professor in the College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences and his girlfriend encouraged him to take the opportunity.

The experience has impacted him greatly, he said.

“The last year has certainly changed what I’m going to do for the rest of my life,” he said. “I know now that I can spend the rest of my life everyday in a laboratory and be happy.”

Erkine said Smith is one of the few students who has not shied away from the workload of his dual-degree and is committed to his work, even if it means staying over winter break and doing lab work right after final exams.

“He never comes into the lab to just sit around,” Erkine said. “He has very clear goals.”

Smith’s enthusiasm, work ethic and ability to assist his peers should be a model for other students, Erkine said.

“He is willing to help others and go the extra mile, even for others,” Erkine said.

Liz Freedman, the student employment coordinator for Internship and Career Services, said Smith’s recognition is exciting, since the award usually doesn’t go to students in the College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences.

Freedman said Smith’s work is important because it has an impact  on campus as well as in the community.

“The work he’s done is helping all over, not just around here,” she said.

Freeman said campus employment helps students to not only connect to campus but to also gain valuable experience.

“Not only is it beneficially financially,” Freedman said, “they are building skills that they will use professionally once they leave here.”