While many Butler University students like to watch men’s basketball games and try their hand in self-officiating, only a select few actually get the opportunity to take part in the real deal.

Students are getting that opportunity at the Health and Recreation Complex through the intramural program.

Student officials have to go through a two-day training period to become an official, said Emily Gadzichowski, intramural supervisor.

They spend one day in a classroom and one day in on-court training before getting experience in practice games at the HRC.

Colin Holmes, intramural supervisor, said they recruit officials to go through training via social media and callout meetings.

Holmes said the supervisors are in charge of off-court operations and leave it to officials to take care of games.

“We check out a lot of jerseys, we check and make sure scorecards and everything are right, (and) any type of injuries or misconducts are our main duties,” Holmes said. “And then if we see any way we can help out the refs off the court. That’s what we try to do.”

Senior official Jon Collar said he wanted the job because of his love for sports.

“I’ve been doing this for about three years,” Collar said. “I just really like sports, and it seemed like a good job on campus.”

Collar, who primarily officiates basketball and football games, said officiating events can be an exciting experience.

“It depends on the sport and who’s playing, but it can get pretty intense,” Collar said.

Sophomore official Austin Del Priore said he enjoys the experience of the on-campus job but isn’t sure whether he would like to continue officiating after college.

“We spend a lot of time training, and to get to the next level is pretty competitive, probably more than people realize,” he said.

Though it’s merely at the intramural level, most players seem to think the officials do a good job.

“Obviously they’re amateur officials,” Foster said. “They’re not doing a full-time job, but I feel like they’re doing a pretty good job. I’ve witnessed some training in the past, and they do a pretty strenuous process. And I think they do a pretty good job for the situation given.”

Students should be more accountable for the information that administrators send to them.

Focusing on information that administrators circulate at the beginning of each semester is critical because every year there are important new policies that students should know.

Administrators utilize many tools to try and open lines of communication for students, including email, the Butler Connection, and mail.

According to Sally Click, dean of student services, email is the official form of communication between the two factions.

Email is also a good choice among some students.

When  junior Sam Foust was asked which form of communication he finds most effective, he said, “Email, because at least I can see the head line of it. So I can at least get an idea of what it’s about.”

Every year, administrators send out the “Know the Code” email, which provides students with a link to the handbook.

Click said this year only 48 percent of students opened this email.

Only 2 percent of students who opened this message went to the handbook link or visited the student conduct website.

Some might say they receive too many emails on a daily basis, and reading them all is tedious.

Still, the load of emails isn’t an excuse for not knowing the rules.

Students might also point out that administrators are not faultless in this matter.

For instance, administrators could have marked the “Know the Code” emails with the red exclamation point to let students know that the content of this email is important.

Although administrators could do things a little differently, it isn’t their job to spoon-feed information to each student.

Ultimately, students need to meet administrators half-way to better communicate.

Students should be proactive in obtaining the information they need to know.

The head of a student organization filed a complaint with the Council on Presidential Affairs about the College of Communication after several posters promoting a speaker were removed from the Fairbanks Center.

Senior Jonathan Spear, president of ADrenaline, Butler University’s advertising club, said he felt his club’s free speech rights were being violated by the administration of the CCOM.

“What makes them think that they have the right to tell me I can’t have someone speak to my club?” Spear said.

On Monday, Oct. 4, Spear hung five posters around the Fairbanks Center, promoting a speaker from the Miami Ad School. Katie Lever, admissions advisor at Miami, was scheduled to speak on Wednesday, Oct. 6, about what the field of advertising is like today and the skills it requires of professional practitioners and graduate level programs that the school offers.

They were still up when he left class Monday evening. When he returned to Fairbanks for a class Tuesday afternoon, the posters were missing.

“As soon as I noticed the posters were missing, I called [ADrenaline adviser Donna Gray],” Spear said. “She told me the dean and associate dean had expressed concerns and thought that it was not appropriate that Katie came and spoke.”

Gray, a CCOM instructor, met with both Interim Dean Bill Neher and Associate Dean Ann Savage to discuss their concerns.

“They were concerned that it was a conflict of interest for that particular speaker to come speak to our students,” she said.

As to the specific concerns, there seems to be a lack of consensus within the CCOM faculty.
Savage said she was concerned about a conflict of interest and having a for-profit institution promote its program on Butler’s nonprofit space.

Savage said that no one in the dean’s office knew anything about the program, so she took one poster down to learn more about the school.

A message had been sent over the Butler Connection and the strategic communication listserv in the days prior.

Mark Rademacher, strategic communication program director, said he also questioned the suitability of this speaker on campus.

“The concern I might have is that we value what a well-rounded liberal arts education can provide, so if a program doesn’t deliver that well-rounded education experience is that it offers one set of skills but maybe not the entire picture,” Rademacher said.

Neher, who was part of the meetings with Savage and Gray and Spear, said he was unaware of any conflict of interest concerns.

“We have no mechanism to do that, there is no way for us to prevent the person from speaking,” Neher said. “I’m a radical when it comes to free speech.”

Spear said he remembers their conversation differently.

“It’s ridiculous,” he said. “I stood in a room with [Neher] and [Savage] and talked specifically about the issues they had with the speaker, one of which was the conflict of interest.”

Whether or not the speaker was a conflict of interest, recognized student organizations, including ADrenaline, are governed by the Student Government Association and the Programs for Leadership and Service Education office. The PuLSE handbook states that, “A balance of free speech and community standards will be enforced by the PuLSE office.”

“We ask that the campus community does not go around removing fliers,” Julie Pakenham, associate director of PuLSE, said. “We respect free speech. We want to create a balance of free speech, not just in the fliers but also in the programming that goes on.”

Spear acknowledged that while his posters were stamped by the PuLSE office, he forgot to include ADrenaline’s name in the posting, as is required by the PuLSE office posting policy.

“When I went to the PuLSE office and had the posters stamped, I was told I needed to put ADrenaline on them,” Spear said. “But I went straight to lunch and work and forgot.”

Some of the posters were also posted on windows and painted walls, which violates PuLSE posting policies.

But why, then, weren’t the posters removed and given back to the organization to correct?

Neher said it is likely because they didn’t know to whom the posters belonged. He said he doesn’t know who took them down, but it was probably because they were improperly hung up.

Both Savage and Neher also said they were unaware who was sponsoring the event until Gray spoke to them around 4:30 p.m. on Oct. 5, because the sponsoring group wasn’t on the poster and a room hadn’t been reserved.

But Caroline Huck-Watson, PuLSE director, told Savage at 1 p.m. via email that ADrenaline was putting on the event. It was then that Savage contacted Gray with her concerns, saying that she and Neher had concerns about a conflict of interest between the Miami Ad School and programs offered in the CCOM.

Ultimately, the varied concerns did not stop Lever from speaking to a group of about 10 students. But, Spear said he did not feel better and lodged the complaint with CPA.

“I don’t see why there would be any reason at all for a professor to be apprehensive, worried or threatened for a professional coming to speak to students about how to better their education and further their career,” he said. “As professors and faculty I think it’s their job to want what’s best for us. After our conversations, I’m wondering if some of the people in this building do.”

If you have not been to Taste Café, then you have not experienced what food is supposed to taste like. Maybe that is why it is called Taste.

Taste Café primarily specializes in breakfast and lunch but has recently begun serving dinner as well on Wednesday and Thursday nights.

For first timers entering the restaurant, it is very simple to figure out how Taste is organized. The line can begin anywhere from near the main counter to out the door depending on the day, and the menu board sits above for guests to examine.

The café was particularly clever by putting foreign cheeses and delicious desserts on display to tempt you before you reach the counter to order.

Ordering is the crucial part and deciding what to get is always extremely difficult.

Depending on what time you go and what type of person you are, you may want to skip breakfast and go straight to lunch. However, the founders of Taste must have been big fans of the old adage that breakfast is the most important meal of the day. The dishes reflect that in taste, presentation and portion.

Many of these breakfast dishes will make your taste buds jump for joy, but the one that puts the cherry on top—almost literally—is the waffle special.

Piled high with approximately a pound of fresh, in-season fruits with powdered sugar and cinnamon, this dish will make your mouth water upon arrival.

If you choose to eat all of the fruit first, then you have saved the best for last. The waffle is simply the best waffle you will ever taste—I maintain this opinion even after trying the famous Roscoe’s House  of Chicken’ N Waffles, waffle in Los Angeles.

Other spectacular dishes that will not upset are the egg omelet, with your choice of meat or cheese and the cheddar biscuits and gravy. Taste also offers “wake up juice” (aka coffee) and freshly squeezed orange juice.

For the lunch menu, you can have either a salad or one of the gourmet sandwiches.

The salads are very appetizing, especially the “pear and  Roquefort,” but the gourmet sandwiches are the go-to item on the lunch menu. The italian grinder and the smoked ham and cheese are both excellent choices, but the roasted turkey and smoked bacon is my particular favorite.

Topped with provolone, its house made Thousand Island dressing, vine ripe tomatoes, organic field greens with a side of refrigerator pickles on your choice of french or wheat baguette, it is not just a sandwich, it’s an experience.

To top off the delicious salad or sandwich you order, a must at Taste Café is the pommes frites.

Served hot out of the kitchen with a side of creamy basil aioli, the pommes frites serve as an incredible appetizer with a rich flavor that McDonald’s could only dream of.

To wash everything down, go with the fresh lemonade. It is not only freshly squeezed, but mint leaves are added for a subtle flavor that refreshes every time.

Not only is the food excellent, but the service and the atmosphere are superb as well.

The atmosphere is not like a typical breakfast/lunch place because the music selection gives Taste an air of genuine relaxation.

On busy days it may take a few extra minutes for your food, but that is to be expected with a small restaurant. At all other times, the food is always out quick and looking exquisite.

While not the least expensive option for a college budget, lunch will run around $10 per person. Believe me, the price is well-worth the quality.

Taste Café is located at 5164 N. College Ave. and is open seven days a week, though the hours vary.

Bullying occurs in schools everyday. More popular kids consistently pick on less popular kids. I’m not validating bullying, I’m just recognizing that it happens on a daily basis in schools and campuses across the country.

However, the recent spike in bullying, and subsequent suicide is too much for me to ignore.

On Sept. 22, Rutgers University freshman Tyler Clementi jumped off the George Washington bridge after discovering that his roommate Dharun Ravi and friend Molly Wei had allegedly taped him having sexual encounters with another male student and broadcast it over the Internet.

This is one of five suicides that have occurred in the past three weeks due to students being bullied.

Clementi’s story is just one of the hundreds of cases of students who have committed suicide after being bullied in school and online.

Cyberbulling is a disturbing trend in our country.

It is hurtful, threatening and highly effective: shown  in the alarming number of students ending their lives over comments made on Facebook.

This unique form of bullying is almost more dangerous than the bullying that most students encounter at school because these bullies follow their victims home.

They get the opportunity to come into their victims’ homes and terrorize them in a new way.

Cyberbulling is causing the spike in suicides because victims feel like they have nowhere to turn.

They are attacked at school, attacked at home, and to them, there is no escape. Clementi is not the only adolescent who has committed suicide due to cyberbullying.

On Jan. 14, Phoebe Prince, a 15-year-old student in South Hadley, Mass., hung herself in her home after months of torment via Facebook from her peers at South Hadley High School.

So why are we letting cyber-bullying continue?

According to ABC News, “41 states and the District of Columbia have anti-bullying measures and 23 have statutes against cyberbullying. Massachusetts is not one of them.”

The lack of statutes against cyberbullying within schools is what frustrates me the most.

Every parent, school administrator, guidance counselor and teacher needs to realize the damage and terror that cyberbullying inflicts on the youth of this country.

It is awful that children are committing suicide in an attempt to escape it.

In the past three weeks, there have been five suicides, with victims, like 11-year-old Carl Joseph Walker-Hoover, taking their lives as a result of relentless bullying.

According to the Cyberbullying Research Center, of the 20.8 percent of children who say that they have been bullied, 17 percent claim that they have been victims of cyberbullying at least two times or more.

These statistics show that every state needs to have a firm, zero tolerance law in place for cyber-bullying. It has become an epidemic in our country, driving children to suicide because they think there is no other way out.

According to thethinkingstick.com, the most accessible outlets for cyberbullies are Facebook and cell phones.

The use of Facebook and cell phones at increasingly younger ages gives bullies the two perfect outlets to target their victims effectively.

It is easy to create a Facebook page for another person and even simpler to navigate the site.

In February 2010 in Newburyport, Mass., high school bullies created a fake Facebook page about another boy and then posted numerous disparaging comments about him.

Although the boy thankfully did not commit suicide, the other boys were accused by police of cyberbullying the victim.

Another component of cyberbullying rests on the shoulders of Web sites such as Facebook.

How much social networking sites like Facebook can really be held accountable for, especially when taunting through their websites causes children to take their lives.

In an article by readwriteweb.com contributor Sarah Perez, “In December, Facebook began a major push to open up people’s profiles and make the network more public.”

These new changes on Facebook make it much easier for others to see what the rest of their friends are doing, “liking,” posting, adding and “tagging.”

Bullies can now see more of their peers’ profiles, giving them more at which to pick.

Facebook is essentially creating a bully-friendly environment, whether they realize it or not.

College students and young adults are not the only users on Facebook.

There are millions of tweens who are navigating the site as well, and with Facebook privacy settings being more open, kids are more likely to be  possible victims of cyber-bullying.

While Facebook is generally the first thing that I open in my browser, it has become a terrifying Web site for children who are being cyber-bullied. Only awareness of schools and parents can help end this vicious cycle of violence and make the internet safe for our youth.

We at the Butler Collegian believe it is the right of all active student organizations to exercise their First Amendment right of free speech and to act as the independent organizations they are.

We are outraged that members of the Butler University faculty and staff would take it upon themselves to regulate the planned activities of a recognized student organization.

Recently, the student advertising organization, ADrenaline, put up posters around the Fairbanks Center promoting a guest speaker for their Oct. 6 meeting. All of the posters that were placed around the building were stamped and approved by the Programs for Leadership and Service Education office and therefore the university.

The speaker, from the Miami Ad School, spoke to the organization about a variety of topics, including the current state of the advertising industry, as well as a postgraduate summer “boot camp” and workshops offered through the school’s programs.

ADrenaline president Jonathan Spear said he noticed the posters were missing on Oct. 5.

College of Communication Interim Dean Bill Neher said the posters were removed because they were hung in inappropriate locations around the Fairbanks Center, though he said he does not know who removed the posters.

According to the 2010-11 Student Organization Handbook, “Notices and signs must clearly state the official name of the sponsoring organization or individual, and may be posted only on bulletin boards. Signs posted on departmental bulletin boards should be approved by the appropriate academic department.”

The handbook continues to state that, “Signs may not be posted on the small corkboard space outside of classrooms.”

In addition, “Signs posted on interior and exterior walls, windows, doors, elevators, floors, sidewalks and on any wood or painted surfaces, will be removed.”

Many of the posters were inappropriately posted on interior windows, walls and doors inside the Fairbanks Center however, other posters were left in these locations. There was a legally placed ADrenaline poster on the bulletin board outside of the Collegian office that was removed as well.

Though CCOM Interim Associate Dean Ann Savage said she removed one of the posters to look it over, she said she has no idea who took down the rest of the posters.

But recent interviews conducted by the Butler Collegian reveal that the motive for removal may have gone beyond the posters being inappropriately placed.

Both Savage and Mark Rademacher, strategic communication program director, said they were concerned about the guest speaker from the Miami Ad School due to a possible conflict of interest.

Even though we don’t see this as a conflict of interest because Butler offers no undergraduate nor graduate degrees in advertising, this is not the issue at hand.

What infuriates us is that faculty members within our own CCOM felt they had any right to intervene with the situation. The fact is, student organizations are independent and run by student leaders. They earn money by fundraising and applying for grants through the Student Government Association. They do not receive money from specific colleges.

The Student Organization Handbook says that faculty advisers are there to “Serve as a sounding board off of which students can bounce new ideas; Intervene in conflicts between group members and/or officers if necessary; Be knowledgeable of policies that may impact the organization’s decisions, programs, etc.; Help students navigate administrative ‘red tape’; Provide an outside view or perspective; Provide student groups with University and community connections.”

Other than this, there is no reason why any outside faculty or staff should involve themselves with the ongoings of a student run organization.

This should not apply only to ADrenaline, but to all other student organizations.

One thing that Butler prides itself on is the large number of student organization and the high involvement of Butler students within these organizations.

They facilitate socialization, service and a sense of learning outside the classroom. We think that the colleges and Butler as a whole should be supportive of these organizations and their efforts to bring students together and to bring students a diversity of learning and information.

We at the Butler Collegian see Butler as an institution that prides itself on honest and open discussion. University President Bobby Fong embodies that through his weekly “President’s Open Forum” in Starbucks.

By trying to suppress ADrenaline’s right to act independently and its freedom of speech, we see this as a grave contradiction to what we feel Butler stands for as an institution of higher education.

Between Butler, its six colleges and its student organizations, it is imperative that all act with integrity and professionalism, and we feel that those two factors were missing in the way some faculty within CCOM handled the ADrenaline and Miami Ad School situation.

This issue demands our attention so that students will not feel their programming ideas and projects could be suppressed. That includes student organization’s activities.

We must stand up for the students’ First Amendment privileges so that students do not fear losing these rights.

The BSI is currently accepting applications from students looking to develop research skills next summer.

The Butler Summer Institute is a research opportunity that allows students to spend part of their summer researching in their field of interest through close work with a faculty member.

“Its primary purpose is to provide students an opportunity to become researchers, to move from the classroom where you’re thinking about how research is done to actually making that leap to becoming someone who creates scholarship research,” BSI Director Mariangela Maguire said.

Maguire said she believes that many students consider research as something that only scientists do, but Butler encourages students in all fields to get involved in the BSI.

“One of our goals is to make it clear that research, creative work and scholarship happen in all academic disciplines,” Maguire said.

Senior Casey Brege participated in this past summer’s program, focusing on the field of musicology and researching the critical reception over time of the opera “Nixon” in China.

“It’s a good learning experience,” Brege said.

Maguire stressed that by working on real research problems, students are given a preview of the kind of research that is done in their field and gives them the opportunity to work closely with a faculty member.

Brege said what she liked about the project was that it allowed her to take charge of the research, with the faculty member serving only as an adviser.

Senior Alissa Fritz was also a BSI student this summer.

Her research was in the field of psychology, examining how different contexts affect people’s memory.

“It was one of the best experiences I’ve had at Butler,” Fritz said. “It’s helped me prepare for graduate school.”

Luanne McNulty, chair of the Holcomb Undergraduate Grants Committee, said the process of submitting a proposal to the BSI includes formulating a research proposal that is then evaluated by the committee before they are accepted into the program.

“The BSI Committee is responsible for evaluating the proposals. We use a rubric to rank [them],” McNulty said.

For example, the committee evaluates how the project would fit into the field of study.

She said the program has a budget and must carefully consider each proposal to make sure it raises an important research question.

About 30 students are accepted into the program each year.

At the end of the research period, students present their research findings.

“The presentations are wonderful examples of what the students can do,” McNulty said.

BSI can be very helpful to honors students in particular, Fritz said.

“[The BSI] served as the foundation for what I’m going to write my honors thesis about,” she said.

Both Brege and Fritz said BSI brought together students from various fields, as there are activities for all the students to participate in as a community.

“It was a really good experience to get to know students in different fields,” Fritz said.

Both students and faculty said they agree that a program like the BSI has a major impact on a student’s education.

The result is often a “tremendous growth in confidence in a student’s ability to identify important questions and take responsibility for producing results every day,” Maguire said.

Both Brege and Fritz said that the BSI experience was a stepping stone that prepared them for future.

“I would definitely encourage it, especially if you are looking to go to graduate school,” Brege said.

Students also get the opportunity to pursue their interests outside of normal study during the academic school year, McNulty said.

“The students seem to benefit a lot in terms of expanding their knowledge base,” McNulty said.

There will be an informational meeting for interested students on Oct. 26.

In any sport, there are three types of athletes: those that you’d like to have on your team, those that you’d love to have on your team, and those, if at all possible, that you must have on your team.

Sophomore Katie Clark would fall into the third category for the Butler women’s cross country team.

Clark has been making a name for herself in a big way since becoming a Bulldog last year. The U.K. native is one of the team’s top runners this season and has been racking up hardware since she came to Indianapolis.

But Clark didn’t start taking running seriously until she was 16.

“I started [run club] when I was 10, but it was more of a social activity,” Clark said. “I actually quit for a while once I turned 14.”

After a short time, Clark realized that she  missed running and said she was actually “addicted” to it.

“I was running on the track one day, and my future coach [Andy Railton] spotted me there and took me under his wing,” Clark said.

The companionship paid off for Clark.

In 2008, she was ranked 11th out of all U.K. female high school runners in the 5000 meter run.

Once Clark arrived at Butler in 2009, she noticed some key differences between cross country in the United Kingdom and at Butler.

“We train early in the morning here, whereas I was usually running around six in the evening back home,” Clark said. “We put in so many more miles here too.”

“At home, my longest run was usually about 45 minutes long, and here our shortest runs are an hour long.”

Clark handled these changes in stride and had an impressive freshman campaign.

Her top performances were a victory at the Purdue Great American Legends Meet, a runner-up showing at the Horizon League Championship and a fifth place finish at the Indiana Intercollegiate Meet.

“I’m not really sure how I was able to have so much success [my freshman year],” Clark said. “I guess I had to prove that I was worthy of the full scholarship that I received.

“For a while, every race was like I had never run that hard before,” Clark said.

With the success came accolades and awards for Clark.

She was named the Horizon League Cross Country Runner of the Week following her performance last year at the Notre Dame Invitational, earning that same honor this season after her showing in the same meet.

Clark also earned a spot on the All-Horizon League first team and collected the Horizon League Cross Country Female Athlete of the Year honor.

“The Horizon League Cross Country Female Athlete of the Year award was definitely my favorite one from that season,” Clark said.

This season is no different. Clark finished 46th at the Notre Dame Invitational and she made her way to a 12th place finish at the Indiana Intercollegiate Meet.

Still, she is never satisfied and looks to improve as the season, and her cross country career, go on.

“I like running personal bests, and I just want to put myself in a better position [to succeed] than I was in the year before,” Clark said.

That mindset will certainly help Clark with her running aspirations for the remainder of her collegiate career.

She has multiple goals that she’d like to accomplish over the next few years, with one of them flowing over to her spring sport, track and field.

“I’d like to get to the National Championships in cross country and track,” Clark said. “I’d like to be an All-American too.”

Clark also had prosperous indoor and outdoor freshman track seasons.

In the indoor Horizon League Championship meet, Clark was victorious in the 3000 meter run, earning All-Horizon League Honors in the process. In the outdoor version of the same meet, she grabbed third place finishes in both the 800 meter run and the 1500 meter run.

Clark said running has “taken over her life” in college, and it will not become a thing of the past for Clark when she leaves Butler.

“I’m going to keep running road races,” Clark said. “I want to try some half-marathons and marathons.

“I just can’t see myself not running in the future.”

Keeping on top of classes can be hard enough for any college student. For those who can find time for activities and interests other than their own, their efforts may receive some deserved recognition.

Every year, Butler University recognizes its best and brightest students by measuring their academic success, service to the community and interest in the improvement and success of the university and their fellow students. Students can be nominated by other University faculty, staff and students.

The Program designed to acknowledge the talent and dedication of students, is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year.

All students who are nominated for the program are given the opportunity to fill out an application to be judged by a panel of faculty from each academic college, student affairs, academic affairs and athletics, as well as other staff members and alumni. These groups judge the first of the two rounds on the process.

Applications are due by Oct. 24.

In the first round, the judging panel selects the “Top 100” from the many nominees.

After the top 100 is selected, those students have the opportunity to move to the second round by submitting their application along with three letters of recommendation to a new judging panel.

This second judging panel is made up of different representatives of the same groups: academic colleges, student affairs, academic affairs, athletics, faculty, staff and alumni.

During the second round of evaluation, the judging panel selects the top 10 Men and top 10 Women from the top 100, as well as selecting the Most Outstanding Man and the Most Outstanding Woman.

At the banquet, each of the top students, the top 10 groups and all top 100 students are honored and recognized, according to Jennie Jones associate director of alumni and parent programs.

The students chosen as recipients of the Most Outstanding Student Award are acknowledged for being admirable students and community members.

“They reflect outstanding character, scholarship, engaged citizenship, leadership and commitment to fostering diversity,” Jones said.

The program specifically looks for students who give back to the university and community unselfishly, who are held in high regards by the administration and who take an interest in continuing to contribute to the success of Butler University after graduation.

Ryan Waggoner, 2010 Butler graduate, was the recipient of the Most Outstanding Man Award last year and was extremely honored to have been nominated and selected as the male winner.

“I was really surprised when they called my name, and I was super caught off guard when they asked me to step forward in front of hundreds of people and give an acceptance speech,” Waggoner said.

Since graduation, Waggoner got married and moved to Malibu, Calif., to attend law school at Pepperdine University.

“I really like California,” Waggoner said. “Law school is hard but interesting. I’ve never worked this intensely in my life.

“Its like finals week at Butler, every week of the year,” Waggoner said. “But, I’m adjusting.”

Waggoner said he and his wife hope to move back to their hometown of Franklin, Ind. because “Indiana is the best state in the country. Believe that.”

Being named to the top 100, not to mention receiving the Most Outstanding Student Award, is one of the most prestigious and honorable awards a student can receive while at Butler University.

“It was really humbling to be recognized in such a meaningful way in front of the best students at the university. It was a storybook ending to a four-year fairy tale that I lived during my time at Butler,” Waggoner said.

Christina Lear, also a 2010 graduate, was  presented with last year’s Most Outstanding Woman Award and said her sister now calls her “the Gordon Hayward of homework.”

“I think the greatest thing about receiving the award is becoming a part of a Butler legacy,” Lear said. “One cool thing about the banquet is that they always print all the previous award winners’ names on the program.  I’m a big Butler history nerd, so I feel really lucky to have my name on that and to be part of Butler tradition.”

Lear said the honor was an excellent way to finish up her already enjoyable college career.

“I really threw myself wholeheartedly into life at this university and tried to leave my mark,” she said. “I would have felt proud of everything I worked for without or without the award, but of course it was nice to be recognized for all my hard work and Butler passion.”

Lear is now working as a corps member for Teach for America and is based at Arsenal Tech, a public high school on the east side of downtown Indianapolis. She is teaching English, reading and advertising, as well as starting on her masters degree in education from Marion University.

“Right now, I am still trying to adjust to my new roles as a teacher and ‘real world’ adult,” she said.  “It is very strange to go from being a college student and still feeling slightly like a kid to suddenly being responsible for the education of 90 teenagers.

“I feel like I grow up years every day.”

Lear, who recently bought a house in Broad Ripple, said she enjoys staying close to her Butler roots.

“Unlike that West coast-dweller Ryan Wagonner, I am only a bike ride away down the canal, so Butler hasn’t seen the last of me,” Lear said. “I actually still use the Butler library all the time to do research for teaching, so some things haven’t changed.”

The top 100 students will be announced on Nov. 29, and the Most Outstanding Man and Woman will be announced April 1, 2011.

Sounds of the 90s filled the air as The Backstreet Boys “I Want It That Way” echoed through the room.

The audience sitting down hummed along, while people on stage danced to the beat.

It was all part of the annual event known as Hands on Fire and the performers on stage were deaf.

Hands on Fire is hosted by Butler University’s American Sign Language Club.

The event featured performances by Butler’s American Sign Language club, the Southport ASL Club and students from Indiana’s school for the Deaf.

Senior Lindsey Joo, Butler ASL Club president, said she felt the event was a huge success this year because it received such a great turn out from members of both the deaf and hearing communities.

Joo said she joined the ASL Club as a junior after taking ASL 3 and volunteering at the Indiana School for the Deaf.

She said she became interested in the language because it is so misunderstood.

“Compared to most spoken languages, American Sign Language has a very interesting history,” Joo said. “For a very long time, it was not even considered a language. Many universities did not offer ASL as a foreign language option until recently, and many more still don’t to this day.

“Even fewer people know or understand much about deaf culture, so that’s why working with ASL Club is important to me.”

This year, Hands on Fire ventured away from its usual skits and stories briefly to pay tribute to a fallen member of the deaf community, Bob Canty.

Glenn Carlstrand, friend and colleague of Canty, spoke at the event to honor his friend, who attended the event just last year.

Carlstrand said Canty’s greatest passion was working with deaf students and talking with hearing students studying ASL about their progression with the language.

“[Canty] was the kindest and nicest man. He was a great story teller, that was really his love. He just loved telling stories,” Carlstrand said.

Dave Calvert, another friend of Canty, performed an interpretive dance to the song “Love in Any Language,” by Sandi Patty.

Joo said she was truly pleased with all of the stories shared and with all of the performances that took place.

She said she believes Hands on Fire gets better every single year .

“I think, at the very simplest level, people should treat deaf culture like they do any other culture,” Joo said. “They should learn about it and, at the very minimum, respect it. “

Butler’s ASL Club is open to people of all signing levels and all meetings are easily understood by people who may not be familiar with signing, Joo said.

“Our goal is to spread awareness of American Sign Language and deaf culture on campus,” Joo said.