Jay Burns

As the editorial director for the Bates Communications Office, Jay guides Bates Magazine and BatesNews.

jburns@bates.edu

Stories by Jay Burns
Track is a game of centimeters for this Bobcat sprinter

Thursday, February 2, 2023 2:36 pm

After setting a Bates sprint record by one one-hundredth of a second, Colby Stakun-Pickering was asked what a centisecond looks like at the finish line. The math and physics double major had a quick answer.

From Bates History: Bib, trowel, and a pinback Bates button

Thursday, February 2, 2023 1:21 pm

Here are a few items from the Muskie Archives and Special Collections Library, including an item worn during autumn haze days decades ago.

Stacy Lynn Waddell (Washington, D.C., 1966) The Dawn of Our Kindred Sower of Parable (for Octavia Butler) 2020 22-karat gold leaf on canvas Stacy Lynn Waddell's portrait celebrates author Octavia E. Butler on a monumental scale, using the allure of a brilliant, untarnished gold surface to draw our attention to her face. The first science fiction writer to receive a MacArthur Genius Award (in 1995) and the first Black woman recognized in this field, Butler was a pioneer. She wrote over fifteen books addressing questions of race, sex, and power. Butler's 1993 book Parable of the Sower envisions a dystopian America of the 2020s, proposing an alternative philosophy to a world of rampant corporate greed, environmental damage, and wealth inequality. (From the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum)
This Just In: A sampling of recent Bates faculty articles (and what they mean)

Friday, January 27, 2023 1:26 pm

From cannibal nihilism in literature to "loan pairs" in molecules, a few recent scholarly articles by Bates professors, including what it all means in easy-to-grasp language.

Take care, Dr. Shah

Friday, January 13, 2023 12:47 pm

Dr. Nirav Shah, director of the state CDC and something of a Maine folk hero, delivered a wonderful Commencement address in May. He is set to become the No. 2 leader at the U.S. Centers for Disease and Control and Prevention.

38 items in the Bates library’s lost and found on Jan. 11, 2023

Thursday, January 12, 2023 10:26 am

Tea, toothpase, and a formal bow tie: Unfound items awaiting their losers — hmm, that didn't sound right — on the first day of the winter semester here on campus.

Martin Luther King Jr. Day 2023 at Bates: Creative offerings explore ‘Art and Activism’

Tuesday, January 10, 2023 2:34 pm

A generous menu of creative events — all offered in person and open to the public — awaits attendees at this year’s MLK Day observance at Bates.

The brand new Bates Food Truck arrives at the Commons lock midday on Friday, Dec. 2, 2022. It will take about two weeks before it is up and running. Exterior design by Olivia Orr of the Bates Communications Office. Todd McCollough and John Lajoie left Wednesday from South Bend, Ind., where they picked up the truck and drove 11,160 miles to Lewiston, Maine. Lajoie drove and McCollough was the co-pilot and navigator. They were met at Commons by colleagues, including and Chrstine Schwartz, Cheryl Lacy. Other students and staff who passed by stepped into the truck’s interior at Schwartz’s invitation to check it out. Three students inside the truck, from left to right are sophomores Lucas Jordan, Adrian Allannic, and Ethan Rayburn. Allannic said: “It’s beautiful. I am very excited to see what’s coming out of here.” Student alone in truck is Owen Chang.
Bates’ top 10 Instagram and Facebook posts in 2022

Thursday, December 15, 2022 4:10 pm

The results are in. From millions of impressions, reactions, and engagements on Bates Facebook and Bates Instagram, here are the top 10 posts of each channel n 2022.

And now: The answer to how ancient plants could live on dry land

Thursday, December 8, 2022 1:28 pm

Researchers including Bates biologist Brett Huggett answer a long-unanswered question: how early plants made the big move to dry-land living 400 million years ago.

13 favorite Bates sportraits from the fall season

Friday, December 2, 2022 12:52 pm

Bobcats talk about their creative sports portraits. "We have to remember that sport is a performance, and athletes are performers," explains Amy Bass '92, an expert in sport, culture, and society.

13 insights about the 2022 midterms from Bates politics professors

Friday, November 18, 2022 12:56 pm

What the pundits got wrong, why a new same-sex marriage law doesn't make constitutional sense, and why election denying isn't a strong strategy;.

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