2007-08 - Pitzer College

316 LIFE ON CAMPUS
LIFE ON CAMPUS
Writing Skills Center
Avery Hall, First Floor. The goal of the Writing Skills Center is to provide a place where
students may go when they need help with a variety of college writing tasks. The Center
staff is available to help students understand the entire process of writing an essay,
report, or research paper from the generation of ideas to the final draft. Drop-in hours are
posted at the beginning of each semester. Writing tutors, both faculty and student staff,
are also available by appointment. www.pitzer.edu/academics/writing_center.
Computer Facilities
The Bernard Hall computing facility includes two open-use laboratories with both
Macintosh and IBM compatible PCs. These machines are intended primarily for use in
electronic communications, instruction, and research. All have multi-media capability
and are directly attached to the Pitzer College network with internet access. Both labs
have 24-hour accessibility.
The Parson Foundation Computer Machine Room in Broad Hall houses Network, E-mail,
Web, FTP file and print servers for use by the Pitzer community. All buildings on campus
are inter-connected with a fiber-optic based network which provides access to computers
located at the other Claremont Colleges, the Honnold Libraries’ electronic services
(including their on-line catalogue and various bibliographic databases), and a high speed
connection to the Internet.
The Kenneth and Jean Pitzer Computer Classroom in Broad Hall houses 18 PC
workstations. The Social Sciences Statistics Laboratory in Broad Hall houses 10 PC
computers for the use of Social Science faculty and students in statistical research and
instruction. The Fletcher Jones/Booth Ferris Language Laboratory houses 16 computers
for use in language instruction. Broad Hall rooms 210 and 214 provide a full service
multi-media classroom, including data/video projection teaching station laptop PC,
document camera, DVD player, video/audio play and record, etc.
Normal computer usage of these facilities (including access to the Internet) is available
without charge to Pitzer students and faculty. Laser printing and color printing are
available for a nominal fee.
The Ecology Center
The Ecology Center, located upstairs in the Grove House, sponsors activities, workshops
and lectures, serves as a clearinghouse for environmental information, provides
opportunities for community-based internships in environmental fields, acts as a campus
watchdog, and houses a resource center. The College has adopted the following Statement of
Environmental Policy and Principles: Pitzer College strives to incorporate socially and
environmentally sound practices into the operations of the college and the education of
our students. Pitzer exists within inter-reliant communities that are affected by personal
and institutional choices, and the College is mindful of the consequences of our practices.
A Pitzer education should involve not just a mastery of ideas, but a life lived accordingly.
We are thus committed to principles of sustainability, and dedicated to promoting
awareness and knowledge of the impacts of our actions on human and natural communities.
Gold Student Center
The 12,000 square foot Gold student Center opened in 1995, complete with a fitness room,
swimming pool, the student-run Shakedown Café, a multipurpose room, art gallery,
meeting room, and student organization space. Pitzer Activities (PAct) is based here, and
a broad array of services to the campus community are provided through the service desk.
Grove House
Originally built as the home of a Claremont citrus grower, the Grove House was saved
from potential demolition by moving it to the Pitzer Campus, north of Mead Hall, in
1977. Here at Pitzer the house has a new lease on life, serving as a campus social center.
Built in 1902, during the height of what has been termed the American Arts and Crafts
Movement, it is an impressive architectural example of the California bungalow style,
characteristic of that period. Restored and furnished in a manner appropriate to its
heritage, the Grove House provides students, faculty, and visitors with comfortable
spaces to meet, study, or have lunch. The Grove House kitchen offers a daily menu
including a homemade lunch entree, sandwiches, bagels, fresh baked cookies, coffee, tea,
and an assortment of fresh juices. Other spaces in the house include The Ecology Center,
The Bert Meyers Poetry Room, the Hinshaw Art Gallery, a women’s center, a guest room,
and meeting room. The house also regularly hosts a variety of events, including poetry
readings and band performances.
Institutional Research Office
The Institutional Research Office functions in a strategic role to integrate data and
information to enhance planning and advance the academic and residential mission of
the College. To learn more about the College, go to our Institutional Research web page
at: www.pitzer.edu/offices/institutional_research
W.M. Keck Science Center
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This modern and spacious building of 81,000 sq. ft. provides a teaching location for most
of the science courses offered by the Joint Science Department of Pitzer, Scripps, and
Claremont McKenna Colleges. These classroom and laboratory facilities are fully
equipped with modern instruments for student use. Chemistry experiments and projects
may be conducted with the use of sophisticated analytical tools such as
visible/ultraviolet, infrared, atomic absorption and nuclear magnetic resonance
spectrophotometers, gas chromatographs, and a high-performance liquid chromatograph,
a GC-mass spectrometer, fluorescence spectrophotometer, and a diode-array UV-visible
spectrophotometer. Biology students have access to such advanced equipment as a
scintillation counter, thermal cycler for PCR, UV/vis spectrophotometer, ultracentrifuges,
electrophoresis apparatus, fluorescence microscope with camera attachment, and sterile
room for tissue culture work, equipment for neurobiological research, and a vivarium.
The department owns a field vehicle and field equipment for marine, freshwater, and
terrestrial studies in ecology and environmental science. A biological field station is
adjacent to the campuses and students have access to field stations in the Sierra Nevada
Mountains and on the pacific coast of Costa Rica. Physics students have access to 2