Pitzer College dorms become award-winners

Last fall, there was plenty of buzz about the completion and dedication of the first wave of new environmentally friendly residence halls on the Pitzer College campus.

It’s nearly one year later and the residence halls are already receiving significant acclaim.

The Atherton, Pitzer and Sanborn Halls were awarded Gold Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification by the US Green Building Council (USGBC) back in May and also received a 2007 City of Claremont Excellence in Design Award from the Claremont Architectural Commission in June.

“It’s a recognition of a well-done process,” Pitzer College President Laura Trombley told the COURIER in June. “People were really dedicated to the project and worked really hard to make it happen. It’s really opened up a whole new part of the campus and the students just love living there.”

Pitzer College became the first Claremont College to receive the Gold LEED certification for its 3 newer residence halls, a recognition that is only held by a select few colleges and universities in the country. The Gold LEED certification is a distinction awarded by the USGBC, a nonprofit membership organization whose vision is a sustainable built environment within a generation. LEED represents the rating system the award is based on, which is broken down into 6 different categories: Sustainable sites, water efficiency, energy and atmosphere, materials and resources, indoor environmental quality, and innovation and design.

The dorms contain 318 beds, 3 community living rooms, a large community courtyard containing 3 thematic gardens and the existing swimming pool, 25 study rooms, a shared community kitchen, apartments for faculty members and more. Built “green” and with sustainability in mind, some of the features of the dormitories include light pollution reduction, water-efficient landscaping, building materials made of recycled and local content and photovoltaic roof panels. It is those types of features that also won them the Excellence in Design recognition in the area of new construction and sustainability.

“Pitzer College is to be congratulated for achieving Gold LEED certification,” said USGBC President, CEO and Founding Chair Rick Fedrizzi in a released statement. “These facilities are ones that the community can be proud of. Pitzer College will be a showcase for high-performance, energy-efficient, healthy living and an inspiration for others.” (story continues below)

COURIER photo/Gabriel Fenoy

Earlier this year, the new Pitzer College dorms became the first residence halls within the Claremont Colleges to receive Gold Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design by the US Green Building Council. An outdoor patio area in Atherton Hall is pictured here.

Not only built with the environment in mind, the residence halls—part of the Pitzer College Housing Master Plan—were also meant to be places of both formal and informal learning and places that encourage more student interaction. Pitzer students were also involved in the original planning of the project that also included Pitzer faculty, staff and alumni.

According to Jim Marchant, Pitzer College’s dean of students, the goal of more student interaction has been reached with the new dormitories also helping to create more of a student presence at the campus’ student center as well.

“It’s had an impact on the community and the students,” Mr. Marchant said. “It has created a strong sense of community in providing communal spaces where students are interacting outside of class. We’ve been successful in that.”

Pitzer’s 3 newest residence halls represent just one phase of the Housing Master Plan’s Residential Life Project. The plan calls for 4 more dormitories to be built, bringing the total number of new dorms to 7 once the Residential Life Project is completed. When the 3-phase building project is finished, Pitzer College will have the chance to become the first college in the nation to have all Gold LEED certified dormitories.

“We had been planning building the residence halls for years,” Mr. Marchant pointed out. “We’re happy with our 318 beds and most of our occupants in the newer residence halls are first year students. Now we plan to build more residence halls over the next few years with our ultimate plan being to eventually have all new residence halls on campus.”

Forecasting the NFC North?

OK, kids. Science experiment time.

Materials you'll need: Four ping pong balls with logos of each NFC North team on one ball apiece; one of those giant lottery-style water cooler tanks; and an official-looking guy with graying hair in a nice suit.

Now, take those ping pong balls and place them in the water cooler tank. Once inserted, have the balls rattle around for a bit, and get the official-looking guy in the suit to pull one of the four balls out. Which team's logo came up?

That's my pick for the NFC North title this season.

Got a better idea? Let me know.

If ever there was a crapshoot of a division, it's the 2008 NFC North. Pick a team; any team. Throughout the division, there are question marks, confusion, and chaos.

There's less drama on an episode of "The Hills" than what's been going on in Green Bay the past few weeks. Detroit's got a completely new offensive coordinator, backfield and defense. Chicago's got two new offensive linemen, a pair of historically inconsistent quarterbacks signed to "deal or no-deal" one-year contracts and not one legitimate NFL first option at receiver. As for everybody's preseason NFC North favorite? The team that several pundits are donning the leading contenders in the NFC? Well, Minnesota has more hype surrounding it this season than Guns N' Roses' long-awaited "Chinese Democracy" album. Of course, their leading man under center doesn't have quite as many fans as Axl Rose.

And that's not saying much.

In truth, the 2008 NFC North is an eclectic mix of young and unproven quarterbacks, coaches on the hot seat, offensive question marks, defensive enigmas, potential locker room chasms and a never-ending list of individuals who must live up to potentially unachievable high expectations. In other words, this puppy is wide the heck open.

The defending champs

Let's start with Green Bay. Like Christmas or the first snowstorm, the Brett Favre "Will He or Won't He Retire" media circus has become a rite of passage every winter. We're used to it by now. This year, though, it seemed like the circus had seen its last hoorah. Barnum and Bailey were hanging it up. And so was Favre.

Six months later, we've got Hall of Fame sportswriters reporting about unanswered text messages from No. 4 as if that's news, interviews with Greta Van Susteren and 24-7 around-the-clock coverage on every uttered word like it's Watergate. Favre stole the July 4th sports weekend right from the Yankees, Red Sox, Kobayashi and Joey Chestnut — with the cable sports channels loading up on interviews with local Green Bay bartenders, bar patrons and uninformed Favre family members. Basically, everyone with a 920 area code not named Brett Favre became a credible news source.

This week has been absolute mayhem, too. It's made the A-Rod-Madonna media madness from seven days ago seem like a quaint stroll in the park.

Of course, whatever happens in Green Bay — whether Favre stays and starts at quarterback (absurd), Favre stays and backs up Aaron Rodgers (foolish) or Favre goes somewhere else (bizarre) — the Packers are worse off than they were a month ago. Say what you want about maturity and the growth process, but Rodgers was as ready as he'll ever be to start for the Green Bay Packers the day the 2007 season ended. This circus isn't helping the kid in any way. He's not "overcoming adversity" here. He's dealing with nonsense. If anything, it's put even more unwanted attention and media spotlight on the guy. Can't a kid just play football already?

And no matter what moves Ted Thompson and Mike McCarthy make in the chessboard that's become the Favre Game, they'll be rubbing some folks in Packer Nation the wrong way. Trade him, and Thompson's the evil villain giving away the longtime face of the franchise. Bench him for an inexperienced 20-something, and McCarthy's an idiot. Start him, and you're both men who've betrayed the young kid. Your move, fellas. Nope, not a precarious situation at all.

Yet, through all this madness remains a team that went 13-3 last season, won its division with ease, and was just a few plays away from a Super Bowl berth. Most of that very same squad returns — a year older, a year wiser — focused for a division title defense.

This Favre stuff is a circus, yes. And the fans may be split as to what they want to see happen. But if the Packers start the season 3-0 with Rodgers at quarterback, they won't exactly be losing sleep over Favre tossing interceptions for Tampa Bay or a non-contender like Houston. If he's with the Vikings, Lions, or Bears, though ... well, that's a whole other story.

Green Bay, as of mid-July, could end up one of many different teams two months from now. A Favre-led title contender, a Rodgers-led title contender, a Rodgers-led dud, a Favre-led nightmare. How's one supposed to handicap a team that's clearly so undefined? You really can't.

The offensively challenged

If Green Bay's immediate future resembles a twister, Chicago's is a murky, drizzling rain. Readers of my work over the past few months know I've not exactly been kind to the Monsters of the Midway. In short, I hate their quarterback situation, question their running back situation, get sick thinking about their receivers and don't trust their suddenly inexperienced offensive line. But aside from that, they're great!

In truth, the Bears' strength has never been its offense anyway, and the defense — with a healthy Mike Brown and an apparently happy Tommie Harris — is really not that much different than the 2006 unit that finished third in the league in defense, forced a league-high 23 fumbles and led Chicago to its first conference championship in 21 years. The D was banged up last season. They should be back in full force this year.

And what if Grossman finally delivers on a weekly basis? Or Matt Forte and Kevin Jones mesh perfectly in the Chicago backfield? What if the receivers and the offensive line do enough to get by? A lot of "what if's", sure, but who knows? Chicago could be OK, after all. Drizzling rain or glimmering rainbow of hope — you can't argue with either forecast.

The chronically bad

In the Motor City, fans aren't expecting much. After a promising 6-2 start in '07, the Lions did just as they've done every season since the Matt Millen era began in 2001 — collapsed, missed the playoffs, and finished in third place or worse in the division standings. As he did last off-season, Jon Kitna's "guaranteed" 10 wins again this year. Hopefully, he'll be able to stay on his feet long enough to see it happen. Kitna was sacked more than any other quarterback in the NFL last season.

But they shook things up in Detroit this offseason. There's hope! Gone is Mike Martz's pass happy/sack happy offense. Gone is the Kevin Jones and T.J. Duckett duo at RB. And gone is Shaun Rogers in the middle. In comes a newly-installed offense from '07 offensive line coach Jim Colletto. In comes rookie Kevin Smith, the leading rusher in the college game last year. In comes a new offensive lineman from B.C., rookie Gosder Cherilus. The Lions defense, a unit that gave up both the most points and yards per game in the entire league last season, has three new starters in the defensive backfield.

Yet, for all these changes, it's hardly been the extreme makeover from top to bottom that Detroit so desperately needs.

It seems as though each August, some pundit pegs the Lions as the NFC's "darkhorse" sleeper. There will most likely be some more talking heads doing that this year. Alas, they'll likely be wrong again.

The summertime champs

Which leads us to everybody's summertime NFC champs: the Minnesota Vikings. Minnesota has received rave reviews for its off-season activity and has been practically handed the 2008 NFC North title by pundits across the board. Rarely do we see teams get so much mid-summer hype. But there's something worth noting about summertime champions — they're rarely the ones hoisting the Lombardi Trophy in February.

Sure, the acquisition of Jared Allen solidified Minnesota as owners of arguably the most dominant offensive and defensive lines in the entire league. The Bernard Berrian pickup was a no-brainer, too. Madieu Williams adds another tough safety to an already solid defensive backfield as well.

But I'm a bit hesitant crowning any team that finished 8-8 a year ago anything, let alone labeling them as conference favorites.

After all, pressure and lofty expectations are a curious beast. Especially with a 25-year-old quarterback who's thrown just 11 career touchdowns leading the way. Keep in mind, this is a franchise that hasn't won a conference championship in 32 years; a franchise that has experienced postseason football just once in the past seven years; a franchise with a fan base as passionate as any other in the league. Minnesota fans want this. Hell, Minnesota fans need this.

Is Tarvaris Jackson going to be able to live up to these expectations? Is he going to be able to stay confident when the fans turn on him and are calling for John David Booty? It's a fragile situation. And one that has the potential to explode. As is the case with their three NFC North rivals, we'll have to wait and see.

As of mid-July, I'm going to slate the NFC North as anybody's division to win. It's truly a crapshoot.

Picking a winner? Well, your best bet is investing in some ping pong balls and a water cooler tank

Thanks '4' the memories, but it's either retirement or the AFC

The reason in a nutshell is that you have to start looking into the future.

I've heard from some of the hundreds of pundits who have weighed in, 'Who gives you a better chance to win?' They all seem to agree that it's Favre.

I'm not completely sure that's true—see his 2005 and 2006 performances. But even with the assumption that the 2008 Packers would be better with No. 4, I'd argue that if they don't think he can get them to the Super Bowl it's smarter to start the Aaron Rodgers era now.

The Packers will have growing pains no matter when it starts and you might as well start now when the team is pretty good and the division is this bad.

If Favre comes back and is handed the reins, you can forget about the Rodgers era, because he'll need to be traded.

From what I've read and heard about Rodgers and his teammates, he has been a different individual this offseason. He's been more confident, he's shown more leadership qualities, and if he's sent back to the bench, all that gets sidelined with him.

His confidence and likely his trust in the organization is shot, not to mention that his progression as an NFL quarterback is set back another year. At some point, a quarterback ceases to learn anything while watching from the sideline.

At that point the Packers would have to trade Rodgers and start grooming Brian Brohm as the heir apparent. Of course, Favre's not going to be willing to help Brohm, and unless Favre announces his retirement on a stretcher, there's no way Brohm could feel safe after being announced as the starter.

So the Packers bring back Favre. Now they might win another division title, lose in the playoffs because Favre can no longer handle the pressure unless he's playing Seattle, then enjoy his maybe-I-am-maybe-I'm-not retiring party again next spring, and then for the next few seasons Packer fans get a trip back to the 1980s when the team was awful.

So if you don't want Favre the obvious question is what do you do with him?

Certainly Thompson can't release him and let him go to Chicago or Minnesota. Not because he's great anymore, but because a blind monkey is better than the Grossman/Orton combo or Tavaris Jackson.

So Favre would improve either team thus making two more games more difficult.

Instead, the team should trade Favre to an AFC team or a non-competitive NFC team and not have to suffer the short-term consequences while improving the team's long-term possibilities.

While Thompson could wait out Favre and probably force him to stay retired, that also doesn't do the team any good. He should get rid of the drama and all the distractions now before training camp starts and this corrupts the locker room and leaves the starting quarterback constantly looking over his shoulder.

The Modern Mixologist

Tony Abou-Ganim, currently featured on the Iron Chef America competition with Mario Batali, "Battle Mango", just released his first DVD “Modern Mixology: Making Great Cocktails at Home” (February 2007).

Most notably featured demonstrating the art of cocktail preparation on the Fine Living Network program “Raising the Bar: America’s Best Bar Chefs,” grew up in the bar business, learning the craft from his cousin Helen David at the Brass Rail Bar in Port Huron, Michigan.

Tony's initial introduction to the business was steeped in the tradition of classic cocktails and professional barmanship, grooming him to become a leader in the beverage industry.

Mixologist

At the Ravari Room, it's all about the music. And for Ravari Room bartender Donovan Roth, it's all about, you guessed it — the music.

He's been serving happy-hour PBRs at the dimly lit, dual-sided bar since it opened four years ago. His past employers read like a laundry list of Columbus' live music venues: Byrne's, High Five and Little Brother's, and he also plays with the band Sick Thrills.

How would you describe this bar?

It's different every day. Like, Tuesday is karaoke night, so you get all these crazy people that want to be freaks on stage. And Wednesdays, he's in and out, but Tony Monaco plays here.

We support touring bands a lot, so it can be anything from jazz to metal to bluegrass, or rockabilly or punk rock, anything.

What kinds of crowds do you get?

Pretty much 85 or 90 percent of the people who come here are either musicians or artists.

What's the most common drink order?

We have a lot of PBR drinkers. During happy hour, PBR drafts are $1. But after happy hour, they're $1.50.

What do you enjoy most about bartending?

I just like figuring people out. I think because as long as I've been working in the bar business, I consider that I have a degree in psychology. I mean, if you think of all the people I've been meeting — they're going from sober to drunk, that's like four different personalities anyway.

What's the worst part?

When it's dead — when it's really slow. Don't look at your watch ... because every minute's an hour.

So it sounds like this is a career for you?

I guess so. I mean, after how many years? Twelve years? Yeah. That's a long time.

The thing is, it's kind of just a side thing because I play in bands, and last year one of my bands toured Europe for two months.

Is there a drink you hate to make?

I hate making "one of" — you know, somebody wants just one of a drink, and then they keep coming back and ordering it again and again. If somebody wants to order a really fancy shot or a drink — especially a shot — order five of them for your friends.

What do you like to drink?

Right now, I'm not drinking. Every year, I take like two months off ... 'cause I save a lot of money. But when I do drink, I drink Pabst and Old Grand-Dad bourbon.

Where else do you like to hang out when you're off work?

I love Bourbon Street.

Donovan Roth's specialty drink

Hawaiian Punch

1 oz. Southern Comfort

1/2 oz. amaretto

Splash of pineapple juice, grenadine

SAN FRANCISCO (Map, News) - In a saloon town such as San Francisco, the bartender plays a crucial role. Confessor, friend, sounding board — the man or woman behind the plank sees to it that our needs are met with elegance, grace and often wit. They see humanity at its best and most convivial, but also offer a nod and a welcome to the lonely. But what do they see when they look at us? What are the tricks of their trade? And what lessons have they learned along the way? In this Examiner weekly feature, we talk to some of our local bartenders to find out.

The Cosmopolitan

121 Spear St., San Francisco; (415) 543-4001; www.thecosmopolitancafe.com

When we met up with Katrine Alendal, a bartender at The Cosmpolitan, we were a little concerned. The poor girl was sporting a black eye and a busted lip. Then we learned that this pretty blonde from Norway is a fighter — the kind you see on television using a blend of martial-arts styles to kick the absolute life out of their opponents. Her fighting career has allowed her to accomplish some pretty amazing feats: She was one of the first women to fight in the ring that once featured Muhammad Ali in the Philippines. Don’t let her brute force intimidate you, though. Not only is she full of interesting conversation, she sure knows how to shake up a cocktail. You’ll leave wanting more of both.

How long have you been in San Francisco? Since the mid-’90s.

What brought you out here? The San Francisco Art Institute. I got my degree there in photography.

And you’re a fighter? Yes, I started with Muay Thai, and my instructor thought I should enter a smoker [a competition for amateur fighters]. It’s a full-contact fight. And then my Jiu-Jitsu instructor said I should do a tournament.

Do you not have to wear a helmet? Is your face protected? Yes. Your face is fully covered, that’s just from training. I train with some really talented girls and they definitely go hard, which is good, so when I go into a fight, I’m not shocked.

Do you ever drink before a fight, to take the edge off? No, no.

How’d you get into bartending? Since I was at the Art Institute, I thought, “How can I make enough money to pursue my passion?” So I started cocktailing and then eventually bartending. It’s a small establishment and my bosses are really caring.

Do your co-workers come see your fights? Well, my last fight was in Manila [Philippines].

Really? Isn’t that awesome? I’m fulfilling my dreams. My goal is to live an extraordinary life, and I’m doing that so far.

You’ve chosen to make us a drink that’s inspired by your homeland, right? I am going to make for you the Northern Lights. It’s made with aquavit.

What’s that? I think every nationality has a liqueur that means “water of life.” There’s a strong caraway flavor, so you either love it or you hate it. In this drink, it’s not that strong. It’s a nice way to introduce Americans to it.

What do you typically drink? I don’t drink. I’ll do a shot for birthdays, or some good wine for sure with good company. When I’m with my mom, I’ll definitely enjoy a bottle, maybe two, of delicious red wine. But [alcohol] interferes with my training, so I try to stay away.

Since this is The Cosmopolitan, has the demand for Cosmopolitans been insane thanks to “Sex and the City”? Oh my gosh. When we started, we were making Cosmo after Cosmo.

Which of the “SATC” girls would you have a drink with, and which one would you fight? Probably [drink] with Samantha; she’s the one who is the most independent.

Mixologist

It wasn't until she started classes at three different colleges and bartended at just as many establishments that Lindsay Fry found what she'd been looking for.

The Sandusky native moved to Columbus two-and-a-half years ago and has loved the pace and patrons at Gahanna's Signatures since starting there three months ago.

"There's no puking, there's no fighting, there's no any of that business," Fry said. "I'll take this any day."

And she's equally excited about studying sociology and psychology — fitting fields for such a background — at Otterbein College.

How would you describe this bar?

We're a local, neighborhood hangout. It's a sports bar. We have a big lunch crowd, a big dinner crowd, and then people just stay and have some beers.

What's the food like here?

The food is amazing. All I ever eat is a sandwich called the Monte Kristin. It's pretty fantastic. The pizzas are so good, and we sell a lot of burgers.

What kind of crowds do you get?

A lot of people have been coming here for 15 years, so the crowd's kind of a mixture of the people that have been coming here forever and their kids, who grew up liking the food and the atmosphere.

What do they like to drink?

Lot of Bud Light, lot of Michelob Ultra and scotch on the rocks.

What do you enjoy most about bartending?

I love probably the people. It's just always fun to hear everyone's stories, and especially because a lot of the crowd here is older, it's always fun — "When I was your age ..."

What's the worst part?

I think the only bad thing is just sometimes what people think is acceptable to say to you, especially being a female behind the bar. I can laugh off anything, but sometimes people say things that just really aren't very appropriate.

Is this a career or a money-maker for you?

It's definitely a way to make a living that's stress-free, and it's fun. It's about as good of a gig as they get. But it's definitely not a career.

Is there a drink you hate to make?

I think the only thing I don't really like making, and it sounds weird, is a straight martini. Because people that drink martinis are really particular about how they like them.

What do you drink?

I'm definitely a Coors Light or Snakebite girl. Go big or go home.

Where else do you like to hang out?

On my couch in my pajamas.