C L A R E M O N T
the
G R A D U A T E
U N I V E R S I T Y
Pedant
A newsletter for CGU students and the
entomologically inclined.
October 2008
CGU news
All the campus news
that’s fit to print. New
faculty, new student
services, new
developments –
information you can’t
afford to miss.
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Volume 1, Number 1
Presenting your
work
How one student
made it to two
conferences in one
year and still had time
to sleep – and how
you can too.
Page 4
Research and
awards
New details on the
Graduate Student
Council’s travel
awards. Also, how to
pay those nagging
bills, fellowship style.
Page 7
Campus events
A full calendar of
events, including the
return of Kingsley
Tufts Poetry Awardwinner Tom Sleigh.
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Utilities, except for telephone and cable, are
included in the monthly rent. The apartments
don’t allow pets, but are child-friendly.
Behind Building A is the Tot Lot, a large
playground where kids and overworked
students can play in a safe environment. The
complex provides a housing staff available
Monday through Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 5:00
p.m. Also, a resident manager and two RAs
live on-site and should be prepared to handle
most eventualities.
New CGU
apartments open
their doors, old
apartments close
theirs
Just in time for the beginning of the
school year, CGU’s new five-building
apartment complex has opened its doors
to its inaugural class of incoming
students.
Only a short walk to campus, the new
apartments are located on N. College Avenue,
neighboring the Claremont School of
Theology, the Rancho Santa Ana Botanic
Garden, and the Claremont Golf Course
(where students get a discount on green fees).
The apartments are also within walking
distance of downtown Claremont and the
Metrolink station. At night the path to the
gated apartments is brightly lit and the
premises are patrolled by campus security 24
hours a day.
These five structures are comprised of 151
units with 251 rooms – floor-plan designs
What aren’t you
learning in
graduate school?
Page 8
The new apartments are five structures comprised of
151 units with 251 rooms.
range from studios to three-bedroom
apartments – that offer central heating and air
conditioning.
All rooms are fully furnished – with the
exception of a bed – making for an easy move
in. There are laundry facilities in each
building and appliances in every kitchen,
including a microwave for the culinarily
challenged. The Community Room provides
wireless Internet access, as well as a
happening social scene where students can get
to know their neighbors and peers.
Unfortunately, for those who use nicotine to
fuel their all-night study sessions, all rooms
are non-smoking.
While all of this is good news, growth does
not often occur without loss as well, and we
all lament the news that the old CGU dorms
will be torn down.
For inquiries about the new apartments, the
Real Estate and Housing Office website
(www.cuc.claremont.edu/realestate) is the
best resource. The site offers virtual tours of
the various floor plans, apartment details,
pricing, as well as several pictures of the
structures, inside and out, including an
outdoor webcam. (To our knowledge, no inroom web-cams have been installed.)
(Continued on page 6)
CGU Factoid
Did you know that CGU has a mascot?
Read about its unsung history on page
eight.
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editor’s note:
I want to make it clear: the Pedant is a
resource for the students of Claremont
Graduate University. The goal is to provide
information that will help you get the most out
of your experience here. This could be
information on classes, professors, activities,
tips on how to improve your c.v., conduct
research, or alleviate some of your tuition
costs. Or maybe its something we haven’t
thought of yet.
And that’s where you come in. We’ve done the
best we can filling the inaugural issue with
news, updates, and profiles that will be
interesting and helpful. But we want to hear
from you on what you would like to see in
subsequent issues. With the burdens of course
work, studying for quals, or researching
dissertations, many of you don’t have the time
to discover all the opportunities graduate
school offers, and the ongoing activities and
events at CGU and in Claremont. If you have a
request for information – or something you
would like to share – that would be of interest
to the general CGU student body feel free to
send me an at e-mail brendan.babish@cgu.edu.
Thank you for picking up and reading the
inaugural copy of the Pedant. Additional
copies can be acquired at the Office of
University Communications at 165 E. 10th
Street.
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cgu news:
Join the CGU
facebook page
Looking for an easy way to get connected
to the CGU community?
Is there a studentbased club or
gathering you’re
putting together
that you’d like to
promote? Are you
wondering what’s new on campus, whether
the new dorms have opened or if
Hagelbarger’s sushi is any good? Do you have
a used futon to sell? Or are you in the market
for one?
Sounds like you should become a member of
CGU's facebook group. It’s a great way to
communicate with fellow students and it’s
easy to join. First, you need to create a
facebook account. Then, once you’re logged
in, look to the upper right corner of the web
page and click on the link for "Groups." In the
search bar, type "Claremont Graduate
University." As soon as you click "Join
Group," you're in.
Once you're a member, feel free to post
messages, add pictures, and sell those futons.
I-Place does it all
the Pedant
October 2008
Volume 1, Number 1
Special thanks
To “Jen” Bicknell, I-Place, Paul Grey, David
E. Drew, and everyone who generously gave
their time to our humble publication; and Top
Ramen.
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According to their website, InternationalPlace is a “multi-functional-inter-college
space,” and indeed, I-Place serves
students from all the Claremont Colleges
in a variety of ways.
Because approximately 700 international
students are enrolled at the Claremont
Colleges, I-Place offers an environment where
both international and US-born students can
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come to chat, share, and celebrate in a spirit of
global understanding.
International students may also go to I-Place
to receive help adjusting to Claremont life.
Their extensive online handbook is like a
survival guide for students hoping to make it
in this untamed habitat of Southern
California.
Like CGU, I-Place has its own newsletter and
facebook page where students can find I-Place
news, helpful tips, coming events, and their
Thursday Lunch and Conversation series.
This lecture series is an opportunity for
students and faculty to listen to a talk on
global themes while enjoying food from
around the world. Students may also post
housing listings and classifieds on their
newsletter. Who knows, you might have better
luck selling that futon with I-Place.
I-Place is located at 390 E. 9th Street, on the
campus of Claremont McKenna College. You
may e-mail questions to the office at
ipoffice@cmc.edu.
CGU welcomes new
faculty member
Higher-learning
expert, Professor
Scott L. Thomas, has
joined the faculty of
the School of
Educational Studies.
Thomas comes to us
from the University of
Georgia, where he was
associate professor of
higher education and
adjunct associate professor of sociology. His
research focuses on issues of access and
stratification in higher education. Past work in
this area has centered on variance in economic
outcomes and indebtedness related to college
quality and choice of major. This fall he is
teaching a course that explores the role that
the federal government plays in higher
education.
Look for an interview with Thomas in the Fall
2008 issue of the Flame magazine.
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Ladies and gentlemen, Michael Shermer.
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Art students Amy Mauck and Catherine Wagley’s
“Sweetness” sweetly displayed in the East Gallery.
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ISS director Vincent Wimbush.
A celebrity in the
house
Art department
upgrades
Brown bagging it
with ISS
Last semester, did the person who taught
your Evolution and Society class look
familiar? No, he wasn’t that drunk guy no
one knew at your sister’s wedding. Nor
was his face, as he would argue, an image
conjured from your powers of déjà vu or
prophetic vision. He’s Michael Shermer,
adjunct professor of economics at CGU,
and you’ve probably seen him on TV.
From new machinery to new trees, the Art
Department’s fabrication facilities and
rear yard are undergoing significant
upgrades.
If you occasionally find
yourself sitting in the
Hagelbarger’s courtyard,
silently pondering the
meaning of existence, why
not take your lunch and
ruminations to the
Institute for Signifying Scriptures (ISS)
building for their biweekly Brown Bag
Lunch Discussion Series?
Since the creation of the Skeptics Society,
Skeptic magazine, and the Skeptics
Distinguished Science Lecture Series at the
California Institute of Technology, Shermer has
appeared on the Colbert Report, 20/20,
Dateline, the Charlie Rose Show, Larry King
Live, Tom Snyder, Donahue, Oprah, Unsolved
Mysteries, and other shows as a skeptic of
“weird” and extraordinary claims. He has been
interviewed in several documentaries that aired
on PBS, A&E, the Discovery Channel, the
History Channel, the Science Channel, and the
Learning Channel. Shermer was also the
cohost and coproducer of the 13-hour Family
Channel television series, Exploring the
Unknown.
Shermer earned a PhD from CGU in 1991, and
has dedicated much of his work to debunking
pseudoscientific and supernatural claims. He
has penned several books and articles that take
on everything from the existence of Bigfoot to
Intelligent Design and why people believe in
such phenomena. In the spring he’ll teach a Tcourse on evolution, economics, and the brain.
For more information, or to find out why the
boogeyman who lives in the closet is all in
your head, check out
www.michaelshermer.com.
Last semester a new metal shop and plastics/
casting booth were installed and the formerly
unpaved rear storage and work area has been
graded and covered with asphalt, affording
students expanded workspace. The
department also recently acquired a new lathe
and table saw with modern safety features – to
protect all those talented hands!
These developments are part of an ongoing
plan to provide students with more room and
a wider array of material and fabrication
resources. The department will be
continuously acquiring new machinery to
assist in woodworking, metalworking, mold
making, and casting. In addition, the rear-yard
overhang will be extended to protect the
enlarged work area from the elements.
Prior to paving, the rear yard was graded for
better drainage and in doing so a planting area
was created. Here a camphor tree from the
Harper Courtyard has been newly transported.
Plans are in the works for additional
plantings, a community garden, and an area
for a barbecue and picnic tables to aid in all
the school’s many events.
The art department’s East and Peggy Phelps
Gallery are continuously hosting exhibitions
of CGU student’s work that are open to
everyone. For more information, visit the art
department’s website at www.cgu.edu/pages/
5809.asp.
Every other Thursday at noon, the ISS
welcomes an expert speaker to engage issues
and questions pertaining not merely to
scriptural content, but also to the social and
cultural attachments that surround scriptural
expressions. The talks are an hour long and are
moderated by ISS Director Vincent Wimbush.
Based in the School of Religion, the ISS also
acts as a research institution that seeks to
facilitate multi-disciplinary, creative,
unconventional, even transgressive analysis of
all the various utterances – visual, material,
musical, spoken, or notational – that are
encapsulated by the term “scripture.” It offers a
range of resources and guidance for expansive
research projects and comparative
collaborative endeavors. In addition, the ISS is
active in hosting other venues for academic
discussion including the Distinguished
Speakers Series, which last year welcomed
world-renowned writer, poet, playwright, and
Nobel Laureate Wole Soyinka.
The next lunch is set for October 9 at the ISS
building on 1017 N. Dartmouth Ave. For more
information, visit the ISS website at
www.signifyingscriptures.org, or contact the
office via e-mail at iss@cgu.edu or call (909)
607-9676.
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History student and academicconference diva, Jennifer Bicknell.
Presenting your work
Or: How I learned to stop worrying and love attending conferences
For some first-year graduate students the
prospect of presenting their work at an
academic conference may seem daunting.
For some, the mere process of applying
may seem overwhelming. But not for
Jennifer Bicknell, an MA student in
history who presented at two conferences
in her first year at CGU.
information exchanges may take the form of a
series of speeches, an open forum, computerassisted presentations, workshops, art
exhibitions, social get-togethers, wine and
cheese soirees, or various combinations of all
of the above. They are vital sites for academic
discussion and progress – not to mention that
presenting at them looks great on your
curricula vitae.
But, you may ask, how can I be expected to
balance my schoolwork with friends, family,
job, the gym, drinks at the Press, sleep, and
still find time to apply for a conference?
According to Bicknell, one solution is coffee.
Lots of coffee. But she has another strategy
that may assist the temporally challenged.
While some conferences are extravagant, with
large audiences and distinguished panels,
many are modestly attended events
customized just for students who are still
learning the art of public speaking. In fact,
according to Bicknell, it’s okay if your nerves
propel you to jettison your impromptu speech.
She says that she’s shared panels with
students who became “so nervous that they
just read from their paper.”
First, how about a digression on some basic
details for those who are a still little hazy on
just what an academic conference is?
An academic conference is a gathering of
scholars, students, or researchers in a public
forum to present and discuss their work. It’s a
place where cutting-edge research, new
information, and recent discoveries are
shared, explained, and argued. These
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Most conferences are presided over by a
moderator – usually an expert in the field –
who directs the question and answer period
following a panel’s presentations. Though Q
& A sessions can become contentious, most
are civil affairs. In fact, Bicknell says,
answering questions is “your time to shine.” If
your presentation is well delivered the
audience will want to know more about your
work and this is a good opportunity to set
yourself apart.
“It’s about getting your name out there,” says
Bicknell. “It’s networking.”
Though the primary purpose of academic
conferences is to exchange ideas and
information, Bicknell notes it’s also an
excellent place to network, to start “learning
other people’s names, learning who the people
are you should know in your field.”
She says, “Even if what I’m presenting isn’t
groundbreaking, what’s important is being at
these conferences and talking to people,
saying things like, I’d be interested in
studying with you in the future.”
So who wouldn’t like to proudly present their
work, familiarize the academic world with
their stellar reputation, all the while building
material for an excellent resume? But who has
the time to write another paper? To this,
Bicknell has a solution – and its not trying to
breathe new life into that essay you wrote in
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high school about Ross Perot – it’s about
planning early.
Bicknell says that when the semester begins,
“I keep my eye out for a conference that fits
what I’ll already be writing so I don’t have to
put together an extra paper. Or I might tailor
my research in class around what is
happening at that conference.”
Academic conferences are opportunities to travel
the country, perhaps the world.
In other words, you could get credit for all the
hard work you do this semester, twice. As
Bicknell says, “I really wouldn’t consider
doing a conference that isn’t on something
that I haven’t at least started writing.”
Moreover, academic conferences are
opportunities to travel the country, perhaps the
world. While there are no shortages of
conferences taking place in Southern
California (both of Bicknell’s were local),
why not make your Shakespeare essay an
occasion to visit England, or your technology
presentation an excuse to see India? There are
thousands of conferences occurring all year at
destinations across the globe.
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There are many other helpful websites that
have listed all the various “Calls for Papers”
they can get their virtual fingers on. Websites
like www.papersinvited.com,
wwwconferencealerts.com, or
www.allconferences.com are all terrific
Internet resources.
Or maybe your department staff has posted
something on their bulletin board or website.
Better yet, maybe CGU is hosting a
conference. Last May the Graduate Student
Council (GSC) hosted a multi-disciplinary
two-day conference titled “The Challenges of
American Society: The Great Themes of
Alexis de Tocqueville.” Events like this are a
great opportunity to become a big shot on
campus and you never even have to leave
town.
Also, twice a year the GSC offers travel
awards to assist with expenses. (Check out
page seven for more information.)
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Once you get to your conference destination,
provided below are some helpful tips that
Bicknell has received that may help make
your presentation a success: 1) Be prepared:
Don’t wing it. The more prepared you are, the
more at ease you’ll be and the better you’ll be
able to field questions. 2) Manage your time:
Each session has a fixed schedule and the
moderator may cut you off before you’ve
made your most important points. 3) Get there
early: This helps to cut down on nervousness,
as being late does nothing to help your state
of mind. 4) Have a good time: This is a
valuable opportunity for you to showcase
your talents, learn a great deal, and make new
friends and contacts. Maintain the right
attitude and your conference experience is
bound to be a success.
Bicknell says this advice served her well in
her first year. Now it’s your turn to explore
those websites, send out those papers, get on
those airplanes, and show the world what
CGU students are made of.
Once you’ve found a conference theme
germane to your research, you’ll submit a
short abstract of your presentation to the
organizers. This will explain your research
thesis, what data you’ll be providing, and
what you’ve discovered. Then a selection
committee will parse through the applications
and choose the most interesting and
appropriate ones, maybe yours.
If yours is accepted you’ll usually have ample
time to make travel arrangements and secure
funds (most professors are understanding if
you need to miss a class to attend a
conference). Then you’re off.
Again, you may ask: how can I afford to
travel the world when my rent’s overdue and
they’re about to repossess my hotplate? No
problem. There are millions of dollars in
grants and travel awards available for
attending a conference. Websites like
www.fastweb.org and
www.educationplanner.org are great sites with
enormous databases of not only travel grants,
but fellowship and scholarship information to
ease your tuition burden as well.
“I constantly go through H-Net,” says
Bicknell. H-net is a humanities and social
sciences website that offers scholars and
students job guides, online reviews,
discussion networks, and announcements for
fellowships, publications, and conferences.
For science-oriented students
www.conference-service.com is a fantastic
site; or for techies, www.eventseer.net.
Bicknell, second from the left, looking distinguished with fellow panelists after a local conference.
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(Continued from page 1)
Students wishing to apply for a room may fill
out an online application form on the Real
Estate and Housing Office website, or just
drop by the office in person at 1245 N.
Dartmouth Avenue.
Questions or comments can be directed to
Housing Coordinator Lavon Schwab at (909)
607-2609, or via e-mail at
lavons@cuc.claremont.edu.
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bulletin board:
Soccer, badminton,
and you
Applications are processed on a first-come,
first-serve basis, and some rooms are still
available (but going fast). Leasing
agreements may last as long as a student is
actively enrolled at CGU, and there are three
move-out days (at the end of semesters) when
students may vacate. Roommates are chosen
by the housing staff individually and at
random. There is no waiting list for rooms,
but the office does refer to housing inquiry
forms to find replacement tenants.
The Real Estate and Housing Office can also
help you find off-campus housing. The
office’s brochure lists several dozen
apartment complexes, including their
addresses, phone numbers, and distances
from school. In addition, their website
contains a housing referral service, a
directory of area publications that list
apartments for rent and links to other useful
websites.
And for those of you with enough money to
spare after tuition costs, the Real Estate and
Housing Office can assist you with
purchasing a home as well.
Math student Elyse Fosse, excited about her new studio.
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Cyclists of the
Claremont Colleges,
unite!
Is your road bike collecting dust in the
garage because you’re tired of riding solo?
Want to test your cycling mettle against the
best of the Claremont Colleges and beyond?
Join the Claremont Colleges Cycling Club!
The club is designed to bring together road
biking enthusiasts from all the Claremont
Colleges for group rides and races. The club
organizes group rides almost every weekend for
cyclists of all levels. And for those with a
competitive fire burning within their lycra
jersey, the club participates in large contests all
over the state. As members of the Western
Collegiate Cycling Conference, we compete
against universities located throughout
California and Nevada – among them, Stanford
University, University of California at Berkeley,
and the University of California Los Angeles are
the cycling powerhouses.
Escape your cloistered existence in the
library, throw away those Sweatin’ to the
Oldies and Jazzercise VHS tapes, and get
outside and be active with your CGU
peers!
Join the CGU Sports Club for Soccer
Sundays. All levels of experience are
welcome and no cleats or shin guards
necessary. Just bring yourself to the
Claremont McKenna College field on E. 8th
and Amhearst Street at five p.m. For more
details, e-mail robert.hargis@cgu.edu.
Or, join the CGU Badminton Club and
Claremont Badminton Club every Saturday
from two to four p.m. for some shuttlesmashing fun at the Rains Center on the
campus of Pomona College. All skill levels
are welcome and all you need to bring is your
student ID. Shuttlecocks, nets, rackets, and
coaching are all provided free (five dollars
for non-students). Contact
charles.chong@cgu.edu for more
information.
If you’d like to start your own CGU athletic
club, remember to post bulletins on the
facebook page and contact us at
brendan.babish@cgu.edu.
Even if you’re content riding companionless, the
club’s website (http://cycling.claremont.edu/
index.php) is a terrific resource. The website has
an excellent list of directions for local rides:
from an “easy” 8.6 mile trip up to the Claremont
foothills to the “ungodly” 37 mile trek to the ski
lifts on Mount Baldy. The website also has
information on places to get gear or have repairs
done, and links to other local cycling clubs.
Regardless of your skill, the area around
Claremont enjoys some of best terrain for
cycling in California. The Claremont Colleges
Cycling Club is a great opportunity to take
advantage of what’s in your own backyard.
To save trees, time, and money that could be
better allocated for your needs, a hardcopy of
the Flame magazine will be sent only to
students who request them. The same
extensive, award-winning campus coverage
you’ve come to expect from the Flame will
still be available in its entirety online on the
CGU website.
If you’d like to request that the magazine still
be sent to you, please contact
mandy.bennett@cgu.edu by October 15.
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research and awards:
Globetrotting with
GSC travel awards
Hillcrest student
transdisciplinary
research award
Take it from Tyler Reeb, an Arts and Humanities
student in English who helped put together a Tcourse and large event devoted to the memory of
Martin Luther King Jr. on the 40th anniversary of
his death: “The Hillcrest Student
Transdisciplinary Research Award I got last year
provided crucial funding to ensure that the class
and event were a success.”
So your paper on a unified theory of vampires
got accepted at a conference in Transylvania,
but you don’t know how you’re going to
make it. Try applying for a Graduate Student
Council (GSC) travel award!
Twice a year the GSC accepts applications for
travel awards for students planning on
attending an academic event, a professional
conference, or conducting research.
Applicants must be currently enrolled at CGU
and be in good academic standing. Recipients
will get a $300 award, with an additional
$500 for students who qualify for a
presidential travel award.
Gettin’ paid: fellowships
2009 Soros Fellowships
The competition for the 2009 Paul & Daisy Soros
Fellowships For New Americans is now open for
submissions. These fellowships offer half tuition
plus $20,000 per year for up to two years.
Applicants must be immigrants or the children of
immigrants, and can be either entering graduate
school or in their second year of graduate studies.
More information is available at
www.pdsoros.org.
The Transdisciplinary Studies program is
requesting research proposals from groups
comprised of at least three students, each rooted
in a different discipline, that are undertaking a
joint research project. Awards range from $500 to
$1,500 per group. The deadline for submissions is
October 6, 2008, but the sooner the better as
funds are limited.
2009 Ford Foundation Fellowships
For more information, contact Vice Provost
Wendy Martin at wendy.martin@cgu.edu; or
Mary Ellen Wanderlingh, administrative assistant
for Transdisciplinary Studies, at
maryellen.wanderlingh@cgu.edu, or (909)
607-0724.
The application deadline for predoctoral students
is November 14 and November 24 for research
and postdoctoral students. Full eligibility
information and on-line applications are available
on the National Academies website at:
www.nationalacademies.org/fellowships or email infofell@nas.edu.
Applications are now being accepted for the 2009
Ford Foundation Diversity Fellowships Program
for Achieving Excellence in College and
University Teaching. Awards for predoctoral
students are $20,000, $21,000 for dissertation
research, and $40,000 for postdoctoral work.
For more fellowship opportunities visit:
www.cgu.edu/pages/1919.asp
www.fastweb.com
www.educationplanner.org
Application downloads and details are
available on the GSC website or you may
contact them at (909) 607-0440, or by e-mail
at gsc@cgu.edu.
Good luck to all who apply!
Award recipient and Martin Luther King Jr.
enthusiast, Tyler Reeb.
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cgu events calendar
Oct. 2 – History Forum kicks
off its lecture series with
environmental historian
William Cronon and his talk,
“The Portage: Space, Time,
and Story Telling in the
Making of an American
Place” at 4:15 p.m. in the
Rose Auditorium.
Oct. 7 – CGU Financial
Engineering Program hosts
panel discussion on “How I
Became a Quant,” 4:30 p.m.
to 7:00 p.m., Albrecht
Auditorium. Note: A quant is
a quantitative stats cruncher,
not a delicious fruit.
Oct. 9 – ISS Brown Bag
Lunch: Jane Iwamura, noon
at the ISS office.
History Forum: Gayle Green
will keep the audience
awake for “An Insomniac’s
Slant on Sleep,” 6:15 p.m. at
the Honnold Library’s
Founder’s Room.
Oct. 10 – Friday Noon
Concert: “Unusual Trio,
sonatas by Boismortier,
Haym, and Vivaldi.” 12:15
a.m., Balch Auditorium.
Oct. 14 – Keep it a secret:
drop a course before this date
or you will receive a
“withdrawn” on your
transcript.
Oct. 8 – Visiting Artist
Lecture Series: Robin Hill at
4:30 p.m., Albrecht
Auditorium.
Oct. 15 – Last day to drop
classes and get 50 percent
refund. For a full refund, take
this to Las Vegas and play it
on red.
Oct. 22 – Visiting Artist
Lecture Series: Shirley Tse,
4:30 in the Albrecht
Auditorium.
Oct. 23 – ISS Brown Bag
Lunch lecturer Lara Deeb:
“Emulating and/or
Embodying the Ideal: The
Gendering of Temporal
Frameworks and Islamic
Role Models in Shi’i,
Lebanon.” ISS office at the
crack of noon.
Oct. 24 – Friday Noon
Concert: “Music by Dun,
Graduate tips
CGU Professors Paul Gray and David E.
Drew, authors of What They Didn’t Teach
You in Graduate School: 199 Helpful
Hints for Success in Your Academic
Career, have been kind enough to allow
us to publish one helpful hint from their
book in each issue. This is so that one
day you don’t raise your fist in the air
and curse CGU for not teaching you
to . . .
89. MAINTAIN COLLEGIALITY.
Collegiality is a difficult term to define.
It involves maintaining good social relations with the people in your
department and in related departments around campus. If everyone
in your department has coffee in the lounge at 10:00 each morning,
be there even if you only drink mineral water. If colleagues ask you
to cover a class or review a draft of their latest paper or serve on a
doctoral committee they chair, do it. The web of obligations is twosided and you will receive reciprocal favors over time. Collegiality
is one case where commitments, even though they take away from
your research time, yield positive results. Don’t be perceived as a
loner or a misanthrope, particularly by the senior faculty.
8 Leisure with dignity
Bartok, and Liu,” 12:15 a.m.,
Balch Auditorium.
Oct. 25 – Fall Concert Series
transcends with: “Baroque
and Beyond,” 3:30 p.m. at the
Balch Auditorium.
Fall Career Fair, 10 a.m. to 2
p.m. Tentative location:
Claremont Doubletree. If so,
bring your toothbrush. For
updated information visit
www.cgu.edu/pages/
4767.asp?item=2222 or email career.center@cgu.edu.
Oct. 27 – Module 2 begins.
Oct. 29 – Visiting Artist
Lecture Series: Kerry Tribe,
4:30, Albrecht Auditorium.
Oct. 31 – GSC-sponsored
Halloween party at the Hip
Kitty.
Friday Noon Concert:
“Dvorak Piano Trio in E
minor op. 90.” Yep, you
guessed it: 12:15 a.m., Balch
Auditorium.
Nov. 2-7 – Kingsley Tufts
Award winner Tom Sleigh
will be in Claremont to give a
reading and meet with
students. For more
information contact
susan.hampson@cgu.edu.
For more CGU events and
important dates visit:
www.cgu.edu/pages/2059.asp
The Pedant is . . .
Brendan Babish — Managing editor
Kevin Riel — Head writer
CGU factoid
In 1997 a university-wide contest was held to create a new CGU mascot
and motto. Then-doctoral student Randy Guthrie submitted the winning
design for the tongue-in-cheek competition, receiving an illustrious
“collector’s quality” CGU decal and $50 cash prize. If you haven’t guessed
it already, we’re the Pedants! (I guess it beats being a UCSC Banana Slug.)
The winning mascot’s motto was Otium cum dignitate (or “Leisure with
dignity”), words put into practice most nights at the Press. Below are some
scientific facts on the Pedant we dug up from the work of Linnaeus and
E.O. Wilson.
Pedant Claremonticus Scholari inhabits a unique environmental range in
the town of Claremont. It has distinctive species characteristics of extreme
curiosity, high intelligence, and it is known to persist among the stacks in
the library, often persevering without food and water for prolonged periods
of time. Although a formidable creature on its own, capable of lifting twice
its own weight in books, en masse the Pedant Claremonticus Scholari has
literally been known to change the world.