astronomy

The Burnett Center

The Burnett Center is a astronomy topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand The Burnett Center rather than just read about it. In short: The Howard J. Burnett Center, also known as The Burnett Center, is an academic building on the campus of Washington & Jefferson College.

Key takeaways

The Burnett Center belongs to astronomy; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect The Burnett Center to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of The Burnett Center from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

The Howard J. Burnett Center, also known as The Burnett Center, is an academic building on the campus of Washington & Jefferson College. This building, named after former President Howard J. Burnett, was completed in 2001 at a cost of $12.8 million. It houses the Departments of Economics and Business, Modern Languages, and Education. It features 12 classrooms, several circular seminar rooms, computer labs, and the Yost Auditorium. Situated on the northeast border of campus, The Burnett Center is a cornerstone building. The exterior is constructed of granite and limestone, and a grassy plaza and fountain decorate the grounds outside. The interior features a large atrium, large vertical ribbon window assemblies, and cast iron fleur-de-lis balusters from a former residence hall. The architecture and masonry work won several national awards.

Facilities The Burnett Center houses the Departments of Economics and Business, Modern Languages, and Education. The twelve multimedia classrooms come in sizes and styles, allowing for a flexible teaching space, moveable seating, and outlets for laptop computers. At various times, it has also housed the entrepreneurial studies program, a small business institute, and an office of lifelong learning. The Yost Auditorium is an 84-seat lecture hall. The seminar rooms, located in the tower structure of the left side of the building, feature 16-seat octagonal tables. The first floor has computer labs near the main entrance. The Burnett Center also has faculty and student lounges, a faculty kitchenette, and a curriculum library. The building stands three stories tall and has 57,000 square feet (5,300 m2) of floorspace. It is constructed of granite, limestone, slate, and copper, which is intended to match the older buildings on campus. The tower element on the left side of the building is intended to match the most prominent building on campus, Old Main. The 30-degree bend at one end created a "cornerstone" effect on the campus' northeast property line. A false chimney houses mechanical equipment. The entrance plaza includes a fountain and a grassed bowl area in the lower plaza. The interior of the Burnett Center consists of cherry wood trim and doors, veneer plaster, wool carpet, and cove lighting. The railings include cast iron fleur-de-lis balusters from Hays Hall, the first dormitory on campus that was demolished in 1994. The first floor has atrium spaces and a main staircase. The large vertical ribbon window assemblies provide a view of the rest of campus.

Construction and design To prepare the site for construction, the college acquired a number of demolition permits from the zoning board, including permits allowing for the demolition of several houses, including 314, 322 and 330 East Wheeling Street, which were part of the East Washington Historic District. The permits also authorized the demolition of houses at 288, 290, 300, and 308 East Wheeling Street, as well as 218, 2181⁄2, 220, 290, and 300 Grant Street. At the end of July, the zoning board issued a stay on those permits after hearing objections from the Washington County History and Landmarks Foundation. By 1995, the permits were restored and the construction was able to proceed. Plans and fundraising for the building were performed by President Brian C. Mitchell, who served as president of the college from 1998 to 2004. The building is named after Mitchell's predecessor, Howard J. Burnett, who served as President from 1970 to 1998. Construction of the building, which cost $12.8 million, ran from December 1999 to June 2001. It was dedicated in October 2001. General contracting services were performed by The Landau Building Company. The building was designed by MacLachlan, Cornelius & Filoni, Inc. That firm was awarded the Louis I. Kahn Citation from the American School & University 2002 Design Competition, calling for Burnett "a striking edifice for the pursuit of academic excellence. The construction materials—granite, limestone, slate, and copper—create substantial quality.” The masonry sub-contractor Harris Masonry won the Excellence in Craftmanship Award from the Master Builders’ Association, saying that “The Weymouth Granite Ashlar veneer greatly enhances the traditional campus architecture of Washington & Jefferson College. The art of stone cutting and trimming rises to the highest level of beauty and reflects truly superb craftsmanship,” The masonry work also won the 2001 IMI Golden Trowel Award for "Excellence in Masonry Design and Construction." Griffin Interior created custom furniture for the building, including custom-built radiused desks for the computer rooms

References

External links Media related to The Burnett Center at Wikimedia Commons

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with The Burnett Center

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what The Burnett Center claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In astronomy, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to The Burnett Center before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about The Burnett Center ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of The Burnett Center

In research: The Burnett Center appears in astronomy research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses The Burnett Center in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: The Burnett Center is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 2001 establishments in Pennsylvania, Buildings and structures completed in 2001, University and college academic buildings in the United States, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for The Burnett Center outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study The Burnett Center in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what The Burnett Center means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain The Burnett Center out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is The Burnett Center in simple terms?

The Howard J. Burnett Center, also known as The Burnett Center, is an academic building on the campus of Washington & Jefferson College.

Why does The Burnett Center matter?

Because it connects several astronomy ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study The Burnett Center?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on The Burnett Center.