University of Colorado Boulder

University of Colorado at Boulder

Seal of University of Colorado (Trademark of CU Regents)
Type	Public
Established	1876
Endowment	$512 million (systemwide)
Chancellor	George "Bud" Peterson
President	Hank Brown
Academic staff	2,081
Undergraduates	24,000+
Postgraduates	4,000+
Location	Boulder , Colorado , United States
Campus	Urban, 786 acres (3.2 km²)
Colors	Silver and Gold
Nickname	Buffaloes
Website	http://www.colorado.edu

The University of Colorado at Boulder (CU-Boulder, UCB officially; Colorado, CU colloquially) is the flagship university of the University of Colorado system. CU has produced a number of astronauts, Nobel laureates, and other notable individuals in their fields. It is known as one of the Public Ivies. The January 2004 edition of The Economist ranked CU as the 11th-best public university in the world and 31st best university globally for 2003. The U.S. News and World Report currently ranks the university 77th in the nation overall (private institutions included) and 34th best among public universities. In 2004, Carl Wieman was named U.S. Professor of the Year.

History

The CU Boulder campus.

In March 14, 1876, the Colorado state legislature passed an amendment to state constitution which provided money for the establishment of the University of Colorado in Boulder, the Colorado School of Mines in Golden and an Agricultural College in Fort Collins.

Two towns competed for the site of the original University of Colorado: Boulder and Cañon City. The consolation prize for the losing city would be home of the new Colorado State Prison. Cañon City never really had much of a chance, as it was already the home of the Colorado Territorial Prison (There are now six prisons in the Cañon City area).

CU honored a Boulder resident named Nichols who allegedly made a midnight horseback ride from Boulder to Denver with $20,000 in money to give to the state to help with expenses of building the University. They named a dorm after him-Nichols Hall. In the 1980s it came to light that this same Mr. Nichols took part in the infamous Sand Creek Massacre, where the Colorado Militia massacred a tribe of Native Americans, including many women and children, who were peacefully encamped along Sand Creek. After some debate, the name of the dorm was changed to Cheyenne-Arapaho Hall after two Native American nations indigenous to Colorado.

The cornerstone of the building that would become Old Main was laid September 20, 1875. The doors of the university opened on September 5, 1877. At the time there were few high schools in the state that could adequately prepare students for university work, so in addition to the University, a preparatory school was formed on campus. In the fall of 1877, the student body consisted of 15 students in the college proper and 50 students in the preparatory school. There were 38 men and 27 women, and their ages ranged from 12-23 years.

File:CU-1950s-historical.jpg

The University of Colorado at Boulder campus sometime between 1940 and 1953.

Campus Architecture and Buildings

The CU-Boulder Campus is located about 1 mile from the popular Pearl Street Mall. On the outskirts of Campus, there is "The Hill" which has shops, restaurants, etc. Further up "The Hill" are the houses of many fraternities and sororities.

On Campus, there are three theaters, one of which is the Mary Rippon Theater, an outdoor theater.

Architecture

Engineering Center

Due to its location at the foot of the Flatirons and distinctive Tuscan architecture, CU-Boulder is often called "one of the most beautiful campuses in the nation."

In 1917, the university was undergoing a massive expansion, which triggered debate over the architectural style of the campus. The consensus was that the University should be built in a unified style, but which style was the center of the debate. Some wanted to follow the style of Macky Auditorium, which was Neo-Gothic, while others wanted to use the Collegiate Gothic style of many East Coast schools. However, Charles Z. Klauder, the head architect of the firm hired to do the construction, thought he could do better. Klauder presented then President Norlin with sketches of new buildings in Italian Rural Architecture. This style was developed in the mountains of northern Italy, and Klauder and Norlin felt that it was a harmonious fit with the Boulder foothills.

The most obvious characteristics of this style on the Boulder campus are the rough, textured walls and sloping, multi-leveled roofs with red tile. The sandstone used in the construction of nearly all the buildings on campus was selected from a quarry in Lyons, Colorado. The architecture had a rugged yet classical feel, fitting for a western University

Klauder’s vision for the campus took nearly twenty years to complete, and spanned the Great Depression, but laid the foundation for the future design of the campus.

Library

File:Norlin west.jpg

The western face of the Norlin Library. The sandstone walls and sloping roofs are characteristic of Klauder's style.

Until 1903, the library collection was housed with the rest of the school in Old Main. The growing size of the library required a move, as the weight of the books was causing physical damage to the floor. The cornerstone for the first separate library building was laid in January 1903, and the building was opened in January 1904. When the new Norlin Library opened in 1940, the old library turned over to Theatre department, and was converted into classrooms and a theatre.

Norlin Library was the last building to be designed by Klauder. There are two inscriptions on the western face of the building, over looking the quad. Both were composed by Pres. Norlin. The larger inscription reads “Who knows only his own generation remains always a child” and the smaller inscription on the marble just over the door reads “Enter here the timeless fellowship of the human spirit.” Norlin was one of the first college libraries in the country to have a divisional reading room plan, with books on open shelves where students could freely access them. Norlin Library also completed the Norlin Quad, a central grassy area in the middle of campus which is used as a spot for student gatherings and official events.

When it opened, Norlin was the largest university library between the Mississippi and California, and it still ranks among the largest. In 1940, there were 311,000 volumes and 60,000 pamphlets. This jumped to 706,371 volumes by 1950. Currently, Norlin Library and its satellite libraries house approximately 5 million volumes.

Macky Auditorium

File:Macky Auditorium.jpg

The front face of Macky Auditorium.

Macky Auditorium is a large building on the University of Colorado campus, which plays host to various talks, plays, and musical performances. Andrew J. Macky was a prominent businessman involved with the town of Boulder in the late 1800’s. He created the First National Bank of Boulder, and many other notable landmarks in the town where he was also a carpenter and involved in politics.

The Auditorium opened its doors in 1923, thirteen years after construction started. Macky's adopted daughter, May, sued for a third of Macky's estate, a case which took thirteen years to settle. May was angered that her father left her no money in his will, while leaving $400,000 to CU for the hall’s construction. The university eventually won the case, and the majority of critical construction on the building resumed.

The building has a variety of architectural elements from various buildings around the globe that President Baker, CU’s president at the turn of the century, admired. The design of the auditorium is primarily Neo-Gothic, with the primary materials being sandstone and red tile, like the rest of campus. The result is a unique building, with two large towers and sprawling ivy, that sets itself apart from the rest of the CU campus. Macky was refurbished in 1986, with improved seating, custom carpeting, modern plumbing and an elevator. Currently there is an electronic bell system in the towers of Macky which rings the hours during the day.

Macky is the home of a two departments on campus, the Film Studies Department and the Choral Department, and it houses an art gallery which is open Wednesdays, and to patrons during performances. A wide range of entertainers perform at Macky each year, from Phillip Glass to Wilco. The hall houses almost all performances by the Boulder Philharmonic, the Artist Series, and the CU Opera. Macky is also the home of many lectures including the famous Conference on World Affairs held at CU each spring.

Macky is also the location of a campus murder. In July of 1966, Elaura Jaquette, a twenty year old student, was lured into the west tower of the building by Joseph Morse, a janitor at Macky. She was raped and brutally murdered in the organ practice room. The murder room is now an office. Campus legend claims her ghost still haunts the building.

UMC

Dalton Trumbo Fountain Court behind the UMC on July 13, 2006

In 1947, Colorado Governor Lee Knous issued a proclamation to create a memorial to Colorado's servicemen at the University of Colorado at Boulder. A proposal to house this memorial in a student union building resulted in a remarkable fundraising effort.

The University Memorial Center opened its doors in October 1953 with President Robert L. Stearns presiding over the ribbon-cutting ceremony. Pundits of the day described the building as "opulent" and "breathtaking," and the UMC quickly became the central landmark of the Boulder campus.

A 1964 addition created a new book store, conference facilities, additional dining facilities, and offices to house the rapidly growing student activities and organizations. The expansion was financed through bonds guaranteed by student fees.

The 1960s and '70s put the UMC at the center of student activism as students staged strikes, grape boycotts, love-ins, sit-ins, and walk-outs. The UMC Fountain Court (now the Dalton Trumbo Fountain Court) became a familiar sight to network television news watchers as the famous and notorious promoted their cause at CU-Boulder.

Entertainers as diverse as Ramsey Lewis and the Grateful Dead were hosted in the Glenn Miller Ballroom and the list of concerts is truly impressive. The UMC Connection is a more informal gathering place, with pool and bowling, and Club 156 which hosts concerts from local and up-and-coming bands.

In 1986, students passed another bond issue to remodel the food services area. The Alferd Packer Grill was transformed to the current food court concept and students have since enjoyed the addition of other vendors including Subway, Dominos, and Celestial Seasonings Teas and Coffees.

Mary Rippon Theatre

The Mary Rippon Theater is an outdoor theater and the site of many cultural events, notably of the Colorado Shakespeare Festival.

The theatre was named after Professor Mary Rippon, the first female instructor at the University and one of the first female University instructors in the United States. She taught German and French. Professor Rippon was so popular with students that when attempts were made to replace her with a male instructor, the student body revolted en masse, and Rippon kept her job.

Academics

The University of Colorado is divided into several unique colleges and schools. While the College of Arts and Sciences is by far the largest, the university also consists of the College of Engineering and Applied Sciences and the schools of: Architecture and Planning, Business, Education, Journalism and Mass Communication, Law, and Music. Most, if not all of these colleges and schools also incorporate masters and doctorate level degree programs. At the University, there are currently approximately 3400 courses available in over 150 disciplines comprising 85 majors ranging from Accounting to Women's Studies.

As of Fall 2004, the top 10 declared majors were:

• Psychology
• Prejournalism and Mass Communication
• English
• Political Science
• Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology (MCDB, commonly)
• Architecture
• Integrative Physiology
• Economics
• Fine Arts - Studio Arts
• International Affairs

The most popular major for new students is the "open option" or undeclared major.

University of Colorado School of Law is by far the smallest and most selective of the colleges. The Wolf Law Building, the new home of the Law School, was dedicated on September 8, 2006, by United States Supreme Court justice Stephen Breyer.

The Leeds School of Business has an enrollment of 3,300 students includes undgraduates, master's candidates, and Ph.D. candidates. The Ph.D. entrepreneurship program ranks first in the nation. The undergraduate program ranks 39th in the country and the undergraduate entrepreneurship program ranks 14th in the nation. The MBA program ranks 26th among all public universities. The faculty are ranked 38th in the nation according to the Academy of Management Journal.

Center for Advanced Engineering and Technology Education

The Center for Advanced Engineering and Technology Education (CAETE) is a partnership between the College of Engineering and Applied Science and the Division of Continuing Education and Professional Studies at the University of Colorado at Boulder. As the distance learning and professional studies arm of the College of Engineering and Applied Science, caete provides courses from the College to working professionals via the Internet and CD-ROM. Students can take courses for professional development or toward earning a master's degree or graduate certificate (in some disciplines) in aerospace engineering, computer science, electrical and computer engineering, engineering management, and telecommunications. Founded in 1983, CAETE currently receives over 1,000 enrollments a year from over 250 job sites in Colorado, across the nation, and abroad.

Honor code

CU-Boulder has an honor code that all students must adhere to in their academic pursuits. A copy of the code, engraved on a metal plate, is posted in every classroom on campus. The Honor Code is a result of a student initative, the honor code took effect in 2000 after the student body voted in favor of the code. [1]

The code states: On my honor as a University of Colorado at Boulder student I have neither given nor received unauthorized assistance on this work.

Students at the University of Colorado at Boulder are expected to uphold the ideals of ethics and honor in all of their academic pursuits. If students do not, they are held accountable through the student-run honor code system.

Events

The Colorado Shakespeare Festival is a summer festival of Shakespeare held at the outdoor Mary Rippon Theater on the University of Colorado campus.

The Conference on World Affairs is an annual one-week conference featuring dozens of discussion panels on a variety of contemporary issues.

Organizations

Hiking Club

Founded in May 1919, the Hiking Club is the oldest student organization at the University of Colorado at Boulder. [2] A non-profit, student-run organization for university students and affiliates interested in hiking and outdoors activities, with hundreds of active members on campus.

The club organizes member-led trips every weekend, and during breaks travels throughout the Rocky Mountain Region to wilderness areas in New Mexico, Wyoming, and Utah. Depending on the outing, a variety of activities are featured such as climbing, mountain biking, hot-springing, and backpacking. Examples of frequent trip destinations include the nearby Indian Peaks Wilderness, ascents of Colorado's fourteeners, day-hikes among the picturesque Flatirons.

The club motto "half mile more" dates back to the 1940's of the club's tradition-rich history. The summit of Green Mountain, overlooking Boulder and the CU campus, is where a plaque placed by club members in 1925 marks the names and elevations of every visible summit in the Rocky Mountain Front Range from Longs Peak to Pikes Peak. A slideshow [3] of the club's activities is shown on campus during semi-annual new member meetings, and the alumni association meets annually.

Radio 1190

KVCU

Boulder
Broadcast area	Denver/Boulder
Frequency	1190 (kHz)
Branding	Radio 1190
Programming
Format	College
Ownership
Owner	The University of Colorado Foundation, Inc.
History
First air date	November 4th, 1998
Technical information
Class	D
Power	6,800 watts daytime, 110 watts nighttime
Links
Website	www.radio1190.org

KVCU AM-1190, popularly known as Radio 1190 is a college radio station affiliated with the University of Colorado at Boulder. Staff of the station are compensated with funds provided by the University of Colorado Student Union while operating funds are raised during biannual on-air pledge drives. It is also run by volunteers out of the School of Journalism and Mass Communication.

The station is best described as "college alternative" although the DJs play a huge variety of music which includes indie, techno, hip-hop, heavy metal, acappella, world and rap. One of the many programs run by the radio station is Basementalism, a show highlighting underground hip-hop artists [4]. Currently, Radio 1190 broadcasts at 1190 AM in the Denver/Boulder area. They also have a streaming webcast on their website. [5] The station takes part in many student events, including the WelcomeFest.

The station first went on the air May 22, 1978 as KGNU. The station changed its carrier band and call letters in 1987 to become KUCB. The station's range was also expanded to include Williams Village, which was about a half mile away from campus. Over the 1988-1989 school year, the station's motto became "Progressive As Hell", something which troubled the Student Union.

In the summer of 1991, heavy rains flooded the entire basement of the UMC, where KUCB was located. While all of the operating equipment was out of danger, there was a great deal of damage to records and stored equipment.

The station stopped broadcasting on Jan. 1, 1994 when TCI Cable dropped all radio stations from its service, including KUCB. The station was reinstated when a student referendum raised the funds necessary for its operation. KUCB began broadcasting again on November 1, 1994. Currently the station's call ID is KVCU.

Boulder Freeride

Boulder Freeride is the ski and snowboard club at the University of Colorado, Boulder. It was started in 1933, and has thrived on the CU campus as a student run, non profit organization. It was designed to promote skiing and snowboarding at the University of Colorado, Boulder campus. Boulder Freeride is the largest student group on campus, as well as the largest collegiate ski and snowboard club in the nation. It has over 3,000 members, making it larger than the University of Colorado’s Greek system.

Boulder Freeride is active year-round. Fall activities include a camping trip, BBQs, popular ski and snowboard movie premiers, and one of the year’s biggest events, Welcome Freeriders. This event is the club’s annual back to school gathering held on campus attended by CU students, and includes popular ski and snowboard vendors and magazines, as well as representative from the Colorado mountain resorts.

Boulder Freeride organizes a number of ski trips each year. Past trips have included a Thanksgiving trip to Steamboat Springs, CO, an annual trip to Aspen, CO to see the X Games, spring break trips to Innsbruck, Austria, Whistler, BC and Chamonix, France, and summer surf trips to South America.

The Buff Bus

The Buff Bus is a student shuttle that runs between off-campus housing and the main campus. The buses serve students with two routes through campus. The route from The Williams Village Dormitories and Bear Creek Apartments runs all day and brings passengers to campus from the remote dormitories and upperclassman apartment complex. The College Inn route runs for two hours in the morning and again in the evening and circulates through campus to and from that dormitory. The Buff Bus can also be chartered for special events and trips.

The Buff Bus runs from 7 am to midnight on weekdays and until 3 am on weekends. It is a primary mode of transportation by many students living in off-campus housing. Many Buff Bus drivers are students, with a few exceptions.

The fleet includes buses manufactured by NovaBus, Gillig, Neoplan, Thomas Built Buses, Navistar International Corporation, Blue Bird Corporation, and ElDorado National. Some of the buses in the fleet are powered by biodiesel manufactured from fryer grease. The idea started as a class project for CU Environmental Engineering student Andrew Azman and four other students after hearing a talk from biodiesel pioneer Joshua Tickell. The conversion of the Buff Buses to biodiesel was supported by a student referendum. Used fryer grease from the dining halls around campus is now processed into fuel for the Buff Busses, leading some to comment that the bus exhaust smells like french fries.

Notable CU students, alumni, and staff

Main article: List of University of Colorado at Boulder people

The University of Colorado at Boulder ranks fourth among U.S. universities in number of astronauts produced, not including military academies.

Notable accomplishments at CU

• First to create a new form of matter, the Bose-Einstein condensate, just a few hundred billionths of a degree above absolute zero.
• First to observe a "fermionic condensate" formed from pairs of atoms in a gas.
• First to perform a liver transplant.
• Discovered a naturally occurring protein in the blood that prevents the AIDS virus from reproducing and spreading to healthy cells.
• First to identify a genetic factor that converts normal cells into cancer cells.
• First to develop a classification and numbering system for human chromosomes.
• First to produce computerized 3-d images of the entire human body derived from anatomical sections (“visible human”).
• Developed the "FluChip" to aid physicians in diagnosing respiratory illness and differentiating between three types of influenza and other viruses that cause similar symptoms.
• Discovered that lymphocytes are preprogrammed to respond to antigens, the foundation of modern immunology.
• Discovered how a human cancer gene functions.
• First to perform successful open heart surgeries using hypothermia.
• First Sim Suite™ advanced heart surgery simulator.
• Pioneered the first Child Health Associate program in the nation.
• First in the nation to perform a fetal cell implant to treat Parkinson’s Disease.
• First to provide a nationwide computerized network of family physicians for practice-based research— a model replicated worldwide.
• First Place in the 2002 and 2005 National Solar Decathlons. (An international competition in which students and faculty from the Engineering and Architecture programs collaborated to design, construct, transport and live in a sustainable residence. These are the only two competitions until the next one in 2007.)

Athletics

Main article: Colorado Buffaloes

Sports teams at the school are called Buffaloes. CU participates in the NCAA’s Division I (I-A for football) as a member of the North Division of the Big 12 Conference. The school mascot is Ralphie the Buffalo and the school colors are Silver and Gold, but are usually represented by Black and Gold. There are three official fight songs: "Glory Colorado", "Go Colorado", and "Fight CU."

In 1934, the University teams were officially nicknamed the "Buffaloes". Previous nicknames used by the press included the “Silver Helmets” and “Frontiersmen.” The final game of 1934, against DU, saw the first running of a buffalo in a Colorado football game. A buffalo calf was rented from a local ranch and ran along the sidelines.

Contrary to popular belief, the school's colors are silver and gold, not black and gold. Silver and gold were chosen to represent the state's mineral wealth, but the colors did not look good together on the uniforms, so black was substituted.

File:University-of-Colorado-Boulder-sports-logo.png

The logo of CU athletics

CU has won national championships in both men’s and women’s cross country, cycling, triathlon, skiing, and a national championship in football. Conference championships have also been won in several sports.

In football, CU enjoys major rivalries with the Nebraska Cornhuskers and the Colorado State Rams in the "Rocky Mountain Showdown". The game is sometimes played at the neutral site Invesco Field at Mile High. Since the 1990s, Colorado and Nebraska have finished their respective seasons in a nationally televised confrontation on the Friday following Thanksgiving.

The CU ski team has won 16 National Championships at the Division I level. The sport is not sponsored by the Big 12 Conference however.

CU also maintains one of the largest Club Sports departments in the U.S. It supports over 30 club teams with leading clubs such as crew, cycling, ultimate Frisbee and ice hockey.

Galleries, museums and performing arts facilities

The University of Colorado at Boulder is home to an array of art galleries, museum, and performing arts facilities.

Galleries

• Norlin Library features two art galleries, several dedicated art spaces, and art works on display throughout the building.
• CU Art Museum features cutting edge works of modern and contemporary art as well as historical art works. The Museum's permanent collection includes over 5,000 works of art from numerous time periods and cultures.
• UMC Art Gallery exhibits a variety of visual offerings ranging from student works created on campus to presentations of internationally recognized artists.
• Andrew J. Macky Gallery showcases the work of both local and national artists and is housed in the historic Macky Auditorium.

Museums

• University of Colorado Museum of Natural History has one of the most extensive natural history collections in the Rocky Mountain and Plains regions, representing the disciplines of Anthropology, Botany, Entomology, Paleontology, and Zoology.
• CU Heritage Center tells the stories of CU-Boulder's past and present. Seven galleries exhibit art and memorabilia associated with CU faculty and alumni.
• Fiske Planetarium and Science Center features a 60 ft. planetarium dome - the largest between Los Angeles and Chicago - and produces laser shows, live concerts, and an on-going series of public programs. Fiske also offers a hands-on science museum with interactive exhibits and space-themed art.

Performing Arts Facilities

• University of Colorado College of Music presents over 400 performances and educational events featuring faculty, students, and guest artists each year. Musical genres include classical, jazz, and world music.
• Colorado University Theatre and Dance is home to the Charlotte York Irey Dance Theatre, the University Theatre, and the Loft Theatre. Over a dozen productions are presented each year featuring student and faculty actors, dancers, choreographers, directors, and designers.

See also

• Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics (LASP)
• JILA (formerly the Joint Institute for Laboratory Astrophysics)
• National Science Digital Library
• Colorado Center for Astrodynamics Research (CCAR)
• Center for Advanced Engineering and Technology Education (CAETE)

External links

• The University of Colorado’s web site
• Official Colorado athletics site
• Radio 1190
• University Memorial Center
• Tocqueville Initiative
• CU Hiking Club
• CU Student Group The Society for the Advancement of Central and East European Cultures

References

• Davis, William E. (1965). Glory Colorado! A history of the University of Colorado, 1858-1963. Boulder, CO: Prutt Press, Inc. LD1178 .D35. {{cite book}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)

• History of Radio 1190

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