University of California, Santa Cruz

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

University of California, Santa Cruz

Motto	Fiat lux (Let There Be Light)
Established	1965
Type	Public
Endowment	$162,433,000 [1]
Chancellor	George Blumenthal (acting)
Faculty	614
Undergraduates	13,669
Postgraduates	1,344
Location	Santa Cruz, California
Campus	Suburban, 2,000 acres (8 km²)
Mascot	Banana Slugs
Website	www.ucsc.edu

The University of California, Santa Cruz, also known as UCSC or UC Santa Cruz, is one of the ten campuses of the University of California. Located 75 miles south of San Francisco in the coastal community of Santa Cruz, the campus lies on 2,000 acres of gently rolling, forested hills overlooking the Pacific Ocean and the Monterey Bay. Founded in 1965, the same year that the University of California, Irvine opened, UCSC was one of the two youngest campuses of the University of California until the recent opening of University of California, Merced, the tenth campus.

Contents 1 Academics 2 Setting 2.1 History 2.2 Geology 3 Athletics and student traditions 4 Campus publications 5 Notable people 6 Points of interest 7 Notes and references 8 External links

[edit] Academics

The university offers 61 undergraduate majors and 31 minors, with graduate programs in 32 fields; ^[2] popular majors include art, business management economics and psychology. ^[3]

The undergraduate program is based on a residential college system. Upon admission, all students join one of ten colleges, which they may stay within for their entire undergraduate career.^[4] Most faculty members are affiliated with a college as well.^[4] The individual colleges provide housing and dining services, while the university as a whole offers courses and majors to the general student community.^[4] Other universities with similar college systems include Rice University and the University of California, San Diego. The ten colleges are, in order of establishment:

• Cowell College
• Stevenson College
• Crown College
• Merrill College
• Porter College
• Kresge College
• Oakes College
• College Eight
• College Nine
• College Ten

Each college has a distinct architectural style and student housing, along with at least one resident faculty provost.^[4] Incoming first-year students take a mandatory "core course", with a curriculum and central theme unique to each college.^[4] College sizes vary from about 750 to 1,550 students, and roughly half of undergraduates live on campus within their college community.^[4] Coursework, academic majors and general areas of study are not limited by college membership, although colleges host the offices of many academic departments. Graduate students are not affiliated with a residential college.

The McHenry Library houses UCSC's arts and letters collection, with most of the scientific reading at the newer Science and Engineering Library. In addition, the colleges host smaller libraries, which serve as quiet places to study. The McHenry Special Collections Library includes the archives of Robert A. Heinlein, the mycology book collection of composer John Cage, the Hayden White collection of 16th century Italian printing, a photography collection with nearly half a million items, and the Mary Lea Shane Archive. The latter contains an extensive collection of photographs, letters, and other documents related to Lick Observatory dating back to 1870. ^[5] As of 2006, a renovation and expansion program is underway at McHenry, scheduled for completion in 2009. The library will remain open during construction, with brief closures as needed. ^[6]

For most of its history, UCSC employed a unique student evaluation system. The only grades assigned were "pass" and "no pass", supplemented with narrative evaluations. Beginning in 1997, UCSC switched to a conventional letter grading system, but course grades are still supplemented with evaluations. The pass-no pass system is still available, but many academic programs limit or even forbid pass-no pass grading. Overall, students may earn no more than 25% of UCSC credits on a pass-no pass basis. ^[7]

In general, graduation and retention rates are above national averages but below the mean among UC campuses. Among students who entered in 1999, 70% graduated within six years, ten percentage points below the UC average. Earlier statistics show that the six-year graduation rate is above the mean for both NCAA Division I schools and a sample of major universities throughout the United States. ^[8] About half of graduates pursue further education, and 13 percent proceed to advanced degree programs within six months of graduation. ^[9]

As of 2004, UCSC's faculty included two members of the Institute of Medicine, twenty members of the Academy of Arts and Sciences, eleven members of the National Academy of Sciences, and one MacArthur Fellow.^{[citation needed]} The young Baskin School of Engineering, UCSC's first professional school, and the Center for Biomolecular Science and Engineering are gaining recognition, as has the work UCSC researchers have done on the Human Genome Project. UCSC administers Lick and Keck Observatories, the National Science Foundation's Center for Adaptive Optics, and the Long Marine Laboratory.

According to a 2005 report by SCI-BYTES magazine, UCSC ranked second in the United States for academic research impact in the field of space sciences between 1999 and 2003, behind Princeton University. ^[10] A report in 2002 had ranked UCSC first for research impact in the space sciences and second in physics. ^[11] In the last National Research Council rankings of graduate programs, published in 1995, Astronomy and Astrophysics and Linguistics both ranked in the top ten. ^[12] In its survey of more than 300 research universities, econphd.net, an online resource for graduate students, ranked the UCSC Economics Department ninth in the world in the field of international finance. ^[13] Of all the UC campuses, UC Santa Cruz has had the highest percentage of upper-division students participating in UC’s Education Abroad Program for the last five years.^{[citation needed]}

In September 2003, a ten-year task order contract valued at more than $330 million was awarded by NASA Ames Research Center to the University of California to establish and operate a University Affiliated Research System (UARC). UCSC manages the UARC for the University of California. ^[14]

[edit] Setting

The 2000 acre (8 km²) UCSC campus is located 75 miles (120 km) south of San Francisco and has an elevation change of about 900 feet (275 m) from the campus entrance at 285 feet (87 m) to the upper boundary at 1,195 feet (364 m). The lower portion of the campus primarily consists of the Great Meadow, and most of the upper campus is within a redwood forest. The campus is bounded on the south by the city's upper-west-side neighborhoods, on the east by Harvey West Park ^[15] and the Pogonip open space preserve, ^[16] on the north by Henry Cowell Redwoods State Park ^[17] near the town of Felton, and on the west by Gray Whale Ranch, a portion of Wilder Ranch State Park. ^[18] The northern half of the campus, while originally intended to house ten additional colleges,^{[citation needed]} has remained in its undeveloped, forested state apart from hiking and bicycle trails. The heavily-forested area has allowed UC Santa Cruz to operate a recreational vehicle park as a form of student housing. ^[19]

[edit] History

Although the original founders had outlined their plans for the University in the 1930s, the opportunity did not present itself to realize their vision until the City of Santa Cruz made a bid to the University of California Regents in the mid-1950s to build a campus in the mountains outside town. The formal design of the Santa Cruz campus begun in the late 1950s and construction started in the early 1960s. The campus was intended to be a showcase for contemporary architecture. The first university structure on campus to be completed was Hahn Student Services Building. Not long after opening, a fire gutted the building, which was then rebuilt over the undamaged concrete sub-structure.

Roads on campus are named after the UC Regents who voted in favor of building the campus. Clark Kerr Hall is named after the then-President of the University of California, who wanted to build a university as several Swarthmores (i.e., small liberal arts colleges) in close proximity to each other.

When UCSC opened, student protests on college campuses across the United States were common. According to popular myth, the campus was designed on a decentralized plan, with no central quadrangle or central administrative buildings to serve as rallying points for protests. However, the architectural plans and layout for the campus were already completed by the early 1960's, so there is no truth to this supposition. According to the founding chancellor, Dean McHenry, the purpose of the college system was to combine the benefits of a major research university with the intimacy of a smaller college. ^[20]

A large and growing population of politically liberal UCSC alumni in Santa Cruz has helped to change the electorate of the town from predominantly Republican ^[21] to markedly left-leaning, voting nearly three to one for Democrat John Kerry over Republican George W. Bush in the 2004 U.S. presidential election. ^[22] Mike Rotkin, a UCSC alumnus, lecturer in Community Studies, and self-described 'socialist-feminist,' has been elected Mayor of Santa Cruz several times, and the City Council of Santa Cruz recently issued a proclamation opposing the USA PATRIOT Act.^[23]

In January 2006, UCSC was the subject of an article in The New York Times discussing the school's opposition to military recruiters and allegations of spying on one of the campus's anti war groups. ^[24]

On June 24, 2006, Denice Denton, UCSC's ninth Chancellor, committed suicide by jumping from the rooftop deck of The Paramount high-rise apartment complex in San Francisco where her partner lived. She had been criticized for spending approximately $600,000 to remodel her campus residence, for accepting her chancellorship with the understanding that her life partner would be given a position as well (this arrangement is not uncommon when universities recruit faculty and administrators), and for her response to Harvard President Larry Summers' remarks at an academic symposium regarding the genetic suitability of different genders to careers in science and mathematics. Summers, already unpopular with the Harvard faculty, was censured and eventually resigned. Some speculate that Denton's suicide was the result of the pressure resulting from these controversies. ^[25]

[edit] Geology

The geology and history of the campus are closely tied together. The campus is built on a portion of the Cowell Family ranch, which was given as a gift to the University of California. The original living quarters for ranch employees are still standing at the campus' main entrance, or "base", as is the stonehouse which served as the paymaster's house. The stonehouse was home to the campus newspaper, City on a Hill Press, from the 1970s to the mid-1990s. Many of the other original ranch buildings have been renovated into comfortable modern offices in spite of their antiquated appearance.

The Cowell Ranch was a part of the Henry Cowell Lime and Cement Company. The limestone that runs under most of campus was pulled from one of several quarries, the most notable being the Upper Quarry. There is an amphitheater in this quarry that is used for most of the large gatherings on campus. The original campus plan included a stadium in the Lower Quarry, but this was never realized. Once the limestone was quarried, lime was extracted by burning it in limekilns adjacent to the quarries. The fires were fueled by the redwood trees that were logged from adjacent land. Although most of the kilns are fenced off, they are visible in several locations on and around campus and in Pogonip.

Creeks traverse the UCSC campus within several ravines. Footbridges span those ravines on pedestrian paths linking various areas of campus. The footbridges make it possible to walk to any part of campus within 20 minutes in spite of the campus being built on a mountainside with varying elevations. At night, fog shrouds the ends of the bridges, so that one can be in the center without being able to see either end or the bottom of the ravine below. Only the orange lights along the path twisting away into the woods provide any sense of place.

There are a number of caves on the UCSC grounds, some of which have challenging passages. ^[26]

The combination of porous limestone bedrock with torrential coastal winter rains can lead to sinkholes; there are two such 'bottomless' pits across from the Science Hill complex. The Jack Baskin Engineering Building, formerly known as the Applied Sciences Building, began sinking shortly after it was built; in the late 1970's, hundreds of tons of concrete were poured underneath its foundation to prevent it from sinking.^{[citation needed]}

The UCSC campus is also one of the few homes to Mima Mounds in the United States. They are extremely rare in the United States, and, indeed, in the world in general.

[edit] Athletics and student traditions

UCSC competes in Division III of the NCAA as an Independent member. There are fourteen varsity sports (men's and women's basketball, soccer, water polo, volleyball, swimming and diving, women's golf, and women's cross country). UCSC teams are nationally ranked in tennis, soccer, water polo and swimming. They have won five men's tennis team championships (most recently in 2004) and were runner-ups in men's soccer in 2004. UCSC is one of the largest NCAA Division III members.

In addition to its NCAA sports, UCSC maintains a number of successful club sides including its women's rugby team, which won the Division II National Collegiate Championship during its 05-06 season.

UCSC's mascot is the banana slug (specifically, Ariolimax dolichophallus^[27]). In 1981, when the university began participating in NCAA intercollegiate sports, the then-chancellor and some student athletes declared the mascot to be the "sea lions." Most students disliked the new mascot and offered an alternative mascot, the banana slug. In 1986, students voted via referendum to declare the banana slug the official mascot of UCSC—a vote the chancellor refused to honor, arguing that only athletes should choose the mascot. When a poll of athletes showed that they, too, wanted to be "slugs," the chancellor relented. A sea lion statue can still be seen in front of the Thimann Hall lecture building.^[28]

Santa Cruz has many student traditions, some of which stem from its roots in the 1960s counterculture.

On full moons, students often gather in the meadow north of Colleges Nine and Ten for drum circles. Drummers gather in the center and are surrounded by dancers and mingling crowds. Chanting and howling is not uncommon, nor is the use of marijuana and alcohol at these events.^{[citation needed]} In a tradition known as First Rain, the first time it rains in the academic school year, usually sometime in October, students run naked through the campus, starting at Porter College, stopping in each college and gathering more runners, before returning to Porter for a drum circle. Kresge students who participate in the run start at Porter so as to have a longer participation in the event.

On April 20 (420), cannabis-smoking students gather in the large Porter meadow to smoke and socialize. In 2006, over 500 students, including many who did not attend UCSC, joined in the festivities, which climax at 4:20 in the afternoon, with a countdown, and a smoke session.^{[citation needed]}

There are many forts in the woods, extending far back into the upper campus. These are often sites for the use of marijuana, and several, including El Fuerte, one of the most popular, which was directly behind the College Nine and Ten Apartments, were torn down over the 2006 spring break.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] Campus publications

City on a Hill Press, named for the school's unique location, is a weekly publication that serves as the primary newspaper for the campus. In addition, UCSC has a wide array of off-campus, academic-sponsored journals, and non-traditional school newpapers.

List of campus publications

• City on a Hill Press
• Fish Rap Live!, the comedy paper
• The Project, an off-campus monthly, highly political paper
• The Leviathan, the Jewish student life publication
• Chinquapin, an open-ended creative journal sponsored by the creative writing department [1]
• Turnstile, a poetry journal
• Red Wheelbarrow, a "literary arts" journal [2]

[edit] Notable people

Main article: List of University of California, Santa Cruz people

[edit] Points of interest

• University of California, Santa Cruz, Arboretum

[edit] Notes and references

[edit] External links

• University of California, Santa Cruz
• The Campus Guide: A Tour of the Natural Environment and Point of Historical Interest, written by Elizabeth Spedding Calciano and Ray Collett, 1973
• Henry Cowell history website
• Denton's Death, Activists
• Baskin School of Engineering website
• Center for Biomolecular Science and Engineering website
• UCSC Genome Bioinformatics
• Information on the UCSC Banana Slug
• The Moxie Production Group: Information on one of the many Student Media Orgs
• City on a Hill Press: UC Santa Cruz's student-run, student-written newspaper of record

University of California
Berkeley • Davis • Hastings • Irvine • Los Angeles • Merced • Riverside • San Diego • San Francisco • Santa Barbara • Santa Cruz

University of California, Santa Cruz
Cowell College • Stevenson College • Crown College • Merrill College • Porter College  Kresge College • Oakes College • College Eight • College Nine • College Ten  Baskin School of Engineering • Lick Observatory • Keck telescopes • Arboretum