UC San Diego
The University of California, San Diego is where I spent my 5 years of college. It is located in La Jolla, California, just north of San Diego. It is a truly beautiful campus that has undergone a tremendous amount of growth over the past ten years or so. When I first set eyes on UCSD in the mid-80's it was a sleepy little campus amidst a mamouth eucalyptus grove.
Until 1991, I visited the campus every year for a week with my parents and witnessed UCSD's metamorphosis. I saw the bookstore go from a cramped little shack of a building to a two story showcase in the marble and glass complex known as the Price Center. I saw the Triton Pub go from a large pub with pizza and pinball, to an abandoned building, and now to the revised and cozier Porter's Pub. I saw dirt and a parking lot transformed into one of the largest and most state of the art recreation facilities know to most as RIMAC. I saw the predominant architecture of bland poured concrete and cinder-block buildings go to beautiful and distinctly styled works of art such as the Robinson Complex.
This rapid transformation of the physical campus is also reflective of the sweeping changes within the academic aspects of UCSD. When Dick Atkinson (the current President of the UC System) took over as Chancelor of UCSD, he made it one of his goals to take UCSD from its slumber of a mellow, surfer, and somewhat party campus, and build it into one of the premier scientific centers of the academic world. That is almost exactly what transpired. By the time Atkinson left, UCSD was world-reknowned in not only science and medicine, but many other fields as well. UCSD is now one of the best academic institutions in this country--and even the world--consistantly ranking in the top of many surveys.
Along with this tremendous growth, UCSD also experienced a social transformation. The once friendly, mellow, quiet, quasi-party school became a bustling, competitive, sterile, and stressful place of business. Despite some rumors, UCSD was not ranked by Playboy as a party school in the late 70's/early 80's, but it was definately a more relaxed place 10-15+ years ago. While boosting our academic reputation, we lost some of our soul. I think that the administration forgot about the students and made the campus a bit impersonable. Don't get me wrong, I still love UCSD and don't think that any other campus could have afforded me the opportunities that I had there, but that does not mean I can't be critical. UCSD is just going through "growing pains" of sorts. UCSD is still a very young/immature campus and needs to figure out solutions to the many different areas that need improvement.
UCSD is a division III athletic school. That means that UCSD is not allowed to give any athletic scholarships and none of our athletes are afforded any priviledges. As a matter of fact, a great number of Triton athletes feel like they are discriminated against. Most science profs don't allow tests to be taken at any other time than the scheduled times. This means that students athletes who are due to travel or have games during exams cannot take those particular classes. This makes competing in an athletic forum terribly difficult. As a result, some of our best athletes do not participate in intercollegiate athletics, or worse yet, they compromise their academic life/goals. This is a detriment to UCSD either way. However, the one good part of our poor intercollegiate athletic standing is that our intramural athletics is one of the best in the nation. They ranged from softball and flag football, to floor hockey and ultimate frisbee, to co-ed innertube water polo and bowling. I wound up playing two or three intramural sports a quarter and loved every minute of it. IM's are one of UCSD's greatest assets.
Finally, I am a loyal UCSD Alumni member and an Bay Area Chapter participant. I guess I just want to help make UCSD into a top university in all aspects of college life and to provide all of its students with an experience that they will cherish. Too many students did not enjoy their time at UCSD in the manner in which I did, and I'd like that to change. It's a little idealistic, but I want future generations of students to have it better off than we did.
There are a million and four hidden secrets, places, and things that are special about UCSD. One of them is the Koala, the campus spoof paper that is the source for hillarious personals, humorous articles, great party reviews, funny lists, and an all around cynical view of campus life at UCSD.
UPDATE: UCSD announced this year that they will be moving to Division II athletics. This will enable us to most likey get into a league and have rivalries (we need a rivalry to gloat over when we kick their asses). Also, UCSD jsut won the Sears Dirctors Cup for overall Division III athletic excellence. It's about time, but a great accomplishment nonetheless. GO TRITONS!!!!
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