Historical Trivia

MASCOT:

UCSD uses a "Trident" (a three-pronged fishing spear carried by Neptune as a symbol of power over the sea) as its symbol in graduations and other ceremonial events. The symbol originated with Scripps Institution of Oceanography, incorporated in 1912, out of which the UCSD campus grew and was officially established in 1960. The campus "mascot" is a variant of the Trident--a brawny Neptune, hoisting a trident, used by the UCSD Athletic Department. Additionally, four "Triton trumpet shells" (large conch shells) were used as fanfare to open Revelle College commencements for the first several years. Four students stationed around the platform blew into the shells to emit the large hollow blasts, which opened the ceremonies.

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Achievements in Athletics

• In the fall of 2000, UCSD moved up to the NCAA Division II level and joined the 12-member California Collegiate Athletic Association, its first comprehensive conference affiliation.

• Since 1981, UCSD has won 28 national championships, its most recent coming in December 2000 when the women's soccer team captured the NCAA Division II title. In 2000-2001, UCSD finished fourth in the NCAA Division II Sears Directors' Cup competition which annually ranks the top overall programs in the nation at each level. This was accomplished despite the fact that UCSD is the only Division II team in the country that does not award athletic scholarships.

• UCSD does not have a football team, although the subject is raised almost annually. One year, in the early 70's, a team actually got as far as uniforms and a schedule, but this attempt was nipped when Cal Tech ended its 14-year losing streak by beating the UCSD team.

• UCSD graduate Julie Swail ('95) was captain of the USA Women's Water Polo team that won the silver medal at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, Australia.

Official and unofficial campus song

There is no official or unofficial campus song, but folk singer Sam Hinton, former Dean of Admissions, was asked to write a song specifically for a universitywide surfing gathering. A copy of the song, to the tune of "Vive la Campagnie," is available. He notes that it certainly did not attain any sort of status as an official campus song.

Most (and least) beautiful campus building

The Geisel Library building, often compared to a spaceship taking off, is regarded nationally as the symbol — and most architecturally powerful structure — on the UCSD campus. Designed by famed architect William Pereira, it contains six glass-enclosed floors of book stacks, widening and then narrowing as the structure rises. Completed in 1970, the space was nearly doubled when 200,000 square feet was added, entirely underground, in 1993. The building has been featured in movies, television shows, and countless commercials by advertising maestros or producers who want to photograph a building that evokes the rare style of the Crown Jewels elegantly melded with E.T.'s cosmic minivan.

Several barracks, left from WWII when Marines trained at what is now the UCSD campus, are still in use as classrooms or offices and are regarded by some as unattractive. Others see the revamped buildings as charming connections to past history.

Strangest gift ever received

Artifacts from a Spanish treasure galleon, which sank off the shores of Key West in 1622, were received as dividends of stock given to the UC San Diego Foundation. The UCSD "treasure" included 12 silver coins, one gold coin, one gold bar, seven coin fragments, one copper ingot and a light emerald. These were sold by the University in 1990 for $15,500, which went toward educational support of female medical students.

Unique student, faculty or staff traditions

The "watermelon drop" is undoubtedly the longest lasting tradition on this relatively new campus. It emanated from a class in physics at Revelle College (1965), when an exam question centered on the velocity on impact of a dropped object. Students then took a watermelon and dropped it from the top (7th) floor of Urey Hall to measure its splat. The Watermelon Drop now marks the end of the school year at UCSD -- a king or queen is elected, pageants and parties held before and after the main "drop" event.

Faculty accomplishments

• Early discoveries in superconductivity were made by Bernd Matthias, a UCSD physicist and pioneer in superconductivity.
  
• Development of new cultured human skin replacement for severely burned patient
  
• Isolation of the gene for luciferase, the enzyme that causes insects to glow (firefly glow).
  
• UCSD researchers were the first to generate electricity by man-made photosynthesis.
  
• First direct evidence of how a cancer gene works: Chemist Russell Doolittle discovered that a gene that normally helps wounds to heal can run amok to cause cancer.
  
• Greenhouse effect: Scripps Institution scientists confirmed that carbon dioxide was rising in the atmosphere from pre-industrial levels
  
• Black Hole: Through measurements from a space satellite, researchers provided the first compelling evidence that a black hole exists at the center of the Milky Way.
  
• Earthquake resistant bridges: UCSD engineers designed the retrofitting for earthquake-resistant double-decker bridges now used by CalTrans in seismically active areas of California.
  
• Origin of earth theory: In a now-famous 1953 experiment at the University of Chicago, UCSD chemist Stanley Miller and the late Harold Urey showed that life on Earth could have been formed by lightning bolts catalyzing the synthesis of chemicals in the ancient atmosphere.

Quaint and curious bits of campus lore

• Utility tunnels which lie under much of the Revelle campus were, according to legend, used for parties, for student scares, etc. Now, according to the Internet, they're used for skateboarding. (May be true, in part)
• Thousands of eucalyptus trees which mark the campus were planted originally for use as railroad ties by the Santa Fe Railway. (True)

Anything else

• The one feature which sets UCSD apart from most large universities (and the other UC campuses) is the "small college" concept, patterned after those at Cambridge and Oxford. Each of the five undergraduate colleges at UCSD -- Revelle, Muir, Thurgood Marshall, Warren and Eleanor Roosevelt -- has its own residence halls, student services, requirements, educational philosophy, traditions, even graduation ceremonies. So, while the undergraduates remain part of one university, they also develop a sense of identity with the smaller family of their chosen college.
  
• Ted (Dr. Seuss) Geisel, a resident of La Jolla, gave the commencement address, in verse, for Revelle College seniors in June, 1978. A major portion of the Seuss/Geisel collection of original sketches and verses is housed in the Special Collections section at The Geisel Library.