University of Texas at Austin
The University of Texas at Austin (full official name), often UT or Texas for short, is the flagship institution of the University of Texas System, the largest public university system in Texas, established in 1883. Consistently ranked as one of the best public schools in the nation and known as one of the most prestigious, it has a student population of 50,403 (as of 2004) — currently the third largest at a single campus in the nation, behind Ohio State University and University of Minnesota Twin Cities. The university is one of the most prestigious public institutions in Texas, and in recent years admission has become very competitive. The school has many top academic and professional programs, including national top ten programs in engineering, computer science, business, Law and public affairs, among many others. Its astronomy department administers the McDonald Observatory located in the Davis Mountains (http://www.tsha.utexas.edu/handbook/online/articles/view/DD/rjd3.html) of West Texas.
About the University
The University of Texas was originally conceived in 1839, when the Congress of the Republic of Texas set aside land for a "university of the first class" in the new state capital, Austin. At first located on the legendary 40 acres (160,000 m²) then known as College Hill, the University has since expanded to about 350 acres (1.4 km²) on the main campus and about 850 acres (3.4 km²) overall, although the term 40 Acres is still used to refer to the central campus. The University's colors are burnt orange and white, and its alma mater is "The Eyes of Texas". [1] (http://www.tsha.utexas.edu/handbook/online/articles/print/EE/xee1.html). At football games, students frequently sing "Texas Fight," the University's fight song. The mascot is a Texas longhorn named Bevo.
Facilities The University is home to the Lyndon B. Johnson Presidential Library and Museum [2] (http://www.lbjlib.utexas.edu/) and the Harry Ransom Humanities Research Center [3] (http://www.hrc.utexas.edu/home.html). The Ransom Center's holdings include one of only 21 remaining complete copies of the Gutenberg Bible worldwide.
Other research facilities of the University include:
- Perry-Castañeda Library [4] (http://www.lib.utexas.edu/pcl/about.html)
- McDonald Observatory [5] (http://www.as.utexas.edu/mcdonald/mcdonald.html)
- Marine Science Institute at Port Aransas [6] (http://www.utmsi.utexas.edu/)
- J. J. Pickle Research Center and Applied Research Laboratories [7] (http://www.arlut.utexas.edu/)
- Center for Space Research [8] (http://www.csr.utexas.edu/)
- Innovation, Creativity & Capital (IC²) Institute [9] (http://www.ic2.org/index.php)
- Program in Aegean Scripts and Prehistory [10] (http://www.utexas.edu/research/pasp/).
The University operates a public radio station, KUT [11] (http://www.kut.org). KUT provides local FM broadcasts as well as live streaming audio over the Internet.
The University was involved in a bid to operate the Los Alamos National Laboratory for the US Department of Energy. The University dropped its bid in January 2005.
Endowment The University receives income from an endowment known as the Permanent University Fund. With $6.95 billion (US) in assets as of May 31, 2003, some might regard UT as a wealthy university, as its endowment is larger than any other U.S. university save Harvard, Stanford or Yale. However, this money is spread throughout the University of Texas System, and one-third of the income goes by law to the Texas A&M University System. At one time, the PUF was the chief source of income for Texas's two university's systems, today its revenues account for less than 10 percent of the universities' annual budget. This has challenged the university to increase sponsored research and private donations. Other Texas public universities outside these two systems, notably Houston and Texas Tech, are prohibited by law from sharing in the income from this endowment. Even the portion left for UT Austin is much smaller on a per student basis, since UT has many more students than most universites.
The Main Building tower The UT tower (foreground) One of the University's most visible features is its Main Building [12] (http://www.utexas.edu/tours/mainbuilding/), including a 307-foot tower completed in 1937, located in the middle of campus and gracing Austin's downtown skyline. Although city law prohibits buildings to be taller from ground to top than the Texas State Capitol, the Main Building is on higher ground, making its top higher above sea level than the Capitol.
The tower is normally lit in white light, but is lit orange for various occasions, including athletic victories and academic accomplishments, such as commencement. The tower is darkened for solemn occasions. [13] (http://www.utexas.edu/opa/pubs/oncampus/02oc_issues/oc020129/oc_tower.html)
At the top of the tower is a carillon of 56 bells, the largest in Texas. Songs are played every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday at 12:50 pm local time by resident carilloneur Tom Anderson, in addition to the usual pealing of the bells every quarter hour.
On August 1, 1966, Charles Whitman barricaded himself in the observation deck of the tower with a sniper rifle and other weapons, killed 14 Austin residents, and wounded more. The observation deck was closed until 1968, and then closed again in 1975 following a series of suicide jumps during the 1970s.
In 1998, after installation of security and safety precautions, the tower observation deck reopened to the public. It is surrounded by a protective metal grid to impede jumpers, and is only open on the weekends when the offices in the tower are not open. Visitors must pass through a metal detector and are accompanied by police while on the observation deck.
High tech growth and film in Austin The University has been helpful in providing people for the high tech growth of Austin, the capital city located in the heart of Central Texas.
Michael Dell, former student and current Chairman of the Board of Dell Inc., kept his successful company, that he started out of his dorm room, in Austin, keeping the city and the university at the forefront of technology.
The University also includes the highly recognized Radio, Television, and Film (RTF) department and, partly because of this, Austin has been the location of a number of movies, including Secondhand Lions, Waking Life, Spy Kids, Dazed and Confused, Office Space, The Life of David Gale, and Slacker. Austin has spawned several well-known directors, including Robert Rodriguez (an RTF alumni), Richard Linklater, and Wes Anderson. Austin hosts the annual Austin Film Festival, as well as the South by Southwest Festival, which draw films of many different types from all over the world.
Lately Austin's film industry has been rapidly growing, and in 2004 was named #1 in Moviemaker Magazine's Annual Top 10 Cities to live and make movies. The RTF department has also begun a private production company called Burnt Orange Productions, seeking to use the talents of upper division and graduate RTF students in shooting independent feature films for distribution.
Sports The men's sports teams are called the Longhorns, and the women are the Lady Longhorns. A charter member of the Southwest Conference until its dissolution in 1996, Texas now competes in the Big 12 Conference (South Division) of the NCAA's Division I-A.
The University has traditionally been considered a football powerhouse; the football team frequently ranks in the top 10. The Longhorns have won National Championships in 1963, 1969, and 1970. Under the current system, the Longhorns played their first Bowl Championship Series game in 2005 at the Rose Bowl against the University of Michigan. The game was the first meeting between the two storied teams and the Longhorns' first trip to the Rose Bowl or a BCS game. The Longhorns defeated the Wolverines 38-37.
In recent years the men's basketball team has gained prominence. In 2003, the basketball team advanced to the NCAA Tournament Final Four round, and in 2004 advanced to the Sweet Sixteen round. The women's basketball team has long been a national power, especially during the late 1980s and through the 1990s.
The University's major rival in almost every sport is the University of Oklahoma (phrase heard at football games: "What time is it?" "I don't know, but OU still sucks!" and "Why doesn't Texas fall into the ocean?" "Cause OU sucks!"). The rivalry is so intense that many textbooks authored by UT professors include references to UT beating OU. The football game between University of Texas and Oklahoma is known as the "Red River Shootout" and is held annually in Dallas, Texas at the Cotton Bowl.
There is also a longstanding rivalry with Texas A&M University, and these two universities are mentioned in each other's fight songs (A&M isn't too friendly about it either). In 2004, sports events between the University of Texas and Texas A&M University became known as the "Lonestar Showdown". The most-watched part of this rivalry is the annual football game the day after Thanksgiving each year.
The University's baseball team has more years of participation in the College World Series than any other school, extending their record in 2004 year to 31 appearances.
Student publications and media Students produce The Daily Texan (http://www.dailytexanonline.com/), the most award-winning college newspaper in the United States, The Texas Travesty, the college humor publication with the largest circulation in the United States, KVR-TV (http://www.kvrtv.com/), KVRX (http://www.kvrx.org/), and the Cactus Yearbook (http://www.tsp.utexas.edu/cactus/).
Notable alumni - Wes Anderson, filmmaker
- Steve Barton, actor
- Paul Begala, Crossfire co-host and former Clinton advisor
- Lloyd Bentsen, U.S. Senator and Secretary of the Treasury during the Clinton Administration
- Berkeley Breathed, cartoonist, creator of Bloom County
- William F. Buckley, Sr., Oilman and father of conservative William F. Buckley, Jr.
- Jenna Bush, daughter of President George W. Bush
- Earl Campbell, NFL Hall-of-Fame Running Back
- Douglas J. Cardinal, architect
- Liz Carpenter, press secretary for Lady Bird Johnson
- Roger Clemens, Professional baseball player
- J.M. Coetzee, Nobel Laureate for Literature
- Walter Cronkite, WWII war correspondent and CBS news anchor
- Michael Dell began Dell Computers from his dorm room at UT Austin. He was so successful that he dropped out at the age of 19 and as of 2004 has an estimated net worth of $13.0 billion (US).
- Kay Bailey Hutchison, current U.S. Senator from Texas
- Lady Bird Johnson, First Lady
- Richard Linklater, filmmaker
- Alan Lomax, a musicologist and folklorist. Son of John Avery Lomax.
- John Avery Lomax, a pioneering musicologist and folklorist
- Tim McCanlies, filmmaker
- Matthew McConaughey, actor
- Bill Moyers, author, journalist, and press secretary for Lyndon Johnson
- Robert Rodriguez, Mexican American filmmaker
- Bruce Sterling, noted science fiction author
- Eli Wallach, famed method actor, the 'Ugly' from The Good, the Bad and the Ugly
- Ricky Williams, Heisman Trophy Winner and NFL Running Back
- Owen Wilson, actor
- Ralph Yarborough, U.S. Senator from Texas (1957-1971)
- Renée Zellweger, actress
- Jason Hunter, San Angelo Standard-Times sports editor
See also
External links
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