User:Astuishin/Sandbox
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[edit] History
Washington University was founded by a group of St. Louis business, political, and religious leaders concerned by the lack institutions of higher learning in the Midwest. The effort to found the university was spearheaded by Missouri State Senator Wayman Crow, and Unitarian minster William Greenleaf Eliot. Crow secured the university charter from the Missouri state legislature in 1853 and handled further political maneuvering. While Eliot, the was in charge of raising funds for the university, in appected the position as President of the board of trustees. Washington University is unique among other American universities, in not having any prior financial entrustment to begin with, the school had no church backing, no wealth patron, and no government support. Therefore financial problems plagued the university for serval decades after its founding. Eliot was sequfially able to solicit some support of from the St. Louis business community, including John O'fallon one of the wealthiest people in St. Louis, even breily considering naming the university the O'Fallon Institute.
The name of the fledgling university was still unclear, in three years following its inspection the university bore three different names. First approved as the Eliot Seminary this title was eventually replace in favor of Washington Institute, because of Eliot's stiff opposition to the name. Not only was Eliot personally uncomfortable with the idea of naming a university after himself, but he also objected to the establishment of Seminary which would inherently be charged with teaching a religious faith, in favor of a purely non-sectarian university. Under pressure from Eliot the Board of trustees created a task force charged with naming the university headed by Samuel Treat. Serval months later Treat's comminte prosed naming the University the Washington Institute, after the nation's first president. However in the midst of finance problems the board of tutees, voted to name the university the O'Fallon Institute in order to secure funds from John O'fallon. Samuel felt the name was unsuitable and persuaded the board, drop the name in favor of the Washington Institute. Naming the University after the nation's first president only six years before the civil war during a time of bitter national division was no coincidence on the part of Treat. George Washington universally admired by Americans and hailed as the countries greatest president, and the father of America. Treat felt that the university should be a force of unity in a strongly divided nation. In 1856 the University amended its name to Washington University, the universities only amended its name once again in 1976 when the board of trustees voted to add the suffix in St. Louis to distinguish the university from the nearly two dozen universities bearing Washington's name. [1] was university as a nonsectarian, private institution in 1853 by the Unitarian minister grandfather of the Nobel Prize laureate poet T. S. Eliot, and by St. Louis leader Wayman Crow. Its first chancellor was Joseph Gibson Hoyt. It desegregated its undergraduate divisions in May of 1952. Although stationed as a university, Washington University functioned primarily as a night school located on 17th Street and Washington Avenue, in the heart of the bustling St. Louis Downtown. Once again plagued by the lack of resources, the Washington University was forced use public buildings. Classes began on October 22 1854 at the Benton school, with the st. louis public school system footing the payments. Smith Academy. In 1867 the university opened the first law school west of the Mississippi River, by 1882 the university had expanded to numours departments, housed in buildings spread across Downtown St. Louis. However by 1890s, the university on the brink of financial collapse, until Robert Sommers Brookings, president of the board of trustees, untook the task of rebuilding the universities fincaess, and aquirening land for a new campus. Brookings was instrumental in Eliot the primary fundraiser for the university had died and, their was no major financial backer for the university.
The campus was the venue for 3 Presidential debates: the first 1992 Presidential debate on October 11, 1992, the third 2000 Presidential debate on October 17, 2000, and the second 2004 Presidential debate on October 8, 2004. It was also scheduled to host one in 1996, but that debate was cancelled when the two candidates chose not to participate.
In the summer of 2002, Brookings Hall Room 300 was transformed into the Mission Control center for Steve Fossett's sixth and ultimately successful attempt to circumnavigate the planet in a balloon--the Spirit of Freedom.[1]
At the start of the Fall 2006 semester, the St. Louis Metro opened the Shrewsbury extesnion of its light rail Metrolink system. Three of the nine new stations directly serve the University (Skinker, Big Bend, and West Campus). On July 1, 2006, the Univeristy began offering free Metro passes--the U Pass--to all full-time students, faculty, andstaff.[2]
| Rank | State | Population | House Seats | Electoral Votes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Nevada | 2,414,807 | 81,909 | 3.5% |
| 2 | Arizona | 5,939,292 | 199,413 | 3.5% |
| 3 | Idaho | 1,429,096 | 33,956 | 2.4% |
| 4 | Florida | 17,789,864 | 404,434 | 2.3% |
| 5 | Utah | 12,763,371 | 48,877 | 2% |
| 6 | Pennsylvania | 12,429,616 | 19 | 21 |
| 7 | Ohio | 11,464,042 | 18 | 20 |
| 8 | Michigan | 10,120,860 | 15 | 17 |
| 9 | Georgia | 9,072,576 | 13 | 15 |
| 10 | New Jersey | 8,717,925 | 13 | 15 |
| 11 | North Carolina | 8,683,242 | 13 | 15 |
| 12 | Virginia | 7,567,465 | 11 | 13 |
| 13 | Massachusetts | 6,398,743 | 10 | 12 |
| 14 | Washington | 6,287,759 | 9 | 11 |
| 15 | Indiana | 6,271,973 | 9 | 11 |
| 16 | Tennessee | 5,962,959 | 9 | 11 |
| 17 | Arizona | 5,939,292 | 8 | 10 |
| 18 | Missouri | 5,800,310 | 9 | 11 |
| 19 | Maryland | 5,600,388 | 8 | 10 |
| 20 | Wisconsin | 5,536,201 | 8 | 10 |
| 21 | Minnesota | 5,132,799 | 8 | 10 |
| 22 | Colorado | 4,665,177 | 7 | 9 |
| 23 | Alabama | 4,557,808 | 7 | 9 |
| 24 | Louisiana | 4,523,628 | 7 | 9 |
| 25 | South Carolina | 4,255,083 | 6 | 8 |
| 26 | Kentucky | 4,173,405 | 6 | 8 |
| (n/a) | Puerto Rico | 3,916,632 | * | n/a |
| 27 | Oregon | 3,641,056 | 5 | 7 |
| 28 | Oklahoma | 3,547,884 | 5 | 7 |
| 29 | Connecticut | 3,510,297 | 5 | 7 |
| 30 | Iowa | 2,966,334 | 5 | 7 |
| 31 | Mississippi | 2,921,088 | 4 | 6 |
| 32 | Arkansas | 2,779,154 | 4 | 6 |
| 33 | Kansas | 2,744,687 | 4 | 6 |
| 34 | Utah | 2,469,585 | 3 | 5 |
| 35 | Nevada | 2,414,807 | 3 | 5 |
| 36 | New Mexico | 1,928,384 | 3 | 5 |
| 37 | West Virginia | 1,816,856 | 3 | 5 |
| 38 | Nebraska | 1,758,787 | 3 | 5 |
| 39 | Idaho | 1,429,096 | 2 | 4 |
| 40 | Maine | 1,321,505 | 2 | 4 |
| 41 | New Hampshire | 1,309,940 | 2 | 4 |
| 42 | Hawaii | 1,275,194 | 2 | 4 |
| 43 | Rhode Island | 1,076,189 | 2 | 4 |
| 44 | Montana | 935,670 | 1 | 3 |
| 45 | Delaware | 843,524 | 1 | 3 |
| 46 | South Dakota | 775,933 | 1 | 3 |
| 47 | Alaska | 663,661 | 1 | 3 |
| 48 | North Dakota | 636,677 | 1 | 3 |
| 49 | Vermont | 623,050 | 1 | 3 |
| (n/a) | District of Columbia | 550,521 | ** | 3 |
| 50 | Wyoming | 509,294 | 1 | 3 |
