Talk:University of California, San Diego

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[edit] "UCSD Secrets" external link

An anonymous user (several anonymous users) keep adding a link to "The Secrets of UCSD - For the Incoming Freshman". It is my opinion that this link does not meet the guidelines in WP:EL, but I've removed it several times and will cease doing so without consensus from other editors. Paulymer5 04:44, 3 May 2007 (UTC)

The blog appears to have started only several months ago and appears non-notable, with barely any comments. This appears to be case of self-promotion or extremely misguided ideas of what constitutes a useful resource. I've removed the link. --C S (Talk) 11:33, 3 May 2007 (UTC)
I think the blog does a good job of documenting certain areas of the campus that have never been discussed. The site also has a considerable number of comments.Eng rulz 11:19, 17 May 2007 (UTC)eng_rulz
Just saying the opposite of what I say doesn't refute the fact that the level of activity on the blog is miniscule. Also, I have to question what your interest is in promoting this website. Are you affiliated with the blog? --C S (Talk) 13:01, 17 May 2007 (UTC)
Can you justify inclusion of the link under WP:EL? If not, why do believe the link should still be included? In the grand scope of the University's research contributions to science, publications, programs, and affiliations, do you believe some utility passages connecting buildings is important? Paulymer5 18:02, 17 May 2007 (UTC)
We certainly shouldn't link to the blog for this tunnel info. The information and map is ripped off (without credit) from Ben Hines' tunnels website (UCSD info here). That's the site that ought to be linked for this info, if it is to be linked to. I believe it's rather presumptuous to believe that a blog with 11 entries, totalling less than two dozen comments (the tunnels entry has the most comments: 10), with mostly information easily obtainable elsewhere (as indeed the blogger has done), is important enough to be included in an encyclopedia article on the University of California at San Diego. Let's have a sense of proportion. --C S (Talk) 00:14, 18 May 2007 (UTC)

[edit] UCSD Redirect

I've restored the redirect from UCSD to the University of California, San Diego. I believe that most users of the english wikipedia will be searching for the California University, rather than that of the Dominican Republic. I have included a link to the Santo Domingo Catholic University at the top of the University of California page through the {{redirect}} template.

In full disclosure, I'm a UC San Diego student, and thus fairly biased, but I'm definitely open to discussion on the matter.

Finally, I'd also like to see some quality improvements to Universidad Católica Santo Domingo. Paulymer5 08:03, 28 August 2006 (UTC)

Paulymer5, I totally agree with you. I restored the redirect AGAIN and tried to put a little more effort into the Santo Domingo page, but it all depends on whether or not the previous editor is willing to stop reverting. It's odd though, as the Santo Domingo University doesn't even have its own page on the spanish wikipedia. Elefuntboy 16:59, 5 September 2006 (UTC)
I don't think there is even a point in having the Santo Domingo Catholic University redirect tag at the top of the page. Having that tag at top means that someone typed UCSD in the English wiki and expected to see Universidad Católica Santo Domingo, which I don't think is likely given the following:
1. It's not an English wiki. I cannot really imagine an English-speaking user going to the English wiki website, typing in UCSD, and expecting to see Universidad Católica Santo Domingo. Universidad Católica Santo Domingo is just not that ubiquitous that you would expect the acronym to be known in the English-speaking world.
2. Its English translation is "Santo Domingo Catholic University," so it is more likely that an English user would type SDCU.
3. The Spanish wiki forwards UCSD to "Universidad de California, San Diego."
4. It's a 3 sentence wiki w/o a page in the Spanish wiki or another other language.
5. If we started adding redirect for what UCSD could mean for every possible language, there would be too many redirect tags at top.
Now don't get me wrong. Universidad Católica Santo Domingo definitely deserves a wiki page in English. It's just that I don't think anybody would type UCSD and expect to see that page. More likely than not, it could only lead to confusion. Unsuspected 00:11, 7 May 2007 (UTC)
I generally agree with you. I originally put the redirect tag up because another editor (sorry, too lazy atm to look up the history) kept relinking UCSD to a disambiguation page. However, regarding point two, the Universidad Catóolica Santo Domingo uses "UCSD" throughout its website and other literature, and I expect that partcluar acronym is used internationally. Just as UCSD is often referred to as "UCSD" in other lagnuages, even when its translated name is quite different, I believe it's not unreasonable for the Universidad Católica Santo Domingo to be listed as UCSD. In any case, I support your removal of the tag, and your general reasoning for doing so. Paulymer5 00:24, 7 May 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Sun God Festival

I think that more should be said about the annual Sun God Fest. Basically that it is a large attraction to students and non-students. And maybe if somebody could find that article that was in The Guardian that talked about record numbers of attendees. Oh! maybe somebody could also list the past performers. --MLSmateo 00:11, 19 June 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Infobox

I've changed the info box to the standard university template that wikipedia has to keep university pages uniform. I hope there are no objections. ArchonMeld 08:57, 29 March 2006 (UTC)

Holy Crap...Okay finally I got the images in the infobox to blend nicely.....that took me hours. ArchonMeld 07:50, 31 March 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Admissions

How could 16,000+ freshman be admitted last year when there are only 21,000 undergrads total? ArchonMeld 08:51, 27 March 2006 (UTC)

Vastly larger numbers of students are admitted each year as only a tiny fraction accept university admission. It's an accurate figure, i believe. Elefuntboy 23:56, 27 March 2006 (UTC)

Um....you are missing the winter admits.... Please look up the source in main UC webpage about stats. The total should be ~ 49% admitted frosh.

[edit] Nearby/(loosely) Affiliated research institutes

I'm surprised there's no mention here of UCSD's proximity to the famous Salk Institute for Biological Studies (which shares some of its faculty with UCSD), or The Neurosciences Institute, or the Scripps Research Institute, or The Burnham Institute, or The La Jolla Institute for Allergy and Immunology. It should also be noted that UCSD's medical school ranks quite high (14th for research, 7th for primary care) in the US News rankings.

[edit] On the Colleges

This article includes a gigantic section on the colleges, each of which have their own articles. The editor in me thinks perhaps the college blocks are unnecessary, since the college articles are far more detailed. It's a pretty major edit, so I'm interested in hearing if anyone else has an opinion. The college system at UCSD is well covered in the article -- I wouldn't remove any of that -- but I might advocate dropping the individual blocks about the colleges, or cutting them way, way down. Jason Snell 23 Jun 2005

Jason, that's a good point. I originally wrote the college sections for the UCSD site and then expanded them into their own articles. If you wish to delete them I wouldn't be too offended, really =). Although, I do think it helps to keep people aware of the colleges tha totherwise might not click over to see them. Anyhow, just a thought. Elefuntboy 24 June 2005
Welcome Jason to Wikipedia. You can easily sign all comments by including four tildas (~~~~) You can cut each section into a basic skeleton and place at the top this code {{Seemain|article name}} and a template redirect link will be created. lots of issues | leave me a message 10:27, 24 Jun 2005 (UTC)
Thanks guys! Much appreciated. Jsnell 15:03, 24 Jun 2005 (UTC)
Jason, excellent update and edit on the colleges. Five points for you! Elefuntboy 02:50, 27 Jun 2005 (UTC) 26 June 2005

[edit] Third College

I made some minor changes to Marshall/Third College, one of which could conceivably be controversial. The previous version discussed Third College's initial founding goals in 1970 as being related to the civil rights movement. In my opinion (I worked on a large historical research project for Third's 20th anniversary in 1990 that led to a book on the topic, and my specialty was its early history), the history of Third is just as entwined with the free speech movement, student protests, growing academic freedom among faculty, and the counterculture of the 60s. Disagreements welcome, but that's my take. Jason Snell 22 Jun 2005.

You're the expert on the area then. There shoudn't be any controversy.

lots of issues | leave me a message 05:14, 23 Jun 2005 (UTC)

Just treading lightly. But thanks for the support! Jason Snell 23 Jun 2005.

[edit] Average GPA

" The group of admitted students this year attained a mean high school grade point average (GPA) of 4.05 and an average composite SAT score of 1314"

how can the gpa be > 4.0? Do california schools allow higher than 4.0 GPAs?

Yes, with honors and advanced placement courses one can in fact have a "weighted GPA" > 4.0. Most schools in U.S. the have this policy.

[edit] Humor

This whole section was removed. Some of the other UC sites have humor sections, why not San Diego?

Gloominess reigns in San Diego. I assume you are editing as an outsider. Well trust us. lots of issues | leave me a message 21:50, 8 September 2005 (UTC)
In this encyclopedia we are trying to produce a professional product, and lightbulb jokes -- ugh. --fpo 22:29, September 8, 2005 (UTC)


Lotsofissues, you need a hug, don't you? =). I think the joke is somewhat unnecessary for the encyclopedic aspect, but trust us, there are some people that actually enjoy UCSD and have fun =). Elefuntboy 00:11, 10 September 2005 (UTC)
Tell me about this fun friend. lots of issues | leave me a message 20:56, 11 September 2005 (UTC)
Haha, well, i'll be having it as a silly grad student this fall. Just bug the brown guy with the afro and I'll tell you =). Elefuntboy 04:21, 12 September 2005 (UTC)

[edit] Co-ops

I would really like to see a page on the co-ops at UCSD, as they are significant in terms of the number of co-ops, specifically worker's co-ops, at any UC campus and perhaps at American universities in general (there are 4). I will probably add a paragraph to the UCSD main page and am working on a page specifically about the Che Cafe, but the co-ops in general have played an important and unique role in the development of the campus' social and political history. Hotdogs 19:12, 24 October 2005 (UTC)

That'd be awesome. There's definitely a lot to contribute. Elefuntboy 03:08, 25 October 2005 (UTC)

Welcome hotdogs -- would you mind if the che cafe was merged with the UCSD article? I think that would make for simple organization and navigation. lots of issues | leave me a message 06:41, 25 October 2005 (UTC)

I kind of think there should be a separate article specifically for the Che Cafe as it has a cultural significance that extends well beyond UCSd. However, I think incorporating the co-ops into the UCSD article would be great. I think that's what I meant even though I suggested a "page" - a section within the UCSD page. Though having separate articles for individual co-ops (or perhaps just stubs on some really, such as the food co-op) would be a good idea I think as the co-ops, while very much connected, do have individual histories as well. Hotdogs 18:38, 25 October 2005 (UTC)

[edit] Damnit

The academics section is complete crap. Does anyone know about the actual research that goes on rather than this self aggrandizing marketing?

lots of issues | leave me a message 14:22, 8 November 2005 (UTC)

[edit] History section?

What about if we add a history section to the article just like in the Berkeley and UCLA entries? -- Lrd1rocha 03:39, 31 January 2006 (UTC)

Who feels like reading a book on the history of UCSD?--I don't. I doubt anyone else will. Lotsofissues 05:10, 31 January 2006 (UTC)


UCSD's history is a pretty rich one - nice and controversial even before ground was broken, and wikipedia is a good venue for its expounding. I say add a history section, put in a couple of lines about when it opened, and watch what happens. Soltras 05:31, 31 January 2006 (UTC)
Well then go ahead and make it. ArchonMeld 08:04, 31 March 2006 (UTC)

A history section is okay as long as it is concise. WPW 18:04, 23 June 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Student life...campus life..etc

Well, if you're looking for some fun and exciting things to do on campus University Center's Marketing offers many activities all across campus and very frequently. I mean for week 7, the events are:::

>Monday: Michael Tiernan (a live acoustic show at the Espresso Roma, located at Price Center-next to Subway) at 8pm which is totally free!!!

>>Tuesday: Well, are you an avid RENO 911 FAN??? Well, RENO 911: MIAMI is playing at the Price Center Theatre at 6pm and 9pm for just $3.00!!!

>Wednesday: If you're an avid fan of Poetry, University Center Marketing offers TOTALLY FREE at the Student Center Lounge at 7pm, POETRY SLAM!!! Week 7 will be starring Rudy Francisco, and everybody is welcome to bring their own poems because there will also be an open mic at the end! Bring all your friends and don't be shy to speak what's on your mind!!!

>>Thursday: University Center Marketing is also offering the movie HANNIBAL RISING at the Price Center Theatre, at 6pm and 8pm, and remember the movie tickets are just $3.00 a show!

>Friday: As everybody knows is UCSD's 25th ANNUAL SUNGOD FESTIVAL!!!

>>Saturday: Cool things back down after a crazy day from SUNGOD and go and watch HANNIBAL RISING, if you missed the movie on Thursday (remember it's showing at 6pm and 8pm, and the tickets are just $3.00!)


amen to that Skhatri2005 04:34, 30 April 2006 (UTC)
bitchy and untrue. i think there's more than you give credit for.Elefuntboy 05:57, 2 May 2006 (UTC)

Which is a reason to be noted.

[edit] University of California, Riverside Survey

I'm posting this survey request Talk:University of California, Riverside#UCR Survey on all the UC talk pages in order to gather outside opinion on ongoing issues concerning the POV of this article. Please read the article and add your insights to the survey to help us identify any points of consensus in the UCR article. Thanks--Amerique 21:14, 11 July 2006 (UTC)

Survey closed, thanks--Amerique 19:21, 24 July 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Trivia section

UCSD has been featured in a variety of TV shows and movies. While Geisel library (and its wiki page) has some of this info on there, I think there should be a trivia section on the UCSD page for a list of items like this. One example is that UCSD was the place of the fictitious debate in a West Wing episode.

  • I got a good one...wtf is a triton?


    • A triton is a figure from classical mythology. They are undersea "spirits", the male counterparts of the female nereids, and followers of Poseidon/Neptune. They are often depicted in classical (and renaissance and neo-classical) art as bearded male figures from the waist up; below the waist they are shown with a fish's tail (like a merman) or their legs are snaky and scaled, with fish tails for feet. Tritons are often shown with spears or tridents, blowing conch-shell horns, or driving the car (chariot) of Neptune. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 71.246.66.228 (talk) 03:14, 30 September 2007 (UTC)

[edit] trim ELs per WP:EL

Please see

talk

72.254.3.118 02:26, 10 June 2007 (UTC)

I don't see why you think that the external links violated WP:EL standards. They are instead quite helpful. I won't be opposed to someone removing links and replacing it w/ content where it would be suitable; however, just removing links for the sake of removing them is not very productive. Unsuspected 02:41, 10 June 2007 (UTC)

[edit] WikiProject University of California

Several editors are organizing a WikiProject to better organize articles related to the University of California. A preliminary draft is available here. You are invited to participate in the discussion at Talk:University of California#Developing Wikiproject University of California. szyslak 21:32, 29 October 2007 (UTC)

[edit] misplaced emphasis in Student Life section

The student life section makes a big deal out of The Koala, which is largely ignored or overlooked by UCSD students. It also contains a perhaps-overly-grand refernce to some campus centers "There are also three campus centers that cultivate a sense of community among faculty, staff, and students: the Cross-Cultural Center, the Women's Center and the LGBT Resource Center," which is a rather large statement to make for centers that invite exclusion by spending student funds on special interest groups.

No mention is made of the numerous organizations, shows, cultural events, and campus projects which constitute a much larger part of student life for most students. Also, no reference is made to the struggle that exists between UCSD student organizations and UCSD staff - staff continually try to reign in organizations, and in fact are threatening not to re-certify the campus's Habitat for Humanity chapter because the chapter will not reserve spaces specifically for staff for its off-campus events.

As most of this consists of my personal observations I don't know how well it can be included in an encyclopedia article - but if organizational struggles persist then maybe a newspaper article will come out of it and it can be corroborated. 66.27.121.188 (talk) 04:52, 24 January 2008 (UTC)

In a rather long article, I see only two sentences that even mention The Koala. I'd hardly call that a big deal. Besides, at least during the time I was at UCSD ('99-'04) controversy around the The Koala, and the entertainment said controversy generated, was a significant element of public student life. As for the mention of the "three student centers", I agree that their importance is rather overblown and the wording is somewhat ironic. Please by all means go ahead and add mentions for the other campus centers (student center, the pub, price center, etc) and campus groups. If you run into any problems, I'll see if I can help when I get a chance. Newtman (talk) 06:08, 24 January 2008 (UTC)

[edit] A question

That may be impossible to answer, but why didn't UCSD ever make a push for DI football? I realize the start-up costs would have seemed prohibitive, but the development of a popular "cross-town" rivalry in sports with SDSU could have paid off tremendously for both schools and the city in the long run. Probably the state wouldn't want to invest in two football teams for one town, but still. Ameriquedialectics 02:44, 26 February 2008 (UTC)

Seriously, could have been the signature rivalry of the Mountain West Conference. SDSU's even got red jerseys; the color scheme would have fit right in with CA's other college rivalries. Ameriquedialectics 03:04, 26 February 2008 (UTC)

Answered my own question, found a SD Tribune article from 2002 that said the university has been comfortable winning championships (with walk-ons, up until the scholarship referendum was passed last year, basically) at the lower divisions, and could fund a lot of programs because it didn't have to fund football:[1]... and another recent one that says SDSU's football revenues have been declining:[2] Still, SD has it's own television market... the thought must have occurred to some people. Ameriquedialectics 05:29, 26 February 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Endowment

There is this problem with US News endowment figures across the UC campuses. They are all, to varying degrees, grossly inaccurate, in some cases over-reporting by over 4x what the self-disclosed UC endowment figures are. Here is a news item from last year placing UCSD's endowment at "more than $485 million": [3]. As far as US News goes, so long as anything it publishes is not collated by other sources, I consider it unreliable. Ameriquedialectics 04:29, 15 March 2008 (UTC)

  • FWIW, I agree with your conclusion about the US News figures. They vary too wildly from the official figures published by the University of California in its Annual Endowment Report.Vantelimus (talk) 04:52, 15 March 2008 (UTC)
The problem was first identified last year at Talk:University_of_California,_Irvine#Endowment_again. I don't know what's going on with it, I think they may be quantifying all capital assets held by the university or something. Ameriquedialectics 04:57, 15 March 2008 (UTC)

[edit] A challenge for the highly selective crowd

Go to the Harvard article and try to insert that term. A very well established discussion will be brought up and the term removed. This is an encyclopedia. We have standard policies. Articles should not be ceded over to over zealous students trying to promote their school.

Lotsofissues 13:39, 29 April 2008 (UTC)

Please address the issue at hand. You have removed information supported by a well-known source. Further, The Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching classifies UCSD as "more selective", its highest tier of selectivity.
I understand that university articles are rife with self-promotion and marketing. But the concept of "selectivity" is a useful one, particularly when we can rely on standardized definitions and well-known source. You may not like USN&WR's rankings or definitions but in many ways that's besides the point as verifiability is our standard and not truth. But even if you don't care for USN&WR the Carnegie Foundation and their classification systems are beyond reproach and the gold standard for classifying institutions of higher education in America. --ElKevbo (talk) 13:49, 29 April 2008 (UTC)

If you believe you are writing an encyclopedia then you should respect standardization. You should accept my challenge. Otherwise you are subverting rules to advance university promotion. Lotsofissues 15:08, 3 May 2008 (UTC)

  • The question here is whether the use of the term is appropriate. The argument by Lotsofissues that omitting the term has been standardized is not supported. Instead of support, he only poses a meaningless challenge. What the people who edit the Harvard article have decided is not a necessarily a Wikipedia standard. The relevant wikipedia standard here is Wikipedia:Avoid academic boosterism. The sections that seem relevant are "avoid vague terms of praise..." and "if you cite college and university rankings, be precise and honest." The term selective is imprecise only if it does not have backing from a source that has a standard way of using the term. Both the Carnegie Foundation and USNWR use standards for assigning a selectivity rating. Therefore the vagueness clause doesn't apply. The "precise" clause may apply. The use of the word in the article is "highly selective", however, Carnegie's ranking for UCSD is "more selective" and USNWR's ranking is "most selective". As Elkevbo notes, these rankings are the highest selectivity tiers assigned by those studies. Thus, it seems "highly selective" actually downplays the selectivity of UCSD. A more accurate statement would be "According to US News and World Report, UCSD is one of the most selective colleges in the US." This is a precise statement that can be backed by reference to USNWR. The same, btw, can be said for Harvard. I'll leave the decision of whether to add the statement to the Harvard article up to the people who concern themselves with the Harvard article. For the UCSD article, I think Elkevbo has made a better case here than Lotsofissues. In fact, if he wants to change the statement to "one of the most selective", I'd support that also. Vantelimus (talk) 21:35, 3 May 2008 (UTC)
"one of the most selective", I'd support that also. That's a very bold claim to make and it's not supported by admissions figures. The 2-subject avg for UCSD matriculants is about 1240-1250. There are dozens of schools with higher boards (probably ~40). Based on your response, I can see you are serious about writing a factually supported article. So it puzzles me why you make such an odd suggestion. To claim UCSD is one of the most selective would mislead readers. Anyways, the Harvard article shouldn't follow its own rules, contradicting what we do. The aim should always be to standardize. They've had discussion and concluded the label is promotional. You make the case that Carnegie classifications are basic info so I suggest clarifying the source of the term "highly selective". Lotsofissues 12:14, 4 May 2008 (UTC)
The best way to standardize would be to open a larger discussion and have the term added to the list in Wikipedia:Avoid academic boosterism if it is to be excluded. Your argument for why UCSD isn't "selective" is a reasonable one, but your definition differs from the Carnegie classification, which defines the phrase "more selective" as: Score data for first-year students indicate that these institutions are more selective in admissions (our analysis of first-year students’ test scores places these institutions in roughly the top fifth of baccalaureate institutions). Your observation that about 40 schools have better test scores sounds about right to put UCSD at the bottom of the top fifth. I concur with your suggestion that the source of any claim of selectivity be clarified, whether it be USNWR or the Carnegie foundation. Vantelimus (talk) 16:35, 4 May 2008 (UTC)
Another thought or two on selectivity... when compared to Harvard, a selectivity definition which admits the top 20% seems very weak. However, obtaining admission to a top 20% university is still an unobtainable goal for roughly 80% of prospective college students. Viewed thusly, UCSD appears selective to a supermajority of the total student population. When one considers that only about a 40% of the population attains a BA/BS or higher and only about 50% have some college (see Educational attainment in the United States) the percentage of the total population that may qualify for admission to UCSD goes from 20% down to less than 10%. From this larger perspective, UCSD looks selective. The definition of selectivity seems to make all the difference, so I am fact-tagging any claim to selectivity that I see that doesn't include a reference to the source of the claim.Vantelimus (talk) 16:59, 4 May 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Name Change

Several people have told me that UCSD used to be called "UC La Jolla". Is this true? Can anyone find a source to either back this up or refute it? I think this deserves mention on this page if it is true. Cazort (talk) 13:15, 3 May 2008 (UTC)