Online Encyclopedia
Georgia Institute of Technology
The Georgia Institute of Technology, or Georgia Tech for short, is a public university in midtown Atlanta, Georgia with over 16,000 students. Founded on October 13, 1885 as the Georgia School of Technology, it is primarily an engineering school, though it also has programs in the related disciplines of architecture, science, management, computer science, and liberal arts.
Georgia Tech's campus was the site of the athletes' village and a venue for a number of athletic events for the 1996 Summer Olympics. It was also the home of early radio station WGST AM from 1924 to 1930.
Georgia Tech was at one time often referred to as the North Avenue Trade School, although this was never its official title. The name stems from the fact that the campus is bordered to the south by North Avenue, and that the school, in its earlier years was operated much like a trade school, with students working part of the day in a machine shop, and the other part of the day in classrooms.
An additional tradition which is a hold over from the days of the trade school is what is referred to "The Whistle." The whistle blows every hour, at five til the hour from 6:55am to 5:55pm. It was originally used to mark the end of a shift in the shops in the early years of the Institute; now it is used to mark the common end of classes and as a ten minute warning to the common beginning of classes.
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Campus, buildings, and other structures
The Georgia Tech campus is located in Midtown, a area north of downtown Atlanta. Although a number of huge buildings are visible from all points on campus — most notably the headquarters of both BellSouth and The Coca-Cola Company as well as the Atlanta's tallest, the Bank of America building — the campus itself has few buildings over a few stories and has a great deal of greenery. This gives it a distinctly suburban atmosphere quite different from other Atlanta campuses such as that of Georgia State University.
The campus is organized into four main parts: West Campus, East Campus, Central Campus, and Tech Square, a newer section opened in 2003. West Campus and East Campus are both occupied primarily by student living complexes, while Central Campus is reserved primarily for buildings used for teaching and research. Tech Square, embedded in the city east of East Campus, is home to the new official bookstore, a hotel, the offices of a number of faculty, and classrooms used for management and international affairs classes.
While the majority of West Campus is occupied by apartments and single-sex undergraduate freshman dormitories, it has a number of other features, such as the Campus Recreation Center (formerly the Student Athletic Complex), a volleyball court, a large, low natural green area known as the Burger Bowl, a large, flat artificial green area known as the SAC Field, and easy access to the Engineer's Bookstore, a seller of used textbooks. Other than the Engineer's Bookstore, however, West Campus is disconnected from the city; there are very few useful, accessible commercial establishments. It is also home to a music club operated by students called Under the Couch as well as a small diner and convenience store, West Side Market. Due to limited space, all auto travel proceeds via a confusing maze of one-way streets which connects West Campus to the larger campus roads Ferst Road and Hemphill Avenue. The primary eating place of West Campus, Woodruff's, is part of a dormitory building, and is often called Woody's for short.
Although the residences are similar, East Campus is decidedly more urban than West Campus. It abuts on The Connector, a segment of interstate highway where I-75 and I-85 merge, which is infamous for its traffic, and so suffers from high pollution during peak hours. However, via a number of bridges over the highway as well as a tunnel under it, East Campus has quick access to Midtown and its commercial businesses. It is also home to the majority of Georgia Tech's fraternities and sororities, as well as Georgia Tech's stadiums, such as the famous Bobby Dodd Stadium. Tech Square is also accessible on foot from East Campus. East Campus's eating establishment, called Brittain, is modelled after a medieval church, complete with carved columns and stained-glass windows showing symbolic figures. There are no large green areas in East Campus, although there are small courtyards. The main road leading from East Campus to Central Campus is a sharp incline often called "The Hill."
Central Campus has no residences, being reserved primarily for academic buildings, such as the Howey Physics Building, the Boggs Chemistry Building, the College of Computing, the Skiles building, housing the math and humanities departments, and the Ford Environmental Engineering Building. Intermingled with these are a variety of research facilities such as the Centennial Research Building, the Pettit Microelectronics Research Center, the Electronic Research Building, and the Petit Biotechnology Building. Tech's administrative buildings, such as the Student Services Building (Flag Building), Tech Tower, and the Bursar's Office are also located here. However, Central Campus doesn't altogether lack places to waste time; it has a large library with sizable computer clusters, a small traditional eatery called Junior's Grill, as well as a large communal building for students called the Student Center, which includes a number of eating places, computer clusters, a game room, the mail room, the darkened Music Listening Room, and, in front, a fountain monument called the Kessler Campanile, which students often call the Shaft. The area of Central Campus in front of the Student Center has many trees and green areas, but the rest is sparse.
Some areas of Central Campus, such as the Boggs Chemistry and Industrial Engineering buildings, are more accessible from West Campus. Others, such as Skiles, Junior's, Tech Tower, and the library are more accessible from East Campus. East Campus has foot access to Tech Square, but Tech Square can also be reached from West Campus via the Tech Trolley transportation system.
Tech traditions
Tech has a number of legends and traditions, some of which have persisted for decades. These include:
- Triple Play: This is a shorthand term for executing 3 or more of the several traditional, officially discouraged traditions. They include stealing the T, swimming in the president's pool, climbing the coliseum, climbing the stadium lights, and jumping off the 10 meter high dive.
- Stealing the T: Tech's historic primary administrative building, Tech Tower, has the letters TECH hanging atop it. A number of times, students have orchestrated complex plans to steal the huge symbolic letter T, and on occasion have carried this act out successfully. The T was then returned at its traditional time, and the student's achievement celebrated. Stealing the T is sometimes also called climbing. Although the administration used to turn a blind eye to this practice, it is now officially discouraged, due to the risk of fatal falls and the potential for damage to the building. Security features such as pressure sensitive roof tiling and fiber optic cabling running throughout the letters have been added to the T to help prevent its theft and aid in catching the perpetrators. The last successful attempt occurred in 1997 by 3 members of the Gamma Eta Chapter of Beta Theta Pi, who were subject to disciplinary action.
- To Hell With Georgia: Georgia Tech has an ongoing rivalry, mostly in sports, with another top-tier school in Georgia, the University of Georgia, often simply called Georgia for short. An annual issue of the school newspaper, The Technique, focuses on this rivalry.
- RAT Caps: Although a fading history, a number of freshmen wear yellow baseball caps throughout the year. Short for Recruit At Tech, the RAT caps are decorated with the football team's scores, the freshman's major, expected graduation date, and "To Hell With Georgia" emblazed on the back of the cap.
- George P. Burdell: Legendary imaginary student George P. Burdell is said to possess nearly every degree Georgia Tech offers, after many students took a variety of classes in his name. Since the 1960's, some students have managed to ensure that George P. Burdell is always enrolled at the university in the school's registrar's computers. The initial forged enrollment was performed in the era of computer punch cards. After initially vigorously searching for the hackers, the university has since accepted the presence of George P. Burdell in every year's class.
- 41-38 Score of two momentous victories by Georgia Tech over the University of Virginia in college football, hence a Tech rallying cry whenever the two teams meet. In 1990, Virginia won its first seven games and had a #1 ranking in both polls. Undefeated but unheralded Georgia Tech came into Scott Stadium in Charlottesville and beat the Cavaliers 41-38 on a last-second field goal by Scott Sisson. In 1998, the first year since 1990 that both teams had come into this game with high hopes, #25 GT hosted undefeated #7 UVa, and again pulled off the upset. This time, the Yellow Jackets came from three touchdowns behind and survived a 54-yard FG miss by UVa kicker Todd Braverman as time ran out. Since then, any time the two teams have met with rankings and bowl positions on the line, GT fans have used "41-38" as a rallying cry.
- The Big Teat Alexander Memorial Colliseum is a wide, domed building, with a smaller dome at its top. For years, students would paint the dome pink, with a darker pink on the surmounting dome. The result was to make the building look like a female breast.
- Drownproofing: From 1936 to 1987, Tech offered a class called Drownproofing which was required for graduation. The class taught students how to float in water for extended periods of time with ankles and wrists bound, and other water survival skills. At the time it was considered a prime example of the difficulty of Tech's curriculum.
Alumni
Famous alumni and students include:
- Gil Amelio electrical engineer, one-time CEO of Apple Computer (physics)
- Kenny Anderson basketball player
- Kevin Brown baseball player
- Chris Bosh basketball player, 4th pick in 2003 NBA draft
- George P. Burdell
- Kelly Campbell football player, wide receiver for NFL's Minnesota Vikings
- Jimmy Carter former U.S. president (attended Georgia Tech, but graduated from United States Naval Academy)
- Stewart Cink golf player
- Robert Crippen astronaut
- Mike Duke president and CEO of Wal-Mart (industrial engineering)
- Y. Frank Freeman first winner of The Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award
- Jeff Foxworthy comedian (electrical engineering)
- Nomar Garciaparra baseball player
- Bobby Jones golfer (mechanical engineering)
- Stephon Marbury basketball player
- Arthur Murray dance instructor and businessman (management)
- Sam Nunn former U.S. senator now employed at law firm King & Spalding
- John Portman architect
- John Salley basketball player, co-host of The Best Damn Sports Show Period
- Randolph Scott movie star in the 1940s and 1950s
- John Young astronaut (aeronautical engineering)
- Jason Varitek baseball player
Sports
The school's sports teams are variously called the Yellow Jackets, the Ramblin' Wreck, and the Engineers, but the official nickname is Yellow Jackets. They participate in NCAA Division I-A, in the Atlantic Coast Conference. The school mascot is Buzz . The school's traditional football rival is UGA, the rivalry was, at one tme, considered one of the fiercest in college football.
Football
Georgia Tech's football team plays at Bobby Dodd Stadium. Georgia Tech claims 4 national championships in football, in 1917, 1928, 1952, and 1990. The current head coach is Chan Gailey.
Basketball
Georgia Tech's men's basketball team is currently coached by Paul Hewitt . The Yellow Jackets advanced to their first NCAA finals in 2004, losing to UConn.
Bobby Cremins , the previous coach, led Georgia Tech to several NCAA basketball tournaments and finished with a 354-237 record. The Yellow Jackets reached the NCAA Final Four in 1990 under Cremins with his "Lethal Weapon 3" team featuring Brian Oliver, Dennis Scott, and Kenny Anderson.
Student media and organizations
- WREK-FM, 91.1MHz, "Wreck"
- The Technique newspaper
- Phi Mu Sorority
- MOVE
- Dance Marathon
External links
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University System of Georgia |