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The University of California, Irvine is a public, coeducational university situated in suburban Irvine, California. It is one of ten University of California campuses and is commonly known as UCI or UC Irvine.
University of California, Irvine
| Motto | Fiat Lux
(Latin, "Let There Be Light") |
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| Established |
1965 |
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| School type |
Public |
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| Chancellor |
Ralph J. Cicerone |
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| Location |
Irvine, California, USA |
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| Enrollment |
19,401 undergraduate,
3,267 graduate |
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| Faculty |
1,453 |
| Endowment |
US$125 million |
| Campus |
Suburban, 1,477 acres (6 km²) |
| Sports teams |
Anteaters |
| Website |
www.uci.edu |
Academics
Three researchers from UCI's faculty received the Nobel Prize during their tenures at UCI: Frank Sherwood Rowland (Chemistry, 1995), Frederick Reines (Physics, 1995) (deceased), and Irwin Rose (Chemistry, 2004) . The UCI Medical Center (located ten miles away in the City of Orange) is noted for research into cancer, neuroscience, and genetic factors concerning diseases. (Located in the City of Orange, the Medical Center is also Orange County's only university hospital and Level 1 trauma center.)
UCI is generally ranked among the top 20 public universities in the United States. (12th among all public universities, and 43 amongst all universities in the US as of 2004).
UCI's engineering program is well-regarded and well-supported by the local industry. Many of Orange County's biomedical, software, and aerospace companies recruit from UCI's student body.
The physics department has strong programs in plasma and condensed matter physics, and is also a participant in several neutrino detection projects (Dr. Reines received his Nobel Prize for the discovery of the neutrino). The department also has a growing number of faculty specializing in astrophysics.
UCI has highly-ranked liberal arts departments in philosophy, classics, and literature. UCI is also one of the very few academic organizations to offer degrees in Social Ecology. The university maintains undergraduate and graduate programs in dance, painting, sculpture, music, creative writing, and theatre, often with prominent artists-in-residence. Many professors in the performing arts are directly connected to—and active in—the nearby entertainment industry.
 McGaugh Hall is home of the School of Biological Sciences. The umbrellas in the lower right are part of BC Tavern On The Green, a small food court popular with students and faculty in the sciences. The most popular majors amongst undergraduates are Biology (many bio majors intend to go on to medical school), Social Sciences, Information and Computer Science (one of UCI's most selective programs), and Electrical Engineering. UCI is the first and only campus in the UC system to introduce a school of computer science as of 2004. UCI also has a strong tradition and reputation for undergraduate research (especially in the sciences and engineering), with many students working on research projects or as undergrad research assistants, and presenting at the annual Undergraduate Research Symposium. Several academic departments such as those in engineering and physics require undergraduates to complete a senior/research project or thesis in order to graduate.
Schools
- Claire Trevor School of Arts
- School of Biological Sciences
- The Henry Samueli School of Engineering
- School of Hummanities
- Donald Bren School of Information and Computer Science
- Graduate School of Management
- School of Physical Sciences
- School of Social Ecology
- School of Social Sciences
- College of Medicine
Campus and surroundings
The campus is primarily composed of 1960s Modernist/Brutalist buildings set in a circle around a large central park. Satellite parking lots lie in another circle outside the main circle of buildings. The park is completely encircled by a pedestrian walkway known as Ring Road. Each school at UCI is located on its own segment of the ring (except for the School of the Arts and the Medical School). Starting from the Main Library and Administration building and going clockwise, Ring Road passes through Social Sciences, Engineering, Physical Sciences, Biological Sciences, and Humanities. Due to this unconventional circular design, there are plenty of stories about tourists and new students who unknowingly walk several times around Ring Road before realizing that they were going in circles.
Popular legend holds that the campus was designed in an era of student protest, and the campus's circular design was meant to discourage student contact and congregation, and thus minimize protests and rioting. Students were meant to drive into a building's parking lot, walk to class, then later walk back to their cars and drive home. Therefore, most social contact would be with others studying in the same major. Adding to this legend is the existence of underground tunnels linking the buildings, supposedly for the emergency evacuation of faculty and administrators and to facilitate the movement of police. (In reality, the tunnels simply contain steam and utility lines.) Most likely, the design of the campus is simply representative of mid-60s urban design, favoring large open spaces and decentralized facilities over the dense layout of older campuses.
Irvine itself is one of the largest planned communities in the United States. Local residents are stereotyped as upper-income, conservative professionals, who stay at home and raise families. The housing market is extremely expensive. On campus, however, there is residence hall space for about only 3,200 undergraduates, and some on-campus apartment housing. There is also a trailer park that permit students to live in small travel trailers, however this is currently facing closure due to parking lot expansion. The local economy is vibrant, and provides jobs in all ranges of skills and earnings, from unskilled service work to skilled professions. Although Christian denominations predominate, religious organizations of all types exist on-campus, in Irvine, and in the surrounding communities.
 The UCI mascot is the Anteater. Public transit consists of on-campus shuttle buses, campus bikeways, and free use of OCTA buses via the U-Pass program. Most students do not need a car, and university parking is difficult despite large parking structures. Traffic jams on the local freeways are commonplace. Since the climate is warm, many students find a motorcycle or motorscooter convenient.
Despite the suburban environment, a variety of wildlife inhabits the University's central park and wetlands. The university had wolves up until 1985, and still has hawks, rabbits, raccoons, owls, skunks and coyotes.
Transportation
Due to the facts that the city of Irvine is very suburban and that UCI students have little social motivation to secure on-campus housing, the majority of students are commuters. Additionally, dorming freshmen can purchase residential parking permits. These factors have created a huge daily volume of cars, creating a severe parking shortage called "UCI Parking"; methods such as stack parking have had limited success to alleviate the situation. The usage of bikes and the student run shuttle service has done little help as the majority of the users of these are non-commuters, residents of on-campus or near campus housing.
On a trivial note, the parking permits that exist are:
R - Residential
S - Student Commuter
C - Staff Commuter
AR - Reserved (these are similar to commuter, but have special allocated parking spaces)
There are also permits/spaces for motorcycles, special staff, and service vehicles. A special permit called "Nobel Parking Pass" is only given to Nobel Prize recipients and has access to any parking space on campus, except for possibly the service vehicle or disabled parking spaces.
Cars are the most popular form of transportation, as well as a smattering of motorcycles and scooters. Bicycles are used mainly by residents of on-campus or near campus housing. Public transportation is used by a few students to commute. The student run shuttle service is used by students to travel between the distantly located parts of campus; certain routes of the shuttle service cater to on-campus residents who live in communities located on the fringe of campus.
Ground public transportation connecting is provided by the Orange County Transportation Authority (OCTA); all the bus routes are available to the students for free. In this case, the student ID is used as an unlimited bus pass. This service is paid for by parking tickets at UCI, and, considering the volume of traffic and the resulting parking needs that occurs at the campus daily, this is a very, very possible arrangement.
Other forms of transportation are available around UCI. UCI is located close to John Wayne Airport, a major Southern California hub. Also the city of Irvine has a train station, which is convenient to use to travel in between counties. Another form of transportation available in the area, although sparingly used, is the taxi, which is used mainly by travelers going to and from the airport.
UCI is conveniently close to two freeways, the 405, a major artery, and the 73, initially a freeway which splits off from the 405 to the south and becoming a toll road after passing the university. The proximity of the freeways and the large area of UCI creates situations where one freeway might be faster than the other depending on where the starting point on campus is. The streets of Irvine have speed limits that range from 45-55 mph, making them conveniently fast during their non-peak hours. Traffic is notoriously endemic in the region, with peak hours consuming most of the late-afternoon and early night.
Student life
 Residence Halls at the Middle Earth undergraduate housing complex (for freshmen) are named after places and characters from J.R.R. Tolkien's Lord of the Rings books. Due to its location in a preplanned suburban community, general student apathy, reputation as an academic or commuter school, and lack of emphasis on athletics, UCI has had a reputation as a quieter college town. While it is true that life at UCI can be said to be somewhat different from the traditional idea of American college life, there is still plenty of entertainment and recreation on campus and in the area.
The recently completed Anteater Recreation Center boasts several new recreational and sporting facilities and is popular among students (and some faculty). The campus is within driving distance of local attractions such as the Irvine Spectrum, and South Coast Plaza shopping malls, as well as some of Southern California's most popular beaches and surfing spots at Newport and Huntington Beach.
Also popular among those who know where to find it is the only pub on campus: the Anthill Pub and Grille, a self proclaimed "swill-free zone" which is run by the Associated Graduate Students. Located on the third floor of the Student Center, the Anthill boasts an impressive collection of microbrew beers, ciders, and wine as well as a knowledgeable staff. The pub has become a favorite location for students and some faculty to have a drink while talking, watching TV, or shooting pool between or after classes. A pint of beer typically runs $3, while a pitcher costs around $8. Somewhat fitting for UCI's sober reputation, the Pub is not open on weekends or during the summer.
UCI also holds a medieval theme fair known as Wayzgoose in April, which includes (among other things) student booths, live bands, (lots of) food, a car show, and students dressed in cardboard armor whacking each other with fake swords. The event is open to the public and also functions as an open house for incoming and prospective students.
Athletics
UCI's sports teams are known as the Anteaters. (The unusual mascot was chosen by student vote, in the non-violent and anti-establishment spirit that was popular in the school's early years.) They participate in the NCAA's Division I-AAA, as members of the Big West Conference and the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation. While some UCI's of sports teams (especially basketball) have developed a following in recent years, the student body remains generally apathetic towards athletics. However some students have taken it upon themselves to change this by forming a cheerleading squad/club known as CIA (short for Completely Insane Anteaters), which has seen some limited success.
 UCI sign at Crawford Hall - the athletic complex. Notable members of faculty
Notable alumni and students
Humor & Trivia
- The acronym UCI has often been jokingly claimed to stand for "Under Construction Indefinitely" (due to the recent surge of growth and construction activity on campus), or "University of Chinese Immigrants" (due to UCI's exceptionally high number of Asian American, more specifically Chinese, students).
- Because of UCI's lack of a football team and general apathy towards athletics, some students enjoy making sarcastic comments about how "Anteater football remains undefeated!".
- A popular chant among UCI students during athletic events is "Zot"... the sound made by the tongue of the anteater in the comic strip B.C. as it flicks out to catch an ant.
- The College of Medicine was featured in the newer production of Ocean's 11. In the movie, the building where the crew steals the EMP device is actually the Gillespie Neuroscience Research Facility located in the College of Medicine.
- The floor plan of the Science Library closely resembles the Enterprise from Star Trek. Some believe that the Science Library and the design on the plaza directly in front of it represent the human reproductive system, a theory lent more credence by the fact that both are located in the School of Biological Sciences.
- Blizzard Entertainment, a PC game developer, has its headquarters on UCI land. Its facilities are purported to be nondescript.
- Broadcom Corporation, one of the top technology companies in the world, will be relocating its Irvine operations to UCI's University Research Park. (2005)
External links
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