georgia tech

Consistently ranked among the top ten public universities in the United States by U.S. News & World Report,^[1] Georgia Tech is best known for its programs in engineering, computing, and the sciences, though it also offers degrees in architecture, liberal arts, and management.

Georgia Tech's campus in Midtown Atlanta 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.

History

The idea of Georgia Institute of Technology was introduced in 1865 during the Reconstruction period. Two former Confederate officers, Major John Fletcher Hanson and Nathaniel Edwin Harris, who had become prominent citizens in the town of Macon, Georgia after the war, strongly believed that the South needed to improve its technology to compete with the industrial revolution that was occurring throughout the North. Many Southerners at this time agreed with this idea. However, because the American South of that era was mainly comprised of agricultural workers and minimal technical developments were occurring, a technology school was needed. [1]

In 1882, prominent Georgians, authorized by the Georgia state legislature and led by Harris, formed a committee and visited the Northeast to see firsthand how technology schools worked. Using examples from the Worcester County Free Institute of Industrial Science (now Worcester Polytechnic Institute) and Boston Tech (now Massachusetts Institute of Technology), the Atlanta technology school began development on the Worcester Free Institute model, which stressed a combination of "theory and practice", the "practice" component including student employment and production of consumer items to generate revenue for the school.

The Georgia School of Technology opened its doors in the fall of 1885 with only two buildings. One building (now Tech Tower, an administrative headquarters) had classrooms to teach students; The second building featured a shop and had a foundry, forge, boiler room and engine room. It was designed specifically for students to work and produce goods to sell and fund the school. Both of the buildings were equal in size to show the importance of teaching both the mind and the hands, though at the time, there was some disagreement to whether the machine shop should have been used to turn a profit.

During its first fifty years, Tech grew from a narrowly focused trade school to a regionally recognized technological university. In 1948, the School’s name was changed to the Georgia Institute of Technology to reflect a growing focus on advanced technological and scientific research.[2]

During the second world war, as an engineering school with strong military ties through its ROTC program, Georgia Tech was swiftly enlisted for the war effort. In early 1942 the traditional nine-month semester system was replaced by a year-round trimester year, enabling students to complete their degrees a year earlier. Under the plan, students were allowed to complete their engineering degrees while on active duty.[3] During World War II, Georgia Tech was one of only five U.S. colleges feeding the U.S. Navy's officer program.

Notably, the school's first female students were admitted in 1952; and in 1961, Georgia Tech became the first university in the Deep South to desegregate without a court order.

Name

Founded on October 13, 1885 as the Georgia School of Technology, it assumed its present name in 1948. Unlike similarly-named universities (such as the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the California Institute of Technology), the Georgia Institute of Technology is a public institution.

Georgia Tech is sometimes called 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 (as mentioned above) 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. Today the name is still used in a humorous manner: the campus bookstore even sells shirts bearing the name "North Avenue Trade School."

Location

The school was located near the northern city limits of Atlanta at the time of its founding (although the city has now expanded several miles beyond it). A historical marker on the large hill in Central Campus notes that the site occupied by the school's first buildings once held fortifications built to protect Atlanta during the Atlanta Campaign of the American Civil War. The surrender of the city took place on the southwestern boundary of the modern Georgia Tech campus in 1864. [4]

Academics

Georgia Tech's undergraduate and graduate programs are divided into six Colleges. Collaboration among the Colleges is frequent, as mandated by a number of interdisciplinary degree programs and research centers.

Colleges

• College of Architecture
  • Architecture : Architecture Program
  • Building Construction : Building Construction Program
  • City & Regional Planning : City and Regional Planning Program
  • Industrial Design : Industrial Design Program
  • Music : Music Department

• College of Computing
  • Computational Media (Joint program with the School of Literature, Communication and Culture) [5]
  • Computer Science [6]
  • Human-Centered Computing [7]
  • Human-Computer Interaction [8]
  • Information Security [9]
  • Bioengineering [10]
  • Algorithms, Combinatorics, and Optimization [11]
  • Bioinformatics [12]

• College of Engineering
  • Aerospace Engineering : Daniel Guggenheim School of Aerospace Engineering
  • Biomedical Engineering : Wallace H. Coulter department of Biomedical Engineering (Joint program with Emory University)
  • Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering : School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering
  • Civil & Environmental Engineering : School of Civil & Environmental Engineering
  • Electrical & Computer Engineering : School of Electrical and Computer Engineering
  • Industrial & Systems Engineering : H. Milton Stewart School of Industrial and Systems Engineering
  • Materials Science & Engineering : Materials Science and Engineering
  • Mechanical Engineering : George W. Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering
  • Nuclear Engineering
  • Polymer, Textile, & Fiber Engineering : School of Polymer, Textile and Fiber Engineering

In 2006 the College of Engineering was the only engineering program in the nation where all of its schools were ranked in the top 10 nationally by U.S. News and World Report. [13]

• College of Management
  • Management
  • Management of Technology
  • Quantitative & Computational Finance

• Ivan Allen College of Liberal Arts
  • Economics : School of Economics
  • History, Technology, & Society : School of History, Technology and Society
  • International Affairs : Sam Nunn School of International Affairs
  • Literature, Communication, & Culture : School of Literature, Communication and Culture
  • Modern Languages : School of Modern Languages
  • Public Policy : School of Public Policy
  • ROTC

• College of Sciences
  • Applied Physiology : Applied Physiology
  • Biology : Biology
  • Chemistry & Biochemistry : Chemistry & Biochemistry
  • Earth & Atmospheric Sciences : School of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences
  • Mathematics : School of Mathematics
  • Physics : School of Physics
  • Psychology : School of Psychology

Recently, Georgia Tech has sought to strengthen its undergraduate and graduate offerings in less technical fields, such as public policy, international affairs, economics, modern languages, history and sociology, communication and cultural studies, and digital media.

Student life

Set on a spacious campus in the middle of trendy Midtown Atlanta, and with a rich tradition of top-ranked athletic teams and student activities, Tech students have a plethora of social options to choose from.

Due to the prominence of Georgia Tech's athletic programs, attending athletic events is always a popular option for students. The school's men's basketball, football, women's volleyball, and baseball games are well-attended by both current students and alums.

In terms of off-campus social options, being located in the middle of a young and vibrant city like Atlanta offers a number of advantages to Tech students. Just off campus, there are several establishments that act as local watering holes for students. Rocky Mountain Pizza, Peachtree Tavern, and Moondogs are all very popular student spots. Meanwhile, "Home Park", a neighborhood that borders the north end of campus, is a popular living area for Tech students and recent grads, and a number of parties and barbecues are hosted by the neighborhood's residents.

The school's administration has endeavored to reduce the levels of anxiety felt by many Tech students. Most notable have been the administration's FASET (Familiarization and Adaptation to the Surroundings and Environs of Tech) and Freshmen Experience (a freshman only dorm life program to encourage friendships and a feeling of social involvement) programs, which help to acclimate new students to their surroundings and foster a greater sense of community.

Other school initiatives aimed at improving student life include the administration's efforts to boost female enrollment at the school. Historically, female enrollment at engineering institutions has been quite low, and Georgia Tech is no exception. With about twice as many male students as females, Georgia Tech has one of the most unbalanced male-to-female ratios of any co-ed university. However, this is slowly changing, presumably due to the university's growing liberal arts programs, as well as outreach programs to encourage more female high school students to consider careers in science and engineering, such as the "Women In Engineering" program. The freshman class of 2006–2007 currently has one of the most balanced male/female ratios to date at 69% to 31%.

Arts at Tech

• Founded in 1906, the Glee Club is the oldest student organization on campus, and was among the first collegiate choral groups to release a recording of their songs. The group has toured extensively and appeared on the Ed Sullivan show twice, providing worldwide exposure to "Ramblin' Wreck from Georgia Tech".

• The Georgia Tech Athletic Bands play a crucial part for school spirit and athletic support. Founded in 1908 by 14 Students and Robert "Biddy" Bidez. The Marching Band consistently fields over 300 members and even invites students from other Atlanta Area Universities who do not have football programs (Georgia State, Emory, Agnes Scott, Kennesaw State, etc) to participate. Members of the marching band travel to every football game.

• In 1963 the Music Department, under the leadership of Ben Logan Sisk, is created under Tech's General College. In 1976 the Music department is assigned to the College of Sciences & Liberal Studies and finally in 1991 the department is relocated to its current home of the College of Architechture. Currently the GT Music Departments offers the following ensembles:

   Atheletic Band & Pep Band
   Concert Band
   Symphonic Band 
   Orchestra
   Jazz Ensembles
   Chamber Ensembles
   Percussion Ensembles
   MIDI Ensebles
   Chorale
   Chamber Choir
   Men's Glee Club

• DramaTech is the campus' student run theater. The theater has been entertaining Georgia Tech and the surrounding community since 1947. They are also home to Let's Try This! (the campus improv troupe) and VarietyTech (a song and dance troupe).

• Since its inception in 1996, the Georgia Tech Symphony Orchestra has grown from a dozen interested students into an 80+ member ensemble. It is now one of the largest performance groups on campus.

• Under the Couch is a live music venue located beneath the Couch Building on West Campus. It is run by the Musician's Network.

• Georgia Tech also has a growing music scene, including the growing a cappella groups on campus: Nothin' but Treble, Sympathetic Vibrations, and Infinite Harmony.

Student media

• WREK-FM, 91.1 MHz is known as "Wreck Radio." Their studio is on the second floor of the Student Center.
• The Technique, also known as the "'Nique," is Tech's official student newspaper. It is distributed weekly during the Fall and Spring semesters (on Fridays), and biweekly during the Summer semester (with certain exceptions). It was established on November 17, 1911. The Technique's office is located in the Student Services Building.
• The North Avenue Review is the "free-speech magazine" of Georgia Tech

Campus

The Georgia Tech campus is located in Midtown, an area north of downtown Atlanta. Although a number of skyscrapers are visible from all points on campus — most notably the headquarters of both BellSouth and The Coca-Cola Company as well as Atlanta's tallest building, the Bank of America building — the campus itself has few buildings over four 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 or Emory University.

The campus is organized into four main parts: West Campus, East Campus, Central Campus, and Technology Square. West Campus and East Campus are both occupied primarily by student living complexes, while Central Campus is reserved primarily for teaching and research buildings.

West Campus

West Campus is occupied primarily by apartments and coed undergraduate dormitories. 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, and a flat artificial green area known as the SAC Fields are all located on the western side of the campus. Also within easy walking distance of West Campus is City Cafe, which is open 24 hours, Rocky Mountain Pizza, and Engineer's Bookstore, an alternative to Georgia Tech's official bookstore. West Campus is also home to a music club operated by students called Under the Couch^[2] as well as a small diner and convenience store, West Side Market. Due to limited space, all auto travel proceeds via a network of one-way streets which connects West Campus to Ferst Drive, the main road of the campus. Woodruff Dining Hall, or "Woody's," is the West Campus Dining Hall. It connects the Woodruff North and Woodruff South undergraduate dorms.

East Campus

East Campus houses all of the Fraternities and Sororities as well as most of the undergraduate freshman dormitories. Although the residences are similar, East Campus is decidedly more urban than West Campus. East Campus abuts on the Downtown Connector. Via a number of bridges over the highway as well as a tunnel under it, East Campus has quick access to Midtown and its businesses such as The Varsity. Georgia Tech football's home, Bobby Dodd Stadium is located on East Campus, as well as Georgia Tech basketball's home Alexander Memorial Coliseum. Brittain Dining Hall is the main dining hall for East Campus. It is modeled after a medieval church, complete with carved columns and stained-glass windows showing symbolic figures. The main road leading from East Campus to Central Campus is an ascending incline commonly referred to as "Freshman Hill" or simply "The Hill."

Central Campus

Central Campus is home to the majority of the Academic, Research, and Administrative buildings. It includes among others: the Howey Physics Building; the Boggs Chemistry Building; the College of Computing; the Skiles Classroom Building, which houses the School of Mathematics and the School of Literature, Communication and Culture; the D.M. Smith Building, which houses the School of Public Policy and the School of History, Technology, and Society; and the Ford Environmental Science & Technology Building. In 2005, the School of Modern Languages returned to the Swann Building, a 100-year-old former dorm that now houses some of the most technology-equipped classrooms on campus. 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. The campus library, a small traditional eatery called Junior's Grill, as well as a large communal building for students, the Fred B. Wenn Student Center are also located on Central Campus. The Student Center provides a variety of recreational and social functions for students including a computer lab, a game room ("Tech Rec"), the Student Post Office, a darkened Music Listening Room, a movie theater, a Food Court, as well as meeting rooms for various clubs and organizations. Adjacent to the eastern entrance of the Student Center is the Kessler Campanile, which is commonly referred to by students as "The Shaft." The former Hightower Textile Engineering building was demolished in 2002 to create Yellow Jacket Park. Plenty of greenspace now occupies the area around the Kessler Campanile for a more aesthetically pleasing look in accordance with the Master Plan. Numerous clubs and organizations hold activities in Yellow Jacket Park.

Technology Square

Technology Square, located across the Downtown Connector and embedded in the city east of East Campus, is home to the College of Management, the official school bookstore, the Georgia Tech Hotel and Conference Center, as well as offices for a number of faculty and graduate students, the GVU Center, the Georgia Tech Enterprise Innovation Institute, the Advanced Technology Development Center (ATDC), VentureLab, and the Georgia Electronics Design Center research group (GEDC). The buildings in Technology Square also host a variety of small businesses as well as business ventures spawned by Georgia Tech research. Opened in 2003, the district was built over run-down neighborhoods and has sparked a revitalization of the entire Midtown area.

Satellite campuses

In 1999, Georgia Tech began offering local degree programs to engineering students in Southeast Georgia, and in 2003 established a physical campus in Savannah, Georgia. Georgia Tech Savannah offers undergraduate and graduate programs in engineering, and boasts a robust research program with many activities centered on coastal concerns. It is also home to the regional offices of the Georgia Tech Economic Development Institute and the Advanced Technology Development Center.

Georgia Tech also operates a campus in Metz, France known as Georgia Tech Lorraine. Georgia Tech Lorraine is known for a much-publicized lawsuit pertaining to the language used in advertisements; see Toubon Law. Additionally, the College of Architecture maintains a small permanent presence in Paris, France in affiliation with the Ecole d'Architecture Paris La Vilette.

The university further collaborated with the National University of Singapore to set up The Logistics Institute - Asia Pacific in Singapore.

Research

National Science Foundation statistics place Georgia Tech third among all U.S. universities for the volume of engineering research and development conducted. Georgia Tech's total research program topped $400 million for the fiscal year 2004.

In addition to research performed by the schools, Georgia Tech is affiliated with a nonprofit research organization referred to as the Georgia Tech Research Institute (GTRI). GTRI provides sponsored research in a variety of technical specialties including radar, electro-optics, and materials engineering. GTRI employs over 1,300 people, conducting over $110 million in research every year. Sponsored research at Georgia Tech is managed by the Georgia Tech Research Corporation (GTRC) and its subsidiary, the Georgia Tech Applied Research Corporation (GTARC).

The Georgia Tech Nanotechnology Research Center is scheduled to be completed Summer 2008, at which point it will be the largest cleanroom in the Southeastern United States.

Athletics

Not many schools of Tech's relatively small size (around 16,000) and high academic standing (top 5 among engineering schools, top 10 among public universities, top 40 among all universities) do as well or better in the "big three" traditional American sports as does Tech; eliminating schools which are not state-supported, there are only a handful.

The school's sports teams are variously called the Yellowjackets, 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 mascots are Buzz and the Ramblin' Wreck. The school's traditional football rival is UGA; the rivalry was, at one time, considered one of the fiercest in college football. The rivalry is commonly referred to as Clean, Old-Fashioned Hate, which is also the title of a 1986 book about the subject.

Tech's fight song "I'm a Ramblin' Wreck from Georgia Tech" is known worldwide. It was adapted from an old drinking song ("Son of a Gambolier"), and embellished with trumpet flourishes by Frank Roman. In 1959, then VP Richard Nixon and Nikita Khrushchev sang it together when they had their famous cold war confrontation in Moscow, to reduce the tension. Nixon didn't know any Russian songs, but Khrushchev knew that one American one. It was sung on the Ed Sullivan show. It was played in space. Gregory Peck sang it while strumming a ukulele in The Man in the Gray Flannel Suit. John Wayne whistled it in The High and the Mighty. It is played after every GT score in a football game. The Edwin H. Morris & Company (later acquired by Paul McCartney's company, MPL) obtained a copyright in 1931.

There are multiple explanations for where how the term "Ramblin' Wrecks" became associated with Georgia Tech. The most plausible is that many GT engineering grads found jobs in the jungles of South America in the early 1900s, where they concocted mechanical contraptions to tame the jungle and get around. The first Ramblin' Wreck of record was a 1914 Ford Model T owned by Floyd Field, Tech's first dean of men. In 1961, a gold and white Model A, known as the Ramblin' Wreck, led the team onto the field for the first time, and it has done so at home games ever since.^[3] The annual "Ramblin' Wreck" parade at Homecoming displays some really strange contraptions, judged for ingenuity.

Tech has seventeen varsity sports. In men's sports, in addition to football, basketball, and baseball, there's golf, tennis, swimming & diving, track & field, and cross country. For women, there's basketball, softball, volleyball, tennis, swimming & diving, track & field, and cross-country. Fourteen of these sports finished in the top 25 during the 2004-5 school year.

Football

Georgia Tech's football team plays at Bobby Dodd Stadium at Historic Grant Field, the oldest on-campus stadium among Division I-A teams. Georgia Tech claims 4 national championships in football: 1917 under the legendary coach John Heisman; 1928 under William Alexander; 1952 under the famous Bobby Dodd; and, 1990 as national co-champions with Colorado under Bobby Ross.

The 1916 Yellow Jackets team set a record for the largest margin of victory in college football history (or in the history of any other American football competition, for that matter) in a game against Cumberland College, 222–0.

The team is currently coached by Chan Gailey, who is best known for his stints with the Dallas Cowboys and the Pittsburgh Steelers. As of the end of the 2005 season, Tech is one of only six Div. I-A teams to have played in a bowl game in each of the past nine years. Only 5 schools have longer bowl streaks. Georgia Tech's winning percentage of .647 in bowl games is the second best in college football among teams with 20 bowl appearances. The Yellow Jackets are 23-13 in bowl games as of 2006. During the Dodd glory years of the early 50s, Tech won six bowls in six years, back when there were only seven bowls. In 1955, it was the first school to win what were then considered the four major bowls: Rose, Orange, Sugar, and Cotton.

The voice of Georgia Tech from 1954 to 1993 was that of the legendary broadcaster Al Ciraldo. Ciraldo coined the classic phrase "toe meets leather" to start each football game, and the phrase is now repeated before each kickoff.

Basketball

Georgia Tech's men's basketball team plays at Alexander Memorial Coliseum. The team is currently coached by Paul Hewitt. Georgia Tech has participated in two NCAA Final Fours - 1990 and 2004. The Yellow Jackets advanced to their first NCAA championship game in 2004, losing to the UConn Huskies.

The 2005-2006 team, after losing rising senior Jarrett Jack to the NBA, featured two upperclassmen and nationally ranked sophomore and freshmen recruiting classes. The team failed to qualify for post-season play. However, with the addition of highly ranked incoming freshmen, Javaris Crittenden and Thaddeus Young, at least one early poll places the 2006-2007 squad back in the Top 20.^[4]

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. The basketball court at Georgia Tech was later named Cremins Court for Cremins' accomplishments. In addition to Scott and Anderson, Cremins recruited and coached many other players who went on to have successful careers in the NBA, including Mark Price, John Salley, Duane Ferrell, Tom Hammonds, Matt Geiger, Jon Barry, Travis Best, Drew Barry, Stephon Marbury, Matt Harpring, and Jason Collier.

Baseball

Georgia Tech's baseball team is currently coached by Danny Hall. The Yellow Jackets are frequently ranked in the Top 10 at the beginning of the season, and almost always finish in the Top 20. Tech has advanced to the NCAA playoffs in 21 of the past 22 years. Tech has been to the College World Series in Omaha, Nebraska, three times: in 1994 (when it lost the Championship game), in 2002, and in 2006. Tech is second only to Stanford University in players named to the USA Baseball National Team over the years.

In 2005, Tech won the ACC Championship (regular season & tournament) and its regional, but lost it in the super-regional to the University of Tennessee. In 2006, Tech fell to Clemson in the ACC tournament, bounced back by sweeping a regional held at home in Atlanta, and then took two straight against the College of Charleston to advance to Omaha for the third time.

A new 4,157-seat baseball stadium opened in 2002. The name of the previous facility, Russ Chandler Stadium, was retained, and it's still affectionately referred to as "the Rusty C." There are always a number of Tech alum in "the bigs," including Nomar Garciaparra, Jason Varitek, Matt Murton, Jay Payton, Marlon Byrd, Mark Teixeira, and Kevin Brown.

Golf

Georgia Tech is consistently ranked near the top in golf. In 2005, Golf Digest named Georgia Tech the No. 1 golf school in the country. The success of several alumni on the pro circuit is testimony to the quality of GT players. These include David Duval, Stewart Cink, Matt Kuchar, and the legendary Bobby Jones.

Women's sports

Tech's softball, volleyball, and tennis teams have improved dramatically in recent years. Individuals have excelled in track & field and swimming & diving. The women's volleyball has participated in the NCAA tournament regularly under head coach Bond Shymansky. The 2004-2005 Women's Tennis won the ACC tournament and hosted the first rounds of the NCAA at Georgia Tech.

Club sports

Georgia Tech participates in many non-NCAA sanctioned club sports. These sports include and are not limited to crew, cricket, cycling(the GT Cycling team has won three consecutive mountain bike conference championships and is a proud member of the Dirty South Collegiate Cycling Conference), equestrian, fencing, field hockey, gymnastics, ice hockey, kayaking, lacrosse, paintball, roller hockey, rowing, rugby, sailing, skydiving, triathlon, ultimate, water polo, and wrestling.

One of the places club sports takes place at the Georgia Tech Aquatic Center, where swimming, diving, water polo, and the swimming part of the Modern Pentathlon competitions for the 1996 Summer Olympics.

Tech traditions

Tech has a number of legends and traditions, some of which have persisted for decades.

• Stealing the T: Tech's historic primary administrative building, Tech Tower, has the letters TECH hanging atop it on each of its four sides. 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 stealing of the "T" occurred in 1999 and to this day, the location of that "T" is unknown. Tradition dictates that the first T to be stolen should be the one facing east, as this can most easily be seen from the Downtown Connector.^[5]
• The Whistle: A steam whistle that blows five minutes before the hour, every hour from 6:55am to 5:55pm. This tradition is a hold over from the trade school days, originally used to mark the end of a shift in the shops; now it is used both to mark the end of classes and as a ten minute warning to the beginning of the next classes. It is also blown when Georgia Tech wins a football game, most often home games.
• Triple Play: This is a shorthand term for executing 3 or more of the several officially discouraged traditions. They include stealing the T, climbing "the shaft" (Campanile), swimming naked in the president's pool, climbing the coliseum, climbing the stadium lights, and jumping off the 10 meter high dive.
• To Hell With Georgia: Georgia Tech has an ongoing rivalry, mostly in sports, with the University of Georgia, often simply called Georgia for short (the schools are a mere 70 miles apart). An annual issue of the school newspaper, The Technique, focuses on this rivalry with an issue that spoofs The Red and Black, the newspaper of the University of Georgia. As a dig at the rival school, the Technique will typically refer to it as "the University (sic) of Georgia" in articles. "To Hell With Georgia" is also known as "The good word." If one student asks another "What's the Good Word?" the response is always "To Hell with Georgia!" If asked, "How 'bout them dawgs?", an old tagline from the University (sic) of Georgia, the correct answer is "Piss on 'em!"
• RAT Caps: Every year new freshmen are given yellow caps and a number of freshmen wear yellow baseball caps throughout the year, most notably freshmen band members. RAT is short for "Recruit At Tech", although freshman are sometimes addressed as RATS, or "Recently Acquired Tech Students".^[6] The RAT caps are decorated with the football team's scores, the freshman's major, expected graduation date, and "To Hell With Georgia" emblazoned on the back of the cap. Freshmen caught not wearing the cap had their hair forcibly shaved into the shape of a T, however anti-hazing laws eliminated this threat and (by proxy) widespread usage of the RAT caps. The tradition of RAT caps is maintained mostly by the marching band.
• George P. Burdell: The 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. When Tech switched to online class registration, Burdell managed to get his name on the roll for every single course offered that term. After initially vigorously searching for the hackers, the university has since accepted the presence of George P. Burdell in every year's class. George has also had a computer-printed report card generated. George was a sophomore majoring in civil engineering and taking five courses that quarter. His grades were A, B, C, D, and F. George P. Burdell is also a common tool for pranks at various school events and games. He usually gets paged over the stadium public address system at away sporting events.
• The Cumberland Game: College football game with the largest margin of victory in history. In 1916, Georgia Tech's football team (coached by the legendary John Heisman — for whom the trophy is named) defeated Cumberland 222-0. Cumberland's total net yardage was -28 (minus 28), and it had only one play for positive yards. Neither team got a first down (Georgia Tech scored every time it got the ball). Cumberland beat Georgia Tech's baseball team 22 to 0 the previous year.^[7]
• 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.
• Sideways the Dog: Sideways was a black and white female dog, who, after having been involved in a car accident, was forced to walk sideways. She was a favorite of the students, and often slept in a different dorm room every night, being fed through the generosity of the student body and Brittain Dining Hall. She would often wander into classes and sleep during boring lectures. Sideways died after accidentally ingesting some rat poison in one of the dorm rooms, and was buried (sideways) on the grounds near Tech Tower. A plaque marks her resting spot and briefly tells her story.
• Drownproofing: From 1936 to 1987, Tech offered a class called Drownproofing, which was required for graduation. The class was developed by Coach Fred Lanoue for the Naval School which was located at Georgia Tech prior to and during WWII. He taught students how to float in water for extended periods of time with ankles and wrists bound, how (unbound) to swim 50 yards (46 meters) underwater, and other water survival skills. At the time it was considered a prime example of the difficulty of Tech's curriculum, and referred to in jest by students as "Drowning 101".^[8]
• Anak Society — The only official secret society on campus.
• I'm a Ramblin' Wreck from Georgia Tech, the Tech fight song.
• Getting Shafted: "Getting shafted" generally refers to the rigorous academic difficulty of Georgia Tech's curriculum. The physical manifestation of this phrase is the Kessler Campanile (A "shaft-like" structure near the Student Center).
• Getting Out: "Getting out" refers to graduating from Georgia Tech. Graduates never say they graduated from Georgia Tech, they simply say "I got out."
• Ma Tech: An affectionate name that students and alumni alike use for their Alma Mater.
• 1992 Vice-Presidential Candidates Debate: The 1992 Vice-Presidential Candidates Debate between Al Gore, Dan Quayle, and Admiral James Stockdale, held on October 13, 1992, took place on the Georgia Tech campus at the Ferst Center for the Arts.
• Theodore Roosevelt: Visited Georgia Tech on October 20, 1905 and shook every student's hand.
• See the T-Book traditions for more traditions.^[9]

Presidents of Georgia Tech

• G. Wayne Clough (1994–present)
• John Patrick Crecine (1987–1994)
• Joseph M. Pettit (1972–1986)
• Arthur G. Hansen (1969–1971)
• Edwin D. Harrison (1957–1969)
• Blake R. Van Leer (1944–1956)
• Marion L. Brittain (1922–1944)
• Kenneth G. Matheson (1906–1922)
• Lyman Hall (1896–1905)
• Isaac S. Hopkins (1888–1896)

List of famous Georgia Tech Alumni

A number of distinguished individuals once called Georgia Tech home. For an extended listing, see List of Georgia Institute of Technology people.

Georgia Tech in popular culture

Movies

The Georgia Tech library, the Skiles classroom building, and Tech Square served as locations for the filming of One Missed Call (2007).

The Georgia Tech library was featured as the library at the fictitious Atlanta A&T University in the movie Drumline (2002). Tech is also mentioned by name in the movie, when the only white student at the black university is asked (jokingly) "what's the matter, not enough black kids at Georgia Tech?"

In the movie "Deliverance" starring Jon Voight and Burt Reynolds one of the cars driven by the main charecters has the front license plate that reads "Georgia Tech".

The Georgia Tech football team was portrayed near the end of the 1993 film Rudy, losing 24-3. In a famous scene from the movie, the title character finally gets a chance to play for the University of Notre Dame as he is put into the ballgame towards the closing moments of the Irish-Yellow Jacket matchup. There are some inaccuracies in the portrayal.

The Georgia Tech ATΩ fraternity house was featured in the 1992 film Love Potion No. 9 starring Tate Donovan and a then largely unknown Sandra Bullock.

The Tech campus, especially Rose Bowl Field football practice area and the former Heisman Gym were used in filming the 1984 movie The Bear, starring Gary Busey as Paul "Bear" Bryant.

The Georgia Tech marching band played the role of the Marshall marching band in We Are Marshall (2006).

The 1993 Touchstone Pictures movie The Program (starring James Caan as the coach, Omar Epps and Craig Sheffer as players, and Halle Berry and Kristy Swanson as co-eds), features (at the start and near the end) Georgia Tech (in gold helmets with white GT logo, blue and then white jerseys, and gold pants) playing a fictional "ESU" team" (with garnet and gold colors suggesting FSU).

In the movie The Devil's Advocate (1997), starring Al Pacino and Keanu Reeves, Pacino tells Reeves that one of the interns on their law firm goes to Georgia Tech.

As mentioned in an earlier section, Gregory Peck played and sang the world-renowned "Ramblin' Wreck" fight song in Man in a Gray Flannel Suit and John Wayne whistled a bit of it in the 1954 movie The High and the Mighty (after convincing the captain to attempt to make it to San Francisco rather than ditch the plane in the ocean). It was no doubt carefully selected as a sign of success, since Georgia Tech was in its glory days of football, winning six bowl games in six years and being named National Champion by organizations in 1951, 1952, and 1956, though Georgia Tech currently only claims to the 1952 season.

Scenes for various other movies have been filmed on the Tech campus, mostly in front of, or in, fraternity houses. Many of the outdoor scenes of the walking tour that sets the stage in the movie Road Trip (2000) were filmed between the Skiles classroom building and the student center, including the Skiles walkway (the Skiles building was incorrectly referred to as a dorm in the movie). Also, one classroom scene was shot inside a large DM Smith lecture hall that was notorious for being one of the most uncomfortable places to attend class on campus.

The movie Hyderabad Blues (1998) depicts a graduate student returning home to India to face his parents' proposal of marriage. The student, Nagesh Kukunoor, is seen wearing a Georgia Tech T-shirt. Additionally, Nagesh attended Georgia Tech as a graduate student before becoming a movie producer.

Stevie Ray Vaughan's video for his hit song "The House Is Rockin'" was shot entirely inside the Chi Phi fraternity house at Georgia Tech during the summer of 1990. It would be Vaughan's last music video before he died in a helicopter crash later that year.

Music

In the Field Mob (featuring Ludacris and Jamie Foxx) song, Georgia, Georgia Tech is mentioned in the lyric: "That's why I keep my Georgia Tech in the state of / Georgia". In keeping with the rest of the song, the reference is a double entendre, the secondary meaning in this case being a TEC 9 gun.

Books

John Heisman: Principles of Football (ISBN 1-892514-99-0) describes the philosophy and plays used by the great John Heisman, Tech's first paid coach.

Dodd's Luck (ISBN 0-932958-09-5) describes Bobby Dodd's highly successful football coaching career in his own words.

In Tom Wolfe's novel, A Man in Full (ISBN 0-374-27032-5), the central character, a developer named Charlie Croker (who was a former 250-lb GT football player), is pressured by Atlanta leaders to support Fareek Fanon, a modern, black, Georgia Tech football star who may or may not have raped the white socialite daughter of a prominent Atlanta businessman; while the girl's father pressures Charlie to denounce the accused football player.^[10]

In B. B. Rose's novel, Halls of Poison Ivy (ISBN 0-9724727-0-3), Georgia Tech is the setting of the murder of a graduate student. The administration and several students feature prominently in the ensuing mystery.

In James Michener's novel Space, one of the central characters is a visionary aerospace engineer from Georgia Tech named Stanley Mott. In the miniseries version of the book, Stanley Mott is played by Bruce Dern.

References

1. ^ "U.S. News Releases 2007 Graduate Rankings", Georgia Institute of Technology News Room, March 31, 2006. Retrieved on April 6.
2. ^ under the couch. Retrieved on March 6, [[2006]].
3. ^ Stevens, Preston. "The Ramblin' Wreck from Georgia Tech", Georgia Tech Alumni Magazine, Winter 1992. Retrieved on March 6.
4. ^ Siegel, Shawn. College Basketball: Early 2006-07 Top 25. Retrieved on April 8, [[2006]].
5. ^ goldtimer. GT tower with T stolen. Retrieved on March 6, [[2006]].
6. ^ "You certainly won't find these in Webster's", Technique, August 26, 2005. Retrieved on March 6.
7. ^ The Game of the Century: Cumberland University vs. Georgia Tech - October 17, 1916. Cumberland University. Retrieved on March 6, [[2006]].
8. ^ Apostolu, Dan. "Drownproofing", Tech Topics, Summer 2000. Retrieved on March 6.
9. ^ Traditions. TBook. Retrieved on March 6, [[2006]].
10. ^ Rowe, Walker Elliott. Alanta, Georgia stars in Tom Wolfe's latest novel, a man in full. Retrieved on March 6, [[2006]].

External links

• Georgia Tech website
• Campus Map
• Google Map of Campus
• Official athletics site
• Georgia Tech Lorraine site