University of Minnesota Twin Cities Guide, Meaning , Facts, Information and Description
The University of Minnesota, Twin Cities is the oldest and largest part of the University of Minnesota system. It's student body is currently the second-largest in the United States according to the Associated Press, with 50,954 students (behind Ohio State University).It is located on two campuses in the Twin Cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul, Minnesota; the campuses are linked through a dedicated bus system.
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Minneapolis
When originally built in 1851, the Minneapolis campus overlooked the Saint Anthony Falls on the Mississippi River, but it was later moved about a mile downstream to its current location. That site is now marked by a small park known as Chute Square at the intersection of University Avenue and Central Avenue.
Today's campus has buildings on both banks of the river, but the East Bank is the main portion of the campus. It contains six residence halls (the University administration believes the terms "dorm" and "dormitory" have negative connotations), and four of them are concentrated into a 4-city-block space known as the "Superblock." Next to the Superblock is a large medical complex that used to be operated by the University, but has since been sold off to Fairview Health Services, which operates a network of hospitals in Minnesota.
The historical center of the Minneapolis campus is Northrop Mall, a green space located about four blocks away from the Superblock. It was based on a design by Cass Gilbert, although his plans were too extravagant to be fully implemented. Several of the campus's primary buildings surround the Mall. Northrop Auditorium provides a northern anchor, with Coffman Memorial Union to the south. Four of the larger buildings on the sides of the Mall are the primary mathematics, physics, and chemistry buildings, and Walter Library, which has recently been renovated to focus more on digital media rather than the printed word.
Additionally, the East Bank has a few buildings with unique architecture worth mentioning. The Armory north east of the Northrop Mall is built like a Norman castle, with a sally port entrance facing Church St., and a tower originally inteded to be the Professor of Military Science's residence, unitl it was found to be too cold. It orignally held the athletics department as well as the military science classes that it now holds. One of the oldest buildings on campus is the Pillsbury Hall, built out of varieties of sandstone available in Minnesota. It has a unique color that is hard to capture in a photograph. In more recent times, Frank Gehry designed the Weisman Art Museum. It is a small example of his work with curving metallic structures.
The West Bank of the campus has been growing rapidly, first seeing major development in the 1960s. Music, theater, and art students cannot pass through the University without spending a significant amount of time there. In addition to the arts, social science is a big area of research on the West Bank. The business school calls the West Bank home, as does the University's law school. Wilson Library, the largest library in the University system, is also located there.
Students traveling between the East and West Banks will most likely use the Washington Avenue Bridge either on foot or via bus. This bridge is unique because it has two separate decks. The lower deck carries automobile traffic, while the upper deck is a pedestrian walkway. An enclosed walkway runs the length of the bridge, sheltering students from the wind, rain, and snow as they cross the Mississippi.
There are some subterranean passageways that students use to get from building to building when the weather is harsh. It is an ungangly network of circuitous routes that are confusing and don't always connect. Many people don't even know they exist. However, in recent years, effort has been made to map out these tunnels, and directions are now marked with signs reading, "The Gopher Way".
The Minneapolis campus is located near two interstate highways: I-94 and I-35W. It is bordered on the north by the Dinkytown neighborhood and by the Stadium Village neighborhood on the east.
St. Paul
The University's St. Paul campus is actually located north of the city of St. Paul, surrounded by the suburb of Falcon Heights. The campus is primarily associated with agriculture, and has a suburban setting. However, the University has some farm fields around it. It is by far the quieter campus. It has a grassy mall of its own and can be seen as a bit of a retreat from the busier Minneapolis campus.
Students have commuted between the two sites for many decades. Early on, a streetcar line between the campuses was established, but it went away along with the rest of the area's trolleys in the 1950s. Buses were used from then on, and a busway was created in 1992 to improve the speed between campuses. Unfortunately, the rate of collisions was fairly high with 32 crashes piling up over the years. So, in 1997, new stop signs were added that would illuminate when a bus, bicycle, or pedestrian was approaching an intersection along the corridor. As of 2002, no additional accidents had been reported.
The St. Paul campus also borders the Minnesota Fairgrounds, where the Minnesota State Fair is held every year. Minnesota's Fair is one of the largest in the United States, usually lasting twelve days, from late August through Labor Day in early September. Because of the heavy traffic associated with the Fair, classes do not start on campus until after it is over.
Sports
Sports teams associated with the Twin Cities campus of the University of Minnesota go by the Golden Gophers moniker. The Gophers are members of the Big Ten Conference and the Western Collegiate Hockey Association in the NCAA. Most of the facilities that the teams use for training and competitive play are located on the East Bank of the Minneapolis campus. There are arenas for male and female basketball (Williams Arena) as well as hockey (Mariucci Arena).
There used to be a football stadium on campus, but the football team started playing at the Metrodome near downtown Minneapolis when that dome was constructed. Memorial Stadium was torn down and the area has since been developed with other University buildings. As of 2003, there is major ongoing discussion trying to determine if a new stadium can be built on campus.
Media
The Twin Cities campus has a newspaper as well as a radio station.
The newspaper is The Minnesota Daily, which is printed each weekday during the normal school season, going to a weekly production during the summer. The Daily is operated by an organization of students, not by the university; it claims to be the largest student-run paper in the United States. It was first published on May 1, 1900.
The campus radio station is KUOM "Radio K"; it broadcasts during the day on 770 kHz AM. Its 5000-watt signal has a range of 80 miles. Due to clear channel regulations, it shuts down at dusk, switching to a low-power (8 watt) signal on 106.5 MHz FM. The station first went on the air on AM in 1993, and started broadcasting on FM in 2003. The station has roots in WLB, licensed on January 13, 1922—reportedly the first in the state (although 1922 was a busy year for radio startups in the region). Radio K also streamss its content over the Internet.
Academics
By far the largest University in the state, the University of Minneosta, Twin Cities offers degree programs in almost all fields, from agriculture to modern dance. Colleges include the College of Liberal Arts, the Carlson School of Management, the College of Biological Sciences, the College of Agriculture Food and Enviromental Sciences, the Medical School, Environmental Sciencess, the College of Natural Resources, and the Institute of Technology. The University has all three branches of ROTC.
Weather
Like any most of Minnesota, the weather on campus can be harsh. In the winter, temperatures in the region sometimes dip below −20°F, with wind chills perhaps −60° or lower. Large amounts of snow can fall as well, but the University's Facilities Management team is very proactive about clearing snow quickly.
It is extremely rare for the University as a whole to have unscheduled closings. Classes were cancelled for half a day on September 11, 2001, but the last time the campus had a weather-related closing was January 18, 1994 when then-Governor Arne Carlson ordered the shutdown of state government services throughout Minnesota during a period of extreme cold. However, many individual classes will be canceled by professors and teaching assistants during any given year, and evening courses are not held when Minnesota holds political caucuses.
While Minnesota is known for having cold winters, hot summers also occur in the region, and weather varies on a daily basis. The Minneapolis campus largely uses steam heat in the winter and chilled water for cooling in summer, but the campus staff always takes a gamble that weather trends will continue when transitioning between the two modes in spring and fall.
One of the main heating plants is located near the Stone Arch Bridge across from downtown. In the first half of the 20th century, it provided electricity for the regional system of streetcars operated by Twin City Rapid Transit and is even listed on the National Register of Historic Places because of that. It was converted to provide steam after the University acquired it in 1976. When the temperature gets cold, four railroad cars worth of coal can be required each day to keep the campus heated.