University of California, Santa Barbara

The University of California, Santa Barbara (UCSB) is a coeducational public university located on the Pacific Ocean in Santa Barbara County, California. UCSB's campus has not been annexed by the city of Santa Barbara and is not technically part of the city, though it is closer in proximity to Goleta. The City of Santa Barbara runs a strip of "city" through the ocean and around UCSB. Although UCSB has a Santa Barbara mailing address, as do other unincorporated areas around the city, it is not in Santa Barbara city. The campus is divided into three parts: Main campus, Storke campus, and West campus. The campuses surround the community of Isla Vista. It is one of ten University of California campuses.

Reputation

In the past, UCSB had a well-deserved reputation as a "party school," though the administration has made major efforts in recent years to combat that stereotype. In 2005, the Princeton Review ranked it as the #4 party school in the nation, up from #22. See the article on Isla Vista for more information. Those familiar with the school's atmosphere sometimes joke that that the letters in "UCSB" stand for the unofficial motto, "U Can Study Buzzed," or the "University of Casual Sex and Beer."

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In recent years, a number of professors in UCSB have won Nobel Prizes in different subject areas. http://www.ucsb.edu/nobel/index.shtml Additionally, UCSB is the only institution to have two Nobel Prize winners in the same year on two separate occasions.

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Despite their reputation as a laid back campus, UCSB is actually a politically active campus. Many social science classes at UCSB still discuss the Bank of America arson in Isla Vista during the 70s, and how the National Guard was ordered to stabilize the campus and Isla Vista. The UCSB Campus Democrats and the UCSB College Republicans are also amongst the most active organizations on campus. While the College Republicans have been known to attract notable conservative speakers to the campus, such as Oliver North, Ann Coulter, and UC Regent Ward Connerly, the Campus Democrats on the other hand have been known for their grassroots campaign by assisting the campaigns of local, statewide, and national candidates, including the late Walter Capps and wife Lois Capps. Despite their political rivalries, each year the Campus Democrats and College Republicans have a barbecue and play each other in one of UCSB's favorite pastimes, a Slosh Ball game. Slosh Ball is a variant of softball with a keg of beer on the second base; the runner must chug a beer before advancing to third. Over the years, other political parties and organizations have also been known to be extremely active on campus, such as the Green Party, Libertarians, NORML, and the Queer Student Union.

Related Topics:
Bank of America - National Guard - UCSB Campus Democrats - UCSB College Republicans - Oliver North - Ann Coulter - Ward Connerly - Walter Capps - Lois Capps - Green Party - Libertarians - NORML

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According to records by the Santa Barbara County Registrar, UCSB has actually registered more voters over the years than campuses with higher enrollment and well-known political activists like UCLA and UC Berkeley. This has prompted the more conservative northern part of Santa Barbara County to cry for secession, especially after the 2002 recall election of County Supervisor Gail Marshall. The voters of north Santa Barbara County including the Santa Ynez Valley claim that the high number of voters at UCSB and in Isla Vista do not reflect the sentiments of their part of the county. This is due to the fact that the north part of the county is mainly dominated by agricultural and land developing interest, while voters in UCSB and Isla Vista largely vote according to their environmental concerns.

Related Topics:
UCLA - UC Berkeley - Santa Barbara County - Secession - 2002 - Gail Marshall - Isla Vista

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UCSB was named one of America's 25 Hottest Colleges of 2005 by Newsweek. http://www.ia.ucsb.edu/pa/display.aspx?pkey=1177 It is currently ranked 45th among national universities (12th among public national universities) by US News and World Report http://www.usnews.com/usnews/edu/college/rankings/rankindex_brief.php. Admissions are classified as "Most Selective" by US News, with a freshman admissions average GPA of 3.99 and average SAT of 1260 for the Fall 2005 class. http://www.ia.ucsb.edu/pa/display.aspx?pkey=1277

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During the last National Research Council assessments in 1995, the following UCSB departments held national ranks: Geography #4, Materials #8, Religion #9, Physics #10, Chemical Engineering #14, Electrical Engineering #19, Ecology #20, Geology #20, Sociology #23, and Chemistry #33.

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