Departments

A Stately Home, Inspiring Stories, and Pioneers

Everyone knows that the president of the United States lives in the White House. But how many in the University of Utah community are aware that the University president also lives in a publicly owned white house? It’s a bit smaller, less imposing, and there is no Oval Office, but it’s a handsome, stately building […]


Gazette

News of the University Together We Reach: An Update on the U’s Capital Campaign Since July 2005, the University has been engaged in a comprehensive capital campaign—“Together We Reach”—to raise funds for scholarships, research, facilities, and many other areas. The goal is to reach $1.2 billion by October 2013, when the campaign will come to […]


That’s Just How It Was

Wat Misaka broke the color barrier in pro basketball, despite unimaginable odds. Wataru “Wat” Misaka BS’48 never tried to make history. He just wanted to play basketball—at the same time that his government was keeping 120,000 of his fellow Japanese Americans locked up in concentration camps. World War II may have stoked America’s racist streak, […]


You Need a Person

Anthropologist Polly Wiessner turns her efforts toward benefiting the people she studies. The Enga tribes of Papua New Guinea have a saying, “Endakali Yangingi”—You need a person—meaning that everybody is of value and has something to give to accomplish a task, no matter how daunting or trivial. Polly Wiessner has been one such person for […]


Vanishing Vistas

A new book pays tribute to Jim Jones, the pater familias of red rock painters. The southwestern United States is a rugged, arid, yet surprisingly fragile environment. While it may seem inhospitable, with its vast sun-baked landscape, windswept plateaus, and soaring rock formations, in reality the region is a draw for tourists, artists, and moviemakers—and […]


The Topsy-Turvy World of College Cheerleading

University “yell masters” have evolved over 125 years of rallying team spirit. Cheerleading is a uniquely American contribution to the world of college athletics. The first recorded cheer occurred at a Princeton game in 1884. The University of Utah was not far behind, with a “yelling brigade” formed to support the University football team in […]


Hurdling Cultural Barriers

I took two years of French language instruction at my alma mater. I was completely miserable for the first year.


Feedback

Some of the latest comments and letters from our readers


Putting a New Spin on Electricity

Rosenblatt Prize-winning physicist Valy Vardeny is working to revolutionize how we get power.


Wondrous Water

Is the Fountain of Ute magic, or myth?


Gazette

News of the University Good Chemistry The U’s chemistry facility will be expanding, thanks to the NIH and private grants An architect’s illustration of the new Department of Chemistry building. Image courtesy Prescott Muir Architects. In June 2009, the Department of Chemistry received a grant of $8 million from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) […]


The Persistent President

The Echoes of A. Ray Olpin’s Footsteps Still Reverberate Across Campus Today.


Winter Wonderland

The first mention of a Snow Carnival (also known as Winter Carnival or Winter Festival) at the University of Utah appeared in an issue of The Daily Utah Chronicle in January 1937. This and subsequent carnivals set a pattern of holding various contests on campus, the election of a Snow Queen and attendants, and a […]