University of Minnesota
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. Minnesota is one of only 13 universities in the country offering NCAA Division I-A football, Division I men's and women's basketball, and Division I hockey.
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 and
Ridder Arena).
The school has held recent national championships in men's hockey (2002 and 2003), women's hockey (2004 and 2005),
wrestling (2001, 2002), and men's
golf (2002). The women's basketball team made it to the Final Four in 2004. Also in 2004, the Volleyball team made it to the NCAA championship game against Stanford.
The University of Minnesota has a long tradition in football winning the National Championship 6 times (1934, 1935, 1936, 1940, 1941, 1960). Minnesota's
Bruce Smith won the Heisman Trophy in 1941 as college football's best player. There used to be a
football stadium on campus, but in 1982 the football team started playing at the
Metrodome near downtown Minneapolis when that dome was constructed.
Memorial Stadium was torn down in 1992 and the area has since been developed with other University buildings, though it is still known as "stadium village". On
May 24,
2006 Governor
Tim Pawlenty signed a bill that will provide partial state funding to construct a new on-campus football stadium near Williams Arena and Mariucci Arena. The stadium will be called
TCF Bank Stadium and is projected to open on
September 12,
2009.
Minnesota weather can be harsh, and the weather on campus is no exception. In the winter, temperatures in the region sometimes dip below −20°
F (−29°
C), with
wind chills perhaps −60°F (−51°C) 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. Temperatures ranged from −27 °F (−33 °C) to −16 °F (−26 °C) in the Twin Cities that day. However, many individual classes will be cancelled 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.
However, it should be noted that many (if not most) buildings are interconnected by a system of tunnels and
skyways. It's possible to reach almost any building on either bank of the Minneapolis campus without having to go outdoors, though the routes may be somewhat circuitous and poorly marked.
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 (of course, there are several other registered buildings on campus). 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.
*
List of University of Minnesota people*Lori-Anne Williams and Aaron Strozinsky (September 2004).
U Buildings At-a-Glance. University Services, University of Minnesota.
*
Standard Survey Response 1997. University of Minnesota Office of Institutional Research and Reporting.
*
NRC Ratings in each of the 41 Areas Texas A&M University.
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University of Minnesota, Twin Cities*
The Minnesota Daily*
The Wake Student Magazine*
University of Minnesota Press*
Community Website*
Radio K*
Great Conversations *
Tech Talk
