The Hunchback of Gunter Hall

The following story is based on real events:



If you have ever wandered around campus, you have probably noticed it's exquisite beauty.  From the cutting edge recreation center, all the way to the aged elegance of Snyder Hall, our campus is certainly easy on the eyes; and no building more so than Gunter Hall.  Gunter Hall was built in 1928, the same year that  Ignacy Moscicki became president of Poland.  Gunter Hall is three stories tall, and is the building that houses our School of Natural and Health sciences.  Before that, it's original purpose was our gymnasium.  On the west side of Gunter hall is the Gunter Bell tower, a staggering four-five stories tall.

Legend has it, during a basketball game in 1936, a cheerleader spontaneously went into labor and gave birth to a hideous baby boy.  The game was so exciting, people barely even noticed!  It probably looked something like this...

The cheerleader didn't want to get kicked off the squad for the incident, so she took the baby and dropped it off on the stairs of Roudebush Cottage.  At that time, Roudebush Cottage was a home economics laboratory.  All women who attended the college had to take a home economics class before graduating... these were different times.  Anyway, a home economics professor, Mildred Burns, found the baby in the morning and decided that she would let students raise him as part of her class.  She named him Reuben, which means, found on a doorstep and turned into a teaching tool.  Reuben lived in the cottage until the tender age of 3.  At that time, Mildred decided he was old enough to start work, so she stuck him in the Gunter Bell Tower to be the keeper of the bells.  Oh how Reuben loved to ring those bells.  He figured out how to play the Westminster Sequence all on his own.  Reuben lived until 2005.  He died of a bad Hernia while ringing the bells.  That's probably how he would've wanted to go out... Today there is no more Hunchback ringing the bells.  Just a recording played out over campus every quarter hour.  But to remember Reuben, you can download the Gunter Bells as a free ringtone here...

Okay... so none of that is true.  But the Gunter Bells do have a really neat history actually.  Check that out here!

RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAWWWWWWWWWRRRRRRRRRR!

- Brother Bear

A Blast from the Past

People say we can learn a lot from the past.  I can almost guarantee that if a history teacher asks why history is important to his or her class, a student will raise their hand and say,
"I got my hands up, they're playing my song, the butterflies fly away, noddin' my head like yeah, movin my hips like yeah."  And then they'll say, "so history doesn't repeat itself."

I bring this to your attention to bring you on a magical journey.  Better than both Wishbone and the Magic School Bus combined.  Take ahold of my cyber hand and come with me to the past; to my favorite section of the UNC website: Then and Now.  <-- Click on that link!

The first set of photo's compares a soriority event from 1907 to one in 2011.  The one from 1907 is so thought provoking.  I wonder what the woman in the top left of the picture was thinking.  Her name was most likely Mildred.  I bet she's thinking about the strapping young lad driving the horse drawn buggy.  His name was probably Deshawn.  I wonder why he has a fishing rod... 

Then my attention is drawn to the next picture... The Office of the President circa 1920's.  I think about the woman in the wire brim glasses in the corner.  I wonder if she ever imagines going to the location in the picture to her right.  What is that mystical, far off place... Sri Lanka? Narnia?  Detroit?  Is that man in the picture an ancestor of Vanilla Ice? 

Lastly, I contemplate the picture of the summer grounds crew of 1912...
Is the man 3rd from the left intentionally cross-eyed?  Why do so many of these men have mustaches?  Did they serve some sort of purpose lost to the yesteryear?  Was the man holding the hoe in the middle of the photo one of the first rastafarians?  We can only speculate...



Well everyone, I hope you enjoyed this quick glimpse to the good old days of UNC, or should I say... The State Normal School?

It's time to make your own history! 

RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAWWWWWWWWWWWWWWRRRRRRRRRRRRRR

Danny

The Real UNC

Whether or not you've ever been to Northern Colorado, you've probably heard of UNC.  Be careful though, if you overhear someone talking about UNC they might not actually be talking about our wonderful institution nestled here in the lovely agricultural town of Greeley, Colorado.  They might be talking about our bitterest and much less well known rival: The University of North Carolina. 
I'd like to use this public forum to compare the two in a fair and unbiased way.
First... we're way better.
But seriously folks, lets take a look at the numbers. 

North Carolina opened up it's doors in 1795.  It claims the title for oldest public university in America.  Sounds a little too old to me... who wants to read a 200 year old textbook?
On the contrary, UNC was established in 1889 almost 100 years later.  That means we are a lot more cutting edge...

North Carolina has almost 30,000 students.  That's more then can fit in our entire football stadium 4 1/2 times over. 
UNC on the other hand, offers a quaint student population of just over 12,000.  What a refreshing number.   Some folks would say it's a Goldilocks school... not too small, not too big, but just hot enough.

North Carolina is spread out over 729 acres.  Scholars say it could take years to cross that distance! (they were referring to a desert tortoise, but that's almost irrelevant)
Right near the base of the Rockies, UNC is only spread out across 250 acres.  Only a healthy 15 minute walk!

Lastly, does North Carolina even have any famous alumni?  Picking three names randomly off of their notable alumni list, all I came up with were three random guys: Michael Jordan, Andy Griffith, and James Polk... Who?

Do you know who used to go to our school?  Connie Willis.  That's right... Connie Willis: Science Fiction writer.  I shouldn't even have to mentioned James A. Michener and Vincent Jackson.

So... there you have it folks.  It's up to you.  Which UNC would you rather go to?
Me... I chose the real one. 

RAWWWWWWWWWWWWWRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR 

Danny Everett