Talk:Purdue University

Article Overhaul

I'm working on a full overhaul for the entire article. I plan to totally reorganize the article, to bring it into alignment with articles on other peer instituions, as well as improve on those models. I will be deleteing some of the current sections and adding many new ones, preserving much of the work that has already been done. Acaides 02:07, 18 Dec 2004 (UTC)

• I removed the reference to Purdue Pete as a mascot in the table at the top of the article. The boilermaker special is the offical mascot, but there are many other mascots / logos associated with the university, and because they all cannot be listed in the table, only the official mascot should be listed. I am working on a new section (Traditions and legends) that will fully present all of the mascots of Purdue and much more. Acaides 04:20, 18 Dec 2004 (UTC)
  • i live in lafayette and around here Purdue Pete is the 'mascot', he is at all football and basketball games. the train(boilermaker special) is not. PETE should be included as he is embraced by the community as the 'mascot',if you were to ask 50 purdue students probably 40 of them would say 'PETE',5 wouldnt know,3 would say the Train and the other 2 would say that a 'boilermaker' is a beer with a shot in it. -- —Preceding unsigned comment added by Otis66Driftwood (talk • contribs) 6 June 2007
  • Today I discovered that there are two other Wikipedia articles, Purdue Boilermakers and Boilermaker Special, that deal with Purdue. After reading though these articles, both of which are arguably stubs, I think they need to be removed from Wikipedia. The content of both articles will be covered and expanded upon in this article after the overhaul is complete. I will wait until the overhaul here is complete before putting these pages up for a vote on deletion. Acaides 02:50, 19 Dec 2004 (UTC)
    • After more research and writing, I think it would be best if the boilermaker special retained a seperate article, as there is a great deal of information available on the subject that doesnt really fit into the Purdue University article. The other article should still go. Acaides 03:10, 19 Dec 2004 (UTC)

• This is an article about Purdue University's West Lafayette campus, judging by mascot and colors. (IPFW's mascot is the Mastodon after one was found in northeastern Indiana shortly after the founding of the joint Fort Wayne campus by a team of geology professors. IPFW's colors are blue and white, not gold and black. IUPUI's mascot is the jaguar. IUPUI's colors are gold and crimson.) No wait! This article is about the Purdue University Statewide system, judging by number of acres and number of students. As part of the overhaul, please have one Wiki page about the West Lafayette campus (that gets the total number of students/faculty/acres correct for that one campus in the summary box) and then have another Wiki page for the Purdue University statewide. This ought to help with the 32KB limit as well. optikos
• I agree that there needs to be some thought put into how we adress Purdue University the system vs Purdue University the main campus. Anyone have any other ideas?acaides 00:54, 26 October 2005 (UTC)
  • The Purdue West Lafayette's mascot is "the boilermaker", a reference to early athletes at Purdue also working to make money at a local steam boiler factory. As such, a person who makes boilers is the mascot of Purdue, not a mere machine: the Boilermaker Special. In fact, they go together. One cannot depict a boilermaker unless one shows a steam boiler that that craftsman/engineer/technician made. Otherwise Purdue Pete is merely some buffed muscular guy carrying some sort of hammer for some unknown reason. The Boilermaker Special is intended to portray the steam boiler within a steam-powered railroad engine that Purdue Pete made as a boilermaker. It is not the Purdue Steam Engines. It is not the Purdue Locomotives. It is the Purdue BoilerMAKERS, with the MAKERS emphasized: a person who makes steam boilers. That person is Purdue Pete! Purdue Pete is the mascot of the West Lafayette campus. optikos
    • The official mascot of Purdue University (WL anyway) is The Boilermaker Special, period. Not "the boilermaker' All the other characters (Pete, Rowdy, etc.) are just supplementary. acaides 00:54, 26 October 2005 (UTC)
      • When did this mascot change? The Boilermaker Special is a post-WWII introduction, but the Purdue BoilerMAKERS (as people) reference goes back to the nineteenth century. Optikos 13:35, 27 October 2005 (UTC)
        • An attempt to referee this discussion: The Purdue athletic team name (not mascot) is the Boilermakers (plural). A (singular) Boilermaker is (among other uses) a slang term for a person associated with Purdue. And as stated by acaides, The Boilermaker Special is the one and only official university mascot. Engineer Bob 06:59, 28 October 2005 (UTC) (BSEE 75)
  • Re the original question, I think this article should start with a brief overview of the statewide Purdue University system, with concise links to the other schools, and then focus on the original West Lafayette campus. The biggest issue to be resolved is: which data goes in the infobox? Since each of the other campuses will (or should) have its own infobox, I'd put the main campus data here, with the grand totals (enrollment and anything else relevant) in the opening text as appropriate. Engineer Bob 06:59, 28 October 2005 (UTC)
  • As I proposed before, this article needs to focus on either the Purdue University System as a whole (and de-emphasize its WestLafayette-centric bias) or the Purdue University West Lafayette campus alone (so that a separate article goes into comparable systemwide details, freeing this article of its multiple personality disorder). Furthermore, there has been past criticism that this article is too long. To solve the former problem and to chip away a little at the latter problem, I have enacted a split of this article into two articles: this one for the West Lafayette main campus and the "Purdue University System" for addressing the rest of the Purdue University statewide presence. I think that you all will see that the two articles discuss different topics from different perspectives, now without multiple personality disorder. Although the North Central and Calumet campuses are quite subordinate to the West Lafayette campus (e.g., school colors, substantial lack of academic independence), the IPFW, IUPUI, and IUPUC campuses are much more separate from the main campus in multiple ways (even though IPFW is budgetarily a unit of Purdue University). Note for example that both IPFW and IUPUI have Division I NCAA sports programs that are peers with the West Lafayette campus and have their own school colors that are distinct from the main campuses. (Indeed, note that Indiana University considers IUPUI itself to be a core/main campus in the Indiana University System.) Check the NCAA Division I report-query webpages http://web1.ncaa.org/ssLists/orgInfo.do?orgID=308 and http://web1.ncaa.org/ssLists/orgInfo.do?orgID=2699 if in doubt of the NCAA Division I fact. optikos 14:26 02 January 2006 (CST)
    • I'm supportive of this split; there's a good example at University of California, with all of its constituent campuses having separate articles. I agree that the current "Purdue University" article name should be retained for the original/main campus, with the system-wide material moved to "Purdue University System" and prominently linked in the introduction to the main campus article. Engineer Bob 20:55, 2 January 2006 (UTC)

Introduction and History

I'm starting by reworking the introduction and greatly expanding the history section. I have added new subsections to the history section: Founding, Early years and expansion, and Aviation. There is a lot of new content here that I have collected from various university sources. I have included a very detailed account of Purdue's history in avaition because I feel it is an important part of the bigger presentation of the University as a whole. In the future, I think it would be nice to include more details about the history of other departments / communities. Acaides 02:07, 18 Dec 2004 (UTC)

• I added a picture I found on ftp.purdue.edu of Earhart with the plane Purdue helped fund. Acaides 04:06, 18 Dec 2004 (UTC)
  • I decided to consolidate the Founding subsection of history with the Early years and expansion subsection. Acaides 20:22, 20 Dec 2004 (UTC)

Aviation doesn't belong in the introduction of a Purdue University wiki page. Purdue is best known for and was founded in order to promote the study of engineering - not aviation.—Preceding unsigned comment added by 156.56.193.243 (talk • contribs)

Agriculture and engineering, to be precise, but your point is well taken. Aviation is an important part of Purdue's history but not the only part. MaxVeers 00:54, 27 February 2007 (UTC)

• There is just TOO MUCH mention of aviation in the History section. It needs a major cleanup. It makes look Purdue like an aviation school, and as if Boilermakers have no other glorious past to boast of! apalaria March 08 2007

• I have added mention of Purdue Research Park and Discovery Park in the introduction section. I think they are two of Purdue's major achievements in the recent past and should be highlighted for those readers who may not have the patience to scroll all the way down to the miscellany section. After all, it is quality research and outreach that makes an educational institution stand out among the rest. apalaria March 08 2007

Traditions and legends

I have continued with the overhaul tonight by adding an entire new section, Traditions and legends. This section ecompasses some reworking and unification of existing content as well as a great deal of new and expanded content. I will also be adding some pictures to accompany the new content. Acaides 06:21, 19 Dec 2004 (UTC)

• I just added a picutre of purdue pete and the AAMB for hail purdue! Acaides 06:43, 19 Dec 2004 (UTC)
  • I added a paragaph about the purdue seal to the logos section and uploaded an image of the seal. Acaides 20:24, 20 Dec 2004 (UTC)
    • The legends section should only include stories that circulate on campus and are taken as facts. The value of the section is to dispell these rumors with truth. Silly, or obviously false stories don't belong in the article, and should be removed. acaides 19:21, 8 November 2005 (UTC)

Leadership

The next phase of the overhaul is done. I added another new section, Leadership. This section is entirely new content that was not addessed at all in the old article. I plan on eventually creating separate articles for some Purdue presdients, including Dr. Jischke. Acaides 22:18, 20 Dec 2004 (UTC)

Athletics

I reworked and expanded the Athletics section. I included some info on head coaches Gene Keady and Joe Tiller, along with info on their records. Acaides 07:25, 23 Dec 2004 (UTC)

Endowment

President Martin Jischke has raised well over $1.5 billion dollars in the last 7 years (the exact amount will be released this Saturday, June 30, 2007). Therefore, I find it hard to believe that Purdue's endowment is ONLY $1.312 billion even with all the current and upcoming construction projects at the West Lafayette campus. Can someone (that has the proper resources) find out the accurate figure for Purdue's endowment and update it on this article?

This might be explained by the fact almost al school edowments have lost a tremdeous amount of money recently.

Housing

Is there any evidence for the claim that Purdue has the third largest Greek community (either in number of chapters or numbers of members)? The linked article just talks about it being large in general, without specific reference to being the third largest.

Satellite School Controversy

Obviously there is no Calument, IN (at least according to mapquest), and in fact Purdue Calumet is in Hammond, IN (according to www.pnc.edu or better yet www.calumet.purdue.edu). This is now reflected in the introduction and I plan on making this clear in futher additions. Also, I have added mention of a statellite campus, Purdue North Central, in Westville, IN. Acaides 02:07, 18 Dec 2004 (UTC) Not to mention IUPUI indy www.iupui.edu and IUPUI fort waye www.ipfw.edu

There exist NO SUCH IUPUI FORT WAYNE, nor has there ever been. It is called IPFW! IUPUI stands for "Indiana University---Purdue University AT INDIANAPOLIS". So this so-called imaginary IUPUI Fort Wayne would be: "Indiana University---Purdue University at Indianapolis Fort Wayne". Think the acronym through. Even with the URL right in front of you, you still wrote IUPUI Fort Wayne. Furthermore Fort Wayne is spelled with an n, not Waye.

IUPUI stands for "Indiana University Purdue University Indianapolis", no "at".Dogface 03:13, 7 March 2006 (UTC)

School Motto

Does Purdue have a school motto? I have searched literally every page on the website and I can't find one. AreJay 18:53, 18 Dec 2004 (UTC)

• I did a quick search and didn't find anything either. I have never heard of one, and as far as I know there is no offical motto. The only thing I can think of that would come close to a motto would be something to do with the University Seal: "The three-part shield indicates three stated aims of the University: education, research, and service." Acaides 20:51, 18 Dec 2004 (UTC)
  • I'm not sure this really counts as a motto. I'm tempted to remove it unless someone can provide a source stating it's considered Purdue's motto. "Learning, Discovery, Engagement" seems more prevalent anyway. MaxVeers 13:04, 22 October 2007 (UTC)

Well, nobody has come forth with any information about the motto over the last few weeks, so I'm going to remove it due to lack of evidence. MaxVeers 16:35, 16 November 2007 (UTC)

Page size

This article is currently 30kb and I think Wikipedia recommends that each article be lesser than 32kb. I was thinking of ways to cut down the lenght of the article. Could we have separate articles for Hail Purdue and the Alma Mater and/or separate articles for accomplished alumni with links within the main article? I think this article itself is very professionally written and presented -- I was just thinking of ways to make it more reader friendly.AreJay 19:05, 21 Dec 2004 (UTC)

• I noticed the article size warning myself yesterday when I was adding new sections. I did some checking with various sources about article length, and I started looking for other articles that are long. I suspected that there are many articles in wikipedia that are substancially longer than this article, and in fact there are many. Based on what I have read and found, I don't think that an article size above 32k is a huge problem, so long as the article is divided into sections. Clearly, the purdue article meets this criteria. Even so, I think it might be a good idea to look into ways to move some content to other articles if someone has time to look into it. I plan to focus my efforts on continuing to build the article. The version of the article I am workin on now, in a word processor, is 11 pages long. When it comes to load time concerns, I myself am editing the article and researching on a 28.8 kbps dial-up connection and load times are not an issue (most of the article is, after all, only text), and I think 28.8 is about as slow as it gets. Acaides 19:31, 21 Dec 2004 (UTC)

Suggestions/additions from a real Boilermaker

As a current Purdue engineering student, I fully recognize all bias towards this comment, but,

• please keep at least a brief list of Purdue mascots including Pete and Rowdy
• consider expanding the aviation history at the beginning to include more of Purdue's rich astronaut traditions, Purdue has been known as the "Cradle of the Astronauts"
• I'm not sure if it's noted, but our rival school is most definitely Indiana University (IU)
• two important Purdue slogans include

"Boiler Up!" (student motto) and "One brick higher" (engineering credo which embodies the spirit of Purdue's strong engineering and hands-on history...after the Purdue bell tower burned down, it was rebuilt with one extra layer of brick as a testament to the resiliance of the Boilermakers)

• athletic traditions include the "All-American Marching Band" (one of the nation's oldest and largest college marching band), the Golden-Girl and Silver Twins baton/cheerleading/gymnastic performers, and the "World's Largest Drum"

please feel to incorporate any and/or all of this information

-Ryan 1:49 AM Feb. 14 2005

A fellow boilermaker

Thanks for your input. I, too, am a Purdue Engineering student. Much, if not most, of the content of this article was written by me, so I know what you're talking about. You make some good suggestions about possible additions to the article. I invite you to make these or any other additions to the article.

I had considered writing about some of the things you mentioned, but ultimately did not because i thought that they were somehow "unencyclopedic." Plus, the article is getting pretty long, and I still haven't said what I want to say about the academic and other programs here at Purdue. I was actually considering condensing some of the history/traditions stuff to make room for more 'hard' content and facts. Just a thought. Acaides 17:22, 15 Feb 2005 (UTC)

A former Boilermaker

Actually it was HEAV that burned down, tower and all, shortly after it first opened, that caused the "One Brick Higher" rally cry ;) Be that as it may, would it be inappropriate to have a Traditions of Purdue University (or something similar) as a sub-article? I can't believe neither of you mentioned the "Nude Olympics!" :P (helps if I sign, doesn't it?)

--JohnDBuell | Talk 02:46, 11 Jun 2005 (UTC)

Actualaly the original Mechanical Engineering building burnt down about a week after it opened, President at the time declared the next morning that the building would be rebuilt and would be rebuilt 1 brick higher. The new Mechacanical Egineering building (later renamed to Heavillion Hall) was 9 bricks higher. The building in turn was tore down in the 70's and replaced with a new english building names Heaillion Hall (I thinkt he dedication plaque says Heavillion Hall II). The Orginal ME building had a bel tower and the replacement building had a bell tower. The new building does not but a new Bell Tower was erected in the mid 90's. I dont think the hieght of the current tower has aything to do with the One Brick High engineerin Motto.

"Schools" Become "Colleges"

Just curious, has anyone checked to see if all the "School"/"College" monikers are up to date? RDF 19:48, 23 August 2005 (UTC)

Bell Tower Controversy

I recently reverted the text concerning the bell tower legend to its previous state pending a consensus here. While the original text is technically correct (there are in fact actual bells in the tower that really do chime, NOT a speaker system), it could probably be rewritten to be more specific.

Consider the following passage taken from an official Purdue University website :

"The new tower has an electronic clock and a computerized carillon,
but it was decided to hang the bells from the old bell tower 
in the new structure." 

I think this passage will clarify the situation, and I encourage anyone interested in the subject to read the entire site that ECN has set up about the Purdue bell towers, past and present.

Basically, the bells that are visible from the ground do not in fact ring at all; they are simply the original bells from the burned tower put in the new one for sentimental value I suppose. However, inside the tower is a full complement of actual bells (not a fancy over-powered HI-FI system) that produce the hourly tones and music that we enjoy on campus. I assume it is the fact that the visible bells are ornamental (and you can't see them being struck, because they aren't) that has given rise to all these myths about speaker systems (that and protrusions visible when looking up that one might think are 'speakers').

I propose that we further develop this point in the legends section to more fully explain the bell tower's workings to clarify the issue for readers. I plan on making such an edit in the days ahead, but I thought I would give the community a chance to weigh in. Acaides 00:42, 7 September 2005 (UTC)

• Also: I propose completely removing the second point on the bell tower (walk under it and don't graduate in 4 yrs). The reason I added the legends section to the article was to dispel untrue rumors that circulate on campus as fact. I feel that such content is appropriate in a encyclopedia article (at least in a very comprehensive one), but the 'legend' about walking under the tower is really just a superstition and is obviously untrue (yes, I have friends that walked under it routinely and graduated right on time), and does not belong in an encyclopedia entry. Thus, I plan to remove the passage when I update the main point on the bell tower legend. Acaides 00:59, 7 September 2005 (UTC)
  • UPDATE: Since I have seen no objections (or any reaction at all) to my plans, I have gone ahead and made the changes to the article. I purposefully left the article text somewhat vague with regard to the visible bells. At this point I'm not exactly certain whether they ring or are ornamental, clearly more research should be done on this subject. acaides 00:58, 13 September 2005 (UTC)

New Proposal

The following text was proposed for the bell tower passage in the article:

"One of the more bizarre, yet most commonly heard, legends on campus concerns the integrity of the Purdue Bell Tower. The legend claims that when construction of the tower was completed in 1995 it was discovered that the tower was structurally flawed, and as a result the bells could not ring without risking collapse. Project leaders supposedly had a speaker system installed to imitate the sound of ringing bells. However, inside the modern Bell Tower are a computerized carillon, and an electronic clock. In fact, the new tower includes bells from the original Bell Tower, which was demolished in 1956 after repeated compaints that it was haunted. No conclusive evidence as to whose spirits roamed the tower back then. One theory suggested lost veterans of The Great War whose names were not inscribed on the walls of the Union building because they did not pay tuition that year and/or had less than full time status at the time they left for Europe."

The above text adds some additional 'information' about the origional bell tower. I think we should discuss this addition before adding it to the actual article:

• The general structure of the legends section has been to state a legend that circulates on campus, and then to address the facts surrounding the claims. Here, we're disproving a legened and then adding another layer of legend on top. I think we should incorporate the 'haunted old tower' legend earlier into the passage, and then offer some additional facts about the claims (e.g. is it true that veterans names did not appear in the Union?, etc.). Until we can offer some facts on the subject, its really just a silly story and doesn't really belong in the article.acaides 13:30, 28 September 2005 (UTC)

Krannert

The information regarding John Purdue owning a brick yard is false. Many student organizations incorrectly promulgate the inaccurate story that Krannert has bricks concealed in its foundation or elsewhere in the structure.

THE TRUTH: In the early days of the university, Mr. Purdue requested that his donation be used for the education of students and not the aesthetics of buildings. Red brick was chosen as it was the least expensive building material at the time. Today it is used to carry on the theme. The Krannert building, which was funded entirely by private donations and is constructed of Indiana Limestone, DOES NOT CONTAIN RED BRICKS. According to Robert Gloyeske of the architecture firm Walter Scholar & Associates and Tom Schmenk of Purdue, there is not a single red brick in or on the building's structure.

I suggest that questions pertaining to other legends be verified by contacting the Purdue University Visitor Information Center. The center is open Monday through Friday from 8:00 - 5:00 and Saturday from 8:00 - 4:00. Phone: (765) 494 - INFO.

Colleges and Schools

I added the n-ary tree of colleges and schools comprising Purdue University so that the reader can see a demonstration of the strength of the engineering, technology, science programs, and agricultural disciplines in particular. If the consensus is that this bloats the main article too much, then as an alternative, it could be moved to another main article, such as I have done for Indiana University Bloomington (although as a Purdue alum I knew a lot less about IU). One can usually tell a lot about the emphasis of an institution by viewing its organization in macrocosm. Optikos 04:19, 21 February 2006 (UTC)

I think the "Academics" section still needs a lot of work. It's poorly organized, with strengths and structure interleaved in a haphazard way. In fact, I'm not sure that we need to identify every highly ranked department at Purdue -- this coming from the person who originally added many of those citations. What might make more sense is a section devoted strictly to structure, and another section (or perhaps just a paragraph or two) highlighting the major strengths of Purdue. Let's investigate how other university articles on Wikipedia arrange this kind of information and see what we like. MaxVeers 12:56, 9 October 2006 (UTC)

Purdue uses signature not seal

Regarding the recent revert of the Purdue signature back to the seal:

The Purdue University "signature" logo is the primary identifier for Purdue University and is used more prominently than any of the University's other marks. [1]

Consequently, I am reverting the revert. Rfrisbie^talk 14:11, 5 May 2006 (UTC)

Ok, but just because you found that quote doesn't mean that what goes in there automatically becomes the signature logo, especially without further discussion. My original revert was to allow for that -discussion-, not for you to just slap down your justification and revert it back. Most uni have the seal in the box, which seems to be more or less a standard. I'm going to revert it back so that we can have a real -discussion- about this. If the consensus is to use the signature logo, than that's all good with me, but let's do this right. Madmaxmarchhare 15:37, 5 May 2006 (UTC)

I've made my point. It's the University's practice. You have not documented your position except as an opinion. If you have no more justification than that, your reverts are simply heavy-handed POV. Please consider your own behavior before you proceed further. Rfrisbie^talk 15:57, 5 May 2006 (UTC)

Ok, I'm not sure why you're taking this tone with me, but my initial revert was to have a discussion about this and not for you to take offense. I appreciate your point, and although I don't agree with it, I'd like to see what the rest of the community has to say before we change it. Again, I said that if the community wanted it, I would support the change. Heck, I'll even change it myself to save you the keystrokes if that'll make you feel better about having a real, honest discussion about this :-).

In fact, however, there are many schools (Wisconsin, Nevada, Reno, Tulsa, Sam Houston, are ones that I work on and know intimately) that have common identifiers that aren't their seal. In actuality, many schools use their seal for official documents and use alternates for letterhead, brochures, etc. Wisconsin, in particular, uses this funky "W" that one finds etched into buildings, Nevada uses a solid representation of the state of Neavda with a dot where Reno is and the text "University of Nevada, Reno." However, the standard of uni pages, overall, seems to be to use the seal. My guess is because the seal is a more-or-less permanent fixture of identity for the university and isn't subject to the change on the whims of the marketing department or "identity" focus groups, etc. Madmaxmarchhare 16:17, 5 May 2006 (UTC)

I see no reason why you are taking such a heavy-handed approach to blocking an edit. Do you own this page? Does every edit require a consensus? By whom? Again, you have failed to reference any wiki policy or guideline to support your position, while I have documented mine. Please take you poll and move on. I won't be waisting any more of my time on this. Rfrisbie^talk 17:11, 5 May 2006 (UTC)

Ok, I'm not asking you to see my side of this, I'm just asking you to open this up to the community, as it appears that you have. Thank you. We'll see how everyone else weighs in on this and then move forward from there. Madmaxmarchhare 17:44, 5 May 2006 (UTC)

Hey, actually, like a ship coming out of the fog, someone just added UW's "logo" onto the page, and they added it at the bottom of the Infobox (it wasn't centered, so I went it did that). That new logo is the equivilant of what you were trying to replace the seal with. How about adding it at the bottom of the Infobox as was done on the Wisconsin page? That way, the Infobox keeps its concensus look, but you can get that logo in there as well? Madmaxmarchhare 18:41, 5 May 2006 (UTC)

Once again, please reference this consensus you mention with a link to a discussion page. Put the "signature," Image:Purdue.gif, where you see fit. Rfrisbie^talk 19:08, 5 May 2006 (UTC)

Ok, it's in there using the Wisconsin page as a model/guide. I also swtiched the black and white seals on the page as the black one seems to flow better with the "signature." As for concensus pages, look at most uni pages, including the ones I've metioned before, or others like the Texas and U-California schools. Illinois State has a really pretty seal at the top of their infobox.. looks-a-niiice :-). Thanks for the suggestions and help.. the signature in the box looks really good! Madmaxmarchhare 19:27, 5 May 2006 (UTC)

Thanks for the edits. However, consensus refers to explict discussions and general agreements about the application of policies and guidelines. What you refer to simply is a convenience sample of usage. My conclusion is that no consensus actually has been established on this topic. Perhaps it would be more informative for you to say something like, "Based on what I've seen..." Regards, Rfrisbie^talk 20:53, 5 May 2006 (UTC)

National Society of Black Engineers

The National Society of Black Engineers (NSBE) was started at Purdue. Is this too small of a factoid to write on the Purdue page?

If you want to create it, many university pages have a "Miscellany" (sometimes called "trivia," which I personally don't like quite as much) near the bottom of the article to include interesting facts that are too compact to fit in anywhere else. Madmaxmarchhare 04:09, 17 May 2006 (UTC)

Strengths Section

I feel like this section is rather unorganized and could be formatted into a table. Especially the portions regarding the USNews rankings. Dpu2002 16:13, 7 June 2006 (UTC)

• I agree; before someone builds a table, we might try to reach consensus on the order in which programs are listed (I prefer alphabetically). -- Engineer Bob 20:19, 7 June 2006 (UTC)
• Just use the College/School organization/order in the following subsection (it's alpha). Rfrisbie^talk 20:24, 7 June 2006 (UTC) The two academics subsections probably could be combined into one table, with a little imagination. Rfrisbie^talk 20:35, 7 June 2006 (UTC)

College/School	Unit	Strengths
Agriculture	Agricultural and Biological Engineering	Ranked 2nd in the nation by US News & World Report.

I sorted the strengths by College/School. I really don't think putting them in a table is necessary at this time. Rfrisbie^talk 14:05, 9 June 2006 (UTC)

looks great! Dpu2002 23:55, 11 June 2006 (UTC)

I added citations. Feel free to add more. MaxVeers 23:36, 12 June 2006 (UTC)

I recommend Template:Infobox US university ranking for this purpose. Btyner (talk) 23:49, 20 February 2008 (UTC)

Other Purdue traditions

I was wondering about adding things like BGR, Breakfast Club, Grand Prix etc. I am under the impression that these things are quite unique to Purdue as well as widespread and well known traditions. Wikivarun 20:04, 7 June 2006 (UTC)

• Go for it! :-) Rfrisbie^talk 20:10, 7 June 2006 (UTC)
• Good suggestion -- note that some or all of these might fit better under "campus life." -- Engineer Bob 20:19, 7 June 2006 (UTC)
• lol breakfast club should have an entire page for itself. actually, if anything should have a separate wiki article, it should be grand prix. there is a lot of information that probably could be on that page. Dpu2002 19:33, 8 June 2006 (UTC)
• I guess I'll start with something on the main page and as and when I find the time and facts, create pages for Grand Prix and Breakfast Club. Anyone know where and how Breakfast Club started? :-D Wikivarun 15:29, 9 June 2006 (UTC)
• Here's a Vivisimo search on "Breakfast Club". Maybe you can find some clues there. :-) Rfrisbie^talk 16:23, 9 June 2006 (UTC)

Paint Crew

Hi. I've been putting together pages for each of the Big Ten's basketball student sections and was wondering if someone would be interested in expanding and maintaining that of the Paint Crew. Thanks! --BroadSt Bully 14:03, 4 July 2006 (UTC)

I'll take a look. PurdueTri11 03:27, 12 October 2006 (UTC)

Removed citation needed from campus life section

Reworded so it's no longer needed. Here's source: [2] ndyguy 02:39, 3 November 2006 (UTC)

Jischke's salary - 2nd highest at public university

Jedlink, you removed the edit refering to the Purdue University President's salary, commenting that "...Jischke's salary is NOT second highest. Please do not post facts without checking them first. You got this from a newspaper misprint".
The Associated Press reported that figure in a release on November 20, 2006. Also, on November 20th, the New York Times reported, in an article by Jonathan Glater (which you can find online at [3]) the same thing. Fort Wayne's own "The News-Sentinel" carried the AP story, their first line of which is "...At $880,950, Purdue University President Martin C. Jischke has the second-highest salary among public university presidents in the nation..." Jeanne Sahadi, of CNNMoney.com also reported the $880,950 figure. Washington Times, MSNBC, The Orlando Sentinel, ..., the list goes on.
I've restored that edit. Please cite your reasons for believing that this is a newspaper misprint.

Many newspaper's have now printed retractions. As it turns out Jischke's salary is only $480,950. People are including his retirement bonus in this year's pay, when in fact he won't even receive it until AFTER he is no longer employed at Purdue. If you want to keep the information wrong it is fine, many of the newspaper's didn't check the facts before reporting, so it is fine if we do it here too. If you want to keep it in, I would suggest at least changing the wording from "salary" to "compensation", because as it is now, displaying $880,950 as his salary is incorrect. This is noted in the articles in most of the sources you listed. Jedlink 01:06, 27 November 2006 (UTC)

I've edited the entry as you suggested, which is good clarification. Let me know if that doesn't address you concern. - Thaimoss 23:49, 27 November 2006 (UTC)

Looks good to me. Jedlink 00:02, 28 November 2006 (UTC)

John Wooden

I see no mention of John Wooden and his championship team at Purdue. This is an important milestone for Purdue history. Also as a part of the Wiki Indiana project an Indiana notary is an important aspect. John Wooden represents an era of Indiana basketball in the 1920's and 1930's. Not to mention the fact aht he is highly regarded as the best coach in college basketball history. It would be nice to include mention of him and the teams make up.

Thank you. (GabrielCanada 07:20, 12 March 2007 (UTC))

Protection / intro dispute

Looks like we're butting heads over what the intro/lead section should look like. I prefer the current version, as it's better-written and focuses on the broad strengths and notabilities of the university. My opinion is that the other version is more conversational, hagiographic, and highlights some aspects of the university that are controversial (e.g. the claim of having the first CS department). Maybe we can collaborate on a new lead that incorporates the best of both worlds. I know that it definitely needs to be expanded at the very least. MaxVeers 22:21, 19 March 2007 (UTC)

I am an American

Why is this section in here? It looks like a vanity edit to me anyway. I haven't removed it, but please do if you see fit.

Well, I removed it anyway. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 86.127.41.240 (talk • contribs) 25 March 2007

• I don't know that I'd agree with calling it a "vanity" edit, but I agree with its removal on the grounds that it's a likely copyright violation. -- Engineer Bob 04:08, 26 March 2007 (UTC)

Fair use rationale for Image:Purdueseal.gif

Image:Purdueseal.gif is being used on this article. I notice the image page specifies that the image is being used under fair use but there is no explanation or rationale as to why its use in this Wikipedia article constitutes fair use. In addition to the boilerplate fair use template, you must also write out on the image description page a specific explanation or rationale for why using this image in each article is consistent with fair use.

Please go to the image description page and edit it to include a fair use rationale. Using one of the templates at Wikipedia:Fair use rationale guideline is an easy way to insure that your image is in compliance with Wikipedia policy, but remember that you must complete the template. Do not simply insert a blank template on an image page.

If there is other other fair use media, consider checking that you have specified the fair use rationale on the other images used on this page. Note that any fair use images uploaded after 4 May, 2006, and lacking such an explanation will be deleted one week after they have been uploaded, as described on criteria for speedy deletion. If you have any questions please ask them at the Media copyright questions page. Thank you.BetacommandBot 04:04, 6 June 2007 (UTC)

I noticed Image:Purdueseal.gif was removed, but Image:Purdueseal.png exists. The PNG also has the fair use rationale written. I'm new to wikipedia and can't find where the change to remove the symbol went into effect.Filmore 03:46, 30 September 2007 (UTC)

Fair use rationale for Image:Wbaa.JPG

Image:Wbaa.JPG is being used on this article. I notice the image page specifies that the image is being used under fair use but there is no explanation or rationale as to why its use in this Wikipedia article constitutes fair use. In addition to the boilerplate fair use template, you must also write out on the image description page a specific explanation or rationale for why using this image in each article is consistent with fair use.

Please go to the image description page and edit it to include a fair use rationale. Using one of the templates at Wikipedia:Fair use rationale guideline is an easy way to insure that your image is in compliance with Wikipedia policy, but remember that you must complete the template. Do not simply insert a blank template on an image page.

If there is other fair use media, consider checking that you have specified the fair use rationale on the other images used on this page. Note that any fair use images uploaded after 4 May, 2006, and lacking such an explanation will be deleted one week after they have been uploaded, as described on criteria for speedy deletion. If you have any questions please ask them at the Media copyright questions page. Thank you.

BetacommandBot 05:03, 11 July 2007 (UTC)

John Purdue

I deleted a passage that stated that John Purdue sought to establish a "secondary" college after being denied a professorship at Indiana University. This seems unlikely as Purdue, who had spent some time when he was in his 20's as a teacher, he was a merchant, and I can find no information that he was interested in teaching and I can find no connection between John Purdue and Indiana University. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Tfath (talk • contribs) 14:31, 4 March 2008 (UTC)

ADDING MEDIA TO ARTICLE

I have been working an abstraction and encapsulation of the article. I have also been adding various media to the article including the Astronaut Alumni gallery. Jainrajat11 (talk) 14:57, 18 June 2008 (UTC)

Bot report : Found duplicate references !

In the last revision I edited, I found duplicate named references, i.e. references sharing the same name, but not having the same content. Please check them, as I am not able to fix them automatically :)

• "WILYwebsite" :
  • [http://web.ics.purdue.edu/~wily/index.php "WILY Radio Website"]
  • [http://www.purdue.edu/radio "Purdue Student Radio AM1610 Website"]

DumZiBoT (talk) 04:52, 8 August 2008 (UTC)

GA Review

This review is transcluded from Talk:Purdue University/GA1. The edit link for this section can be used to add comments to the review.

Images

• Image:Purduebanner.png - I'm not convinced that this fair use image is necessary. The article already has one fair use logo in the infobox.
• Image:Purdueseal.png - This image doesn't have a precise source.
• Image:JohnPurdue.jpg - This needs a reliable source, a date, and an author.
• Image:MorrillAct.jpg - This image is missing a source, an author, and a date.
• Image:Earhart electra.jpg - This needs a specific source, a description, an author, and a date. The tag needs to be fixed as well.
• Image:Dr. Arden L. Bement, Jr..jpg - This image is not necessarily in the PD. Note that the NSF website says "with the exception of the NSF logos provided, photos and illustrations found on the NSF web site should not be reused without permission". We need to contact Sam Kittner if we want to use this photo.
• Image:Purdue Research Park Logo.gif - There is no fair use rationale for this logo. I don't think it is necessary, either, since it is entirely text.
• Image:Pu dining.jpg - This fair use rationale is too weak - it doesn't add significantly to the readers' understanding (see WP:NFCC #8) and it could easily be replaced by a free version (WP:NFCC #1).
• Image:Purdue Exponent Logo.gif - There is no fair use rationale for this logo. I don't think it is necessary, either, since it is almost entirely text.
• Image:W9yb.jpg - There is no fair use rationale for this logo. I don't think it is necessary, either.
• Image:Purdue pete.gif - Is it possible to get a more specific source for this image?
• Image:Neil Armstrong pose.jpg - The source link is broken.
• Before I check all of the images in the "Astronaut alumni" section, I would suggest that the image gallery be removed. I don't think it is necessary.
• I would suggest reading MOS:IMAGES - it can offer some suggestions for improving image placements. There is some text sandwiching early in the "History" section, for example, and many of the images are lined up on the right-hand side of the article.

Sections to add

There are several topics that this article doesn't cover yet but are crucial to any university article:

• Libraries
• Student groups/Student organization
• Rankings
• Curriculum and majors
• Budget and endowment

Small expansions

• The lead needs to be a summary of the entire article per WP:LEAD - all the major topics of the article need to be covered in the lead.

• The "20th century" section of the "History" focuses almost exclusively on aviation, but Purdue is known as an engineering school more broadly. This section does not explain the diversity of Purdue's accomplishments - it is too narrow.

• Entire paragraphs of the "Campus" section are unsourced.

• The "Campus" section would benefit from a map or a general description so that the reader understands where different sections are in relation to each other.

• Including a description of some of the ongoing research at Purdue would be helpful. I thought it was at Purdue that scientists discovered the plant without DNA - it had only RNA.

• The "Legends" section is a single sentence. This needs to be a summary of the daughter article.

Sources and notes

• The footnotes are not formatted properly - see WP:FOOT and WP:CITE. We do not use bald links.

• Most of your sources are from Purdue itself. It is a good idea not to rely too much on Purdue's site, but rather on secondary sources that are more objective. Purdue's website is essentially an advertisement, so we need to be very careful what we use it for.

• The "References" section is confusing - why are these sources separated out? Why are they numbered?

This is an excellent start on the article. I do not think that the issues I have raised can be addressed in a week, however, so I am failing the article. I have no doubt, however, that the editors will be able to improve the article and renominate the article in the near future. I hope these suggestions are helpful! Awadewit (talk) 02:13, 31 August 2008 (UTC)

?

How to correctly pronounce the word "Purdue"? 89.222.152.170 (talk) 18:43, 3 October 2008 (UTC)

per dew; alternatively, purr do Mjf3719 (talk) 20:01, 6 November 2008 (UTC)

Purdue AFROTC

I have the Purdue AFROTC article for deletion. However, I fear that people seldom visit the page, and those who have contributed to it are no longer active. Feel free to join in on the discussion at Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Purdue AFROTC Detachment 220. Mjf3719 (talk) 20:00, 6 November 2008 (UTC)

Endowment

The latest and most reliable/comparative endowment numbers have just been published this week by NACUBO: [4] Update the article accordingly. Madcoverboy (talk) 05:57, 28 January 2009 (UTC)

MLA Statement

The statement in the opening section claims that MLA style was created at Purdue, the citation links to the online writing lab, to a page stating that Purdue developed the first online writing lab, not MLA. The Wikipedia link to MLA also says that MLA was developed at John Hopkins University, not Purdue. The claim that it came from Purdue does not appear to be correct. (128.210.105.159 (talk) 03:14, 12 February 2009 (UTC))

Whether the "flagship" status of a university can be presented as objective fact

There is currently an RfC on this question at Talk:University of Maine#Flagship RFC. ☺Coppertwig (talk) 12:46, 16 May 2009 (UTC)