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FactsSlang
- B-dubs/BW3 - Nickname for “Buffalo Wild Wings,” a popular restaurant in the Levee that serves wings and has interactive trivia.
- Boilermaker - 1) One who makes or repairs boilers. 2) A drink of whisky with a beer chaser. 3) A student who attends Purdue University.
- Boilermaker Special - Purdue’s official mascot, a train!
- Breakfast clubs - Groups of people who dress up in funny costumes on days of football games, or during Grand Prix and go to the bars as early as 5 a.m. The sillier you look, the more accepted you are.
- Cactus cup - The huge (24 ounce) cups used at the Neon Cactus on Thursday nights.
- Chalk talks - Messages written in chalk on the sidewalks or on classroom blackboards.
- Chauncey Hill - Just east of campus; an area with many fast food restaurants and bars.
- Class Notes - A business that sells class notes! Students are hired to sit in on lectures and take notes, which are then sold to people too lazy to go to class. Sometimes it’s worth it.
- CODO - Change of Degree Objective; changing majors.
- Co-Rec - Recreational Sports Center.
- Dead Week - The week directly preceding exam week.
- Den pop - The large sodas one can purchase at Discount Den in Chauncey Hill. 32 ounces for just 50 cents.
- Grand Prix - The biggest Greek function of the semester.
- Harry’s Chocolate Shop - One of Purdue’s most popular bars.
- Hoosiers - 1) Residents of Indiana.2) The evil, evil students of Indiana University.3) A movie starring Gene Hackman and Dennis Hopper, surprisingly about basketball.
- HSSE - Pronounced “hissy,” this is the Humanities, Social Sciences, and Education Library located in Stewart Center.
- Ice polishers - The fleet of Bobcat-like sweepers that clear the snow off sidewalks in the winter. Labeled so because it seems they only aggravate the problem instead of removing it.
- ITAP (PUCC) - The computer system at Purdue. Will often be called PUCC (“puck”) instead of ITAP (“I-tap”), because the name was changed.
- LAEB - Beering Hall. This hall used to be named the Liberal Arts and Education Building, and students still call it by its old label.
- Memorial Mall - The big, grassy knoll in the center of campus.
- Mortar Board - The Purdue-oriented student planners that are available for purchase at University bookstores for only five dollars. Be sure and get one! It will become your right arm at Purdue University.
- Old Oaken Bucket, The - An old, oaken bucket that goes to the winner of the Indiana University/Purdue University football game every year.
- PMU - Purdue Memorial Union.
- Power hour - Classes that meet on Tuesdays and Thursdays in a time block of 75 minutes, as opposed to the Monday, Wednesday, and Friday classes that only last 50 minutes.
- PUID - Purdue University ID.
- Purdue Pete - Purdue’s unofficial mascot; a big boilermaker carrying a sledgehammer and wearing a hard hat.
- Ross Hills - A gorgeous 18-hole Frisbee golf course about 15 minutes south of campus.
- Rowdy - Purdue Pete’s awesome and huge pal who hangs out with him at football games.
- SSINFO - Pronounced “ess-ess-info,” this is an online site for you to check your grades, figure out exam times, find employment opportunities, and basically stay plugged in to all aspects of life at Purdue.
- The Levee - The mini strip mall at the bottom of the hill where you can find the Neon Cactus, BW3s, and a movie theater.
- The Quad - Cary Quad residence hall.
- Tower Acres - The area where the fraternity/sorority houses reside.
- WebCT - An online service where classes can upload lecture notes, course material, and quizzes.
Things I Wish I Knew Before Coming To School
- Attend Boiler Gold Rush freshman year.
- Find a study buddy in your classes.
- Get involved in activities—or else you’re in for a long, boring haul.
- Get the smallest meal plan.
- Harry’s Chocolate Shop does not sell chocolate.
- It is essential to organize your time.
- Make friends with older students in your major, so they can tell you what classes to take and which classes to avoid.
- Talk to your professors.
Tips to Succeed
- Always check WebCT several times a day if you have a class that uses it.
- Go to class.
- Go to professors’ and TAs’ office hours.
- Listen to your academic advisors.
- Organize your time wisely.
- Take notes and listen in class.
- Write everything, everything down in your Mortar Board.
Urban Legends
- It is said that John Purdue, upon donating money for the founding of Purdue University, stipulated that no building should be built higher than University Hall, the first building on campus. When the new chemistry building was erected, it was found to stand several feet taller than University Hall. Rather than tear down the building, Purdue granted that section of campus a different zip code to get around the founder’s wishes.
- John Purdue, who gave $150,000 for the founding of Purdue University, asked that he be buried on the campus after his death. Consenting to his wish, the University buried him just east of University Hall, beneath the memorial fountain. Legend has it that several mischievous students once dug up John Purdue’s grave and took his body to an Indiana University/Purdue University football game.
- Purdue’s mascot became the ‘Boilermaker’ because, in years gone by, our football team was one of the worst in the nation. The football coach at Purdue, in order to save face, recruited some workers from the railroad to play on the football team. After the new team trounced Wabash College, a Crawfordsville reporter described them as the ‘boilermakers.’ The epithet was meant to be derogatory, but Lafayette newspapers soon picked up the name, and in October 1892, the Purdue Exponent gave it the stamp of approval. In the early days of Purdue football, the team was called other names as well, including “haymakers,” “rail-splitters,” “sluggers,”and “cornfield sailors.”
Traditions
- Breakfast Club - On days of home football games and during Grand Prix week, students of legal age dress up in costumes and head out to the bars as early as 5 a.m. The bars clean house, until it’s about time for the game or race to begin, when the gaudily-dressed students wobble out onto the streets and make their way to Ross-Ade stadium to cheer their team on to victory.
- Fountain Runs - Purdue’s celebrated fountains have been under attack as of late because of irresponsible parents who hurl their children loose in them and then sue the University when their kid gets hurt. Nonetheless, the fountains remain, and Purdue students don swimsuits and run through the large fountains on the liberal arts campus and the engineering mall. They’re especially fun on amazingly hot days with large groups of friends.
- Grand Prix - The weekend before finals, the fraternities and sororities at Purdue join for a huge campus-wide party. A mini Indy 500 takes place on Cherry Lane (off of Northwestern) and spectators line the bleachers to watch go-carts zoom around and around to victory. Just make certain to be cautious about what you do because the police are especially vigilant during this time.
- Sledding Down Slayter Hill - On the first snowfall of the year, Slayter Hill is packed with students rolling, sledding, and jumping down the fresh-fallen powder. Students who are wily enough to sneak lunch trays out of the dining halls will use them as makeshift sleds.
- The Old Oaken Bucket - The Old Oaken Bucket is exactly what it sounds like—an old oaken bucket. The winner of the Indiana University/Purdue University football game gets to take home this ancient piece of rivalry history, along with bragging rights for the year. A “P” or an “I” is added to a chain at the end of the game to show who won. Purdue has added a lot of “Ps” to the bucket in recent years.
- The PMO Christmas Show - On the weekend before fall finals, the Purdue Musical Organizations join to produce an “annual lyrical musical miracle” on Elliot Hall of Music’s stage. Nearly 36,000 people travel to West Lafayette to watch this musical extravaganza, and every year nearly 100 PBS stations air the Christmas show to hundreds upon thousands of spectators.
- Thursday Nights - Thursday nights are one of the bigger party nights at Purdue. Head down to the bars early if you want to get seats, or you don’t want to stand outside in lines. The bars are packed so tightly that you can barely move, and this is the night that you can use the famous “Cactus Cups” to get more booze for your buck. The only problem is the next morning, when you have to drag yourself to your 7:30 a.m. class.
School Spirit
Purdue students bleed black and gold. Boilermakers are proud of their top-notch athletic teams and are fiercely loyal to the University. Look around you on an average day, and you’ll find that most of the students are sporting some type of Purdue clothing, be it sweatshirts, T-shirts, or a hat. During football season, you will cheer for your school or be subjected to the wrath of devoted fans that will call you (gasp) a Hoosier supporter! The different schools within the University are extremely dedicated to their fields of study, and be prepared to face the ongoing ribbing between the engineering school and the school of liberal arts and sciences. If attending a university where school pride reigns supreme, Purdue is definitely the university for you.
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