Some of these are pretty good. The one about Igor Fetch is definitely news to me. Not even sure how that is possible. You clearly couldn't do it today.

http://www.sfgate.com/education/article/Hidden-secrets-and-legends-on-the-UC-Berkeley-6461122.php#photo-6027736

Sebastabear;842529943 said:

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Some of these are pretty good. The one about Igor Fetch is definitely news to me. Not even sure how that is possible. You clearly couldn't do it today.

http://www.sfgate.com/education/article/Hidden-secrets-and-legends-on-the-UC-Berkeley-6461122.php#photo-6027736

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I thought that the first photo was a picture of the visiting teams locker room in Old Memorial Stadium

Fun stuff. I loved it.

As for the nuclear reactor, I can verify that there was a working full-fledged research nuclear reactor on the fourth floor below the Etchevery Hall (the main part of reactor was right below the volleyball court on the Etchevery front yard where a lot engineering grad students played volleyball during lunch hour).

I know because I actually worked there as a student in late 70's. My job was measuring released radiation level throughout the campus using air filters and Gieger meter. I took samples from various locations, some as far as the roof top of Life Sciences Building (now VLSB). Just to put your mind as ease, there was never excessive radiation release during the five months I worked there.

Good old days. I got paid less than $5 an hour but I was happy because it was enough to put a couple of gallons of gas in my VW Bug and pay for me to take out a date for ice cream, all for under $5!

I was going to say that was the time I fell in love with Cal, but that is a lie. I fell in love with Cal the first time I walked on the campus on a hot humid afternoon in early September 1975 (40 years ago), even before I had my admission papers!

Go Bears!

Sebastabear;842529943 said:

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Some of these are pretty good. The one about Igor Fetch is definitely news to me. Not even sure how that is possible. You clearly couldn't do it today.

http://www.sfgate.com/education/article/Hidden-secrets-and-legends-on-the-UC-Berkeley-6461122.php#photo-6027736

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Cool stuff !!!!! I liked the story about Prof. Danzig who solved those math/stat problems thinking it was homework.....

Cal_Fan2;842530007 said:

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Cool stuff !!!!! I liked the story about Prof. Danzig who solved those math/stat problems thinking it was homework.....

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Didn't Good Will Hunting kind of rip off that idea? Ben Affleck was born in Berkeley so maybe he was familiar with the story and lifted it for the script.

bearister;842530014 said:

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Didn't Good Will Hunting kind of rip off that idea? Ben Affleck was born in Berkeley so maybe he was familiar with the story and lifted it for the script.

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Yeah, had no idea that was real.

I lived at Bowles Hall two years before Igor; I was an engineering student and knew of the Hearst Mining tunnels (but only got as far as the entrance, also got partway into the Strawberry Creek tunnels); worked as visiting team locker room custodian in the early 70s (it really wasn't that bad, just cramped, but the new one has less open space); as an Industrial Engineering and Operations Research(IEOR) major knew about the father of OR (still have Dantzig's Linear Programming book); IEOR students could use the computer at the Etcheverry reactor for senior projects, and I did (I remember going down into the sub-basements to use the computer, bemused that the reactor did not have a full-time operator; and the Pelican was still being published when I attended.

Found this one, looking up trivia stuff (anyone know if this is true?)

A gold nugget, believed to be the gold that John Marshall discovered on Jan. 24, 1848, setting off the California Gold Rush, can be found at the Bancroft Library

calbear80;842529989 said:

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Fun stuff. I loved it.

As for the nuclear reactor, I can verify that there was a working full-fledged research nuclear reactor on the fourth floor below the Etchevery Hall (the main part of reactor was right below the volleyball court on the Etchevery front yard where a lot engineering grad students played volleyball during lunch hour).

I know because I actually worked there as a student in late 70's. My job was measuring released radiation level throughout the campus using air filters and Gieger meter. I took samples from various locations, some as far as the roof top of Life Sciences Building (now VLSB). Just to put your mind as ease, there was never excessive radiation release during the five months I worked there.

Good old days. I got paid less than $5 an hour but I was happy because it was enough to put a couple of gallons of gas in my VW Bug and pay for me to take out a date for ice cream, all for under $5!

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So the radiation didn't affect your fertility (like that Simpson's episode?).

Seriously though - I do remember a Physics 7B (I think) radiation lab where the subject was radioactive decay. We had silver ingots and a radiation source to charge them with alpha particles. The source was (insert Back to the Future reference here) plutonium. It was a plutonium-beryllium source with metal tubes, encased in a galvanized steel trash can containing paraffin. The TA's claimed that the paraffin would stop the alpha particles cold. There was a warning on the door that pregnant women could opt out, even though it was theoretically safe. I wanted to test it, and there was a particle detector in the room and the TA's didn't mind if I just tried it out while we were waiting for something else. I got a steady series of background pops, but it just started going like popcorn once I placed it next to the can. That's when I backed off from standing too close to the source.

Cal_Fan2;842530007 said:

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Cool stuff !!!!! I liked the story about Prof. Danzig who solved those math/stat problems thinking it was homework.....

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this was my favorite story too ... even looked up Prof Danzig's story ... unfortunately, he ended up at turd for his career

bearister;842530014 said:

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Didn't Good Will Hunting kind of rip off that idea? Ben Affleck was born in Berkeley so maybe he was familiar with the story and lifted it for the script.

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When I was at Cal, I remember the story as an urban legend. Maybe that is something that passed around the math and stats departments. So seeing it in Good Will Hunting made me expect the "Do you know who I am" story and I expected to see Will shove a paper into the pile. But alas...

Still, fun to hear that it was real and at Cal. Sadly the wikipedia page does not actually say what the problems were.

The gold nugget that Marshall discovered is reportedly at the Oakland Museum of California. Personally, I find both stories (Bancroft or Oakland) a bit hard to believe....

I thought the article was going to highlight the location for Tedford's statue.

GivemTheAxe;842529970 said:

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I thought that the first photo was a picture of the visiting teams locker room in Old Memorial Stadium

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haha that was a hell hole!

BearClause;842530247 said:

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So the radiation didn't affect your fertility (like that Simpson's episode?).

Seriously though - I do remember a Physics 7B (I think) radiation lab where the subject was radioactive decay. We had silver ingots and a radiation source to charge them with alpha particles. The source was (insert Back to the Future reference here) plutonium. It was a plutonium-beryllium source with metal tubes, encased in a galvanized steel trash can containing paraffin. The TA's claimed that the paraffin would stop the alpha particles cold. There was a warning on the door that pregnant women could opt out, even though it was theoretically safe. I wanted to test it, and there was a particle detector in the room and the TA's didn't mind if I just tried it out while we were waiting for something else. I got a steady series of background pops, but it just started going like popcorn once I placed it next to the can. That's when I backed off from standing too close to the source.

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I assure you all is well. Two kids. One already graduated from university and has a great job. The second is a rising senior at a university. The HEARTBREAK: neither ended up at Cal as both choose to go back east for college!

Go Bears!

71Bear;842530276 said:

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The gold nugget that Marshall discovered is reportedly at the Oakland Museum of California. Personally, I find both stories (Bancroft or Oakland) a bit hard to believe....

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Smithsonian says they have it. Guess it depends on who you believe :

http://www.berkeley.edu/news/media/releases/98legacy/01_13_98a.html

http://americanhistory.si.edu/collections/search/object/nmah_741894

(Note : I'm busy today so I don't have time to solve this mystery)

I lived at Bowles Hall from 1975 to 1978 and I do recall a couple of people going through the process of signing Igor Fetch up for classes. I don't remember anything about them doing the course work and taking tests for him, though I wasn't particularly close to the people who were Igor's academic advisors. Given that we were all struggling with our own course loads, I have my doubts that they were doing that. I don't remember seeing his diploma being hung up anywhere in the building either. I also question that even back then you could get a dog admitted with no high school transcript or SAT scores. Therefore,while you could sign him up for classes, eventually the crosschecking would lead to him being drooped from those classes.

Sorry to be a wet blanket to a good story, but it doesn't match up with what I remember. Igor was a cool dog and if you could pick something up and throw it, he'd fetch it even if it was heavier than him and he had to drag along the ground. It was a sad day when he died. Hit by a car I believe.

You mean the "Pelican" has been gone so long it's mortal remains are a mystery? Sad, it was actually pretty well written when I was in school (or maybe it was all the beer I sucked up). I remember the Hearst mine and actually thought it was still in use in the '50s but this would suggest that was a myth. The Danzig story is pretty cool and this is the first I'd heard of it. I pre-dated many of these "secrets" (Igor, the hyenas, eyc.) but I have a hazy recollection of dogs being registered for classes and there was a rifle range in the basement of Hearst Gym that ROTC classes used. Is it gone? The Paleontology dept used to store some specimens in Sather Tower positioned to be seen as the elevator passed by. Gone?

Eastern Oregon Bear;842530477 said:

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I lived at Bowles Hall from 1975 to 1978 and I do recall a couple of people going through the process of signing Igor Fetch up for classes. I don't remember anything about them doing the course work and taking tests for him, though I wasn't particularly close to the people who were Igor's academic advisors. Given that we were all struggling with our own course loads, I have my doubts that they were doing that. I don't remember seeing his diploma being hung up anywhere in the building either. I also question that even back then you could get a dog admitted with no high school transcript or SAT scores. Therefore,while you could sign him up for classes, eventually the crosschecking would lead to him being drooped from those classes.

Sorry to be a wet blanket to a good story, but it doesn't match up with what I remember. Igor was a cool dog and if you could pick something up and throw it, he'd fetch it even if it was heavier than him and he had to drag along the ground. It was a sad day when he died. Hit by a car I believe.

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I wondered what caused his early demise. Looked like he was only four at the time. Very sad to hear that. It's easy to focus on how things used to better "in the good old days", but you never see dogs running around off leash anymore and as a result, I can't think of the last time I saw a dog hit by a car (knock on wood). Definitely a change for the better - this was absolutely a daily occurrence it seemed in the '60s and '70s (and probably before that). On his diploma, I'm sticking with the Comical's story just because I like their version of events better - even if yours seems more likely

The first time I ever heard about the hyenas was a few weeks ago, from another Cal fan on another CFB forum. Today was the 2nd time, and confirmation. How did I miss it all these years?

I recall a version of the "dog" story from the late 50's. IIRC, a dog was enrolled about 1957 and made it to third year before being detected. I believe it made a national magazine story. Interesting that Bowles got one through. Order of the Golden Bear was known in the early 60's. I believe it was a kind honor society, members would escort dignitaries around campus, not aware of any secrecy involved.

I thought the article might mention the Skull and Keys tomb. It was an underground bunker somewhere in the hills above the fraternities on Warring and Prospect. I saw the entrance once, about 1962. Skull and Keys was a kind of super fraternity composed of selected members of the fraternity community. Who determined the criteria and selected them was not known, to me at least. Several members of my fraternity were in it. I believe Skull and Keys ceased to exist after 1969. Author and Cal alum Larry Colton mentions it in his Cal located memoir "Goat Brothers".

Number 031343;842530563 said:

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Skull and

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hillside, lower prospect neighbs attest to co-ed early june "rites" enacted to this day, loud & long into the night, think about it, good berkeley drama


[IMG]https://encrypted-tbn1.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcT3ozIyuGqHyteWpKVqqhXsffahwVcTMPUK_2tOnVi D_arW_JYd[/IMG]



[video=youtube;HtLFMGY6e98][/video]

According to the end of the article linked below, this story credited for Good Will Hunting and part of Rushmore:

http://www.snopes.com/college/homework/unsolvable.asp

Number 031343;842530563 said:

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I thought the article might mention the Skull and Keys tomb. It was an underground bunker somewhere in the hills above the fraternities on Warring and Prospect. I saw the entrance once, about 1962. Skull and Keys was a kind of super fraternity composed of selected members of the fraternity community. Who determined the criteria and selected them was not known, to me at least. Several members of my fraternity were in it. I believe Skull and Keys ceased to exist after 1969. Author and Cal alum Larry Colton mentions it in his Cal located memoir "Goat Brothers".

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It definitely still existed in the early 2000's.

Vandalus;842530595 said:

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It definitely still existed in the early 2000's.

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Agreed, mostly Piedmont kids in the 1980's. They were "initiated" in the Alpha Delt pool

GoCal80;842530579 said:

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According to the end of the article linked below, this story credited for Good Will Hunting and part of Rushmore:

http://www.snopes.com/college/homework/unsolvable.asp

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That was fun to read. Thanks.