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Betcha didn't know that Marlboro college (Marlboro, VT) writing professor Wyn Cooper saw his poem "Fun" turned into a number-one single by SHERYL CROW. Or, that the Marian Library at the University of Dayton (Dayton, OH) holds the world's largest collection of printed material about Mary, the mother of Jesus.

And you thought you knew it all! Sometimes the best  

Random college facts

  aren't in the guidebooks. Read on for more odd college facts you might not have heard. All this info, albeit unusual and obscure, will make for great icebreakers and conversations around campus.

Amazing Discoveries
Meg Whitman, CEO and founder of eBay, is a Princeton University (Princeton, NJ) alumna. She even created pBay, which is eBay with Princeton exclusivity.

Research scientists at Rutgers University (New Brunswick, NJ) almost discovered something way more significant than eBay. They caught the nation's attention in December 2004 when they revealed they were close to finding the cure for HIV by inhibiting reverse transcriptase.

Though the cure is still being worked on, what the university did accomplish was the creation of Cheez Whiz, the delicious cheesy product we put on crackers.

Unusual Traditions
Pace University (Pleasantville, NY) has a building on campus that was donated by a wealthy woman whose requirement upon donation was that it always remain pink.Border collies are also used daily to keep the school's Pleasantville campus goose--free. They're actually trained to patrol the pond area and chase off geese that might otherwise make a mess on school grounds.

Campus Hauntings
Lindsey Wilson College's (Columbia, KY) Phillips Hall, which was built in 1903, is allegedly haunted by the ghost of a former student. Legend has it that the student committed suicide at the dorm in the 1930s over a failed love affair.

Students at Stetson University (DeLand, FL) are also haunted. Instead of a heartbroken student, the spirits of a former school president, his wife, and their dog have been rumored to stroll around campus on many late evenings, especially around Halloween. The couple was buried in a mausoleum that forms the base of the 116--foot--high Hulley Tower on campus.

Unorthodox Ed'
Did you know there's a big demand for trained Wicca and Pagan teachers in the United States? Evidently, careers for witches are growing. While apprenticeships are the primary way of training young witches, Wiccans now seek to provide a more institutionalized approach to education through Correllian College (Albany, NY). Davron Micahles, director of the Correllian College Project, says the Pagan community needs more trained educators and clergy because of the growing number of those seeking alternative answers and a place to learn and build such knowledge.

Also far from typical ed,' at Maharishi University of Management (Fairfield, IA) - founded by his holiness Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, the Vedic sage - undergrads take one course at a time. Even more unique, the school seeks to help students grow in higher states of consciousness, awake total brain potential, maximize creative intelligence, and radiate peace to the world. How can they go about doing this? Through the practice of Transcendental Meditation - it's part of the school's curriculum.

The Name Game
Residence halls at Pennsylvania State University Erie are named after ships or people who were part of the Battle of Lake Erie in the War of 1812. Irv Kochel, a history professor and head of the college for 26 years, came up with the concept. Today, Penn State Erie has 18residence halls, including Perry, Lawrence, and Niagara, as well as the lesser--known Porcupine, Tigress, and Ariel. Alumni were upset when a new residence hall was named Ohio until they learned that the schooner Ohio was indeed part of the Battle of Lake Erie.

The University at Buffalo (Buffalo, NY) is also partaking in the name game. The school's Center for Computational Research (CCR) just named its newest and most powerful super computer U2, after the Irish rock band. The 1,668--processor Dell high--performance cluster, which honors what CCR director Russ Miller deems "the greatest rock band," will be used to support genomic research, ground wate rmodeling, and human--rights abuse monitoring. Other supercomputer clusters at the school are called [JANIS] JOPLIN, [DAVID] CROSBY, and [GRAHAM] NASH.

Hogwarts or College?
Sewanee: The University of the South (Sewanee, TN) resembles the fictional Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry in J.K. Rowling's popular "Harry Potter" series in that the school operates in its own self--contained community - the campus, town, and surrounding lakes and forests comprise its 10,000 wooded acres. The foggy, mountain--bound campus is made up of buildings designed in Gothic architecture. Plus, high--achieving students called the "Order of Gownsmen" wear academic gowns to class, much like Harry and his wizard--in--training classmates.

Discounting Students
Lebanon Valley College (Annville, PA) offers top prospective students a "half--off" sale to attend the school. If you're a student in the top 10 percent of your graduating high school class, you automatically receive 50 percent off tuition.

University Scandal
Legend has it that Amherst College (Amherst, MA) was named after Lord Jeffrey Amherst, who reportedly gifted Native Americans with blankets. Think that's nice? Think again. Lord Amherst neglected to tell the blanket recipients his "gifts" were infested with smallpox.



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Ysolt Usigan is a frequent contributor to The CollegeBound Network. Learn more about finding a school that's right for you.

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