Did you know?

100 years ago
Feb. 3, 1909

A student writes about arsenic mines, and about which countries produce most of the substance. This article has absolutely nothing to do with Carnegie Tech, and was written in between the Glee Club bulletin and a menu for a Carnegie Tech boarding house dinner. The moral of this story: senior citizens were once just as scatterbrained as we are now.

50 years ago
Feb. 11, 1959

Carnegie Institute of Technology President J.C. Warner speaks out against the belief that higher education is a “right of every citizen rather than considering it a privilege.” Universities have received pressure to tailor their curricula to those of the upper echelon. The home economics department, upon hearing this news, shielded themselves with aluminum foil and cake frosting to protect against any academic attacks.

25 years ago
Feb. 5, 1984

Few things come as a surprise to the writer of “Did You Know.” This is one of them. Carnegie Mellon announces the opening of a campus pub. Yes, that’s right. Your eyes do not deceive you. The same Carnegie Mellon as today actually opened up a campus pub. No, they didn’t require a 3.5 QPA for admission. It’s a full-fledged, honest-to-goodness pub. Now excuse me while I search for some leprechauns and unicorns.

10 years ago
Feb. 1, 1999

The sports section gloomily writes about the Broncos cruising to another Super Bowl. Depressed about the absence of another team who didn’t make it, the writer drones on about Denver’s win. You could almost read the yawns in between the words. Hopefully, whoever wrote about the absolute domination of the Pittsburgh Steelers in this week’s Tartan didn’t have such a burden.

5 years ago
Feb. 2, 2004

The Tartan’s headline screams “Food bites back, students hospitalized.” The article goes on to explain that 34 students and one staff member had reported complaints of diarrhea, fever, and weakness. With these symptoms of food poisoning, all fingers are pointing toward the quality of food that is being served on campus.

1 year ago
Feb. 4, 2008

Students protest Carnegie Mellon’s $1.4 million contract with the U.S. Army. Over 50 protesters were reported to be in front of the Software Engineering Institute, which plans to develop a new line of offensive ground weapons called “Crusher.” The army was hesitant to explain what the weapons exactly did, but the name suggests that they probably take items and crush them.