Salt Lake:Official development news thread - Part 2

[TonyAnderson]

There's a lot of different rankings on Universities. The US News one above is pretty good though.

Utah State is so affordable while still being a major University. No wonder when there's a recession they have such a hard time with the budget (numerous layoffs, cut winter graduation ceremony, etc)

[ski_steve]

Originally Posted by wrendog

LOL.. nice try there Steven.. Army number 1.. lol.

Here are the actual rankings from the us news and world report (much better methodology than forbes)

http://colleges.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-colleges/national-universities-rankings

BYU 71
Utah 126

Other Utah Universities: Tier 3

Us news isnt any better than Forbes. Us news uses, mostly reputation, and selectivity in its formula. Forbes mostly uses, graduation rates, debt rates, student-teacher ratio, and student awards. Probably why US military academy is 1.

2008 World University rankings are as follows for Ut...

Univ Utah- 79
Byu- 303-401
Utah st- 402-503

[URL="http://www.arwu.org/rank2008/en2008.htm"]

Anyway, each of Utah's universities pumps alot of money and educated professionals into our economy. Great for Utah to have its Universities ranked.

Westminster isn't included in most of these rankings, because it is not a official university. But its a really good school too.

[jtrent77]

Originally Posted by stevena07

Us news isnt any better than Forbes.

Say that all you want, but when it comes down to it, most people really only pay attention to the US News Rankings; other people pay attention to other rankings only when it makes their school look better. And yeah, each ranking system is different you could have one ranking system ranking UVU the highest in the state simply because it has (or had...i think it still has) an aviation program.

[scottharding]

Anyone who makes a choice of what college to attend based only on a magazine ranking probably won't finish college anyway.

[Zionide]

Originally Posted by jtrent77

Say that all you want, but when it comes down to it, most people really only pay attention to the US News Rankings; other people pay attention to other rankings only when it makes their school look better. And yeah, each ranking system is different you could have one ranking system ranking UVU the highest in the state simply because it has (or had...i think it still has) an aviation program.

These types of rankings are pretty pointless. They only become potentially insightful when they rank specific programs within the universities. Obviously, BYU has some academic programs that are much stronger than the U of U's, and the U of U has some academic programs that put BYU's to shame.

I do think the academic community's concern over BYU's perceived lack of academic freedom tends to hurt the school's national rankings, even within program rankings.

[wrendog]

Originally Posted by stevena07

Us news isnt any better than Forbes. Us news uses, mostly reputation, and selectivity in its formula. Forbes mostly uses, graduation rates, debt rates, student-teacher ratio, and student awards. Probably why US military academy is 1.

2008 World University rankings are as follows for Ut...

Univ Utah- 79
Byu- 303-401
Utah st- 402-503

[URL="http://www.arwu.org/rank2008/en2008.htm"]

Anyway, each of Utah's universities pumps alot of money and educated professionals into our economy. Great for Utah to have its Universities ranked.

Westminster isn't included in most of these rankings, because it is not a official university. But its a really good school too.

Just to show you what a joke the forbes list is (and yes, it is a joke), just go look at the 116th ranked school is. Or I will just tell you: BYU-Idaho. Still think forbes list is legit? Didn't think so.

[Zionide]

Originally Posted by wrendog

Just to show you what a joke the forbes list is (and yes, it is a joke), just go look at the 116th ranked school is. Or I will just tell you: BYU-Idaho. Still think forbes list is legit? Didn't think so.

The Forbes list isn't a joke, but it is heavily (too heavily IMO) skewed toward financial considerations (consider the source.... a money magazine). 20% of the rankings is based on student debt at graduation... i.e., how expensive was the education. So less expensive schools are going to have a big leg up on the expensive schools. That's the obvious explanation for why a satellite school (BYU-ID) can so far outrank its parent school. If financial considerations are a big part of a student's decision, it's worth including the Forbes list in his or her analysis of many rankings from many sources. But the Forbes list is certainly not worth anything as a standalone.

[WeST]

Originally Posted by Zionide

The Forbes list isn't a joke, but it is heavily (too heavily IMO) skewed toward financial considerations (consider the source.... a money magazine). 20% of the rankings is based on student debt at graduation... i.e., how expensive was the education. So less expensive schools are going to have a big leg up on the expensive schools. That's the obvious explanation for why a satellite school (BYU-ID) can so far outrank its parent school. If financial considerations are a big part of a student's decision, it's worth including the Forbes list in his or her analysis or many rankings from many sources. But the Forbes list is certainly not worth anything as a standalone.

Great analysis. I think Forbes has become the king of lists because everyone seems to get excited about them. The media also loves to run these stories presumably because they make for eye catching headlines. While I love BYU, I attended UofU and learned first hand how great a school it is to get your degree from.

[urbanboy]

Deseret Industries' Sugar House thrift store to move

LDS Church officials are planning to close a Deseret Industries thrift shop in Sugar House and move the outlet a few blocks west to the old Circuit City big-box store near 700 East and 2100 South.
Plans also include purchasing an adjoining parcel and demolishing a historic mansion on the site, located northeast of the former Circuit City property...

Council Chairwoman Maggie Shaw said members favor relocating the DI thrift store to ease traffic congestion along Highland Drive.
"Traffic is a nightmare at the store, especially on Saturdays when people bring in things left over from yard sales," said Shaw. "We also are happy that the Circuit City building won't be sitting vacant -- but we do have some concerns."
Members want architects to create a pedestrian-friendly zone and install windows on the building's blank wall on the side that faces 2100 South. Some members also are concerned that the mansion at 774 E. 2100 South is to be torn down, she added, "especially since we've already lost so many historic buildings..."

http://www.sltrib.com/business/ci_13209694



Perhaps they could expand the building in another direction, and move the entrance to the 2100 South side of the building.

[urbanboy]

For Children's Center, there's room to grow
Reopening » The facility, at the old Oquirrh School, is the result of a big fundraising effort.

At the old Oquirrh School, children can now play Red Rover on the lawn and use tractors to dig in the playground.
But for these children, it is much more than play -- it is therapy. The school is the new home of The Children's Center, which offers mental health care to young children and their families.
The school building, located at 350 S. 400 East, is the result of almost two years of fundraising that netted more than $13 million from 750 donors, said development director Courtney Garay. The money helped the center purchase the historic building and update it to fulfill its needs.
The center had outgrown its previous location at the University of Utah, and with only ten years left on its lease, was unable to expand, Garay said.
Someone mentioned the Oquirrh School building, which seemed a perfect fit....

http://www.sltrib.com/slc/ci_13209363

[delts145]

That is the best of news. It's great to see that beautiful old school put to a new and very productive use. That building is such an important architectural feature of that street and neighborhood. I've alway admired it.

[cololi]

Library/planetarium/OC Tanner

[WeST]

Originally Posted by urbanboy

For Children's Center, there's room to grow
Reopening » The facility, at the old Oquirrh School, is the result of a big fundraising effort.





http://www.sltrib.com/slc/ci_13209363

Great news! My wife used to work for the Children's Center, they do great work. Many sad stories and broken families.

[T-Mac]

Originally Posted by cololi

Library/planetarium/OC Tanner

Great photo. I really like what they have done with it.

[Orlando]

That Y avatar was so abnoxious, so I had to show a much better one. Go Utes!!!

[John Martin]

Originally Posted by cololi

Library/planetarium/OC Tanner

Are those pictures of O.C. Tanner on the glass/facade?

[delts145]

I was wondering that same thing. I'll bet they are. Very cool way to dress up the back-end. Glad to hear they'll be using it for different functions. We can really start to see how creative people are getting with our Downtown's inner blocks. Let's keep it up. I can't wait to see Regent and Richards begin to emerge.

SLCMoosy(forum name) posted some cool pics of downtown over on the comp thread. Check them out.

http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/showthread.php?p=4429596&posted=1#post4429596


This line up is looking really classy. Tower 4 is going to look fantastic between Eaglegate and Zions


.

[cololi]

That is OC tanner himself. The other images are a picture of the inside of the building when it was a library and the solar system representing the planetarium. At night I bet that glass wall is spectacular.

To me this is an incredible act of historic preservation. It is a great way to remove an old, non character defining feature of building and replace it with something new that is respectful of the historic character of the building. Allowing certain elements of a historic building to change with time is a key aspect often lost in the preservation world. I expect all kinds of preservation awards for this job.

[esirhgih]

I think its cool, but kind of odd that they just repeated the same images on each panel. I'd rather have seen them tell a story or timeline in the mural the reads from side to side, instead of just repeating the same thing 13 times.

[Zionide]

Originally Posted by cololi

To me this is an incredible act of historic preservation. It is a great way to remove an old, non character defining feature of building and replace it with something new that is respectful of the historic character of the building. Allowing certain elements of a historic building to change with time is a key aspect often lost in the preservation world. I expect all kinds of preservation awards for this job.

Amen! The O.C. Tanner Co. has really outdone itself with this renovation. They're known for such high quality items, I'm glad they chose to do a comparably spectacular job on the building.

If only more companies and local organizations (who shall remain nameless at this point) would follow O.C. Tanner's lead.