From our pages

1910
The April Magazine reported on "undergraduate agitation" for a University seal. Sparked by editors at the Daily Maroon, the Undergraduate Council decided, after numerous resolutions, to write the officers of all U of C alumni clubs, asking for their help in creating both a motto for the University and ideas for a seal. The Magazine declared, "The choice of a seal is a movement in which all Chicago men and women--faculty, students, and graduates--can unite with good grace. The Alumni Council will assist every effort made by the students to have suitable designs submitted."

University Seal (see 1910)

1950
Founded in 1943 to train businessmen in the "arts of communication," the Great Books program, led by Robert Maynard Hutchins and Mortimer Adler, started as a group of 50 Chicago business leaders meeting in the Loop at the University Club. Despite favorable reaction, Hutchins and Adler did not think the program would flourish, according to the April Magazine. They worried that the program's interdisciplinary nature would scare people away. They were wrong. Within three years, there were more Great Books groups in Chicago, as well as in Indianapolis, Detroit, and Cleveland. By 1950, 50,000 participants in 400 locations were meeting to discuss classic texts.

1975
The U of C Chess Team was "toppled from the supremacy it has held for the past two years" at the 20th annual Pan-American Intercollegiate Chess Team Championships held in Louisville, KY. But as the Spring Magazine noted, the team was not "toppled very far." At the end of the five-day tournament, Chicago tied with Harvard for second place, surrendering first place to the University of Toronto. Despite the defeat, Chicago's A team remained tied for No. 1 among U.S. teams. "And Chicago, with five championships, still reigns as the powerhouse of collegiate chess; Columbia, the closest rival, has four," reported the Magazine.

1990
The Spring Magazine reported what could be taken as a sign that the cold war was finally over: In its Spring issue, the editors of the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists announced that they were resetting the Doomsday Clock from 11:54 a.m. to a full ten minutes till midnight. The change--determined by the Bulletin's board and its editor--reflected "revolutionary changes in Eastern Europe that have brought an end to the cold war." Dennis Flanagan, editor emeritus of the Scientific American, disagreed with the decision, stating, "Events are so unstable and further change is so likely that I thought we shouldn't change the clock at all."--Q.J.