Talk:University Laboratory High School (Urbana, Illinois)

Name

When did Uni get the word "Laboratory" inserted into its name? When I was there (1976-1980), it was simply "University High School". Ducky 22:23, 16 October 2006 (UTC)

March 2007

Hello all, and thank you for contributing to this school site. I'm part of the Wikipedia:WikiProject_Schools/Assessment team, and, as requested, I'm reviewing this page. I'm currently giving it a grade of Start on the Wikipedia 1.0 Assessment Scale and an importance of High on this importance scale.

My reasoning is as follows: This article has lots of interesting information, but needs improvement on its WP:NPOV. Also, generally a lead should only be a couple sentences and the rest should be categorized. It needs more information about daily life, administration, and references and it would easily be a B. Adam McCormick 03:53, 7 March 2007 (UTC)

The "See also" section

I've removed the four links in this section (to school systems or lab schools in Chicago, Baton Rouge, Toronto, and Lincoln, NE) because they don't seem to be related to this school (other than that they are all lab schools). Please feel free to add these links again if there is some explanation of the relationship between these schools that I've missed. GJ 05:55, 20 May 2007 (UTC)

References

I've done my best to add external references where appropriate, but many of the links go to Uni's own material. If you're working on this article, please do try to find more external references where you can -- though if the only reference you can find is to Uni's own website, by all means use it, as it's better than no reference at all. GJ 06:00, 20 May 2007 (UTC)

unclear text

What does this mean? "Until the recent SAT testing changes the total SAT scores varied from year to year ranging from 1400 to 1450." Is this referring to the mean, the media or some-thing entirely different? Do we have a source? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 211.225.37.49 (talk) 05:43, 3 October 2008 (UTC)

alumna?

Is Nina Paley one of us? (She'd be about 5–6 years behind me.) —Tamfang (talk) 21:17, 14 February 2009 (UTC)

Isn't the Charles Derber, born 1944, (son of Milton Derber, who published materials withthe UofI Press about Illinois) the Charlie Derber who was a guard on the basketball team in the early sixties? Kdammers (talk) 06:08, 9 July 2021 (UTC)

"Student Life"

I added a brief description of the student lounge to this section because I think it exemplifies Uni culture. Unfortunately, it's hard to find quality references to substantiate what is common knowledge among Uni students. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 141.213.171.46 (talk) 21:00, 17 January 2011 (UTC)

hands on the wall

Since the early 1970s each graduating senior has had the opportunity to leave their handprint on the wall of the lounge.

This oversimplifies what the reference says.

The first batch of handprints, covering somewhat more than half of the north wall, went up in a fundraiser in – hm – no later than 1974, I guess, since Wylde Q Chicken's print was prominent. (If I could find my yearbooks...) Few if any were added before I graduated in 1976, and it certainly wasn't a senior privilege then. —Tamfang (talk) 23:21, 17 January 2011 (UTC)

school nick

The nickname for the teams was the Buckeyes before it changed. A yearbook from the sixties or seventies should confirm this, and a close search should come up with the date of the change. Kdammers (talk) 03:46, 13 January 2013 (UTC)

News to me, and I entered Uni in 1971, so there's a limit. —Tamfang (talk) 02:40, 10 March 2013 (UTC)

I graduated in 1962 and we were still the Buckeyes, so it has to have been between 1963 and 1970. For a citation of the earlier name, there is: http://idnc.library.illinois.edu/cgi-bin/illinois?a=d&d=DIL19470208.2.90 from the 1940s or this from my days: https://archive.org/.../ui1960univ/ui1960univ_djvu.tx.Kdammers (talk) 20:12, 4 May 2015 (UTC)

Journalism competition

IHSA lists the following:Journalism

Sectional (4): 2006, 2008, 2009, 2010.

2nd (1): 2008.

1st (1): 2009. for Uni under journalism - But I don't know what the competition is.Kdammers (talk) 20:01, 4 May 2015 (UTC)

UICSM

One of the most salient aspects of Uni High's history is neglected: its role in the 1960s in testing the "New Math" of the University of Illinois Committee on School Mathematics, UICSM. Max Beberman, the main figure, is mentioned under the "faculty" heading, which gives one just a clue. Wikipedia has an entry under "New Math," I see, and that is quite misleading, for it emphasizes "popular," mostly negative impressions of the New Math held by a general public who of course had little or no contact with the New Math. The UICSM math was not bizarre or counterintuitive--less so than some of the new approaches to K-12 math education today. An objective educational specialist/historian needs to rewrite both these entries.

Another unique point about Uni education was its subfreshman level of education. It compacted two years of junior high school education into one.

The Uni High entry emphasizes school financial problems and innovations of very recent years instead of taking a longer range perspective. Many of those things will appear ephemeral as time passes. I do appreciate the good intentions of the new graduates who must have labored over this entry.Jkinkley (talk) 23:15, 6 June 2016 (UTC)

Sources, please. BMK (talk) 00:22, 7 June 2016 (UTC)

Yearbooks for the school are available online at: http://libsysdigi.library.illinois.edu/ilharvest/UniHighYearbook/Books2012-11/1893382/ Jkinkley (talk) 03:13, 7 June 2016 (UTC)

I'm not sure that yearbooks qualify as reliable sources, since they generally have no fact-checking mechanism. BMK (talk) 03:18, 7 June 2016 (UTC)

References for UICSM: https://americanhistory.si.edu/collections/search/object/nmah_1302593 ; https://archive.org/details/uicsmresearchrep02univ ; https://eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ067680 ; M. Goldberg: A Comparison of Mathematics Programs for Able Junior High School Students Kdammers (talk) 03:25, 5 September 2019 (UTC)

Controversies

People seem to object to my "controversies" section. If you think my information is incorrect, then please cite a source and correct me. If you feel I'm cherrypicking controversies, you're welcome to add more I don't know about.— Preceding unsigned comment added by Tradescantia342 (talk • contribs)

Tennis

The current tennis section seems far too long for such a small subsection of the page's overall focus. It also appears highly sensationalized and subjective in its language. Srekcins (talk) 19:42, 5 October 2022 (UTC)

I agree, the Tennis section should be edited and moved to athletics. I think other sports teams should be added too like the soccer team which placed 2nd in 2012 and 4th in 2015 at State. Exceed College Ruled Notebook (talk) 23:48, 23 November 2022 (UTC)

I moved Tennis to the athletics section, and left the most impressive pieces. (Won sectional twice, one player set a uni record for wins). The rest of the accomplishments seem to be well below the threshold of everything else on the page. 23.126.178.43 (talk) 09:07, 24 January 2023 (UTC)

The mods reverted it "for deleting information". Perhaps someone with an account will have better luck. 2600:1700:3EC1:87CF:E8CE:CA6E:C50B:4E57 (talk) 05:08, 5 February 2023 (UTC)

alright, I gave it a try as well. It could probably use more information cut still though Exceed College Ruled Notebook (talk) 22:21, 13 February 2023 (UTC)

there is a user that comes in every few months and reverts it back to the original Exceed College Ruled Notebook (talk) 18:17, 20 March 2024 (UTC)

Quizbowl

After the 2020 nationals were canceled, the Scholastic Bowl team got 2nd at HSNCT and 16th at PACE in 2021 and T39 at HSNCT and 20th at PACE in 2022. They we also favored to win HSNCT in 2020 before the tournament was canceled so that is more speculative.

Also 2019 club leader Tim Cho was on teen jeopardy that year. I am not sure how notable that is. Exceed College Ruled Notebook (talk) 17:04, 23 November 2022 (UTC)

Current Uni Events

should this article talk about the 100 year celebration or the covid 19 policies? Are these important enough to have sections? Exceed College Ruled Notebook (talk) 19:27, 24 November 2022 (UTC)

Was there any important outcome of the 100 year celebration?

I don't think the covid policies qualify. They will not be of interest in a few years. 23.126.178.43 (talk) 09:17, 24 January 2023 (UTC)

They raised a few million dollars, named a list of important alumni, and changed the colors of the school so I think it is of note

I see your point about covid but I know Uni had a rather odd approach which I wanted to note if I had had a source. They had an anonymous committee of certain teachers vote on everything. Exceed College Ruled Notebook (talk) 02:48, 2 February 2023 (UTC)

Colors and UIUC

this is minor but I just added the change of Uni's colors to the century celebration section. Because they changed the colors to reflect the u of I, should a note also be made in the relationship to UIUC section at the top of the article? Exceed College Ruled Notebook (talk) 22:33, 16 January 2023 (UTC)

Yes, minor, especially when the color change was from royal blue to Illini blue/navy (and I'm not sure that in the sixties the blue was as light as royal blue (royal blue vs. navy blue - Search (bing.com).) More important (but still not crucial) is the name of the team (and its change), as brought up elsewhere on this talk page. Kdammers (talk) 15:59, 21 December 2023 (UTC)

Traditions

Is the 5k a tradition?

Is the Subbie Retreat?

Is the Alumni Agora Days?

Is Senior Supper?

Is the Howdy Hop

I am not sure how important these are but I think I might add the subbie retreat because I have a source for it. Exceed College Ruled Notebook (talk) 23:56, 16 January 2023 (UTC)

I've never heard of any of these. (Yes, I'm an alum.) Do any of them have significant value or interest? 23.126.178.43 (talk) 09:10, 24 January 2023 (UTC)

Yeah I figured everyone editing this page was an alum. The Turkey Trot 5k and then the Illinois 5k was the PE final for a number of years but I am not sure if that is still a thing after covid. Alumni agora days was a thing for a few years where they had alumni come back to teach classes for a day that students signed up for but I do not know if it is a thing anymore. The senior supper is a big meal that they have at the I Hotel for graduating seniors a few weeks before graduation which I know they still do but I don't have a source. The Howdy Hop is a dance they have on the first floor on the first Friday of the school year which I also do not have a source for. Exceed College Ruled Notebook (talk) 02:44, 2 February 2023 (UTC)

Athletics

Firstly, I think the tennis story that is currently in extracurriculars should be moved there and cut down significantly

Then, there are a lot of athletic achievements that Uni lists on their website (https://www.uni.illinois.edu/athletics/ihsa-state-champions and https://www.uni.illinois.edu/athletics/sports-records) and this wikipedia page: East Central Illinois Conference. I know this isn't the whole picture as there are a lot of regionals and sectionals that neither website has listed but maybe these could begin to be logged on this wikipedia page? Exceed College Ruled Notebook (talk) 19:30, 17 January 2023 (UTC)

I moved and reduced Tennis. (See Tennis chat above.)

Uni had an impressive boys basketball losing streak at one point. Do we have a citation for it? I think the losing streak, of multiple years without a win, ended in 1980.

I'm pretty sure the Soccer team was founded in 1980 by a bunch of students. Participants did not qualify for PE credit until the mid 80's. 23.126.178.43 (talk) 09:13, 24 January 2023 (UTC)

I found a news gazette story on it. Apparently it is the longest losing streak in boys basketball in Illinois. https://www.news-gazette.com/sports/prep-sports/coach-athletes-recall-ending-unis-96-game-skid/article_b18e4599-4384-5c77-b493-e1e09e9cdeef.html Exceed College Ruled Notebook (talk) 02:37, 2 February 2023 (UTC)

Alumni without wikipedia pages

Melinda Taub, class of 2001, doesn't have a wiki page but has won emmies

Scott Solomon, class of 1996, also doesn't have a page but is an author and has a google knowledge panel

Marcia Rudin, class of 1958, also doesn't have a wikipedia page but is an author and a cited cult expert

David Hulett, class of 1957, is another author with a knowledge panel but no wikipedia page

Barbara Jackson, class of 1946, has no wikipedia page but is the founder of ClarNan editions

Walter Melvin Enger, class of 1931, doesn't have a wikipedia page but was a rear admiral

I want to add at least Melinda Taub to the notable alumni page even though she doesn't have a linked wikipedia page. Exceed College Ruled Notebook (talk) 02:21, 22 January 2023 (UTC)

Some random user just deleted Max Beberman from the notable faculty section because he doesn't have a wikipedia page even though that had been there for years. How important is New Math? If he can't go in the notable faculty section should we make a new section for new math? Exceed College Ruled Notebook (talk) 21:02, 8 March 2023 (UTC)

Beberman has a lot of Internet-search presence. We should make a Wikipedia page for him; then we can have him listed as an alum with no issue. 2600:6C67:1C00:5F7E:31AD:7AC4:3F77:C555 (talk) 16:42, 12 March 2023 (UTC)