By ELLIANA KOPUT
The University of Arizona has been referred to by an array of nicknames since the dawn of time … or at least since it was founded in 1885.
Among those, “UofA” and “UA” have reigned most popular.
However, the UA recently has sought a change in nicknames in hopes to increase search engine optimization, or SEO.
So, the old abbreviations have been booted and replaced by “UArizona.”
The school also didn’t want any mix-ups with other UA schools (think University of Arkansas, University of Alaska and University of Alabama).
We don’t know about you, but we could think of worse things than being confused with a winning football program such as Alabama’s.
Then again, at least UArizona has a football team.
Upon doing a quick observational experiment, we found that the popular search engines Google, Bing and Yahoo place UArizona results below those of Under Armour, United Airlines and the University of Alabama when searching “UA.”
“If the algorithms really work, I guess it makes sense,” said Tucsonan Colin Gader. “Without seeing the numbers, an argument may make sense, but we don’t really know the effects of practical application right away. It will always be the U of A to most people, though.”
“I honestly don’t think it’s going to change too much,” said Joey Thonhoff, a junior biochemistry major at UArizona. “People are probably going to keep calling the UofA what they always have.”
The new change was even mentioned in a “Saturday Night Live” skit on Nov. 2.
“Is it just me, or does the ‘UArizona’ sound like the punchline to a joke about Arizona stereotypes?” asked Colin Jost, co-host of the segment “Weekend Update” with Michael Che. “Like if you’ve ever gotten a DUI in a golf cart, UArizona.”
While the change will likely not affect very little in terms of the daily lives of the surrounding community, it is any wonder how long it will take for the change to be accepted.
In any case, #BearDown will remain the staple.