History of Fuzzy v. Techie

Fuzzy/Techie and Student Culture

Stanford Memes for Edgy Trees

Stanford Memes for Edgy Trees (SMFET) is a Facebook memes group dedicated towards making memes about life and culture here at Stanford. The page has over 20,000 members, and many of the memes discuss current events both on- and off-campus, as well as normal, college-student life/culture/topics.

The Stanford Daily

As well as SMFET, The Daily is a good indicator for what students are talking about and what is going on on campus. At the moment, The Daily has 16 and 18 articles featuring the words 'fuzzy' and 'techie', respectively (although several of the fuzzy articles may actually be referencing fuzzy socks or similar topics). In comparison, the phrase 'fountain hopping' has six articles, and the acronym LSJUMB (Leland Stanford Junior Marching Band) pulls up only 12 articles.

Where "Techie" Came From

Although there is no certain origin there are many theories as to where "techie" vs fuzzy came from. One theory being the results of the actions towards the United States in the second half of the twentieth century. After WWII it became very evident that engineering might made military might. With the opposition being the Soviet Union, the United States needed to keep their power as one of the top nations alive and well. Bringing home millions of citizens who now with the G.I. Bill, seeked higher education opportunities that allowed them to become engineers and "techies" to further empower their national power. The creation of Sputnik also affected the United States greatly. In order to win the space race, the United States trusted in MIT, Caltech, and Stanford to further out think the soviets. The creation of Standardized testing, like the SAT, created an overall lean towards the sciences created an urge to cultivate and expand the rise of the technology culture and sciences. Further, the creation of Silicon Valley only supported the rise of the sciences around Stanford and therefor created the fight between the already existed "Fuzzies" of the humanities to the uprising "techies". Other people also see Stanford as the MIT of the west. This like MIT would give advantage and more acknowledgment to the sciences which would also lead to less people majoring in non-STEM degrees. This mainly in order for Stanford to keep its reputation up highly as well.

Views Of Modern "Techies"

Isaiah Brant-Sims, a graduate school student, in an interview said, " I believe that if coming to Stanford and not taking CS 106A and going into something STEM is a waist". He also went on just as Isaac Westlund, and Lucas Ege,to say how "When you are a CS major, your social life goes out the door. It is hands down the hardest , major and requires the most work. We do around 20 hours of homework a week coding till the a.m. and that is why we deserve more money after graduating with a degree that allows us to work with technology which is already taking over the world."