University of Central Florida
The University of Central Florida (UCF) is an American public research university in Orlando, Florida. It is the largest university in the United States by undergraduate enrollment, and the second largest by total enrollment.
Founded in 1963, UCF opened with a mission of providing personnel to support the U.S. space program at the Kennedy Space Center and Cape Canaveral Air Force Station on Florida's Space Coast. As its academic scope surpassed an original focus on engineering and technology, however, it was renamed from Florida Technological University to the University of Central Florida in 1978. While initial enrollment was only 1,948 students, enrollment today amounts to some 60,821 students from 140 countries and all 50 states, including Washington, D.C. The majority of the student population is located on the university's main campus just 13 miles (21 km) east-northeast of downtown Orlando, and 55 miles (89 km) southwest of Daytona Beach. The university offers over 200 degrees through thirteen colleges and twelve satellite campuses in Central Florida. Since its founding, UCF has awarded almost 280,000 degrees, including 50,000 graduate and professional degrees, to over 240,000 alumni worldwide.
UCF (disambiguation)
UCF most commonly stands for the University of Central Florida, a metropolitan public research university located in Orlando, Florida, United States.
It may also refer to:
See also
Alabina
Alabina is a French-based group that performs a mix of world music: Middle Eastern, Arabic, French, Hebrew, and Spanish Gypsy music. Alabina consists of lead singer Ishtar, who does the female vocals, and the band Los Niños de Sara, who provide male vocals and music.
Although the name of the group is often written "Alabína", the accent on the "i" is an unnecessary addition. The mistake may be attributed to the group's use of the font Papyrus on its album covers. In this font, dotted i's look as though they carry accents.
Name
According to Alabina.org, the word is Arabic and Alabina has two meanings: "let's go" and "God is between us." The name comes from the title of Alabina's first song. It is also the name of the group's first album.
Group
Alabina consists of lead singer Ishtar, who does the female vocals, and the band Los Niños de Sara, who provide male vocals and music.
Ishtar
Ishtar was born and raised in Israel. Her parents are Jewish from Moroccan and Egyptian descent. She speaks and sings in Arabic, Hebrew, French, Spanish, and English; she also says she "half-speaks" "Moroccan." Ishtar began performing in clubs at age 15 and continued even in the Israeli army, where she served as a helicopter technician. Though she was born Eti Zach, she chose the name "Ishtar," a Mesopotamian goddess, because her grandmother called her Ester, which "with her Egyptian accent it sounded like Ishtar," she said.
