Freshmen

I'm always amazed to face a classroom filled with freshmen. Most of this year's college freshmen were born in 1988. That's right, 1988! The year these youngsters were born, George H. W. Bush was elected president, but by the time they were in school and learning about the government, Bill Clinton was in the White House. Of course, as they approached political awareness, their leader presidential model has been George W. Bush.

At the 1988 Grammy Awards, the best song and best record of the year was Bobby McFerrin's "Don't Worry, Be Happy"; the best album award went to George Michael for Faith. A group of mostly light comedies ruled the television: The Cosby Show, A Different World, Cheers, The Golden Girls, Growing Pains, Who's the Boss?, Night Court and Alf. Other details about the year are available at http://www.multieducator.com/20th/1988.html, including the following stories:

• Gorbechav Announces Unilateral Troop Cuts Soviet Premier Gorbachev announced at the UN that the Soviet Union was unilaterally cutting back its conventional forces in Eastern Europe by 500,000 troops. The cutback was greeted with joy in the West, but was, in fact, forced on the Soviets by their inability to maintain the forces. It soon became academic, as Eastern Europe became independent of Moscow.
• Soviets Pull Out of Afghanistan The Soviets agreed to remove their troops from Afghanistan. There was a total of 120,000 troops in Afghanistan at the time. The Soviet losses were estimated at 16,000 soldiers killed during the war in Afghanistan.
• Iranian Passenger Jet Downed By US In a case of mistaken identity, the USS Vincennes shot down an Iranian passenger plane. The Airbus was carrying nearly 300 passengers, and all were killed.

As the Cold War wound down, its long years of tension were replaced by a growing tension between ideologically charged versions of Christianity and Islam. So these students have never known a world in which these two major religions had few clashes and largely ignored each other.

The worlds of these freshmen have been defined by a culture more image-driven than ever before. An MTV that doesn't play much music. Computers and cell phones. AIDS and terrorism. Global warming (whatever is to be believed about that). The rise of soccer in kids' lives. The amazing development of video games. And so on.

As I get to know these freshman, such impressions of them will fade, but for now, I'm again amazed at what they've missed (and what they've had that might so easily--and productively--be missed).


NWT 242.8