Centre Daily Times from State College, Pennsylvania • 28

CENTRE DAILY TIMES JUNE 4 1998 Not quite Generation anything but Generation Where exactly do this seniors Jit in? And then there were seniors A look back at the years when the members of this yeari graduating class were bom By AMBEB FISHEK i BeUefonte Area junior Star Wars swept the nation The Knack was on their first American tour and cigarette smoking was labeled the "single most impor-tant environmental factor contributing to earfy death" It was die end of a decade and fire beginning of a new one The years were 1979 and 1980 The following are events and landmarks of bade in die i when flua seniors were bom the the-worid-istrash-and-there'siothing-' I-can-do-about-it attitude Which isnt to say that people dont still think the world is a pretty foul place or that turning into one People pretty much think that they will benefit the human race but that the human race is bringing good old planet earth to an earfy grave Sure we pollute and destroyJ and pillage the earth but we just keep! inventing reafiy neat stuff so what are you' going to do? Larkin believes that "every single per son brings something to this with tire qualifier that "most of them actually flunk that they have more to offer the world than they obviously really Probably all those people say the same about her The one thing that everyone can i on is that they want to be remembered hit a day when religion is often silent and only the proudly anti-religious (or hyperreligious) can be heard making your mark can be the one and only route to I eternal life Feifer says "Fd film to leave By ASA SHUMSKAS-TAIT State College Delta senior It was once said on that cartoons are like gossamer and one does not dissect gossamer The same can be said of a generation that age-lumping of a group of people with shared experiences a similar sodal consciousness Americans have gotten to the point where we are now identifying generations and generational characteristics while the generation is still creating them The identification of "Generation not only created a flurry of catchphrases and bottled but peeved a major portion of the population The Generation X-ers were offended at being identified as slacker doofuses living in their basements and chan smoking It turned out they weren't smoking or slacking but inventing much of the software that fueled the computer revolutionInternet boom of the mid-90 So why not take the trend to the next logical step? Why not identify a generation that has yet to start showing its true colors a generation not even out of high school? This is the fiiture ladies and gentlemen: preemptive labeling Actually to the dismay of the generation right below Generation it is already Madta which the teens apply and attend simply because they see any other option Marya Larkin i junior at the Kew-Forest Sdiool puts it Bghfly when she says that the technology changing every second you have no way of surviving if you dont learn as much as you can and take advantage of every single opportunity" how well the college into this generation don't evfr remember it was always what exactly feeling that college even the worid barely school in what revolve around that merely supports determination to get Frost a senior at College wants (and) find a she says she is and I usually get argue with that? while nearly everyone succeed in the pun aid spending think that nearly at University it best when he wont succeed succeed and Fm lot of them I no ambition or anything of is cruel with will be better off brilliant kids areoften Yes and awfully isn't least the aMeast-I-can-make-it is better than The China a mode that depicted the shutdown of an unsafe nuclear reactor and opened just 12 days before die disaster at Three-Mile Island starring Jade Lemmon Janie Fonda and Michael Douglas "Kramer va the story of a divorced child custody battles starring Lsbbbsb Dustin Hoffman and Meryl Streep "Nonna baaed on I die true story of women trying to unionize a min Roll High a Ramones-led comedy in I which a principal tries to turn a school into a concentration camp "American the story of a male hooker played by Richard Gere Rapalar songs sf tot ysan The Knack of Gloria Gaynor "I Rod Stewart Ya Think Fm everything by Donna Summer Christopher Cross Monnats Flaw sports: Muhammed Afi retired frombaxing In the US Open tennis gles championship the tide went to John McEnroe and the tide went to Tracy Austin the youngest to ever win the singles Pennsylvania was big in Pittsburgh's Pirates and Steelers as Fwell as die Philadelphia Phillies were at the top 'of their game winning Worid Series and Super Bowls PHOTO BY MELINDA SUE GORDON Jim Carrey stars in the upcoming film The Truman Show" showcases media fascination What does Otis all say about next generation? Maybe not as muck as from the recent glut of teen-themed flicks that teenagers ate hyper-articulate blabbermouths with nothing much to do Think the show that critics said was unrealistic in its portrayal of finnidty intelligent teens This is probably a direct result of that double mirror and the influence of Yes it all comes back to the recently (and not a moment too soon) departed By creating a show about mundane things and how people discuss them ad infinitum Jerry Seinfeld actually encouraged the phenomenon The hit show told an entire generation of easily influenced youngsters (take note Joe Camel) that it was all right to obsess OK to nit-pick and just dandy to endlessly ilifu everything or If nothing else separates the last generation from the next it is the absolute lack of per vasive slacking There have always been slackers and always will be slackers but for now that number is on the swift decline Success is a big hit with the kiddies which is only logical if you flunk about it Just about every high schooT senior doesn't have a doubt 1 that they will succeed "As long as I can says Emanuel Neuman a senior at Kew-Forest High in New York City "I would always tell my mother that one day when I am extremely wealthy I will have my own limo and pick her up and take her shopping to her content I want to make my juvenile words a reality" But wanting isn't good enough Expecting is more like it "I expect to retire from the finance industry once I have an estimated $50 million in the Emanuel says "I expect this to be at the age of Neuman will attend a business school to reach the lofty goals he has set for himself Others with less direction are attending college simply because it is as Jason Feifer puts it societal Despite rising costs that put a decent college education without heavy loans well out of the reach of a middle-class teenager many But it becomes clear bug has been drilled when she says thinking I had a choice there If I don't go to college could I become?" There is an overwhelming you cant get rich without though the richest man in graduated from high Others so they wish for some goals family marriage or a job There is a what one wants Tiffany the Delta Program in State to "marry have a family secure Of course very determined person what I Who can Everyone Because believes they will suit of fife liberty happiness cadi they also everyone dae will not Jason Feifer a senior School in Miami puts says of my friends Many people won't chancing that I know a know a lot of rich kids with brainpower to ever make themselves But the worid money and these kids than most talented and Success and money A little bit cynical? articulate Maybe so farfetched after afi At attitude llw dHsr Am hndqi: A minor celebrities call in and success (shows like "Jerry World" getting he voyeuristic only a matter of time But comes down to Lady hi rad: More accurately people of any gender and color What she and everyone else watches listens to and logs onto how it affects her and how she affects it may be the most important questions for the new generation its ms jrfwfl be: is On ultimate example of a TV show that is inspired by real life all the while inspiring real life Sound like a vicious circle? Well it is Our fascination with watching real life on TV (it doesn't make much sense if you think about it) is most evident on this worid with some mark Td fike have random children in future rooms hearing my So what is this new generation? In the loosest terms the most base generalities? Could it be called the Oxymoronic Generation? A generation of people who believe in personal success but failure for everyone else and that money and toch-fl nology are killers of the planet) as well as the roots of happiness Possibly this new generation wifi be remembered as the Thke It Or Leave It Generation Generation ImpartiaL This next age has readied the ultimate in impartial observation wanting others to being referred to as Generation This is an easier reference among marketing types who know that Generation (Why?) apparently holds most of the disposable income in the world and should drink their generational share of and (Generation knows how to spell) soft drinks and sports beverages To make it clear that no one is going to tolerate the moniker this is the last time it will be used in this article If we use entertainment as an indicator of generational identity we must remember that it works as a double mirror reflecting us and influencing us at the same time Music isn't as slow and angst-filled (think Soundgarden vs Hanson) -as it used to he Movies are now lighter and more teen-oriented since those marketers really want to hook the new generation early If anything can be gathered succeed but caring for themselves first and wanting most of an to make a mark through family or achievement There may very writ be no grand togetherness no ram pant hedonism no cynical greed no overwhelming indifference Emanuel Neuman may apeak for a generation when he says that "life is what you make out of it and I intend to make ii In ran nr legacy show where retd people and talk about sex? After he and Real romp in the long run it all to tits 1 naa- John Wayne died at age 72 Broadway was big The year's hits were The Elephant and the musical A report on school desegregation by the US Civil Rights Commission stated that 46 percent of the minority children were attending sdiools 25 years after the Supreme Court declared segregation unconstitutional A nuclear near-disaster occurred at Three Mile Island near Harrisburg when a power plant malfunctioned Two days later the governor advised pregnant women and preschool children living within five miles of the plant leave the area The Department of Education was created A shootout in Greensboro NG between Ku Khix Klan members and participants in an 1 anti-Han rally left five demonstrators dead and eight others wounded Fourteen Hansmen were arrested and 12 were charged with first-degree murder The United States withdrew from the Summer Olympics held in Moscow in hafy in response to the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in 1979 Sxtyfour other nations followed suit A heat wave and drought devastated crops and livestock and left 1272 people dead in 20 states Mount St Helens erupted in Washington state The volcano leveled 120 square miles and triggered a series of fires mudslidea and floods Fifteen people were found dead and about 40 were missing The ride of tone diode syndrome led to the recall of a tampon product manufactured by Proctor and Gamble Federal studies finked use of file tampon with flie deaths of 25 women Ronald Reagan defeated Jimmy Carter in the 1980 presidential election hits above the attempting to create her own rock style which die has done sendeuo-cesdiilfy frnbrugfia has seen artists Eke Joni Mitchell and Shawn Colvin whose influence is evident on fids album She sounds a bit fike Tracy Bonham and Alania Moriaaette though a lot sweeter and not quite as annoying as Alains This debut "Left of file while not the most original among modern female artists won't disappoint tons of In her single Imbrugfia plays the role of an innocent giri been trampled by her recent love interest This tune is catchy and loveable but more to Imbruglia than victim In the song she expresses independence from other people and their attempts to monopolize her time is a Blower and more emotional track Again beautiful voice is catchy and hypnotic She shows incredible flexibility between songs like fliis where she sounds sad and desolate and others such as and "Don't You By LEE YACKEBEN State College Delta tophomort IfyouVe listened to the radio or watched MTV lately you Ve probably heard the popular single Tbm" by Natalie Imbruglia The 2Syearold was born in Australia in 1975 At 16 she auditioned for a temporary part in the soap opera Temporary turned into two years as character Beth Brennan became popular When she left she kept things lowkey for awhile hoping to reappear in the music scene without the association where Imbruglia is sanguine and keeps a quick steady pace Nearly all of the songs on fliis album have a ant of atnyfike fed The music has a very pleasant progression and the lyrics are comprehensible Some songs have subtle romantic undertones but die touches on severs! unique topics that are worth listening to For the hd year been working with firmer Cure member Hiil Thomafiy and Radiohead producer Nigel Godrich.