The Year in Review - A Year in Moments

The end of every year is a time for us to reflect on the year past. It is a time to think about what interesting and important things have happened over the year and to reflect on their significance in the grander scheme of things. Time magazine does it, so does Newsweek, so why not The Commentator? For us, the end of the school year should be a time to contemplate the goings on in the world as well as in our own school.

So, what exactly happened? There was no Oklahoma City bombing, no Waco shootout, and no jumbo jet explosions to command our attention. There was no war to capture our interests, and there were no sensational terrorist attacks. We didn't even have some bizarre cult in California follow a man to the grave claiming that they would be transported into the tail of a comet. Hmmm, has anything happened this year?

Of course, this isn't to say that we have not had our share of tragedy. All we need do is look at the children's schoolyard murder spree in Jonestown Arkansas. But is this such a consequential event for the world as a whole? Just think, Jonestown wasn't the first schoolyard killing (it wasn't even the first this year), and it won't be the last (it wasn't even the last this year). Tragic? Absolutely; but modestly so. It seems that what really typifies this year is two words: small scale.

We did have our share of the sensational. The death of Princess Diana was nothing if not significant. However, was it really the "most important death of the decade," as some pundits would have us believe? Let us not kid ourselves; it wasn't even the most important death of the year. In terms of long-range consequences Diana's death cannot be considered so important as to characterize an entire year.

Perhaps the most sensational news story of the year had to do with the alleged sexual escapades of one William "Slick Willie" Clinton and Monica Lewinsky. Now that's scandalous. But let us be honest: Clinton is no Nixon when it comes to dirty doings in the White House; he may not even be a Reagan. And Paula Jones sure went out with less than a bang. Even our juicy scandals were small scale.

In weather news, El Nino went out with a whimper. Where was the storm which was supposed to rock the world? In sports, Tiger Woods won nothing, Jordan is on his way to winning again, Agassi's comeback fell short (again), and the Devils, Rangers, and Islanders lost. Big deal. In science news - few genuine breakthroughs. In business, the Dow dropped, then it went back up, and up, and up. Small scale, indeed.

If, like me, you can't remember what happened in the world this past year you can be forgiven; there isn't all that much to remember. That isn't to say that there weren't important things which occurred (I just mentioned several) - and may even have consequences far into the future - but rather that there wasn't anything which will make this year go down in the history books (not that this is a bad thing).

Even the controversies in Yeshiva University were small, contained and, frankly, not all that controversial. There was no threat to close down Revel to galvanize the students; there was no controversy over a credit cap for classes taken outside of YU; there wasn't even a mention of homosexual clubs at Cardozo; where was the cry for Alpha Epsilon Pi?

We did, of course, have a minor fracas over a certain op-ed column which appeared in The Commentator about the students of Sy Syms School of Business and succeeded in igniting a small war between students and faculty. And there was a certain Rosh Yeshiva who created a bit of a stir with a certain diatribe in the Beit Midrash. Oh, let us not forget about what our president was called by a Rabbi outside of the YU family. Interesting stuff. Sad, some of it. But nothing to really get excited about.

Unfortunately, there is a tendency for us to remember the scandalous, the despicable, and the evil. But what of all the kindness in the world? Surely we cannot overlook the polite acts people have done for each other when taking stock of the past year. Just look at New York. People, obviously and unquestionably spurred on by Mayor Giuliani's politeness campaign, have actually been good to each other. Okay, maybe not. But there were some definitely good things which happened this year.

For starters, it hás been a year for putting a bunch of depraved lunatic (and I don't mean clinically lunatic - just plain loony) murderers in prison. The Unabomber, Timothy McVeigh, the World Trade Center bombers, and a girl in California who plotted the death of her twin sister (I just saw that on the news yesterday) were all sentenced this year. Hooray! Unfortunately, we'll have a bunch of weirdos/sickos to take their places next year.

In medical news, there has been cause for optimism in the field of cancer treatment in general, with particular breakthroughs in breast cancer treatment. While there is no telling exactly what the future will hold for these drugs, there is no way to understate their importance. And, to top it all off, we have Viagra! And just in time to deal with a certain side-effect of a new hair-growth drug, too.

Perhaps one of the most ambiguous stories of the year deals with Israel's fiftieth birthday. Obviously this is for us a positive, momentous occasion. It is ambiguous, though, because of the way the New York Times and other news organizations treated it. While certainly acknowledging its significance as a testament to such a small nation, it treated the event more as a stepping stone for Palestinians than as an achievement for Israelis. Although we consider this the most important story of the year, we must keep in mind that to the rest of the world, it's no more than just another news story.

One other extremely important event, though probably overlooked by the YU community, was the formal agreement that may finally end the centuries-long conflict between English/Irish Protestants (Unionists) and Irish Roman Catholics (Republicans). While this may not really hit home for us, it is more than just noteworthy. This is to the Irish, as 1948 was to us (and 1998/9 may be to the Palestinians).

I think we must agree that the most important and most sensational news items of the year happened to have been good ones. Here in YC there is cause for optimism as well. Following the horrendous process of registering for Spring '98 courses, the Office of the Registrar got its act together, and Fall '98 registration was perfectly painless. This is cause for celebration, and I, for one, think that we have a duty to heap praise on the office staff for making right that which had been wrong (and they certainly heard from us that it had been wrong).

One other piece of big news: Titanic. This is the worst, most pathetic, and most depressing news item of all. Frankly, it seems rather sad that a movie starring two actors who obviously need acting lessons from Doctor Beukas could make it so big. Unfortunately, we don't get to choose what happens; we only get to talk about it.

And so, another year comes to a close. The sensational, the bad, the scary, and the tragedy were all there, but they were miniature, and they will be forgotten soon enough. The good news is the cause for optimism, and it may prove to be what this year is remembered for after all. See you next year.