2005: A Class to Forget - 11/17/2005
A class to forget
By: Gilad Skolnick, Collegian columnist
Posted: 11/17/05
We all breathed a sigh of relief when they left, the burden of UMass, the class of 2005, finally drunkenly stumbling out of our campus last spring, and I must say things have drastically improved.
Unlike such noble classes as the class of 1950, which has graced us with the beautiful statue of Sam the Minuteman, the class of 2005 has yet to provide a class gift. What are they waiting for? The clock is ticking, and UMass needs some campus beautification now more than ever. Knowing them, though, the best we can expect is a bench of some sort.
The class of 2005 brought us countless riots in Southwest, and the link between the riots and their four-year reign of disaster over UMass is clear - the first year they're gone, the riots stop. The Hobart Hoedown can be characterized by fire, destruction, panic and riots, the same words most people would use to characterize the class of 2005 who brought us this calamity. They were the only class to make the campus swans so uncomfortable they had to leave. They have brought sin, rudeness, a lack of recycling and excessive trampling on our beautiful lawns, all things that were once so foreign to our university.
To be honest, these people, often referred to as the "lost generation," did struggle through some tough times. Many felt a lot of pressure for being the first incoming class of the new millennium. With Nicole Kidman and Tom Cruise's difficult separation in February of 2001 and the release of the dreadful movie "Rollerball" the following year, this was certainly a stressful time. Still, I have looked into the eyes of these graduates of 2005 and have seen no motivation or drive for success - just laziness, not to mention their pompous attitudes.
In contrast, the class of 2006 has brought a wave of tranquility and order to campus. With the addition of the bright minds of the class of 2006, a UMass degree will now mean something; no longer will it be diluted by the class of 2005 hooligans. Most people would agree that the class of 2006 is a beacon of light onto the world; unlike the stingy class of 2005, 2006 will probably donate something grand - like a few more floors to the top of the library, so we can regain the title of the tallest library in the country.
I myself have noticed a lot of students who used to be part of the class of 2005 have stayed another year, and this can be understood; who among us wouldn't do whatever it took not to be part of that horrid class?
These honorary members of 2006 should be treated with the utmost respect for the brave and noble step they took, and I am jealous of the ever-so-lucky class of 2009 who has been fortunate enough to enroll in UMass once 2005 left. Their early successes show there is no one to drag them down now.
Since 2005 left, rapid construction of new dorms has begun, a new state-of-the-art learning commons in the library has been completed, and RSOs have been getting more members than ever before, no longer held back by the disaster that calls itself 2005. In addition, enrollment has skyrocketed, and students have said in multiple unscientific polls that they feel more content with their lives.
The class of 2005 has set a new low in pathetic-ness. Yet we must remember that not every member of the class of 2005 has been responsible for this - just most of them. Now, how many of them are lawyers, doctors or professors? These UMass graduates are disturbingly virtually nonexistent in these professions, unlike UMass alumni from previous years.
We all sink or swim together, as the saying goes, and fortunately now we can swim again. My only wish is that the classes of 2007 to 2009 continue to emulate the strong example 2006 has set. May one day everyone be a bit more like the class of 2006. Maybe then we would have a better world.
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