College of William and Mary - Colonial Echo Yearbook (Williamsburg, VA)

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I0 t was a great year for events. The dollar sank to new lows on the world's mon- ey marketsg civil war raged in Lebanon and Nicaraguag a tenta- tive step was taken towards peace in the Middle Eastg the Pope died and yet died againg and a tax explosion in Califor- nia left debris scattered over the entire country. And like a plunked stone, the ever-widening ripples of these happenings hur- ried towards us, shaking founda- tions and scuttling living space. But they landed with only a gen- tle slap, imperceptible to most, faintly acknowledged by the few who stumbled across newspapers. History did take place behind our backs. The distractions of the moment, if they could be called distractions, kept outside events outside. The immediate loves, hungers, and necessities of our lives infected us with a near-sightedness that relegated the world event to a blurred play acting. And within a few years even the newsworthy will have become a dusty, vague mem- ory-something that had to be superseded. Not until we are dead will they have been sifted from life and called singular, catalogued and measured, their effects chased down causal high- ways, and their significance ex- plainedf, Yesterday our minds were focused on todayg today, to- morrow beckons. We lived our lives like lives must be lived- extended in the future, with a glance at the headlines or a moment's attention paid to the evening news, when time and our personal occupations permitted. RIGHT: Viewed across an open, grassy expanse, the Washington Monument stands tall in the distance. 1 16fUSA

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