300 JAY STREET AND BEYOND

During our tenure at NYCCC, we've not only seen ourselves learning and growing, but we've also witnessed many newsworthy events. We saw a Georgia peanut farmer blaze a trail to the White House, and a former Brooklyn shoe salesman become mayor of the Nation's largest city. Unfortunately, we saw very little of Blackout '77. (It was too dark!)

1977 was billed as the "Year of the Woman" as the fairer sex continued to improve its status in the job market and education, among other fields. And if women were reaching new heights, so was George Willig, the guy who thought the World Trade Center was Mt. Everest. The supersonic Concorde also hit new highs, as did the unemployment rate, the cost of energy, and the hopes for peace in the Middle East. Sinking to new lows were the stock market, the Democrats in Koreagate, and Billy (beer) Carter.

As usual there is a list of those gone but not forgotten: Freddie Prinze, Bing Crosby, Zero Mostel, Charlie Chaplin. Joan Crawford, Lil Abner, Elvis, and the Volkswagen Beetle. There is also a list of those who are forgotten but not gone: Richard Nixon, Abe Beame, and the unemployed Viet-Nam veteran. While some people were forgotten, others were getting attention (and dollars) that they never expected (and may not have deserved). Farrah, The Fonz, and Muhammad Ali cashed in big.

"May The Force be with you" became the tag line for the biggest flick in history, and "Close Encounters" reminded us that we are not alone. But of course you're a native New Yorker and you know the score by now. Apparently, Reggie, Reggie, Reggie didn't know the score and set out to conquer the Big Apple—an experience he later described as "Humbling." But not before he smashed three homeruns for the world champion Yankees in a single world series game. And if the Yanks were winners two years straight, so were we. The graduates of '78 experienced some of the most tumultuous times in CUNY history, as our city was treated like a disinherited stepchild by the Feds. Somehow we still came up smelling like roses. But to achieve victory we may have to pay the price: 90¢ for a subway token by 1981. However, one guy didn't worry about the transit fare. Teenager Steve Cauthen's mounts won over $6 million in 1977, as Seattle Slew was torridly taking the '77 triple crown. The Northeast was crowned the Nation's icebox as temperatures plunged to hellish lows two years running. Meanwhile, Alaska's economy was the Nation's fastest growing, thanks to the newly completed oil pipeline. And if THAT didn't snow you, mother Nature did (repeatedly) in Winter '78.

Yes, our stay at NYCCC has been marked both by personal achievement and global change. The biggest change has come in ourselves, however. It is our responsibility to effectively use the skills acquired here at NYCCC to change the world for the better. If we don't use what we've learned, society, and ourselves, will be the poorer for it.

by David Winston

Albums

• New York City Community College Yearbook, 1978